Survival Shooter

[D.C.]

A medium sized transport vessel cruised through the black, empty space. Its destination was not unknown but simply of no relevance to this little misadventure that will soon begin to unfold within the pages of this here thread. Yeah, that's right, that means that Yours Truly just can't come up with a planet...

Shannon O'Hara sat somewhere in the back of the vessel in the row on the right, in seat 15D by the window. She stared straight through the reflection of her own pretty face, and gazed at the beautiful, twinkling star ocean. She loved the sight of it, she loved the mysterious, arcane atmosphere. It was amazing. She felt so small whenever she set eyes on it and always wondered what might be transpiring lightyears away from her. Maybe a war on a distant planet? Maybe a marriage took place somewhere? Maybe a messiah was born right at that very moment, somewhere on a backwater desert world. The endless star ocean was ethereal, it was magic.

While she continued staring out the window, the other travellers were occupied with other things. Some businessmen scattered across the vessel would be tapping rapidly on their holopads; youngsters here and there would be listening to their music; some wayfarers were reading novels. The security officers simply watched the travellers and exchanged a few words with one another every now and then. There was a calm and relaxed atmosphere aboard the ship at the moment. It was quiet. Not many people were talking. Some were even asleep.

A stewardess walked down the walkway in the middle of the vessel with her trolley, and sold some cups of caf here and there and some sandwiches. Shan looked up when the stewardess passed her by and she would've liked herself some caf, but before she really noticed that the stewardess was there she had already moved on. Shannon just sat back in her seat again and turned her dreamy gaze back to the window, at the starlit ocean. That pretty, starlit ocean...

 

[Just Matt Now]

Through the silence aboard the transport vessel, a strange noise could be heard coming from the on board bathroom. A mute ruffling of sorts as if someone was struggling for their lives and was losing. It wasnt so loud as to distract people from their business, but if one would listen in, they could hear it quite well. Moments had passed, and the muffling seemed to die down. While a stewardess passed the male bathroom door, a short jerk of the door lead to a figure pouring out and crashing into her trolly, pinning it to the wall behind.

The two figures that fell from the door were both smiling, a male with dreadlock hair on the bottom and a female Zeltron, in a stewardess' uniform was right on top of him. The busty Zeltron seemed to have lost a few buttons on her blouse, and Slick's pants were unbuttoned and falling off his ass. Both were smiling and laughing during the embarrassing situation, with the other stewardess appalled and shocked to see what happened. Slick turned his head to face the crowd that stared at them from their seats, they didnt need to stand up to see what had happened. Pushing the Zeltron off, Slick got to his feet and pulled up his pants.

"Sorry about that darlin'." He said to the woman cleaning what fell off the trolley. "You should probably help her out toots." He said to the Zeltron, whom he had no idea what her name was, despite it being stuck on a pin on her opened blouse. The Zeltron gasped, recovering from the fall, and giving Slick a hard smack across the face.

Slick whispered, "Harder baby." taunting the woman as she left for another section of the ship. Having cleaned what mess was made, the other stewardess moved on, though not without giving Slick a curious and playful glance.

Slick returned, not in kind, by heading back to where his seat had been, 15C. He always like the window seat to keep his mind occupied if he wasnt doing something else already.

Pushing back the head rest, probably a little too far than he had expected it could go, he was unaware that it was protruding into the space of the woman behind him, which of course would be seat 15D.

 

[D.C.]

She hadn't paid any attention to whatever had transpired around the bathroom just a few moments ago; she just stared out the window, dreaming of a better tomorrow like she always did when she was on public transport. But then her daydreams were shattered when someone on the seat in front of her suddenly decided to push back his head rest. He almost pushed it into her face, in fact.

"Hey, Tenderfoot," she said in a sharp voice, and she pushed the head rest back again. She did so with some force. She didn't really mean to sound like a bitch, but she always hated it when someone disturbed her peace. In addition to that, she really disliked it when people didn't take other people into account. Shannon's reasoning was this: We're all in this together, so why don't we start working together instead of bothering each other with stupid shit. "Watch what you're doing. Jeez. Left your brains at home? Or are you on your way to retrieve them?"

