by Steve Wands
Upon impact, the ship's safety mechanisms kicked on in time to spare the passengers the full impact of the crash. Despite the mechanism's best effort the group in the command center still slammed against the opposite wall, but instead of bursting like grapes they only cracked bones and tore muscle. The surviving crew bolted out of the room as alien sounds blurted out of the air. Color lights flashed and a siren like sound permeated the room.
"We've got to follow them," Dax said.
"Can't...move..." Len said.
"We're all hurt. Get up and move or die here," S'tahgrah grumbled, picking himself up.
"...M-my...leg..." Len rasped, pointing at bone jutting from his shin.
"Come on," Dax pulled him up, and threw him over his shoulder.
"Thanks..." Len said.
They hobbled out of the command center. S'tahgrah had a bad limp. Vavoo was bleeding all over and clutching her arm. Dax seemed relatively fine and Len was slung over his shoulder in shock. The alien captors scattered down the hall. They didn't seem to care or even notice the escapees. Water was trickling through the walls and ceilings.
"Looks like we're under water," Vavoo pointed out.
"Yeah, and they must be heading for the escape route," S'tahgrah replied.
"Let's follow 'em," Dax groaned, already tired of Len's added weight.
Chapter Fourteen
They followed the spider-like creatures in all their various sizes and appearances as they skittered down the corridor. Some of them ran along the wall and ceiling while others just ran atop one another. Len couldn't help but think of a New York subway being overrun by roaches and rodents alike, scurrying from onrushing water. After a few minutes the creatures began to disperse down several other chambers that the corridor spilled out into. Not knowing if it mattered much, they turned down the closest one and continued to follow the little things--and some bigger ones. Len lifted his head and saw what was following behind them, groaned and put his head back down. There were as many behind them now as there were ahead of them. The faster ones caught up, and simply sped past, ignoring them completely. The corridor then spilled out into a large open room with walls that looked like honeycombs, but the honeycombs were filled with what could only be escape pods. The creatures skittered up the walls and entered the pods. Once full the doors would close, another door would come down and then a bursting noise could be heard as the pods were jettisoned.
Amid the creatures were other aliens that must have been captors as well, their lack of clothing a dead giveaway. Everyone was scrambling for an escaped pod, captor and escapee alike.
"We need to get inside of one of them immediately," Vavoo said.
"What are we waiting for? Climb!"
So they did. S'tahgrah took Len from Dax and began scaling his way up the honeycomb-like structure. Vavoo was already ahead of them, and Dax was having difficulty moving vertically.
"Please don't leave me behind, guys," Dax verbalized his fears.
"You better hurry. I'm not dying for you," the werewolf roared.
"Must you constantly put up such a front?" Vavoo called out.
"So long as you continue to play with fire," he retorted.
"Just keep moving."
The creatures skittered over them as if they were part of the wall itself. Dax swatted them away as best he could without compromising his climb. Vavoo paid them no mind, focusing instead on her wound and her climb, which she was mostly doing with one arm, using her other for support when needed. S'tahgrah killed one of the creatures every time he moved up, either by crushing them in his hand or by stepping on them.
They finally made it to an open door and began piling in, violently removing the few creatures that had gotten in prior. S'tahgrah set down Len who was near comatose and pale from all the blood he was loosing. The pod was tight, almost too tight for them all, and once they helped hoist Dax in they were shoulder-to-shoulder and uncomfortably squished together. Another creature tried to skitter its way inside, but he burst into puss when Dax bit him in half.
"I really wish I hadn't done that. They taste terrible. Not at all like humans," Dax said.
"Whuh?" Len asked, only partially hearing the statement.
"Never mind, it was a joke," Dax said, "I thought humans were jovial?"
The door closed.
"I don't think so," Vavoo added, "I think they whine and bleed all the time."
They all laughed but Len, who whimpered and held his leg.
The exterior doors began to close, and the pod began to rev up.
"Hold on, this thing is about to go," S'tahgrah said.
"There's not enough room for us to move anywhere," Dax said.
The pod exploded out of the craft. The pressure from the water was almost too much on the small pod and it began creaking immediately. It rushed forward, creating a blur of bubbles at its sides. A moment later it broke through the surface of the bright blue water and landed in it. Dax figured out how to open the door, and they began to climb out. Dax stood on its surface, helping everyone up and out. Once they were all out they admired the alien landscape. The water was bluer than any found on earth. The sky was a hazy magenta, with clouds of yellow and white, like old torn cotton. There were hilltops of dark green, and brown, with gray and silvery cliffs. It was beautiful.
"Ah, I am home," S'tahgrah roared triumphantly, smiling as he watched the creatures swim for the shoreline knowing what awaited them.
Epilogue
The telepathic creatures swam to shore. They were not very adept swimmers, but they managed well enough anyway. As some of them begin to reach the shoreline S'tahgrah's werewolf brethren greeted them. The telepaths tried to invade their minds but the werewolves were too fast and fierce, leaving nothing but puss-covered husks littering the shoreline.
S'tahgrah swam to shore with Len on his back and the others stayed cautiously behind. They were greeted by close to thirty werewolves, some large, others small, with different colored fur for each. They didn't know what to make of S'tahgrah and his companions.
"Brothers and Sisters," S'tahgrah spoke, "these are friends of the breed."
