The spaceship soared lazily in orbit around 85 ArsMea c, an earth-like planet approximately 7 million light years from Earth. Creamy layers of clouds blanketed the deep blues and greens of 85 ArsMea c’s surface. The systems star, a young star not dissimilar to Earths, shone brightly off to one side.

The ship’s captain, known as Ibis by his friends for his long nose, gave a satisfied yawn and flipped a silver switch on the control panel. “Rise and shine,” he mumbled to himself as the 5 occupied stasis pods hissed softly open. Steve was the first one to undo the safety straps crossed over his chest and to step forward onto the deck. He had been quite a strong middle aged man when they had left Earth but time in stasis combined with zero gravity had taken its toll. His blue shirt hung loosely against his torso and his belt was in dire need of tightening. He acknowledged Ibis with a nod and pulled himself to the viewing window.

“So this is the planet?” Steve asked as he squinted through the bright sunlight streaming through the viewing window. Ibis got up from his seat and half pulled half floated his way to the window to join Steve.

“That’s the one, we’ll be on the surface in ten minutes if you’re all ready,” he smiled as he waved his hand towards the others who were mulling around the stasis pods.

Among the group stood Darryl and Anne Harper, a young couple and crew engineer and scientist respectively. Behind the briefly embracing couple stood Kane, the weapons expert, and Ashley. Ashley was both crew doctor and co-pilot to Ibis. Kane was stretching like a cat and talking animatedly to Ashley who was setting herself to unpacking everyone a simple breakfast of cereal and dehydrated apple slices.

Ibis patted Steve on the back and pushed himself towards the group. “Everybody listen up,” Ibis called, “I’m going to be landing the ship as soon as the ship has completed the exoplanet scan for a suitable place to land. So eat quickly and strap back into your pods when you’re ready to go.”

At this Darryl, Anne, and Steve made their way over to Ashley who handed out the rations from the food store built into the wall. When Steve got his silvery food ration Kane was already ripping open his portion with a disappointed look on his face.

“I’d kill for some fresh milk,” muttered Kane as he picked at his cereal, “even if it did float out of the package!” Ashley snickered, popped open her cereal and grabbed a stray piece that floated out of the rip. “I’d be much more concerned about how out of date the stuff would be after several years of space travel,” gagged Anne.

“Couldn’t we have just put some organic food into a stasis pod?” asked Darryl.

“Yes, but that would essentially be the most expensive refrigerator known to mankind.” laughed Anne as she sarcastically slapped her husband on the shoulder, “The Intergalactic Search for Earth-like Planets has bigger problems to worry about than what food their exploration teams eat in the field.”

Darryl shrugged and went back to eating his cereal, “the thought would be nice though,” he added through a mouthful. Anne rolled her eyes but her smile betrayed her.

Meanwhile Steve finished his meagre portion of cereal and apple slices and decided to go and talk to Ibis. He tossed the packaging into the disposal unit and left the chatting bunch behind. Steve pulled himself through the thin central tunnel and out onto the bridge. Ibis was tapping away at the control panel. His unopened packets of cereal and apple slices had floated to the far end of the room completely forgotten.

 “Are you going to eat, Ibis?” Steve asked as he spun himself into the second flight chair.

Ibis glanced away from the screen, his eyes distant. “What? Oh, no I already took my portion when the ship woke me up. I’ve been awake for a few hours now going through the planet encounter procedures.”

“How close are we to leaving now?”

“The scanners just found a suitable place to land, so we’re ready to go once everyone has finished eating.” Ibis rubbed his eyes and yawned. “You’d better go back and tell everyone to get back in their pods, and tell Ashley to get in here asap.”


Steve smiled and gave Ibis a salute, “no worries old man.” Laughing, Ibis grabbed Steve by the shirt and pushed him out of the bridge. “We’ve been in stasis for over 7 million years Steve! Technically our ages aren’t that different at all!” he shouted as Steve’s feet disappeared through the tunnel.

It was a funny thing to think about, being alive for longer than human kind had existed before you’d been born… Stasis had made them all ghosts to reality. There was no way to know if anybody from Earth had made it off the overpopulated planet before famine and disease killed everyone. The mission could be a total waste of time, unless there was a mothership floating out in space near the rotting shell of Earth.