Then she looked out the window once more, hoping the dreadlocked guy in front of her wouldn't start any trouble. She wasn't looking for trouble. She just wanted to enjoy a quiet and peaceful trip and she didn't want anybody to bother her along the way with trivial matters.

So yeah.

Maybe she'd have better luck on her next trip, because this one would end in disaster.

 

[Just Matt Now]

"Hey, Tenderfoot,"

The sharp sound directed at Slick woke him from his initial daze. He hadnt realized that he was pushing up against someone else, he figured that if the seat can reline so far, it wouldnt bother anyone. Though he was wrong, and he immediately stood up and turned around to apologize for his rudeness, though she kept going.

"Watch what you're doing."

And going...

"Jeez."

And going...

"Left your brains at home? Or are you on your way to retrieve them?"

Slick's eyes filled up with tears. He was just about to open his mouth, though could not find the energy or will to do so. His initial thought upon seeing the woman was her beauty. Her soft red hair and angel blue eyes, just a couple of Slick's favorite aspects about a woman. She looked truly gorgeous. Though when she responded like that, he felt truly sorry. Being a mix of his own emotions and enhanced by the drugs he had taken before boarding the ship, Slick moved to get out of his seat and into a main aisle.

Staring directly into her luminescent eyes, Slick did not even notice the rush of steward's and stewardesses coming down the aisle. Knocking him over, they seemed to be in a panic to get to the other end of the ship. The man who ran into him quickly helped him up, though without a word. He seemed to preoccupied to apologize for the encounter.

Feeling embarrassed not only for being rude to such a beautiful woman, but because he fumbled to recover to his feet from the fall he had just taken.

"I...I'm...sor...You are beautiful!" He said as he ran for the bathroom, though it seemed his path was blocked by the crowding attendants. He tried pushing through to get by, but they wouldnt let him.

 

[D.C.]

She was confused.

Shannon had no idea where his reaction came from. Was he really about to start crying? Really? She honestly hadn't thought her words could possibly have such impact on the man, and when she thought about it a little bit she felt extremely bad about it. Yes, the dreadlocked guy had indeed annoyed her--pissed her off, in fact--by pushing the head rest back. But the way Shan had reacted could in no way be justified. It was just mean. Sure, he was being rude, but being rude as well was like fighting fire with fire. It just didn't work.

She wanted to tell the guy that she was sorry for lashing out like that, but he already got up from his seat, only to be knocked down, and then, after getting back up, tried to run off to the bathroom. Before running off, he--for some reason--said that he thought she was beautiful. Watching him, she wondered what he was on. Or maybe he was just emotionally unstable.

It was only then that she noticed all the commotion. The personnel was running around and she wondered what this was all about. She looked out the window and was surprised to find that the star ocean was gone. What she saw instead was a huge spaceship and it was getting closer and closer to the public transport vessel. Shannon frowned and had a bad feeling about this.

She got up from her seat and made her way to the pathway. She approached a security officer and was about to ask him what that ship was doing out there when there was suddenly an explosion on the starboard side that rocked the entire ship. People started screaming, panicking, and Shannon's right hand went down to the pistol that wasn't on her right side.

"Crap," she muttered, remembering she had to put her weapons in a special case and hand it over to the security guards before boarding the ship. She was unarmed. She hadn't thought that it would be necessary to be armed on a quiet and peaceful trip like this.

Then there was a second explosion, causing suitcases and bags to fall out of the compartments above the seats. Some people hit their heads against the head rests of the seats in front of them. Others accidentally dropped their holopads, some of the pads' screens shattered. Here and there a few passengers fell out of their seats. Shannon herself actually fell over, crashing into the guy with the dreadlocks. Both of them fell to the floor now with her on top of him. As if things weren't bad enough already...

