“Don’t go back!” she yelled back, not stopping her own progress. In a few steps she was running past him, then past the dog, who turned to follow her again. “Run! Into the forest! See if it slows this thing down.”
By now the whole group was on the trail, and as she reached the end, seeing that there was indeed an outhouse and an end to the trail, she jumped over a fern and plunged into the woods, weaving around trees, under branches, tripping through ditches but stumbling onward, keeping her feet through luck more than grace.
The others followed, and they began to bunch up in the undergrowth. Behind her, she soon heard a different sort of splintering, which must have been the beast crashing through the outhouse and then pushing into the forest behind them.
They were too noisy, too slow. It was going to catch them, she realized.
---
“Scatter!” she yelled. “Scatter and hide!”
Unquestioning, they peeled off in different directions, each pushing and dodging through the forest’s undergrowth. She quickly lost sight of all but the few closest to her. She could see Mule off to her right. There was another shadow past him, but she was not sure who it was. Already in the lead, Bait had taken off straight ahead and was quickly out of sight.
The dog had come back to run at her heels. Together they veered to the left. Thirty quick steps and she took her own advice, diving into a think bush and hunkering down.
“Lehni. Kryj se,” she told the dog, who had followed her into the bush. The dog turned to face where they had come, and where the noises of the beast could still be heard, then laid on its belly, ears flat. Still it rumbled its low warning growl, deep in its chest.
“Ticho,” she said, and the dog was quiet.
She scooted forward a bit on her belly, peeking through the leaves of the bush, looking for the others. She saw nobody, which was good. They had all either escaped or gone into hiding, like her. The beast, a huge shadow in the darkness, was easy to spot, though. It was blundering about in the forest, perhaps forty yards from her hiding place.
Now she had the time to get a good look at the thing, but the darkness and the undergrowth between her and the beast combined to ensure that she could make out even fewer details than she had in her first, hurried glances back at the campground. All she could discern was its vast, dark bulk crashing through the trees.
It swished its enormous bulk back and forth, searching for the people it had just been chasing, but who had now disappeared. It didn’t seem to be using a sense of smell, which was a relief, and it didn’t seem to have any plan to its search. Perhaps it wasn’t very smart. It was just meandering about, thrashing through bushes and smaller trees as if they weren’t there, rumbling over and through boulders and deadfalls, and only stopping to change direction when some of the largest trees proved too tough for even its mass.
She was afraid, though, that even without a thought or a plan, the thing would stumble across somebody soon enough. They couldn’t have gone far—there hadn’t been time.
This thought soon proved prophetic. As the thing blundered through one particular patch of shrubbery, she heard scream rise briefly over the sound of snapping branches, only to be abruptly cut off. It was a woman’s scream.
The beast stopped, as if to wonder what the noise had been. She saw a shape break cover and flee from the carnage. Soon the beast noticed, too, and turned to pursue its quarry. She couldn’t see who it was in the darkness, but judging by the scream it must be Medic. She was being smart about it, dodging and weaving, turning, and moving behind obstacles, obviously looking to hide again. Medic moved surprisingly quickly. She had not thought Medic could move like that, but there were several tons of motivation on her tail.
Chasing the fleeing shadow, the beast crashed off, getting further away from where she and the dog still hid. The shape was soon lost to her sight, but it seemed the beast had lost the trail too, as she heard it once again began its aimless casting about, hoping to flush its prey again.
She was frustrated, just hiding and watching, and she began to consider what other options she had. Suddenly, a voice spoke behind her “This isn’t going to work.”
Startled, she rolled onto her back to look behind her, scrambling, off balance, trying to rise into a crouch and draw her knife at the same time. The dog was equally startled, spinning and snarling at the darkness further beneath the bushes.
“Who’s there?” she asked.
In the darkness, a shape moved—a person, crouched low beneath the bushes. Had one of her group chosen the same bushes to hide in? But no, as the person moved forward she saw a stranger. She saw his eyes and teeth first, almost glowing in the dim light against his black skin. It was a man, tall and wide, wearing some kind of vest, with his arms bare. Those arms were enormous things, corded with muscle and covered with swirling shapes that she could not make out on his dark skin in the dim light. The arms led to broad shoulders and a thick neck, topped by a bald head.
She noticed that his ears were pierced, as was one eyebrow and his lower lip as well. The man seemed to like decorating himself, as he wore several stringy necklaces, looking raggedy and home-made in the darkness. She could see he had various things sewn onto or otherwise attached to his vest, as well, and thick leather bracelets around each wrist.
As she recovered from her surprise, the man spread his hands, showing that they were empty. She guessed it was meant to be reassuring, but it just made him larger.
“Who are you?” It came out as a cross between a whisper and a yell. She wanted to yell, angry at being surprised, but needed to whisper with the beast roaming the forest.
He crouched down, massive arms still spread. He did not respond directly to her question. Instead, he repeated himself.
“This isn’t going to work.”
“What isn’t going to work?” she asked, now gaining her feet and settling herself into a low stance, feeling better now that she was on her feet and had her knife in her hand.
