The Among Us Story

Part I: The Imposter

Cave

Yellow and Cyan footsteps echoed in the dark, musty cave. Only their flashlights illuminated the long windy caverns. They could hear the humming of the levitating cargo box behind them, full of rocks and minerals left behind by the automatic drills.

This was going to be their final rotation in this cave. Yellow hated it. He hated having to march through these caves and pick up the slack of the unreliable automatic drills. However, today he was excited. This was the day they finally left this alien planet and began their journey back to Earth.

They'd been on this planet, Polus, for the last year. They were in a crew of ten individuals in total. Their job was to survey the planet, collect minerals, study the creatures, and assess if it was possible for humans to live there one day. Yellow had always wanted to see another planet, but the past year was excruciatingly boring. However, they did believe humanity could live here one day.

Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.

The rhythmic footsteps were starting to put Yellow into a trance. Just one foot after the other. Until suddenly, a stray rock caught his foot and he stumbled forward, breaking his trance. Cyan turned his head slightly in acknowledgement while Yellow regained his footing.

"You okay?" Cyan asked.

"Yeah… yeah I'm fine," Yellow sighed, "Can't wait til we're off this rock."

"Yeah," Cyan snorted, "I second that Yellow."

Yellow, Cyan, Red, Blue, Green, Purple, White, Black, Orange, and Pink. These were the code names given to the crewmates that corresponded with the color of their space suits. The crew did know each other's names, but they were ordered to refer to each other by their color. This was done out of paranoia that an intelligent alien race would use their names to find the location of Earth. The crew found it to be strange, but they followed orders. Soon, after living on Polus for six months, they concluded that there was no intelligent life on the planet. However, they'd been using the code names for so long at that point, they simply continued calling each other by color.

"I really can't wait to be off the south side of the planet," said Yellow, "I still don't understand why they made us move from the north to south last month."

Cyan turned his head again, "I guess they thought there'd be better minerals down here."

"Yeah, but the south is just like the north," Yellow complained, "same rocks, same minerals, same crap." Yellow coughed. "I mean, shouldn't they have known that? Polus is way smaller than Earth."

"Who knows," Cyan said with a hint of annoyance in his voice, "It's not like we lost anything coming down here. It is colder down in the south, but at least we only had to spend a month here instead of the eleven in the north."

Yellow picked up the annoyed tone in Cyan, "Yeah, I guess."

The two continued their rotation in silence. The levitating cargo box continued to follow them through the cave. It would only be about ten more minutes until they reached the end and could turn around and go back. After that, they'd be on their way home. The rhythmic footsteps began to put Yellow back into another trance, when he heard a slight gurgling sound to his right.

"What was that?" Yellow blurted out, stopping in his tracks.

Cyan took another step before he turned around towards Yellow. "What?" He asked.

"Didn't you hear that?" Yellow responded while pointing his finger upward.

"No," Cyan answered, "What did it sound like?"

"Well, it kinda sounded like a gurgling noise," Yellow tried his best to explain the sound, "Y'know, kinda like when you're swishing around mouthwash. Like this." Yellow poorly attempted to imitate the sound. He made all sorts of disgusting, inhuman sounds. Cyan only responded by slightly turning his head. This made Yellow stop. Even though he couldn't see Cyan's face through the reflective visor of his helmet, he knew he was giving him his signature, "are you screwing with me" look.

The two crewmates stared at each other for a couple seconds until Yellow finally asked, "Are you sure you didn't hear it?"

Cyan sighed, "No… I didn't hear it, nor do I ever want to hear you make those stupid ass noises ever again." Cyan continued to walk down the cave.

Yellow's shoulders slumped down, "Fine, whatever," he said as he begrudgingly continued walking too.

It had only been five minutes since Yellow heard the noise and he was already being entranced by the footsteps again. Yellow couldn't help but feel a wave of embarrassment wash over him as they continued walking. Cyan hadn't liked him much. Yellow liked goofing around with the other crewmates, while Cyan was more focused on working. He hated that he seemed to always be on rotation with Cyan. He knew their Captain, Red, was pairing them on purpose. Trying in vain to make them get along.

After a few more steps, Yellow started hearing gurgling again. This time it was coming from his left side, where Cyan was. He scoffed and looked down at his grimy, dirt covered boots as he continued walking. He was sure Cyan was mocking him by making those sounds.

Cheeky bastard. He thought. But then, Yellow had a thought. It didn't make sense for Cyan to mock him. It wasn't something he did, not even towards him. He also noticed that as he continued walking, the gurgling sound seemed to be getting further behind him. Yellow definitely knew that Cyan wouldn't halt their work to mock him. Something was wrong.

