I felt damp. It also smelt horrible. I had a massive headache and my face felt caked in something. I tried to remember what happened. I vaguely remember seeing the creatures face and falling on my back but not much else. It looked like a behemoth of a monster and that alone scared me. I had to figure out where I was and how to get back to the research center. It was safer, or at least I think so. After what happened I don’t think it is anymore.

I tried to move but the headache made me have to lay back to rest a little longer. It was pitch black and not a single amount of light was anywhere. I tried to think of where I was. If I was in an area with little to no light, I could be near the Atrium or under the research section of the ship. I tried calling Yuri using the computer inside my head but couldn’t get an answer. It kept ringing for 5 minutes and I was feeling disheartened thinking he might have been killed by the Behemoth. I started moving trying to figure out where I was. I needed to find a map. Maps are posted near the stairways and the entrance or exit of every major room. I was near a wall so I could at least try to find a stairway or door. I checked myself real quick to see what I had, or at least feel what I had. I didn’t have my gun anymore. That was for sure. I still had the vest that held my magazines though the magazines were gone. My flash light was gone as well as the tools and the multi tool I just picked up. If I had the tools, I could’ve gotten access to the AI room or the engineering room. At that point I could’ve reactivated the system and gotten myself put back to sleep. Of course that all changed once the creature appeared.

I continued along the wall and bumped into a few pipes and vent access points here and there. I almost fail down what felt like a service shaft before I saved myself. Just from what I’ve bumped into, I could be in the engineering spaces. If so then the creatures nest might be down here. If all the levels are this dark, I’m in for a long way back to the research center. Best bet would be to head to the hanger bay. The hanger bay had multiple large glass windows about 2 meters deep that one could look through. It wouldn’t give much if any light at all but it would be something. If the ships inside or anything could be illuminated then it would help in seeing around the area. I had it mapped pretty well in my head and hoped my sense of direction inside wouldn’t be fucked up. I walked onward hoping id run into a door by now but never found one. Where the hell was I? I started going through a mental layout in my head when I started walking on dirt. I was dumbfounded at first, confused as to how there is dirt on this ship. Then I remembered the Colonization room had it. Some of the machines required dirt to work and activate for its sensors and the builders thought it would be easier to just bring some dirt instead of changing up the sensors on the equipment. It was a bit archaic but the equipment could work for hundreds of years with no issues.

I walked around bumping into equipment and pipes when I finally found a doorway. I opened the door but seemed to have found a supply closet. The sound was muted inside and did not have the echo some of the other rooms or spaces had. I tripped on what felt like a mop and nearly smashed my face against a wall. I felt around the area and found a panel of some kind. It might have been a power switch. I flipped the breakers. If power wasn’t going to this section then I shouldn’t have to worry about anything turning on. I flipped the first one and heard a buzzing coming from it. I turned that one off right away. The second one didn’t have any reaction once I turned it on. The third and fourth one made a weird noise happen in the distance. The fifth one gave me hope. Flipping it on turned on the light in my little room. I could actually see what I was messing with. But it was short lived. Looking down I saw what I had tripped over. It was a dead woman. I flipped her over and saw her face. It was Arlette Jackson. She was the senior medical officer onboard our ship. She looked like she had been dead for some time. That would explain the horrid smell of decay. But the next question is how many dead filled the room… I saw the breakers. The ones I turned on earlier were water generators. The one below the closet light wasn’t marked yet I was curious. I flipped it to see what it turned on.

“PSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-”

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. That was the intercom….

The last one was the light for the main room. I flipped the switch and looked into the Colonization room. It was ghastly. The red lights were all that turned on. All I could see was blood. I saw the area where I thought I was laying and the dirt was a deep red. Bodies were all over the place. I gagged understanding now what I was covered in. I held it back and looked for an exit. I saw a doorway on the far side of the room, to my left or right looked like more storage closets or machinery rooms. I just happened to pick the one with the power panel in it. Lucky me…

I started moving forward towards the door when I heard quick taps like something running nearby. I got down low and stayed quiet expecting the behemoth to come running in even though the sounds coming did not have the same weight to it. What I saw confused me at first. It came running into the room but it wasn’t a large creature with a deer head for a mask. It was a little taller than a human, at about 8’ and from the lighting, looked like a pinkish color to its skin tone. A humanoid like creature but all wrong. It was on the far side of the room and came through the door I was hoping to go through. It was very skinny with elongated arms and legs. The hands were claw like with long nails. The unnerving part about it was it did not have a jaw.

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It stopped right after the door way and looked around the room. I was on the far side of the room near the storage closets still so it couldn’t see me in the dim light. If it’s been storing things in here though it was pitch black before I showed up, it could be something that navigates by sound and smell. It let out a scream and charged towards the center of the room. Its tongue was hanging from the roof of its mouth flopping here and there. It stopped at one of the bodies and just looked at it for a moment.

