To Whatever End

One.

Visible machinery. Lifeless bodies walking around with no purpose. Small metallic creaks were made on the floor every time a step was taken.

The slow lulling hums and purrs of the croaking ship shooting through the vacuum of space clouded Max's mind as she sat at the small cafeteria table. Her patience with life itself was running extremely thin. Her friend sitting across from her didn't pay it much attention, although it was all Max could think about.

A whole year, 365 days.

It had been a year since her home planet Earth had been taken over by an unknown alien civilization and she was forced to flee with a handful of survivors. 115 survivors were on the ship, to be exact.

It was either escape or face certain death, or slavery, which to Max was ultimately worse than death. Before the planet was attacked, nobody thought aliens existed. The conspiracy sometimes raged through the thoughts of stoners or the occasional old man. Other than that, nobody actually believed it. Humanity had prospered so much into the future that it was thought that the technology they had was too good to not detect life if it was there. Therefore nobody thought there was anything else out there, or else the space stations would've picked up a signal.

That was until Earth was bombarded with unknown space ships and unknown creatures flooded out of the vents with intent to ruin everything humans had ever worked for.

Just the thought of looking one of those beings in the eyes made Max's stomach churn. They looked just like everyone else, which was the most unsettling part.

She was only nineteen years old at the time of the attack. The gut-wrenching screams of the neighbors crowded her thoughts. Haunting her whenever she closed her eyes. The sounds of bones breaking and necks being sliced open would forever stain her ears.

"Max? Hello?" A snap from her friend Juliet made her thoughts automatically vanish. Max shook her head in embarrassment.
"Hey s-sorry" she stuttered.

"You thinking too much again?" Her beautiful blonde haired best friend asked with a sympathetic look in her bright blue gaze. Juliet was the only person Max genuinely had on the ship. She was her confidant and the only thing keeping her from tearing the metal walls down and jumping into the dark pits of space.

"You know me," Max rolled her eyes. "When am I not thinking too much?" Juliet took another bite out of her freeze-dried bread that was clearly stale.

Unlike Max, Juliet had her family on board with her. Her mother and father escaped with her. On Earth, they were extremely wealthy and had the connections to be the first ones on the ship. Juliet didn't have a care in the world, even now that life was meaningless.

They had met the second day on board, Juliet had found Max in a ball on the floor in one of the empty storage rooms. From then on, they were inseparable.

Before Max could say anything else, the screen sitting at the front of the elongated room that they called a cafeteria started to hum with unnecessarily loud static. The metallic urgency sent shock waves down Max's spine. She hated the sound, so much so that she covered her ears in disgust.

"Another promising broadcast from the captain himself," Juliet said with a small sarcastic laugh.

Every now and then the main pilot of the ship, Captain Korrin would give announcements. Usually for no reason at all other than to reassure the passengers that they were okay and not floating towards their untimely deaths. Max was grateful for Captain Korrin, he is the only reason she isn't a pile of bones on Earth, he saved her life.

Although, she hated the broadcasts. It all seemed so fake to her, Korrin actually had no idea where they were headed, or how long the ship would even last until they ran out of supplies.

"Hello again passengers, this is your captain speaking." He spoke with a tinge of caution. "We are set to pass Jupiter soon so be on the lookout. It will be a beautiful sight to see."

The ship that they were on had state of the art engine boosters. They were able to go faster in space than normal ships that had taken off before them.

He coughed slightly to clear his throat, "Also, an extremely small meteor hit the ship last night as you all were sleeping."

Panicked whispers erupted all throughout the room.

Max's eyes widened with curiosity and she tapped Juliet. "You think we're gonna die?" She asked with a small laugh escaping her lips.

"Jesus Max, you're so morbid. I really hope not."

Max didn't necessarily want to die, she just didn't have anything left to live for. The ravagers had taken everything from her. Therefore, her only thing left to do was to make jokes about it.

"Nobody panic, our crew has everything under control. It was minor and will be recovered immediately."

Captain Korrin droned on about safety precautions and the lunch schedule for tomorrow. All very boring things, but it gave the people on the ship something to look forward too.

"Remember everyone, we are the last of humanity. We're the only hope." His voice faltered, and then the tv shut off. He always ended the broadcasts with those exact words.

"Boring," Juliet rolled her eyes as she took another bite out of her bread, she ruffled her thick blonde hair. "Let's go to the chambers," she said as she grabbed Max's hands, pulling her along as she strutted out of the cafeteria.

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