Darkest Night

by James Cherry

  As the last light of the setting sun slowly disappeared behind the hills, the trees began to cast long shadows that appeared to slowly reach out towards Marty. He began to feel a bit apprehensive with the approaching darkness and he quickened his pace again. Bo was clearly agitated and he rushed out, grabbed Marty by the scruff of the neck, and pushed him hurriedly through the protective weave of wire.

  Bo scolded, "Don't you ever pull that shit again, mister. You not only endangered your own life, you endangered the lives of the rest of us by pulling that stunt. If we were in the military I would. . ."

  Marty cut him off with a very insulting and sloppy salute. He shouted, "We are not in the military and I am not under your command . . . sir!"

  Bo glared for a long moment before turning away as he muttered under his breath.

  Ayako looked up from her work and scowled. She looked as if she wanted to slap him, but quickly returned her attention to her laptop.

  Marty turned to Doctor Burch to gage his reaction, and he could have sworn he saw a small smirk appear, and just as quickly disappear. He smiled to himself and turned to see how Ron took his little tryst.

  Ron simply grinned and stood from the cooler that he had been sitting on. He reached inside and a crunching of ice could be heard as he felt around inside. Finding what he was looking for, he stood and tossed Marty a cold beer. He said, "You know Marty you remind me a lot of me when I was young. I was hotheaded and rebellious myself. There was a time . . ."

  "Yeah, but I am a lot smarter,” interrupted Marty matter-of-factly. He smiled as Ron's grin quickly vanished from his face.

  ***

  Ayako's fingers flew across the keyboard as she calibrated the computer to the sensing equipment. The sensors were tethered to the largest tree, which overlooked the cattle field. Cattle were scattered about in the field, unseen but could be heard clearly. The occasional moo and snort reminded the team that some of the large bovines were only yards away.

  Just as predicted, the night became darker until they thought it couldn’t possibly get any darker. Then it got darker still. The only light was from the myriad of twinkling stars and the mild glow from the laptop screen. The night abounded with the chirps of crickets and the thrum and buzzing of other unnamed insects, and the odd croaking of a frog could be faintly heard over the other ambient noises.

  Sweat poured down Ayako’s face as she attempted to get the radar system on-line. The stale humidity of the air was unbearable with no wind to help cool things off. She clicked the start button and the radar screen popped up in a window on her laptop. She then started the program to arm the thermal camera, which would film a wide-angle picture of the field if the radar picked up any contacts within a half-mile radius.

  Ayako had helped Doctor Burch create the radar and camera package just for this mission. With Ronald’s funding, they had purchased top of the line radar equipment and built ten terminals, placing them along fencerows and tree lines in multiple locations throughout the area. Each day, they would check the terminals to see if any had been tripped. Only a couple of the cameras had been tripped so far and they had turned out to be false alarms.

  She examined the "terminal," as Doctor Burch called it, and nodded in satisfaction as the lens which jutted from the center of the three-foot by three-foot box, moved in response. The terminal was heavy and weighed close to sixty pounds. Not only did it contain the camera, it also contained a computer motherboard to process information and a hard drive to save digital pictures. The terminal had a battery power source good for forty-eight hours, and the necessary cables, which attached to the radar dome.

  The terminal was perched about four feet above the ground and faced the field. Straps firmly attached the device to the tree to hold it in place and a wire ran up to the top level of the tree. The wire entered the radar dome, and the dome was firmly attached to a large limb. Bo had painstakingly cut all the branches surrounding the basketball sized dome so the radar could get an unobstructed image of the night sky.

  Ayako started the last program and opened the split view. The laptop showed the thermal view of the field on the left side of the screen with a radar map on the right. Cattle were clearly visible in the left view as red and yellow shapes moving in the distance. The bulk of the herd was one hundred yards away, but a few strays on the outside edges were within twenty yards.

  Ayako then examined the radar screen and noted that all was clear.

  She stepped away from the laptop and picked up her sleeping bag, unfurling it onto the ground. Taking off her boots, she settled in for another uneventful night.

