Welp, among us has died and it's been a year since the last chapter. Now seems like the perfect time to finish the fanfic! Gonna be honest, I forgot that I wrote this, and then I just procrastinate. For like a year. Sorry for the long wait, and thank you to everyone who wrote those kind reviews!
The crew had done it. They had found both of the Impostors, getting rid of them.
Nova and Matias, two people secretly placed on the Skeld to murder all of it's members. Thanks to the leadership of Marko, their plan had failed. Only one day was left on the Skeld. One day until they could forget about this nightmare.
Marko announced that the crew didn't have to abide by the security measures anymore. Everyone could now do their tasks alone, or be in the Sleeping area with one other person. They were free from their prison of paranoia.
Of course, no one was exactly happy. Three of their fellow crewmates had died before they could find out who both the Impostors were.
Sable was the one who took it the hardest. She had told Alex a few days earlier about how she and Ava kissed, and Alex knew they had cared about each other. Ava's death caused Sable to spiral into a great sadness. Alex tried his best to comfort her, but he was never good at doing that.
"Sable, I'm so sorry for your loss." he said, as Sable cried quietly beside him. He put an arm around her shoulder. "I know I can't really make you feel better, but I want you to know that I'll always be here for you."
Sable looked at him, touched by his kindness. She wrapped her arms around him, Alex doing the same.
"I… I think I want to be alone for a little while." said Sable. Alex nodded.
"I understand." said Alex. "Text me if you need me."
He climbed up the ladder to Cafe. Melancholy filled the air, as he walked through the halls. He sat down in a chair in Navigation, watching the ship pass through the solar system. His lips quivered.
"D-damn it, Matias…" Alex whispered. He covered his eyes with his hands and cried, cried like he had never before. Three of his crewmates, three of his friends, were dead. And he wasn't able to stop it. The guilt piled up, dragging him down like a ball and chain.
Zach, Tanya, Ava, Alex thought. I'm sorry I couldn't save you.
There was knocking on the doorway into Nav. Alex quickly wiped his tears. Marko was standing there.
"Oh, um… hey captain." sniffed Alex. He stood up. "I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way."
"It's okay, Alex." said Marko. He put his hand on Alex's shoulder. "It's okay to cry."
Alex nodded.
"I… I think I have some more tasks to do." he said.
"I'll see you." said Marko.
It was a lie. Alex had finished all his tasks early. He just wanted to be alone.
He went to Electrical. He figured that would be the best place to be alone. He sat down against the distributor. A low hum was the only sound that filled the room.
He looked over at the vent… the vent…
The vent.
Tanya lied there, blood soaking through her clothes. Her eyes laid open, staring into the endless depths of nothingness.
He blinked… and it was gone.
Alex ran out of the room. There was nowhere he could go. Nowhere he could hide, without being tormented by his own memories.
He realized he didn't want to be alone, but there was only one person he wanted to be with.
Olivia.
He checked the table on Admin. There was someone in Nav (presumably Marko), two people in the sleeping area (presumably Sable and Jasper) and one person alone in the Cafe.
He walked north of the ship, seeing Olivia sitting alone.
"Mind if I sit?" he asked. Olivia shook her head. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm doing fine." she responded. "But this is something I'll never forget. What was supposed to be a fun mission, became a… a.."
"A blood bath." Alex finished her sentence. Tears formed in their eyes. Alex moved closer to Olivia. "At least we have each other."
Their lips met, bringing happiness into their hearts once again. He didn't want to stop, but Marko came into the room.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said. "But we're heading into another area with asteroids. Olivia, I need you to head to Weapons."
"Yes, captain." she said. She looked back at Alex. "I'll see you soon."
"See you."
She quickly got up, and walked away.
"Alex, have you finished all your tasks?" Marko asked.
"Yes, sir." he replied.
"Perfect. You may do whatever you want on the ship."
"Thank you, sir."
Marko left down the same hallway, to Navigation.
30 minutes went by, when Olivia finally returned.
"How did it go?" he asked.
"Went pretty well. Almost got hit a couple times, but other than that it was perfect."
"Wanna head to the sleeping area?" Alex smiled.
