Not that we’d want to exit right here in the middle of space. But I guess a part of me is still hoping we’re in a simulator.
“It’s like we’re trapped in a metal coffin,” Jacqui murmurs.
Her words make my throat constrict with panic. Suddenly, I can’t breathe. Can’t think. Meanwhile, the other women are losing it—screaming, crying, praying. Jacqui is pale and shaking like a leaf.
Just as I feel I’m about to completely lose my grip on reality, the shuddering increases. So much, it feels like even the atoms in our bodies begin to vibrate.
The bus suddenly tilts, going vertical, our backs floating towards our seats.
“Jus?” Jacqui whimpers.
I grip her hand. I don’t know how I can tell. Maybe some part of my body feels it before the rest of me does, but we’re moving. Going down.
“Hold on!” I shout, just as the sensation of movement increases. Our backs are suddenly pressed into the seats and I hear piercing screams as gravity suddenly kicks in. Looking over my shoulder, I see the two women who were unstrapped suddenly fall to the front of the bus. There’s another sickening thud as they land in a tangle of arms and limbs. One of them is screaming so loudly I know she must have broken something while the other with the head wound isn’t moving at all.
“We’re falling.” Erika says from the seat behind me. “They brought us into space and now we’re falling.”
“Of. Course.” Mikaela grunts. “Fucking Xyma.” But despite her cynicism, I see the terror in her eyes.
Squeezing Jaqs’ hand, I pull in a shaky breath.
“What now?!” Jacqui shouts over a deafening roar that sounds outside the shuddering metal cube. The movement increases so much, it would be an effort to rise from the force of the pull.
“Now…now we wait.”
Jacqui nods, her chin meeting her chest a thousand times. “And we stick together.” She squeezes my hand. “No matter what, Justine.”
“No matter what.”
Chapter 3
AND I THOUGHT THE JOB MARKET WAS TOUGH
JUSTINE
There’s a deafening groan as metal tears. I whip my head around to see the back of the bus beginning to peel open like a frickin’ sardine can. Air rushes in with a whoosh, and my hair flies around my head like I’m sitting in front of a fan.
“Oh god…we’re falling! We’re really falling!” I hear myself shouting, my voice shrill with panic.
“From space? How is this possible?” Jacqui’s face is ashen as she braces against her seat.
All around us, the women react in varying degrees of terror. I swear one faints, her head rolling with each shudder of the bus.
“This can’t be happening!” Hannah slaps herself in the face. “Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP NOW!”
“We’re all going to die, aren’t we?” Mikaela mutters, her voice still holding that cynicism as if she really isn’t surprised. “I’m going to die wearing yellow sweatpants and granny panties.”
“Dios mío, por favor, no me dejes morir!” Someone’s praying from the back and I pray too. Because I can’t breathe. We’re in freefall, plummeting at terminal velocity through the thick atmosphere. The blistering heat of re-entry is already seeping in through the rupture, making the air scorching hot.
“The belts! Keep your belts on!” Erika shouts, and my gaze cuts to the two before us who aren’t strapped in. In the chaos, their bodies have shifted and only the driver’s seat is keeping them from moving.
She’s right. As much as I want to succumb to the blind panic, a small part of my brain is still rational enough to realize the seat belts are our only chance. If this bus doesn’t disintegrate from the friction, maybe we’ll survive the impact.
It’s a long shot, but I’ll take any chance I can get.
“You heard her!” I shout as loud as I can, struggling to project over the cacophony. “Everyone, hold on!”
Jacqui is openly sobbing now, her face contorted in terror, but she nods jerkily and holds on to her restraints with shaking hands. Around us, the other women follow suit in a frenzy, wailing and babbling prayers.
The blistering heat intensifies as we continue to plummet. I screw my eyes shut, pulling Jacqui close and holding her trembling body against mine.
This is it. This is how it all ends. Guess this takes “falling for a job scam” to a whole new level. I didn’t even get to file a W-2.
As the roar of re-entry becomes all-consuming, I open my mouth in a final, useless scream. Tears swell. My chest lurches with a sob. Oh God, we’re going to die.
“DEPLOYING DRAG CHUTES.”
We’re suddenly tugged, like being in an elevator suspended by a rubber band. And still, the crash shakes my teeth in my jaw. My whole body shudders, vibrations going through my entire frame even as I hold on to Jacqui. But then it stops.
Everything. Stops.
Breaths coming hard, I lift my head to look at Jacqui. Is it over? Is it done? Are we back now? Do I still get the ten grand if I admit I’m a pussy and quit on the first day?
“Fuck, Jus…FUCK!” It’s a harsh whisper but I can feel my sister’s relief.
I swallow hard, nodding at her. “We’re back. It’s done. It’s over.”
No sooner have I said that before there’s another groan. One that makes my heart shudder as we move again. We’re upside-down, the front of the bus being the thing that met the ground first and now the entire thing is tilting. With a groan like a creature wailing, the entire bus shifts to crash on its side. I hear cries of pain on the side it lands and as Jacqui and I dangle from what’s now the roof, everything goes silent again.
“Fuck this job. Not even for ten thousand am I doing that again,” Jacqui breathes.
For a moment, there is complete silence, and then whoops and cheers erupt from some of the women. But as I turn to look over my shoulder at the tear in the back of the bus, something strange skitters inside my chest.
Because what lies beyond is not the sunny Arizona sky I expected. It’s yellow. The sky. Is yellow.
“Shit, how are we going to get out?” Jacqui looks down. It’s not a far drop, but it will take some maneuvering.
“Oof!” Someone in the aisle seat behind Erika opens her restraints and promptly falls between the gap. “Ouch, that hurt,” she murmurs, and I recognize her as the woman with the birthmark covering part of her face.
Other people release themselves and Jacqui does too, angling her body so her feet hit Hannah’s seat before she helps me down. Along with a few of the other women, we head toward the back where there’s the tear.
“Where are you going?” A woman with light brown hair asks. She’s in what would’ve been the window seat and she doesn’t look like she has any intent on moving.
“Going to find out what the fuck just happened and who’s responsible, of course.” Mikaela’s answer is exactly what comes to my mind first, but then I recall what I heard right as that green gas came down on us. That thing about transiting to some orbital station.