[ IP ] Black Ice

I sat by the shore of the dark lake. The cold winds blowing all around me as my eyes were fixed on the ink black liquid that sat under a thin layer of ice. 
 
 `` Do n't look at to too long. It seems to make people do things.'' Dr. Millings told me my second day at this outpost on the other side of the galaxy. I looked at her and before I could ask her she went on. 
 
 `` Had a guy here couple weeks ago. Just walked out in the middle of the lake, broke a hole in the center and jumped right in.'' 
 
 I looked at the lake and back at her. 
 
 `` Whats in it? I mean what kind of liquid is it? What lives in it?'' I asked. She shrugged. 
 
 `` Do n't know, and really do n't want to know! It's killed a bunch of us and the sooner this cycle ends the sooner we are out of here!'' she said. 
 
 That was when there was twenty of us... 
 
 Now there is only me! 
 
 We were placed here for a 8 month cycle. No ships come here during this time to Outpost 8776. Mainly due to the severe arctic storms. There was talk about shutting this place down. No need for this place anymore since the larger space ports were operational. 
 
 I think after what happened to us here, I would n't doubt this place would be off limits. 
 
 It was slow at first, when the others would go missing. It was one at a time. We would go to the chow hall for a meal and find one of us was n't there. We would look but soon find a hole in the ice. 
 
 As the days went on more of us would be gone. Soon it was only me and Dr. Millings. She spent days on the comms, trying to get anyone to come get us out of here but no one was close by. 
 
 But soon the day came when even she succumb to the black lake. I watched in horror the day it happened. I was on the other side of a ridge when I heard an explosion. I ran back to base to see that Dr. Millings was tossing grenades into the lake, blowing the ice apart. I screamed for her to stop but she seemed too far gone. 
 
 Once several large holes were made she took off her snow gear till she was totally naked. I could n't do anything as she walked towards an opening. The cold wind tearing at her exposed skin as the ice tore chunks of flesh off the bottoms of her bare feet. She looked like she did n't feel any pain as she stood at the opening and looked into the black abyss. 
 
 All I could do was stand there and watch as she hopped in and never came back up. 
 
 That was days ago, I'm the only one left. I made several long emergency broadcast warning people to stay away from here. I had to lie, saying there was some kind of contagion that killed us all here. I know that saying the large black lake made us all kill our selves would make me sound insane! 
 
 I sat here till midnight, when everything was it's blackest. I did n't want to see where I was stepping as I started to walk out on the ice...