Olivia blushed.
"Sure." she replied.
Alex opened the latch, and let Olivia go in first. Alex climbed down the ladder.
Olivia grabbed his hand and pulled him into a kiss.
They went to the couch, their lips continuing to touch. They kept kissing until…
CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
They separated.
"The hell?" Alex whispered. "WHAT DO YOU NEED?"
"THE LATCH IS LOCKED!" yelled Jasper from the other side of the door. "I NEED TO GET SOMETHING!"
Olivia sighed, getting up and going over to unlock the door. Jasper came down the ladder and looked at the couple's annoyed faces.
"Did I interrupt something down here?" he asked.
"You kinda did, Jasper." muttered Alex.
"I'll get out of your guy's way in a sec." said Jasper, winking at Alex. Jasper grabbed his bag, then left the sleeping area.
"That little bitch." whispered Alex to himself, amused. Olivia came back to the couch, sitting beside him.
"Where were we?" she asked.
Just as their lips were going to connect, they were again interrupted.
"Olivia?" said Marko. "You have one more task."
"I do?" asked Olivia. She looked on her map. "Shit, I forgot Shields."
"It's okay, can I come with you?"asked Alex. She smiled, nodding.
They walked through the halls of the Skeld, holding hands and not afraid to be seen together. Who was gonna judge them? Jasper?
They got to Shields, where Olivia had to find and correct every small mistake in the defense system of the ship. Alex smiled as he watched her focus. After about 13 minutes, the shields were up and running again.
"Finally," sighed Olivia. "Sorry it took so long."
"It's entertaining to watch you do anything." flirted Alex. He gave her a kiss on her forehead. "Wanna go back to the sleeping are-"
They both got a notification on their Tablets.
"LUNCH TIME!" their tablet read.
They made their way to the Cafeteria, where they were served Phở, a vietnamese delicacy.
"Only one more day on the ship," said Alex. "I never want to go to space again."
"What do you think you'll do instead of being an astronaut?" asked Olivia.
"Probably an electrical engineer. How about you?"
"I don't know, I might work for NASA on Earth, instead of doing work up here. Seems less dangerous. Can't really think of doing anything other than working at NASA. Being an astronaut has been my dream since forever, but now it's become... my worst nightmare."
Olivia covered her eyes with her hands, and Alex comforted her.
"Alright crew, lunchtime is over!" announced Marko. "Complete your tasks, and you can do whatever you want."
Everyone got up, except for the couple. Olivia wiped her eyes, then Alex helped her get up from her seat.
"Are you okay?" asked Alex.
"Yeah, I'm sorry." apologized Olivia.
"You don't have to apologize, Olivia." smiled Alex. "We all cry."
He caressed Olivia's face. She smiled at him.
"Alex," said Oliva. "I think I'm-"
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"OXYGEN FAILURE! OXYGEN FAILURE!" yelled the robotic voice on the ship.
"What the hell?" yelled Alex. He rushed to Admin to put the pin in. It didn't stop. "We need to get to O2!"
Olivia grabbed his hand, and they ran together to O2. Olivia entered the pin, and the alarms stopped.
Marko, Jasper and Sable ran in a few seconds after.
"Marko, don't tell me." gasped Alex, out of breath.
"Tell you what?" asked Marko.
"Please don't tell me there's another Impostor!"
An emergency meeting was called immediately.
"Three. Goddamn. Impostors…" mumbled Marko. "Three Impostors! How could I let three Impostors on this ship? How shit of a captain am I!"
"Marko," consoled Alex. "It's not your fault-"
"IT IS, ALEX!" yelled Marko. "AS CAPTAIN OF THIS VESSEL, I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT THE CREW, TO ENSURE THEIR SAFETY, YET I LET THREE IMPOSTORS ONTO THIS SHIP!"
Marko slammed his fist on the table, tears streaming down from his eyes. Jasper put his arm around Marko, consoling him.
"Captain, it's okay…" said Jasper. "It's gonna be okay…" He said it twice as if to convince himself.
Marko finally contained himself.
"A-alright." he said. "From now on, we will travel in groups again. Jasper and Sable, Alex and Olivia, and I will be alone. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." the crew said.
