SODIUM:1 Harbinger

by Stephen Arseneault

  Chapter 10

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  As the predawn light began to glow, I once again picked up Bull's fly rod and headed over to the lake for an attempt at some breakfast. We would need it. The clouds from the day before were now completely gone, and the stars were once again shining in the dimly lit sky.

  We told Bull and Susi to return to their sleeping bags, where they could sleep in for an extra hour before the sun would begin to show. It was an attempt to return the favor Bull had given me earlier. I wasn't sure if it would do any good.

  The hour gave me enough time to reel in a few extra fish, giving us a hearty meal for breakfast. After I gutted and cooked the catch myself, the others joined me around the campfire. When the fish had been consumed, we began packing up for our next leg of the hunt for an alien base.

  Before leaving, we took a few minutes to talk about what we might do when we next encountered the demons. That's when I sprang my ideas on the others. We could set up different traps as we got closer to where we thought they might be. We would then attempt to lure them into the traps, giving us an advantage in our fight.

  In my growing confidence and boldness, I offered to be bait for at least one of the trap ideas. Bull looked at me curiously and asked where this new guy had come from. I didn't know what to say, so I just gave him a shrug. My compulsive behavior was turning away from fear and toward the cockiness that I sometimes showed. In my younger days, it was a trait that usually appeared just before I got myself into trouble. It was a lesson that I could never seem to learn.

  We slipped on our packs and started back down to Frog Creek toward the east end of Lake Eleanor. We would follow the lake around to Eleanor Creek and then Eleanor Creek to Cherry Creek. We would then continue up Cherry Creek and cut over to Woods Ridge to the southwest of Cherry Lake. We thought that would take us right to the area where I had seen the meteor fall several nights before.

  Frog Creek brought with it a half-mile stretch of steep canyon walls on either side. The canyon could only be accessed from one end or the other, so we were confident that there would be no sneak attacks along the way. As we hiked the rough terrain along the creek, I ran idea after idea through my head. I daydreamed of how we might make use of the particular area we were in. I looked for loose boulders that could be rolled downhill or logs and trees that we might be able to somehow turn into snares.

  The further along we walked, the further into this deadly game of war I fell. I pictured myself as the triumphant hero, standing on top of one of the demon machines that I had just pummeled with my bat. The press would be all around me, snapping pictures, and the ladies in the crowd would all be fawning and giving me flirtatious smiles.

  I then asked Susi about her camera and was told that she had used all of her film on our group pictures from much earlier. She had all the business publicity photos that Bull and Allie would need, so she had used the last roll of images on general scenery. There would be no pictures of an alien scout to show to the world.

  As I trudged along at the back of the pack, I was so into my little head game that I didn't notice the visitor coming up behind us. It was a grizzly, and it weighed in at 650 pounds. Bull just happened to glance back in my direction and saw it coming up from behind.

  As I continued to walk along, all into my little daydream, I looked up and saw Bull aiming his bow at me with an arrow at the ready. I stopped for a moment, and then I turned to look behind me. The grizzly stopped while still fifteen feet away before standing and letting out a fierce roar. The bear stood seven feet tall and had jaws that would easily fit around my head.

  In a panic, I tripped over a root while looking back at the bear. I fell back on my pack, fumbling to keep a grip on my bat. By the time I had regained what little composure I had, both Allie and Susi had moved to a position behind me with their weapons drawn. A 9 mm and a .22 were no match for the grizzly, but Bull's Kodiak bow was made specifically for that purpose.

  The bear charged. Bull let loose an arrow and immediately pulled the next one from his quiver. At the same time, the girls began to empty their guns into the giant bear. The first arrow hit its mark, driving right through the bear’s chest and through its heart, but it still continued to come. The girls’ bullets looked like they had no impact at all. Bull fired his second arrow as the bear neared, coming within eight feet. The second arrow traveled through the grizzly's left eye and exited through the back of its skull.

  The two arrows were deathblows to the bear as it came to a stop just in front of me. It then collapsed on top of me, pinning me underneath. I had 650 pounds of bloody and foul-smelling grizzly lying on my chest. It took several minutes for the others to free me from my freshly dead captor.

