The Third Voyager

Chapter 2 - Divine Intervention

Boom!

Startled awake, my breath hitched in surprise, yet I couldn't bring myself to get up because the bed was too cozy. What was that? It sounded like a firecracker, only much more intense with an echo, I think. Did I imagine that? Possibly.

Yeah, I probably did. A trick of my sick mind. I better fall back asleep-

"Did you hear that?!" Jeremy whisper-shouted, followed by a second pair of footsteps entering the room.

"Yup, I bet it was that fucking convoy," Carl replied, also whispering.

"Thanks for keeping it down guys, but I'm awake," I turned my body around on my side to face them, my vision a little blurry and my eyes no doubt resembling those of a crackhead.

"Oh..." Jeremy sighed, "S-so you heard that as well?"

"No shit, sherlock. Is that why you woke up?" Carl redirected at me, receiving a strained nod of approval from me.

"What... was that?" I muttered, attempting to prop myself up with my elbows.

"W-wait, you should lay down," Jeremy said, his point hitting like a hammer down a nail when a nasty headache made itself known in the majority of my cerebrum.

"A-ah, fuck. Yeah, you're right," I listened to him and stayed on the bed. All the while, Carl had gone around the room, checking through the several peepholes if he could spot where the sudden release of kinetic and heat energy originated.

"... Jeremy, how much time passed?" I asked, closing my eyes as sweat continued secreting from my pores, the warmth bordering on unbearable and tolerable.

"Uh... around an hour? Wait," he checked his mechanical wrist watch before looking back at me, "Around an hour, yeah," he was no sitting cross-legged beside my mattress, worry written all over his face.

I exhaled through my nose, air flowed through one nostril without an issue while the other was clogged. Now that I was awake, there was no way I could return to rest with that little issue.

"Jeremy..."

"Yes?"

"Could you get me those drops? The... the ones you spray up you nose, kinda like snorting a line," I chuckled at the comparison. Due to the blocked airway, it was accompanied by a few snores. If I had been in a better state, I would've found that embarrassing.

"Dro-? Ooooh, sure, one sec-"

"Guys," Carl's voice interrupted, stern and emotionless.

Our attention turned towards him, waiting for him to continue whatever he wanted to announce.

"I... I need you to remain calm, okay?" I had a bad feeling about this, don't tell me we were compromised! I was in no position to stand, let alone run. No, no, that could never happen. It will never happen, we are always careful.

"Shoot, what do you see... man?" I coughed, wearing a stupid grin when a funny thought passed by; there was this one mobile game where you had to send troops to destroy the enemy's three towers, and one of the emotes had the king laughing like a dummy.

"... Do you want me to break it to you slowly or...?" It's better to take off the bandage in one smooth go than drawing it out. It will sting like hell, but as quickly as it comes, it will go away.

"Lay it on me... man. What do you see?"

"Aliens."

...

Silence hung in the room like a piñata, begging to be smashed open with a bat.

So, I did just that.

I erupted into a wheezing mess, covering my mouth with my pillow in order to reduce the risk of infecting my comrades with whatever virus I'd caught.