She's on her last legs.
Two days have gone by, and the ship still hasn't quite made it to land. She knows more time hasn't passed, because she's only seen two sunsets. And that shouldn't be a problem for them. After all, even two whole days without food shouldn't be enough to kill them outright. That stretch of time is much worse on a child, and for that she feels nothing but remorse, even though none of this was her fault. But by all accounts, they ought to be fine, at least for now.
Or at least, that's how it should have been. But like all of the rest of her plans for this week, it seemed that the universe had other ideas.
It first started a day ago. She hadn't noticed it until it became too much to ignore. Itching, all over her body. Pain, tingling, redness, swelling. It wasn't long before her body felt like it was on fire, and not much longer before she couldn't sit still without scratching or squirming. Eventually, she realized her son was going through the same, and that scared her more than anything else.
And then her fear morphed into sheer terror when Joseph fell violently ill. Vomiting ensued, first of what little remained of the last meal he'd eaten...then of his own blood. Each wet heave just got redder and redder, until he was throwing up nothing but deep, dark crimson.
And then it started happening to her too.
Over the next set of hours, the two of them deteriorated. They withered and fatigued, spewing blood all over themselves in violent and sporadic bursts. Their skin grew damaged, turning unnatural and frightening colors. They lost feeling in their fingers, and bits of their hair began to fall out.
Soon enough she realized that, whatever it was that was happening to them, there was only one place it could possibly lead. And though the two them degenerated at an equal rate, it was Joseph who reached that place first. The pain and sickness grew too intense for him to bear. When the shuddering finally stopped and his eyes fell shut, his body went stiff and slack, and all of his movements ceased.
She remembers wanting to cry out. No, she remembers wanting to scream! So many emotions welled up inside of her in that last moment of loss, as she was forced to watch her son's life fade away.
But she couldn't do any of those things. Because she just didn't have the energy anymore. The tears fell silently from her eyes as she laid there, too drained and helpless to even cradle the boy's body in her arms.
"Dinah..."
A voice echoes in her head. It doesn't belong to her. She tries to ignore it.
"Dinah."
She shakes her head. It's not enough that she's about to die in the most awful and undignified way she could possibly think of, or that she just had to watch her own son succumb to the same fate. Now she's going crazy. Hearing voices that aren't there.
"You're not crazy, Dinah. Wake up."
The voice is in her head. Maybe if she defies it mentally, it'll go away?
'I don't want to. Leave me alone.'
"You're going to die, you know."
'Then let me die.'
"What if I don't? What if I choose to let you live instead?"
That stops her. But only for a moment.
'I'm not interested. Don't bother.'
"...Are you sure?"
'Yes.'
"No, I don't think you are. I think you're letting your....emotions cloud your judgment."
'Look, whoever you are, just leave me alone. I'm in enough pain as it is without you ******* with--'
She turns over and vomits again. Barely anything comes out, but her body doesn't seem to want to accept that. It keeps trying to make her expel more than she has. Why the hell can't she just die already?
The voice waits until she's done before it speaks again.
"You are in pain. Anyone in your position would be. Acute radiation sickness is one of the more unfortunate things that mankind is responsible for, and you and your son happen to have run into an especially horrible case of it."
At the mention of her son, she comes deathly close to crying again. But she pulls herself together again. She doesn't know why she's trying to hold back now. What does she even have to lose?
"Nothing. You have nothing left to lose. New York is gone, and your friends, your colleagues and even your husband are gone with it--"
...And that does it. She can't stop herself anymore. Tears stream down her face against her will as the truth of those words hit home. Everything she had to live for is gone now. Even her husband, who she might not have been the nicest to that week, but she had loved all the same.
All at once, she feels so much regret. Her last words to him had been in anger. She had yelled at him, for his apparent neglect of his responsibilities and his constant visits to that stupid bar, and the argument had ended with her telling him she outright how close she was to a divorce. If she'd known those would have been the last words she'd ever say to him, she might have kept them to herself. She'd have kept all of it to herself. She--
"--But I can fix some of that."
The words stop her again, this time legitimately. What's that supposed to mean?
"It means exactly what it sounds like."
And then another voice joins his. Except this time, she recognizes it immediately.
"Mommy?"
'...Joseph?'
"Mommy, you should listen to him. He wants to help us."
Something in his voice is different. He sounds the same as he always did, but the way he speaks to her has changed, like he's speaking from a place of knowledge instead of curiosity.
"Open your eyes, Mommy."
She does. And then she realizes she's no longer alone.
All around the ship, there are strange and vaguely human figures made of some unknown substance. They stand at different heights, some tall, some short, some in-between. All of them have the same statuesque body language, but there's a sense of life in them, strange and incomprehensible but ever-present all the same.
And then she realizes, through instincts she can't explain, that each of them was human once.
The voice returns.
"This world is doomed. Even as we speak, it's destroying itself. These are some of the people I've chosen to save. I'm taking them with me to a different world. A better one."
'Why?'
The question escapes her before she can stop it.
"Because you've all grown on me. I think you deserve a better hand than what you've been dealt."
Several of the figures step forward to surround her. They reach down towards her, as if to lift her to her feet. But they don't lift her at all. They simply make contact.
That's when the changes begin. All across her body, she feels something spread, like waves of emotion made physical and real. It drives back all of the pain and nausea and stills the neurosis along with it. All at once, she feels different. Better. Less limited.
The figures step back, allowing her the chance to stand to her feet. The voice speaks to her as she does.
"Better step lively, now. I'm expecting some drastic changes in these environs, and it'll be better for you if you're not here when they take place. I could survive those changes quite nicely, but you might have some difficulties. And I wouldn't want you to succumb before you can enjoy the benefits of your new body."
New...body?
She looks down and almost jumps in surprise at what she sees. Her entire body has changed from head to toe to match those of the figures around her. Her flesh is unrecognizable. It's like she's become someone else.
No, not someone. Something.
"Come on now. It's time to go. You'll have all the time in the world to marvel at yourself once you're off this dying rock."
Something opens up in the air near the bow of the ship. At first it looks like a fissure, a wound in reality, but then something clicks in her mind and she recognizes it as a gateway. A gateway to somewhere else. The figures turn and begin walking in its direction, leaving the ship behind on their way to someplace better.
So many questions still plague her mind, but she forces herself to shove them aside. She's been given a second chance. She doesn't know why, or what she's done to deserve it, but she's not going to waste it asking questions that don't matter. The voice says this world is doomed. She can make her inquiries later, once she's gone to wherever this--
[Person? Thing? Being?]
--plans on taking her.
A small set of fingers slips into her hand and takes hold, followed by another, larger one that grasps her free palm. She doesn't look in either direction. She doesn't have to. As soon as they appear, she knows immediately who they belong to.
With her family in tow, she follows the other figures into the portal, stepping past its boundary and leaving the world behind.