He turned around and showed his flashlight at Cyan to find he was just standing there. Relief flooded over Yellow. Maybe he was just mocking him, trying to be more relaxed on their last day on Polus. However, on closer inspection, Cyan appeared to be clawing at the base of his helmet near his neck. The gurgling continued and Yellow's flashlight was only illuminating the bottom part of Cyan's suit. Yellow also noticed that Cyan's flashlight was on the floor. Dropping his flashlight for gag is something he knows Cyan wouldn't do.

Yellow guided the light upward and slowly started to notice red stains on his Cyan colored suit. It started with a few drops, but the further up he went, the more red he saw. Then, his flashlight reached Cyan's neck, the place his hands had been clawing at. A large, black spike was protruding out of the suit. Cyan was trying to pull the spike out, every second he seemed to get more desperate. Yellow stood there and stared at the spike which was covered in red. It finally dawned on Yellow what the red was, blood. He also figured out what the gurgling was. Cyan was choking on his own blood, and he was standing there, just watching it.

What am I doing? He thought. What am I doing, I have to help. Yellow began to run to Cyan, but before he could reach him, Cyan was violently yanked upward towards the ceiling of the cave. Blood fell atop of Yellow, covering his visor. He wiped his visor off with his arm and for a split second, he saw Cyan's foot. However, as soon as he spotted Cyan, he was dragged into a hole inside the ceiling.

Yellow stood there, his breathing was rapid, his heart felt like it would burst right out of his chest. What the hell was that? Yellow thought. It got him, it got him. He put his hands on the side of his helmet.

"It fucking killed him!" He screamed. It echoed through the cave. It was the loudest thing Yellow had ever heard in his life.

Where did it take him? He thought. What will it do to him….what will it do to me. Yellow began to hear the gurgling noise again. This time, it was coming from above him. He looked up and could see blood dripping from the rock above. Get out of here. He commanded himself. GO! As if the order had come from someone else, Yellow began to sprint back to the entrance of the cave.

Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp! Clomp!

His footsteps echoed so loudly in the cave. Every footstep felt like an announcement of his exact location to whatever was in here with him. The humming of the levitating cargo box could be heard behind him. It was much louder, now that it was traveling much faster to keep up with him. Everything around him was making noise and surely attracting the thing toward him. It didn't matter, he just had to run.

However, as he was running, he began to remember just how deep in the cave they were. They had been walking in the cave for almost two hours before all this started. He had to have been at least five miles deep in the cave. This realization hit Yellow like a ton of bricks. I'm screwed. He thought. No, I can't let it kill me without a fight.

Yellow slowed his pace and eventually stopped running. He turned around and illuminated the long, dark cavern with his flashlight. He couldn't see anything except the levitating cargo box. Yellow suddenly remembered they kept tools in the cargo box for mining any tough minerals they came across. He ran to the cargo box and picked up a power drill. It wasn't much, but it was something.

Yellow waited, not daring to move his flashlight. His drill was at the ready in case of a sudden attack. It had become quiet. The footsteps were gone, the hum of the cargo box was gone, the only noises were small dripping sounds. Yellow's spine shivered. He didn't know if it was the dripping of water from stalagmites, or the dripping of Cyan's blood. It felt like an eternity before something finally happened.

Yellow began to wonder if the thing had stopped pursuing him. He wondered if it had pursued him at all. Maybe it was busy feasting on Cyan. Maybe he could run out of here after all, he could warn the other crewmates of the creature in the cave. Maybe they could even come back and find Cyan's remains. Just as he was about to leave, Cyan walked into view from behind a large boulder.

What the hell? Yellow thought. Cyan appeared to be perfectly fine. The blood was gone, there was no hole where the black spike had been, he wasn't making any gurgling sound. He appeared to be the same as he'd always been. Is this some joke? He wondered. Some kind of sick prank? Are the others in on it? Are they about to appear from the boulder too? Cyan continued walking toward him, not saying a single word.

"C-Cyan" Yellow called out, "Are you good?" Cyan did not respond, he just kept walking. "Dude, you're freaking me out here. What was that back there?" Cyan still didn't respond. This angered Yellow. "Goddamn you, answer me!" Yellow pulled the drill up, pointing it at Cyan.

Cyan stopped, put his left hand near his throat, and cleared it, "Look, I'm alright."

Yellow couldn't believe it, Cyan was speaking to him. Just a few minutes ago, he was choking on his own blood and pulled into the ceiling. Yellow looked at his arm. There was still fresh blood on it. He wondered if this was some shapeshifting alien disguised as Cyan. He positioned himself to run, "You didn't answer me, what was that back there? Was it a prank; are the others in on it?"

