Yea I could have probably split this chapter up into two but I couldn't find a place to end it so here's a really long chapter… enjoy…
Sheryl froze for several moments before the figure spoke again.
"Nothing… really?" he didn't sound to impressed.
"W… what?" was the best she could muster up.
"Oh so you're not mute then."
"W… huh?" Sheryl was really bringing her A-game with this one…
"Can you just open the door?"
"But… people aren't meant to live on this planet." Sheryl was speaking more to her self than to this stranger.
"Oh you got me." he shrugged his shoulders, "I'm just a figment of your imagination."
"… What?"
"Open the door!"
"…" Sheryl took a few moments to compose herself, "How do I know that you're not going to kill me-" she then realised that her companion had been sitting in the back silently the whole time "…us."
"What you want my no-kill guarantee or somethi-" he was cut off be the hiss of the pod's door opening, freezing cold air swept into the pod.
Looking frantically left to right to see what could have possibly removed her only barrier between her and this psychopath only to find her associate's hand on the door's release button.
"Are you crazy!" she hissed.
"He doesn't seem to bad." he said calmly for what was the only time they had ever actually spoken in their past history together.
"You don't know tha…"
"Having a little domestic are we?" Sheryl froze as she now realised that she had her back to the now open doorway and quickly spun around to where this man was now standing no more than two meters away.
Now she had no idea what to expect however this still took her by surprise. He was still humanoid however his skin was a charcoal gray/black with darker hair to match making it hard to distinguish straight away in the night sky and maybe almost impossible to see if not for the glow coming from the escape pod's lights, some surrounding lighting which had been set up by the now deceased and the ghostly whites in his eyes.
His clothing was simple and dirty and another oddity was that he was wearing nothing on his feet.
Before anyone said anything, he turned away and looked around for a couple of seconds before walking to a nearby body and taking off what looked like some form of full-face respirator. He then walked back and threw it at Sheryl.
"You'll put that on if you know what's good for you." Wearily, Sheryl did what he said. Turning to Sheryl's companion, he squinted his eyes for a brief moment before saying, "I guess you're not going to need one." his voice was a lot sterner from before the pod had been opened.
"What do you have the all-seeing eyes." said her companion whom Sheryl was just realising that she had never had the name of.
"No." he turned away. "They can just detect bull from a mile away." He made his way over to two 4by4s that Sheryl presumed was how everyone had gotten here. "Come on."
Giving her associate a quick glance, Sheryl sighed and realised that she really didn't have any other option apart from staying in the pod and either freezing or starving to death on this baron, uninhabitable… well what she thought was an uninhabitable planet. So reluctantly, she followed this man toward the vehicles.
He looked around and checked both of the vehicles before moving some supplies from one to the other and then opened the passenger side door before walking around and entering the driver's side.
Sheryl entered the open door and her companion sat on the seat behind her. She then realised that she had no idea who either of these people were. The man in the pod was in a completely different sector of the ship she was on, she thinks it might have been security, and the only impression she had from the second stringer who was sat right beside her was some sort of crazed serial killer.
A long silence feel between them as the vehicle rolled away and continued for several minuets.
Sheryl was surprised to see that the man beside her hadn't bothered with the headlights with the inky blackness outside. Deciding to not question it, Sheryl broke the silence with a different one.
"So… what's you name?"
He turned to look at her for several moments before looking forward again.
"They call me Creature."
"… Creature?"
"Trust me it's not the weirdest name you're going to be hearing around here."
"O… kay." Sheryl turned to look to the man behind her "And you?"
"Adam." he said bluntly. Creature mumbled something when he answered.
"What was that?" asked Sheryl.
"Nothing." he muttered.
"Okay well my name's Sheryl," Creature grunted in acknowledgment "and I was wondering why I'm the only one with a gas mask on."
"Because the air's toxic."
"Y…" Sheryl let out a long sigh, "Yes I gathered that but why don't you have one."
"Because I'm nails." before Sheryl could protest, Creature than said, "Do you know that when you talk, you have to breathe more."
"Um… okay."
"Now did you also know that when those respirators run out." Creature turned to look at Sheryl, "No one will know."
"Excuse me?" Sheryl had no idea weather he was just giving her some sick trivia or was threatening her.
"Yes it's because it's an older model." He continued "They don't last forever and they certainly don't tell you when they run out so the only way you'll know is either if you time it or when it's just too late." a sick smile crossed his face.
"Why are telling me this!" Sheryl demanded.
"Because I have no idea how long the last guy had been using that mask," Sheryl then remembered that he had not too long ago peeled that mask off a dead body. The thought of that mixed with the realisation that she was now wearing said mask sent a shiver down her spine "and since we have no way of telling how long that's been in use," his gaze was fixed on her eyes, only moving away to check their heading every now and then "we only have one other option don't we?" he redirected his focus back to diving and removed the smile from his face, "So shut up."
The rest of the trip was in silence. Sheryl felt sick to the stomach with her newfound knowledge.
'This can't be happening' she kept thinking to her self and then just tried to think about getting home. She was being bought to some form of civilisation… she hoped.
After what felt like forever, Creature finally turned the headlights on and started flashing them on and off. What Sheryl did see through the flashes was a gigantic, lifeless looking structure.
After a small sigh, Creature turned the lights off and kept driving forward until stopping at what Sheryl could only make out to be a large rectangular object in front of them.
...
Creature flashed the lights on and off as he approached the gate in hope that he would have been somewhat noticed be someone inside. With no luck he let out a small sigh and drove toward the gate before stopping just in front of it.
Getting out of the 4by4, Creature approached an intercom to the left of the gate and pressed the button.