 

[Just Matt Now]

As the second explosion occurred, more and more people started to amass panic. with their luggage's sprawled out onto the floor, many tried to recover them, and at the same time many others strapped themselves into their seats and awaited instruction. Though even now, the attendants and security guards were trying to figure out what was going on and why they have been hit. Some of the guards started saying that they have been hit accidentally by another craft, trying to suppress the commotion and save lives. Though what made it difficult was the red flashing lights and emergency sirens that blasted over the intercom.

Slick could have cared less for the panic and for the crashes, his embarrassment getting the better of him. All he wanted to do was get to the bathroom, spark up some spice, or do a line to calm his nerves. Yet the attendants were still in his way.

He was glad he kept the drugs on him and didnt put them with his other possessions like his weapons he handed over to the security. He wasnt anticipating on using them, but he had them nonetheless. Smuggling hadnt been his forte for some time, but he still knew how to move things around.

Now with the rattling of the ship, someone else seemed to have knocked Slick over. As if he wasnt embarrassed enough. Though as he opened his eyes, he saw the blue-eyed, red-haired beauty that he was trying to hide from.

It seems that the embarrassment had turned.

Locking eyes with her, he felt the desire to apologize, though that brought up how she acted when he was going to earlier. He figured he would try to start off on a better note, start new this time.

"Hi..." He kept his hands at his side, though his eyes could not more from hers, unable to blink even. He didnt want her to get off of him, she had a nice body, and it felt right up against him, though he understood how that might seem to her, yet out of respect he kept his hands to his sides.

"I'm Slick..." He muttered towards her, completely ignoring the sirens and flashing lights that darkened the shade of everyone in eyesight.

 

[D.C.]

Okay.

Really?

She couldn't believe this.

Was he for real?

Suddenly he seemed to have another mood swing, and he introduced himself to her. And then there was something glimmering in his eyes that she really couldn't deal with at the moment. Not with all the ensuing chaos. Having no idea what to say to him, she quickly said, "I'm Shannon."

She looked out the window again and saw nothing but the other ship. Then she heard some people shouting and she looked into the direction the shouts came from. She saw security officers shouldering their rifles and then she heard some weird hissing sound. She thought about it for a few seconds and then it hit her: the airlock was opening up.

"F#ck," she cursed.

Once more she reached for the pistol that wasn't there, it was just a habit. She shook her head and grimaced at the thought that her weapons were in that case she had to hand in before boarding. Blaster bolts suddenly cut through the air, and then cut down the security officers.

"F#CK!" She screamed this time, and it was almost as if she'd forgotten about Slick already, she was only paying attention to the pirates.

She decided to get up and dash for the storage compartment where the weapons were stashed, and was about to do so. But then a loud voice bellowed, "NOBODY MOVE! EAT THE GROUND! NOW! OR WE'LL MAKE YOU EAT BLASTER BOLTS!"

Nonetheless she had to get up. She had to. She couldn't allow this to happen! She was a gunslinger; it was her job to protect these people. She put her hands to the floor, Slick's head now between her arms and right underneath her bosom, and she was about to rise up. Only a second later the barrel of a gun was placed on her temple and a gruff voice told her, "Stay down, baby, or I'll kill you."

She sighed and grimaced again, more intense this time, and stayed down. The idea that Slick probably didn't mind at all seemed quite disturbing to her and she still wondered whether he was on drugs or if he was emotionally unstable. It slowly began to dawn on her that he was probably both.

"Great..." she mumbled. "Just great."

This was incredibly awkward.

 

[Just Matt Now]

As much as Slick didnt mind Shannon's bosom right up against his face, the situation seemed to have gotten dangerous. And while he was happy that she replied with her name, the situation called for his attention as well as hers. Though the initial shock of what was now in his face, combined with pleasure, left him in a daze for a few seconds.

"NOBODY MOVE! EAT THE GROUND! NOW! OR WE'LL MAKE YOU EAT BLASTER BOLTS!"

Slick cursed in his head. If it hadnt been for this sudden invasion, this would have been a pretty good trip. And then one of them decided to put a gun against Shannon's face...this was something Slick had to protest. Threatening a woman, even if she seemed like she was going to make a play. In an act of self-bonafide courage and justice, Slick slid Shannon off of him, her bosom swaying across his face. Sticking his chest up into the barrel of the gun, Slick pressed their attacker.

