Silence

Chapter 4

As the ship spit out the auto pilot coordinates; everyone prepared to die. Not a single craft that landed on either of the ravaged planetoids since had ever reentered space. Necrosis was the fastest spreading virus manmade or otherwise that any race, species, and or living thing had ever seen. It killed your brain a cellular level, all but the cerebellum, where your most primal skills slept. It kept you alive just enough to eat and move and groan, but the person that you are, the one that loves and laughs, has fears and desires, eats pizza with friends on a cool summer night and kisses the person of ur dreams under the old willow tree, dies long before your old body takes it's first bite out of its prey.

"So," Rex finally said after a long quiet moment in the lounge of the the large jump ship,"What are we gonna do, dad?"

"Well.................," Billy didn't continue.

"There is nothing to do, Rex," said Fredrick," Prepare for the worst and hope it comes fast."

Everyone agreed with silence.

"No."

"What do you mean, no Caesar? We're done for. NO ONE has ever gotten off that God forsaken planet principality for the past three months. We ain't gonna either," at hearing this the kids all looked at there mother who reassured them looking back at Rex with a sarcastic 'thanks ' on her lips.

"Well it's true," Rex looked at his feet and twiddled his thumbs around each other," we aren't gonna leave are we?"

"I mean no dammit! We've been through worse and came out walking. Why is this any different?" Caesar yelled over the buzz of an engine failure.

"Because this time we have the entire population of a God damned planet on our asses! You cannot be that stupid 16 odd people and a few guns couldn't even survive long enough for them to starve to death." screamed Re, yelling at first and ending in a defeated whisper.

Billy stood abruptly. He walked over to a small patch on the wall: a storage locker. Tapped three numbers and the handle trigger opened. When Billy pulled it in the locker door swung open slowly. There were many weapons in it: serrated machetes, machine guns, pistols, JoHughtons, and photon gloves.

"We might die," said Billy after the collection of ooohs and aaahs had stopped," But we're going out fighting."

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"Dad, where and why and how, did you get all of these? These would have cost you a fortune look at all these antique pistols and this shotguns older than Rex's," said JJ, after Rex took the photon gloves (PGs for short).

"Not important sweetheart, let's just say Oosher probably recognized the P90's insignia on the jump ship and wanted to collect, that's all." Said the captain, nonchalantly. As if Oosher was a gutless pushover.

"Dad! It's not ok to steal from anyone, let alone Oosher," JJ said looking at the best criminal in the galaxy with an ice cold death stare.

***

Rex was trying out the photon gloves in the holographic arena. He was good with them in the game but the had never had the chance to try them in real life.

"Forty seven minutes to touch down on Ceres. Begin landing preparations." Said the computers female voice, politely.

There was a short swoosh as the arenas doors opened and closed quickley.

Rex turned and saw no one, he knew it was JJ as soon as he did.

"JJ these can hurt people, you know that right?" he said smirking. They couldn't hurt a fly at this level of stun.