"They are no friends of ours," an elder among them spoke. "And they are not welcomed to stay in our sacred forests. Who are you?"
"S'tahgrah of the Nem-Stro. Let them stay the night. Let them choose to be breed or not. We have been wounded, they are not fit to survive this world without my--without our help."
"You know half-breeds cannot stay in the sacred forests either, S'tahgrah of the Nem-Stro," the elder spoke.
"I know, but they will not stay, only pass through. Till I can get them to a safe place. Please, we will not sleep till we are through. We fought together, as breed, they have heart...without their help I would be lost among the black in between the stars."
"Fine, S'tahgrah, fine. But, if they shall sleep among us... then you shall suffer their fates as well."
S'tahgrah lowered his head slowly, showing respect to the elder.
"Go now, and move swift. If others stop you tell them you have the blessings of Rekkmah of the Hom-Weh."
"May the moons always shine for you Rekkmah of the Hom-Weh," S'tahgrah spoke.
The elder nodded. S'tahgrah signaled for the others to follow. They didn't hesitate. He led them through the alien woods, which to Len looked much like the North American woodlands he was familiar with, but he was too out of it to tell the difference. Dax was having difficulty breathing the new air. The more he ran, the harder it became to breathe, but he had to push on. Vavoo was unaffected and moved as swift as ever, injuries aside.
They saw other werewolves along the way, some followed from a distance, and others paid no mind. The daylight began to fade away and night grew chillier. The air was filled with the howling of the breed. The moons hung over head, one brighter and present then the others, enough to see in the thick of the woods.
Hours passed yet they continued to move through the woods swiftly.
"How much longer," Dax wheezed.
"Not much...when the third moon is brightest."
"Translation?" Vavoo asked.
"Dig around in my head a bit," he replied.
"Do you really want me to be looking around in there?" Vavoo asked.
"A few more hours."
Dax almost passed out after hearing his response, but he had no choice but to trudge on.
Once they reached the land outside of the sacred forests they collectively collapsed. Len was near death, and the others were exhausted.
"Thirsty...hungry," Dax complained.
"Me too," Vavoo agreed.
"Need a doctor," Len managed.
"You need more than a doctor. Maybe we should just eat you," S'tahgrah suggested.
Len's eyes grew wide in terror.
"Just kidding," S'tahgrah said. "But seriously, your leg is infected and your bone is shattered. No one on this planet except me will help you...and there's only one thing I can do for you."
"What's that?" Len asked.
"This might be hard to hear, but I know you just found out for yourself, didn't you?"
"I did. Do it."
"Are you sure?"
Len nodded. S'tahgrah leapt at him and bit down into his shoulder and neck. Len screamed louder than he himself thought possible. Vavoo and Dax jumped in surprise but after a brief trip to telepathic land they were all on the same page. S'tahgrah continued to drink, nearly draining Len of blood. Then he stopped, and Len blacked out.
"If he lives..."
"We know." Vavoo said.
"Now, what about us? Can you lend us a spaceship?" Dax asked.
"This might just be easier to say...no. We do not believe in traveling past our world. We have technology centers, but nothing that can get you home. You may be able to send some sort of transmission to your people, and maybe they can come and get you, but until then, you're stuck here."
"Great! I'm stuck on a planet full of werewolves that don't believe in technology...I can barely breath here!"
"You'll adjust, or you'll die, or I can do for you what I did for Len."
"Oh, you can bite the shit out of me and turn me into a werewolf? Yeah, that sounds great," Dax exclaimed and then wheezed.
"It may be the only thing that can keep you alive. My world is not kind."
"Can I think about it?"
"Sure, but come tomorrow I'll being making my journey home."
"Then what?" Vavoo asked.
"Then we part ways."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
The End
Thanks for reading The Harvest. I hope you enjoyed this weekly adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did, please consider telling others about it.
About The Harvest
The Harvest started as an experiment on my blog. I posted a poll for readers to vote on which sort of monster/creature they'd like to see me attempt to write a serial for. It was a way for me to gage what my friends and readers wanted to read from me and for myself to try something different. I had an idea in mind for each monster, but the voters had a different idea in mind--they wanted to see me tackle three out of the five creatures; Vampires, Werewolves, and Aliens. And, so The Harvest was born. I cheated a little, if you've read this far than you know the Vampires weren't 'real,' and I had no problem cheating on that element.
Another part of my goal in writing The Harvest was to have it come out weekly and for it to run longer than my previous serial: Stay Dead: The Kings of the Castle, which it did.
So, I pleased my readers, I challenged myself, and I did what I set out to do. This edition has been changed a little. Minor things like clunky sentences and neglected grammar, but basically this The Harvest as it came out on my blog. What you don't get however was the extra material that only readers of my blog were able to see, which was just a few concept sketches of some of the characters. Fear not, though, if you're interested in checking them out just head over to http://www.stevewands.blogspot.com and check them out there.
About the author
Steve Wands lives in New Jersey with his wife and son. He's a comic book letterer for DC Comics by day, and an artist and writer by night. He drinks massive amounts of coffee, and sleeps very little. He is the author of Stay Dead: The Stranger and Tunnel Rats, Modern Nightmares, Damaged, and is a co-editor and contributor of Dark: A Horror Anthology.
http://www.stevewands.blogspot.com
http://www.pleasestaydead.blogspot.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Epilogue
About The Harvest
About the author