"You wanna stick that gun somewhere, then stick it here. No need to threaten the lady!!" He yelled out courageously over the blaring siren.

The man cocked back his blaster and slammed the butt of it against Slick's head, causing him to hit the floor hard while blood trickled down the side of his head. While he would have been in agonizing pain, and he probably would be later one, Slick was too full of drugs to have felt the hit.

"That all ya got?!" He said whole putting his hand up to tend to his wound. The pirate seemed pissed and began to cock his arm back for another strike when another pirate called up for him. His head looked up, the security on the ship seemed to have amassed and tried fighting back ,though they were too few to make a large difference. Slick knew he had to get to his gun, otherwise he would have no chance at resistance. The pirates seemed semi organized, though nothing too much for them to handle.

 

[D.C.]

A terrible, piercing cry of agony cut through the air and went through marrow and bone. Shannon winced as she lay there on her back. She had seen how the pirate had wacked Slick's head with his pistol. She had seen some of the pirates hurting other people. And now she heard the cry. She looked and saw a security officer with a smouldering, gaping hole in his stomach crashing to the floor, the rifle clattered down beside the body. A pirate quickly picked up the rifle.

"Okay, boss!" the pirate shouted. "That was the last of em security suckers!"

Then Shannon could hear heavy footsteps. A man wearing heavy, black boots and clad in a pitch-black trenchcoat entered the transport vessel. In his right hand he carried some sort of scepter, or maybe a staff or a mace. Its colour was gold and it looked rather lethal; Shannon was pretty damn sure that the unfortunate bastard who'd get wacked across the face with that thing would break both his jaws and perhaps a couple more bones. She glanced up at his face and saw the eerie gasmask inside the big, dark hood.

The pirate captain looked down the aisle and then called (his voice distorted by the gasmask), "Collect em valuables, boys! Do it quickly!"

The pirates immediately spread out and took wallets, holopads and many other kinds of expensive stuff from the passengers. They put these things in black bags they carried with them and when they were all done they walked back to the airlock to go back to their own ship. The pirate lord remained together with five heavily armoured warriors, all armed to the teeth with vibroswords and carbines. These also wore gasmasks.

"Okay, folks," the pirate lord said. "Nap time."

Shannon's eyes widened as she suddenly saw with so much clarity what these freaks were about to do. She shot a glance at Slick who was still lying next to her and then turned her eyes back toward the pirate lord. There was nothing she could do right now, she was powerless. Everyone inside the transport vessel was powerless except for the attackers.

Each of the heavily armoured pirates unclipped a round object from their belts and they threw them into the vessel. Some hit the heads of victims. Moments later the balls opened up and a thick gas escaped them, filling up the air and making it incredibly hard to breathe for everyone who wasn't wearing a gasmask. Shannon felt the effects immediately: her eyelids became heavy and her heart slowed down.

She fell asleep.

Everyone sank into deep slumber.

Lights out.

Black out.

Fade out...

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick's eyes started to open up, though they seemed to be stuck together from some mucous-y residue, a side effect from the gas that knocked them out. The sirens were still going off, though not as loud as they had been, and the red lights still darkened the entire cabin. Slick was nervous, he felt much better though. Unsure of how long he was out, or if the pirates had left, he struggled to get to his feet. He was left in aghast in his first reaction. Bodies littered the floor, they all appeared dead, though Slick presumed them to be knocked out, all except for the guards who had appeared to be shot. Slick was knocked out from the blow way before the gas was let out.

Stumbling over, he grabbed onto the head rest of the seat to hold him up, he struggled to walk, though his first step he took he nearly tripped over the red haired woman. He almost forgot about her, relieved that he did not fall on her this time. He went to wake her up. As she was lying on her back, there wasnt much need to touch her aside from nudging her awake.

