The Mission From Mars-A New Horror

Christina got back to her apartment and threw her bag onto the couch. She went to get a pad to take notes on when her phone rang. Going over to the monitor, she pressed the talk button and saw the face of her editor.

“I got an interview for you with the pilot of the Phoenix and the lieutenant in charge of the soldiers accompanying everyone on the voyage.”

“How did you manage that?” asked Christina.

“Press has to have some strings to pull,” replied her editor. “Besides, with the mission public and a timetable in place, everyone is going to want to know who is involved. Your interviews are tomorrow. One in the morning, the other in the afternoon. I want an article set on each one after the interview is completed.”

“Got it.” The screen went blank and Christina returned to her couch. She pulled out the micro tape and placed it into her player. It took the machine a few seconds to prepare itself, but the wait was almost nonexistent. When the machine had the tape ready, it started to play it.

The screen was blank, but then showed what appeared to Christina to be a communications room. The older man on the screen was looking off camera to his right, her left. There was banging on the door. Although she could not see it, it sounded like the door was not able to back whoever was trying to get into the room.

“Oh no,” said the older man. “Mars colony, do not come back to Earth. For the love of God, do not come back to Earth.”

The door broke open. The sounds of a lifeless moan could be heard, but no sign of who was making the noise. The older man Christina saw on the camera began to walk backwards. Slowly coming onto the screen was a stiff person. The man was absolutely lifeless. He reached out towards the older man now off camera.

More lifeless people began to be seen on camera. A scream could be heard and the older man from before could be seen on the screen. He fell towards the camera. “Help me,” he groaned.
The lifeless people began to claw at their prey and tear him to shreds. Christina could only watch in horror as the man giving the last message from Earth was dying in such a cruel and horrific way. His hand reached out to try and terminate the communication link. Christina moved her eyes away from the victim and saw that the lifeless people were taking pieces of his flesh and eating them. From where Christina sat, it looked as if their eyes were completely lifeless, as if the lights were on, but no one was home. With a final lunge, the older man cut the communication link and the screen went blank.

The tape was not very long. Christina shivered and made herself into a ball. After a few moments, she made a frantic dash to her bathroom and vomited. Now she knew why Spiro was hesitant about coming out with this story. Something made the people on Earth become cannibals.