"Hey open up." no response, "Hey!" still, no response, "… Anyone in there?"
"Hey Creature, that you?" the intercom cracked into life revealing Mac's voice on the other end.
"No it's the pizza guy." Sneered Creature "Who do you think! Anyway I've got another 4by4 so open up."
"What, you took all that time to get a truck?" Mac chuckled.
"No… I also got some other stuff."
"… Well what kind of stuff."
"Well…" Creature didn't know how to answer without getting into a long conversation or argument which he neither needed or wanted, "You could say it's… rare stuff."
"… In what way."
"You know. Like something you don't see every day… Look just let me in you'll see."
A few moments of silence passed between them until the metallic clanging and scraping of the gate opening up was heard. Satisfied, Creature headed back to the 4by4.
"What just happened out there?" Creature had barely closed the door when his ever more annoying passenger started to once again ask questions.
Ignoring her, Creature drove past the barrier in to what he could only describe as some sort of airlock. It wasn't really an airlock but he couldn't really describe in any other way. You drive in with dirty air all around you, the door behind you closes, a whooshy sound is made, a second door in front of you opens and then boom, the air's clean.
After just that happened, creature gestured to Sheryl that she should take the mask off but immediately regretting it now that she had an excuse to talk. Thankfully she instead took the mask off and then started ogling her surroundings.
…
Sheryl couldn't comprehend how a place this big could even exist without Wayland knowing about it. She had been told that her and her team had to map out a supposedly dead and uninhabited planet for later terraforming processes but here she was, in a man made structure, breathing clean air… supposedly clean air.
Before she could ponder if the air was actually clean or that Creature just wanted her to stop talking, Creature told her to get out as he turned the 4by4's engine off.
They had entered some form of makeshift garage with two other off road vehicles inside. A butch, balding man was sitting on a chair a few meters away next to a desk with what looked like an old intercom and some controls. He was cleaning some spark plugs with a dirty rag.
Looking up, he met Sheryl's gaze and gave her a small nod. She returned the nod and he went back to his spark plugs.
"Creature!" a short, bald, angry man appeared in the only other doorway here "Firstly I want to know what the hell were you were doing out there, then you are going to tell me why and then you're going to tell me why there are now two others with you who I do not recognise!"
"Look," Creature was keeping his calm demeanour "I told Sneaks to…"
"No!" the new guy approached Creature until he was about a foot away. Sheryl didn't understand how this guy was so… courageous by speaking to this psycho in such a way, "Sneaks said that you told him that he should head back and that you were going to 'wonder around' and then you just 'wondered' off!"
"… Well I got a truck out of it."
"And two new mouths to feed!"
"… … What's for tea tonight?" a small smirk crossed Creature's face. The new guy wasn't impressed. "Look I've also grabbed some other supplies and equipment along with it and it wasn't like I set out to find an escape pod… It's just happened. However speaking of equipment." Creature turned around "Hey Mac!"
"What?" replied the guy with the spark plugs.
"Help me with unloading this thing." Creature and this newly named Mac guy walked behind the vehicle and started unloading some crates.
"So you must be the poor saps why had to put up with that guy." the angry look on his face softened to a smile, he held out his hand "They call me Boss." He sounded as if he gargled bleach each day.
"Sheryl," She shook his hand "and he's Adam." He gave a small nod and shook his hand also "… He doesn't talk much."
"Okay now that all the formalities are out of the way we should talk about getting the two of you home." Sheryl's heart skipped a beat, this was the only good news she has heard since the incident "However it will take about three weeks."
"Why three weeks? if you don't mind me asking." 'Because tomorrow would just be too good' she thought to herself.
"Because that's when the next supply ship comes in." explained Boss "They're the only ones with the codes to get in and out from this rock, without them then they'll get taken down by the orbital defences. I'm guessing that's how you got here."
"Probably." Sheryl sighed "All I really heard was explosions, alarms and then I was in a pod."
"Well, tomorrow I'll send messages to the supply ship and your superiors of what happened but until then you should have something to eat and then get some rest."
"Oh can I ask one more question?"
"What is it?"
"Well we weren't the only people who were in the ship…"
"Ah…" Boss' face turned a bit more solemn "Well do you know how long it took to get back here."
"I'm sorry but I wasn't really paying attention to the time." Sheryl's couldn't meet his eyes.
"Creature!" Boss turned his attention to the two men who had just finished unloading the vehicle, "How long did you-"
"Yea they're dead." He said bluntly as both him and Mac past them and walked toward the door.
"He didn't have to bee so calm about it." Boss mumbled before letting out a long sigh, "Look, I'll get a couple people out in a search team tomorrow to see if we can find anyone. There's still a chance that they're still alive."
"Thanks." Sheryl gave him a small smile.
Sheryl and Adam accompanied Boss along with the other two toward the dining area.
"So what is this place?" asked Sheryl.
"Wow Creature you really are an uninformative sod aint ya?" chuckled Mac.
"You're in a prison Sheryl." informed Boss calmly, "We're all prisoners here."
"Oh…" Sheryl couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Don't worry, everything will be explained to you tomorrow." as they approached the mess hall, Boss put an arm out to stop Sheryl and Adam, letting the other two move on, "Look, I'm saying this to both of you… but this is more of a message for Sheryl." they both nodded, "The prisoners in here… well lets just say there hasn't been a woman here for quite a while." he could see the concern appearing on Sheryl's face, "Yea, people here tend to keep themselves in groups, I'd suggest that you go with the group that Creature and Mac'll be sitting with."
"Okay." Today couldn't get any worse in Sheryl's eyes; everything was just one big mess.
Stepping into the mess hall, Sheryl took a tray and lined up behind Adam for food.