by Allan Joyal
I sighed. "The creature that buzzed the clearing makes me believe that we probably aren't even on Earth. How much does the leaf tell you?"
The girl frowned. "Not much. I'm studying botany, but without a microscope and hours to look more closely at the leaf, all I can say it that it appears to be an oak leaf. But I can't be sure. I don't recognize some of the trees at all, and others only seem a little familiar. But I'm only a sophomore. I've only taken the most basic courses."
"What use are you then?" Eddie grumped.
I turned to glare at Eddie, as Lydia turned and slapped him across the face. "Shut up, dumbass!" she growled.
Eddie jumped up and raised a hand. Lydia cowered away from him as Steve and I jumped to her defense. I grabbed Eddie's arm as Steve pushed him to the ground.
"Don't try it," Steve said curtly. "You hurt her and I'll personally beat you to a pulp."
"My father will fire you if you do that," Eddie growled.
"He's not here," Steve replied. "Now, sit down and shut up. You aren't helping the situation."
I released Eddie's arm. It dropped to the ground as Eddie glared at Steve. He seemed interested in saying something, but after opening and closing his mouth several times, he crossed his arms and sulked, turning his head away from the group.
The group quieted down at that point. The coed continued to look at the various trees for a moment. Back in the clearing, a second group of people was leaving. They were heading off in a different direction under the loud commands of one of the suit-wearing men. I watched silently until the last of them left. There were maybe twenty people still gathered in the clearing. Most were sitting on the grass and looking at the ground.
Steve looked back with me. "Is it just me, or is the clearing still shrinking?" he asked.
I was about to say more when the air shimmered and the grass of the clearing vanished, leaving the ground looking almost black. At the same moment, humanlike shadows started to emerge from the trees across the clearing. Lydia gasped as several raised clubs and other weapons.
"What the fuck are those?" one of the men standing with me asked.
My jaw worked in opening and closing my mouth, but shock froze my vocal chords. The rest of the group with me remained just as silent as the figures rushed forward and started attacking the people remaining in the clearing. Loud and pained screams soon rang out throughout the area. The screams drowned out most other sounds, but the crack of a heavy object striking flesh and bone echoed out more than once as the creatures advanced across the clearing.
I grabbed Lydia by the shoulder. "Time to go!" I whispered. She nodded and turned away, tapping one of the others as she did. I gave brief taps to two of the coeds, and then turned myself. The forest was still as I chose a path between two of the trees and trotted forward, scanning the ground for any stands of bushes the group might be able to hide behind.
No shelter appeared at first, and the last of the screams had long since died out when the trail we followed finally came to an end on the edge of a thicket. I turned around and waited as all fourteen of my companions straggled up. Several of the coeds were limping slightly, and Lydia had a pained expression on her face. She looked at me and shook her head. "This ground is too uneven to walk in heels, but you know how Eddie always wanted me in them at meetings."
Steve slapped Eddie on the back of the head, but then looked around. It took a moment but then he pointed into the distance. "I see a couple of deadfalls over there. How about we rest there?"
I looked over at him. He had been the last to catch up. "Anything or anyone following us?" I asked.
He shook his head sadly. "Whatever those creatures were, they didn't pursue into the trees. One or two of those waiting in the clearing might have escaped, but they didn't head this way."
"Dave?" Lydia asked quietly.
Steve just shook his head once more and said nothing. There were tears in his eyes, and I nodded sadly.
I finally glanced in the direction Steve had pointed. There were two fallen trees lying on the ground. It looked like both had blown over recently in a storm as the trunks showed little sign of decay, and there were no saplings growing to fill the opening in the forest canopy. It looked like a good spot to rest.
"Everyone, let's get over to the fallen trees and rest," I said, starting to walk to them. There were a number of groans, but I could soon hear the shuffling of feet behind me. The walk took only a moment, and I choose to travel to the far side of the two deadfalls before turning around and sitting down.
Two people, a man and a woman, were still standing by the thicket, but the others were straggling forward. Lydia arrived first, and I noticed she was now carrying her shoes and going barefoot. She noticed my gaze and shrugged.
"Fucking heels weren't comfortable anyways," she said as she sat down next to me. Once she was comfortable she pulled her shoulder bag around and started checking it. Her action reminded me that I was still carrying my own attaché case, and I pulled it around.
"Don't bother checking on a cell phone," Steve said as he walked up and sat across from us. He only had a small briefcase that he set between his legs. "Eddie tried his at least four times that I know of. Wherever we are, we don't get a signal."
One of the coeds, a young lady with brunette hair, dropped down to sit next to Steve. "So did Heather and Nat. What are we going to do?" she whimpered.
I looked over the group. The coeds all looked tired and cold. Two had pulled out t-shirts from somewhere, but the other four were only wearing bikini tops, and the gloomy air was hardly warm. Without pausing, I pulled my sport coat off and handed it to the blond coed. "Wear this," I suggested. "You look cold."
The college age man seated next to Lydia sighed. "Maybe it would have been better to stay in the clearing."
"And die?" one of the coeds screamed. "I'm glad to be alive. Maybe we'll find home someday."
