From Beyond Reality (Novelette)

by Victor Bertolaccini

  When nothing appeared they signaled Parker, and they marched on, behind them, wondering what they were up against. Fantasy or fact? Death or glory? Would they have a deadly encounter or would they just watch a glorious success – and be eventually released?

  All of the small animals about them, which were rare, and hidden away in hiding places, seemed far more scared of them – or something else. It was as though they had recently encountered something else!

  The insects seemed to react differently than at the upper island. All the insects at the top of the cliff had either ignored or had attacked them as a food source. But here something had seriously scared them into reacting to everything around them.

  Chapter 19

  First Encounter

  Once they had climbed through into the density region of the jungle, their swift pace decreased, and they had to work on making their way through it.

  Their heads scurried about, searching for traces of any signs of dangers, and even anything that would indicate humans.

  The landscape was now unlike an island, to Parker.

  He regularly considered if there were intelligent animals hiding in the vegetation.

  As he mathematically considered things, from all the facts, traces of something appeared in the soil at his feet, where something heavy had been dragged along by something.

  What had been there? Its size had to be great! It must have been immense by the size of what it had dragged!

  His mind, and clearly the minds of one or two of the others, went through all the animals that were native to these islands. And the thought of it being something undiscovered was consistently thought of and dismissed by him.

  Could some large predator such as a tiger be there? Trapped in this lower world – hidden away from the outside world.

  The marks seemed fairly fresh, and they were shifted around, almost identical throughout. But there was not any sign of any prints from it.

  At times he considered if it or anything else could be actually watching them, from further out. The trees and undergrowth were too immense, and its consistently altering detail was too detailed, and varied.

  He tried to see if he could smell anything. Animals, especially large ones, carried a lot of smell – and could be smelt.

  However, there was virtually no wind, to blow it over to them, so he left it there.

  Fresh scents of plants and trees mingled in the hot air, while they carefully placed their feet, treading quietly over the ground, so as not to be heard.

  The place was shrouded with mystery! At times it seemed that this region had been cut off from the rest of the world. It astonished him that anywhere on the planet could be missed out from exploration. His interest in the prehistoric world and in paleontology kept him fascinated. He wondered what the members of the Exploration Association would think of it. The association was made up of famous and unknown scientists, who treasured new and unknown scientific and findings – and just about anything unknown needing explored.

  It was at one of their conferences that Professor Farrell had vividly given his findings, in a breathtaking lecture, of his Cornwall discovery.

  The jungle was mind-boggling and mysterious, and would interest them greatly.

  It had an intense atmosphere! At any moment, he expected to see something unusual hiding in the tangle of vegetation.

  Their pace stayed slow, so that they could see anything dangerous in their path, while staying concealed.

  There was no sign of what these guys were leading to. Where were they going? What were they doing here?

  Just ahead of them, an area of the trees opened out and revealed a pallid form, embedded in multicolored foliage, and they moved towards it with caution, searching everywhere about them – and as the thing came more clearer, and distinctions emerged, out of obscure shapes, he saw a large egg-shaped life form.

  Chapter 20

  The Creature

  They all hid away in the vegetation around it, fascinated by actually finding something.

  Brydon and Carlton looked as if they were racing through their minds in a competition to class the thing first.

  Parker never, as deep down he already knew that it was of unknown origins. His beliefs were that the world at one time had many such unknown creatures, and that the rarity of many individual species had stopped any remains of their existence ever being found.

  He had always considered there being hidden prehistoric animals, and he himself had dreamt of actually finding the remains of something completely new. And there they were standing in front of such an animal.

  Up close, they all had spotted its thick slimy legs, and that it looked as though it could move fast if it wanted to – and that it was probably dangerous.

  At an earlier point he had even thought of it as a form of unknown plant. But it had to be a creature – even if it had a white leathery skin like one. And its body pulsated slowly, which he watched, waiting for any signs of reaction, to their presence.

  One time it shuddered, as if it sensed them nearby, and the men with guns aimed them towards it. And he sat confused, realizing their scientific discovery may be soon lost.

  The creature’s body vibrated and split up the middle, and thousands of tentacles slithered out, feeling about them, and its eyes became visible beneath them, studying them.

  It reminded him of some form of creature that lived in water.

  But if it did why was it not near it. There surely would be water around – or it would be dead. Perhaps it was the female of the species, and had laid its eggs close by, away from the water.

  Suddenly the creature leaped forward, charged straight at them, and two of the guns shot it to the ground.

  The next thing that surprised Parker was the reaction the surrounding jungle gave to it. Every noise within hearing distance went to complete silence.

  The gunmen forced Brydon and then him on, and they left it.

  Someday they might be able to return to find its remains.

  Yet he started sensing that there were more.

