[ WP ] The death penalty has been replaced by a one way trip to Mars .

“ My dead fucking body is going help terraform Mars. And I didn ’ t even do anything! ” His eyes looked like the little window to his left, blank, pointless, empty. Anything that was left in him he is spitting out now. 
 
 “ How about you? Did you fucking do it? ” 
 
 “ Do what? ” 
 
 “ Kill that fucking family! I saw it on the news the night before I was arrested for my supposed fucking murder spree. ” 
 
 “ No, and it doesn ’ t matter. ” It really didn ’ t. Here we were, two unfortunate strangers, blasted into space and heading to a death sentence called Mars. We ’ re strapped in, tubed up, locked down, unable to move, just facing each other. That ’ s the worst part of this whole thing. 
 
 “ How can you even say that? ” He ’ s drooling. Not surprising since we woke up probably five minutes ago. His face is red, his eyes are bulging, and his mouth keeps moving. I ’ ve got to ignore him somehow. 
 
 “ No, no, NO! Don ’ t you do this to me! I want your full attention! ” I close my eyes as he continues to talk, scream, basically have a temper tantrum before he dies. I focus all my attention on my own thoughts, trying to escape this reality, trying to escape the sound of his loud voice. 
 
 I am able to focus on the fact that no one has survived this journey thus far. Every other mission failed, or succeeded in a certain sense, in one way or another. The passengers never woke up from their deep sleep. The rocket exploded, leaked out all of its air, or just smashed into the surface of the planet immediately killing all the murdering rapists before us. Even if we landed, I didn ’ t get any training or anything. I can barely move and I ’ m locked into this chair, I ’ m just another lab rat. 
 
 People had mixed reactions to the broadcasts. Some people marched the streets, some people lauded it as the solution, some people just carried on with their lives, some people laughed. I ’ ll be honest though, I would joke with my friends about it too at the bar after work or to my wife while we watched movies in bed. I think I acted like most people would given the situation. 
 
 Then, I was arrested at work. The police informed me of my rights, cuffed me, and walked me past the main cubicles in my office. The faces of Jeff, Bob, Suzy... the face of my wife telling me how disgusting I was, how our marriage was a lie, the faces of the children I wouldn ’ t have or the laughing faces of the people at the bar making bets on how it would end this time. The face of the man putting the needle into my arm back on Earth in a little white room, his face telling me I might never wake up again. I start to cry. 
 
 “ There you are! You ’ re human after all! ” 
 
 “ Look man, ” I continue to sob “ look, I just want to have some time to myself, ok, I just want... some... some peace before I die. If... if you want to talk a little bit, just... just give me a second... ” 
 
 “ Hey, hey, guess what. Guess what? ” 
 
 “ What?! ” 
 
 “ I actually did do it! I fucking killed and raped every single last one of those girls. And you know what? YOU KNOW WHAT?! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! ” 
 
 I go right the fuck back into my head and try to ignore the lunatic across from me. But all I see are faces. The faces of the jury, the face of my crying mother when I looked at her after the sentencing, the face of- 
 
 The entire shuttle starts shaking violently. I ’ m going up and down and my teeth are violently grinding together. 
 
 “ WWWWWOOOOOOAAAAAAAA! THIS IS IT BOY! ” 
 
 He ’ s an asshole, but he ’ s right. This is it. The off yellow lights go out. The little black window to the man ’ s left is, just, fire. I feel like I ’ m about to be torn apart. My head smashes against the side of wall. 
 
 _________________________________________________________________ 
 
 “ Hey, hey, HEY! ” 
 
 My eyes are blurry. I can feel the cool, wet sensation of blood falling down my face and dripping off my hair. My body is uncontrollably shaking. 
 
 “ YOU MISSED IT! WE MADE IT! HAHAHA THE FUN HAS JUST BEGUN! ” 
 
 I look at him, but the blurring gets worse. I drift. God, I hope I don ’ t wake up. I hope I never see another person again. 
 
 But, like a trick, I see faces again. The last thing I see are the faces of people talking about humans going into space. They move so seriously, pretending to know what they ’ re actually talking about. 