“Are we good to go?” Darryl asked when Steve re-entered the stasis room. Steve came out of his reverie and said, “Yes, we’ve got to get back into the stasis pods for landing. And Ashley, Ibis wants you on the deck right now.”

Ashley nodded and left through the tunnel as the rest of the group disposed of their breakfast packaging. Steve decided to double check all of the safety locks on the food store and other compartments before strapping into his pod. As he jumped to his pod he felt the vibrations caused by the ships thrusters engaging.

“Steve!” Darryl called out as he flew past, “I’d say you’ve got about 10 seconds before we enter the atmosphere, hurry up!”

“Gotcha,” Steve replied sheepishly. One of the problems with zero gravity is once you’ve kicked off in one direction you can’t slow yourself down or speed yourself up. Steve felt a small jolt of adrenaline race down his spine as he drifted over to his pod. The pod was cold to the touch when he grabbed the edge of the headrest. Hurriedly he pulled his body into the pod and snapped the restraints over his torso. Taking a deep breath Steve closed his eyes and braced himself for the turbulence of passing through the atmosphere.

The ship cut through empty space for another second or two and then the ship jolted sharply. Steve snapped his eyes open when a high whistling noise filled the ship. A strong suction pulled at Steve’s body but the restraints kept him in place. He raised his hands over his face and looked around the interior of the ship. At the same time the pod door slid into place with a soft sigh and sealed itself shut. Dropping his arms to his sides Steve stared with his mouth open at the mayhem occurring outside. A tennis ball sized breach in the wall was sucking all of the air from the ship and spewing it into the black deadness outside.

Steve’s heart quivered. Gulping down the lump in his throat Steve pushed himself further back into his stasis pod as the last wisps of air departed the ship. Blinking back pricks of tears Steve made a silent prayer that somehow Ashley and Ibis were alright.

The ship began to shudder as it entered the atmosphere and a deafening roar vibrated Steve’s stasis pod. Through the glass front of the pod Steve watched a large crack spread outwards from the breach. He clenched his fists and stared at the walls, willing them to stay intact. Outside a red glow grew brighter and brighter until Steve had to shield his eyes from the light. The roaring sounds grew louder as well until Steve could no longer bear it. His ears popped painfully and he clamped his arms around his head. Blood trickled out of his ears and the sounds of the ship faded to nothing, only to be replaced with one last explosion and then a monotone buzzing.

The world spun dangerously and the air was thick with smoke. Steve put his arms to the surface of his stasis pod and pushed. The door fell away with a splintering sound and crashed onto the warped floor of the ship. His restraints snapped open easily despite his shaking hands. Slowly, Steve tried to take a step forwards but his legs gave way causing him to land on top of the door with a crash. Pain stabbed through his arms as he attempted to get used to the feeling of gravity. Steve managed to push himself into a sitting position and try to catch his breath.

The air was still rather smoky but at least on the ground the smoke was thinner. The sounds of crackling fires drifted through the, now horse sized, hole in the side of the ship. Another quieter sound was coming from the far stasis pod, Darryl’s. Steve feebly got to his feet and walked over to it, careful with his footing. As he got closer the sound became more distinct. A low moaning sound, occasionally broken by a wet cough.

Steve took a peek through the pod glass but it was too fogged up to see inside. He tried to pull the door open but it was stuck fast. Growling he kicked the pod and looked around to see if there was anything to break the glass screen with.

Settling with a jagged piece of the torn wall Steve began a savage attack on the glass. After three strikes the glass cobwebbed and shattered inwards. The glass tinkled away and revealed Darryl’s pained and bloody face.

Steve blanched. The pod smelled like vomit and blood. “Darryl, can you hear me?” Steve asked doubtfully.

When Darryl didn’t respond Steve broke off the rest of the glass and reached inside to undo Darryl’s restraints. Once the restraints were off Steve unceremoniously hauled Darryl out head over heels. The amount of blood soaking through Darryl’s shirt made Steve gag, and the vomit trailing down his front didn’t help. Steve lay Darryl on a flat part of the floor and peeled the injured man’s shirt off.

