Page 88 of Stranded with the Alien

“Vahn!”

He didn’t move. Without a second thought she closed the distance and gave the creature a hefty shove from behind. Her flesh crawled as it made contact with the thick, stinking fur.

“Hey! Over here you pile of shit!”

With a roar the animal span round, its mad red eyes fixing her with a baleful stare. Kara backed away, making sure she had its full attention.

Then she turned and ran.

She had no clue where she was going, only that she had to draw it away from Vahn. Risking a glance over her shoulder, she saw the nightmarish vision barreling after her, tusks gnashing the air.

She ran deeper into the woods, hoping to lose it. It was a tactical error. Whereas she had to dodge trees and branches, the creature simply ran straight through them.

The crashing behind her got closer. Too close. Heart hammering with adrenaline, she somehow managed a spurt of extra speed. It wasn’t enough.

Her foot caught in a half-hidden tree root and she went flying. She hit the ground hard, knocking the breath from her lungs. Winded and terrified, she turned onto her back. The thing loomed over her.

“Fuck off! Just fuck off away from me!”

She tried not to sob, projecting an air of bravado. The thing wasn’t the least bit fooled. It dropped to the ground next to her with a heavy thud and she tensed, expecting to feel its heavy jaws close around her body. But instead it planted a giant paw on her mid-riff. Andleaned.

She couldn’t breathe.

It pressed down harder and she struggled against it, frantically trying to pull air into her chest. Her lungs started to burn.

With hyperclarity she saw the creature sniffing at her face. The reek of its matted fur almost made her gag. And then it closed its jaws around her throat, cutting off what little oxygen she had left.

Tears ran from the corners of her eyes as she stared up at the rapidly dimming sky.

Not like this. Please, not like this.

Everything faded to black.

Forty

Vahn yanked open the backpack and retrieved the blaster, cursing himself for being caught unprepared. It should never have happened. He had been distracted by Kara but he’d also been foolish. It had been many days since an animal had ventured close to their camp and he’d been lulled into complacency. But that was no excuse.

As a soldier, as aprotector,he had failed.

He wiped the blood from his eyes, wincing at the sharp sting of torn skin A rustling from the bushes made him start and he turned with blaster cocked. But it was only Rocky.

The hound limped out, four parallel gashes scored into his side like red stripes. The wounds looked sore but Vahn knew he didn’t have time to tend to them.

He studied the traces of Kara’s footprints vanishing into the trees, overlaid with the massive paw marks of the creature which had attacked them. Dread churned in his gut.

Viramec, he thought. That’s what it had resembled. A mythical beast in Vraxian folklore which was used to frighten hatchlings.

Be good or the viramec will steal you to its lair.

He pushed the thought away. Kara had escaped, he told himself. He just had to find her.

He started jogging in the direction of the footprints, his long strides covering the ground quickly. It was only after he’d been running for several minutes that he realized Rocky was keeping pace.

The tracks were easy to follow. He held his fear at bay as he closed the distance, refusing to allow his mind to dwell on the possibility that Kara was hurt – or worse.

It was only when he came upon the place where her footprints suddenly stopped that his terror inexorably seeped through.

And then it began to rain.

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