Divided We Fall

Chapter 1

(Art is by me. If you want to check it out in more detail it's on my insta DreamRealmReality and Tumblr DRRealitySlenderverse)

There was a tightness in his chest as the remainder of the crew stared at each other. He'd known them for so long. How many missions had they gone on now? He thought he knew them, that they were trustworthy. Now only five of them remained, including himself... and one of them was the imposter.

"It's obviously Brian, I mean, he's been off by himself this entire time." Alex huffed, crossing his arms as he glared at the man in the yellow suit.

"Or it's you." He finally spoke up, snapping at the man. "You've been alone most of the time too."

"At least I tell you what I know. All he does is stand there quietly!" The taller man shot an accusatory finger at Brian. "Maybe he isn't talking because he knows he's guilty."
"Jay and I found you standing over the body." Tim was trying his best to contain his temper but he'd suspected Alex for a while now and they practically caught the man in the act.

"I found Sarah like that. Why would I kill her? She was supposed to be with Jessica, that's what we agreed with at the meeting." The two were inches apart, helmets nearly close enough for the glass visors to clink together. "...So, tell me Tim, why was she alone? Huh? Where were the two of you at? And for that matter, where were you, Jessica?"

His red gloves formed into a fist, though he didn't dare lash out. This was getting too close. If he lost his temper now then they might vote him off. "Dammit. I was supposed to be in charge here. I can't let him get to me."

"I was fixing wires in the hallway with Jessica and Jay keeping look out." He knew neither of them had left to do anything else. They had always made sure to keep each other in their peripheral vision at all times. "The lights went off and we left to fix them- together- and what do we find when the lights come back on? You, standing over her body."

"Her tasks weren't near ours so she left on her own." Jessica chimed in, though he doubted Alex was paying attention to what she said.

Next to him, Jay was shaking at the memory. He hadn't exactly found it pleasant either. The kill hadn't necessarily been gory, in fact there hadn't been any blood. But just seeing the way her body had been contorted on the ground, dead eyes staring vacantly up through her helmet; it was enough to get his blood boiling.

"Brian was there too, just staring at it- near the vent no less." Alex once again deflected the blame, his glare never leaving Tim. "Just admit it. You're protecting him because you hate the fact I was wrong about Seth."

Of course he'd bring up Seth. He'd been the first to die, voted off on Alex's claim that it had to be him. The man did appear to just be wandering around the ship. Looking back however, Tim was rather certain Alex had just wanted to get rid of Seth because he'd brought a new pet along; 'annoying' the man had called it.

"Maybe we should just keep doing our tasks." Jessica spoke up again, her tone clearly conveying she'd had enough of listening to their petty arguing.

Jay shook his head and glanced around the small group uneasily. "No. We can't. Someone else could die. I say we vote for someone again."

"Alex." Tim cast his vote without hesitation.

The man in blue scoffed and took a step back. "You've been saying it's me since we started. I'd say that's pretty suspicious... but I'm voting for Brian. He hasn't told us anything he's been doing."

Tim glanced across the table where his old friend stood listening. He was practically begging to be voted off despite Tim's desperate mental pleas for him to defend himself. Surely it wasn't him. It couldn't be. Then again, in past simulation training Brian had been rather good at avoiding getting caught by framing others at the scene. Was he pulling the same trick here?