The New World: Blue Moon Generatoin

by Andy Skrzynski

  The child's face grew beet-red, and her eyes bulged. Her head began to shake.

  As the wolf bounded to within 10 yards, it suddenly stopped and yelped in agony.

  Crumpling to the ground and vibrating vigorously, the tormented creature opened its jaws wide.

  Puke exploded from its throat. Within moments, whitish-pink tissue began to roll over its bluing tongue.

  Something that looked like its esophagus emerged and unraveled from its mouth. The limp remains of the drenched, mangled kitten plopped to the ground.

  Bending over as she watched the shocking events unfold, Angrokt felt ill. Her stomach roiled, and a sharp pain stabbed her head.

  What's going on? What's happening to me?

  Barks in the distance caught her attention.

  A large white dog snarled and lunged as a teenage boy clung to its collar.

  Woozy, Angrokt struggled to focus on the helpless denamod.

  Horrifying groans gurgled from deep within the beast as its innards continued to unfold slowly in a disgusting mass of tissue.

  While its body shook and convulsed, the exterior hide and fur shriveled and disappeared. The pinker, bloodied stomach and intestines forced their way to the surface.

  The stretched jawbones snapped and widened further until the agonizing body turned completely inside out in a crimson heap of steamy innards.

  With her eyes wide and mouth agape, Angrokt stared at the little girl.

  Many times she had witnessed unimaginable things, but never as shocking as what she just observed.

  The child stood rigid with her intense glare fixed on the lifeless pile of contorted meat that once was a wolf.

  Running to her side, the teenage boy shook the youngster. "Hoot. Are you okay? What just happened?"

  The dog spotted the sabre-toothed horses and growled.

  As the girl turned her head, Angrokt ducked, not knowing what to expect.

  Yells pierced the air as distant Skalags waved their swords and battle-axes while racing toward the children.

  Angrokt glanced at her fighters, then the kids, and back. "Oh no!"

  She snapped the reins and charged toward her warriors. An archer positioned his bow.

  Angrokt screamed. "No! Not the children!"

  Too late. As the arrow soared through the air, Angrokt's chariot surged forward.

  When the barbed shaft started to descend, she yelled. "Watch out!"

  CHAPTER FORTY

  Broken Hearts

  On the Battlefield

  A Split-Second Later

  From the corner of Angrokt's eye, a blur of Ukes raced toward the children, yelling and screeching at the top of their lungs.

  All motion slowed to a crawl in her mind. Angrokt anxiously glanced at the arrow — then the kids.

  While the little girl looked to the sky, the boy jumped in front of her as the arrow neared.

  The razor-sharped shaft sliced through the young man's chest — all the way through his back.

  Blood poured from the wound as he stumbled, then teetered backward to the ground.

  The girl blared a bone-chilling scream. "Nooo! Fox!"

  Angrokt closed her eyes as her heart throbbed.

  Collapsing on top of the boy, the child shuddered and bawled.

  Seconds later, she clenched her teeth and slowly rose to her feet.

  Enraged, the youngster straddled the dead boy and faced the direction from which the arrow flew.

  She stood rigid with her hands held high as Skalags and denamods to Angrokt's left continued their charge.

  The little girl's eyes faded to white, and her head shook vigorously.

  Mind-numbing squeals and howls filled the air as beasts and warriors crumpled to the ground, squirming in torment.

  Once again, Angrokt's head filled with blinding pain as if something was trying to crack her skull.

  Vomit surged to her throat, and acidic fumes burned her nostrils. Owww, not again!

  Bent over, she glanced up. The girl's whole body vibrated.

  Suddenly, a near-transparent wave blasted from the child's spot toward Angrokt's onrushing warriors.

  Ear-piercing shrieks filled the air. Every being in a semi-circular pattern for 200 yards was jolted backward before exploding in a bloody spray of flesh and bones.

  All trees and buildings in the vicinity burst into thousands of splintered projectiles soaring through the air.

  Amazed at the total destruction caused by such a little girl, Angrokt stood frozen. She stared at her decimated regiment.

  That could have been me!

