“Just hungry,” Sophie responded. “Pay no attention to me.” She continued on and began clawing through the contents of the cupboards as if she hadn’t eaten in days.

She retrieved a box of prepackaged meals without reading the label. The faint scent of bacon coming from a half-open package was enough. She tore into it, grabbed several of the bars, and jammed one into her mouth, chewing rapidly.

The more she ate, the hungrier she got. Soon, her throat was begging for water. She opened the cooler behind her, snagged one of the bottled waters, and gulped it down. Excess water ran freely down her white shirt. The thought of wasting a dwindling resource didn’t faze her. She drank until the entire bottle was gone and her shirt was drenched.

Sophie coughed and took in a few breaths through her nose before plopping another two bacon bars into her mouth. With every bite, the hunger grew. It seemed insatiable.

A crack rang out in the distance. She froze, a half-eaten bar still lodged in her mouth. Another bang followed a few seconds later, and she spit the chunk of food into an automatic trash dispenser next to the cooler. She tiptoed into the dimly lit mess hall and saw the silhouettes of Bouma and Overton standing with their rifles pointed at the entrance to Biome 4.

“What is it?” she whispered.

Overton ignored her.

Sophie flinched and put on her headset. The banging sound shattered the silence again. “Guess your device didn’t work after all,” Bouma said.

“Alexia, what are your sensors showing?” Sophie asked.

There was no response, just the sound of static over the airways.

The banging got louder and then subsided. They waited for several agonizing minutes for the sound to return. An eerie silence filled the room. Maybe the device had kicked on after all and confused the Organics. Sophie couldn’t be sure, and that bothered her. Whatever the case, the sound was gone.

Her stomach growled, reminding her that she was still starving. She glanced over her shoulder at the kitchen. “Do you think it’s safe?” she asked.

No response. She whipped her head around to look at the Marines.

They were gone.

“Sergeant Overton? Corporal Bouma?” she whispered.

Her eyes darted around the room, searching for them, but the space was empty.

She froze, suddenly feeling completely isolated and alone. Fear gripped her and she wanted to run back to her quarters where Emanuel slept.

Her feet, however, wouldn’t budge. In the corner of the chamber, where the passage led to Biome 3, she could see a faint blue glow. She squinted and watched the glow become more intense.

Not again, please not again.

Sophie blinked several times, hoping that the glow was nothing more than an optical illusion and that Overton and Bouma would be back. At this point, she’d be happy to be hallucinating. She closed her eyes and counted to ten.