Mark didn't get much sleep that night. When the sun was gone, the flowers on the bodies closed and retracted. Their eyes flew open, and they chased around the scattered crew that was caught outside. They all made it inside, and the undead scratched at the doors once again. Mark shuddered, picturing himself or his wolves with those green eyes, roots digging into his dead skin. He wished he could kill them all and be done with it, but they would just come back.
He checked on James's father. He didn't have a temperature, anymore. The medicine was working. He looked in the cabinet. There was only a few bandages left. He couldn't grab any fresh moss, but he was sure they were past that point. He was going to recover. As to how much damage his nerves had... that remained to be seen. He fed small morsels of stew that someone made out of berries and a rodent that was found. It was sweet and a little gamey. He offered small sips from a spoon. All were taken.
James's father didn't acknowledge him, but he was hungrily eating as much as he could. Mark silently thanked him for coming around. He needed some help. Mr. Tanner had leverage over some of the crew. He could use some help.
He chose to check on Trey one last time for the night. He wanted to get it out of the way. He was about to open the door when he saw Austin dragging something across the floor.
"Whatcha got there?" Mark asked.
"I can't take Addison outside, so I'm bringing outside to Addison."
"That's... nice. Do you want help?"
"Sure. Grab the other end, please."
Mark picked up the end that was dragging. They carried the branches to the room. Austin opened the door. Mark didn't have to walk in to catch the smell. He dropped the branches and gagged.
"What the... is that..."
"Yeah, sorry. She can't help the smell.
Mark saw Addison sitting in the chair and didn't know how to respond.
"She wanted it to be more alive in here since she can't go outside," Austin continued. He stuck some branches against the wall and tied them together. "I thought these could look like trees, and some moss would be like grass."
Mark didn't say anything. He just stared at Addison's body. It was discolored, dark spots forming all over her body. Her eyes had turned completely white. She looked so unnatural. Mark couldn't help himself. He ran out of the room.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Austin called.
When Mark didn't answer back, he shrugged and looked at Addison.
"Forgot to do something, I guess."
~~~
They found Sara holding Maria's body. Sasha rested her head on Sara's shoulder in comfort. When she didn't come back, they went looking for her. Tim found them first. He didn't react for a few moments. He just stood there and stared at the sight. Then, he whirled outside and clobbered the wall. His knuckles split, bones shattering with every punch. He yelled and didn't stop. Sara just sobbed more.
It took four men to stop Tim from punching the wall. He nearly hit one of them before he collected himself. He waddled over to Sara, defeated, and fell on his knees. He wrapped his arms around them and cried silently. Sara's sobbs rang like a siren's lament. Tim squeezed, wishing life back into his daughter. It was hopeless. She was long gone.
When she couldn't cry anymore, she started shaking.
"Take her," Sara begged. "Take her. Please. I can't..."
Tim took Maria's lifeless body in his arms.
"We'll give her a proper funeral," Cassidy said.
Sara shook her head.
"No. Not yet. I know who sabotaged the ship."
"Who?"
"Something is on the ship. I don't know how it got here, but I saw it when we were down there."
She turned around.
"When I got here, Maria was holding it on her arm."
"What was it?" Damien asked.
"I don't know. It was some sort of organism. It was black, like tar, and attached itself to surfaces like hot glue. It attacked her. It went in her mouth, and..."
Tim walked out. He couldn't hear any more.
"...and it took her over. Like it was controlling her."
"That's insane," Cassidy said. "It takes over a human host?"
"Yeah. Her eyes went all black, and her voice changed. Like she was a puppet."
"How do you know it's connected to the sabotage?"
"I just do. It was dark down there. I couldn't tell, but I thought I touched something on the wall. When it killed Maria, it tried to get me, too. It felt the same."
"How did you get rid of it?"
"Your skin..." Damien said. "It's all red. Did it do that?"
She shook her head. "I ran hot water. It scared it away."
"You should get looked at in the infirmary."
"I'm fine. That creature needs to be found and killed. It's a threat to this ship's integrity and its crew."
"Where did it go?" Cassidy asked.
"It went in the vent. It's somewhere else, now."
"If it's attacking people, we need to keep them where we can watch them," Damien said.
"Smart. They'll stay on the Sim deck."
"Slumber party," Cassidy said. "Nice."
Sara felt an arrow in her heart. Maria said that their first night together.
"I want to run a ship-wide diagnostic. If there was a foreign body, it would have alerted us by now."
"Unless the creature broke the diagnostic panel," Cassidy said.
"We'll find out," Sara said. "Damien, can you check on Tim? He's probably in his room."
"I'll pop by. Maria's body should be put in stasis."
Damien left. Cassidy looked at Sara.
"You okay?"
"No," Sara said. "I don't know what that creature is, but when I find it, I'm ending it myself. I'm so sick and tired of losing family."
She rubbed her hands together, nails digging into each other nervously.