"Curfew is at 10:00. Anyone who doesn't obey that rule will be punished. Dismissed."
Everyone went with their groups, Jasper and Sable went to Reactor, and Marko went to Navigation, leaving Alex and Olivia alone.
Alex was going insane. He could only trust one person, Olivia. Everyone else seemed like the murderer to him. He massaged his temples, staring into the blank space. His ears were ringing.
"Alex…"
The ringin grew louder, and his heartbeat grew faster. He didn't want to die.
"Alex?"
I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die…
"ALEX!"
He gasped. The ringing stopped and his heartbeat returned to normal.
Olivia had been attempting to console him.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He nodded, unable to say anything at that moment. Their lips met, restoring Alex to peace.
"Wanna go somewhere more private?" she asked.
"I don't think we're allowed in the sleeping area," said Alex.
"But we are allowed in Comms."
They went to Communications together.
"I can't wait until we get to the surface," said Olivia. "We can finally go on a date that isn't on a ship."
"And without people we know." Alex smiled. They arrived in Comms. It was silent, with no other people around.
They were about to settle down, but they heard something.
"HELLO?" yelled a voice over the Communications system. "HELLO SKELD, DO YOU COPY?"
"Again?" asked Alex. "Why are we always interrupted?"
He put on the headset.
"This is Skeld to homebase, we do copy."
"Your captain notified us about the Impostor a while ago, and we see you are coming back to Earth. We are making preparations for your return. Over."
"Copy that. I will tell the captain immediately. Over."
"Have you found the Impostor? Over."
"We found two of them. However, we have reason to believe there is a third. Over."
"Three?! Why did the captain not tell us sooner? Over."
"He's been under a lot of stress lately, I'm guessing that he forgot, because he had to deal with th-three d-dead… Crewmates."
Alex stuttered the last few words, holding back the tears.
"Three dead? Who were they?"
"Zack Hall, Tanya Takanawa and Ava Perez. Over."
"Oh my god!" the voice exclaimed. "That's terrible! Who were the impostors?"
"Matias Olson and Nova Taylor. We still don't know who the last one is."
"Find the last Impostor before you arrive on Earth. We do not want any more of your crew dying. Godspeed. Over and out."
Olivia and Alex were quiet for a few moments.
"I guess we should notify the captain," said Alex. Olivia nodded.
They walked towards Navigation. Alex noticed Olivia wasn't carrying her bag.
"Where's your bag?" he asked.
"Crap, I must have left it in Comms." she said. "I'll go back to get it. You go on up ahead."
She walked the opposite way than him.
Alex walked slowly, and slowly towards Nav. He secretly wanted to wait until Oliva came back to talk with Marko. He turned the corner and the entrance to Nav was visible.
"ALEX!"
He immediately turned around and ran around the corner.
Olivia was on the floor, and a giant hole gaping through her chest. A pool of blood surrounded her.
"OLIVIA!" Alex yelled. Tears flowed out of his eyes. He kneeled next to her, his pants soaking in the blood.
"Alex, I-I don't have much time."
She coughed out blood. More tears came out.
"What happened?!"
"I-I don't know. I was walking towards Comms… And I was stabbed from behind."
"We have to stop the bleeding!"
Alex took off his jacket and tried to stop the bleeding, but the wound was too large.
"Alex, it's too late." said Olivia. She put her hand on Alex's cheek. He put his hand on hers.
"Please just hold on." begged Alex. "Please stay alive."
His tears dripped down his face.
"Th-there's something I've never been able to tell you," said Olivia. "I've been too sc-scared to say it."
"What is it?"
"I'm in love with you."
She brought her lips to his. A moment that brought happiness to this sad moment.
After what felt like an eternity of joy, Olivia's hand began to slip. Her head fell back to the floor.
"Olivia?" asked Alex. He began to shake her. "Olivia, come back! Olivia! PLEASE!"
Marko, Sable and Jasper ran into the room, gasping at the sight of Olivia's body.
"What the hell happened?" asked Marko.
"The-They," Alex said, tears streaming down. "They took her from me."
