“Nyamien!”
Rain poured down around me as I broke the surface and, desperately, I tried to blink away the blur from my eyes. Murky water clung to my face and my glasses were gone. They’d been swallowed by the lake.
Even so, I only felt relief as I heard that voice.
“We…we need to get out of…the water,” I got out between damp coughs. “Swim calmly.”
Perhaps Myla had noticed my struggle to see as her voice, quieter than her initial cry, was already pulling ahead by the time her response carried through the heavy downpour, “This way. It’s not far.”
I followed, my knife still clutched in my hand as something broke the surface behind me. Before I could snap around towards it, however, Myla’s hand had grabbed hold of my pajamas shirt, helping pull me up onto a soggy patch of grass.
Land had, indeed, not been far away.
Then I heard the panicked cries of the child that’d popped up behind me. The violent splashing as they were treading water. My blood ran cold.
“Stay ca-cough-calm!” I yelled over a mouthful of lake water that caught in my throat. “Just follow my voice. Over…here.”
Before I could even rub the mist from my eyes, that head had bobbed beneath the surface once more. I coughed up more filthy water, eyes darting across the lake’s sizzling surface.
“Wait here,” I wheezed to Myla. “I’ll be—”
Before I could dive back in, however, an iron embrace had clenched itself around my waist.
“No!” Myla yelled, and I could feel her shiver against my back. “You can’t, Nyamien. You…you’ll die and…You can’t leave me behind. P-please, don’t leave me here alone…”
My chest was heaving, adrenaline still coursing through my veins, but as I heard her quiet sobs, I made no attempts at struggling free from her grip.
Not even as more cries rang across the lake, children briefly breaking the surface before getting pulled under once more, did I try to recklessly save them. There was nothing I could do.
Without my glasses, I couldn’t see where those cries were coming from, and they were too fleeting for me to follow. I would just get myself killed trying.
My cries for them to stay calm and come over were weak and helpless at best. Sickening guilt ate at my throat.
I’d known something like this would happen. Even so, I’d panicked. I’d failed them, and I had let them die. If I’d only released the harnesses earlier. If I’d just opened that hatch before we sank so deep, how many more couldn’t I have saved…?
My knife fell weakly into the grass, and I sank down to bury my head in my hands. Their faces were still burned there to my eyes, and I could hear Myla sniveling apologies behind me. There wasn’t really any reason behind it, just a lot of sorrys.
She was still a child.
Then again, I didn’t exactly feel like some seasoned veteran in that moment either. What I’d just witnessed, the emotions I felt, were overwhelming.
Do you ever get used to seeing things like this?
I knew I hadn’t.
“It’s bad…” Myla at last murmured between unsteady breaths, her voice thick and hard to make out. The cries out on the lake had gotten fainter and farther in between. “I-I know you can’t see without your glasses, but there are t-too many of th-those things, Nyamien. The entire lake is moving, and…and…”
Her words turned into uncontrolled crying.
I’d already understood her, well and clear. There’s nothing we can do. At least not for them.
I had to wipe my own nose as I freed myself from her grip.
No matter how much I felt like a devastated kid, I wasn’t allowed to be. Not if we were going to survive.
Grabbing the knife from where it’d fallen, I turned my back to the lake. The last cries had at last faded underneath the rain, and as I fumbled across the back of my pants, I found that the pistol was still with me.
It was something.
“Get up,” I said, trying to take in our blurry surroundings. “We need to get moving.”
Maybe my words were callous, but it was true. Even as Myla remained on her knees within the grass, sniffling and wiping away at her tears, we couldn’t remain there.
This was a D-7 planet, and even if those creatures of the lake couldn’t reach us up here, there was no guarantee that nothing else would.
I pulled out the gun, emptied it of excess water, and slid in a new magazine. There was only one left after that, but that was a worry for later as I pulled Myla to her feet. She didn’t resist me.
Sweeping our surroundings one last time, I made a decision. Although I was nearly blind without my glasses, there were only so many places to go. The best one seemed up that steep mud bank behind us.
The wrecks of the other two Chargers were bound to still up there. There might be survivors.
“Come on,” I said, offering her my hand. “Everything will be fine as long as we keep moving.”
𐫰 𐫰 𐫰
The slippery mud was like grease under our naked feet, and it took us far longer than it should have to get back up on that trail we’d been following. All the while the rain kept pouring down around us; thunder crackling in the distance.
The Charger that’d been following behind us, A#207, was nowhere to be seen, but the lead vehicle still lay there, split in half and smoldering within the mud. Black smoke billowed from its remains, and several fuel fires sizzled beneath the rain.
They’d go out, eventually. For now, I just needed to know if anyone was still left alive inside.
Before I could take a second step towards it, however, Myla’s grip had tightened around my pajamas.
“Nyamien, there’s something moving over there…” she quietly said, and from her voice, I could tell it wasn’t any of ours. At least not alive.
Raising the pistol, it took me a few blinking attempts to make out the hunched creature that was pulling something out of the wreckage, half obscured by heavy rain and dark smoke. Most of it was a blur, but from the way it was moving, and from the sound Myla had just let out, it wasn’t hard to guess what was going on.
