Phobos

We are drifting somewhere outside of the Andromeda System. When I say we I mean those of us left on the SS Phobos.

I remember once looking out in awe at the wonders of space. It was the first time I sat on the bridge of our ship with Clark and we were alone.

We dropped a tab of Acid and watched as the nebulae exploded through the dark abyss of space. It was like I had watched the birth of the universe in that moment.

When I was a girl I'd sit in the sky garden terrace and watch the stars all night. All I wanted was to explore space. I threw everything away for this chance.

No one on the crew blamed me, when they heard my stories of a war torn Shanghai acted as late-night ghost stories for the children.

I swear on that night watching clouds of colour drift across cosmos, I was right back there on the rooftop garden feeling the rain hit my face and body.

I remember that night well, 10,000 people on this ship and right then and there I felt like it was just me and Clark. I remember struggling with an invasion of colour and sound brought on by the LSD. Clark had said he'd found an old biker recipe for acid and wanted to try it out. Seemed like a good idea, but then after 5 years in the empty vacuum of space and anything will begin to sound like a good idea.

I guess that's how we ended up fucking in the theatre suite, and then watching re-runs of shows from the last 400 years. Looking back it seemed like the perfect moment, laying in his arms as we watched some ancient show called Judge Judy.

But then that's when we heard the signal, somehow we had ran into some interference. A fierce trembling seemed to overcome the ship.

Isaac are captain had told us that we had hit what remained of a solar flare and that the turbulence would stop shortly.

But then the sound came, distant first.

Then it came as clear as day.

Clark and I, assumed it was the remaining LSD coursing through our system.

Rumours circulated that the ship's AI system had needed resetting.

As though it were as simple as changing the batteries in a smoke alarm, though I'm not even sure what that means. It was something my grandmother always said in times of stress.

After 6 days of hearing the faint whistle ring out in our ears we knew that this was something else.

Clark came to my pod late one night his head was bleeding. I didn't acknowledge the possibility we were in danger but instead sought only to tend to his wounds.

Clark however new there was no time, he said with such certainty. Though I hadn't quite come to, still feeling the effects of the sleeping tablets the only way to get any sleep since the signal came.

Not only is the noise constant but it brings with it a feeling of nausea and general paranoia that lurks just on the back of your mind.

As my ears adjusted to the flurry of new sounds, I noticed despite the fact that Clark was yelling over the sound of the Ship's alarm system I could still hear that ringing in my ears.

He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of my room, I tried to keep up as he dashed down the corridors of living quarters.

I was quickly finding out why we were in such a hurry, bodies mangled and distorted lay lifeless on the floor.

They looked like the had been attacked by an army of brutes. I could see bones that had pierced the skin. Chunks of flesh that had been gouged out from the softer parts of the human body.

I was a doctor and I knew the symptoms death when I saw them. But there was something else in the air.

A feeling of unrelenting ecstacy filled out air. It was a sensation like no other. Euphoric pleasures festered under my skin.

Once somewhere safe, Clark informed me on the details, something was infecting people on the ship. He had been working in the chemistry suite, trying to discover new ways of extending what we had. He had been working when he got the call from his wife. Though he struggled he told me what her last words were and then he heard the gun shots. And with that Clark knew his family were gone.

Then he said things began to escalate.

A civil war had erupted in a matter of moments. People using any means necessary to slaughter their fellow man.

He nearly vomitted as he described in vague detail what happened to the nursery Suite. Only I did vomit when I saw what remained.

Those that weren't infected scurried to shelter. Even we found shelter in one of the many canteens on the ship. We had a small group of people not infected. Ryan and his family came first, though his husband did seem to be acting odd. Then Lucinda and Eve pushed there way in, mother and daughter from the rich end of the ship. Then finally came Mika, a young silent girl from down the corridor from me.

Though Clark was hesitant to allow others security, probably due to horrors he saw during the first few moments of collapse. I convinced him to allow them a chance.

We shared horror stories of what we had experienced on our quest to safety. Part from the children and Mika, though Mika hardly ever spoke so this was no surprise.

That first night I stayed up trying my best to understand what afflicting my peers.

