I thought slam was dark…

It ain't nothing compared to the darkness of a three-sunned planet in the middle of a solar eclipse. Its pitch black here, but that ain't the half of it.

What are those things anyway? When I first saw them spiraling up and out of those columns, the first thought that came to mind was…beautiful. They were powerful, primal, and predatory—all the attributes I, myself, possess. Apparently, they were also ravenous. They descended upon us with one mission, one objective, one thought…to feed.

There were eleven of us that survived the crash on this desolate rock, not counting the lone survivor who got his head shot off due to a case of mistaken identity, but our numbers were dwindling quickly. Zeke was the first to go, followed by Shazza, then Paris and two of Imam's boys. Our little psycho-fuck family was getting picked off one by one. Halfway to the compound we were down to six: a docking pilot, a holy man, two kids, a merc, and a killer.

I usually kill for fun, but on this planet, I had to kill to survive. Unfortunately, I can't take credit for killing Johns, but I do take pleasure in knowing that I helped. I cut him deep enough that those creatures could smell his blood from miles away, even though they were lurking just outside of our halo of lights.

Shortly after Johns ate it—or should I say, got eaten—the last of Imam's boys was taken…and then there were four. It was going to take a miracle to get us all out alive, but I don't believe in miracles. I believe in survival—survival of the fittest.

There was no way all of us were going to make it out alive, so I had Imam, Carolyn, and Jack hide out in a cave, while I got the cells to the skiff. I had no intention of going back for them. I was going to get off that God-forsaken planet with our without them—without them was just fine by me. Then she was there, standing in front of the ship, breathing hard, soaked to the bone, and holding a liquor bottle of blue light—God she was beautiful.

If it wasn't for Carolyn, they would have died on that planet, and I would have had more blood on my hands, but she showed me what it was to be human. She showed me what it was to care about someone other than myself. Like me, she had the survival instinct, and I admired that. Unlike me, she was willing to pay the ultimate price and sacrifice her life for theirs. She said she would die for them, but she didn't die for them—she died for me.

She said there had to be a part of me that wanted to rejoin the human race. I told her that I wouldn't know how.

That wasn't the thuth...