  Their next problem, going by the reactions of the gunmen, was camping the night there. The things, if there were more, could easily crush the tents, and swiftly overwhelm anyone on guard if they were not caught, and they also never realized what it had intended to do if it had attacked them.

  Did it have vicious jaws or a form of venom? Or did it intend to ram them, and just force them away from it?

  Chapter 21

  The Night Attack

  The night was cool, and he stayed awake until late, to enjoy the coolness, and think of what had happened and what to do in the morning, but he was swiftly brought out of his contemplation, by a shriek from one of the men on guard, followed by gun explosions, and he dived across the tent and located a torch in the blinding dense darkness.

  He at once deduced that something had attacked the camp.

  Once outside the tent, a sudden horrendous roar struck him, from something deep in the jungle. Something hidden out there, concealed by the night had given out the most vicious roar that he had ever heard. No elephant or lion could ever equal it! And he could only stare out into the blackness, looking for some form prehistoric animal. Even if the entire globe was so resolutely explored and documented.

  Even captivated with such deadliness he still could not feel some excitement at such a beast still roaming the world.

  What would Professor Farrell or the Exploration Association think of it? If this thing remained here, and he got back alive, he could get an expedition and capture this thing.

  “What the hell was that?” Brydon whispered, from behind him.

  “Sounds interesting,” he answered backwards.

  “Interesting!” Brydon replied – gasping.

  “What do you think of it?”

  “I do not have a clue! It’s nothing normal, anyway.”

  He was surprised by his reply to it. Even under such circumstances! He thought he would have either not answered or identified it as
something plausible.

  “Where is it?” Gorman shouted, from somewhere out in the trees, at their front, at the location it came from.

  They moved forward to see what was happening, and Parker’s eyes began adapt to the darkness there.

  He saw a distant broken branch, which would have needed to have been done by something of great weight.

  “Parker get over here!” Gorman’s son called out, in an authoritative voice.

  Parker rushed over and found one of the gunmen on the ground, covered in blood.

  “Help him.”

  He was severely wounded, and in great pain, with his ankle missing – collapsed over sand. And the first problem was that there was blood pouring out – and that he would not survive if they never stopped it.

  In one swift movement he called Carlton over, as he was the best to handle this problem.

  The mission of the men, whatever it was, seemed to be overshadowed – and the event seized all of their attention.

  While Carlton gripped and wrapped up the wounded man’s leg, who cursed over and over, in pain, Parker and the others searched the distance, hidden away, while Gorman marched about waving and aiming a gun in the direction.

  The scene had left them transfixed! What were they now up against? It was strange! They had powerful army explosives, handguns, rifles, and machine-guns and they considered they might not work – for some reason.

  It had shattered the silence of the tropical paradise. And they crouched at trees, peering through tropical plants, almost blinded at what it was.

  What had already happened looked little in comparison to the destruction the mysterious concealed thing might be able to produce against them.

  However, the wounded man had managed to scare the thing away with the explosion of his gun.

  Parker had to wait until it was morning, as he fully intended to investigate it properly.

  And he tried to rest and avoid doing any great physical exertion, and as soon as possible return to sleep, so that he would not be tired in the morning.

  From the guy who had lost his foot, he could tell that the thing was massive, and yet he had not fully seen it – as he had been half a sleep at the time.

  At one point, one of the men who thought he saw something fired a few rounds around in the trees, away into the distance, and after nothing else happened, and they eventually all went back to where they had been, and to sleep.

  Chapter 22

  The Morning After

  In the morning Parker awoke to machine gun fire, and stayed where he was, motionless, stunned, not knowing what to do.

  He listened to them rushing around, and moving to concealed positions. And he realized that he was starting to learn more about the identity of the men. At the start he had barely known anything about them, and they never did anything.

  He jerked, to the gunfire, as it grew near him, and randomly fired in another direction, when they spotted something.

  For a moment, he stayed motionless, not knowing what to think, and considered what the situation would be now with those things knowing where they were.

  The gunmen would never abandon their mission!

  At the entrance of his tent, he looked out and watched some of the men endeavoring to clamber about getting bullets.

  He snatched his watch, and scurried amongst the undergrowth beside them.

  An abominable thud from a large chunk of a branch crashing down near them made him jump, turn, and he rolled sideways – making the dirt and pebbles stick to his trousers and shirt.

  The chunk of vegetation was strewn over the sand, and had fallen from an overhanging tree.

  He shaded his eyes, and scrambled upwards, distressed by the fascinating shouts of men further away.

  The unusual environment and surroundings teased his senses.

  The strange sound variations going through the jungle seemed to emerge in countless directions, while mainly being bordering on being audible and not clear.

  It could have been a perfect holiday location, if it had been somewhere else.

  He rushed over to Brydon, who was sitting with Carlton at a tree, away in front of his last position.