On this planet, we were nothing but food, and over the heavy rain, I could now make out the sound of teeth tearing into flesh; guts and gore spread wide in a vulgar feast.
Clenching my teeth, I squinted as I tried to take aim, but the blurry images wouldn’t come together in a proper target. A second passed, and my weak arms struggled holding the firearm stable.
Damn it. Damn it all to hell.
“A-are you going to shoot it?” Myla quietly sniveled beside me, her voice barely a whisper.
“Yes,” I murmured back. It was a strange question. If we left these tracks, there’d be no way for us to navigate these winding lakes and mangroves. “It’s the only way forward.”
“W-we could head back to the carrier?” Myla still continued in her pleading whisper.
“If we manage to get inside that ship, so will these creatures. Before the night is through, we’ll have ended up like everyone else.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“If we want to live, if we don’t want to turn out like that,” I nodded towards whatever meaty pile the creature was feasting upon within the mud, “we need to get to the outpost.”
I could feel her flinch behind me. My words must’ve sounded harsh to her ears, and maybe they were.
Not that it mattered.
“We…we could just sneak by?” she still tried.
“And what about any survivors that might be inside that wreck?” I asked, still blinking in an attempt to clear my eyes. Was my vision always this damned bad? “They’re about to be eaten alive.”
Even as the silence dragged out, in the end, all I could do was lower the gun with a click of my tongue.
“Are we—” Whatever hopeful words Myla had been about to utter fell short as I held out the firearm towards her.
“You do it,” I said. “I can’t see shit without my glasses.”
Her eyes went wide.
“W-what? I, I can’t…”
“You’d rather I took care of it with this?” I asked, lifting my shirt to show at the knife I carried.
Sure, I could’ve snuck in closer and tried my luck with the gun as well, but between my garbage eyesight and whatever senses that creature possessed, it seemed just as dumb as trusting an eleven year old to be a good shot.
If only slightly.
Fuck…this is really stupid, isn’t it?
Before I could change my mind, however, Myla had hesitantly taken the pistol from my hands.
Her eyes darted once towards me, and then towards the creature in the distance. “How…” She swallowed nervously. “How do I do it?”
I could see her hands shake as she grasped at the firearm, but that much was expected. It was fine. I’d taught more hysterical people how to fire a gun in even worse conditions than this. She’d manage.
“Finger off the trigger,” I said as I stepped over to guide her hands. “Hold it with your dominant hand and support it with the other. Make sure your grip is firm and stand with your feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent.”
Even as the sound of ripping flesh filled my ears, I went through the motions calmly. Stressing now would only have made things worse, and that creature seemed busy enough with its meal. I was constantly checking.
“Extend your arms and lean forward,” I continued. “Keep your shoulders square and—” Even before I’d seen her teeth dig into her lip in a strained expression, I knew it would be impossible. Her arms were swaying too much. The gun was too heavy. “—don’t lock your elbows,” I finished as I stepped in front of her.
She was taller than me, so as I let the gun rest against my shoulder, her aim wasn’t too far off target. “Just breathe deeply and listen to my voice,” I kept going, and as her wide eyes flickered to mine, I could feel her shivers gradually calm down; her posture becoming more stable.
Standing like that, with my face barely two feet away from hers, I did more than just support her firearm.
“You see these?” I asked, finding the front sight post and the rear sight notch with my fingers without even having to look.
The Stinger F-7 was an old model of handgun, reminiscent of those used back at Proto-Terra. Humanity had mostly perfected the art of killing even back then. Mostly.
“When these are aligned,” I continued, “you know where the bullet will go. Aim for the center of mass. Don’t try anything fancy.
“Most alien species develop organs not too different from yours or mine, and it didn’t look too big or armored. This caliber will put it down. Deep breaths.”
I shifted my hand so that I could guide her finger toward the trigger. Her eyes flickered to mine.
“Keep your eyes on the target, and gently squeeze,” I said. “It doesn’t have to be quick. Slower is better. Just take your time. Be steady.” I flipped off the safety before raising my hands to place them over her ears. “It’ll be fine. Slooowly, geeently. When you feel ready.”
A cold sweat ran down my spine. Partially from turning my back to an alien beast like that, and partially from being that close to a gun barrel that was about to go off.
But it was necessary. Myla needed the reassurance more than I did. She was the one who’d have to kill it, and she might also have to make it to the outpost on her own.
Although I hadn’t said anything, my hip had only gotten worse from climbing up that slippery mud bank. Something within it wasn’t right.
There was no telling how far I’d make it, and she might have to survive on her own out here. I needed her to be ready for that.
I filled my lungs with exaggerated depth, allowing Myla to anchor her breathing to my own as she stared past me, towards the feasting alien.
A slow in, a slow out. The heavy rain smattering down around us.
A slow in, and then, the deafening crack of gunpowder slapped into my ear like a sledge hammer.
I nearly flinched as hard as Myla did, but where she nearly dropped the gun, I snatched it up – spinning around to raise it towards any blurry figures coming our way.
There was none.