  After all my cockiness about fighting the demons, and all the scheming and planning I had been doing that morning, I was still not quite the warrior I had envisioned. The grizzly would have mauled me before I had a chance to even know it was coming. I was extremely disappointed in myself for the smugness and overconfidence that I had let grow out of control. I promised myself I would not make that mistake again.

  I thanked everyone for saving my life; it had been a common theme on our trip. I so desired to have some of that praise heaped on me, but my performance with this encounter was lacking. All that I had accomplished was to not watch our back and to be almost crushed by a dead bear. I knew I would have to pick up my game if we were going to go up against the demons.

  We cut several pieces of prime meat from the dead animal to take with us for our next meal. You don't throw good meat away when you don't know where your next meal is coming from. I, for one, looked forward to seeing how it tasted.

  With the grizzly episode over, we once again began our hike down Frog Creek. I was extra careful to continuously watch our back. I would not allow any more ambushes from behind.

  Once we emerged from the canyon, we were able to make better time as the lower stretches of Frog Creek opened up and we were no longer forced to hike beside the creek in the hard terrain. We were at five thousand feet of altitude but were heading downhill toward Lake Eleanor.

  The terrain around the southern end of Lake Eleanor was wide and flat, allowing us to make it to Eleanor Creek by noontime. We decided it would be a good place to have lunch, a good place to consume the bear while the meat was still fresh. I was eager to get my revenge.

  Susi and I gathered wood while Bull and Allie made a fire pit and prepared our feast for cooking. By 1PM we were all savagely working over our grizzly steaks. The meat was tough and gamey for my taste, but it was very satisfying to have a full belly of an animal that would have assuredly killed me.

  After lunch we had a short hike down Eleanor Creek. We would camp there for the night. We would then investigate the area just to the west for signs of an alien landing site. With any luck, we would find and rescue Kyle in the morning and be headed toward civilization by noon.

  The hike along Eleanor Creek was easy terrain. It helped that we were continuing to move downhill. The surrounding landscape and the beauty of the creek itself once again had me daydreaming about a home in the Yosemite backcountry. We were halfway down to our planned destination when we came upon Miguel Creek running off to our left. Eleanor Creek made a sharp bend to the west and for a brief length opened into a wide, shallow area.

  It was at that moment that I noticed a demon walking about a quarter of a mile slightly ahead our position, moving along the other side of Eleanor Creek. I immediately got everyone's attention and pointed it out. There was a human body slung over its top as it walked.

  As we stopped and scanned the surrounding landscape for the other demon, Bull pulled out his mini binoculars and watched. The demon made its way up a far hill carrying its captive. It was carrying one of the poachers! As Bull looked on, he could not tell if Scott or Craig was dead or alive. If the demon was taking the poacher to its base camp, we had hopes of also finding Kyle.

  The mechanical beast appeared to be agile as it
carried its two-hundred-pound victim. We decided to follow the demon at a distance in an attempt to locate its home base. It was a five-hundred-foot climb up the hill on the other side of the creek, but the terrain was mild. We hoped to easily keep up with what had now become our prey.

  When we reached the peak, we had a clear view for almost a mile down to Cherry Creek and up to the next ridge. We watched as the demon continued its trek, confident that we had not been seen. The longer we stayed out of sight, the better our chances of continuing to follow.

  While we had learned to constantly watch our backs, the demons seemed to not care, or not be aware, that they were being tailed. I thought perhaps we had driven them back after the Laurel Lake battle and they were now heading home. It felt good to be the watcher and not the watched.

  It again gave me confidence we were at least on equal footing with our enemy. I wondered if perhaps they were not as intelligent as I had originally thought. Either way, I was slowly regaining my warrior mentality that had been stolen by the dead bear.

  The demon made its way down the other side of the hill and turned down toward Cherry Creek. As soon as it was out of sight, we hurriedly made our way down the hill and then up again onto the next ridge; it was another five-hundred-foot climb. I chalked it up to a week’s worth of harsh conditioning and the bear meat, as my legs were no longer aching and sore. I would still get fatigued from the climb, but at least at the end I could rest up and be ready to continue on.

