SODIUM:1 Harbinger (14 page)

I hiked back down to the creek. As I walked I was running scenario after scenario through my head about fighting the alien demons and being victorious over them. They would attack and I would bash their tin heads with my bat, spilling their gears and gizmos out onto the ground. My adrenaline levels began to rise as I slowly worked my way into a confident state.

I reached the creek and began my attempt to catch a fish while I continued to daydream. With the Sun down and the daylight fading, the creek area was becoming dark much faster than I had hoped. As it was, I would only have a few minutes to try my luck. It was then that I spotted the red devil eyes coming down the creek from the direction of the dam. I was frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do.

The demon was still several hundred feet up the creek and had not made any rapid move in my direction, so I guessed that I had not been seen. I quickly ducked behind the nearest boulder and began wondering how I might get out of the situation. I was hoping that perhaps Bull had seen the red eyes from up on the ridge and was planning a rescue attempt, but he had not.

Even if he had, it would have taken them ten minutes to get to my position, the demon was less than a minute away. I did my best to hide the fishing rod and got a firm grip on my bat. I would attempt to stay crouched behind the boulder and if I was lucky, the demon would pass by without noticing.

I didn’t like my plan, but I didn’t have the time to come up with anything better. My only advantage was having not been spotted in the first place. I crouched behind the boulder, contemplating my fate. I hoped that if spotted I would at least get one good swing at the demon before it took me down. I cocked the bat back and readied for a home run swing. I listened intently for the sound of the demon approaching, but with the low roar of the creek right beside me I was not hopeful of hearing it as it moved.

It was then that I heard a cracking sound just behind me, the sound of a small branch snapping. Had the alien outsmarted me and come around the other side of the boulder? I turned my head slowly to get one last look at the enemy before it attacked.

As the back of the boulder came into my view I was stunned to see a mountain lion crouching there behind me only six feet away. The lion was eying me so intently that I was sure I was about to become its next meal.

In an instant the giant cat leapt at me and as I blinked my eyes I fell backwards against the boulder. I waited patiently for the inevitable crunching sound of my skull collapsing in its massive jaws.

Time seemed to stand still. I opened my eyes as the tail end of the big cat passed me by. I turned my head just in time to see it catch the demon fully by surprise knocking it upside down on the edge of the creek.

The big cat then leapt across the creek. For a moment it stopped and looked at me before bounding off up into the woods on the other side. It was Minhafa and he had saved my life!

My reactions were immediate and true as I stepped forward and took my best swing with the bat, bringing it straight down onto the evidently still startled demon. I caught the alien machine right where the red devil eyes connected to the body smashing into them with everything I had.

I pulled the bat back and took another swing and then another, each one doing tremendous damage to the body of the downed alien. The demon was attempting to get its bearings and right itself as its spindly legs felt around, but it never got the chance. On my fourth blow the legs went still and the demon began to make a low buzzing sound.

With that sound I stepped back, it was just in time as a green fog began to spew forth from it. I turned and grabbed Bull’s pole and began to make my way back up the ridge, but decided to stop at about 50 feet to make sure my attacker had not come back to life.

I watched as the green fog spread and dissolved everything around it. The demon melted away. Within five minutes the green fog had dissipated and the demon was completely gone. I turned and made my way up the hill to tell the others of my encounter. I Finally had a heroic story of my own to tell.

So what if I had help from my spirit protector, and so what if I had no proof of the encounter. I had defeated one of the alien machines by myself and had done it with nothing but my bat.

As I hurried up the hill I could not wait for the whole saga to be over so I could tell the world of my heroics. The day was a great day for mankind and was a great day for me. I reveled in my victory all the way up to the summit and the others.

The far ridge was dark and there was no sign of the demon encampment being lit in any way. They had occasionally observed the red eyes moving back and forth, and from what they could tell there were two of them.

I was bursting by the time I got to the others. I could not wait to tell of my heroic battle. I went on and on about how Minhafa had jumped right at me and had then knocked the demon over, allowing me to attack.

I told them about how easily the bat crushed the body of the demon and how it continued to try to right itself. And then I told of the green fog that it again used to remove all evidence of its existence, once it had met its demise.

During my time at the creek they had not gathered anything new about our foe, other than that there were two of the demons moving around Woods Ridge. With the elimination of the one by my hand we now knew that there had been at least three. We reasoned that there could potentially be more. There was no way of knowing how many of the machines were walking around and we had not seen any sign of a ship, or most importantly of Kyle. We would have to wait until morning to get a better look.

We took turns sleeping, staggering it so that only one person was up at a time. We had no fire to sit around, so the only thing left to do, for whoever was up, was to stare through the binocs at the far ridge. For the remainder of the night, the activity level of our enemy remained at a minimum.

Chapter 11

The night passed quickly and an almost quarter moon offered us at least a little bit of light. At the first glow of dawn everyone was up and we began our attempt to move our observation post closer. We had to hike a mile along the back side of the ridge we were on, then another half mile down into a tight valley before we could once again approached their position.

It took three hours before we started to climb the ridge closest to the demons. We had taken the extra time hiking to keep out of sight. The final hike up the back side of the close ridge was difficult. It was a steep 500’ incline coming up from Woods Creek.

As we stood at the base of the ridge Allie caught site of a demon coming our way. Luck was with us in that only our heads were exposed to its line of sight. We ducked behind a group of boulders and began to whisper about what to do. The beast continued in our direction.

We were trapped. Any attempt to move from our current position would expose us fully and alert the aliens that we were there. We would again become the prey instead of the predator. We chose instead to stay and fight.

I was positioned at the back to guard against the demon coming at us from behind, there was a narrow gap between two boulders and a high creek bank behind that which would allow it to slip through. I was given the task of being the gatekeeper. With my bat at the ready I was determined to fulfill my duties.