“No! Don’t touch me! NO!” He made me nearly yelp hearing him yell like that. I didn’t know what to do or how strong the creature was. That was answered right away. The creature got down on its knees and snapped the passenger’s femur in two. It went methodically cracking and breaking all of the man’s bones all while he was screaming in pure agony. After the first snap I had to look away. All I could think of was my wife, hoping and praying she wasn’t one of the bodies in the piles. It lasted for 5 minutes before the creature crushed the man’s skull. I slowly moved towards the door way hoping others wouldn’t come in. I honestly hoped the blood of the newly killed person masked my smell. I was about twenty feet from the entrance when I heard more footsteps. A group of three came barreling into the room. Each one was similar looking to the other with little differences in looks. Two of them looked feminine and the third I just couldn’t tell. That one was missing an arm and looked like it was limping. The other two started chittering and moving towards the bodies while the one with the limp just stood by looking around. They may have been alerted by the man’s screams. I inched forward towards the door and made it through. I brought out an internal map, it didn’t say where I was but knowing I was in the radar/colony room, I had an idea of where I was at and needed to go on the map. If I take a left I could find a stairway that would lead down to the hanger bay. I might be able to find something to defend myself while I navigate the ship. I started walking down the hall to the stair way and saw the captains quarters on the right side. If I could access that, I might find something useful.

The door had no power going to it but it looked ajar. Like something was trying to break in. It was bent inward like someone had tried to pry it open with a tool. I started moving it aside to get-

BRR BRR BRR

The ringing in my head stunned me for a moment. Whenever one talks through the computers, they do not have to be audible about it. Some people speak out of habit and naturalness but most end up just speaking in their heads. The computer can pick up the thoughts and transmit them audibly to the other party. I answered.

“James! Are you OK?” It was Yuri, thankfully he was alive.

“I’m here, though I’ve lost my weapons.”

“Where are you? You have been gone for two days!”

Pardon me?

“I am near the Colony room, but what do you mean? My internal clock still says the 22nd.”

“Well when it hit you it might have knocked your brain loose or something because it’s definitely the 24th man. What is in the CR?” My Mind was filled with questions wondering what was going on but I knew now was not the time.

“It was… filled with unpleasant things. That creature we saw, it’s not the only one.” I thought back to the man and the creature breaking all of his bones one by one.

“What do you mean? Are their others?”

“Y-yes, something doesn’t feel right about them either.” Something truly didn’t feel right at all. I didn’t have the same dreadful feeling albeit it was there. But I felt off, like something was gnawing at my mind. The one that was limping didn’t seem like the others.

“I am still in the research section. I’ll try to come get you!”

“No, don’t come down, I’ll work my way up! It’s too dangerous to even come near.” I didn’t want to risk losing a friend after seeing what happened, especially after what we had been through. The only choice I had was to go to him. It seemed he wouldn’t back down though.

“I don’t care. I’m coming and well meet up in the middle. Head to your room, I was able to get a list of everyone’s rooms and will meet you at yours.” Looks like I had no choice.

“Yuri, what happened upstairs?” Too late, the call was cut off. If he was coming down from the research section, he would have to make it through the crew lounge and then navigate the maze of rooms to mine.

I continued trying to open the Captain's cabin to see what I could scavenge from inside. The door creaked and groaned with each burst of pressure I pushed against it. I finally got the door open. No red lights were present in the room. I worked on a panel in here once before and slightly remember the layout. From the front door, the main compartment had the Captain's desk and with manuals and such in a shelf beside him a few steps after you walked in. In the back right corner, his personal cryopod and what I was really looking for, an emergency kit.

Each kit had an assortment of survival gear in it. A flashlight, two first aid kits, a knife, batteries, enough MRE's to last a week, and a small bag to hold it all.

I walked towards the corner with the kit tripping over a chair but righting myself just before I knocked my head against the desk. Moving my hands across the wall I found the box. I found the flashlight inside but nothing else. It was either already looted or poorly stocked before hand. Turning on the light shown it was already looted by someone. Shining the light on the empty cryopod confirmed my suspicions of the Captain having searched through it already. I searched through the rest of his rooms and found a safe but could not find the combo. With my search through the Captain's cabin completed I quietly left the room.

Heading towards the security checkpoint leading to the main crew cabins, I heard more footsteps. It was one of the trio that ran into the room. It was the limping one. It stopped in front of the door and just stared at it. I couldn’t tell what it was doing at first. But then I heard a soft sound coming from it. It was… weeping? It sounded like a soft cry was coming from it. I just stood in place hoping it wouldn’t notice me. I couldn’t really move anywhere if it was right there! I crammed myself into a corner trying to keep as much of me hidden as possible but still see what was happening.