Page 24 of Crash Landing
Damn Michael fucking Hemburg. Damn him for his threats and damn him more for taking off my mask. I’d have hadmuch more at my disposal if I had it. Maybe even a way to communicate with the others.
“I could so easily freak out right now,” I said, a quiver in my voice.
Looking up through a space in the clouds, I saw the crown of Sylos peaking over the distant mountains. It would be night soon. As soon as that planet eclipsed the little dwarf star, the moon would be dark and I’d be wandering a bleak wilderness with nothing but a small torch and my wits.
I tried to calculate how much time I had before it was completely useless for me to be traveling, but my sense of time was so skewed so I decided I’d walk until I absolutely couldn’t see. I wanted so badly to cover some distance and hoped that I’d see a building around every tree I passed, but I didn’t. Then, when the eclipse finally shadowed the moon, it was like clockwork. All the ambient noises stopped and it made me stop with it. There were no bugs. No birds. It was like some kind of horror movie. I swallowed hard and tried to see through the thick darkness when I heard a twig snap.
Then a thick branch. Something was walking. Something big and heavy and I didn’t want to know what it was. I spun, looking for someplace to hide, but there were no crevices, tunnels, or even corners for me to crawl into.
Another set of footsteps thumped through the woods. I wanted to deny they were getting closer, but that was foolish thinking. My legs wanted to run, but my brain told me if I moved, whatever was out there would hear me.
But it didn’t matter. It was definitely getting closer.
Thump. Thump. Louder and louder.
Then it stopped. I peered into the dark shadows, my eyes fighting to see. Something was darker than the shadows, but I didn’t want to believe it was anything alive.
Every horror movie I’d ever seen flashed before my eyes. If I ran, I was guaranteed to trip and fall and get eaten alive. A sliver of optimism inside my head told me to turn on my light and confirm that the dark mass in front of me was just a big stone or a bush. I was too timid to turn it on and find out, though. The larger part of my mind was telling me I was about to see a monster.
But I needed to know. And if I did need to run, I needed to see my path. Reaching back, I pulled my torch from the side pocket of my bag and slowly twisted it until the narrow stick started to glow. A circle of dim light surrounded me. Shaking, I raised the torch up so the light extended further into the woods. The moment it crawled forward and hit the tips of a few thin, hairy-looking branches, my biggest fear was made real.
The branches snapped back to avoid the light and suddenly panick gripped me like icey fingers around the back of my neck.
There were no more questions when the heavy footsteps started up again, fast and loud. I spun before the creature even entered fully into the light and I dashed away from it. I didn’t know where I was going, but I was moving faster than I’d ever moved, my heart pounding out of my chest.
It was too dark, even with my light. The way I was running, the light wasn’t steady enough to brighten my way anyway. The clouds were too thick. All I could see was a black mass as big as a small car sprinting in my wake, long limbs working in tandem like some kind of giant spider. I didn’t know if it was going to eat me or just kill me but I didn’t want to find out. I was terrified out of my mind and I only wished it would make me move faster.
Blindly, I ran over uneven ground, stumbling and leaping, but I was so out of breath. The thing was still lumbering clumsily after me, its legs digging into the soft soil and propelling it closer with every stride. Ahead, I saw the remains of daylight glintingoff of water and I prayed it wasn’t deep. If I was slowed by swimming, I was finished.
Once I hit the bank, my foot sunk right into a layer of thick mud. The creature lunged behind me just as I popped my leg free and it narrowly missed my body before stumbling to the side. I tripped forward, prepared to dive under the water until I realized it was knee-deep. I waded quickly across to the other side only to find myself blocked in by a rocky cliffside. My torch highlighted a system of roots that climbed the vertical rock face and I immediately leaped up, attempting to use them as a ladder. I abandoned my pack without thinking, tossing it to the side so I didn’t have the excess weight. The torch flew out of my hand the moment I needed my grip to climb, but I didn’t care. Nothing mattered at that point except escape.
I was panting loudly, each exhalation practically a scream as I ascended the cliff face, but almost immediately, the roots under my feet gave and I plummeted down to the ground again.
But I wasn’t dead. Those sharp legs were jabbing at the stone on either side of me, but try as they might, they weren’t hitting me. I twisted around, pressing myself so hard against the wall, I thought I might meld into it. The creature was there, fighting to break through a thick cage of roots between it and me. In the dark, I saw the glowing interior of a round abyss full of teeth and fibrous hairs. It continued to jab at the roots, hungrily seeking me out and throwing splinters of wood at my face with every failed attempt. I screamed and covered my head, drained of ideas and energy. As the creature’s membranous body covered me, I thought it might just eat the whole wall of roots and me with it if I gave it enough time.
I was going to die…
My second time leaving Earth and I was again at the gates to the afterlife trying to cling to the last bits of my sanity.
But then there was a blue flash of light. I saw it even through my closed eyelids. With the flash was a popping sound followed by crackling like embers on dry wood. I looked up and saw the creature sag off the cage of roots before me before turning slowly around. I caught the faintest silhouette of a man between the spaces in the creature’s bony legs and thought for a moment that I was dreaming it.
Another flash and a pop. The creature screeched in anguish before charging toward the stranger. One long limb swept outward and I saw the figure fly across the water with a pained grunt. I saw it clearly that time. The blue veins trailing down his black suit were unmistakable.
It was the captain.
I pulled myself up on shaking legs, using the wall to balance, and watched in horror as the beast turned back toward me and charged. I didn’t even have breath left to scream. I just covered my head and prepared for the worst pain in the hopes that my death was fast.
But then a third flash of light and a crackling pop filled the air and I heard a heavy, wet thump that shook the ground. Prying my eyes open, I saw the big body of the beast sprawled out on the ground, three gaping holes still crackling with the remnants of three fatal UV blasts.
Panning my eyes upward, I saw the captain uplit by my fallen torch standing only ten strides from me, a pistol lowered by his side with the barrel still red-hot and smoking.
Only it wasn’t just some valerian captain at all. Without his helmet, that was made very clear.
10: Saleuk
Sjeking kilors. They were oversized insects that loved a good chase. Their tracks were deep and devastating to the soil and therefore easy to follow.
Perhaps Sam looked small and digestible, but I wasn’t. The moment I heard her screams, I was sprinting through the woods, pistol drawn. I didn’t hesitate to fire at the Kilor. I’d hoped that the first shot would scare it off so I wouldn’t have to kill it, but it just turned on me. the damn thing must have been hungry because it came at me next. It delivered a swift blow to my midsection with one of its bony legs, sending me flying backward into a tree.