Darryl’s back was so twisted and torn that it resembled a blood red rose more than a human back. Steve was frozen in shock as his eyes travelled up and down Darryl’s broken spine. Moments after Steve had Darryl’s shirt off a loud crash made Steve spin around.

The door to Kane’s stasis pod was lying on the ground meanwhile Kane was fumbling with his restraints.

“Oh thank god,” whispered Steve. “Kane! When you get out of there I need your help right now!” Steve choked as a barbed lump rose in his throat.

“What is it…” trailed off Kane when he looked up and saw the state of Darryl, “oh, god please no.” Kane fell onto his knees once his restraints were off and crawled over to Steve and Darryl.

“We need Ashley for this,” Steve stated, “can you see if you can get into the bridge and check on them?” Kane stared at Darryl for a moment longer before nodding hurriedly. “I’ll go check on them.”

Kane disappeared through the tunnel and left Steve with Darryl once again. Steve’s survival training had included some basic first aid but he had no idea what to do in this situation. He knew that moving Darryl was not a good idea until they could keep his back still, but apart from that he was just praying on Ashley being alive. However, he wasn’t even sure Ashley could save Darryl in their current situation… Anne would be distraught.

Anne! How had he forgotten?

Frantically, Steve pushed himself away from Darryl and ran over to Anne’s stasis pod. His legs still felt awkward under the influence of gravity and he slipped over before he reached the pod. A searing pain cut through his shin like a burning knife as he jerked over and saw a serrated metal chunk of the floor dripping red with his blood.

The cut wasn’t very deep but it was bleeding freely. Cursing Steve tore a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around the freshly bleeding cut. He got up slowly this time and hobbled the rest of the way to Anne’s stasis pod. The glass to the pod wasn’t as fogged up as Darryl’s had been so Steve could see Anne’s face. There was a small cut on her forehead and her eyes were closed, but the fog on the glass was throbbing with her small breaths. Steve sighed with relief and yanked at the bent pod door. It gave way on the second tug and swung open.

Anne’s eyes jolted open and she threw her twitching arms in front of herself. She gulped down some smoky air and coughed it back out.

“Are you ok?” Steve asked. He gently reached out and lowered her arms so he could look into her eyes. Anne nodded and looked past Steve at the wreck of the ship. A moment later her eyes rested on the ragged body of her husband. Her eyes widened. “Who’s that,” she whispered as tears welled up in her brown eyes.

Steve blinked back tears of his own and stepped to the side. “It’s Darryl.”

A blanket fell over the world as the sounds around them faded away. Slowly, Anne unclasped her restraints and shuffled towards Darryl. Her legs gave way, forcing her to crawl the last few steps. She knelt beside her husband and gingerly reached out to touch his back, but doubled back and turned to look at Steve. Her cheeks shone with tears and her bottom lip quivered. “He’s not going to make it,” she managed to croak, “not even Ashley can save him in our current situation.”

As if to answer her statement Kane crawled back through the tunnel with tears of his own. “Ibis and Ashley are dead. I could hardly tell who was who they’re so bloodied up from the impact.”

Silence settled over the trio as they looked down at the mess that was Darryl’s spine. Anne choked back a sob and suddenly her tears were flowing freely. Tentatively she reached over and brushed the hair out of Darryl’s closed eyes. The ragged rise and fall of his body stopped as he let out his last breath.

Steve looked up at Kane and their eyes met. I spark of understanding jumped between them and they both smiled sadly. “Anne, we’re going to step outside for a little while, we’ll be back soon,” Kane stated.

Anne nodded slightly as Steve and Kane walked to the breach in the wall. Outside it was pitch black bar the fires burning in the surrounding trees. Looking behind the ship Steve could make out a dark open space which he assumed was meant to be the land site. However the ship had crashed through at least 100 meters of forest, leaving flames and scrap metal where once trees would have stood. After stepping through the breach Kane turned to face Steve, his eyes wide and forceful. “What do we do now!” he whispered powerfully, but not loud enough for his voice to reach Anne.

Steve glanced towards the breach in the ship and swallowed in an attempt to wet his burning throat. “We need to salvage whatever we can from the ship. Starting with the food and water stores.”

“And what about the mission?” Kane hissed, “how the hell are we meant to call for help.”