I was able to overwrite a computer and check the security cameras. I checked all the feeds until I came across old man Pearson.

A disabled man who helped run the chapel on the ship, when I first saw him I first concluded he was was either already dead or a sleep. I was about to switch feeds when his body twitched.

The way his body twitched wasn't human, his arms moved in a robotic way that would have torn his ligaments.

When I zoomed in I found that he had ripped out his own tongue. I couldn't believe it but there was no sign that anyone else had been in the room.

And his hands were dark with blood.

I watched him for hours and noted every violent tick , every time he puked I tried to make sense of what might cause such symptoms.

At one point I had tried to listen to the audio from the room. But listening to his manic cries was too much.

Clark came in the early hours of the morning to check on me. I ignored his comments about my appearance.

He said he wanted to check his family, I felt guilty how I'd helped him cheat on his wife. A wife he convinced to leave her home behind so he could explore space.

I told him to stay, but he left me alone with the others.

Clark was gone for hours, when people became aware of his disappearance they began to point fingers at me.

They found me casually staring at the computer screen and assumed the worst. That I had succumbed to the plague that infected are vessel.

Lucinda was the first to suggest setting me on fire. Whilst Ryan the more rational of the group suggested they quarantine me.

It's one of the kids to my surprise that informs the group that I'm a ship medic. And whilst the paranoia faded it soon was directed to the silent Mika.

It seemed ludicrous when Eve suggested the young teenager who sat silently reading an old magazine from the 22nd century was infected.

Even the accused Mika looked shocked, a vacant stare that urged twenty something Eve to be reasonable.

But then it was Phillip, Ryan's husband that began to point out that maybe there was an aspect of race and that somehow the Chinese woman and Japanese girl were conspiring.

Lucinda the oldest and by no means the most Rational demands we strip and show off our boarding passes.

Eve went as far as to try and rip Mika's clothes off, I quickly put myself In front of Mika and Eve.

Growing up in Shanghai during the rule of the Triad National Party, I was no stranger to conflict.

Before things could turn too dire a knock at the door changed everyone's attention to the illuminated door.

Even I was spooked by the sudden thud that filled the room. I backed onto the wall keeping Mika behind me.

Ryan approached the door, whilst Phillip stood with a weapon he'd fashioned from things found in the canteen. I hoped we didn't have to rely on the spork spear hybrid that Phillip was armed with.

Ryan opened the door and Clark, looking like he's been hit with a truck, along with a two more refugees come piling in.

Suddenly the sanctuary we had was beginning to make feel claustrophobic.

I tended to Clark's wounds and had Mika act as my assistant, partly to keep her active and also to keep her close.

Clark was in a bad way, a puncture in his neck was the most concerning. I went through three plasmapads trying to stop the bleeding.

The rest of his wounds seemed minor though alarming all the same. It seemed impossible to think that people were capable of such violence.

The new refugees were Ahmed and his pregnant wife Jasmine. They informed me that they found Clark fighting off an infected. And stopped him from being killed.

I was grateful if not a little sceptical of their story. But seen as Clark was here and not lynched up like the young man down the hall I accepted their truth.

And I ignored Eve's comment about the fact the Asian population was increasing.

I had no time for level of ignorance was looking for an excuse to drive a spork through her eye.

I was alarmed at how quickly thoughts turned to violence and noted that the high pitch whistle that we were hearing had intensified when I felt the violence grow inside me.

I tried hard to focus on treating Clark, he was going to survive but I wasn't sure about a full recovery.

Ahmed who worked with me in the medical suite, though he was more research than surgical, also assisted with keeping Clark stable.

The rest of the group looked at what we had in the canteen and they began to establish some form reinforcement.

After a few hours I decided to try and get some shut eye. But the moment I was close to falling into welcoming arms of sleep I was awoken by a sudden giggling that broke the silence. I rolled over in the makeshift cot and in the darkness of the canteen I saw an unfamiliar person stood looking over us.

A young girl stood naked in the middle of the room. My mind raced with all manner of dark thoughts. I looked over to Clark and saw him breathing gently. Then to the slouched Eve who was meant to be keeping watch.

