This is the story of the end of a colony.
The end didn’t come because of the cult they formed or because of the dark things they began to investigate. The end started because they ran out of medicine. Jan, the elderly woman, was the best at planting crops but she had been bedridden for weeks because of gut worms.
Spiders attacked, and they were repelled. But in the chaos of the fight one of the colonists got too close to a Young Thing, the goat-like tree creatures who had been stalking the colony. Two attacked, and overwhelmed their simple defenses. In the end it was only Sappy the Police Sergeant who remained on his feet - the other 5 were down and bleeding.
Sappy got them all into bed, and tended them as best he could. He was not a great medic, so it took a long time. He used the last two bundles of herbal medicine, and treated the others by hand. Eventually, Scarlet got back on her feet.
They had been lovers, once, and even engaged to marry. That was before they each found different people who were more suited to them. She hated aliens - he loved them. There was no overcoming it.
Everyone retreated to their own beds to rest and heal. By morning three would succumb to infection or starvation. In those long hours stuck in the infirmary Sappy and Andy spoke of many things. Sappy was always practical and suspicious of the cult. Andy was a newcomer and his allegiances were as obvious as the cultist robes he wore. Late at night they discussed religion and spirituality. Sappy was impressed by Andy’s knowledge - Andy wasn’t impressed that Sappy would not join the cult.
Andy, Sappy and Sean (the Evangelist) slowly recovered and for two days things were normal. They hauled monstrous corpses out, buried their companions, repaired the vital generators, cooked food and hoped for the future.
An eclipse cast an eerie glow across the land but it brought something dark. Deep Ones rushed through the thick forest. The colonists lured two of them inside. The deep ones were overcome, but so was a colonist. Sappy dragged Sean to bed to heal.
The last Deep One broke down one of the few remaining wooden walls and started smashing its way through their dining room. Andy opened the door to lure it out but underestimated its speed and was knocked down. Sappy stood his ground and fired at the hideous frog-like monster, but he was beaten badly. The Deep One carried his unconscious form off to do untold things.
Sean died in his bed.
Andy died in the freezer, where he had dragged himself in a desperate final act to grab food. He gulped down one of their last fine meals, then lost consciousness. Last supper, indeed.
Were the monsters summoned by the colonists’ initial attempts to learn something otherworldly? Or were the colonists not fast enough to learn the dark arts to protect themselves from this evil place?