"Shannon, you there? Wake up...Shannon." She started to come through. Happy to see that she wasnt dead, he looked outside. There he could see the larger pirate ship looming just where it had been before. No sound was heard aside form the siren, and the pirate ship made no sound either. It seemed dead in the water, they all seemed dead in the water. An eery feeling washed over Slick, one he could not shake. He just hoped they could figure things out before the pirates came back, if they came back.

 

[D.C.]

Shannon came awake and what was initially utterly confusing was that she was quite surprised to discover that she wasn't surprised to see Slick. Slowly she sat up, and she was glad that she didn't have a headache. She wasn't entirely sure why she thought that, because why would she have a headache? She looked around the vessel and saw all the people--most of them still asleep--and that was when it all came back.

Of course.

The pirates.

She slowly got to her feet, using a seat to support herself much like Slick had done moments ago, and she looked out the window. The pirate ship was there. She wondered why it hadn't left. She also wondered why the passengers of this vessel (herself included) were still here instead of inside a holding cell on the pirate ship. Wouldn't they make great slaves?

"This is terrible," she said.

So much injustice.

"Slick," she said. "Stay here." After a moment of thought she added, "Please."

Shannon started to make her way to the cockpit and slipped inside. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the two pilots--the captain and his co-pilot--sitting in their chairs in uncomfortable positions with nasty knives stuck in their foreheads. Blood trickled down their sleeps and cheeks. She winced.

The gunslinger proceeded on to the control panel. Being a pilot, she had an idea of how to operate this thing and she managed to determine that the ship wouldn't fly no more. Systems had failed, engines had stopped and there were a lot of malfunctions. She supposed the explosions had caused this, but she wasn't sure. Maybe the pirates had sabotaged the ship while all of them slept. In any case, if they wanted to get out of here they would have to find another way.

Shannon went back and stopped just beyond the door to the cockpit. She looked around and noticed that most people were still asleep, or at least she hoped so. She hoped that they were okay. She hoped they would wake up soon, and if they did, she hoped that they wouldn't panick.

"Slick," she said. "This thing won't fly, it's totally kriffed up. Could you check the escape pods?" She knew full well that even if the escape pods were still operational they still wouldn't be able to carry all of these people. Those things simple weren't big enough and only there because they had to be there, and not to actually put them to use. And somewhere deep down she just knew that the pirates had already launched the escape pods, just to make sure that nobody would get out alive and die a slow death in here.

Not awaiting Slick's reply she headed for the safe to retrieve her weapons.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick was in a slight daze, he had stayed behind like Shannon asked. Left alone, now, with all of the people on the floor, they seemed eery. Everything about this situation seemed eery, and Slick did not like it one bit. He reached for his coat pocket, his piece was not there. He remembered they had to surrender all of their weapons to the security. Though instead, he grabbed a pack of cigarettes and lit one up with a lighter.

"Kriff man!!" He said with the cigarette in his mouth, smoke poured out from his lips and nostrils. He looked down at the poor sod who had caused him to fall, it was one of the attendants. Slick kicked the man to try and wake him up. He kicked him harder, then once more.

The man did not move.

Oh shit.

These people were not knocked out, they were dead. Slick did not want to surprise Shannon with this news, it only made the situation worse. Listening to her, the idea that the pirates were going to leave them stranded, by killing the pilots and the ship, was more comforting than what was going on now. This felt like something beyond the pirate invasion, something that even the pirates were afraid of.

Slick headed for the escape pods after a quick nod towards Shannon and another drag on his cigarette. He noticed that she too was headed for another part of the ship.

"Hey! If you're goin' to the security boxes, look for my piece and my other shit. It's the large black handcannon." He said before heading for the pods.

---

His return from the escape pod area was grim, which apparently matched their whole situation. It seemed like it was only getting worse. By now, the cigarette was all smoked, and Slick met back up with Shannon.

"You aint gunna like this...their all launched!!"

 

[D.C.]

They were all launched.

Shannon didn't respond to this immediately, unless you would count her walking up to him and handing over all of his gear to him as a response. She turned toward one of the windows and watched the pirate ship awhile, and then let her eyes wander over all the sleeping people. That was when she came to realise something and it was as if an ice-cold, iron fist clenched her heart. She had trouble breathing . . . and that got worse when she thought about the gruesome fact that none of those sleepers could breathe at all.

