SODIUM:1 Harbinger (15 page)

A minute of frigid terror passed before the demon was standing on the rock just over my head. It paused for a moment as it looked further up the creek, scouting for any intruders. I was only feet away from the cold metallic underbelly of my nemesis. The sharp implements on its appendages told of my undoing should it only look down from its stance above me. I shivered quietly in the stream as the demon continued its scan.

In my fright I managed to lose the grip on my bat. It bobbed to the surface in front of my face and was then pressed against the rock beside me. It was in plain view of the alien machine should it only take the effort to look down. The bat continued to float along the edge of the rock, pushed gently by the current in the deep pool. As it rounded the edge of the rock it was swept into a fast current which pulled it further down the stream.

The beast then hopped to the next stone and continued its patrol. The frigid water and the fear of becoming known began to take its toll as I shivered uncontrollably, my head shaking enough to make ripples in the otherwise calm pool that held me. I dare not move so long as the demon was still in sight.

As it moved further up the creek I began to feel a sense of relief. I had not been discovered, I had not been taken captive and I was not to be cut from limb to limb. I had somehow stumbled into the only means of cover available to me and I had managed to stay unseen. It seemed that luck was on my side.

The demon then reached the rock on which I had caught and eaten the fish. It stopped, looking diligently at the remains I had carelessly left in full view. It picked up the fish-head and held it out before its eyes, the guts dangling below it. As it studied the remains it came to the determination that it was a natural kill, there were no signs of cuts by tools, only tearing by teeth. After several minutes of study the beast then dropped the carcass in the water and continued on its way up the creek.

I had been lucky, lucky that I had no knife, lucky that my bat had not given me away and lucky that I had not been caught. When the demon was again out of sight I moved over to the creeks edge and emerged from the cold stream that had hidden me. I retrieved my bat from a shallow current before returning to the creek’s edge. My journey would continue.

It took another hour of hiking down Jawbone Creek before I turned to head up the ridge. The path up offered woods for cover, but I would have to move slowly to have the best chance of not being seen. As I climbed I began to wonder if they had any type of automated sentry setup, or if there were any tripwires about. I watched each and every step as I did not want to sound an alarm or set off some trap. I then wondered if they had perhaps mined the area to protect themselves.

All of these scenarios were plausible. I felt that if I had been in charge of the camp I would have done whatever I could to protect my perimeter. But perhaps these machines were not equipped for warfare. They certainly had not shown us anything other than the throwing of a rock or the use of a knife. It would stand to reason to have the minimum of armaments if your mission was only reconnaissance.

I had made it about a third of the way up the back side of the demon ridge when I came to a large gully. I reasoned it would allow me to hike with better cover. The gully was ten feet across with eight foot high sides. It seemed that erosion had done me a favor as it looked like a steady incline without all the rocks to step over.

Since I was down in the gully I would not have to worry about moving from tree to tree to keep myself hidden. It was a welcome relief after the previous 20 minutes of dodging and ducking. It was nice to step forward in a normal manner.

As I neared the top and what looked like a good exit point I stepped onto a branch and immediately had a wire pop up that had tension on it. I had been using my bat as a walking stick of sorts and it had lodged itself at one end of the branch and was keeping the trap from being sprung.

If I moved the bat or if I moved my foot the branch would be free to trigger whatever surprise it held. I stood still for several minutes looking for a way out of my predicament. The sides of the ravine were too steep to climb.

I cursed myself for being so lax and eagerly walking right into the ravine, it was an obvious place for a trap. With my eyes I followed the wire uphill to a tree that was bent over and from there over to what looked at first like general brush and a pile of branches.

Upon further study I could see that there was a large pile of boulders stacked behind the brush. With the steep terrain, anyone who was unlucky enough to set off the trap, would very likely be running for their life when the rocks came rolling down at them. I was positioned perfectly in the center of the gully, the rocks would be coming right at me.

If I moved my foot and sprung the trap I would not be able to get out of the way, even by turning and running downhill. I was in need of a better plan. I had an idea rolling around in the back of my head, but I immediately dismissed it as being a bit too simplistic and downright crazy.

After five long minutes of having no ideas whatsoever I came to the conclusion that the crazy plan was the only one I had. So, I gently but firmly gripped the wire and then picked up my other foot and set it down on the branch on the opposite side.

I lifted my bat and the trap sprang fully. To my amazement the crazy plan seemed to be working. I was vaulted up into the air to the right of the avalanche of heavy boulders.

For a brief moment in my mind I began to celebrate as I was lifted out of danger by the demons trap itself. That celebration came to an abrupt end when the wire slacked and I realized I was 15’ in the air. I was heading towards the tree the wire was attached to.

I began to helplessly flail my arms and legs in an attempt to get control, but there was none to be had. I slammed hard into the tree knocking the breath out of me. I then fell backwards down onto the hard ground and landed awkwardly on my already broken hand.

The numbness that I had experienced the few days before quickly returned as I rolled down hill for 30’ before coming to a stop in a clump of brush. I looked down at my hand and this time I could see the broken bone trying to poke through the skin.

The rocks continued to rumble on their way down the hill and I was sure that the demons would be upon me in no time. But I could not move after having had my breath knocked out. So, I just lay on my side, looking at my broken hand, while awaiting my inevitable capture.

After 15 minutes with no sign of the demons I once again had my breath back. I was looking at my hand as it swelled. I had broken an arm when I was twelve and had watched as the doctor tricked me into sitting still while he set it. Allie had done the same when my hand had broken earlier. This time there were no tricks and I would have to set it myself.

I set my hand palm down on a rounded stone and then quickly pulled at my finger joint. The pain was intense, but to my amazement the bone went right into place. I took a few items from my pack and made a makeshift splint to secure it before attempting to move on.

