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“It's getting late, everyone head back to the ship.”
The gruff voice of Carne cut through the silence with the crackle of the radio, pulling Alice out of her thoughts. She blinked, taking a moment to register what had been said, before she reached for the walkie-talkie to respond.
“Alright, I’ll head back in a moment, just trying to grab what I can.”
Strapping it back onto her belt, Alice let out a sigh, as she stared out at the dimly lit kitchen before her.
Truthfully, there was more in the room than she could carry. She'd already scanned all the scrap in the room to figure out what was worth the most, but it still hurt her to leave a 80 credit lamp behind.
Oh well, it was better to just take the best stuff and leave, no need for unnecessary risks.
With full pockets weighing her down, Alice started to head back towards entrance, hoping to find her way without too much issue. This had been her first time on Titan, and the place was much bigger than previous moons she'd visited.
Wandering carefully through the large dark halls, she noticed a shape in the darkness. Her breath hitched, and she paused, before cautiously shinning her flashlight on it.
There was someone in the middle of the room, just standing there. They weren't moving, but they were breathing, their back to her, arms limp at their sides.
Odd.
“Hello?”
The person turned their head to the sound of her voice, their visor covered with a smiling mask. They said nothing, as they turned the rest of their body to face her.
Not her crew.
She wondered what they were doing here, alone. Perhaps they'd gotten separated from their crew, waiting for their return.
The mask was unusual, sure, but she'd heard that people sometimes liked to customize their suits. She didn’t judge.
Instead, she offered out her free hand, as the person watched her quietly.
“I could use some help carrying stuff back to my ship, can you help me?”
For a moment, they didn’t respond, watching her silently. And then, they approached.
Oh, they were much taller than she’d realized, the height much more obvious as they closed the distance between them, towering over her. Still, that didn't deter her, her hand still offered out for them to take.
They stared at it, a beat of uneasy silence passing, before without a word, they reached out.
Their hand engulfed her's, as they took her offer, large fingers lacing between her smaller ones. Firm, but not uncomfortable, as their masked helm tilted up to look at her, quietly waiting.
Ali grinned, giddy to make a new friend.
“Thanks! The stuff's right this way, I’ll take you to our ship right after.”
They followed her lead, as she headed back to the kitchen, hand in hand.
Carne was starting to get antsy. It was getting late, and they’d already spotted a few Eyeless Dogs roaming in the distance. Everyone else had made it back except Alice, the newest member of their crew. She wasn't responding on the radio anymore.
Shouldn't have left her on her lonesome.
Still, her icon moved on the map, so she was still alive. But what bothered them the most, was a second employee icon, trailing directly behind her. None of the crew were with her, Bones and Gavin both staring at the screen from behind them. Which meant it was either a glitch, or something else.
“Do you think it's a masked chasing her?”
Bones had piped up nervously, but Carne was trying their best to dismiss that fear, waving a hand at the suggestion.
“No, I don't think so, they're both carrying items, and Alice never broke into a run.”
Still, that anxiety ate away at them, especially since they knew Alice had never encountered one of the masks before. This had been her first visit to a paid moon, and they were a lot less common elsewhere.
What if she'd been turned by one, but running because she didn’t know it was a threat.
“Oh hey, she made it out.”
Carne's gaze recorded on the screen, Gavin snapping them out of their unseen spiral, as the two blue circles approached the shape of the ship. A sigh of relief escaped them, as they could hear Alice quietly humming as she approached.
“Sorry I’m late, radio died and I got a little lost. Do you think we have room for a fifth crewmate?”
They turned their gaze from the cameras, to see a Masked employee standing at the entrance of the ship, their large body blocking they way out.
Breath hitching, their heart skipped a beat, as the already small ship felt like it was being crammed like a sardine can. Back against the ship controls, the metal digging into their back. No escape. They, they couldn't—
“Guys? What’s wrong?”
Alice's voice cut through the oppressive silence, before Bones let out a scream, and the Masked employee advanced on them.
There was nowhere to go, its towering body too big, filling the space, arms wide open to catch any prey that might try to slip by. Gavin had left the shovel by the entrance of the ship, the monster stepping over it as it approached.
Only one option left.
Throwing themselves in front of Gavin and Bones, Carne stood before them, offering their body as the first to be infected. To give the others a chance to run, while they were being turned.
“Stay behind me!”
It towered over them, much taller than any masked they'd encountered before, its smiling mask tilted down to watch them as its arms reached around and past them, grabbing the two behind them, and pulling them all in close.
Wait, no no no, it was only supposed to be them! No please, don’t—
With all the remaining crew in its hold, it squeezed, pressing them all firmly against its chest, Bones and Gavin thrashing and screaming as Carne desperately tried to push back, to not let another crew fall to the infection, to be the only one sprayed with bloody acid.
Only, the blood never came. As it held on tightly to their squirming bodies, no burning came, their suits still intact.
Carne didn’t understand. What was it waiting for?
“Why are you guys all freaking out?”
Alice's soft voice cut through all the panic, as their struggles stopped, realizing not only was she still in the ship, but alive. There was no mask eating though the from of her visor.
“I didn't think you guys would all freak out over a hug.”
…a hug?
As the panic slowly subsided, the realization hit. It, really was just a big group hug, smothered by big arms in a tight embrace, but then, why?
They were dreaming right? This was all just a post-death hallucination, the last of their brain dying as the infection took them over, the process alot less painful than they'd thought.
The masked let them go, and they all stumbled back, weak in the legs with a dying fear. It made no attempt to grab them again, but watched them quietly, as Alice came up from behind it, peering at the rest of the crew with clear confusion.
“So uh, are you guys okay with a fifth member?”
Gavin was the first to snap out of his shell shocked state, barking out a broken laugh as he supported himself against a wall.
“Alice what the fuck!?”
It laughed, a quiet, muffled, yet eerily human chuckle, before a deep, raspy voice broke through.
“I like them already.”
Taking Alice's hand, it walked past them, patting Carne on the head as it walked by. They shuddered at the contact, but could find no words in their mouth, as it pulled the lever to start the ship.
They took off into orbit, with it still inside.