Steve bit his lip and looked up into the sky. The alien stars stared back at him forlornly. “I’m not sure we can,” Steve muttered, “our communications systems can only send messages at light speed, so by the time our distress signal reaches Earth we’ll have died seven million years beforehand.”

Kane cursed and spat on the ground. His eyes glinted wildly when he glanced at Steve. “What’s our best chance of survival? It’s your area of expertise,” Kane sighed as he combed his fingers through his jet black hair. Steve pondered for a second and responded, “Chances are in our favour that phase two of The Intergalactic Search for Earth-like Planets has started. Civilian ships will be on their way to all of the planets being scouted by exploration teams. We’ve just got to wait…”

“God damn it,” muttered Kane as the fire in his eyes softened and a solitary tear rolled down his cheek. He turned away and took a deep breath before hastily turning back to Steve. “So I guess I’ll get started…” Kane trailed off. His mouth dropped open, his eyes staring widely past Steve.

Slowly, Steve turned around to see whatever was behind him. In the flickering shadows of the fading brushfires stood a tall black creature. It stood well over 12 feet tall with long and skinny limbs, but what was worst were its deep purple glowing eyes that stared unblinkingly at them. The hair on the back of Steve’s neck prickled.

“Kane, go and grab your weapons… just in case that’s not friendly,” whispered Steve. He wiped a bead of sweat off of his cool brow. His heart had picked up to the stage where he could literally feel it pounding in his chest. Behind him Steve could hear the leaves crunching as Kane slowly made his way back to the ship.

A minute or two of silence ended when Steve glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Kane coming back out of the ship. When Steve looked back at the field the creature was gone. The hairs on Steve’s neck prickled again as a jolt of energy shot down his body.

“Where’d it go?” asked Kane quietly, a medium-purpose machine gun in his hands, a double-barrelled shotgun on his back, and a pistol through his belt.

“I have no idea,” stated Steve dumbfounded.

Frowning Kane lowered the machine gun and looked at Steve. “You’re kidding right?”

“No… it was there one second and when you came out it must have run off.”

Snorting Kane pivoted on one foot and spun around. “Well, it must be hella fast, Woah!” shouted Kane as the air in front of him distorted. Not a moment later the shimmering air became the black creature. In total silence the creature knocked Kane to the ground in one shove and leapt at Kane for a second strike. With a roar Kane unleashed a burst of bullets into the creature’s torso. Promptly the creature vanished and a green ball dropped onto Kane’s chest.

“What the hell!” shouted Kane as he swept the green ball off of his chest and scrambled back a few paces. The machine gun fire had made Steve’s ears start to ring again, but he distinctly heard the hissing from behind him. Fearing another black creature Steve leapt forwards only to feel an intense heat blast him to the ground beside Kane. Stunned, Steve spat out the dirt in his mouth and felt Kane shake his arm.

“Are you ok? We need to get inside now!” Kane shouted into Steve’s ear. Groggily Steve got up with the support of Kane’s arms.

“What just happened?” Steve groaned.

“I don’t know, but I want walls around me.” Kane responded. As Kane and Steve began to jog back to the ship a gurgling sound seeped out of the trees. Turning around the two explorers squinted into the darkness.

The darkness shifted.

From the gloom emerged what resembled several rotting corpses. Their flesh was a faded green, their hair was at best hanging in clumps from their square skulls, and their eyes were black pits.

Kane raised the machine gun again and unleashed the rest of his clip into the zombies which thudded out of sight. “Ok, time to hide.” Kane added.

When they turned around Anne was standing at the breach in the ship. Her eyes were red from crying and her cheeks shone with tears, and her mouth was hanging open. Shakily she raised her arm and pointed back into the trees. Slowly Kane and Steve turned around to see a number of different creatures emerging from the shadows. There were more zombie-like creatures, gangly skeletons with bows and arrows, and green humanoids with four stubby legs and no arms.

Kane swore and scrabbled for a new clip in his pocket. Steve turned back to Anne and saw something skitter across the top of the ship. Steve’s heart skipped a beat as 2 enormous spiders crept down the side of the ship. They came to a halt directly above Anne, their venom dripping from their fangs.

