Among Us

Chapter 6

Liftoff day came sooner than expected. I exited my room, and for the 7th time, I was surprised to see not the hallway that I was used to, but a huge common area, with cushions, Tvs and a big kitchen. Aron and Dean were sitting on the couch, laughing. I smiled. They definitely had something going on. 

Ari and Kate were reading a book together, pointing and certain words and squealing like fangirls. Barrack was in the kitchen, eating some cold cereal while swiping through his phone. 

I saw Jacks sitting at one of the couches. His white suit gleamed as if coated with plastic. His golden star shined in the light as if letting everyone know Jacks was a pilot. He was slumped over a notebook, twirling his pencil between his fingers like a batton. From time to time, he would bite his pencil, shake his head, and scratch something out. 

"What's wrong?" I asked him, taking my spot next to him. He looked up at me, surprised, and then turned back to his paper. 

"It's nothing." 

"Nothing?" I asked, peering at his paper. "You mean you going over our trajectory course and shaking your head as if we're all going to die is nothing?"

He laughed softly. "I have nothing else to do. I'm trying to shorten the trip."

"The less were up there, the better." I agreed. I glanced at the paper. I grabbed his pencil and drew a line and a few numbers on one side. "That cuts it short by a week and a half."

He laughed. "Good thing you're the co-pilot." 

I smiled proudly. Jacks and I were the most important people on the team, mainly because of our IQ. We could adapt with ease to stressful or different situations, which was perfect when you're traveling through undiscovered space. Of course, everyone on our team had an IQ of 140 or above, but we were the only two with a 154+ IQ. I'm proud to say I have the highest IQ: 156, but Jacks was an airplane pilot, and was behind me by only one point, so of course he had the Pilot position.

"So, How you doing?" He asked me, running his hand through his hair. He usually did that when he was nervous. 

"No better than you are." I said with a laugh. "The whole thing's overwhelming. In an hour, we're leaving this room for the last time. In 7, we're leaving this planet."

He shuddered. "Don't remind me. At least the procedure is short. It used to take days to get ready." 

"And at least we're gonna make the trip." I said, frowning. "Most astronauts didn't make it back. Some didn't even make it off the stupid planet."

"Too bad it's in our nature to explore," Jacks said, turning back to his paper. "If we didn't destroy whatever we touched, we might not have to leave this stupid rock."

Takeoff was super easy. We all went into our training room and put on our spacesuits. Then we went into the rocket, a huge thing capable of lasting us three years in space. But, somehow, we weren't going to need that time. We were going to go at such a high speed, time would slow down. And, we wouldn't survive takeoff if we were awake.

So we were put under. I didn't feel us leave the ground. I wasn't able to see the polluted clouds covering the sun one more time. I was pricked and then everything was black.

The biggest time of my life had just begun, and I wouldn't even be awake to experience it.