The alien creature remained in that same place. For a second, it was as if nothing had happened. Its blood red snout was merely wheezing for air, and then, it took an unsteady step to the side, as if only to test its balance, before ultimately toppling over.
Dead in a single bullet.
“Nice shot,” I said, trying to rub the lingering tinnitus out of my ear. Having just blurry eyes was enough for me.
Even as I kept the gun at a ready, cautiously trailing forward, there were no more movement to be seen beneath the rain. Not from the creature itself, nor anywhere else.
The closer I got, the clearer I could see it.
It was a beast somewhere between a massive otter and a reptile, its fur sleek by the rain except in the matted frills that stretched around its neck – seeming almost like jagged spikes where they pointed backward. Its color shifted in shades of deep green and purple, and just like its stout muzzle, its teeth were tainted with blood.
It was still wheezing for air as I got closer, a dim and slit eye turned my way. I didn’t bother squeezing the trigger.
Even if it wasn’t fully dead, it wasn’t alive enough to fight either. I’d rather save the bullets in case there were more of its kin around.
There might be more of them around, and the claws upon its webbed feet seemed razor sharp. I’d rather not stick around until they arrived.
Tucking the gun into the back of my pants, I jumped up to grab hold of the jagged tear that led into the broken Charger. The same hole the creature had come out of.
If there were any survivors, they would be inside. And even if there were none, another gun or some more ammunition would drastically increase our chances of survival.
Just as I’d been about to pull myself up, however, Myla’s panicked yell reached my ringing ears.
“Nyamien! Watch out!”
Through the dense smoke and heavy rain, another pair of reptilian eyes stared down at me. Its frills flared up, maw wide in an angered hiss as I kicked myself backwards, gun already draw as it pounced at me.
Three bullets I managed to fire before I hit the ground rolling, sharp claws tearing up my neck and back as the gun flew from my hand.
With a wince, I slid to my feet, knife yanked free as I faced off against the hissing and spitting creature.
My aim had been true. It was wounded as well, and it did not seem happy about the fact.
Now, its webbed feet paddled across the mud, skidding towards me in a rapid burst of speed as its jaws came for my face.
My knife slashed out, feet barely finding traction as avoided the attack. Before its claws could reach me, it’d recoiled with a sharp clucking sound as one of its eyes were gouged out.
“The gun!” I yelled, the warm blood that’d gushed across my fingers burning like acid. “Grab the gun and shoot it!”
Another aggressive swipe with the knife caused the creature to cautiously back off, and before it could reassess the situation, the rapid crack of another eight bullets being fired ripped through the air, shortly followed by the click of an empty magazine.
Enough of them had hit, Myla had gone for the pistol even before my yell, and now, the creature sagged over in a pool of its own sizzling blood.
Not that I felt any calmer because of it. In that brief instant where I’d pushed off from the Charger, I’d glimpsed the slithering mass withing.
These two weren’t the first beasts to have ventured for their meal. They were the smallest and the weakest.
With the heavy rain and crackling fires merely becoming part of the background, I could now hear it over my own ringing ears: the greedy ripping of flesh, hissing, and heavy bodies colliding with metal inside the overturned Charger.
Hundreds of them fighting for their meal.
If we stayed, they’d fight for us, too.
“We need to run!” I yelled, causing Myla to flinch. Even so, she didn’t move from where she stood, staring at the ravaged corpse that lay there in the mud.
Not the creature’s, but that which had been its meal.
With a curse, I tucked away the knife and ran over.
Even as I tugged at her arm, however, it was only my second yell, “Myla! We need to leave. Please, they’ll eat us, too!” that caused her to snap back to reality.
Without even glancing at me, she leaned down to snag something from the ground, and with the tears streaming down her face, she bolted past me, following the tracks of the only Charger that’d made it.
In her silhouette, a single bunny ear flapped in the rain.
My heart sank as I set after her.
Combat, Knife > 2
Marksmanship, Pistol > 1
Dodging > 1
Pain resistance > 2
Mentor > 1
Swimming > 2
Hacking, Skeleton Key > 2
Water Combat > 3
Leadership > 1
> Creating Party Function
>
> Error…
>
> Level Requirement Not Met
Achievement(s) Unlocked:
Savior,
> Physical Stats While Fighting for Someone Else’s Life
>
> +5%
>
> Stress While Watching Someone Else Suffer
>
> +5%
A Cruel World
> Mental Fortitude +2
>
> Sanity -5%
First Blood
> +100 EXP
>
> Harvesting Unlocked
Recalibrating…
> Missing Add Ons
>
> Adding Blueprint…
New Blueprint Added:
> Requirements:
>
> Finesse 10
>
> Engineering 5
>
> Materials:
>
> Locating…
>
> …
Recalibrating Battle Simulation…
Target(s) Added to Database:
Mutated Leech 04493
Frilled Pouncer 0G71
Experience Fighting In Water, Serpentoids:
Increased…
Experience Fighting Limbless Targets:
Increased…
Experience Fighting Reptilians:
Increased…
Experience Fighting…
EXP Detected, Unlocking Genome
Level Up, Insufficient EXP
Available Genomes (1/3):
Human 0/10B EXP
Add EXP, y/n?