  Shouts from other surviving Skalags filled the air.

  Watching while the child slowly turned toward her and the charging warriors behind her, Angrokt opened her eyes wide.

  She struggled to breathe as the youngster's eyes faded to milky white again, and she started to shake.

  Excruciating agony shot through Angrokt's body as she collapsed to the ground. She tried to scream, but nothing came out.

  Angrokt's entire frame shook as the intensity of the pain spiked, and blood shot from her nose and mouth.

  Everything went black.

  On a Ledge of Erik the Red Mountains

  Infuriated and heartbroken by the scene that unfolded before his eyes, Zo flung the spyglass down the cliff.

  As it clanked against the rocky ridge, the glass shattered into a hundred shards.

  What little remained of his clan's warriors scattered and retreated toward the mountains.

  He scowled as he rushed down the steep trail to meet them, slipping and sliding along the loose stones.

  Why did I ever warn Caru?

  In a blink of an eye, his ma and most of her people vanished into thin air.

  Where's Pa? I never saw him.

  He grumbled through his sniffles. "Who was that little girl? How could she do that?"

  Zo's mind churned like never before. She killed my people! What are we going to do now?

  He wiped the tears from his eyes. Gno and Vra will be devastated!

  Recalling the mysterious green flash that hit the location where Quaker should have been, he wondered aloud.

  "Is Scientokt dead?"

  Stumbling, he almost fell over a ridge. He gathered himself and stood motionless.

  Now, he understood his mother's feelings for the Ukes. He stepped to the edge of a cliff and hollered louder than ever.

  "I hate them!"

  His voice echoed across the bluffs.

  On the Battlefield

  Meanwhile, Caru and the other warriors of Ukkiville ran after the Skalags as they retreated to the sound of a horn.

  Terminator and Slayer continued their chase with lasers ablaze, obliterating muclones out of the air and on the ground.

  Exhausted as the enemy fled, Caru stopped. She panted as she bent over to rest with her hands on her knees for a brief moment.

  She turned toward more yells across the battlefield. She squinted.

  Is that Hoot? Where's Fox?

  A young girl stood near a white dog that circled and sniffed a body. Nothing else but rubble surrounded them.

  Oh no!

  Caru's heart felt as if a knife stabbed it.

  She sprinted toward the child. "Father! Hurry! Hoot's on the battlefield! Fox may be hurt!"

  Hollers from the other friends and neighbors flooded the air as they joined the rush toward the little girl.

  Hoot staggered and collapsed to the ground as Caru sprinted with tears flooding her eyes.

  Please let Fox be okay.

  As she neared, air rushed from her lungs. Fox lay in a pool of blood with a reaper through his chest.

  Unable to catch her breath, she tried to shout, "Doc!" but no sound emerged.

  She ran to the child's side and gently picked up her head. "Hoot! Are you okay?"

  No response.

  Caru gently slapped her face. "Come on, Hoot; please be alive."

  The youngster choked, then sucked air as others closed aroun
d Caru.

  Hoot slowly opened her eyes. Jumping back, Caru fell on her butt as her heart flinched.

  Like her vivid nightmares, Hoot's milky white eyes stared at her. Caru jerked her head to the right, unable to face her friend.

  Storm rushed to his daughter's side and lifted her in his arms. Blessivil dropped to her knees next to Fox and sobbed.

  Doc ran up and placed his finger across Hoot's neck as Aluki checked Fox's pulse.

  The physician peered into Storm's eyes. "She's alive but very weak! Get her to my cabin, quick!"

  Thoruk gently coaxed the girl from his buddy's hold. "I'll take her. Stay with Blessivil."

  Thoruk ran toward the village with Hoot in his arms.

  Plopping beside Caru, Teli hugged her. "I could feel that something terrible was wrong; I brought Doc as quick as I could."

  A tortured expression filled Aluki's face as she shook her head and looked at Storm.

  He bellowed at the top of his voice and leered at the sky. "Nooo! Don't take my Fox!"

  Blessivil placed her head on her boy's blood-soaked shoulder and bawled.

