Hang In There

Chapter 4

It took a long, long, long time to Swipe my Card. At the end, it was all I could do to not yell in frustration and destroy the scanner.

I passed Blue working on Empty Trash in Storage, but didn't bother to check whether she was faking, when I headed to Electrical to Calibrate Distributor.

It didn't take too much time, but still I had to try three to four times. During my multiple valiant tries, Lime came in and worked on Divert Power to Upper Engine, standing over the vent. Unlike my imagination, however, he simply nodded toward me, did his task and walked out.

Soon, I'd finished all my tasks, quickly and quietly without seeing a dead body, thankfully.

So, I headed toward Security to check on the cameras and see if I could spot any imposters.

. . .

When I turned the corner, from the hallway leading to Lower Engine, I tripped on one of the gaps between the metal plates on the floor, and collided with a body.

Strong arms steadied me, and a familiar voice said, "Woah! Are you okay?"

I rubbed the top of my nose, which had hit his collarbone, and glanced at Frank, blushing. "Yeah, I'm fine. Did you finish your tasks too?"

Frank shook his head. "Sorry, not yet! I just finished Fix Wiring and then you stumbled into me again," he finished with a smirk on his face. His face turned black again for a moment, making me stumble backwards and yelp in surprise.

"What?" Frank asked, looking around.

"Huh...nothing! Probably a trick of light." My cheeks tinged with red. "Yeah, um...I just finished my tasks, so I came here to see if I could spot any of the imposters. You should hurry up and finish the rest of your tasks."

I walked past him, toward the cameras. Yellow was already there, watching the conversation, with an amused smile on her face. Her eyes flickered to Frank before she went back to watching the cameras.

Cyan went to Admin from Storage. Blue went to Medbay from Cafeteria.

Yellow stretched and left Security, presumably to finish her tasks. Through the cameras, I saw her head inside to Medbay. As soon as I did, I slipped out of Security, running toward Medbay, after Yellow.

The silence was loud. My thoughts were louder.

I knew who the imposters were.

And who they were about to kill.

I arrived just in time to see Frank kill Black in Medbay.

. . .

My eyes widened as I watched them. Yellow and Frank stared at me, side by side. We stared at each other, all of us wondering who would make the first move.

Frank took a small step, like walking toward a frightened animal. "Kate, this isn't what it looks like."

I just stared at him. "I think it's exactly what it looks like," I said, before running up to the middle table in Cafeteria.

I looked back and saw an orange suit chasing after me, and yelling, "No! Don't!"

I hit the Emergency Button, hoping I wasn't making an enormous mistake.

. . .

Everyone materialized around the table. There were only five people left, meaning the imposters killed Green. If Frank and Yellow had killed another person, we'd all be dead. Frank. His face was calm, but his eyes were panicking as he looked at me.

Lime asked eagerly, "Do you know who the imposter is?"

I carefully lied, "Not both of them. Just one." Lime's face fell down a bit, and I felt guilt twinge inside of me.

"Well, who is it?" Cyan asked impatiently.

I met Frank's eyes.

It felt like we were the only two people on the ship, but not in the sweet romantic way it was supposed to feel like.

It felt like our friendship, everything between us, every memory, depended on what I said next.

"Yellow. Mouse's the imposter. I saw her kill Blue." I voted for Yellow.

Frank's face relaxed, then tensed again as he looked at Yellow.

She smiled grimly, before saying, "Red's lying. She's the one who must've killed Blue in Medbay, and now she's framing me so that the imposters can live." She voted for me.

Frank said, "Yellow's right." I stared at him, but he refused to turn his dark brown eyes towards my hazel ones, as he voted for me.

Lime seemed oblivious to all the glances and smiles. I knew immediately Yellow's explanation made sense to him.

Cyan smiled in a wily manner. "Cherry never said Sushi died in Medbay." Yellow began to defend herself, but Cyan cut her off. "If you were there, or saw Cherry kill, you would've reported the body." Cyan voted for Yellow.

There were 10 seconds left and it was a tie between Yellow and me.

Lime hesitated between both of us. He couldn't decide between each of us.

7 seconds left.

Lime's hand reached toward my picture and name.

5 seconds left.

He clicked on it.

3 seconds left.

His hand went toward confirmation.

2 seconds left.

The entire room held its breath. I closed my eyes.

1 second left.

I heard letters typing, but didn't feel anything. I opened my eyes to see my tablet typing:

Mouse was an Imposter.

(1 Imposter remains.)

Lime shrugged and grinned shyly, saying, "Bomb's explanation made more sense in the end. Plus, I remembered Oranges clearing you earlier."

I grinned back, but only for a moment.

Because the tablet was right: there was still one imposter who remained.

And I knew who he was.

Sooooo....cliffhanger! Kind of. Sort of. What do you think will happen next? Comment below and find out in the next chapter!

Thanks a lot to anyone who reads this! I really appreciate it.