by Turner, Ben
Her foot pressed down on the ground, the spongy moss giving way a little bit and making her jump. She could feel everyone watching her as she stepped onto the surface of the planet. She took a few hesitant steps, aiming her gun down.
Once she had grown accustomed to it, the ground became comfortable and easier to walk on. She walked back and forth a few times to show everyone it was safe, although she never took her gun away from the ground.
Dave stepped onto the ground and seemed to be shaking as he found his footing.
Once he had walked around a few times and was standing beside Vivian, he turned back to the platoon.
"Come on," he said. "The ground doesn't bite."
No one found Dave's joke funny. He cleared his throat and nodded to his soldiers. One by one, they stepped onto the surface.
Once they were all on surface, they headed north. They were headed for the northern pole of the planet.
They walked for what seemed like forever through forests that looked identical. The noises of the forest unnerved Vivian and made her constantly on alert, but they saw nothing.
After almost five hours of uneventful walking northward, Dave announced they were going to stop and make camp. They pitched the tents and split up into groups of two. Vivian and Dave had individual tents.
Vivian slid into her tent and lay on top of her sleeping bag, holding her gun close to her chest. It took a long time, but eventually she managed to fall asleep.
She dreamed her father was standing in front of an ocean, the waves crashing behind him. A tidal wave was approaching behind him as he smiled. She tried to scream and warn him about the immense wave, but he just waved and smiled at her as the wave crashed down on top of him. By the time the wave had pulled back, her father had been sucked out into the ocean.
She jerked awake covered in a cold sweat.
"Vivian."
She jumped at the voice outside the flaps of her tent and pulled her sleeping bag closer around herself.
"Who's there?" she said.
"I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"Who are you?" she said.
The zipper to the tent slowly opened and a face poked into the tent.
Vivian's mouth hung open.
"Are you okay?" said Frank Masters as he crawled into the tent. "You look scared."
Chapter 16
Her father waved for her to follow him and left the tent.
She knew she should scream and alert the others, but she didn't. If it was truly her father, she would be giving up a chance she had wanted her entire life.
She crawled out of the tent, making sure her goggles were secure. She looked at the forest around her. There were patrols set up at the four corners of the camp. None of them appeared to have seen Frank Masters come into the campground.
She looked for her father. She found him leaning against a nearby tree. He wasn't wearing goggles.
"You look good," he said, smiling and leaning against the tree. "You look just like your mother."
Vivian didn't move any closer, although every inch of her was aching to run and hug her father.
Her father laughed. "You've had a decade, and yet you have nothing to say to your father."
"My father is dead," said Vivian. "He was killed on the day we arrived."
Frank Masters nodded. "You're right," he said. "I was killed and swallowed by this planet." He looked to one side and laughed. "I used to not believe in ghosts and spirits."
"And now?" said Vivian.
"I am nothing but a spirit, eternally tied to this planet." He grinned. He lifted his leg and showed it to her. She gasped. There was a root attached to his ankle, which lead to the tree behind him. It pulsed, expanded and retracted as he moved, like it was a wire attaching him to the planet.
"You're part of the tree," said Vivian, pointing at it, her hand shaking. She couldn't take her eyes off the root which connected her father to the tree.
"Trella absorbed all that I am," he said, "but it didn't kill me."
"I don't understand," said Vivian.
"When I was pulled into the earth," said Frank, "this planet used my life force for fuel."
"Why not animals? Why humans?"
"The life force is stronger in humans," he said. "Hazel tried animals, but it didn't work. She knew that the planet needed something greater. You need to stop her. You need to get everyone off this planet at any cost."
"What will happen to you?"
Frank Masters laughed. " I'm already dead."
"It matters to me."
"I'm sorry."
"I can't lose you again."
Frank shook his head and he began to lose his solidity, fading into the air around him. "You only lost me once. No matter what happens, I'm always with you."
"What's happening?" said Vivian. "Where are you going?"
"It knows where I am."
"What are you talking about?"
Frank sighed. "The only way I can describe this being is as a God. You can't fight it. Get everyone off the planet, before it consumes everything."
She reached out towards her father. Their fingers brushed for just a moment and then he was gone, leaving nothing behind. Even the root which had attached him to the tree was gone.
"What was that?"
She turned towards the new voice. Dave was standing a few feet away, his hands in his pockets.
"Nothing," she said.
"I heard someone," said Dave.
"I was just thinking out loud," said Vivian.
"What about?"
"I was thinking about what it is we're facing," she said, trying to come up with a semi-truth.
Dave shrugged. "We never figured it out. Any ideas?"
"It's using people as fertilizer," she said.
Dave thought for a few moments then nodded. "I suppose it makes sense. I'll think about it more in a few hours."
He took a few steps back towards the tent, then looked back. "Vivian?" he said.
"Yeah?"
"You can talk to me about anything."
Vivian nodded. "Thanks."
Dave waited for a moment, then turned and walked back to his tent.
Vivian looked back at the empty spot where her father had been, wondering why she had lied.