Cyan began to walk forward again, "Yes it was," The way Cyan moved was strange. It was so calm and poised. "I was just thinking about how terribly I'd treated you the past year. Like that time I pushed you into some crates after you did your pull my finger joke."

Yellow was more confused than he'd ever been in his life. This had happened almost ten months ago. It was so long ago, even he had to search his memory a bit to remember it. However, he was right, Cyan had pushed him into some crates. Is this really him? He wondered. If this was some shapeshifting alien, surely it wouldn't know about that. Not only because of how long ago it was, but it happened when we were stationed in the north, on the other side of the planet. Yellow began to lower the drill as Cyan was only a few feet from him now.

"I wanted to prank you and show you there were no hard feelings," Cyan said in a calming manner.

Yellow scoffed, "It wasn't very funny, you scared the shit outta me man." He lowered the drill to his side. Cyan was now only a foot away. "How did you even pull that off?"

Cyan didn't answer for a second, but he continued to stare into Yellow's visor. Cyan answered in a voice that sounded like his, but it was contorted with a deeper, more menacing voice alongside his, "This is how."

Cyan's stomach opened up, revealing two rows of sharp, yellow, dagger-like teeth. Yellow only had a second to look down into the mouth, before a tongue shot up at his face and pierced his visor.

Docking Port Beta

Red took a break from his work to watch his last sunset on Polus. They were in the final stages of loading up the ship and preparing it for the three month journey back home. Their ship, The Skeld, had been the most reliable spacecraft in humanity's arsenal. Built by the Aeronautics of Space Company, or AOSC, it was the only ship that could leave their solar system and travel into deep space.

Red and his crew of nine others had been the lucky few to be the first humans to ever leave their solar system. When they returned, they would be celebrities. Especially him, Reid Jamison, the Captain of this expedition team would be more famous than the richest and most powerful men on Earth. Red and his crew would be taught in history schools for centuries. He was greatly looking forward to that.

"Pick up the pace you bunch of sissies!" Green yelled from across the docking port while carrying three giant boxes of supplies. Red laughed and shook his head. Green had always been an abrasive old man. He was a former Navy Seal and was built like an ox, but he always managed to keep the crew moving on schedule and did a lot of the heavy lifting.

On the left side of the port, Red could see White and Black trading oddly shaped rocks with each other. Red could only imagine the collection of weird rocks they'd accumulated over the past year. Anytime they ventured into new territory, the first thing they'd do was look for weird rocks to bring home. It didn't take long for Green to see them slacking.

"Goddammit you little ninnies," Green yelled in exhausted breaths, "pick up a goddamn crate and lift it with your goddamn arms into the goddamn ship."

As Green waddled his way to the ship, Red could tell White and Black were laughing with each other, even though he couldn't see their faces through their visors. They dismissed Green and went back to their rocks. Orange, Purple, Pink, and Blue were helping out. They weren't carrying three fifty pound crates on their backs, but they were doing what they could. Red knew he had to step in and say something. He hated having to ruin the fun, but he was the Captain.

"Alright," Red said with a clap, "you heard Green, it's time to get back to work."

"Come on Captain, we're almost done sorting these rocks," argued Black.

"Yeah," White chimed in, "can we please finish this up. I won't take us longer than five minutes."

Red snorted in amusement, "Well you'll have three months to sort out your rocks. Get back to work," White and Black's shoulders slumped down. "Do you want to be hauling this shit in the dark?"

"No Captain," They both said in response.

"Then get back to work" Red ordered.

"Yes Captain," they said in unison again.

It only took about thirty minutes before the last of the supplies were inside The Skeld. All they had to do was wait on Yellow and Cyan. The sun was almost fully set, and Red checked the time. They should've been here twenty minutes ago. Red thought. Where are those two? Oh man, I hope they didn't get into a fight. Red started to remember all the disagreements Yellow and Cyan had. I can't believe those two still didn't get along after a whole year. I guess it was stupid of me to send them together on all these missions. Wonder if I made it worse? Red was beginning to wonder if he'd have to go out and search for them when he saw two figures on the horizon. It was Yellow and Cyan. Red let out a sigh of relief.

When the two made it to The Skeld, he greeted them, "Hey guys, did you enjoy your time frolicking in the rocks?" Red laughed, but Yellow and Cyan didn't. Weird. He thought. I know Cyan has a bit of stick up his ass, but I figured Yellow would've at least chuckled.

Red checked the levitating cargo box and pulled out a long mineral. I'll set up Yellow for this joke. He thought. "Wow look at this one," Red started with a slightly exaggerated tone, "This one's long and hard." Red paused and looked at Yellow, waiting for him to say it.

