by Dave Hazel
The two other arms carried rocks to throw or to pound their victims. The creatures seemed to be fast on their feet and appeared to be much stronger than their skinny skeletal frames would lead one to believe. Mykal noticed a couple of them were crawling down the rock wall like an insect. They dropped from the cavern wall and charged into the battle that erupted.
Mykal spun his rifle and shot several times into the large headed body that charged at their group with two axes raised to strike at them. He hit the skinny body at least four times before it fell to the ground. It looked like black blood shot out from the strange creatures. When the creatures experienced the strange pain inflicted on them they emitted a loud horror scream that sounded like it came from a victim in a slasher movie.
Those around him seemed to be startled and raised their weapons just as quickly and fired upon the attacking force of freaks. The yells and questions of the men shouted became an indistinct noise. Mykal knew they had to stop the enemy. Behind him he heard the sounds of what could only be men in fear or those who suffered pain. Roy Jr., Randy and the three Marines with him fired their weapons which stopped the attack that came toward them. There were clearly six creatures stopped by his little group. Three were immobilized by their gunfire and three were eliminated by the giant swinging his glowing blue sword.
Two rushed at Towbar with raised weapons. With one swing of his sword he lobbed their large heads and their arms from their skinny bodies. The heads flew off and rolled like large odd shaped bowling balls. The third dove at Towbar’s leg and latched onto his massive thigh while he had followed through with his swing. Just as the creature was about to sink its pointy needle like teeth into the giant’s thigh, Towbar back handed the creature with his large hand sending the strange monster flying.
It jumped back to its feet and charge at him again with incredible speed. The strange creature looked to go for the same muscular thigh of Towbar. The off white color of the eyes didn’t change to show any emotion, but they continued to look like ping pong balls about ready to pop out of the odd looking skull. The mouth of needle like teeth opened and closed in a jittery motion in preparation to bite.
Towbar switched hands with his six foot sword and punched the creature in the head before it could sink its terrifying mouth onto his leg. The massive force of the punch of Towbar’s boulder like fist crushed the skinny creature’s face into its head and caused one of its ping pong ball like eyes to pop out of its head. A slimy mess splattered on the back of Towbar’s massive fist that looked to be a brown, yellow and green color with pieces of black smeared on his flesh.
Gun fire erupted around the little cave. The firefight seemed more hectic than normal because it took place in the darkened cavern. Men weren’t sure where all the attacks were coming from and all the men were concerned they might hit others accidently. It seemed the gun fire ended quickly. Men yelled at each other to confirm their friends and team partners were alive and well.
Captain Diaz ordered Lieutenant Finley, Gunnery Sergeant Ratner and Sergeant First Class Lemon to check the status of all the men and to ensure there were no more threats. Mykal and Towbar made sure the men in their area were not injured and that there were no more imminent attacks. All the men expressed their surprise that such creatures existed and that they attacked with such a vicious quickness.
“Once we knew we were under attack,” Flesch said and pointed to the wall where Mykal thought he had previously seen some movement. “I saw a couple of them crawling down the wall like a lizard or a bug. I don’t know how the hell they carried their bodies like that.”
Some of the men turned on their flashlights to add to the illumination of torches. They moved to examine the bodies of the enemy closer. Mykal was surprised by what he saw. Their bodies looked starved no matter what kind of creature they were. If they were humanoid or human like they looked like skeletons with tough leathery skin covering their bones. They had no fat on their frames whatsoever. Their ribs, and all their bones for that matter, stretched the tight leathery flesh.
Mykal was surprised that there were six limbs and all six limbs were long. The feet and hands struck him odd. He had only seen such feet on Chameleons. Mykal couldn’t believe each creature had four arms. Their heads were large and round. They didn’t have hair or fur and were completely naked but didn’t appear at first glance to have any reproductive organs. There seemed to be notches on the sides of their heads which he assumed had to be ears or what enabled them to hear.