Chapter 17
They were marching through the forest when they first heard the growl. Immediately, everyone was on alert and had their guns raised in the direction of the sound. Vivian met eyes Dave's.
There was another growl, and the sound of leaves crunching.
"Gather together," shouted Dave.
All the rebels began backed toward one another, so their backs were covered and there was nowhere a surprise attack could come from. Except above them, Vivian reasoned. She looked up and saw nothing.
The sounds of crunching leaves circled them.
One of the rebels screamed and fired wildly into the forest. Dave looked back an asked if he was okay.
All the man said was a single word, but it was enough to terrify everyone.
"Basilisk."
"Alright," said Dave after a second. "We've got a basilisk on our hands. They're tough motherfuckers, but they’ve been taken down before. We just need to focus and not lose our heads. Whenever someone sees it, tell the rest of the group."
Dave nudged Vivian.
"Are you okay?" he said.
They were both thinking of the basilisk that was mounted on the wall behind the high table in the Hall of the Mother Tree, the snake that had allegedly killed Frank Masters.
One of the rebels behind Vivian said he saw the snake. She could feel their nervous shaking and wondered if she was doing the same.
They were looking in every direction at once. Then Vivian saw the tail of the immense snake go by as it passed in front of her. It was tracing a spiral pattern, circling closer and closer.
She frowned. The snake wasn't at all like she had pictured, and yet at the same time far closer to what she knew.
In that brie
f time, she saw the snake's immense body, at least ten feet high, pass by with lightning fast speed, she didn't see skin or scales or many of the other things she associated with snakes. Instead she saw an empty ribcage and a skeleton of a snake just like the one mounted in the hall of the mother tree. It was just an empty skeleton of a snake with nothing inside it, but somehow it was circling them. Somehow, it was alive and it was fast.
The sounds coming from around them stopped and became slow and deliberate.
From behind one of the trees in front of Vivian came the head of the basilisk. Just like the rest of its body, there was no skin, no tongue. It was just a ten-foot-tall skull filled with two feet tall teeth. The eye sockets were empty, but Vivian got the distinct feeling that the snake was looking at her. It lowered its head and approached them. Vivian tried to back up but ran into the other rebels.
The snake coiled its body up, like a spring getting ready to launch.
Then came the tail, and the immense fin on the end of it. Vivian had never seen the fin of a basilisk in person.
They fin was always cut off and turned into Basilisk Fin Soup by the time the skeletons were mounted.
Now that fin was a thing of terror.
The fin was an immense white right-angle triangle. It made the rest of the snake’s body seem small in comparison.
Slowly, the basilisk lifted the fin over its head, holding it sideways in the air. Then, like a whip breaking the sound barrier, it snapped its fin towards the rebels.
A gust of wind stronger than anything Vivian had ever felt surged through the small clearing. She was ripped from her feet and her gun was ripped from her hands.
She flew through the air. The rebels screamed.
Vivian landed on the ground. She grabbed her stomach and tried to regain her breath.
She had been one of the lucky ones. At least ten of the rebels had flown directly into nearby trees. Five rebels were clearly dead, two from broken spines and three from head injuries. A few others were unconscious on the ground and others were screaming in pain, trying desperately to staunch their bleeding.
The basilisk had made a mockery of their training.
Dave was lying a dozen feet away unconscious, his gun lying a few feet away. The basilisk approached him slowly.
Vivian tried to clear her head, but she was too dizzy and disoriented.
The Basilisk nudged Dave's body with its nose. He groaned and the basilisk seemed to take that as a sign. The immense snake bit down onto Dave's leg and drag him backwards.
"Hey, asshole!"
Vivian turned. One of the rebels had managed to find his gun.
Tee snake looked towards the source of the noise. Rick open fired on the snake. As the bullets hit the immense skull, miniscule bits of bone fell off the snake, but it didn't react.
The rebel ran out of bullets and kept pulling on the trigger. The basilisk approach him slowly, dragging Dave along with it.
The basilisk dropped Dave onto the ground and lunged at the rebel. It bit into his midsection. He screamed as his torso was ripped from his body. The basilisk chewed and swallowed the torso. It fell between the ribs of the snake and onto the ground.
Vivian was paralyzed by fear. She couldn't bring herself to move, and didn't know what she would be able to do even if she did.
The basilisk grabbed onto Dave again and dragged his unconscious body out of the clearing. It disappeared around the trees and the crunching leaves became quiet.
Vivian managed to get onto all fours as her vision corrected itself. She looked at the twenty rebels who had made up a unit not twenty minutes earlier.
She forced herself to stand and look around.
In that moment, not knowing what else to do, she resorted to her instincts.
She got her medical kit and went to work trying to save the people around her.
Chapter 18
It was almost ten hours later that Vivian finally allowed herself to sleep. She had managed to save the lives of four rebels. Everyone else had been buried. Dave was still somewhere out there in the endless forest.