She knew that she was going to fall, she was suddenly so weak in the knees. It wasn't the kind of 'weak-in-the-knees' sensation a girl might get when a boy was being romantic and singing a love song to her, no--there was nothing romantic about that sensation. It was fear. It was cold fear that made her dizzy and that drained her strength.

Quickly she sat down in a seat and she covered her face in her hands.

"Oh my god . . ." she whispered. "No . . . god . . ."

All those people.

All of them.

None of the questions came to her. She didn't wonder why all those people were dead except for Slick and herself. She didn't wonder how those people had died. She didn't wonder why the pirates had come to this ship. She didn't even care about those pirates anymore. It was just the horrific, hard reality that now nestled itself in her mind and in her soul and in her heart.

It hurt her so much. So deeply. So so so much.

The tears glistened in her luminous, blue eyes, and they still glistened as they ran down her cheeks.

It didn't take long till the sadness transformed into rage, though.

And so she sat there. Shaking. Shaking with sadness. Quaking with rage.

She looked up at Slick, her vision blurry through the salty tears in her eyes, but she didn't speak a word. The glimmer in her eyes, the one beneath her shimmering tears, the one inside her eyes, said enough. Said it all, in fact.

Shannon O'Hara wanted only one thing at that moment.

She wanted to go to war.

She was a gunslinger, after all, and gunslingers dealt in lead.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Seeing the shimmer in the beautiful eyes of the red-headed gunslinger brought up a deep sadness in Slicks heart. He understood where they were, though not the extent of their situation. The people around them were all dead, thats how it appeared. Such loss, despite not knowing any of them, had hurt Slick as well. It was unnecessary, it was pointless.

Slick thought of trying to console her. A gentle hand on her back might make a difference, though he washed away the idea. He did not know her well enough, she could have taken it the wrong way. He understood how emotional women could get and did not want to trigger anything unwarranted.

He then took another glance at Shannon. Her watery eyes were now filled with rage. A fire red rage that easily matched her hair.

It was something unexpected.

That something so beautiful and pretty could bear witness to such horrid acts. and that they can be filled with such passion of hate and fury. Slick wished he could take it all back, but there was nothing he could do.

"Shannon...Shannon, what are you thinking?" Slick said holstering his gun inside his jacket pocket.

Then suddenly there was an ominous sound. It was brief and short, though t sounded like a clanking. Slick's head shot up, he thought it could be a survivor, or maybe it was a pirate that hadnt made it out yet.

"Shannon did you hear that?" He said not taking his eyes off of where the sound had come from.

 

[D.C.]

She had heard it. She looked up as well, startled by the sudden noise. She got up from her seat now and, contrary to what Slick just did, she actually took her gun out of her holster.

"That sounded like . . ." Frankly, she had no clue what it sounded like and was therefore unable to finish her sentence. She looked at Slick and she wondered if he was scared too. She figured he must be. And with good reason of course, what with all these corpses lying around and then that hideous sound.

"Okay," she said, "here's the situation. The pods are gone, we can't used this transport vessel to get outta here. No choice but to go into their ship. We have to."

She looked at the still open airlock that provided passage to the pirate vessel.

"I reckon that we really ain't got no other options. Are you willing and able to go there?"

Shannon would go. With or without him. But if Slick would indeed decide to stay behind he might be able to make himself useful by trying to get the communications system to work, for instance. However, Shannon hoped that Slick would actually come with her. She didn't really want to be alone over there, in that dark, forbidding ship.

She heard the sound again and kept her eyes fixed on the airlock now. There still was rage inside of her, but the rage was now accompanied by fear. Powerful fear. Feeling those two emotions at the same time was quite the intense experience, and she couldn't really focus at the moment.

"What the f#ck is happening here?" she whispered.