  The demon had been out of our sight for a good twenty minutes as we made our climb. Once we reached the summit of the hill, we had a clear view all the way to Woods Ridge. It was the high point of the area at six thousand feet of elevation. Bull pulled out the binocs and scanned for the silvery beast. It took less than a minute to locate our enemy. It was moving slowly up a steep hill on the other side of Cherry Creek, its captive still slung over its top.

  I had to congratulate Bull on his hunch about returning to the meteor site. From the maps we had, it looked like the demon was headed straight for Woods Ridge. That would place it right about where I had seen the meteor fall during our first hiking night on the trail.

  We sat on the ridge for an hour and watched as the demon carried its captive the two miles’ distance. And as we had guessed, it went right to the top of Woods Ridge. It made sense for them to pick that spot, as it gave a decent vantage point for miles around. We were too far away to tell what, if anything, was going on there, but we finally knew where they were.

  I was all excited about our find and was eager to get after them. Allie put a lid on my enthusiasm and suggested that instead of going directly at them we first select a defensible site for our camp for the night. She thought we should begin planning out a strategy, such as gathering information before any attempt at an attack.

  The decision was made to make our way northwest to the next-highest ridge between Woods Ridge and the Cherry Lake dam. It would place us a mile from the Woods Ridge summit, where we hoped to be able to observe their camp.

  We could then mold any findings into whatever plans we made. It would also place us only a few hours from the Cherry Lake dam and a possible phone, if the power station at the dam was already in service. I was eager to rush in, but I knew and trusted the voice of reason coming from the others. Any attempted assault would have to wait.

  It was a three-mile hike up Cherry Creek and across to the ridge we had selected. We wanted to avoid taking any path that the demons may have regularly used. If we wanted a good shot at potential success, any strategy that we were to come up with would need the element of surprise. Besides, we had no way to know if the aliens had armaments at their base camp. All we knew was the demons that we encountered were not armed.

  We reached the summit as the sun was nearing the horizon and decided on a site for our camp. It was concealed in the trees and just short of the summit, with the opposite side facing Woods Ridge. Once again I was cursing those red tarps, as we would be unable to use them without possibly drawing attention to ourselves.

  We were now down to the last of our dry food provisions and would not be able to hunt or make a fire for any cooking; any smoke and the firelight would be a dead giveaway that we were there. As it turned out, we had gotten lucky with our little bear feast earlier in the day; as the wind was blowing slightly northward, it had kept the demon from spotting the smoke from our fire.

  As the sun set, we again built our defensive rock wall and planned how we might counter any assault on our ridge. One of the things we liked about the site we had selected was the lack of small rocks nearby. The demons would have to charge up the hill at us while we fired down at them.

  The bad thing for that defensive strategy was that we were running low on bullets. Susi and Allie had each emptied their guns at the bear, bringing our total count lower and leaving each one with only three more reloads. Bull could only fill two extra clips for his .45. Aside from that, we were down to two arrows, a hatchet, a couple knives, and my bat.

  Bull made his way to the summit with Allie to observe the aliens. I decided it was my chance to go back down to the creek and attempt to catch a fish. We would not be able to cook them, but many a hunter had eaten them raw on many an outing since man had begun to walk upright. While we liked our food cooked, much of what nature offered was still good in its natural state. I would also look around for any gooseberries, as they had been plentiful so far on our trek. Over the prior week I had received a full education on berry picking.

  Bull did not like the idea of me going down to the creek alone, but I was able to convince him that I would be OK. I told him that if I did not return soon, he could watch for me being carried over to the demon camp. He did not laugh.

  The daylight was fading fast, and it made observing the alien compound difficult at best. Our one-mile distance and the low-power binoculars were not ideal for recon at that distance, even though the high mountain air was extremely clear. We had decided that at first light we would try to move west, down into a valley, and then south and up again onto the closest ridge, about a thousand feet away from the aliens.

