post_apocalypse_story/va-Alone-Lena_death.html

160 lines
6.3 KiB
HTML

<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title> Alone </title><link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="html_resources/style.css"></head><body>
<h1> Alone</h1>
<p class="comment">
Outline:
</p>
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Lena and Emily put on their space suits to go outside
<ul>
<li class="comment">
(imply that Lena is about to die)
</li>
<li class="comment">
Lena double-checks that Emily can get back inside
</li>
<li class="comment">
Emily helps Lena with her helmet
</li>
<li class="comment">
something to the effet of Lena is leaving for one final time
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
they go to the grave of Lena&apos;s SO
</li>
<li class="comment">
once there, they sit down on the ground
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Emily helps Lena take her life support unit off her back
</li>
<li class="comment">
Lena sits down leaning against a rock, her life support unit next
to her
</li>
<li class="comment">
&quot;You were ultimately right&quot; conversation
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Lena has to tell Emily that she should get in touch with Jack
using the downlink
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
Emily leaves and returns with new oxygen canisters
</li>
<li class="comment">
Lena dies
</li>
<li class="comment">
Emily returns inside and goes to the control center
<ul>
<li class="comment">
following any procedures such as operating the air lock as
robot-like as possible
</li>
<li class="comment">
she lies down on the floor and looks out the window in the ceiling
</li>
<li class="comment">
she remains on the floor for an absurd amount of time
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="comment">
Jack uses the uplink to dial into the station
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Emily and Lena start putting on their space suits. Emily is done
relatively quickly while Lena makes slow progress as she struggles to
keep her balance. Half-way through, she gives up, sitting down on the
bench across from the air lock. Emily helps her all the way into the
suit. Lena sits there for a moment, heavily breathing, while Emily waits.
<br />
<span class="speech">Sorry, I can&apos;t... I feel exhausted.</span>
</p>
<p>
Emily takes their helmets and brings them into the airlock. She returns
for a life support unit, pulls it out of the rack in the wall, and sets
it down on the floor. Following a mental checklist, she makes sure that
the air tank is connected properly and the status display reads what it
should. Everything okay... or is it? She double-checks with the check
list on the wall. Yes, this unit is ready. She triple-checks everything
&ndash; first time it actually matters. Reasonably satisfied with her
findings, she carries it over to the air lock. Then, she repeats this
procedure for the second unit. Finally, she helps Lena up and they get
into the airlock.
</p>
<p>
The pumps are getting quieter and quieter. Lena kneels on the floor
holding a bunch of flowers from the biotope module, her life support
unit next to her on a short tether. Emily puts it on her back and and
helps her up. The outer door of the airlock swings aside and they start
walking, Lena leaning on Emily.
</p>
<p>
They reach the graveyard and walk over to the recent graves. The entire
graveyard is covered in hills where the bodies of the deceased were
buried. Some have signs with names, some have painted pieces of regalith
as gravestones, some have <span class="comment">&lt;the crumpled remains
of&gt;? What happens to flowers when exposed to vacuum for a prolonged
amount of time?</span> flowers next to them, some are entirely
undecorated.
</p>
<p>
Lena places a couple flowers on each of the most recent graves, then she
gestures for Emily to take the life support unit off her back. Emily
takes it off and she sits down. Emily places the life support unit
behind her, Lena leans against it. She turns her radio on and Emily does
the same.<br />
<span class="speech">Ultimately, you were right.</span> She is
interrupted by coughing. <span class="speech">If more had taken
Tony&apos;s cure &ndash; no matter what risk it posed ... &ndash; maybe
some of them would be alive now.</span><br />
<span class="speech">What about you?</span> Emily asks with a slither of
hope in her voice.<br />
<span class="speech">No &ndash; no cure can save me, it&apos;s too
late.</span><br />
Emily tears up. <span class="comment">note: Slightly. Is there a better
way to say this?</span><br />
<span class="speech">I&apos;m sorry.</span><br />
Lena raises her arm. Emily sits down next to her and Lena puts it around
her shoulders.<br />
<span class="speech">What will I do without you?</span><br />
<span class="speech">You have a strong mind. You got this. Jack will
call in the evening, as usual; he will know what to do next.</span><br />
</p>
<p class="comment">
missing:
</p>
<ul>
<li class="comment">
Emily starting to reconsider her choice not to leave the moon
</lI>
<li class="comment">
brief mention that the conversation changes to a more pleasant topic
and continues for a while
</li>
</ul>
<p>
Lena&apos;s low oxygen alarm starts to beep. Emily gets up and walks
back to the habitat. She enters through the airlock and looks for a
full oxygen bottle. She lifts one out of its rack and carries it back
to Lena. She opens the life support unit and closes the valves on it
and the empty bottle, then she replaces it and opens the valves again.
<br /><span class="comment">
missing: Emily&apos;s LSU is also empty. She replaces the oxygen bottle
and returns, sitting down next to Lena for company.</span>
</p>
<p class="comment">
missing: time jump, Lena dies, etc.
</p>
<script>let spans = ["<span class=\"paper_green\">", "<span>"];let paper_sections = document.getElementsByClassName("paper");for (let i = 0; i < paper_sections.length; i++) {let lines = paper_sections[i].innerHTML.split("\n");let result = "";for (let j = 0; j < lines.length; j++) {result = result + spans[j%2] + lines[j] + " ".repeat(80-lines[j].length) + "</span>\n";}paper_sections[i].innerHTML = result;}</script></body></html>