Then I looked over to Mika who was staring up at the naked girl, I could see her lips trembling.

I moved slightly with intention to act, but Mika signalled silently to me to keep quiet.

I didn't question it but instead remained quiet.

Unfortunately Phillip who awoke shortly after me didn't get the message.

The lights in the canteen burnt brightly, I could feel the warmth of the light on my skin.

And the screaming from the naked girl made high pitch ring begin to pulsate. She screamed at Phillip who twitched in an epileptic fashion. His body became contorted horribly and his eyes began to roll into back of his head.

I tried to stop looking at the horror before me, but with the gnashing of teeth and horrified screams it made it impossible to blank it out.

Then the lights exploded spraying the room with fragments of glass, I didn't want to move but I wanted to protect Clark and Mika.

The room went quiet, and the bass like drumming that replaced the ringing, began to return to its high pitch normality.

Then I heard the muffled screams and sounds of a savage beating.

When the emergency lights came on provided a soft green hue in the room I saw what lay on the floor.

Jasmine lay on the floor, her face was hidden by her arm but from the pool of blood that slowly moved closer to me, I knew she was gone.

Ahmed was wrestling with the deranged Phillip, trying to get to his pregnant wife. Something about the way that Phillip was lashing out screaming about how he had to silence the laughter.

I ran over to Mika, if I was going to die I needed to die fighting. A promise I made to a friend back in Shanghai.

I held her close to my breast and tried to shield her from the nightmare. The sound of gore spraying along the walls of the canteen sent shivers down my spine.

Then the gunshots came.

I opened my eyes and saw Phillip laying on top of Ahmed, it was hard to tell whether or not he was still alive.

Though I was safe as the ship security guards quickly took control the situation, but their flash lights only worsened the horror of the canteen.

We were guided at gunpoint to B block, it had been cleared of any infected and provided access directly to the ship's bridge. Though the system had locked access to the bridge when it detected a threat.

They'd baracaded the main entrance and set up a clinic in the common room, and a stockpile of medical supplies that the medical suite had never seen. I was pushed forcibly into the clinic they had created.

I was happy to go about my task tending to the wounded as I saw Clark being put in with rest of the injured.

But when I saw Mika being interrogated, I again jumped to her aid.

I explained that she didn't speak, and told her she was my assistant. They hit me in the face and hit Mika with some sort of device shock device.

The armed guards are about to drag her away when a more senior guard orders them to stand down. He helped Mika up and advised her to stick close to me.

With my assistant by my side I set to work on getting up to speed with the situation.

Nelson was leading the medical operation and filled me in what they knew.

Everyone was infected, and there seemingly was nothing to connect those that were turning against there own.

The main hypothesis being exposure to something in the air. One of the other medics suggested some form of fungus, but there was no trace of anything in the tests we did.

A makeshift isolation unit was made where we could observe those succumb to the violent urge.

In hope to find some form of cure.

Days passed by and the guards made efforts to gather supplies whilst trying to also regain control of the worst infested areas on the ship.

During the second day of being held in block B, Clark was back on his feet though and helping out with treating those injured.

We were running low on plasmapads and having to resort to historical methods of treatment.

My hands were shaking as I stitched up one of the guards who had been attacked whilst on watch. I had to follow an old video for guidance.

Those we couldn't treat due to the severity of their wounds we tried to keep comfortable and isolated. Though it seemed cruel to prolong their suffering, I didn't like the idea of the guards shooting them in cold blood.

Around day five I was exhausted and feeling the effects of relentlessly working to keep people stable.

When I was working on the Greenson boy I could barely stop my hand from trembling. Mika took over with my guidance showing a great level of potential as a surgeon.

But despite our best efforts the Greenson boy slipped away, losing a patient is always harder when it's a child.

Something I came to learn frequently in Shanghai, the horror of war was always providing my clinic with young children maimed from the brutality of the Triad National Party.

I informed the father of his loss, I wish I didn't, the loss of his wife and his son was the final straw.

The guards found him and his daughter, victims of a murder suicide. I wondered what thoughts ran through his head as he pulled the trigger.

We'd managed to survive two weeks, though our numbers had dwindled and supplies were running low.

