by REM
Josh inspected the craft, and thought it to look like a roller coaster car with a canopy. It was just big enough to hold two people in a cramped manner. He glanced at Jill, who was moving her head from side to side.
“It’s not much. But better than walking. I’m guessing this thing tops out at about thirty miles per hour. Maybe less with both of us inside,” she said.
“Must have small quad thrusters on the bottom for a vertical takeoff,” said Josh. He ran a finger from the side of the pod to its back. “Rear thruster looks good.” He took a quick glance Nalee’s way. “Are the easterners using the same model?”
“Yes. The exact same,” Nalee responded. “The canopy’s convertible. It can open or close in flight.”
“Good to know.” Josh gazed around at the warriors prepping. Random groups of villagers were watching them. His eyes stopped at the buckets of paint being used to dress the warriors. “Is it possible we can get a couple of leak proof containers, filled with paint? I think I know how we’re going to take out the enemy pod.”
Nalee’s face drew back in surprise. She gritted her teeth with her mouth wide. “I can get those for you, if you really think they will help.”
“They will,” said Josh.
“Be back in a sec,” said Nalee, rushing off.
She returned a few minutes later with two sealed buckets.
Josh and Jill had already opened the canopy and were testing out the pod by sitting inside.
“Here you go,” said Nalee.
Josh stepped from the craft. “Thank you. We shouldn’t have any problems flying the pod.”
“Good,” said Nalee, with her cheesy smile.
A horn sounded from the far east.
“That’s one of ours,” said Nalee. “The easterners are closing in. It’s time to move out.”
Josh figured as much, seeing the western warriors scattering into formation.
“I’ve got to go!” said Nalee. She hurried toward the other fighters.
“Be careful!” Josh shouted.
Nalee glanced back with an odd smile.
“I’m not sure if we and these buckets are all going to fit,” said Jill.
“It’s going to be tight, but I think we can do it,” Josh replied.
“I hope your plan works.”
Me too.
The pilots squeezed into the pod with their buckets of paint and a few palm-sized rocks Jill had picked up off the ground. Josh stared ahead and couldn’t believe how far the westerners had already made it. He could even see the opposing army appearing from afar.
“We’ve got to get out there before the enemy pod starts making drops on them,” said Jill.
“Firing this junker up now.” Josh pressed a few buttons and flipped a couple of switches with his hand on the steering column. Lights flashed on the dash. He could hear the bottom thrusters firing off as the pod began rising into the air. It was slow but steady. “Going to keep the canopy open for now.”
“Raah! Aah! Uuh!” Josh listened to cries from the western army that had broken into a run and were charging into battle.
“They’re fighting, Josh! We’ve got to hurry!”
“All right, let’s see what this farm pod can do.” He pressed the small throttle. Flames roared from the craft’s rear, as they flew forward.
They were about twenty feet in the air and gaining speed. “That’s it—she’s maxed,” said Josh, taking his hand off of the throttle, traveling a smidge over twenty miles per hour.
“I see the enemy pod. Behind the westerners’ line. Two o’ clock.”
“Headed that way,” said Josh, tilting the pod in the direction.
It took only a brief moment before Josh and Jill were flying over the raging fight.
There was a sea of wild grunting below. “Grr-eh. Rrr. Eck!”
Josh glanced down at the painted warriors from the west and the red-sash-wearing fighters from the east, hacking and slashing at each other chaotically. He even caught a glimpse of Nalee thrusting her staff at an enemy Firble, then whipping it in the opposite direction at an opposing Boden. “A fucking nightmare down there.”
Jill’s eyes had widened when glancing down at the fight. She gasped, snapped her gaze upward after seeing a sharp edge tear across the side of an eastern Boden’s face.
Josh peeked at Jill and thought she looked as if she were going to vomit.
“The enemy pod’s hooking for the westerners’ back line so they can drop on un-scattered warriors!”
“I’m going to try and cut them off! See if you can get their attention with those rocks you brought.”