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick had a similar situation in mind, they really didnt have many other options. They could have waited there and tried to get the communications systems to radio out a distress signal, though who knew how long it would have taken for them to get a response. Besides, Slick was more of an action type of person, if that was not already obvious. Seeing Shannon take out her blaster, Slick did the same. Though his certainly seemed like overkill for a pistol. The large handle, and the elongated and thick barrel made it seem more like a rifle than anything else.

"She's my baby..." Slick said as he kissed the barrel.

"But no, I am definitely coming with you. Shannon, I'm not leaving your side..." Slick knew how difficult this was, he himself was frightened. He wanted to comfort the woman, as any man should, especially in times like these.

The sound was heard again. Slick jerked his head in the direction from surprise.

Slick started in the direction of the exit. A partition from where the pirate ship had connected, and where they were able to board the transport. Slick was caution to avoid stepping on the bodies that littered the floor, using the seats still to guide himself across to free space.

"Well...here goes nothin'..." He said after taking a deep breath and making sure that Shannon was safely following him.

 

[D.C.]

Shannon had known a gunslinger once, a powerful grey paladin who combined the Force and his own marksmanship in battle whenever he needed to, and what made this gunslinger so great was the fact that he rarely ever needed either of those two. He used his wits most of the time, he actually outsmarted his foes. And he was never afraid of anything. She had travelled with him for quite some time and had fought alongside him for the last time a few years ago and that was also the last she had seen of him. But whenever she found herself in a sticky, eerie stituation such as this one she asked herself, What would Roland do?

Keep your eyes open, his deep voice echoed inside her mind. Stand, Shannon, and be true.

"Yes," she whispered as she and Slick proceeded toward the pirate vessel, not realising she was speaking aloud, "I will."

They reached the airlock of the pirate ship and Shan peered into the darkness of the corridor beyond the airlock's door, wondering why it was so dark in there. Had a black-out ocurred? Whatever be the case, it was pretty damn obvious that something was wrong . . . unless this was those pirates' idea of a nice and cosy living environment.

Then she heard a terrible, hideous sound that sent shivers down her spine and made her clench the grip of her .45 so tightly that her knuckles whitened and actually started to hurt. But she paid no mind to the pain, because fear was in her heart now. Fear was in her mind. Fear killed the pain.

The sound . . . like rusty nails scraping along a metal surface, and then the hollow, cold echo that followed, bouncing off the walls and coming back again, as if there wasn't just one thing out there producing that noise but many. Up ahead, down the corridor, one of the lamps on the ceiling flickered on and off, sparks bouncing off the broken lamp and falling to the floor, where they lay smouldering a few seconds and then died. Shannon looked and when the lamp flashed again she saw a silhouette there with a hunched back and arms dangling by his/her/its sides. Shan couldn't tell whether this man/woman/thing was standing with his/her/its back to her and Slick or actually facing them but the sheer sight of that creature standing there in the half-dark, barely moving, frightened her intensely.

"Slick . . ." she whispered. "Look . . ."

The apparition started to move away from them, finally turned around the corner and was gone.

Shannon's heart was racing in her chest.

Keep thy wits about thee, Roland's voice echoed within her mind again. Eyes open, finger on the trigger, and get this over with.

 

[Just Matt Now]

The noise had given him chills that ran down his spine. Immediately he thought of the countless thrillers and scary movies he had watched as a kid. This definitely seemed like it came straight out of one. Though what were they supposed to do? Wait for help that may never even come? No, they had to move on with the movie, they had to see for themselves. Slick saw the fleeting image of the silhouette, though he could not tell what, or who it was. It was so dark walking down the corridor, and his hands were both tightly gripping his pistol. Slick walked side-by-side with Shannon, sticking his pistol into any of the few closets or openings that they passed.

"Hmm, maybe it was a survivor?" He said, though his voice wasnt even certain of it. How could there be another survivor, and even if it was, why would they flee?

"Let's keep moving."

Closer and closer they grew to the flickering light and the more tense Slick's grip got on his gun. Whatever had been there, was no longer, which made him think it was not a survivor but perhaps a pirate trying to ambush any survivors. Soon they were right under the flickering light, Slick tilted his shoulder to dust of the sparks that showered onto him. Then there was another issue, the corridor split into two paths, left, and right. It seemed certainly possible they both directions would lead to the same portion of the ship, as most ship layouts were very similar. Though there was only one way they would know for sure, and Slick was not about to commit to the cardinal sin of thrillers and "split up".