He made no reaction to her movements. “This. Hiding. It will find you, in time. It won’t give up.”
She pondered this. “How do you know?”
“I’ve been tracking it for a day and a half. Or maybe it’s been tracking me. Either way. We came across each other yesterday in that same campground it just jumped you out of, and we’ve been playing cat and mouse ever since.
“And so I repeat myself. This isn’t going to work. It won’t give up and let you all sneak away. It will find you.”
It was curious how what this stranger was saying mirrored her own thoughts. “So what do you suggest?”
Still in his crouch, he pivoted at the waist, reaching behind him with his right hand, and coming back with a long spear, whittled from a young sapling. The point on the end was dark, looking like it had been hardened in a fire. He did not point the spear at her or the dog, but did not point it away from them either.
Next he reached to the small of his back with his left hand. There was a sound, the sound made only by a blade on leather, and his hand came back into view, now holding a hunting knife that must have been a full foot long.
His eyes grew wide and he smiled at her. It was a grin with no humor in it, no friendliness—only anticipation. The ghostly glow of his teeth and the whites of his eyes in the darkness matched the glint of his knife as he turned it in his hand.
“Let’s kill it,” he said.
In a flash, it came to her—what she had been looking for as she wandered, ever since those first terrible days of the Fall. She hadn’t known it, but she had been looking for a purpose, a meaning. What did you do when monsters invaded your world?
And here, hidden in some bushes, confronted by a man she should be terrified of but somehow wasn’t, she found that purpose. What do you do when monsters invade your world? You kill them.
She looked him in the eyes, nodding, wondering when he had found his own purpose, wondering how she had missed it for so long.
“Yes,” was all she said. “K
ill it.”
By unspoken agreement, they moved out of their place of concealment, stealthily working their way towards the patch of bushes she had watched Medic duck into a few minutes ago. He walked on her left, and the dog on her right. They looked out at the forest, at the still-lumbering beast they could now see some sixty yards away. As they stepped carefully towards the bushes, trying to remain out of sight of the beast, he whispered to her what he had learned about it.
His knowledge was scattered, but interesting. The thing had no head, just a body and eight legs. He told her that the thing didn’t make any noises, and may well not have a mouth to make noises with—at least none that he had been able to see. The thing’s hide was tough—too tough to be pierced by knife or spear. It had a series of what he guessed were eyes all around it. These were softer than the hide and could be stabbed—he had stabbed his spear into one earlier. Having eyes on all sides meant it could see pretty well in all directions and it was impossible to sneak up on. Even though the eyes went all around the beast, it did have a definite front and back, as far as moving went. It moved in one direction and turned when chasing something, keeping the same part of it to the front. Though its vision was good, it didn’t seem to hear well at all, and it seemed like it didn’t have very good distance vision, because if you got far enough away, it tended to lose you. It would stop moving and settle onto the ground if it hadn’t seen its prey for a long time, but stood back up instantly if it saw something.
These facts, poured into her as they crept towards the stand of bushes, gave her a bit more of a sense of what they faced. It was huge and tough, but also might have vulnerable points.
As the trio arrived at the bushes, man, girl, and dog, they saw the outline of somebody hiding inside, but were surprised to hear Bait’s voice come from that outline.
“Hey, there,” he said, then “Hey, who’s that?”
She looked at the man beside her, evaluating him. “An ally, for now,” she said. “Have you seen the others?”
With another look at the large man beside her, Bait took her at her word, turning to look once more in the direction of the lumbering beast.
“Not really,” he said. “I thought Medic was back where you guys came from. Mule and the Professor are up ahead, I’m pretty sure. I’d say Mule is another fifty yards past where that thing’s tossing around, but the Professor’s in that bunch of two bushes with a tree sticking up out of the middle there, right next to the thing. I saw him go in, and I’d say he’s likely to be stepped on any moment.”
She looked towards the beast, seeing the bushes Bait had been describing. They were right next to the area the beast seemed to be searching, and as she watched one of its legs actually brushed past the outer leaves of the bushes. If the Professor was in there, he was definitely in danger of being crushed.
“There is no time to wait,” she said. “We must go now.”
The large man said nothing, but Bait was confused. “Go where?”
“You have your knife?” was her reply.
“Yes,” and Bait drew his machete from the sheath at his side, proving his words.
“Good. It is time to kill it.”
Not waiting for the others, she broke from the bushes, yelling “Come now! Drz!”
The dog broke from the bushes towards the beast, ears low, snarling. The man ran right behind her, quieter but no less intent. Bait, taken by surprise, was slower to react. He took one more breath, gripped his knife with white knuckles, and ran after them, catching up after several strides.
“What’s the plan?” he yelled when he caught up.
“Kill it,” she yelled back. “Circle it, go for the eyes, and keep moving.”
The dog, faster than any human, was the first to reach the beast and it threw itself into the fray as if possessed. It was a snarling, snapping fury too quick to keep track of in the dimming light. It snapped at the legs of the beast, finding no purchase for its teeth, but definitely gaining the attention of the beast. The beast turned, stomping toward the dog’s attacks.