  ***

  Doctor Burch picked up his night vision goggles and toyed with the controls. The goggles were top of the line and could be switched from starlight to thermal with a touch of a button. They were very similar to the type that Bo had used during his ordeal a couple years before.

  The doctor flipped the switch to thermal, placed the goggles to his face, and scanned the sky. Suddenly a swishing noise startled him, causing the doctor to drop the goggles. He spun to face the noise and let out a sigh of relief as he saw it was just Bo jumping down from a tree.

  Bo whispered in apology, "Sorry, I was just checking the bindings on the terminal. Don't want it to come crashing down."

  The doctor waved Bo off with a grin and bent to pick up his goggles. A giggle from behind caused the doctor to pause, and he turned his head to see Mary reclining against a cooler. Marty had switched on a small flashlight, the glow dimly lighting the area, casting eerie shadows about which appeared to dance as he waved the light.

  Marty grinned and softly giggled. "A wee little bit jumpy aren't we, doctor?" Marty asked, doing his best to imitate an Irish accent.

  "Aye, piss ant. Aye,” replied Doctor Burch in his best imitation of a Scotsman. He picked up his goggles and resumed his scan of the night sky.

  ***

  Marty awoke with a start, and his first thought was that Doctor Burch had kicked him again. He yawned and sat up slowly, remembering the night before and his encounter with the thorn bush. He rubbed his bleary sleep filled eyes and yawned again.

  Doctor Burch and Ayako were huddled around the laptop while Bo was on full alert with his shotgun at the ready and his thermal goggles scanning the night sky. His head made slow, steady, sweeping motions as if he had turned into a human surveillance camera.

  A light breeze suddenly picked up, and the hair on the back of Marty's neck stood on end. He instantly became alert, and his head darted from side to side as he peered up at the night sky. He sighed and thought to himself, these nut jobs are getting to me. I'm starting to feel the presence of monsters and shit.

  He suddenly paused as he realized something was different. He sat absolutely still, not daring to breathe, as he pondered the situation for a moment. The sudden realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

  No ambient noises.

  The night was absolutely quiet. The bugs stopped making noise. The frogs stopped croaking.

  Silence.

  He crawled slowly to Ayako's side and looked at the laptop screen. Nothing unusual, it seemed. The thermal picture showed many of the cattle lying on the ground while others stood upright and still, obviously asleep.

  Marty glared at Doctor Burch and asked, "What time is it?"

  The doctor, never taking his eyes off the computer screen answered, "One-thirty A.M."

  Marty waved his hands in the air and replied loudly, "What? Why the hell did you wake me? To look at cows sleeping?"

  Bo shot him an intense look, while Ayako and Doctor Burch both stared at him with alarm.

  Ayako struggled to speak in a calm voice, "Be quiet. We got a large contact from the East two minutes ago. Flew by very fast, circled, and went right over the top of us. It triggered the cameras, but we don't know if the cameras caught anything yet. They are still rolling."

  "Bah, probably a passing plane," said Marty. He rolled his eyes and turned back to his sleeping bag.

  Beep, Bee
p, Beep. The computer let out an alarm.

  Ayako silenced the beeping with a quick press of a button. The beep was agonizingly loud in the soundless night. With an even voice she said, "Radar contact. Due north at three thousand feet, heading this way. Descending rapidly at sixty feet per second."

  Marty turned back with interest. As he stared at the thermal picture of the cattle, they began moving. The cattle fled to the north, obviously spooked by something. The thunder of their hoofs roared in the night as their panicked mooing and bellowing rang out in the air.

  A strange thermal image darted into the top of the screen at two hundred yards and disappeared amongst the cattle. In unison, the herd abruptly turned and fled South, away from whatever dropped from the sky.

  Marty paled. The herd was headed right towards their hideout.