Their eye sockets were large, but their eyes were even larger and looked like they would pop out at any time even in the state of death. There didn’t appear to be eyelids, but a couple of the dead bodies had an inner skin that covered the eyes when the eye was closed. One of them laid face down exposing its knobby spine. Every bone could clearly be seen. The liquid that exited the bodies appeared to be thin and watery and was very dark like black coffee.
Nordad made his way to them to see how they fared. “Hey Nordad, what the hell are these things?” Mykal asked the wizard.
“I do not know my friend,” he answered and tugged on his beard. “I have never heard of such creatures,” he explained as Lanorear and the others returned from their scouting of the area ahead of them. They had to have heard the gun fire and returned. “I spoke to the Elves and they also said they did not know such creatures existed. They had never been seen before.”
“Damn, that is weird,” Roy Jr. said and wiped his brow after lifting his cowboy hat.
“This is really strange,” Randy said. “They look like aliens. Aliens from outer space,” he added when they looked at him.
“Yeah, that’s right homey,” Marine Sergeant Kalhoun agreed. “This is like some freaky Area 51 spooky shit. This is crazier than the shit we ran into the last time we were here,” he added in reference to the last mountain they had been trapped under.
“Where the hell did they come from?” Mathis asked after speaking into his radio handset.
“I thought I saw movement on the rock wall,” Mykal answered and pointed to the location as four men rushed to where they were. “But I don’t know if they were inside the wall or on the wall.”
“Is everyone alright over here Sir?” Army Ranger Dirkson asked. He was one of the new people.
“Yeah, we’re fine here. How is everyone over there?”
“I don’t know all the details Sir, but we do have some injuries,” Dirkson replied and pointed back to the other side of the cavern. “We’re coming over here to make a sweep through the entire cavern to make sure there are no more of them to sneak out at us.”
“Good, good. I’ll go check with Diaz and Finley. Towbar, do you wanna come with me?” Mykal asked as he turned and headed for the larger mass of bodies on the other side of the cavern.
“Yes my friend.”
“We’ll come with you too,” Roy Jr. said and followed them.
When Mykal approached Captain Diaz he saw a saddened look of disappointment on Diaz’s face. Mykal knew something was wrong. “What happened?”
“We lost two men and have two injured,” Diaz said while others scrambled around them.
“Who and what happened?” Mykal asked. He didn’t know why he asked that because it wouldn’t change the fact that two men were dead.
“One of the new guys with us, Green Beret Sergeant Rooney and then Staff Sergeant Garcia an Army Ranger. They were attacked from behind before we realized we had come under attack. They both had their helmets off and had their heads crushed with either crude axes or rocks. They died quickly,” Diaz said as if that would help Mykal accept the fact that they lost two men.
“Damn it.”
“Two others sitting with them were hit in the head also, but they wore their helmets and it didn’t harm them.”
“What about the injuries?” Mykal asked and he saw some of the medics treating the two injured men.
Both Green Beret Sergeant Overman and Marine Sergeant Azarski were being tended to by the medics. Sergeant Azar
ski had been stuck with them in the other mountain last month which made him a survivor of the original Lost Patrol.
“They were both attacked and struck with rocks, but our main concern is the bites.”
“The bites?” Mykal asked and looked at the Dosch brothers who both “ooohhhed” at the same time.
“Those monstrous creatures bit both of them and drew blood. Azarski was bit in the throat and the creature pulled a small chunk of flesh from his neck. He says he’s not hurting that bad but it’s bleeding more than we would like. Overman had two bites to his left forearm and when he pulled his arm away it left a couple of the needle like teeth embedded in his arm.”
“Are they gonna be alright? I’d be afraid of trying to create the green fog inside this mountain.”
“They say they are fine,” Diaz said and looked back at the medics wrapping their wounds. “The medics cleansed the wounds and said they should be okay until we get out from under the mountain. I thought you would not want to use the green fog while we are under the mountain and if I thought their wounds were life threatening I would be sure to tell you.”
