Survivor

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the words: boot, cold, stairway

Survivor

The foggy exhale hung for an eternity before eventually dissipating into the thin Martian air. Everything happened in slow motion out in the colonies. Hiding under the front porch of her habitat, the young woman wished it would all just hurry up and end.

With a “clunk”, a boot stepped down onto the short stairway leading from the front door. Maggie willed herself to stop shivering in spite of the cold, certain that her chattering teeth would give her away.

She considered just giving up. There would be nothing left anyway once the Raiders had completed their devastation. That was how it was with the Out-worlders. Little was known about them other than their apparent policy of “take everything and leave no survivors.” One Martian colony after another had been hit. No one had ever lived to tell the tale. The Raiders had taken on a myth-like status; larger than life monsters that popped in and out of existence as they wished. 

Soon only the heavily armed mining conglomerates would remain. There was talk of arming the farming communities as well but, in the end, it was never more than just talk.

The boot became a leg as it made its way into her field of vision. The leg became – No! It couldn’t be!

Molly clasped her hand over her own mouth to prevent an audible gasp from escaping. Her initial surprise was slowly replaced by a boiling anger. She no longer felt the cold. Gone were any thoughts of surrender. 

Molly knew she must survive. The world must know the truth about the Raiders. 

She watched as the shuttle lifted off. The colony was in ruins but all her mind’s eye could see was the door of that shuttle; the one bearing the logo of Mars Amalgamated Mining Company.