"It has to be Alex," stated Jasper. "It has to be! I mean, he was right with the body!"
"Jasper," said Sable. "Do us a favor, AND SHUT UP!"
Everyone, except Alex, looked at her, shocked.
"Alex spent almost every minute on this godforsaken ship with her. He cared about her."
"Sable, we need to look at the facts," said Marko.
"Look at the facts!? ALEX IS TRAUMATIZED. LOOK AT HIM."
Alex was staring at nothing, Olivia's blood still on his clothes. He was unable to say anything.
"What I meant is, what was everyone's alibis?" asked Marko. "I was in Navigation. I didn't hear anything until Alex was yelling."
"I was in Medbay," said Jasper.
"I was in Admin," said Sable.
"Why were you separated?" asked Marko.
"We wanted to finish our tasks faster," said Jasper.
"Whatever, it doesn't matter now," said Marko. "Alex, can you tell us where you were?"
Alex took a deep breath.
"So, we were in Comms, when a voice came over the radio. We were going to tell you what they said, when Olivia said she forgot her bag. She went back alone, and then I heard her cry my name. She was in Shields in a pool of… a pool of… blood."
Alex broke down, covering his face with his hands. Sable put her hand on his back.
"It's going to be okay." comforted Sable.
"So, that's it?" said Marko. "He was the closest to the body, and the only one around the corpse."
"Yeah, it has to be him." agreed Jasper.
"First of all, you guys are unsympathetic assholes," said Sable. "And second. Someone is lying."
They all looked at her, shocked.
"What?" asked Marko.
"I was using the admin board. I know where everyone was." said Sable. "Here's what happened to Olivia. Two people in Comms, Alex and Olivia, then went to Shields. They then disappear, presumably in the hallway from Shields to Navigation. One person goes back through Shields, Olivia, but another person comes in and kills her, then leaves. One person, Alex, goes back into Shields."
"Who is the other person?" asked Jasper.
She pointed to someone, someone no one suspected to be the impostor, someone who had gained everyone's trust during the mission, someone who everyone in the crew looked up to.
"Marko."
Everyone gasped.
"What? What is your proof?" asked Marko.
"Here's the full story of what happened. Someone was in Medbay, someone was in Admin, and someone was in Navigation. HOWEVER, when Olivia was alone in Shields, that person in Navigation left. There were then two people in Shields, then one person, and one person back in Navigation. Marko, you said you only left Navigation when you heard Alex yell. Therefore, you were lying. You, Marko Aleksandrov, are the Impostor!"
The table fell silent. After a few moments, Marko smirked. He started laughing, laughing and laughing. An evil look appeared on his face.
"So, you found out." laughed Marko. "I always knew that Sable was smart."
Jasper turned to the captain, an angry expression painted on his face.
"Marko, you have two options," said Jasper. "We throw you out into space, or you wait until we get to Earth, and you will be put in prison. Which would you prefer, you bloody traitor?"
"Oh, Jasper." said Marko. "I've killed three people on this ship. You think you can restrain me?"
He laughed even more.
"Three people?" said Sable. "But Nova killed Tanya, and Matias killed Zach and Ava. You only killed Olivia."
"The thing is," said Marko. "There were only two impostors. Matias was never a part of this."
He couldn't hold his laughter in. The cold-blooded murderer kept cackling and cackling. The crewmates were horrified.
"N-no," stuttered Jasper. "We killed… an innocent man."
"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"
Alex grabbed Marko by the head and punched him as hard as he could. Marko fell to the ground, and green blood came out of his nose.
"What the hell?!" yelled Sable. "Are you… an alien?"
"So, you've found out." said Marko, wiping the blood. "I am a shapeshifter. I was simply impersonating Marko. He died months ago. I hid his body and stole his memories, so I would know everything about him. I am something of an actor. My real name is Brasquin."
He transformed back into his true form. Every part of him was horrifying, from his large, sharp teeth to his spiked arms.
"M-Marko's dead?" stuttered Alex. "HOW MANY PEOPLE MUST DIE FOR YOUR SATISFACTION?!"