  Caru cried as Teli squeezed her tighter. "I'm so sorry, Sis. I know Fox meant so much to you."

  She hugged him back.

  In the distance, the noise of the battle continued but began to diminish.

  Doc turned toward Aluki. "Stay here. I want to make sure Hoot's okay."

  He bent closer to his helper's ear. "Have the boy's body brought to my place in a little while."

  She nodded.

  Minutes Later

  Terminator and Slayer pulled up to the crowd. Wolfuk greeted Salty and Speedy as they jumped to the ground.

  "Horrible news. Fox is dead, and something is wrong with Hoot. They took her to Doc's."

  The commander's face soured. "What happened?"

  "Not sure." Wolfuk glanced at the boy's corpse, then back to the Texans.

  "We found Fox with an arrow through his chest, and Hoot's eyes were the weirdest thing I've ever seen. We're just hoping she's okay."

  Slowly scanning the field, Speedy finally looked at Wolfuk.

  "What in the world happened out here? We saw Hoot on our cam feed, and all of a sudden everything in front of her was obliterated! Where's the bodies?"

  Across the entire wake of the youngster's destruction lay blood-soaked shreds of furs, clothing, chunks of flesh, shattered bones, and splintered weapons.

  No real semblance of the enemy warriors or muclones existed.

  Wolfuk shook his head.

  "To be honest, I'm not even sure what happened, but let's keep a lid on it until I've had a chance to talk with Thoruk. I searched the area and all I found of Angrokt were these."

  His bloody hands lifted a splintered piece of her red chariot and a long fang of one of her sabre-toothed horses.

  "There wasn't anything left of her that I could find."

  Salty peered at him. "What can we do to help?"

  "For us villagers, the biggest priority is our injured."

  Wolfuk glanced at Fox's corpse, then back to the Texans. "It isn't the greatest timing, but if you guys could take out whatever muclones survived..."

  Salty nodded. "Say no more; we're on it!"

  He and the Gunnery Sergeant whirled and climbed into their vehicles.

  As the commander reached up for the hatch, he looked at Wolfuk.

  "We'll be back."

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  Death's Toll

  Friday ~ August 28, 2093 ~ 9:30 am

  Near the fallen wall the morning after the battle, Thoruk stood at the center of a handful of leaders and the Texans.

  "Before we discuss today's plans, I've got an update on Hoot. I checked with Storm on the way here, and she seems fine, physically. Caru slept next to her bed last night and said that Hoot only had a couple of nightmares — which can be expected.

  "The other good news is that her eyes have returned to normal. Doc will be checking on her later this morning."

  Appearing ragged and worn as if he hadn't slept in a long time, Wolfuk peered at Thoruk. "How's Storm doing?"

  "Not well. He'll be with his family for the next few days, helping them through Fox's death. Let's be ready to help any of the families who are suffering right now. I'll be visiting some of them throughout the day."

  Mercy chimed in. "There's lots of people showing up from other villages. They want to help."

  Thoruk nodded. "Yeah, I ran into Hound Dog at the drawbridge. He volunteered to set up a spot in the open market area. He'll guide them to the people needing the most help. In the meantime, we've got quite a few things to deal with."

  He turned toward Salty. "It probably wouldn't hurt if you and Speedy made another pass through the surrounding area to see if any muclones have returned."

  Leaning against Slayer, Colonel Sultenfuss looked at Tiger. "You up to it?"

  A white head-wrapping with two bloody splotches marked the sites of her wounds.

  "Yes, sir. I'm fine. It looks worse than..."

  A hum in the distant sky grew louder, drowning out their conversation.

  A strange craft with four large, whirly things descended from a cloud and flew toward the team.

  As Mercy readied her bow, Thoruk lifted his battle-ax and stared with his mouth agape.

  "Blazes! What is that thing?"

  Salty held his palms up. "Calm down! It's a friendly — a drone!"

  A rumbling voice emanated from the hovering contraption. "That you, Salty?"

  Smiling, he nodded. "Judge?"

  "Who else would it be?"

  Salty shrugged. "I wasn't sure at first, but I had my suspicions when you fried that dinosaur. Once you took out the source of the earthquake, I was pretty sure. What was that thing?"