 “Anne,” Steve whispered, “come here slowly.” Steve put his arm out for her to take but Anne stood where she was, rooted in her pointing position. “Anne!” Steve hissed.

Anne locked her eyes onto Steve’s and whispered “we’re all going to die, aren’t we.”

“No, we can get through this just come here,” Steve retorted, “COME ON!” At that moment the spiders dropped onto Anne. Shrieking the three rolled on the ground for a moment before Anne's screaming stopped and her body fell still. The spiders chattered at each other and began to drag her inside. Steve watched in horror as several more spiders emerged from over the ship and scrambled through the breach.

Suddenly the air filled with the sound of gunfire. Steve spun around to see the approaching line of monsters falling… and exploding. Kane’s face was set in a fierce grimace towards what was happening in front of him and hadn’t noticed the spiders at all. Steve reached down and pulled the pistol from Kane’s belt. Kane flashed Steve a short frown but never stopped peppering the monsters with bullets.

“What’re you doing?” Kane snapped when his clip was empty. But by that time Steve had already burst into the spider infested ship. Looking left and right Steve spotted the spiders feasting on Darryl’s exposed body. Anne was lying on the floor forgotten. Quietly, Steve crept over to her dishevelled body and looked her over. She looked alright bar two bleeding bite marks on her arm and shoulder. Steve prayed that the spider’s venom wasn’t deadly and threw her over his shoulder. She made a soft grunt when Steve stood up and a spider looked up from Darryl’s flesh. Squealing it skittered towards them and lurched at the couple. Adjusting Anne onto his left shoulder Steve managed to raise the gun and shoot the spider mid-leap. The gunshot echoed deafeningly inside the ship and goo splattered all over the wall. The spider dropped to the floor with its legs curling.

At this the other spiders left Darryl and skittered towards Steve. Steve’s eyebrows shot up and he raised the gun again. Swallowing down his fear he unleashed a bullet for each spider. The ship rang loudly as spider after spider fell. Except one. The pistol clicked uselessly as the final spider leapt at Steve’s face.

A cold sweat washed over Steve as the spider landed with a thud. The spider’s fangs hung inches in front of Steve’s eyes, clicking back and forth. It smelled like chemicals and sulphur. Steve almost retched.

The spider jabbed towards Steve but he dropped the gun and grabbed the spider’s hairy body. With adrenaline fuelled strength Steve managed to hurl the spider to the far side of the room. The spider bounced to the floor with a high-pitched squeak and dashed into the bridge-tunnel.

Warily, Steve backed out of the ship and shouted to Kane, not once looking away from the breach. “This place isn’t safe anymore, what can we do?” As if to confirm his fears 2 more spiders crawled over the ship and into the breach. Steve’s best guess was they must be able to smell Darryl’s blood.

“Kane?” Steve asked.

Daring to turn around, Steve saw Kane sitting on the grass with blood gushing from a wound in his stomach. Lying on the ground beside him was a barbed arrow with a chunk of flesh hooked through the tip.

“Oh my god,” Steve choked past the rising lump in his throat. Moments later Kane dropped lifelessly to the ground. “No!” Steve called as he dropped to his knees beside Kane’s slouched body. Unceremoniously he dropped Anne to the ground before an arrow flew past his shoulder. Steve scrambled backwards and scanned the scene in front of him. Two of the skeletons stood in the shadows of the trees with their bows drawn.

Steve leapt to his left as the arrows flew passed through the space he had occupied a moment before. Cursing he got to his feet and jerked Anne back over his shoulder before sprinting down the burning alley cut through the trees during the crash.

The smoke twisting around the fires grabbed at Steve with wispy fingers as he sprinted past. The shadows on either side of him seemed to swarm with movement. The occasional arrow would narrowly miss and thud halfway into a fallen tree trunk. When Steve reached the opening to the prairie he saw giant shadows looming out of the distance. Hoping for some hills to hide in he set his course for the shadows.

He ran past stagnant pools, twisted trees, and even what looked like a couple of cows. Eventually the slope increased and he was making his way up into the hills. Briefly he looked back and could see the faint glow of the wreck on the horizon. Dotted throughout the landscape were the lurching creatures creeping towards him. Sighing, Steve turned his aching body and once again began his climb deeper into the hills. He wove through valleys and over cliffs until he was well and truly lost.