He grabbed his tablet, attempting to smash it over Brasquin's head, but the alien simply caught it.
"How pitiful." sighed Brasquin. He grabbed Alex by the neck, slamming him down to the ground. The crew was shocked by his strength.
"Alex!" yelled Sable. She ran towards Brasquin, but was punched hard enough to launch her and knock her out. Jasper ran after him too. He dodged Brasquin's punch, managing to kick him in the gut. The monster was barely fazed, until Alex sweeped his legs.
He was about to fall on Alex, but he rolled away right on time. Alex got up and put his foot on the beast's neck.
"You are outnumbered," he said, darkly. "You lose. We're going to put you in the airlock."
"I'd like to see you try," said Brasquin. Suddenly, a large spike protruded from his chest, almost stabbing Alex. He dodged it, but in turn took his foot off of his neck. The alien got up, kicking Alex and Jasper away.
"Was Nova an alien too?" asked Alex, clutching his damaged chest. "Was she dead from the start too?"
"No, of course not." denied Brasquin. "She had been a spy since she joined. It was sad how easily she was beaten though. Never rely on humans."
"What was even the point of you killing us?" Jasper cried out. Brasquin smirked.
"You humans are an invasive species," said Brasquin. "You never want to stay on your own planet. Always trying to claim ours. After this failed mission, however, you'll never go into space again."
"Why the hell did Nova betray us too, then?" asked Alex, angrily.
"Simple," answered Brasquin. "She fell in love with our leader. One day, he visited earth in order to gain intel on your primitive creatures, and he met Nova. Nova, somehow, fell madly in love with him, and begged to go to space with him. He agreed, but only if she became a spy, which she did. You humans are influenced so easily. Such weak-minded creatures."
"I'LL SHOW YOU WEAK-MINDED, YOU ASSHOLE!" shouted Jasper.
The two crewmates ran towards Brasquin, from different sides. Alex grabbed his arm and pulled the large creature to the ground, while Jasper grabbed it by the neck.
"We'll kill you with our hands if we have to!" yelled Jasper. Brasquin was barely fazed by the pain. He grabbed Jasper by the neck, beginning to choke him back. Jasper let go, attempting to force the alien to let go. He kept on punching Brasquin, to no avail.
"JASPER!" yelled Alex. He dove at Brasquin, tackling him to the ground. Jasper rolled across the floor, gasping for air. Alex kneed Brasquin in the face, breaking his nose. Alex narrowly dodged Brasquin's chest spike.
"Jasper! Go to the kitchen and get a cleaver!" yelled Alex.
"Where is the kitchen?" asked Jasper
"Ah, shit." Alex remembered that robots prepare all the food so there is no reason for a kitchen.
"I brought a pocket knife," yelled Jasper. "I'll go to the sleeping area and get it. Stall him!"
Alex went behind the beast, grabbing him by the face. Brasquin shrieked in pain when Alex grabbed his broken nose.
Brasquin grabbed Alex off his back, and slammed him on the floor. Alex felt a few of his ribs crack. As he struggled to breathe, Brasquin put his foot on his chest.
"You see, Alex." he said. "I prefer my organs mashed."
"Bruh, at this point just kill me." said Alex. "I don't want to ever have to hear those shitty one-liners again."
Brasquin smiled. He prepared to crush Alex's insides, but was tackled by Jasper. The two quickly got up, and faced each other.
"You are just prolonging your death, human." he told Jasper. "I'll end it quicker."
He grabbed Jasper by the neck, lifting him off the ground. He elongated his other arm and grabbed Alex's neck.
Alex and Jasper's faces turned red. Alex tried punching his arm, but nothing happened. Jasper tried stabbing him with the pocket knife, but Brasquin's grip remained strong.
Please, someone, thought Alex. Help us.
CLANG!
Suddenly, the grip loosened around their necks, and they were dropped to the ground, gasping for air. Brasquin fell to the floor, with a loud CLANK on the metal floor.
Alex looked up.
"Sable?"
Sable was standing over an unconscious Brasquin, holding a fire extinguisher.
"That's for Ava, you son of a bitch." she said. She turned to Alex and Jasper. "Are you guys okay?"