"My first day being captain, and I've already lost someone. It just had to be my sister."
"Sister? I thought your--"
"Yes. Sister."
Sara left, heading straight for the inner workings of the ship.
"Tell my dad to keep everyone safe."
Cassidy watched Sara stride away. She shook her head and put a hand on her hip.
"Oh, lord. She's a rough one when she gets angry."
~~~
Aiden wished Judy was still around to tell him where the danger was coming from. It was surrounding them from all sides. They tried to track every movement, but there was too much. Even Juno couldn't keep track of a single individual.
"What are they? Poachers?" Vera asked.
"I don't know," James said. "I'll shine a light."
He turned on his flashlight. He shined into the bushes. There was something moving too fast for their eyes to track. The only indication was a branch briskly brushed.
"It's so fast!" Aiden remarked.
"No, shit!"
There was a laugh.
"This isn't funny, Aiden!" Vera said.
"That wasn't me!"
There was more laughter, more patters of feet. James took out his blaster and tried to follow blurs of movement.
"Don't move!" He shouted.
"James, something tells me they're not gonna listen," Aiden said.
Juno barked. There was more laughter.
"If it's not the Poachers, what are they?" Vera said.
"Catch one, and we'll find out," James said.
"Easier said than done," Aiden said. "They sound like they want to eat us."
James caught a quick flash of brown and fired. Missed.
"We need bigger weapons," Aiden said.
He held an ear of corn out to James.
"Where did you get that?"
"I told you what I can do," Aiden said. "Honestly, I wasn't even trying this time."
He took it.
"For once, I'm glad you swiped something. Vera, the striker."
She picked it off the ground and struck on the strands of hair. They glowed bright yellow. James threw it into the forest as hard as he could. It exploded, sending some dirt their way. They shielded their faces. The laughing turned into panicked yelping. The footsteps ran away, paired with laughter.
"I don't know what the hell that was," Vera said, "but I'm not waiting for them to come back."
"Yeah. Break time is over," Aiden said.
James kicked dirt on the ashes. He picked up his backpack.
"Come on. Let's get moving."
Vera finally loosened the grip on her knife. Her knuckles were white. Her fingers cramped.
"Yeah, let's get out of here," she agreed.
~~~
Damien knocked on the door.
"Go away."
"It's me, Tim."
He heard a sigh.
"Come in."
The door opened. Damien saw Tim sitting in a desk chair, looking at Maria's body lying on the bed. Her hands rested on her chest. Maria's eyes were closed.
"She looks peaceful," he said.
"Maria was never at peace," Tim said. "She was always scared of what could happen. I should have protected her."
"Don't put this on yourself. You were a good father."
"Was I?"
"Sara wouldn't have attached to you if she thought otherwise," he argued. "I heard her before I came here. She called you her father."
That was enough to make Tim break down in tears again. Damien rubbed his back in comfort.
"You're not a terrible father. You are the most supportive and selfless parent I've ever whitnessed."
He looked down to the floor.
"Fraser and I... we were supposed to have children. Adopt. Live as a family. This... this doesn't stop that."
"I can see her face. Her mother's hair," Tim said. "I feel like I'm losing my wife all over again."
"She's not lost. They're both here, in this very room. In the air we breathe. The sun's light. The faces of everyone we love. We might not be living and breathing, but we still live on in other ways. They are always a part of us. Their memory is like an echo. It doesn't disappear. It just finds someone else and brings them to us."
He patted Tim's back.
"They're never gone. Not to us. We carry their legacy, against all odds, to tell their story. To keep them alive. That's living. I know Fraser is out there, but he's not just a body floating in space. He's a speck of sand on the shore of an infinite sea. So is Maria. The universe is woven into a fabric of time and space. How can they be gone when our existence binds them to us?"
Tim wiped the tears on his face.
"I thought it would get easier, going through it again."
"That's a lie we tell ourselves because we don't want to face losing a loved one again. Humans love to deny the inevitable. We'll all die someday. We can fight it as much as we want, but it's bound to happen sooner or later. The ones that aren't worried are the ones that live the longest."
Damien looked at Maria.
"We should take her to the morgue. Preserve her body."
"No," Tim said. "I can't hold her here any longer. She needs to be free. Her mother is waiting for her. Where's Sara?"
"She's looking for the creature. She won't stop until she finds it. I could see it in her eyes."
"When she's angry, she loses herself. I've been here before. Without closure, it will destroy her."
"Should I go get her?"
"No. I'll find her."
He got up and picked up Maria.
"Can you take her and have her cremated? I want her put in something nice."
Damien took her body.
"Are you sure? This is happening really fast. You might need time to--"
"What I need to do is go find her before I lose them both," Tim interrupted. "Will you help me or not?"
"I've got your back, Tim."
"Thank you, Haas."
He squeezed Damien's shoulder and left. He knew the clock was ticking for Sara.
Plus, he was going to find that creature and burn it before it hurt anyone else.