“This is Chuck Madison broadcasting from Green Valley University,” my radio crackles to life.

Aaimina and Niko scoot in, crowding me, eager to hear what the voice on the radio says. It’s been a while since I was able to get a signal from here on the planet. I adjust the settings a little more, just so we can get clearer audio.

“Green Valley University, is a safe place. We have prevented the grubs from breaching the walls of our university. There are greenhouse gardens, and medical facilities. Being a university has provided us with a unique opportunity for survival. If you wish to be safe, make your way to Green Valley University,” Chuck’s message sounds positive, but there’s something ominous about it.

“I never got to go to university,” Niko says during one of Chuck’s pauses.

“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” Aaimina responds.

“I had a great time,” I shrug.

“Nerd,” she mumbles under her breath.

“I heard that.”

“I wanted you to.”

“Kids, stop acting up or you’re not getting any cake after dinner,” Niko says.

Chuck returns to the microphone, rushed. There’s a familiar banging in the background. The same banging on the last radio broadcast we heard. Chuck must be in trouble. I want to turn it off, but I need to know what’s out there.

“Don’t come to Green Valley,” Chuck says. “We’re not safe here. A group known as the Brotherhood of Diamonds has taken over. We have food, we have medical supplies but they’re not giving us enough to live. If you come here, they’ll rob you, abuse you and work you to death.”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

There’s a loud crashing sound. It’s clear the door was broken open as Chuck screams, never going off the air. “Don’t come here. The Brotherhood of Diamonds, they’ll kill us all if they have their way,” Chuck seems to be silenced with a heavy thump. Something must have hit him across the head. There’re several more thumping sounds that quickly turn to a squishing sound.

I turn off the radio, feeling like I already left it on for too long. It doesn’t take a genus to understand that Chuck just died. He got out his final message, a warning at the cost of his own life. Now I’m wondering if the scientist in the lab sent that message with the last moments of their own lives. What if we arrive at the lab only to find a bunch of dead people with no information. It’ll all be for nothing.

“Do you think we’ll ever get off this planet,” Niko asks.

“No, I think we need to start trying to make a new life here,” Aaimina responds grimly. “There’s supposed to be a rescue team coming, but who says they won’t just shoot us all and fly off to cover this up?”

“I didn’t know you could be so grim,” I respond.

“I’m not being grim. We’ve just been going through this longer than you have. You stull have hope and faith. You think heroes will come and save us all. You and Marshall are the big bad space marines we had hoped would come save us and look at you,” she holds out an open hand towards me.

“What does that mean,” I’m a little irritated.

“It means you’re stuck in the same shit as we are. You didn’t swoop down, and save us. You got trapped in the same madness as we did. You’re just as prone to snap at any moment as we are. You’re a great guy, but you’re not a hero.”

“I know I’m not a hero. But I also have fait that there’s a future for us that doesn’t involve running from grubs every day,” I respond.

“Oh, I think there’s life after this. I just don’t think we’ll find it on some ship full of soldiers coming in to save all of us.”

“I really don’t like when you two fight,” Niko speaks up. “It doesn’t really matter if the rescue team get us out of here or not. We just need to keep moving. When we stand still, that’s when all the bad thoughts start popping up. Sitting still, just means we’ve given up. It doesn’t matter if we chase after a rescue, or head outside the city and start our own civilization. We just can’t stop moving.”

Niko is right, we can’t keep sitting still. That means we need to get back in our rover and start moving. We’ll figure out what to do when we get the information. From there, we can move on to the rest of our lives.