For a couple seconds, they just stared at each other, until Yellow broke the silence, "That's she said."

"There he is," Red laughed, "Alight, Yellow, take these minerals onto the ship." He tossed the mineral back into the cargo box. As Yellow took the cargo box into the ship, he stopped Cyan, "Hey, is something wrong with Yellow," he asked, "Did y'all get into a fight or something?"

"No Captain," Cyan answered, "He just tripped over some rocks and he's a little embarrassed."

"Ah, gotcha," Red nodded, "Well, go on and get yourself some dinner, we leave for Earth in an hour."

"I can't wait to be back home Captain," said Cyan as he boarded The Skeld.

The Party

Dinner was a nice meal that was cooked from the native animals and plants of Polus. They had nogom steaks, yazbur potatoes, and goodass sauce, a sauce created and named by Green. The dinner had been full of stories of loved ones and plans of what activities the crew will partake in on return to Earth.

"My daughter got into Yale while I was gone," Orange bragged.

"I can't wait to have a nice, delicious, all American burger," Black exclaimed.

"I bet my wife will start crying when she sees me," Pink laughed.

"I'm gonna pet my cat, Snuzzles," Green yelled while raising his glass of water in the air.

Red laughed while pulling out a picture of his wife. She was a beautiful woman. Her black, curly hair. Her dark, smooth skin. Her luscious lips. Her amazing amber brown eyes entranced him. He stared at the picture, imagining their reunion. He imagined exiting The Skeld to thunderous applause from a large crowd trying to get a glimpse of the first humans to leave the solar system. His wife would be in the family section, jumping up and down at the sight of him. He couldn't wait to walk down the runway and hold her in his arms. He could already feel her lips on his. He gave the photo a small kiss. "Just three more months honey," he whispered.

As dinner wrapped up, Red and Cyan took the leftovers and threw them into the airlock. The airlock was basically their garbage remover. Whatever they didn't want on the ship, they launched into space. After that, Red left the cafeteria for a surprise. As he left, Orange and Purple went to navigation to prepare the ship for launch. In storage, Red grabbed a large jug of liquid that he'd been saving for a long time.

Red dashed into the cafeteria with the jug in his arms. The others noticed and quickly their attention was focused on him. He saw their faces of anticipation now that their helmets were off. He could see White's wide brown eyes with his black curly hair. His face reminded Red of himself when he was younger. He was in his late twenties and was the youngest member of the crew. Black had his bright blue eyes fixated on the jug and licked his lips. He could already guess what was inside. He combed back messy blonde hair and waited. Green sat with his arms crossed, he was rigid with proper posture and a straight face. However, when he saw the jug, his hazel eyes widened a bit and a small smirk ran across his old grizzled face. Red could see the jug reflecting in Green's bald head as he lifted the jug onto his table.

"Gentlemen, I know it's been a long year," Red began, "We've been away from our home for a long time and in that time, you've all worked the hardest you could. With everything we've learned, we might be able to convince the AOSC to begin Polus colonization plans. It's all thanks to you, my mighty crew." Red threw his clenched fist in the air and the others copied and woo erupted from White. Red laughed, "Now that our work is done, I think it's safe to say, we've been sober for way too long." The cafeteria erupted in cheering and clapping. "I've been fermenting this jug ever since we landed on this rock, dig in boys!" Red slapped the jug.

The jug was full of wine that Red had made from local berries when they'd first arrived. It had been fermenting for the entire year they'd been at Polus and as a result, it was the most delicious wine they'd tasted in their lives.

"I think it's time we finally leave this rock!" Red yelled out. More cheers erupted from the crew who'd begun to partake in the wine. Red yelled out to navigation, "Orange, Purple, get us the hell outta here!"

The engines fired up with a mighty roar. The Skeld began to shake as they slowly lifted out of the air. Orange and Purple carefully guided the ship out of the atmosphere as the rest of the crew enjoyed their wine. Once they were in orbit, Orange and Purple activated the auto-pilot that would guide The Skeld home for the next three months. It would be a long and boring journey, but tonight the crew would party.

Orange and Purple arrived back in the cafeteria to find White had already put on some music and the wine was going fast. Once the first jug had run out, there was a sense of disappointment. However, Red had one more surprise, he had eleven more jugs of wine. They were all brought in and spent hours partying the night away.

Red was dancing with White and Black when his vision started to become blurry. He was getting drunker every sip. His body was tired and sweaty but he continued to party hard. Purple brought in a miniature disco ball to light up the cafeteria with a plethora of colors. He hadn't felt this alive since his teenage years. However, the wine proved to be stronger than he thought and after almost five hours of partying, the crew blacked out.

