Starsnatcher - Trapped In An Alien World [COMPLETE]

Chapter 2.1 - Isolation

Day 18

Heaven and earth merged in their colors. It was hard to see where the grain-filled air stopped and where the ground started. No sandstorm was to blame for this. It was more of a breeze by Shadowmoon's standards. The wind itself was slow, but the dense atmosphere clutched the grains in its grip. Every gust felt like a water wave.

Only the pitch-black arcology tip still stood out from the dirty horizon.

It wasn't my goal anymore though. Not since I had found the camera and knew I could focus on a more immediate target. One that was further removed from their equivalent of big cities. Assuming there was a subgroup of aliens that wanted to save me, it made sense that they'd prefer a desolate backwater outside the government's sight as their headquarters.

A straw extended from my helmet, providing more cleaned urine for me. Given how exhausting this whole walk was, you couldn't imagine how glad I was.

Eventually, my perseverance paid off.

My line of sight was comparable to what a dimmed headlight at night provided, meaning I only got to see my checkpoint once I reached it. That didn't mean there was no foreshadowing though.

Leafless bushes entered my line of sight, their bony arms outstretched as if they were shouting for help. Once I walked past them, I could appreciate the difference between them and earthly bushes. Those here had branches, but no twigs. It was more like thousands of grain-sized leaves were glued to their branches via secretions. Their stems grew so thick towards the ground that I wondered if most of the plant was above or below the sand. Good protection from the wind, at least.

A branch left its mother bush. It crumbled slowly as it flew out of my field of vision in the wind.

These bushes must have been the remnants of a grove that lost access to its groundwater. If my hypothesis was true, a healthy grove like on the map could very well have been close.

A gust of wind interrupted my train of thought. I had to reach a bush, quickly. There was one at a nearby dune. If I held onto it, I could give myself breathing room.

Another gust swept across me, only it didn't feel like one. If normal gusts were like water waves on Shadowmoon, this one was a torrent. The grain-filled air had by now become as dark depths of the cosmos. Even just standing still felt as exhausting as a marathon.

Finally, the bush was close enough for me to use as my anchor. An anchor that itself was losing the ground below its feet, with all the sand being blown away. I bent down and grabbed it deep down enough that I could maintain my position. Whips of wind drummed on my chest and pounded on my bones.

The air was bad enough by itself, but the wind also carried solid matter.

Grains of sand pattered onto my helmet like rain on a windshield. They were so loud that I forgot they didn't hit my face directly.

"Don't break, helmet!" I muttered. "Don't break, don't break, don't break!"

Luckily, its material was apparently more stable than glass or at least reinforced with something more stable.

The rest of my suit was different.

Pebbles joined the flying grains and hit my suit like little daggers. I shielded my torso with my free arm. Not my best idea, admittedly, since the suit was thinner around my arm than around my chest.

What if my suit tore open and sand got in my breathing mix? No, that wouldn't happen. Paper cuts, nothing else.

At least I thought so until two stones hit the same spot in a row. I bent over, hunching.