When the sun began to slide over the horizon Steve found a small alcove and rested for a while. He lay Anne on a soft patch of moss and then collapsed onto his back. He felt safer with the sunlight showering the hills.

Taking deep gulps of sweet air Steve sat up and looked around the valley he had chosen to stop in. There was no sign of movement bar a group of sheep grazing on a distant hilltop. Closing his eyes Steve prayed that the creatures only came out after dark.

Anne’s coughing made Steve open his eyes. Looking over at Anne bought Steve back to reality. The skin around the wounds was a shade of purple and the veins stood out like worms. Dread flooded Steve’s chest and swept deep into his gut. Slowly crawling over to Anne he felt her forehead. Steve flinched at the intense heat.

He felt tears well up in his eyes and tumble down his cheeks. He had failed everyone. What was the point of being alive if he couldn’t even save his friends?

Anne went rigid and gasped. Her body shook violently and her eyes flew open, her pupils barely visible as tiny pin pricks. A second later her body went limp for the last time.

All feeling seeped out of Steve until a spark of horror engulfed Steve’s gut and he looked up at the alcove roof and roared. In his frustration he punched the dirt floor so hard that a chunk of dirt was completely displaced from the ground.

A red anger blinded Steve as he stood up and strode towards the entrance of the alcove. The clouds had pulled together and a heavy rain had started to pound the hillside.

Steve stood in the entrance to the alcove all alone. The solitary survivor of the human race lost on an alien planet. He clenched his fists and charged into the freezing rain with a deep growl.

It was kill or be killed now. He would survive to get revenge.

Log 1

If you’re reading this then you’ve found my diary and shelter. Stay here until I return. If I don’t come back before night falls it’s highly possible I’m already dead. If that’s the case… get off this planet. And do NOT go outside after dark, believe me. You don’t want to fight the nocturnal creatures that call this hell hole home.

I’ve lost track of how long I’ve been here, alone. The days are shorter here than they are on Earth. I could have been here for a year… or maybe just a couple months. I have no idea.

I have no idea whether any other humans are on their way to find me either. My best chance is to sit tight, or do my best to sit tight whilst these Creatures come for me every night. I have built a crude hidey hole in a cave hidden in the hills, and it is a significant improvement to those first few weeks spent on the run outside.

However, I have a newfound strength. After the crash and my flight into the hills I analysed some basic materials, just simple eye observations. Dirt, rocks, wood, stuff like that. And I have discovered that the atomic structures are very weak on Ars Mea c. I can LITERALLY punch chunks out of trees and displace blocks of dirt from the valley floor with my bare hands. I’ve put this makeshift diary together out of some pressed sugar cane pages and a leather cover. I don’t know how frequently I’ll write in this thing though. All I have to write in it with is one inche worth of pencil that I happened to have in my pocket during the crash. I’ll see what I can do.


Log 2

No sign of rescue. Just. Suffocating. Isolation.

Please, if you’re reading this SAVE ME. Please.


Log 3

Hey. Me again. I can hear them outside. I call them creepers. They’ve been watching the entrance for several days. I don’t know how, but they must have seen me come inside. I’ve walled myself in with wooden walls. There’s no way in and no way out.

I’m so hungry.

After some rest I’m going to try and break my way out of the back of the cave. If the rock is as weak as the dirt and wood then maybe, just maybe I’ll be able to escape. I can’t stay in here for much longer or I’m going to run out of water.


Log 4

This is my last entry. The pencil is down to its final splinters. If you’re reading this then you should know that I did manage to escape the cave. You should be able to see the passage that I clawed out of the stone with my bare hands.

The creeper event happened several Ars Mea c months ago (about 90 days ago). I’m keeping track of the days with a tally on the wall.

I’m still living here. Feel free to stay inside until I return at dusk.

Things are going well in terms of survival for me. I have resources, tools, food, and water. I plan on building a large obelisk to draw attention to my location… if anyone ever turns up.

If I do not return at dusk my previous warnings about the night still stand.

P.S. Don’t piss off the local humanoids, they have an Iron Golem that will kill you if you so much as threaten the humanoids.