The dog at first stood its ground, snarling and snapping and sure to be crushed at any moment.
“Dokola! Kroužit!” she yelled as she made her own approach. The dog began to run circles around the beast, still snarling and snapping as the others arrived. Soon the beast was spinning in its lumbering way, trying to face the four figures that surrounded it.
Each of them kept moving, running in circles around the beast, dodging its great bulk, and looking for their chances to get in close to one of the eyes. She was the first to strike, dodging past one great leg, and having to reach up as she came to the side of the beast, stabbing her knife into one of the black orbs that studded its body. Her knife sank in to the hilt, releasing a dark ooze and a terrible stench from the orb as it deflated like a popped balloon. The creature gave a shudder turning more quickly than she imagined it could and sending her tumbling as one of its enormous legs knocked into her.
She spun away, rolling through dirt and bushes. When she looked up, the man was standing over her.
“You OK?” he asked, reaching out a hand.
She slapped his hand away. “Do not stop!” she yelled. “Go! Kill it!”
The man gave her an inscrutable look before turning back to the fight.
She picked herself up and rejoined the group herself. It was to be a long fight.
They each continued dodging around the beast, darting in to stab when they could, keeping moving, and awaiting their next chance. The dog did the least damage of anyone, for its small teeth could do nothing to this great, lumbering thing. She and Bait both got several chances to dodge in with their knives, but it was hard to hit the eyes on the moving beast as they ran by, and more often than not their knives skittered off its hard exterior, completely missing the mark. The man had more chances with his long spear, but that length made it even more difficult to hit one of the eyes. But still they fought.
At one point she noticed that the Professor had joined them, darting in and out with his own knife, which she hadn’t even known he had. It was a folding knife with the blade now locked open, big for that kind of knife but still small compared to the hunting knives and machetes that others were wielding. She didn’t know how long he had been there—she was getting tired, and things were starting to run together. She saw Mule in the fight, too, but he was whacking at the beast with his bat, taking wild swings and probably doing as little damage as the dog.
Yet they were all there, all in the fight, and the beast did not seem to be able to tell which of them were the real threats, so it spun and twisted, trying to face them all, making the occasional lunge at one or another of them in an effort to crush them. The only one of the group that she did not see was Medic, but there was no time to wonder where the woman was.
The beast’s only weapon appeared to be its ability to crush things with its legs or even its whole body, but it was having no luck catching the smaller, quicker humans as they dodged around it. It could not focus on one long enough to seriously threaten that one without the others dodging in to attack it from their own angles.
The strategy was working, because more and more often she dodged in to one of the eyes only to find that it had already been ruined by somebody else. But there were many eyes, and they were small targets. Each time an eye was stabbed, the beast shuddered and spun, but she was getting tired. They all were. And as they tired, they slowed. The beast struck each of them with the occasional glancing blow through sheer bad luck, but as they tired these blows became more frequent and sometimes more serious.
The first evidence of this came when she saw the Professor, panting, stumble in to make a clumsy attack, standing still for a moment to aim at one of the black orbs. The beast spun, kicking at him and he was a fraction too slow to move. The kick sent him flying through the air away from the beast, turning a full somersault before he landed with a thump audible even over the snarling of the dog, and the yells and curses of the others. She did not see him
rise again.
Soon they all were spending more time outside the range of the beast, and making fewer quick moves to attack it. At one point the beast was able to strike both the man she had met hiding in the bushes and Mule with the same leg, leaving only her and the dog attacking it. They both soon rose and came back to the fight, but she worried that they would all tire out before they brought this thing to the ground. What’s more, she did not know if these organs they were stabbing into were vital to the beast, of if they were actually just annoying it. It did not seem to be slowing.
They needed a new plan.
She ran to where the man was crouching, breathing hard, waiting for his next opening. She saw that one side of his face had an abrasion across it as if he had been scraped across asphalt, and one eye was starting to swell shut. Looking at him, she had her doubts.
“Can you still fight?” she asked.
He grinned at her, seeing where she was looking. “I’ve got another eye,” was all he said.
“Stab it then,” she said.
“What do you think I’ve been doing?”
“Stab it, and leave the spear in.”
He looked at her a moment, then nodded.
She went back to the attack, still darting in to stab when she could, but now knowing she was just a diversion. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the man. He feinted and moved, looking for an opening. Then he lunged, missing, the spear skittering off the beast’s skin.
Again he stepped back, moving, dodging about, and looking for his opening. This time when he lunged he did not miss. The spear struck one of the black orbs, releasing the squirt of blackish goo they had seen before. The man dodged away, leaving the spear swinging wildly up and down as the beast moved back and forth. He drew his large knife, and began to fight again, but looked to her as if to ask “now what?”
She ran to the side of the beast that had the spear sticking out of it, waited her chance, and dodged in, grabbing the spear and pushing with all her might. It went in a few more inches, feeling more solidly stuck, but she could do no more. The beast shuddered again and spun, forcing her to dodge away again, leaving the spear to flail in the air again.
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