  Thoruk spoke up. "Caru said it was 'Quaker' or something like that. Zo mentioned it when he warned her that night, but she didn't know what he meant. Scientokt created it."

  The voice from the aircraft thundered. "You won't have to worry about the Quaker man anymore. He's in hell where he belongs."

  Standing next to her husband, Mercy scrunched her nose. "Judge, is that really you? How can you fit in that thing? It's too small."

  He laughed out loud. "Mercy? Great to see you again! I'm not actually in it; I'm in Texas."

  She cocked her head with a puzzled stare. Salty chuckled.

  "I'll explain it to you later." He looked up at the floating machine.

  "By the way, thanks for saving Tiger and me from T. rex; and who knows what would have happened to the village if you hadn't stopped the earthquake."

  "You're welcome. I'm sorry about Ukkiville's losses — just glad I was able to help a little. I wish I could have saved the boy, but flying debris from any strike that close would surely have killed him and the little girl. How can my drone help you today?"

  Salty pointed toward the west.

  "Speedy and I are about to take another sweep of the area around Ukkiville. We need to kill any muclones we find. Can you check out the mountain area?"

  "Consider it done."

  Thoruk hollered. "Judge, before you leave. I've got to ask you and the other Texans for a huge favor."

  "What can we do?"

  "I'm sure you saw what the little girl did; her name is Hoot. Please, don't tell a soul. We were just as shocked as anybody. For her safety..."

  The voice from the craft boomed. "Say no more. Nobody will hear of it!" Each of the Defenders nodded firmly and looked Thoruk in the eye.

  "Thank you. It means a lot."

  "Anytime! I'm heading out — hope to see you again."

  The whirring propellers grew louder, and the drone suddenly disappeared into the clouds.

  Thoruk stared at Mercy. "How on Earth do you know him?"

  "It's a long story. Salty and I will tell you when things calm down." She winked at the commander.

  Thoruk looked at the Texans. "You're a long way from home, and I'm sure your families miss you. We really appreciate wh
at you've already done, but don't you want to get back to your loved ones soon?"

  Salty nodded. "Thanks for asking, but we'll get home soon enough. We'll hang around for a week and handle whatever needs doing." Thoruk and the others smiled.

  After the team finished discussing their tasks, they started to disperse.

  Thoruk put his arm around Wolfuk's shoulder and sighed.

  "I'm sure Fox's death has stirred some painful memories for you. I'm sorry. Just let me know if you prefer some time away from all of this stuff."

  Not one for excuses, the master of arms fidgeted and shook his head.

  "Thanks, but I'm much better off working right now. It doesn't help to dwell on it. Believe me; I know from my brother's death."

  The Next Day

  Near the schoolyard, Wolfuk rubbed his chin while he stared at an oak stump standing taller than seven feet high.

  His heavy heart ached that morning after the deaths of Fox and Fist.

  Exhausted from spending the prior day burying muclones and enemy warriors, he felt numb but determined to complete the task at hand.

  He lifted the chisel and hammer for the third time, still unsure where to begin.

  Why must I keep losing friends to Skalags?

  Storm's young, fun-loving son had reminded him so much of his fallen brother.

  He closed his eyes for a second. How will I ever sculpt Fox's image? It hurts just to think of him.

  Wolfuk stared at his feet. I know I should be stronger, but how?

  While he wiped his moist eyes with his sleeve, Woody, a curly-haired craftsman wearing tan overalls approached.

  "Need a hand?"

  "Sure. I'd never turn down a skilled carpenter." He forced a thin smile.

  Placing his cedar tool box on the ground, the young man chuckled.

  "That's good since you're the one that taught me everything I know about wood."

  Wolfuk knew his nephew was trying to cheer him up, but nothing could lift such pain. He hadn't even learned to escape the anguish of his brother's death 18 years earlier.

  His mind drifted back to when he sculpted the tribute in the wee hours after that last big battle. A young, fluffy, mop-head of an apprentice back then, Woody and his assistance meant a lot that day, even though he knew little of the craft.