  He dropped his flashlight on the ground and rushed to the nearest tree. As the thundering became louder the ground began to shake with the approaching cattle. Ayako and Doctor Burch looked at each other for a moment and as if some unspoken communication had taken place between them, they jumped to their feet. Bo rushed to Ayako’s side and hoisted her up to the lowest branch of the nearest tree. Ayako scrambled up the tree with Marty, and stopped slightly below his dangling feet. With the complete and utter darkness, Marty couldn’t normally see the ground beneath, but the flashlight he had dropped offered some measure of illumination.

  Marty watched as Bo clambered up the tree with the radar terminal. As Bo climbed, his night vision goggles snagged on a limb and they were ripped from his face and fell heavily to the ground. Marty craned his neck to watch as Ron climbed up another tree.

  He sighed in relief as he noted that everyone was safe.

  The thunder of hooves got louder, and the ground rumbled in earnest with the charging cattle.

  Marty turned to scrutinize the dimly lit area which, was brightened by his dropped flashlight. He was taken aback as he noticed that the rotund doctor seemed to have a slight problem. With his portly frame, the doctor couldn't seem to jump high enough to reach the lowest limb. He jumped again, and his fingers barely closed on the thick offshoot, but slipped.

  The leading edge of the stampede charged through the campsite and the few strands of barbed wire strung between the trees didn’t deter them a bit. The strands popped and sang as the deadly wire zipped through the air.

  Doctor Burch glanced at a charging cow and froze in panic. Marty watched as Bo rapidly descended from his tree in a controlled fall.

  Marty shouted, “Doc, look up!”

  The shout tore Doctor Burch from his panicked reverie and he tilted his head to look up at Bo. It took him a second to notice Bo’s outstretched hand reaching down for him.

  “Jump doc!” shouted Marty.

  The doctor jumped up and grabbed the strong callused hand and was immediately yanked up the tree as if he weighed little more than a small child.

  A rushing cow struck the doctor’s foot as he was being hauled up the tree, which almost caused Bo to lose his grip. The impact caused the doctor to swing out wide like a pendulum. He swung precariously for a second, but Bo somehow managed to yank him the rest of the way up to the lowest limb. The doctor grabbed the limb and clung to it like a drowning rat.

  Without the night vision goggles, all Marty could see were dark inky shapes as they quickly and noisily passed underneath his lofty sanctuary.

  Marty wanted to see what was going on below and knew he had another small LED flashlight somewhere. He reached into his pockets and groped around.

  ***

  The doctor suddenly realized he had left the night vision goggles lying on the ground, next to the laptop, and in the way of the passing hoofs.

  He could hear the thunderous noise of dozens of madly flailing hoofs interjected with terrified moos. He could smell the stench of cattle, hear their rasping breaths, and could almost taste the fear. The chaos of the moment almost caused him to forget the cause of the stampede.

  The doctor was startled when a sudden and brilliant beam of intense light illuminated the area. He turned his head to see Marty angling a small flashlight down upon the fleeing cattle.

  He looked down at the cattle. Their wide eyes and wagging tongues laced with foam were a clear indication that something had truly frightened them.

  The doctor hissed, “Turn it off.”

  Marty eyed the doctor with a quizzical look.

  Ayako whispered, "Keep that light off, we don't want to scare away the creature."

  Marty sighed, shut off his light, and placed it back into a pocket just as the last of the cattle passed. As the thunderous roar of the cattle’s stampede faded into the distance, an eerie quiet settled yet again upon the research site.

  The doctor signaled to Bo, who nodded in agreement and gracefully swung down out of the tree, his gun still slung over his shoulder. Doctor Burch dismounted somewhat less gracefully. He clumsily hung down from the limb and fell out of the tree to land on his posterior. As he picked himself up off the ground and dusted himself off, Marty switched on his flashlight again and illuminated the camp.

  Ayako lithely jumped out of the tree and immediately protested the use of a light, but Doctor Burch cut her off with a shake of his head.

  He whispered, "Despite the chance that the light might scare away the creature, we need to see what damage has been done to our equipment."

  Ayako nodded in agreement and turned away.