  “Are they getting through!” he asked, in a low voice.

  He followed their sight over to somewhere over at a hill.

  Gorman emerged in the trees with two of his men, and the rest all followed him into the campsite.

  “Did you kill that creature?” Carlton asked.

  “We never caught or shot any of them,” Gorman replied.

  “Did you get a look at them?”

  “Nobody got a proper look at it.”

  “What did it resemble?” Parker asked.

  “Ask him then!” Gorman replied, pointing at the man who had lost his leg.

  The man stood on one leg, with the leg that he had lost dressed in bandages, and he supported himself on a thick stick carved into a crutch.

  “Tell the scientists what you saw!”

  “A dinosaur …” he answered, giving them all a surprise, including Gorman – who stood with his mouth wide open.

  Chapter 23

  The Monster

  Absolute horror struck Parker, preventing him from reacting (even though he never entirely comprehended what he thought he had seen existed).

  Something had shot out – out of the blue – straight through the back of the group, just behind him, out of the range of the guns – as all the main gunmen had been at the front, expecting an attack there – with one person, one of the gunman, behind him.

  The creature had grabbed the gunman, in its massive thick jaws, and rushed away with him, screaming, into the jungle.

  All of them, even after the enormous cat-like creature had vanished, out of view, had been preoccupied by searching in key directions given to them.

  The attack made them more defensive and aware that these creatures were cunning and intelligent, and it had probably had watched them for a long time, and had seen the flaw in their defense.

  Parker rushed on through the trees with the others – ignoring any deep cuts and bruises – with the man with the lost leg in front of him, leaving a trail of blood – as they desperately yearned to move deep inland, out of the thick region of jungle, into proper visibility, and escape death.

  The sun was blazing above the canopy of treetops, and the air was roasting. Golden sand under their boots glowed brightly, and in patches through the trees. Dark shapes emerged, resembling their evil figures, but altered to parts of the vegetation – as his sight constantly adjusted.

  Something rummaged around, near him once, and he ignored it, as it was too petrified, and by its light and free tones was a small animal.

  Finally, when they stopped to rest, he stretched out his painful limbs, feeling slightly dizzy, and rushed over to join Brydon and Carlton on a small mound.

  “Did you see that thing that thing shoot out of the trees?” Carlton asked.

  “Not properly …” he replied, calmly.

  “I saw it!” Brydon replied.

  “What was it like?” Carlton asked.

  “It was new! I am unsure if I have seen anything like it before.”

  “Was it one of the prehistoric species?”

  Parker listened, absolutely captivated.

  “If it was! I’ve never seen or heard of it!”

  Carlton sat, confused, playing with a twig, against the ground.

  “Well it must be something?” Parker asked firmly, trying to force him into giving him something.

  “I don’t like it! Or this place. It’s a hellhole!”

  “What did it resemble then?”

  “A monster! A monster cat-like creature.”

  Chapter 24

  Lost World

  For most of the evening loud explosions sent up flocks of tropical birds flying into the sky. The increase of the creatures and their pursuing them had reached boiling point, and they now marched around shooting explosive charges everywhere, to either kill or scare them
away.

  It was effective and the creatures now looked upon them as a danger, and not prey!

  Parker for one was glad of it! Even though they occasionally killed one, of which value was unthinkable to him, he now felt as if he had a good chance of surviving.

  Squawks blared through the colossal hideous jungle, as if a beast were on the rampage through it, and vibrated in his ears.

  He still expected unrecognizable things to leap out at them from unseen places.

  The island radiated like a phenomenal mind-bending cartoon, with vibrant colors of every variant, as they rushed on, through it.

  The sweltering heat and exhaustion frequently had his imagination conjuring up strange illusions – like shimmering lights fantastically shifting and alternating about his front.

  The lowering of the gunfire brought out interesting tones, which captured his attention, and to his surprise were from creatures all around them. Their tones even gave away their amusement of them, and their strange ways, and appearance.

  With similarities to an extra sixth sense, he sensed something important was occurring or going to occur. Indications seemed to edge into his dazzled mind, of colossal interest.

  Why was this place hidden away here, with all this here?

  It must be about the most desolate region in the world, and that he had gone to! What possible circumstances could create such phenomena? They could not be normal animals of this place, unless there was somewhere with an alternative environment somewhere around. This possibility was the only alternative that he could perceive, and yet he could not even imagine anything here that could support this claim – and allow a feasible environment that produced them.

  The gunmen took part in their mission like professional soldiers, which they probably were. And he drew comfort in hearing their distinct sounds.

  The deadliness of the monsters in this place had no holds, and resembled an abyss – with no real furthest reaches. He could not even imagine fighting them on his own, even with a gun. His best option ought to be to rush on, out of reach.