I sighed myself. "Either we return to Earth, or we make a new life here. Who knows? Perhaps things will be better once we find some people."
"Or we could just wander into another band of whatever those things were that slaughtered those that stayed in the clearing," a man spat. I looked up to find the suited man who had accosted me back in the clearing. "You should have forced the others to come."
"We would have been standing in the clearing arguing when the monsters appeared," I replied curtly. "Those people saw two different groups forming and choose to remain in the clearing. Besides, I hate to say this, but there is nothing we can do for them now. We need to find a way to survive."
Eddie suddenly sat up. "Hey! Why are you acting like you are in charge, Ron? You work for me! I should be in charge."
I glared at the man for a moment. "Not hardly. Your father was the owner of the company. He only gave you the title he did because he figured you couldn't cause any trouble in that position. Steve, Lydia, Dave, and I did all the work, and we only showed up for your semi-annual vacations to help keep you busy. If you had been in charge, we would never have figured out how to leave the clearing."
Lydia snorted. "More like we'd be standing in the elevator dithering about what color ink to use on the note we would send out begging for help. Sorry, Eddie, but you're useless in a crisis."
Eddie looked like he wanted to say something, but then crossed his arms and visibly sulked. The coeds giggled at this, but the other professionally dressed woman looked at the group. "It doesn't change the fact that we should elect a leader. Why are you in charge?"
The blond coed wearing my sport coat over her blue bikini top sang out, "All who want the mystery man named Ron to remain in charge?"
Immediately, all six coeds, Steve, and Lydia called out. One of the other men in the group added his own hesitant affirmative, and the woman sat down with a huff. "Fine! But I hope he knows what he's doing!"
"Not really," I admitted. "I don't think my previous life included instructions on what to do when I find myself in a mysterious forest populated by monsters. However, I can he
lp with one part. I guess I could introduce myself. I'm Ronald Dawkins. I was in Daytona attending the semi-annual sales meeting for Hughes Restaurant Automators."
Lydia immediately held up her hand. "I'm Lydia Huff. I was attending the same meeting. And since Eddie is still sulking that's Edward Hughes. His father founded the company and gave him the title of Sales Director." She pointed at Eddie, who had picked up a thin stick and was using it to draw in the dirt at his feet.
Steve raised his own hand. "Steve Johnson here, I was with Lydia and the others."
Lydia giggled. "You've never been with me," she told Steve. "I'm not your type, you've said so many times."
Steve shrugged. "Well, you are still better looking than our fearless leader over there," he said, pointing at me.
The coeds giggled and the blond stood up. "I'm Heather Volmund. I was a student, but hadn't declared a major yet. I was thinking of psychology, but I'm only a freshman. Well, I guess I should say I was." She covered her face with her hands and trembled.
The girl with the botany experience raised her hand next. She was wearing a University of Minnesota t-shirt. I'm Natalie Ginn, just call me Nat."
The other coeds quickly offered their own names.
"Martha Davey."
"Esme Leland."
"Jennifer Rogers."
"Lisa Rhodes."
At that point there was a short pause, but then one of the other women rose slightly. She was wearing a rather worn looking skirt and blouse pulled tight over an impressive chest. "I'm Lisa as well. Lisa Little. But I was a secretary in New York City. I was just taking the elevator up to the office."
The professional woman snorted. "I think we all know we were taking elevators. I'm Elizabeth Martin, corporate lawyer." She had a look on her face as if she scorned the rest of us who held less lofty positions.
The man who had accosted me back in the clearing gave a bark of what sounded like laughter. "Oh, go burn another bra or something. I could have bought and sold you and probably your whole firm. William Tuttle is the name, and I am one of the best hedge traders in the city."
Elizabeth just glared at the man who smugly leaned back on his hands. The college age man just shook his head. "Albert is my name, but you can call me Al if you want. Hope I can assist, but I was just studying English."
The last woman shrugged. "I'm Victoria Healey," she said with a pronounced British accent. "I was vacationing in Liverpool and taking the lift to meet some friends in the lobby of the hotel."
Everyone stopped speaking after that and looked around at each other. I waited a moment to see if anyone had more to say before I nodded. "Well, at least we now have names for everyone. It will probably take some time before we have everyone's life story, and I don't think we are going to get it now. Next question for now is who is hungry and did anyone happen to have food with them?"
The coeds all smiled as Martha and Jennifer both reached down to the bags at their feet. "We came prepared to have lunch on the beach and brought extra in the hopes of attracting some guys," Martha admitted.
"Sandwiches?" I asked.
Jennifer reached into her bag and held up a sub sandwich that was about eight inches long. "Yup, we have pastrami, roast beef and a few turkey ones."
I could see several tired faces smiling. "How about giving everyone a half a sandwich for now. And if you have any drinks, we can split some of those as well."
"Split!" William screamed.
"It might take a while to find more," I replied reasonably. "We should plan on making the food last a while. And while we are on that point, does anyone have some spare shirts or jackets for the girls who were caught in their bikini tops?"
"But I like the view," Albert said, causing a couple of the coeds to blush.
