Snippet #2591254

Kearan sat in the dark and the dank of the ruined ship, his eyes sunken and dark, his skin an unhealthy grey colour from malnutrition, his mind flitting in and out of conciousness in the dark of the ship. He was the last, the last one left, out of a crew of 800, he was the only one left standing. Or sitting rather. Then again, there had certainly been less crew alive on the ship when this whole mess began. Only about 250 crew members survived the crippling of the pirate ship Anubis, and it was of those surviving few that Kearan was the last of. Power had been simple, the reactor was still functional, it was just the engines that had been trashed by the Cerberus cruiser, not that they hadn't given as good as they got. Life support was functional on those decks not blown open into the vacuum of space, and although initially to conserve power they had switched off the artificial gravity, as their numbers dwindled, it was switched back on. Nobody expected to survive the ordeal, and it was at least nice to have your feet on the ground, and not have shit gliding through the air. The few Salarians on board were the first to go, their hyper metabolisms succumbing to the strict food rationing set in place. They were bagged and ejected out the airlock. That decision was soon regretted. Food supplies ran out quickly even with tight rationing, and it wasn't long before starvation and hunger took their natural course. What little Command structure was left on the ship quickly broke down as the crew began to split into warring factions. Most of the humans did no fare well in the ensuing conflict. Assaulted by a combined force of the Batarians and Krogan, they were decimated and most scrambled into hiding, Kearan amongst them. The Quarians were the next to go, their life suits giving them a unique advantage in the area, but lacking medical and technical supplies meant that even small wounds laid them low. They also refused to do what the other parties accepted. Eating the dead. With food rations all but non-existent at this point, the Krogan/Batarian alliance and the Asari/Turian group began to attack one another over not just space and control, but in order to gather food. Kearan was not exempt from the situation, unlike others, he simply adapted early. Stray turian scouts and batarian hunters met their end on the tip of Kearans combat knife, their bodies dragged away to the dark corners of the ship Kearan survived in. What remaining human crew were left he soon hunted down. Easier targets than the powerful krogan or biotic Asari. As the two opposing sides ground themselves down and dwindled in numbers, even the fractious alliances began to erode, and soon it became every man for himself. Eventually, it became just one man and himself. Kearan killed them. Every last one, kept their corpses cold in the medical bay, rationing himself. That was when the real struggle began. It had been different knowing that there were at least other living beings on the ship, but being the only living soul for thousands of lightyears was... straining for the mind. Soon the voices came, tormenting him for the crimes he had committed to stay alive, in time, eve they left him. All that remained was the silence, and it had been silent for a long time.

Kearan had run out of "food" over a fortnight ago.

He didn't think he would last much longer, the pain in his stomach had left, but now it was gone, he almost missed it.

He had sat in silence for so long, that the hiss of an opening airlock was so alien he almost didn't notice it. Had he missed someone? Was there another survivor who had eluded him? No, no surely not... Who...

He tried to stand but his legs failed him and he slumped back down to the floor. He tried to cry out, but his voice wouldn't come, all that came was a hoarse whisper. They wouldn't find him, he was in his hiding place, the place he had used to elude the rest of the crew in the early days of the wreck. They would come through, scavenge, and leave. He would die here. Alone in the dark, with not even the voices to keep him company...

The gun.

He wasnt even sure where the thought came from, or if it was even him that thought it, but it was right. His hand slipped down to the pistol at his hip. Carnifex model with extended barrel and ultralight materials. He was glad for the lightness as he struggled to raise the weapon away from his body. He squeezed, the trigger depressing with a slight click just before the mass effect accelerator blasted the bullet down the hall, ricocheting around the hall with a deafing rattle and ping of noise, echoing throughout the hollow ship, But Kearan heard nothing, his mind having already succumbed to darkness.