Among Us

Chapter 8

The weeks passed in a blur. Then it was months. Before I knew it, there was one month let util we arrived to Planet X. Our days stayed the same, giving us a sense of order. We all had different assignments per day. Monday and Wednesdays assignments where asteroids and clearing storage. Tuesdays and Thursday's assignments where admin swipes, med-bay, and downloading. Friday and Sunday where cleaning, organizing, and clearing trash. Every individual had to fuel the engines once a week. Saturday was a rest day.

Jacks and I had the extra, daily tasks of Navigation and Clearing asteroids. 

Also, because we were pilots, we could boss other people to do the nasty tasks. Which was great. 

Saturday was always quiet, yet loud at the same time. While at some times we were quiet, restful, tired, and relaxed, other times we were chaotic, loud, and playful. Our crew had been close from day one, and now it was like we were family. 

I smiled as I watched Aron and Dean spray Kate with makeshift silly string. They were the ship's mechanics and physicists, which was surprising because of how childish they were. Kate and Ali where our doctors. Cain was the geologist, biologist, and overall nerd of the group. I guess we were all nerds, but Cain was something else. Sam and Barrack where the cooks, cleaners, and the maintenance people. They were both successful cooks, and they also were experts on history, and had immaculate memory.

Barrack hated us. He hated everyone, I guess, based on the fact that he had no photos of family or anything like that. He didn't try to keep it a secret, either. He was sulky and gloomy, matching his black suit with his mood. He was usually missing during Saturdays. It was really weird.

I had spoken to Jacks about it. He had agreed. Barracks was not a team player, which was a problem when he was in our team. 

I stopped frowning as Kate grabbed the silly string and sprayed them back. Aron and Dean squealed as they ran around the room. Barracks rolled his eyes, stood up, and left the room. Jacks and I eyed him and turned to each other. Jacks shrugged. He then glanced at his watch.

"We gotta do Navigation." He said, standing up. I groaned. Even though it was a rest day, us Pilots had to always work.

"You guys should start early on the cleaning. It's kitchen week." I said. Everyone nodded. Kitchen week, which was once a month, was the hardest cleaning of all. We had to deep clean, throw away and recycle, and re-hydrate the food for the rest of the month. Tomorrow, we needed to do the deep clean and the re-hydration of food. Correction: They had to deep clean and re-hydrate. We were going to be keeping our eyes for an asteroid belt,which we were going to have to slow down the ship for. 

Jacks and I made or way to Navigation with the group, who then broke off to go to the cafeteria.

"We need to separate. Ali, Sam, can you guys get the food? Dean and I will get the supplies. Cain, can you start organizing?" Aron said, taking charge. "Kate, can you look for Barracks?"

Kate nodded and the group separated. 

Jacks and I investigated the asteroid's path for a while, discussing the best course of action. We were going to have to slow down, shoot the asteroids, and then re-gain speed afterward. We were going to lose over  decade to that in Earth time, and a week and a half in our time, but it was either that or risk losing the ship.

"Okay." Jacks said, leaning back with an unsatisfied sigh. "Could you get us a snack?"

I nodded. I got up and headed to the vending machine near weapons. 

The ship seemed quiet, yet loud at the same time. I knew there was sound going on. The soft hum of the lights. The hissing of steam. The rumbling of the engines. But I had grown used to it, and now they were background noises. Other than that, I could only hear my footsteps clicking on the steel floor.

The silence stretched on.

I was heading back to Navigation, energy bars in hand, when the calming silence was interrupted by a shrill, panicked scream.