I decided that either the demons had not been alerted by the springing of their trap, or they had better things to do. My mind once again settled in on Kyle. For the first time I came to the realization that if they did have him, perhaps they were not intent on killing him. They were instead going to take him off world for further study.

Scott would probably be in for the same abduction if that were the case. I took another ten minutes to get my composure back and then once again began my upward climb. My pace was slow before being caught in the trap and had slowed to a crawl after. With almost every step I stopped and looked to check for the next trap. I was back to my previous method of moving from tree to tree to lower my chances of being discovered.

When I felt sure the area between trees was clear I would move as quickly as I could to the next one. After 45 minutes of dodging from tree to tree I came upon an opening where the next tree line was 100’ away. The expanse was covered in foot high grass and the occasional shrub, but offered no good place to hide.

I was getting very near the summit and would have to use extra caution to move about. The lack of hiding places was an unwelcome sight. I stood behind the last available tree scanning the opening and the next woods in front of me.

I contemplated an all-out run, but it was uphill and I knew I would be out in the open for much longer than I wanted. So, I settled in on crawling the distance on my belly. The foot high clumps of grass and small shrubs would at least offer a modest amount of camouflage.

I removed my pack and did my best to hide it. I was close to the top now and the pack was now a hindrance. There was nothing inside it that I would need for my recon mission. I found myself wishing that I had stashed it at the bottom of the hill by the creek before proceeding.

I got down on my belly and began my journey up across the open expanse. I was half way across when I spotted a demon walking just inside the tree line. I froze where I was with little to shield my position. But the demon seemed preoccupied and walked past, staying in the tree line as it went.

I was astonished as it moved away from me because I could see that it had a giant hole in the back of its body. This was the demon I had shot with Bull’s .45! My excitement soon faded when I once again realized that even with that kind of damage the machine was still moving around like nothing had happened.

I lay in the grass for another minute, thinking about how difficult it would be for me to get another good swing at one with my bat. I then cursed myself for not having summoned Minhafa while I was at the creek at the bottom of the hill.

My position was too exposed, so as soon as the demon was at a sufficient distance I stood and hustled to get to the tree line. I began dreading the thought of getting caught in another trap as I had no time to look for it as I ran. I sighed with relief as I reached the trees without incident.

Once back in the wood I took notice of another gully that was largely filled in since it had long ago been created. It was well lined with heavy shrubs and a few trees and it looked like an ideal spot to remain completely hidden if the need arose.

The gully went 150’ through the woods and up into the next opening. That marked as close to the summit as I would be able to get. I made my way into the shrubs, careful to not leave any visible signs of a trail as I went.

When I reached the other end I had a good vantage point for watching almost anything that happened on my side of the ridge. It was then that I got my first look at the alien spacecraft that had carried the demons to our planet.

The ship was dome shaped on the bottom and was also supported by three legs, just like the demons. The legs each had three joints and each joint was loaded with tools. It was 30’ in diameter and sported the same flat top as its spawn. As I watched I noticed a rotating band just under the top and every 15 seconds or so a pair of the same creepy red eyes that the demons had would go past.

I was looking for any doors or hatches or anything that looked like it could be used to load their bounty on-board. There were no discernible lines on the exterior of the craft ,except for three domed shaped cutouts on its underbelly, it was otherwise featureless.

From their positioning and spacing I guessed that there were five such cutouts with two around the back of the craft where I could not see. On one side of the ship there were stacks of what looked like animal parts along with the other specimens that we had seen being carried around the back side of the ridge earlier in the day.

Were they preparing to leave? Would they be taking Scott with them? And what about Kyle? I scanned the area. There was again no sign of Kyle. My heart sank as I thought about my friend not being there for the rescue and of how that news would affect the others.

An hour after my observation had begun a demon brought Scott around and secured him to a tree beside the ship. It was evident that he had been drugged as his head bobbed from side to side as if he had just downed his 20th beer. I guessed it made the job of his captors easier when there was no chance of escape with the state he was in.

The demon then walked over to the ship and put a leg up into one of the dome shaped cutouts. It then proceeded to put another leg in and when secured, it lifted its third leg and pulled itself up into the cutout. It was a perfect fit. The alarm bells then started going off in my head. There were not three cutouts but five! Were there two more demons walking around that we had not yet seen?

This information was huge and I would want to get it back to the others as soon as possible. That and the fact that Kyle was not there. I dreaded being the deliverer of that bad news, but there was no alternative.

When the demon secured itself in the cutout it was almost a seamless fit. The rim that once outlined the top of its body was now imperceptible on the bottom side of the demon ship.

The rotating eyes, which had stopped when the demon approached ,were once again on the move, going around every 15 seconds. With nothing more to see, I turned my gaze towards the animal parts and other gathered resources.

After scanning them I stopped and focused my eyes on what looked like a human hand. A chill ran down my spine as I stared at what I thought might be part of the remains of Kyle. I was not sure of what I was seeing at the distance I was, but I could not venture closer to get a better look, not without the risk of getting caught; it was time to return to the others with what I knew.

I slowly crept my way back through the brush and waited a few minutes at the other end of my natural cover to make sure the damaged demon was not lurking about. I then stood and quickly moved from tree to tree until I once again reached the open area. This time, instead of belly crawling I decided on an all out run to get across. It was too steep of a downhill angle to move quickly. Half of the energy for each step was spent trying to slow myself down.

When I reached the other tree line I stooped to get my pack. When once again secured I moved at as fast a pace as I could control. The steep terrain along with the many tree roots and loads of pine straw made for a slippery and dangerous trek.