All the Elves, the Dwarves, Nordad and his men and the two Hawkmen gathered around them. The talking among the entire group was loud and most talked over each other.
“Everyone, hold it down,” Mykal requested as the rest of the group gathered around them to hear what needed to be said. “First of all,” Mykal turned to his Elf friends Starling, Leeno and Blair. “Do you guys know what those things are?”
“We have never seen such creatures Mykal,” Starling replied.
“Nor have we,” Uminair replied. Uminair was the Elf who had more knowledge of this part of the country than any other Elf.
“We not see creature,” Norg the lead Dwarf added. “Not know such beast be.”
“Well if no one knows what they are,” Sergeant Kalhoun shot up his hand and started to talk before being called upon. “They looks like damn aliens that they have hidden away at Area 51,” he said which started a calming laugh. The needed levity was welcomed. “You’ve seen those pictures with those damn big ass head aliens laid out on a medical table. Sure these things gots funky teeth, four arms, bug eyes and funky ass claws and feet,” he chuckled with them. “Since no one knows what they are I say we should call them Area 51 Aliens. Or AFA for short.”
There was a momentary silence. “Sure, sounds good to me,” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner seconded the motion. “AFA is their name.”
Lanorear squawked loudly and spoke in the Elvin language. Lanorear squawked again which caused the other Hawkman to squawk with him. Their loud squawking and speaking in the Elvin tongue got everyone’s attention. The Hawkmen turned and went to the dark side of the cavern.
“What was that all about?” Mykal asked.
“They are going to inspect the bodies near the wall,” Starling said.
“Munch munch,” Mathis said louder than he wanted to so Mykal would hear him.
Suddenly Mykal started to laugh and looked at Mathis as if he couldn’t believe he could joke around at a time like this, but he was glad for Mathis’s irreverent humor. Mathis was so much like his lost friends and himself.
Everyone turned to Mathis to see what he said and what he meant. “Oh I’m sorry Sir,” Mathis said to Captain Diaz. “I was just clearing my throat,” he said and coughed a couple of times.
“Lanorear also said he heard of such creatures but never saw them with his own eyes,” Leeno announced. “The name in the Elvin tongue means ‘Bring Back To Life’. I do not fully understand what the meaning of such a name is.”
“Nor I,” Blair said. “Obviously the opposite is true. They do not bring to life, they take life away.”
“I still say we call them Area 51 Aliens,” Sergeant Kalhoun shouted and some of his fellow black soldiers high fived him. “AFA for short.”
“So to make it simple,” Staff Sergeant Moreno cut in. “We’ll call them A. F. A. for Aera Fifty-one Aliens or AFA for short. How’s that?”
“That sounds great,” Captain Diaz laughed with the men.
“I agree,” Finley said and high fived Kalhoun also.
“Just think Sergeant Kalhoun,” Gunnery Sergeant Ratner chortled and slapped him on the shoulder. “When we get back to the world and these things become known as AFA, you’ll be known as the one who named these ugly skinny bastards.”
“You’ll become famous as if you discovered a rare animal,” one of the other men laughed.
“We can call the AFA or we can call them UBAH,” Sergeant Kalhoun offered another name with a laugh. He was enjoying the notoriety he received.
“UBAH? What the hell is UBAH?” Staff Sergeant Moreno laughed out. “I just got used to the AFA name.”
“UBAH is U.B.A.H. which is Ugly Big Ass Head,” Kalhoun said and sounded like he was trying to imitate his elderly black grandfather who lived his entire life in southern Alabama. His comment was immediately followed by raucous laughter.
“That’s a good one too,” Staff Sergeant Moreno admitted and he raised his hand for Sergeant Kalhoun to slap it.
Mykal saw that the medics were finishing up with Sergeant Azarski and Sergeant Overman and he went to find out personally what their physical status was. “How are you guys doing?”
“I’m doing okay,” Overman said and raised his left arm to show the field dressing wrapped in camouflage gauze on his left forearm. “The stinking little creep bit me twice and left some of his teeth in my arm. It hurts, but I’m really going to be okay. It’s only my left arm and I shoot with my right anyway,” he added with a laugh to show he wouldn’t be a burden.