Majority of the ship was now either overrun or filled with corpses.

When I went with the restock team to Block E I saw first hand what had fallen the residents. It looked religious, almost sacrificical in nature.

In the chapel a man had been skinned and crucified. One of the guards, a young man little older than Mika recognised him and wanted to perform a last rite for him.

And though I was hesitant to say what I was thinking, it was Clark that pointed out that we could honour the dead when we reclaimed the ship.

As we wandered the silent hallways, trying to ignore the urges brought on by the relentless siren that plagued us, we were ambushed by crazed infected. It was me who fell into the trap as I checked a nearby store.

I had tried to get the door open for medical supplies on to trigger some form of trap. The room exploded with a flash of pink light as the fusion flare dropped from the ceiling above me.

Blinded and dazed I tried to retreat whilst also preparing to fight. Then I felt a warmth spray over my face and the manic sound of laughter. I knew I wasn't injured sp I tried to focus my vision, to get a clearer view of my enemy.

My heart sank as my vision returned and I saw Clark laying face down. His attacker stood before me giggling and twitching. What remained of her humanity she had carved away.

Her face was slashed up to the point it should have been impossible for her to stand, but something was driving her.

I took a deep breath before I made my attack, and as I confirmed my kill I became haunted by my own history of violence before I fled Shanghai.

We lost three men and one women in the ambush all to get a pitiful amount of supplies.

Things got worse when we managed to seal ourselves off from the rest of the ship, we were repeatedly being over run only surviving by the skin of our teeth and by the end of the month we were down to Mika, myself and handful of quickly tiring guards.

Though the leader of our little unit was growing increasingly more fractured with every battle.

It was hard to tell if he was shell shocked or succumbing to the violent insanity. But looking back it was clear what had infected the old guards mind as he opened fire on what remained of his own men.

I saw it happen as I woke up to investigate the sound of raised voices. I'd left Mika to rest, whilst the emotional stress wasn't showing her wounds were becoming more severe with each conflict we faced.

And yet with me I had always been aware of the violence of men, and the urges that drive desperate people.

But watching the Guard Captain shoot down his men like diseased cattle was too close to what I tried to leave behind.

Frozen I stood staring at the blindfolded and bound guards as they were shot one by one.

And how the older Guard laughed with each thud that followed.

I was still frozen when he turned to face me, his face twisted with pleasure and it sickened me to my core.

If it weren't for Mika's quick reflexes I'd have most likely been killed like the guards. She hit him with such force that his jaw looked completely broken.

Though it wasn't enough to kill him, the pain seemed to energise him as he lifted the small Mika up by her throat.

Like history repeating itself I stepped forward with the determination. That stormy night in Shanghai, on the roof top terrace.

Only this time I won't be late, and as I plunge a shard of glass deep inside Mika's attacker, I feel a sense of pride in a promise kept this time.

But with my pride came a fall as the brute of a man shot me through the abdomine.

With what supplies we had remaining we were able to patch one another up to survive at least a little longer.

We had no idea of who or what remained on the ship, but we were isolated. We had tried many times to get into the bridge but security system had always been in the way.

Yet Mika seemingly has gone undefeated, I weakly kept telling her to give up and just as she looked like she was ready to give up. The ship seemed to shift and we were both taken by surprise at the sudden movement. All the lights that had long since died suddenly sparked up. Only for a moment but long enough for the doors to the bridge to open just enough to get through.

It was completely untouched, which compared to what the rest of ship looked like made it all the more eerie.

The bridge was in complete darkness lit only by the residual glow of deep space.

Sat at the helm though no longer with us was the Ship's captain Isaac.

It was clear he chose the cowards way out early on looking at the state of his body.

But at least had the courtesy of leaving a message for whom found him.

Both me and Mika watched Isaac's last entry.

There never was a destination, paradise was never going to be ours. The ship was doomed from the beginning, even if we survived the bloodshed that they planned.

They ensured that the ship would never see land again. The ships were a way of dealing with the population growth. Volunteers sent to claim whatever planet they could find. We were to build a new home.

And instead we are trapped in a catacomb of human design floating through space.

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