Steve promptly removed his own coat and offered it to Esme, who immediately put it on. Lydia removed her own suit jacket and offered it to Lisa Rhodes, who returned a shy smile before slipping it on. Eddie and William just glared at us, but Victoria rummaged through her huge purse and came up with a sweater.
"I won't need it if it stays this warm," she said. "I'm from Manchester and it's cold there. Please use it," she said to Jennifer, who was the last coed not wearing at least a t-shirt. The girl accepted the sweater gratefully and handed back a bottle of water before quickly slithering into the fluffy garment.
It turned out that just about everyone had at least one bottle of water or soda hidden in a bag or pocket, so the next few minutes were spent eating the sandwiches and drinking. As I devoured the meal I looked around, striving to find any indication of the best direction to go. Steve noticed my attention.
"What are you looking for?" he asked.
I had just noticed another possible trail heading past the thicket and then continuing on. It was a slight bend to the left from the direction we had been traveling. "Well, I'm trying to figure out where to travel next," I admitted. "We don't have any maps and the food we have probably isn't going to keep more than a day, so we need to find civilization if we can."
Jennifer nodded. "We brought a lot, since we hoped to entertain on the beach, but it's really only enough for maybe two more meals and it's heavy to carry."
"I'll help with carrying it," Albert said.
"Just don't eat it," Lydia said. "We need to share it if we are going to survive."
Heather smiled. "Yes, we'll have a much better chance in a group. But where should we walk to?"
"The only idea I have is to find a river," I said. "Whatever those monsters were that entered the clearing, they had axes. That suggests that there is some kind of civilization, and back on Earth most early cities were found on rivers. People need fresh water, and without aqueducts or pumps, it's best to just live near it."
Lisa Rhodes smacked her right hand against her forehead. "Fuck! I should have thought of that. But we can't see any rivers with all these trees!"
I pointed in the direction of the faint trail. "We know water runs downhill, so if we continue to move down, eventually we should run into a stream and then we can follow that to a river. Besides, we might find a way to fish should we find a stream."
I pushed myself to my feet and started walking towards the trail. I had taken perhaps a dozen steps when Lydia called out. "Ron, can we wait one second? I'm going to go barefoot and I want to remove my hose before we get far. The shoes I was wearing just aren't good for walking."
I turned around to see Lydia, Elizabeth and the secretary Lisa all in the process of removing their skirts and hose and then putting their skirts back on. Albert stared in shock as the women did this, but I noticed a rather unpleasant leer on William's face. He said nothing though and moments later the women were standing up barefoot and looking at me. Finally Elizabeth nodded and I smiled.
"Steve, take the trailing position," I said as I turned to start walking again. I then headed out, only to have Heather rush up and put a hand on my shoulder. "Thanks," she whispered.
No response seemed to be expected as she then dropped back slightly. At first the ground was rather flat, but I soon noticed that the path was following a very gentle downward slope. For the most part the trail I was following was not too difficult to walk, but there were occasional two or three foot drops that required a bit of climbing. Here I discovered just how unprepared the group was. Steve and I were wearing comfortable walking shoes, as was Victoria, but no one else was. The coeds and Albert had been wearing beach sandals, which were protecting the soles of their feet, but offering no support or traction. The other three women were now walking around barefoot and gasping in pain with every sharp rock they stepped on. William and Eddie then proved to be wearing professional office shoes. They looked nice, but offered no more support or traction than the beach sandals, and both men complained more than once about getting dirt on their outfits. The poor footwear had everyone slipping on rocks many times, and at the drops, Steve and I would end up assisting everyone else in their climbing.
I was beginning to despair about leading
the group when we worked our way around a small stand of what looked like berry bushes and discovered a wide open area running along the side of the hill.
"A road?" I heard one of the coeds ask. I turned to see Natalie looking up and down this open path.
I stood and looked up and down this wide path, trying to gauge the size. It was probably ten feet wide and mostly level. From where I stood, it had a gentle downward slope in one direction, although it was flat in the other. I was still trying to figure out the path when Steve stepped forward.
He stopped and then looked down this path. "Interesting. Was this made, or is it natural? And can we tell how it runs?"
I shrugged as I walked to the far side and gazed down the slope. "I don't know enough to say. Walking along it will be much easier than continuing down the hill though."
Just then Natalie walked over. "I don't see footprints or wheel tracks, but I wouldn't know what to look for. It almost has to be something people travel on though. It's not stone, and without some care trees would eventually overrun it."
Just then the sky brightened for a moment. I looked up to find that the clouds had broken, and the sun was finally sending its rays to the ground. However, seeing the sun was not completely comforting.
Lydia was the first to voice what we all noticed. "That isn't the Sun I remember, it's too orange. I guess that's complete confirmation, this isn't Earth."
I sighed. "And we can't say how long the day is here. But looking at the sun, we probably have several more hours of light. Shall we keep moving, or do people want another break?"
Esme shrugged. "No good rocks or tree trunks to sit on here. And it's only been about two hours since our last stop. Let's keep going. We're all pretty tired but we can't survive long with what we have. We need to keep going. At least the road should be easier to travel than wandering through this forest."