“Good. Good. How about you Sergeant Azarski?” Mykal said and looked at the man who seemed to be more frightened than in pain. Just as when they were trapped under the other mountain, Azarski was fingering his Rosary beads and silently praying. Azarski seemed to put more faith and hope into his Rosary beads and prayer than in the medical attention he received.
“I will be fine Mykal,” he replied and rolled his head from side to side to get a feel of the constricting bandage around his neck. “I won’t lie and say it doesn’t hurt, because it does. But I can handle it for now. Besides, the docs said if I get to be in too much pain they can give me some pain killers. I refused the pain stuff because I don’t want to be walking around here like a zoned out zombie. I really need to have my head clear while we’re walking around under this mountain.”
“You be sure to let me know if you have any problems,” Mykal said and gently tapped Azarski’s chest with his finger. “I don’t want to take a chance of using the green fog under this mountain, but if you feel you really need to get back to medical I’ll make a special exception. You have been through all the shit on this side of Towbar’s world and I’ll risk it for you.”
“Thanks Myk, I really appreciate that,” he said and smiled. He stopped fingering his Rosary beads. His smile showed it meant a great deal to him to hear Mykal say those words. He then kissed the crucifix and put his beads in his pocket.
“Just let me know,” Mykal said and turned away to join Towbar, Captain Diaz, Lieutenant Finley, Ratner and Lemon.
“So are we going to continue on Mykal?” Diaz asked.
“Yeah, we have to. Do we know how many of those things we killed?”
“We counted seventeen of their skinny bodies,” Ratner answered.
“Was there anything on any of them that can give us information?”
“Nothing Mykal,” Lemon answered. “Gunney and I looked at every one of them together and they had nothing but the weapons they were carrying. And as you saw the weapons they carried were only primitive weapons at best.”
Suddenly Lanorear and his other Hawkman squawked loudly. Mykal looked over to Mathis who mouthed the words “Munch munch,” which caused Mykal to start laughing. They thought he was laughing at Lemon’s explanation.
“Will it be safe for the men to continue?” Towbar asked.
“I think so,” Diaz replied. �
�Freeman and Winnie told me it seemed clear and was safe for as far as they got from here.”
“Alright, let’s get everything we can from the two dead,” Mykal started to say but Finley cut him off.
“We already did it Mykal.”
“Good, let’s get going and obviously we gotta be extra alert.”
“You got it Mykal,” Finley said. “Gunney, get us moving and tell everyone we’ll keep the formation like we had it. Also tell everyone to keep their eyes on the guy next to them.”
“Yes Sir. Alright ladies, it’s time to put boots to pavement. Move out,” Ratner barked like a Drill Instructor. “Be sure to keep an eye on the guy next to you in case we run into any more of those AFA bastards.”
4.
From the rear of the formation Mykal saw Lanorear and his other Hawkman fly back to the front of the column. The height under the mountain enabled the two Hawkmen to fly freely. Mykal believed the Hawkmen were true allies, but he still had a nagging doubt that stirred inside him. He wasn’t sure if it was just a lack of trust because of the Hawkmen’s odd appearance or because they were creations of Zizmon-Tarl which meant the Hawkmen could turn on them at any moment.
‘But why would they stay with us and battle beside us while putting themselves in danger?’ He wondered as he had wondered several times during their journey with the Hawkmen as allies. Mykal found it difficult to believe the Hawkmen would align with them because of the Elves in their party and Lanorear’s personal commitment to the Dwarves because of a Dwarven friend who sacrificed his life for Lanorear almost one hundred years ago.
Mykal watched Freeman and Winfield as well as two of the new Elves walked into view. They were the four on point that had the air support of the Hawkmen. They stopped to debrief with Captain Diaz and Lieutenant Finley. Mykal observed there was no sense of urgency. So there wouldn’t appear to be any immediate threats.