  Doctor Burch called out to Ron. He could see the man was still sitting immobile high within the upper reaches of the gnarled tree. With a little coaxing, Ron emerged from the safety of the trees. He slid down the rough bark and hit the ground with enough force to rattle his teeth. He looked around and stared at what was left of the cooler.

  Equipment lay scattered about in a haphazard way. The laptop was crunched along with the two sets of thermal goggles. The cooler was lying on its side and was split open and smashed. Shards of glass, which had once been bottles of beer, spilled forth from the trampled cooler.

  The doctor chuckled as Marty groaned in despair.

  “Oh, the inhumanity. The beer.”

  Marty picked up the shattered bottles of beer and began to throw them into a pile as he searched for an unbroken bottle. Following Marty’s lead, the others began the arduous task of sorting through the mangled equipment in an effort to salvage anything. They threw broken, useless, and sometimes unidentifiable items onto the pile he had started.

  Doctor Burch eyed the carnage with disgust. “Murphy's law is in effect.”

  He picked up the mangled remains of a box of baking soda and tossed it into the growing trash heap. The baking soda had been used inside the cooler to keep the food fresh and odorless.

  "Anything salvageable?" the doctor quietly asked.

  Ayako replied, "Well, the laptop was stepped on but may still be operating. Looks like the hard drive and motherboard are still intact. One second, I'm going to try and reboot." She smiled and continued, "This model was designed and tested to withstand a drop from a height of ten feet. I don't think the concept of testing this unit with a herd of stampeding cattle ever crossed the designers minds."

  The laptop made a beeping noise and came to life. The screen was distorted and barely viewable. A large part of the monitor was blackened in a semi-circle where a passing hoof landed. The familiar Windows logo soon appeared, and the desktop materialized from the black screen. Ayako immediately started the reboot process for the radar and camera unit.

  "Um, we have a problem." Ayako looked up from the laptop to the terminal mounted on the tree.

  Doctor Burch walked to the terminal. It was askew, apparently knocked around by passing cattle.

  Ayako sighed and threw up her hands. "Seems as if something was damaged internally in the unit. Now, that piece of equipment wasn't designed to be knocked around at all. Very sophisticated and very fragile. Looks like we are off line, no radar for now."

  The doctor picked up a pair of thermal goggles and fiddled
with the broken controls in a futile attempt to get them working. After a few moments, he flung them down in disgust.

  Sullenly, he said, "Damn, we are blind as a bat now.”

  Bo replied, “I can't shoot what I can't see."

  Doctor Burch looked up at Bo in alarm and he narrowed his eyes. He had a sneaking suspicion that the only reason Bo agreed to accompany the team was for revenge. "Bo, you know we are not here to kill this animal. We are here to gather data. You are here for defense only."

  Bo didn't look at the doctor when he answered. His face was cold and unreadable. "I know Doctor, just saying, if I have to shoot, I can't"

  ***

  Marty, seemingly unconcerned with the team's distress, continued his search for beer in the trampled grass and brush. He giggled with glee when he found a bottle, unharmed by the many passing hoofs. He casually popped the top, and it made a sudden, eerie, hissing noise.

  The entire group froze and no one dared to move.

  Marty looked down at his beer and thought it strange that opening the bottle would sound like a snake. A light breeze briefly blew through the camp, and his hair stood on end. He looked up just as a huge shape passed overhead, blackening out the stars.

  Just as briefly as it had appeared, it was gone again.

  A few seconds later a horrific scream tore through the night, and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Things were really starting to get spooky. He looked at the others and saw the noise had a similar effect on them as well.

  "What was that?" he said to no one in particular.

  "Cow screaming," Bo whispered immediately.

  "Cow's don't scream like that," Marty retorted in a loud voice, as he attempted to appear bold and unafraid.

  Bo turned and stared at him for a long moment. He said in a whisper, "They do when something is eating them alive."

  For the first time in a long time, he was speechless. He looked around, his flashlight still on, the light illuminating the faces of the group. Their facial expressions were unmistakable.