Page 27 of Caveman Alien's Touch

I notice the men looking around and frowning. They must also hear the hum.

It’s really getting loud now, drowning out the cheering. It seems to come from the jungle.

“Run!” the Borok men urge me on. “The race is still on!”

I don’t have far to run. The finish line is in sight, and the boy is lifting his club to hit the drum and mark that I have won.

I look behind me. Unin’iz is still running hard.

But behind him…

I can’t see it. But still I know it’s there, not just from the sound but from the movement. I canseethe movement without really seeing it with my eyes. There’s a swarm coming, a swarm that’s still in the jungle but coming closer fast.

I slow down. This could get serious.

I sense the first one, its outline coming into my mind, but not through my eyes. It’s the size of a boy, but it flies on many wings. The body is hanging in the air like a hook, the lower end curved and ending in a long, thin spike that looks like a stinger nearly the size of my spear.

Then I see another. And another. There are hundreds of them, at least. And they’re coming right for us.

“Come on!” the crowd yells. “Run! You will win!”

I know I can win. But only I know there’s a swarm coming. The others can’t see it yet.

“Go inside!” I yell. “Inside the gates!”

Nobody moves. They must think I’m crazy.

“Swarm!” I shout, pointing. “You can hear the swarm! It’s coming!”

They all turn and stare the way I’m pointing, but while they can hear the swarm, nobody can see it and they don’t move. The cheering ends, and a murmur spreads instead.

For a moment I stand still.AmI crazy? Are they right? Is there nothing coming?

Unin’iz comes running, thinking he can win.

I make my decision. Crazy or not, I must do what I think is right.

I sprint over to Bronwen, grab her, and throw her over my shoulder the way I did yesterday. “There’s a swarm!” I yell to her friends. “Run! Into the village!”

Then I follow my own advice and run in through the gates. Now they must understand there’s something wrong — I wouldn’t break off the race if I didn’t have a good reason.

As I pass through the gate, I hear the first screams of alarm from outside.

If I ran fast during the race, now I strain to run even faster. The village huts pass in a blur. I climb the stairs, three or four steps at a time. When I get to the top, my thighs feel like slack strings.

I set Bronwen down and kiss her. “Stay in the cave. Use your knife if you have to.”

“Wait!” she squeals when I turn my back. “Dongoh dawnder! Stai, mailuv!”

I run back down on knees that threaten to buckle at every step. Tribesmen are flooding back inside, some in a panic.

“Stand!” I yell, worried about the swarm coming in through the gates. “Stand, warriors! Stand and fight!”

I have to punch and kick my way through the fleeing tribesmen to get to the outside. Suddenly I’m face to face with Brak, who’s carrying Piper in his arms.

“Alba!” he shouts. “She’s still out there!”

“Get Astrid and Shaman Melr’ax!” I yell back to him. “I’ll get the other one!”

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