StarGaze

Death's Paradise

Billions watched in confusion and horror as the live stream from Mars went off all of a sudden. Among the whispers, there were some of hope and others of disappointment. As the murmurs grew louder and louder, the TVs flashed. And on the other side, there was nothing but horrors. 

All four of the astronauts that were seen laughing happily and excited for work were lying on the ground, which by the way looked nothing like the martian soil. There was grass all around and they were just lying there, still as if in a coma. 

And as they watched on, the people noticed something crawling around in the grass. The grey-colored worm slowly pushed itself away from the humans and vanished into the unknown. And before people could wrap their heads around this, the stomach of the biologist exploded. Out came the remains of what would have been the intestines. The small metallic worms quickly disappeared in the grass, leaving the poor scientist to die while watching his intestines pulled out. 

Soon after, one of them screamed and his eye popped out. Out came the same worms, taking out chunks of brain parts with them. All four of them died gruesome deaths in the following few seconds. 

“What the f**k?! How could...what?!” Iliana, the biologist’s wife screamed and collapsed on the ground. 

The people around her didn't bother to her up as their eyes were glued to the screen. This was uncalled for. This had to be someplace other than Mars because for centuries everyone knew that Mars was red. Was the government faking the whole StarGaze s**t?!

Tension spread and the insecurities that were buried deep inside people's minds came up all at once. The pressure reached boiling point when people realized that all this wasn't a show. The saviors of humanity were dead, and now they were stuck on this planet which was inevitably dying.

The interesting thing about humanity is that human minds don't think of logical solutions when they need to. Anxiety gets the best of us. So when it was time to unite and see the problem through the end, they did exactly what anyone would do under those circumstances.

The sensible ones locked themselves in while the crazy ones filled the streets. Masses of people walked around, looting the shops and setting fire to whatever they could find. And yes, the conspiracy theorist cults were doing their work, pumping false information and fake scenarios in the minds of vulnerable people who just wanted their kids to have a safe future, away from this miserable planet.

"Let us in!" The carpenter roared from outside the wooden gate.

"No please, just let us be in peace. Or....or I'll call the police." The girl said in a shaky voice from the other side of the door.

It was not a wise thing to say to a group of drunk and anxious men. They were Jews who had come here thinking they were taking revenge for the wrongs that their community faced decades ago. The poor German family inside consisted of a girl and her older brother, who was drunk himself and passed out.

"Will you now, girl? Where was the f*****g police when you people ravaged us and kidnapped us from our own home?" The man said and kicked the door.

The door was made of hardened wood and revolted. The man fell with a jolt in his foot, making the other ones even angrier. They thought that the German door was fighting back, so seven boxers were born out of thin air.

As they punched and kicked the door, the girl tried her best to wake her brother up. But the boy seemed to be as good as dead. Their apartment was on the seventh floor, so there was no escape which didn't involve legs breaking.

"There you are! Threatening to call the police, eh?!" The men said as soon as they kicked the door down and saw the girl kneeling by the couch.

The terror was clearly visible in the bright blue eyes as the fifteen-year-old kid crawled away from the men carrying batons and sticks. The monsters inched in closer and closer as she got up and slammed the bedroom door on their faces.

"Come out girl, and I promise you it will be a quick death. Don't come out, and I promise to bleed every last drop of Jew-hatred from that tiny heart of yours." The man said and slammed his baton on the door.

Everyone seemed to ignore the poor drunkard on the couch, everyone but one. An old man stepped up to the couch, reeking alcohol. He knew that the boy was an alcoholic like himself, and hoped to find a bottle somewhere around him.

Failing to find it, he lifted his knife and aimed at the throat of the sleeping boy. As he rushed down the blinding smooth edge, the boy's head quickly moved to the side and the knife landed inside the cushion. The old man tried to take out the knife but the young man held his hand and slipped a knife of his own inside the old timer's eye. It was over in a second, and without a peep coming out of anyone's mouth.

Meanwhile, the girl was whining and begging for her life as the intruders struck down the door and held her up by the throat. As the life was fainting out of her, she saw a familiar figure standing behind the crowd. Everything was familiar about that blurry face, everything but one feature. The bright red eyes stood out of the ordinary.

As her neck was about to snap, all hell broke loose. The young man lifted the knife and stabbed one of the men in the head so many times that the head was barely recognizable among the holes punched in it.

Others tried to stop him, but the alcoholic had suddenly become a ninja. He slipped past punches, slicing the hand and breaking the legs.

"You f*****g kraut, come here. I'll teach you what a real man fights like." The chubby man said and threw the girl on the floor, opening her head.

The man took a hold of the knife thrown his way and threw it down. He then proceeded to land three quick punches on the tender boy's face. The boy's face was swollen as he struggled to keep on his feet. He was about to get his head smashed in, but a dirty low blow did the job.

The big man toppled on the floor, doubling with pain. The young man got up, struggling to balance. But as soon as he got hold of the knife, a new life pumped inside him. He slashed the man's throat like it was nothing but a chicken's. Then he turned towards his sister, who was sitting down with a hand on her bleeding head, watching in horror what her brother was doing.

When the shock subsided a little, she stood up while holding her head and ran to her brother. As she pounced to hug him, the slim man placed the knife between his chest and hers. He held the girl as the light in her eyes went out.

The zombie got up, drenched up in the girl's blood, and went to the window. He smiled as screams filled the air and patches of fire lit up the city's atmosphere.