"Holy crap, you saved us!" yelled Alex. He looked at the Brasquin. "Quickly, we must get him into the airlock. We have to end this."
With all the strength they could muster, the three dragged the alien into the airlock, and closed the door.
Brasquin woke up, and started banging on the door. Even with his strength, the door was too sturdy for him to break.
"Let me out!" he cried.
"Yeah, sure," said Alex, rolling his eyes. "Let's save the bastard who tried to kill us."
"Please!" the alien begged. Tears rolled down his eyes. "I won't kill you! I promise!"
"Are your promises as empty as your heart?" asked Jasper. "You've killed too many to be asking for mercy."
"Something you never gave our crewmates." added Sable, darkly.
The alien looked back and forth between the trio, desperately trying to convince them to not end his life. He kept on pounding and pounding on the door, his hope draining from every hit.
"You have committed unforgivable sins, Brasquin." said Alex. "You have killed multiple crewmates. Multiple people who had lives, people who cared about them, their own interests, hobbies, personalities. And you ended that without a second thought, all for some bullshit mission."
Brasquin had lost all hope of surviving. He slumped down on his knees, refusing to look at the crewmates.
"When you're freezing to death in the depths of space, think," continued Alex. "Think to yourself, 'was this really worth it? Was it worth killing innocent people just to please some ungrateful master?'"
Brasquin looked back up at the trio.
"You dare speak ill of my leader?!" he shouted.
"If he truly was as amazing as you think, wouldn't he have done the mission on his own?"
Brasquin fell silent once more.
"Well, Brasquin. I guess this is farewell." said Alex. He put his hand on the airlock button.
"No, no, no, no wait!" he cried.
"I'm done waiting." said Alex. "For the crewmates."
"For the crewmates," the other two repeated.
Alex closed his eyes, as he heard Brasquin struggling to escape the airlock. He took a deep breath in, and pushed the button. The cries of Brasquin fell silent. It was over.
The crewmates had won.
The three sat at a table in Cafe, exhausted and emotional. They were the last survivors of the crew of the Skeld.
"We did it guys," said Alex, weakly. "We ended it."
Tears dripped down from Alex's eyes, going over his lips. He tasted the salty tears as they kept on falling.
"But we've lost too much to celebrate," he lamented. The other crewmates cried as well.
They kept on crying and crying, remembering their fallen friends, remembering all the good times they had together, remembering the bonding that happened before the mission. Then, Jasper smiled through tears.
"I remember one day, Matias came over to my place for some drinks after work," started Jasper. "And we ordered a pizza, but they didn't cut it, so my drunk self was like, 'Damn, we're gonna have to just rip pieces off,' but then Matias, who was also hammered was like, 'Nah bro, I gotchu,' and the man pulled out a pizza cutter from him pocket."
The three started laughing.
"A pizza cutter? Just straight from his pocket?" laughed Alex.
"Yeah! A goddamn pizza cutter!" laughed Jasper. "Then the bastard went, 'Wait, these aren't my keys.'"
They laughed even harder.
"Wa-wait," Alex said, trying to stop laughing. "One time when I was in the academy with Zach, I dared him to sing in front of the entire class in the middle of a lecture, as a joke, but then he stood up on his desk, and started singing 'Never gonna give you up' at the top of his lungs. He got applause from everyone, but the prof almost kicked him out of his class."
The three laughed again.
"Zach did that? As in nerdy Zach?" Asked Sable.
"Yeah, he was wild in university."
Even though all of their friends have passed, their memories still remain. The three friends relished in the memories of their fellow crew mates, and brought happiness to this moment of deep sadness. They talked for hours and hours, retelling stories from their past, with smiles on their faces.
"ONE HOUR UNTIL LANDING." a robotic voice over the speakers announced.
"I guess we better get our stuff ready," said Jasper. The other two nodded, and they headed down to the sleeping area to gather up their supplies. Alex didn't bring many things, as most of the things that were needed were equipped on the ship. It only took him a minute to pack.
"We should probably pack the others' things too, right?" asked Sable.
"We might as well," said Jasper.