Of the four who remained, two were men and two were women. A man named Ethan was standing guard, a gun held in front of him, even though his legs were held in makeshift splints.
Vivian stumbled into her tent. The other tents would never be disassembled, staying here as reminders of what had happened.
She slept but when she woke she didn't feel rested. She stepped out of her tent and sighed. Ethan had died during the night, his head flopped to one side.
She sighed and checked on her other patients. Another woman had died, and the other man had put a bullet in his own head, relieving himself from his pain. The only one who remained was Natalie, whose arm was in a sling.
With Natalie's help, they buried the bodies.
"What now?" said Natalie as they finished filling in the graves.
"Head back to the rebel base," said Vivian. "Tell them what happened."
Natalie nodded. "What about you?"
"I'm going to find Dave. If he's still alive, I’ll find him."
"Come back to the base with me," said Natalie.
"Everyone is out on expeditions," said Vivian. "It'll be months before a rescue mission for Dave can be mounted. He saved my life. It's only fair that I save his."
Chapter 19
"Gavin!" the scream came from deep inside the forest.
Gavin's expeditionary group raised their heads from their dinner.
"Gavin!" came the scream again.
Gavin placed his wooden spoon in his bowl and placed it on the ground. He grabbed his gun and pointed at a few others to come with him. They dropped their bowls and picked up their weapons.
"Gavin!"
They raised their weapons and walked. Gavin knew the scream, but didn't think that his soldiers had recognized it yet.
They rounded a tree under and came face to face with the man.
Dave stood before them. He was covered in blood and his clothing was torn to smithereens.
Dave fell to his knees. "Help," he muttered.
"Get him," said Gavin, pointing at two of his men. They rushed to grab his body before he fell to the ground and carried him back to their camp. The rest of the group scanned the area.
Gavin frowned. Dave had been heading towards the northern pole. It wasn't an easy trek for anyone to cover the distance between them.
When he got back to camp, his soldiers had set up Dave in one of the tent of their medic, who was tending to Dave's wounds.
Gavin came into the large tent and crouched beside Dave.
"You were right," Dave managed to say between grunts of pain. One of the soldiers forced a bottle of water to Dave's lips.
"Right about what?" said Gavin.
"Vivian," said Dave. "She gunned down my men. Hazel must have sent her. I should have trusted you. I'm sorry."
Gavin nodded. "We'll avenge you. Where is she going?"
Dave focused. "She's going north. I walked back and spied on them. There's only one rebel left. Vivian sent her back to the rebel base."
"Why north?" said Gavin.
"I don't know," said Dave. "Please. Stop her. She must be on a mission from Hazel."
"We'll stop her," said Gavin. "I promise."
Dave reached up towards Gavin. Gavin grabbed his hand and held tight. Gavin looked up at the medic. The man shook his head.
"I'll be right back," said Gavin. He walked out of the tent.
As he walked, he saw something odd. There was a long, root trailing along the ground from the nearby tree and into the tent, onto the bed Dave occupied. Gavin stomped on the root, snapping it in two. Green liquid sprayed from the root.
"He's gone," said the medic from inside the tent. "I'm sorry, Gavin."
Gavin nodded, clenching his fists.
Dave had been his friend, and he was going to avenge him. T
"Pack up," said Gavin to his men. "We leave in twenty minutes. We're heading to the northern pole to meet up w
ith our new target, Vivian Masters."
Chapter 20
Vivian took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She was wearing a large pack filled with rations and a tent. Natalie had helped her pack it heading back to the base.
She swallowed and reconfirmed her commitment. Dave was out there somewhere, and she was going to save him.
As she walked, the round below her became more spongey and weak. She must be nearing the northern pole of the small planet.
She checked her compass and saw she was walking directly north. She looked ahead but saw nothing but endless trees. She just needed to keep walking.
When her legs gave out, she stopped and pitched her tent.
She was cooking her dinner on a small makeshift fire when she heard footsteps coming behind her. She spun, gun raised, to see her father leaning against a nearby tree, smiling and grinning. He was wearing the same outfit, and it occurred to Vivian that it was the only outfit she could imagine her father in.
"Hey, kiddo," he said. "I'm sorry about what you went through."
"Where is Dave?" said Vivian, looking down at her food.
"You're going in the right direction," said her father. "He's at the northern pole. He's still alive, but I don't know what it's planning to do with him."
"What is it?" she said. "This omnipotent force you called a God. What is it and how can I fight it?"
"I don't know," said her father. "I can't see everything. I can go anywhere on this planet, but only for short periods of time. I can watch anything, but only one thing at a time. Becoming material like this is another thing entirely. It is focusing somewhere else right now, but I will be able to feel when it's gaze is watching me."
"So it knows where I am," said Vivian, taking a bite of her food. "It knows and hasn't decided to swallow me up. I'm only alive because it wants me alive."
Her father sighed. "It seems that way."
"Why?"
"I don't know."
Vivian sighed. "Take a seat."
Her father smiled and approached to the fire. The light from the fire didn't reflect of him.