Andromeda: The Last Descendants

Ch. 21

One tear falls before more follow. They are all dead, all of them. In all 7 colonies, thousands of humans were wiped out by this incurable disease.

"I failed them. I couldn't make the antidote in time to save anyone. They are all dead. Thousands of our people are dead because I couldn't find the missing piece. It's all my fault."
My heart shatters as I think about the children on that ship falling to the fate of that wretched plague.

Arms grip me, pulling my body into their warm embrace. The goosebumps that rise on my arms from the graze of their touch have me knowing exactly who it is. "What's wrong? I feel your distress. Something is broken. How do I fix it? Do I need to take you to your magical healer machine?" He grips my face to look into his eyes, but the tears in my own blur my vision. All I see is a distorted tanned face with purple blobs, although I feel the fear he holds deep inside him.
"Nicole, what happened to her? She has a clear substance leaking from her eyes. Is it a sign of that sickness that the old-looking man talked about on her device?"

"No, Aislear, she's just crying. Those are called tears. She is saddened by the news of our race being almost completely extinct. Do you not cry?"

His grip tightens on me as if to cage me in from any potential harm like the thought of someone harming me in this room was a high chance. "I have not leaked from my eyes since my first breath as a youngling. It's not customary for Azurians to shed water from their eyes. You are seen as weak when you do."

"Crying is not weak, it shows that you feel emotions, that you care. Lyla has always cared too much. That's why we didn't want her to know, to protect her from this hurt. But her stubbornness is too strong for her to protect herself from the pain." Her hand comes to touch my shoulder that's shaking with sobs when a growl rumbles in Az's chest vibrating my face that's tucked against him.

"Stop growling at me or I will muzzle you like a dog, I'm just trying to help her too." She bites out before a soothing tone takes over. "Lyla, it's not your fault. I know you hold this ordeal closer to your heart after what happened to your mother, but it was never your responsibility to find the cure. Everyone thought that the Plague wasn't going to return, it was only you who believed it would. Because of you, there was more research done and they found that it mutated because of it and that it turned airborne. No one knows how it came back, but at least we were able to make it out alive thanks to your teacher Doctor Pete. He wanted us to leave, that's why he contacted us because he knew that you were on this ship and you would be the one to save us. He believed in your work."

I pull my face from Az's chest to look at her, "But I still haven't found that missing piece."

A vulnerability shines in her eyes as if the thought of her saying the wrong thing will break me and in turn break her. "You will. You are stubborn and never give up on something you put your mind to. That's why you are my friend because when I want to give up you never allow me to. Why do you think I always want you in the tech lab with me?"

I let out a laugh at that before my mind catches on to something. "Your family, they were on Colony X and everyone else...."

She nods, "Yeah I know. I've had time to cope with all of that. They are gone, but I still have you and the Commander who's always been like a bonus dad. So, I ain't truly alone in this vast world." That's why she's been so attached to me when she ain't working. I'm all she has left.

I pull Az's arms off of me and envelope her in a hug. "I'm sorry for your loss, did you at least get to say goodbye?"

"No, communication was fully cut off per your father's orders and the Colony was on full lockdown. No messages went through except for the emergency ones like the President's broadcast. Everyone was going into cryo-sleep to prepare for long travels and we were trying to move quickly since we didn't know exactly how the virus was traveling." My heart hurts thinking about how she and everyone else didn't get to say goodbye to their loved ones. It makes me feel awful for being able to say goodbye to my mother when she didn't get the chance to.

Az's hand comes in contact with my back easing the pain in my chest as the warmth of his touch seeps into my skin. Nicky squeezes me firmly before she holds me at arm's length, "Don't feel bad Lyla. I know what you are thinking and I have had time to cope with everything. I believe my mom and dad would want me to be happy and live my best life. They wouldn't want to fall into the same fate as them. And just them knowing that I wasn't there to see the fate they befalled to made them happy. That's what I believe so you don't have to feel any guilt. And you have a right to be sad at this moment but I don't want you beating yourself up about it. None of the events that came to our people were because of you. You didn't cause the events on earth, you were six years old when that happened it was our ancestors before us that caused the damage. And what happened 768 years ago wasn't yours either. No one knows how that came about but it wasn't you. If it makes you happy you can continue working on that cure. None of us will get in your way. And if you want to just drop it all then that's okay as well. What will honor our people is by living your best life? So live for Lyla and not anyone else."

"You became too wise," I mumble.

She smiles at seeing my dried-up tears, "Well I did get to live an extra 3 years more than you. We might technically be 788, but you are still 20. I'm technically 23."

"Dammit." I groan. Now she's older than me. She's now taller and older than I am. So much for being the older sister in this friendship.

We all sat there in thought processing everything that happened. I don't know how I'm going to approach my father on this topic without blowing it out of proportion. I don't even know what I'm going to do about the antidote. Doctor Pete wanted me to continue the research, but is it even worth it anymore? My mind buzzes with thought after thought. Tears flow one moment and then they're dry the next. But each time one slips Az will wipe it away before kissing me on the cheek. He hasn't left my side since my breakdown. Anytime my heart starts to hurt in grief he will rub my chest and hold me close to him. I guess this is his own way to support me in my time of need. It oddly helps though. The pain eases while still allowing me to relieve my feelings. Maybe we need to learn this method because it helps greatly. I don't feel the brokenness that grief brings. Instead, I still feel sad but at the same time whole. Like a part of him is blanketing my heart protecting me from the hurt I feel.

As the day turns to night I watch from the corner of my window as everyone starts heading to their tents. It's as if everyone isn't affected by the pain of loss our race has endured. I guess that's the time gap between them and me. They had more time to cope with this mass tragedy. Now I will need to move on as well because nothing I do will be able to bring them back. "So we are the last descendants of earth." I softly voice.

Nicky lying across the book nook opposite of me pulls her attention from the woods as she looks at what I'm looking at. "Yes, we are."
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