Jill lifted the rocks onto her lap and clenched one tight.
Josh flew at the enemy aircraft from a near forty-five-degree angle. “Hit them now!” he said, when in range.
Jill slung the first rock, which clunked hard against the enemy canopy and startled the eastern pilots, big time. She threw a second immediately after and missed. Then the third, which crashed against the enemy pod’s front.
The eastern Firble piloting the pod yanked the craft in Josh and Jill’s direction. It veered so sharp and suddenly that Josh barely had time to shift away. The enemy craft cut across directly above them, missing by only a few inches.
Jill screamed. Josh grunted, while trying to keep from inverting.
“They tried to take our heads off!” Jill shouted.
Damn bastards! thought Josh, steering into a Uey. “Okay! If that’s how they want to play!”
“They’re making another pass at the back line!” said Jill.
Josh soared upward until the pod was starting to shake.
“You heard Nalee. These things can’t do much higher than thirty feet, Josh!”
“I know, I know!” He leveled out, keeping the throttle at its max. The gain was gradual, but soon they were flying almost above the enemy pod. “I’m going to pull in tight. Dump the paint on their canopy.” He pushed up on the steering column until they had closed in. “Now!”
Jill dumped a bucket of paint over the side, followed by the other. Both dumps were direct hits and splashed over the entire enemy canopy.
Josh smirked. “Yes!” He pulled off from the enemy craft. “Those bastards can’t see a thing.”
The enemy pod swerved from left to right, and even dipped—but the paint disappeared when its canopy retracted into the craft’s rear.
“They dropped their top, Josh. They’re swinging back around.”
“Damnit. I was hoping they’d crash before being able to do that, or the canopy would get jammed.” He curled in the direction of the enemy pod, still flying at a higher than recommended altitude. He saw the enemy passenger lifting up a bucket of who knew what.
“Josh…” said Jill. “They’re going for the drop!”
“Hang on tight, Jill!” Josh jammed up on the controls, sending their pod into a steep decline.
“Josh, what the hell are you doing?! You’ll kill us all! Pull up!”
“I’ve got this, Jill! We’ll be fine!”
“Josh, no!”
Ka-clunk! The front of Josh and Jill’s pod slammed into the enemy’s rear from a topside angle—flipping the enemy craft, and sending it spinning out of control.
The enemy pod dove for about forty yards before crashing into the ground and breaking into pieces.
Josh struggled to gain control of his pod, as it plummeted into a shaky dive. Come on! C’mon! he thought, jabbing at bottom thruster buttons, while pulling down hard on the controls. He heard Jill say, “Oh my God!” then scream.
They fell to within two feet of the ground—then swooshed into a leveled flight.
“Oh my God!” said Jill for a second time, seeing they’d steered clear of a collision. Her face looked as though she’d just woken from the dead. “Look out!” she said, pointing toward a huge boulder only a few yards ahead.
Josh swerved to the side of the large rock, and then another before sifting through a cluster of thin trees. “Woo-hoo!” he cried out, smir
king victoriously.
“You fucking mavericks,” said Jill, trying to catch her breath.
Josh grinned wider upon hearing her remark. He pushed down on the steering column and sent their pod soaring toward the sky. It wasn’t long till they were back at thirty feet and flying over the battle below. Josh found it hard to determine who was winning. “We’ve done what we could do. The fighting is in their hands now.”
“Yeah,” said Jill, unable to bring herself to look at the bloodshed below.
“Eastern mountains, here we come.” Josh veered toward them, and closed their canopy.
Somewhere around two and a half hours later, Josh and Jill landed near the base of the eastern mountains. They’d seen from above that the range had flat valleys within, which would be perfect for concealing a hidden base.
The pilots climbed out from the pod. “There’s our nightmare, Jill. I’m not looking forward to this.”
“Me neither—but I thought you loved adventure?”
“Not this type. I’m almost certain this is going to be a boring trek. And I hate to break it to you, but it’ll probably take up the rest of our day. We’re going to have to stay the night out here. There’s no lights or proper nighttime navigation on that pod.”
