Among Us: Salvation

Chapter 7: Sacrifice

The acrid scent of charred flesh drifted down the corridor. By the time Uma, Nikolai, and Severn reached the cafeteria, it hit them in a suffocating wave. The overworked heating churned and dispersed the smell, alerting everybody to the death before they'd even seen the lacerated corpse by the window.

George's arms dangled at his side and his head lolled against the glass. Athena crouched at his side, teasing a dripping blond curl around her finger and wrapping it behind the dead man's ear. "Such a shame it had to come to this," she murmured. "Go to Martha. I'm sure she'll want to see you."

Her senses prickled. She got up and stared at the blurred reflections in the window. The blade in her grasp discharged a shot of steam. "Good work. Delivered in one neat package. There's no point in delaying the inevitable."

The smoking sword arched in a rush of white light and tore towards the captain and Severn. In a reverberating strike, it met a different target.

Nikolai grunted. Warmth cascaded from the weapon and singed part of his sleeve, grating against the reinforced arm brace underneath.

"We have a mission," Athena insisted. "Or have you forgotten that while you've been swooning over your new toy?"

"I have forgotten nothing." He clenched his jaw and strained to keep the blade away from the last two crewmates. "We shouldn't have done this."

"We had no choice."

"There is always a choice."

A moment of stillness came over her, fleetingly fizzling between them before she wailed and drove the weapon back up into the air. Tears sparkled along her lashes as she swung at her accomplice. His rapid movements prevented a landing blow. Metal scraped and sparks erupted. "You. Will. Get. Us. Killed!" she screeched, swiping the sword with each fear-filled word.

"Stop this now!" Uma roared, surging forwards and placing herself between the two. "This is all my fault. I'm the one who has the information."

Athena hesitated, swaying and breathless. Faint creases dappled her scrunched nose, and she drove the sword downwards towards the captain. A metallic rumble rippled through the cafeteria.

What Uma expected to be the last moment of her life became one of the most surprising. Tightening every muscle in his body, Severn held a wrench aloft and prevented Athena from inflicting further damage.

"Please," he panted. "Don't."

Beads trickled down Athena's temple and clung to strands of her dark hair. She encouraged the blade down further, edging towards victory with each slide of Severn's feet. But those pleading eyes bore into her, ripping open her darkest regrets and dragging them into the light.

The fear that had gripped her since she was a little girl narrowed around her until she could barely breathe, compelling her to kill him. One swipe, one yell into the void would be all it took and she could go home. Back to that hovel and the threatening voices that had raised her. Eventually, the crewmates of the Skeld would join the other victims on her long list and melt into her nightmares. But she'd be alive. Enduring among the rubble of her actions.

"I didn't survive all of this just to die now," she said through grated teeth.

"You're not going to die," Severn replied. His muscles twitched, and he groaned to eke out the last of his strength. "We've got the information. Once we return to Earth, we might-"

"We won't get that far. Don't you understand? If you aren't dead, Skyline will shoot the ship down before we get there."

"A communication to potential allies?"