My Husband and Son Gave My Escape Pod to the Prophet

"Push the last twenty crates of anti-infection meds into the void space, now!" I shouted, shoving the heavy steel boxes toward the shimmering tear in the air.

The red emergency strobes on Haven-7's evacuation platform bathed everything in the color of fresh blood.

A deafening crunch echoed from the perimeter.

"The Black Tide just breached the outer wall!" Caleb yelled. He dropped his hands from a bleeding guard's chest. A faint green glow faded from Caleb's palms, leaving his face the color of chalk. He swayed, catching himself on a railing.

I sealed the spatial tear, locking the medicine safely inside my personal dimension.

For two years, I had bled for this base, using my spatial ability to stockpile four hundred eighty crates of medicine and twelve tons of compressed rations. I had secured our survival.

Today, only three Ark Pods remained on the launch track.

Three seats out of this hellhole.

I spun toward the control console. Marcus stood there, his knuckles white around the silver access badge.

"Marcus, the perimeter is gone," I said, marching up the metal stairs. "Initiate the launch sequence. Caleb needs a pod, and we take the other two."

Marcus didn't move. He stared at the silver access badge in his palm, then looked over my shoulder.

Seraphina stood behind him, clutching a thick wool blanket around her fragile shoulders. She shivered, though the platform was sweltering from the fires outside.

"I saw the future, Marcus," Seraphina whispered. Her voice barely carried over the sirens, yet it commanded his absolute attention. "If I stay here, the resistance dies. You have to take me with you."

I froze. My gaze snapped between my husband and the trembling woman behind him.

"Take her?" I asked, stepping closer. "There are three pods. One for you, one for me, one for Caleb. That was the evacuation protocol we agreed on."

"Plans change, Evelyn," Marcus said. He finally met my eyes, his expression unnervingly calm.

"She isn't base personnel," I snapped. "She hasn't contributed a single ounce of food or medicine. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into that spatial vault for us."

"And we are grateful," Marcus replied.

Grateful. The word tasted like ash.

"Grateful doesn't put me in a pod, Marcus. Open the hatches."

Caleb dragged himself up the stairs, clutching his ribs. "Commander, the Tide is swarming Sector Four. We have less than three minutes."

Marcus stepped in front of the console, blocking my path to the authorization scanner. "Caleb gets Pod One. I take Pod Two."

He stopped.

The silence between us felt heavier than the concrete walls crumbling outside.

"And Pod Three?" I demanded.

Seraphina pulled the blanket tighter. "I am sorry, Evelyn. The visions are absolute."

"Shut up," I told her, keeping my eyes locked on my husband. "Marcus. Tell me you are not giving my seat to her."

"Evelyn, be reasonable," Marcus said. He raised his chin. "You are the strongest out of all of us. Your spatial abilities give you a fighting chance out there."

A harsh laugh tore from my throat. "A fighting chance? Against the Black Tide? It dissolves flesh on contact!"

"You can hide in your void space."

"I can only hold it open for ten minutes at a time! You know that!" I slammed my hand onto the console. "I fed this base. I kept your soldiers alive. I am your wife."

"Which is exactly why you need to understand my position," he said, his tone hardening. "Seraphina is the Oracle. Humanity needs her foresight to win this war. You are a fighter, Evelyn. You survive. It's what you do."

He was weaponizing my resilience. Because I never complained, because I always carried the heaviest burden, he deemed me expendable.

"You are sacrificing me," I said, my voice dropping to a deadly calm.

"I am making a tactical decision for the future of our species," Marcus countered.

"You're saving your new favorite pet," I spat, gesturing at Seraphina. "Don't dress up your betrayal as martyrdom."

"Watch your mouth," Marcus snapped. "She is vital to the cause."

"And I'm just the pack mule," I said. "The one who starves so you can eat. The one who fights so you can play commander."

Caleb coughed violently, spitting dark blood onto the grating. "Marcus, you can't leave Evelyn. She has all the supplies in her vault. If she stays, the supplies stay."

Marcus frowned, a flicker of irritation crossing his face. "Evelyn, transfer the vault access to me."

I stared at him. For one stunned second, the sheer audacity of his demand left me speechless.

"Are you insane?" I asked.

"Transfer the supplies, Evelyn. We need them to establish the new settlement."

"You want the supplies?" I asked, stepping right into his space. "The medicine I stole from the warlords in Sector Four? The rations I hauled across the irradiated zone while you sat in this command center?"

"I commanded those missions," he shot back. "Your abilities belong to this base. To me."

"My abilities belong to me," I said. "And if I die, the void space collapses. The supplies vanish into nothing."

Marcus stepped closer, towering over me. "Then you better figure out how to survive. Like you always do."

"You promised me," I whispered, the weight of his betrayal finally cracking my composure. "When we married, you promised we would face the end together."

"I am saving humanity, Evelyn. Stop making this about your petty feelings."

"Petty feelings?" I shoved his chest, hard. He barely moved. "I gave you everything!"

"And I am asking for one last sacrifice," he said.

The heavy steel doors of the platform buckled inward with a groan of tortured metal. A horrific screech tore through the air, vibrating in my teeth. The Black Tide was chewing through the final titanium barrier. Black, viscous sludge seeped beneath the doorframe, hissing violently as it ate into the floorboards. Noxious smoke curled upward, smelling of rusted iron and burnt ozone.

"Marcus!" Seraphina cried out, shrinking against the console. "They're here! The swarm is breaking through!"

"Hold the line, Evelyn," Marcus ordered, pointing at the melting door. "Use your spatial shields to buy us time."

"Buy you time to leave me behind?" I asked, staring at the man I had loved for five years. "You want me to cover your escape?"

"It is your duty!" he roared.

"My duty was to my team. To my husband. Both of which are dead to me now."

Marcus shoved me aside. The force of his push caught me off guard, sending my shoulder crashing into the sharp edge of the railing. Pain flared down my arm.

"I don't have time to argue with you," Marcus said.

He turned to the main terminal. The screen displayed the three authorized passengers.

Caleb. Marcus. Evelyn.

Marcus tapped the screen. He highlighted my name.

"What are you doing?" I asked, pushing myself off the railing.

"Ensuring our survival," he replied.

He dragged his finger across the screen, crossing my name out.

My name vanished from the manifest. A harsh buzzer sounded, locking me out of the launch sequence.

"Marcus, no!" Caleb yelled, stumbling forward, but his weakened legs gave out, and he collapsed to his knees.

"Caleb, get in Pod One before I revoke your clearance too," Marcus ordered, not even looking back.

Marcus turned away from the console, holding the silver access badge up to the flickering red lights.

He pressed the badge firmly into Seraphina's trembling hand.