Jill swallowed hard, scanning the area. “Then we need to set up camp before setting off into the range.”
“Aye. And we don’t have much time to get it done. We need to start our mission ASAP, so we can be out of those mountains before nightfall.”
“That would definitely be ideal.”
“I’m guessing a shelter alongside these mountains would be safest.” Josh pulled out a silver dollar-sized compass and said, “We’ll travel southeast from here.”
“Should we do it in the pod?”
Josh peered at the scattered trees in the direction they intended to travel. “Nah, why bother? I don’t plan on camping too far from it anyway.”
Jill seemed fine with Josh’s decision.
The pilots set off southeast in search of a good spot to set up shop.
They’d made it little more than a hundred yards, when Jill pointed toward the base of a mountain. “Hey, look at that. There’s something over there.”
“Think you’re right.”
Josh and Jill hiked over to what they discovered to be the remnants of a small camp.
Josh stared at a circle of large rocks that had obviously been used for a fire. By it was a short, thick log, and a rock bigger than the ones used for the circle.
“Eww. Over there,” said Jill, pointing to a semi-spread pile of bones on the ground, maybe sixteen feet away.
They walked over to the pile.
“These bones have traces of purple streaks on them. A few of the pieces are shaped slightly different from ours, especially the jaw structure and additional teeth. They aren’t human,” said Jill.
“Nope. My guess would be Firble.”
Jill scanned the vicinity for more bones but didn’t see any. “Looks like he was a loner.”
Josh nodded. “Yep. I think so.” He walked over to some objects that had caught his eye, and was more than pleased at seeing they were an obsidian spear, and machete. “Finding this camp couldn’t have been better, Jill. Look at these.”
She walked over to Josh’s side. “Excellent! Weapons. That’s exactly what we needed. That’ll make me feel much safer out here.” She glanced at Josh with a smile.
Josh smirked, looking up from the weapons, and over at the mountainside. “Things keep getting better and better.” His grin widened. He walked toward a small slant shelter that’d been built against the side of a tree.
“Wow,” said Jill. She turned her head toward Josh. “We really lucked out in finding this camp.” She shook her head. “This will save us so much time and has given us much needed resources.”
“Aye. This slant was built to house one person, but we should have no problems squeezing in. Will probably keep us warmer. No clue why that Firble built his fire so far from where he slept though.”
“Maybe he made smaller fires over here,” said Jill, inspecting the ground. “Wind could’ve blown any remnants away.”
“Possibly. Well, let’s grab those weapons and get moving.”
“Okay.”
As they were passing by where the Firble had died, Jill stopped and squatted. She narrowed her eyes. “Some of these bones have been chewed, Josh.” She looked up with a tight face.
Josh stared at her for a moment, then at the bones. “Could’ve happened long after it died.”
Jill inspected a long bone. She rose to standing. “True. There’s no way of telling. But we should be on our guard either way.”
“No doubt.” Josh walked over and picked up the weapons. “Which one do you prefer?”
Jill looked them over and said, “I’ll take the spear.” It was sleek and light.
“Very well,” said Josh, handing it over. He picked up some thick twine from the ground and used it to tie a loop around the ones used for a belt at his waist.
Jill saw more cordage scattered about the ground. “I’m thinking we could make something that would allow me to carry this spear on my back?”
Josh scanned around before saying, “Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem.”
They ended up tying a few pieces of twine and strapping it around Jill’s body, in order to hold the spear in place on her back. Josh also took a few cords and wrapped them around dense strips of bark he’d placed on the tip of a stick. “This will make a good torch, in case we don’t make it to our camp before night.”
“Great idea, Josh. You’re the man!”
I am, aren’t I? thought Josh, sarcastically. He smirked nonetheless. Before beginning their voyage he made sure to gather fire wood and tinder to stack in the large circle of stones for later.
