That night everyone in our group unanimously decided to sleep in the main room.

It didn't matter that the moon of whatever planet had risen above the stars, so much bigger than the moon we were used to. Nor did it matter that the soft sound of crickets could be heard chirping from somewhere far away, or whatever insect or animal made the same sound on this planet. We were all afraid, and there was no way any of us was going to risk being attacked again.

During the hours between our rescue by the golden haired girl who I now knew as Crystal and now, somebody had found a large storage closet filled with enough supplies to last us a couple of weeks on this ship. There were cans of food, made to last the number of years we'd been dormant on the ship along with piles of sleeping bags that were now laid out, one per person, on the metal floor. Seeing the large number that had not been taken only made me think more about everyone who had been lost, and I'd had to force myself to stop thinking about it.

Overall, three kids had died because of the robot. One in the initial attack, and two more during the game of hide and kill. Daren had tried to bring the bodies outside and bury them, but once they were out on the hard sand, there hadn't been anything to actually dig with. They were still outside now. At least now they would get to sleep under the stars in a way that we couldn't.

There were a lot of people sleeping already, but my mind was too awake to follow everyone else into the realm of dreams. Someone had left their flashlight on and had left it facing upwards, almost like a nightlight, for comfort. Knowing now what could be out there, the darkness was so much scarier and filled with things so much worse than I could imagine. I knew I was still nearly in shock over what had happened today. The last time I'd been that close to death was when I was in third grade and had eaten an entire slice of orange, whole, as a dare. Out of everything I could remember, the memories that did come back often seemed weird and random.

Someone began to rise out of the darkness, and as the person neared I noticed it was Daren. His sandy hair was a mess, like he'd been running his fingers through it. "Hey," I whispered, careful not to wake up anyone around me. He nodded back to me in greeting, before sitting down next to me on the sleeping bag I had rolled out but not used.

"So...is it just me or does this entire thing feel like it's just some wild nightmare?" I asked, releasing something that had just been on my mind.

He shrugged, considering my question. "I could only hope..." I nodded my agreement, sensing his sadness. None of us had ever been through anything even close to this.

"Yea....I guess so.....," I replied softly. I felt my eyelids begin to close, and knew I was nearing sleep. Daren glanced at me for a moment, and then stood up from where he had briefly sat down.

I laid my head down on the soft pillow, feeling myself begin to drift off. Sleep came fast to me, whenever I was finally able to find it. He let out a short sigh.

"All we really can do is hope," he said quietly, just as I closed my eyes. I might have murmured back my agreement, but I wasn't sure. Everything was fading away in a whirlwind of colors, as my mind shut down and I allowed myself to be pulled into sleep.