one .:. klurz's cargo

Inconvenient to say the least. Noah anxiously pulled the sleeve of his suit up to view his watch. It was 8:25 p.m., and the space shuttle was meant to be here at 8 p.m. All the other passengers that were waiting at the station with him looked around in confusion.

'Attention passengers, apologies for the wait.' The station intercom said. 'A minor setback is being dealt with at the moment, shuttle 66 to Mars will be with you in five minutes, thank you.'

Noah scowled at the floor, his father would not be impressed by his tardiness, and wouldn't accept the excuse of a delayed shuttle. The environment around him was eerie. It was a chilly January night in Washington D.C., the nights recently had been averaging around -5 degrees Celsius. Noah peeked out of the window of the sky tower and saw tiny lights scattering the ground below. The view from a kilometre in the sky was truly magnificent.

A bell sounded over the intercom and Noah saw a shuttle arrive into the station in the corner of his eye. He flipped open his AirPods case and slipped the buds into his ears. He pressed play on his music and 'Zombie', by The Cranberries began to play as he stepped into the space shuttle. Noah had always been a fan of music from the 1990s. Modern music of the 2080s had little flavour to it. He took a seat near the door he had entered, the shuttle was quite empty, even for that time of night. Noah pulled the safety straps from above him over his chest and clipped them into the seat. As the doors to the shuttle closed and all the openings in the shuttle began to seal themselves, Noah closed his eyes, hoping the trip to Mars wouldn't take too long.

A crash awoke Noah from his slumber. He wasn't aware he'd fallen asleep. He checked his watch again. 9:20 p.m. There should be around 10 minutes left till they reached the sky tower on Mars. What was that noise? Noah looked around, checking to see if anyone had fallen or dropped anything, but most of the other passengers were either asleep or had their headphones on. The lights on the shuttle flickered for a moment. Then he heard the engine completely turn off. Something wasn't right, space shuttles were not meant to stop during their journey. The other half a dozen passengers finally realised something was amiss. Many of them shut off their phones and slowly took off their headphones. Noah's AirPods had died, that's why he had awoken at the sound of the crash. He slid the buds into their case and placed the case in the inner pocket of his trenchcoat. There was a sound of a struggle in the driver's cabin before the ship went completely silent. Noah slunk to the ground. A large, humanoid body crashed through the door, and the passengers began to scream and cry.

This was an interception by a hostile species.

The large figure had deep red skin, sloping, narrow shoulders and two small, black beady eyes embedded into the middle of its face. It had no nose and where its mouth should have been was rows and rows of parasitic-like teeth. Their arms reached down to the ground and they dragged them like a bear would its paws. Three more of the creatures emerged from behind the first. These were Klurz, predators of humans, they often took humans hostage and sold their organs. The most nutritious and delicious meal for a Klurz was that of the human heart.

'H#5@**%.' The first Klurz said.

Noah couldn't understand their language, and it was one only a rare few humans knew due to the unsteady relationship between the two species. The people around Noah were crying, a mother and her son had crammed themselves in the back corner of the shuttle, but Noah just sat on the floor, there was nothing they could do in this situation. The Klurz's body strength was double that of a human and their intellect was similar. Not to mention weapons were forbidden on shuttles. Everyone in the shuttle was doomed. Noah sat back and sighed. Not the way he had imagined going, but it was better than nothing. Suddenly, one of the smaller Klurz launched forward, swinging its long, muscular arms in the direction of a young man. Blood stained the walls and windows of the shuttle. The young man's cries dissipated and with a thud, his head hit the ground, his glasses cracked as they fell off of his decapitated face.

Everyone in the shuttle went silent and the man's headless body crumpled. The Klurz picked up the lifeless form and dug through the flesh on its back, tearing out his heart. The organ was still beating and the Klurz lifted its long arm and dangled the heart above its open mouth filled with its parasitic teeth. The heart continued to beat as the Klurz released its grip and fell down into its mouth. The Klurz ground its rows of teeth together, pushing the muscle down its esophagus.

After a couple of seconds, the little boy began to cry as his mother screamed again. The first Klurz launched towards them and Noah shut his eyes tightly, bringing his head to his knees. Noah didn't care if he was going to die but witnessing the deaths of innocents before him was traumatising. The third Klurz walked slowly up to Noah and he could feel its presence as it stood over him. It's fine, at least Noah wouldn't have to see his dad ever again, that scum of the earth. He tensed as he prepared for the impact. Would he still be alive after the Klurz sliced his head clean off? Was there anything after death? But asking those questions was useless since he knew the answers. Yes, he would still remain conscious for around ten seconds after his head was off, and no, there was nothing waiting for him after death. Most likely, at least. A few minutes passed and still no impact. Noah carefully raised his head. Everyone in the shuttle had been slaughtered. Noah felt sick, he tried not to look at the bodies but the blood was everywhere, some had made its way onto his sleeve and he made a desperate attempt to remove it. All four of the Klurz now stood in front of him, each staring at him with intrigue. Noah nervously shifted his weight. The first Klurz lifted its left hand. This was it. Noah though of his mother back home. The Klurz's hand came flying down and the back of its hand smacked Noah in the head, knocking him clean out. Why didn't they kill him?