Bull and Allie took position near the front. If the alien were to walk past our location and then turn toward us, they would be waiting to stop it with a barrage of lead. Susi took up the middle with her .22. After quietly staking out our defense we waited for the demon to arrive.

Minutes passed with no sign of our enemy. We dare not try to take a look as it would risk our discovery. Patience is a thing not easily practiced when the stakes are so high. My nervousness again returned with a vengeance.

Another three minutes of anxious waiting passed before the whereabouts of the demon were revealed. It had come to our position above us on the creek bank. Moving almost silently along on its three spindly legs. We remained frozen in our stances as the alien machine walked by just above us.

As luck was once again with us, we had not been seen. The demon was looking forward as it walked along the creek. We guessed that perhaps it was on a routine patrol. Whatever its purpose, we were thankful that we had not been seen. After another five minutes of silent waiting the beast was gone from our view. We turned and hurried across the creek and began our climb up the ridge on the other side.

As we approached the summit we stopped, knelt down and began to crawl. There was plenty of cover to hide behind on our ridge, but only Bull and I went far enough to see the demon encampment. From what we were able see through the binocs, they had been busy.

There were animal parts strewn about, having been dissected and probably studied. And we were able to identify the poacher they had captured as being the one named Scott, he was bound to a tree. We knew him to still be alive as we could see him occasionally moving his head.

As we continued to scan the alien camp disappointment set in when we realized that Kyle was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had just fallen into Rancheria Creek and had then been swept downstream. Perhaps his body had been jammed under a log or a rock by heavy currents. But until such time as we had evidence of his demise, we would not be giving up.

We observed the camp and wondered why the demons had butchered the animals and not the human. We pondered that question for most of the day as we sat gathering intel for a potential future raid. Our binocs continued to serve us well.

From what we could tell, the demons were busy cutting up specimens of the animal remains as well as rocks, plants and wood. We guessed they were studying whatever they came across and were no doubt cataloging it for return to whatever distant place they hailed from.

Every so often one of them would take a load of items and disappear behind the far side of the ridge. We knew then we would have to get a look at whatever was there. I volunteered to take a journey to see the other side. I would go down to Woods Creek and then follow it down to Crane Creek and finally to Jawbone Creek, around to the back side of the demon’s ridge. It was a two mile hike through sometimes steep terrain with many elevation changes. Only one of us needed to go and I preferred that someone be me. It would leave my sister protected by Bull and Allie.

We had not had a meal since the bear feast at noontime the day before. With our morning hike I had worked up a significant hunger, but our dry goods had been fully exhausted. Bull offered up one of his poles so that I could attempt to fish along the creeks as I went. He knew I was in need of food and offered up a small bag of peanuts that he had been hording all week long. He, Allie and Susi needed the small snack just as much as I, but they all insisted that I take it.

As I made my way back down the hill towards Woods Creek I broke open the bag and plowed through the peanuts like there was no tomorrow. My hunger was not satisfied. As I continued to hike I reasoned that for all I knew there really would be no tomorrow. At any moment another of the alien machines might appear and take me captive.

I thought that if I was one of them, and if I knew what I did to their kin the night before, I would be ready for a bit of retribution. A human for a demon so to speak. And I would not have mercy on me either. Those were the things I contemplated as I walked. They were not productive, but they kept my mind busy and off of the fact that I was becoming increasingly fatigued from the constant hiking and lack of sustenance.

When I reached Crane Creek I assembled the fly rod and began to fish as I walked along the creek’s edge. It slowed my progress, but the chance of landing food outweighed any immediate need to get to the other side of the ridge. I still had a 600’ to 800’ climb up the back side of the ridge waiting for me and I would need all the energy I could get.

I was only five minutes into my casting when a big trout hit the fly. I had it out of the water and onto a rock in short order. As the trout flopped on the rock I picked up my bat and bashed it in the head to keep it from escaping. I was so proud of myself for having reeled in the big fish so quickly that it took a moment for me to realize that I had nothing to cut it with. Bull and Allie had the hunting knives with them. My utensils consisted of a weak spoon, a tin cup and a small pan.

I sat looking at the fish for several minutes trying to determine what to do. I found myself feeling almost completely useless as a woodsman. I then reached down, picked up the trout and attempted to take a bite out of its side. To my astonishment, with a little bit of sideways tearing with my teeth, I actually came away with a good sized piece of flesh.

At the same moment I almost gagged because of the thought of eating the raw animal that I had just killed. But after removing the skin that I had torn off with the flesh, I found that it was not such a bad meal at all. The fresh trout had a good texture and a somewhat neutral taste.

It took five minutes for me to eat most of the flesh from the trout. I did not dare go near the head and I got a bit nauseous when I came in contact with any guts. But the protein was just what I needed and along with my several minutes of rest I found my energy beginning to return. I pondered that perhaps I would make a better woodsman than I had thought.

As I continued my walk along the creek’s edge, stepping from large stone to large stone, I glanced down the creek. I hesitated for only a moment to admire the beauty that the area had to offer. The pure blue sky, the fresh breeze and the bright green foliage, it was all a sight to behold.

I then returned my focus to the mission at hand. As I began to hop to the next rock I took note of a movement downstream. It was a demon and it was heading my way. I quickly looked to my sides and was dismayed that there was no natural cover available for me to hide behind or duck under. I dropped to my belly and continued my search as the beast moved in my direction.

As a last attempt at hiding from the alien machine I slid off the back of the rock into the frigid cold mountain water. The cold bit hard into my calves and then thighs as I sank into a deep pool. I was up to my head in the icy mountain water, tucked between two boulders, exposed only from above and from back whence I had come.