"I say we follow the direction of whoever that was, who knows, they might be able to give us some answers as to what the hell is going on here."

 

[D.C.]

She turned her eyes toward Slick, eyes glimmering with anxiety. She wasn't sure about this, not at all. What were the odds that that thing was a survivor? She reckoned that was but a slight chance. She reckoned that she and Slick were the only ones left alive here and . . . well . . . But what exactly did she base that on? How could she know? Shannon looked at the two passageways, one by one, and bit her lip. She couldn't decide what to do and felt so incredibly helpless right now.

Before, she had wanted to go into this ship to shoot up those kriffing pirates, to exact her vengeance upon them for killing off those innocent passengers aboard the transport vessel. But now that feeling, that thirst for revenge, was gone. It had been replaced with fear. With deep-rooted fear. It wasn't the dark necessarily, Shannon generally wasn't afraid of the dark. It was mostly the idea that there was something lurking in there, something strange, something alien (probably in every sense of the word). And the point, of course, was that it wasn't merely an idea. It was true. She'd seen it with her own two eyes, and so had Slick.

"If only we could light this place up . . ." she said.

Then suddenly there was a rattling, ice-cold sound, echoing throughout the hallways. Shan cringed and in a reflex she pulled out her gun and aimed it in front of her, at the darkness. Her finger lay on the trigger and before she knew it she had already cocked the pistol. But she didn't pull, not yet. She hadn't lost her mind completely--she was still at least a wee bit in control.

"Slick," she said, lowering her gun again. "I'm f#cking scared, Slick. I . . . I don't know."

For the first time in years she found herself unable to decide what to do.

"I'm lost," she said. "Lost and afraid." She looked at him again. "If you say we should follow after that . . . that person"--calling it a thing would only reinforce the idea that monsters were creeping round this dark vessel--"then I guess I'll follow you. For now, I think you should lead the way. I . . . I'm sorry."

 

[Just Matt Now]

Slick was surprised that he wasnt the first one to snap, though the moment the noise was made, he too proceeded a similar reaction. With the barrel of his gun pointed towards the dark hallway, Slick was nearly shivering. Until Shannon spoke, she shed light on the severity of the situation. Her fear, although, did not make Slick more afraid than he already was. In fact it encouraged him, it sparked the testosterone in his body to want to protect her and be strong for her. It was the man in him, more than the drugs.

"Don't worry Red..." He wasnt sure if he could call her that.

"Just follow me...make sure you got my back." All the manly vabrado Slick had was on display. He wanted to impress Shannon, despite how scared he was as well.

Slowly he moved forwards, in the direction of what they had seen. Making sure he stayed close enough to Shannon for her to feel safe. He wouldnt mind if she went under his wing for comfort either, though his focus was on what was in front of him.

Slowly he crept on until he got to the end where the hall turned out into the main cavity of the ship. The first to turn the corner was Slick Jr. It's barrel the first to see the sight of an empty room. Seats belted around a central blank holo station that was all connected to the floor. On the opposite side was where the rest of the ship could be reached. The lights were dim, though the sight was clear...it was empty.

Taking another step ahead, Slick stopped, he felt something on his boot. Looking down he found that his boot tip was covered in a deep red...blood.

Tracing the blood trail, his head moved up and stopped at a utility closet. The door was covered in the same deep red. Though most of all, the door handle. Slicks jaw nearly dropped, though then he remembered Shannon was right behind him. Slick continued, feeling safe enough that there was nothing in the room that would hurt him.

Closer and closer he got to the door.

A few steps away and he heard a rattling inside. A distinct sound that there was indeed someone...something inside. His gun straightened to the doorknob. Whatever it was Slick was about to find out. It could very well be the reasoning for everything that was going on, and they only came here to find answers.

Slick reached out with his hand to open the door...