Alex first went through Marko's things. He had everything the other crew mates did, which surprised Alex. Brasquin was so good at hiding his tracks, which is what made him so dangerous as an Impostor. Alex then looked at the bed beside his. Olivia's. He sighed, then started packing her things. He was almost finished, when he saw a journal on her nightstand, one he had never seen before even with all the time he spent with her. He picked it up, and read the first page.
"Day 1 on the Skeld." he read. "My first mission in outer space, and I get to go outside of the solar system! I'm honestly overwhelmed with excitement. Marko gave us our tasks, which were much easier than expected. Other than that, I just spent most of the day talking to the other crew mates, including Alex. I hope I can talk to him more. I'm looking forward to more days on the Skeld."
Wait, thought Alex. She specified me?
Alex flipped a few pages, to the day when Zach died. Tear marks stained the page.
"Day 7 on the Skeld. Zach Hall was murdered, by someone on our crew. There's an Impostor among us. I don't feel safe anymore, and I don't know who I can trust. Except Alex. He was with me when we discovered Zach's body, and I know that he isn't the murderer. He's helped me a lot through this, and he's the only one I am comfortable around anymore. Not even the captain makes me feel as safe as he does. I want to talk to him more."
She keeps on talking about me? he thought. Did she like me too before the mission even started?
He turned more pages, to day 13, the day before she died.
"Day 13 on the Skeld. The last Impostor was found, and I finally feel safe. But I'm not happy. No one is. Three of our crewmates, our friends, had to die before we could find out who it was. They will never be forgotten. Their lives were cut too short, and it pains me to think about them. I talked to Alex a lot more today, and he's really helped me. I love spending time with him, he makes me so happy. I know it hasn't been long since we really started talking, but I think I'm in love with him. There's only two more days until we can get on this damn ship, and I can finally go out with him, and spend time with him without other people nearby. I can't wait."
I think I'm in love with him. These words repeated in his mind. Tears fell onto the page of the journal, as Alex remembered all the time he spent with her, and thought of all the time he'll never be able to spend with her in the future. He thought that they would be able to leave the ship together, and finally able to be with each other somewhere that wasn't a murder scene.
Olivia, he thought. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. I'm so, so sorry. I wish I could just talk to you again, I just want to hear your voice. You were the only thing that brought happiness to this hell of a mission. You were the only person who I could talk to that could make me feel better. You were the only person who I trusted with my entire being. And you were the only person I cared about so much. I'll always remember you, Olivia.
The three crewmates silently watched, as their ship entered Earth's atmosphere. Thanks to technological advances, ships were now able to land themselves safely. The crewmates were strapped into their seats. Alex looked around at all the empty chairs there were, and a lump formed in his throat. After a few minutes, the ship arrived at the landing pad, descending slowly. They felt a small bump as the Skeld landed, and they unbuckled themselves from the chairs. They walked slowly towards the door. Steam hissed, as the door slowly opened, sunlight peeking through the crack. Alex covered his eyes from the sun, as he saw dozens of NASA employees standing at a safe distance from the landing pad. They began cheering and clapping. Alex couldn't help but tear up.
I don't deserve this applause, he thought. Our fallen crewmates do.
He wiped his tears, and went through the door, waving at the crowd. Alex, Jasper, Sable. The last survivors of the Skeld were finally home. But they weren't the same people they were two weeks ago. Their space journey on the Skeld had forever changed them. They watched their friends, the people they cared about, die. But they're not truly gone. They will live on in the memories of the three crewmates.
Forever.
Thank you so much for reading this chapter, and this series. Believe it or not, it took a while to write! Honestly, I don't expect anyone to read it, as it's been so long since chapter 4 was released, but if you did read it, thank you! Also, to the person who wrote a review wondering if there would be an explanation as to why Nova betrayed them, because if you had not written that, I would have completely forgotten to put it in the story. I was originally gonna write a bonus story in between chapter 4 and 5 about what's happening on earth, but scrapped the idea early. If you want me to write it, tell me in a review and I will. Also, if you have any questions about the story, any loose ends I may have left untied, feel free to dm me them, and I will answer! Anyways, thank you for reading and have a great day!