The impact had been violent, throwing Liam and Milo across the cabin as the ship crumpled against the asteroid's unforgiving surface. Dust and debris settled slowly, leaving the pair to survey the devastation. Liam groaned, pulling himself free from a tangle of wires and metal. Milo, his face pale and twisted with pain, clutched his side. "Is the comms system still functional?" he asked, his voice barely audible over the crackling of small fires. Liam shook his head grimly. "It's all fried. We're stuck here, Milo."

The days bled into one another, each more grueling than the last. Liam and Milo fell into a rhythm of survival, rationing their dwindling supplies. Liam scavenged tirelessly, his hands raw and cracked from the unforgiving terrain, while Milo grew weaker by the day. "If we don't find a way off this rock soon, we're done for," Milo said one evening, his voice a shadow of its former strength. Liam nodded, staring into the fire. "We have to keep trying," he replied, though the words felt hollow in the vast emptiness surrounding them.

The sickness had come swiftly, robbing Milo of his strength. Liam sat by his side, tending to him as best he could with their meager supplies. The fire crackled softly, a fragile warmth against the encroaching cold. "You need to save yourself," Milo gasped, clutching Liam's arm with a weak grip. "When I'm gone, use what you can." Liam's heart twisted at the words, but he nodded, the promise of survival outweighing the horror of the act. "I promise," he whispered, the words a bitter oath to the silence around them.

Liam stared at the horizon, the asteroid's surface a never-ending wasteland under the vastness of space. Milo lay still beside him, his breathing shallow and uneven, each rasp a reminder of the inevitable. "Hold on, Milo," Liam muttered, though he knew the words were futile. The silence pressed in around him, heavy and suffocating, as he fought to cling to hope.

Milo's breath was a whisper in the stillness, and Liam felt the weight of his friend's life slipping away. The promise he'd made loomed large in his mind, a grim testament to their shared desperation. "I'll do what I must," Liam said, his voice breaking in the darkness. "For both of us."

Liam surveyed the barren land, his resolve hardened by the night's events. Alone now, he faced the harsh reality of survival, his heart heavy with loss but steeled by the promise of life. As he turned from the cold ashes and began to walk, the silence of the asteroid surrounded him, a constant companion on his solitary journey.