The pilots started uphill into a valley between two mountains. Part of the way up, Jill looked at Josh and said, “This would be faster if we split—but I think we should definitely stick together on this one.”
“I agree.”
They continued on, into wide, dry clearings. Josh kept close attention for any quivering of his boots. He even asked Jill if she felt something from time to time, just to be sure.
“I’m really starting to doubt Mercen activity on this planet,” said Jill, a little over an hour into the valley.
Yeah, thought Josh. But I got Nemchek. That’s what matters.
More time passed, where the pilots traveled through lush fields, then back onto extremely dry terrain. They stopped and took sips from seventeen-ounce water bottles each had brought along in their inside pockets. “I reckon we’re about a third of the way across the northern side of these valleys. We’ll have to travel the southern half on our way back.”
Jill groaned. She took a swig and tucked the bottle back into her jacket.
“Just think, there’ll be large Thors and Apocalypses waiting for us when we get back to the M.N. Rampage.”
“If we don’t die from exhaustion on these rocks.”
Josh couldn’t help but to smirk at seeing Jill’s miserable, yet equally funny expression.
They hiked some more, until after a while, Jill stopped dead in her tracks. Josh saw what she was looking at—and ceased moving too.
“What in the heck is that?” asked Jill.
Josh eyed the nearly six-foot-tall creature, which was about fifty yards from where they were standing. It was greyish-brown and had long rabbit-type ears that stuck straight up. Its feet were like a larger version of a rabbit’s too, and were disproportionately larger than its hooked, long-clawed arms perched in front of its body like those of a T-rex. Its slender face was lengthy and fanged. Some sort of killer kangaroo, thought Josh. For some reason the creature reminded him of a burglar, or a crook, the way it stood straight up, completely still—and never blinked.
“I think that’s a veral, the dangerous creatures Nalee was telling us about, Josh.”
Josh stared at the veral, while inchi
ng his neck forward and squinting.
“The way it’s watching us, Josh… That thing looks intelligent.”
Oh hell, thought Josh, tugging the machete from his waist.
Jill picked up on what he was doing and slid the spear from off of her back. “I don’t even know how to use this thing, Josh.”
“Just grip it with two hands and poke it at whatever you’re attacking.” He kept his eyes on the veral. “Let’s just stay in place. Hopefully it’ll move along.”
The veral hopped straight up. It swayed its upper body from side to side as if probing for an attack, never blinking. It hopped twice more—then burst into a dust-kicking sprint and raced toward the pilots.
“Josh… Josh!” Jill let out.
Josh retreated back a few stuttering steps, and then lunged forward, slashing twice at the veral. The creature dodged away from the slices as if it were made of rubber, scrambling on its hinds and kicking up dirt. It raced into a half-circle, hooking back toward the pilots as if were trying to get at Jill.
“Yah! Yah!” said Jill, thrusting her spear forward at awkward angles. Her hands were trembling. “Josh, help!” she cried.
Josh cut in front of her and swung wildly, none of which came close to hitting the veral that scampered back into another crescent-shaped retreat. It hopped a few times, keeping its unflinching eyes on Jill, then tried hooking around at her again.
“It wants to get me, Josh! It’s trying to get me!” Jill’s staff almost shook from her hands. She tried thrusting it fearfully in the veral’s direction.
Josh felt his adrenaline pump into one giant rush at seeing how swift the creature attacked. He tried cutting it off again with two sharp slashes and sticking thrusts, but felt even more fearful at sight of the veral’s long, sharp claws, and jagged fangs close up. “Get out of here! Get! Get!” he shouted at the creature.
The veral sprinted away kicking up dust. At about seventeen yards from the pilots it started to hop. It changed directions so that it was moving horizontally to the pilots, and hopped toward the northern mountainside, peeking sideways at Josh and Jill every so often. It was one of the creepiest things Josh had seen in a long while. He could tell Jill was feeling the same. She had dropped her staff and was trembling uncontrollably. Josh kept his eyes on the veral until it was completely out of sight. Then he turned to Jill. “Are you okay?”