Body in Electrical

The voice called from above. "Captain," It was a soft, quiet voice. Red looked up and saw nothing but white. He wondered where he was. He looked around and appeared to be floating in a white void. "Captain," The voice was louder that time. It was almost as if God was trying to talk to him. He tried to call back to it, but his mouth refused to speak. He tried to walk, nothing, he tried to run, nothing, he even tried to fly, nothing. His body wouldn't move, but he didn't feel panicked. It was almost comforting floating in the void, until the voice finally screamed at him, "CAPTAIN!"

Red jolted awake. Alarms were blaring in his ears. They were loud, too loud. Where am I? He thought. What is that awful noise? A pair of arms grabbed his shoulders and shook him to his senses. He blinked his eyes and looked up to see his own face reflecting off White's visor.

"Captain, wake up!" White yelled while shaking him more.

Red pushed White's hands from his shoulders, "Alright alright! I'm up!" He looked around and saw everyone had their helmets on. "What's going on, did we hit something," he asked while attempting to stand up. However, the wine hadn't fully worn off yet and he began to fall back to the floor. Luckily, White and Black managed to catch him before he hit.

"Captain, put your helmet on, now," Black ordered, "We think someone messed with the oxygen."

Messed with the oxygen? Red thought. "Oxygen?" Red asked, "What the hell are you talking about?" Before Black could answer, Green tossed Red's helmet to White, after which he placed it on Red's head. There was a slight air locking sound to signify the helmet was on properly.

"Captain," Black said, "We don't know what happened, but something messed up the electrical room. We started hearing sirens go off and we Pink to check out what happened and fix it. He didn't come back for fifteen minutes, so we went to check on him and, well."

Red turned to Black, "Well what?"

"Pink is dead," Black answered.

Red had to steady himself before he fell again. How could Pink be dead? He thought. I was just dancing with him a few hours ago.

Red stared at Black and said, "Show me."

The scene was something out of a slasher film, but somehow worse. Pink had been ripped in half. His torso lay near the entrance of electrical and a trail of blood reached toward the back where the rest of Pink lay in a puddle of blood. The back of his head appeared to have been bitten off. Red bent down and inspected the wound. Bits of white foam appeared to lay inside the skull. It had to be saliva.

He wondered if an animal had somehow gotten on board, but during the entire year they'd spent on Polus, they found no animals capable of something like this. Most animals were passive towards them and they were small. Some got aggressive if they came too close, but the worst they'd do is hiss at them, maybe nip their finger if they were dumb enough to get closer. This was the work of a large, more predatory animal. But again, they'd seen nothing like that while they were on Polus.

Red looked around and saw that most of electrical had been wrecked. Claw marks lay all over and lose bits of wire hung from the ceiling. Whatever had done this, it messed up many of the automated systems on the ship and their oxygen was running out. Luckily, the space suits they wore could recycle their carbon dioxide and convert it back to oxygen, giving them infinite oxygen. However, their main concern was the animal that had done this. Red looked around even more until he spotted the camera in the corner.

"Everyone, get to security now and check the cameras," Red ordered.

The security cameras were a mess. The damage in electrical had caused the cameras to freeze and distorted the images. The color was gone from the images and spikes of static streaked across, making it hard to see what on camera. However, Red found the camera for electrical. He could barely make out what was happening, but he could see the body of Pink. The camera had froze when Pink was already dead.

Damnit. Red thought. These cameras don't help if the killer is already gone.

Red was about to leave and inspect electrical more, when he noticed something on the screen. In between some of the static streaks, he saw what appeared to be a tentacle moving behind some of the electrical boxes. He focused in, trying to get a glimpse of the creature when he saw what appeared to be a sleeve.

The tentacle was coming out of a sleeve. It can't be. He thought. Red pulled up his own sleeve and compared it to the one in the image. It was a perfect match. Dear God. He thought. It's one of us, or at least something pretending to be us.

"Call an emergency meeting," Red ordered to Black.

"Yes Captain," Green responded.

They met at a large table in the center of the cafeteria. Bits of wine still stained part of it. Everyone in the crew was at the table, everyone except Pink.

"I know emotions are running high right now," Red began to explain, "But this is important. While inspecting the broken cameras, I noticed a sleeve that looks exactly identical to ours. From that sleeve, a tentacle apparatus protruded from it." The crew looked around at each other. "I know this will be disconcerting news, but I don't see any other possible scenario. One of us is not real. One of us is not human."

The crew began to step back from the table and eyed up each other.

Red continued, "I think it's safe to say, we have an imposter among us."

To Be Continued...