Mission_ Planet Biter - Laurann Dohner Page 0,2

each other, accusing fellow employees of exposing them to the drug. The two doctors had ordered everyone to stay inside their sleeping rooms and to remain there. But they hadn’t. Fights had broken out and several died from their injuries. Including Dr. Jeth. One of his patients had snapped his neck.

Once all six of their security personnel were dead, Dr. Hazel had asked Vera to take over monitoring everyone inside the pods. She’d been one of the three employees with the lowest dosages of the drugs found in their bodies. Her, Dr. Hazel, and nurse Nancy had that in common. Therefore, the three of them had experienced the least amount of side effects. Vera had been ordered to activate a total lockdown. The previous security guards had refused to do so. Now, every door was sealed and couldn’t open unless Vera herself did it, from the very desk where she currently sat.

“I’m a drone operator. Not head of security.”

“Vera,” Nancy said sharply. “I know that.”

It pulled Vera from her thoughts. She hadn’t realized she’d spoken aloud. Focusing on the still-active video call with the blonde nurse, she said, “I fly drones over the surface and log information. I shouldn’t be locked inside the security office doing this. I just want to go home.”

“We all do. Snap out of it, Vera. We’re depending on you. You the one who talks to us, keeps us calm. You make sure we’re locked in so none of us go outside like Crystal did… She was my friend. Those animals were eating her.”

Vera took some deep breaths. “I know. There’s an imaginary bigfoot at my back, my asshole of a father—who is obviously not here—keeps picking fights with me, and the tremors in my hands are way worse than they were yesterday. But I’m trying to keep it together. I am.”

The nurse nodded. “Same. Only it’s not a bigfoot or my dad I’m seeing. I’ve got really messed-up vision. Like, everything is moving and swaying. At one point, colors were exploding around me and then everything went black for a while.” She held out her hands. They shook badly. “The tremors are worse for me today, too. I also can’t stop crying.” Then she lowered her hands. “I’m feeling suicidal.”

“Don’t do it. Please! Don’t leave me,” Vera begged. “Help is going to come. We just need to hang on.”

“We couldn’t figure out how we were all exposed before everything went to utter hell.” Nancy sniffed. “We failed. Everyone is dying because we couldn’t find the source. We’re still being exposed, otherwise the symptoms would have faded by now. Josie kept saying that over and over. I want to go outside to escape it, but I keep remembering what happened to Crystal. I don’t want to be eaten alive.”

“Listen to me,” Vera said in the calmest voice she could muster. “It’s not your fault. Someone did this to us on purpose. They were smart and evil. Like, genius level. Stop blaming yourself. You’ve done everything possible. We all have. We just need to hang in there. We’re going to make it off this planet. You don’t really want to die. It’s just the drug messing with your mind.”

Nancy nodded. “Right.”

“You’re tough. You’re strong. You’re a survivor. Say it.”

“I’m a survivor. I’m not letting some evil bastard or bastards take me out.”

“That’s it. Keep saying it over and over. We’re going to make it.” Vera herself really needed to believe it, and she hoped saying the words aloud would help Nancy trust it would happen, too.

“We are.”

Vera saw something move out of the corner of her eye but didn’t glance that way. It wasn’t real. “How are your patients?”

Nancy slowly shook her head from side to side.

Vera felt shocked. “They all died?”

“Josie died, and…that left me alone with them. They were eventually going to break free from their restraints. I’m locked in with them, Vera! Five against one are horrible odds. You didn’t see Ted when he tried to get free yesterday. He was so violent and enraged! He couldn’t even feel pain. It made him stronger than normal. I had to protect myself.”

Vera felt sick. “What did you do?”

Nancy sniffed again. “I killed them. I had to! It was self-defense.”

Vera dropped her gaze to the desk surface, staring at the lights on the keyboard built into it.

It couldn’t be real. Nancy wouldn’t murder five helpless patients strapped tightly to med beds. They had been highly violent, it was the reason they were secured that way, but