  If we were able to approach from the far side, we could work our way into a good viewing position only a few hundred feet below their base. With any luck, we would spot Kyle and would get a good start on developing a rescue plan. As we continued our surveillance from a distance, my hopes of a rescue continued to rise.

  I hiked back down to the creek. As I walked, I was running scenario after scenario through my head about fighting the alien demons and being victorious over them. They would attack and I would bash their tin heads with my bat, spilling their gears and gizmos out onto the ground. My adrenaline levels began to rise as I slowly worked my way into a confident state.

  I reached the creek and began my attempt to catch a fish while I continued to daydream. With the sun down and the daylight fading, the creek area was becoming dark much faster than I had hoped. As it was, I would only have a few minutes to try my luck. It was then that I spotted the red devil eyes coming down the creek from the direction of the dam. I was frozen for a moment, not knowing what to do.

  The demon was still several hundred feet up the creek and had not made any rapid move in my direction, so I guessed that I had not been seen. I quickly ducked behind the nearest boulder and began wondering how I might get out of the situation I was now caught in. I was hoping perhaps Bull had seen the red eyes from up on the ridge and was planning a rescue attempt, but he had not.

  Even if he had, it would have taken him ten minutes to get to my position, and the demon was less than a minute away. I did my best to hide the fishing rod and got a firm grip on my bat. I would attempt to stay crouched behind the boulder, and if I was lucky, the demon would pass by without noticing.

  I didn't like my plan, but I didn't have the time to come up with anything better. My only advantage was having not been seen in the first place. I crouched behind the boulder, contemplating my fate. I hoped that if spotted, I would at least get o
ne good swing at the demon before it took me down. I cocked the bat back and readied for a home run swing. I listened intently for the sound of the demon approaching, but with the low roar of the creek right beside me I was not hopeful of hearing it as it moved.

  It was then that I heard a heavy breathing sound coming from just behind me. Had the alien outsmarted me and come around the other side of the boulder? I turned my head slowly to get one last look at the enemy before it attacked.

  As the back of the boulder came into my view, I was stunned to see a mountain lion crouching there behind me only six feet away. The lion was eying me so intently that I was sure I was about to become its next meal.

  In an instant the giant cat leaped at me. I blinked my eyes, knowing my time was at an end, as I fell backwards against the boulder. I waited patiently for the inevitable crunching sound of my skull collapsing in its massive jaws.

  Time seemed to stand still. I opened my eyes as the tail end of the big cat passed me by. I turned my head just in time to see it catch the demon fully by surprise, knocking it upside down on the edge of the creek.

  The big cat continued across the creek. For a moment it stopped and looked at me before bounding off up into the woods on the other side. It was Minhafa, and he had saved my life!

  My reactions were immediate and true as I stepped forward and took my best swing with the bat, bringing it straight down onto the evidently still-startled demon. I caught the alien machine right where the red devil eyes connected to the body, smashing into them with everything I had.

  I pulled the bat back and took another swing and then another, each one doing tremendous damage to the body of the downed alien. The demon was attempting to get its bearings and right itself as its spindly legs felt around, but it never got the chance. On my fourth blow, the legs went still and the demon began to make a low buzzing sound.

  With that sound, I stepped back; it was just in time, as a green fog began to spew forth from it. I turned and grabbed Bull's pole and began to make my way back up the ridge, but decided to stop at about fifty feet to make sure my attacker had not come back to life.

  I watched as the green fog spread and dissolved everything around it. The demon melted away. Within five minutes the green fog had dissipated and the demon was completely gone. I turned and made my way up the hill to tell the others of my encounter. I finally had a heroic story of my own to tell.

  So what if I had help from my spirit protector, and so what if I had no proof of the encounter? I had defeated one of the alien machines by myself and had done it with nothing but my bat.

  As I hurried up the hill, I could not wait for the whole saga to be over so I could tell the world of my heroics. The day was a great day for mankind and a great day for me. I reveled in my victory all the way up to the summit and the others.

  The far ridge was dark, and there was no sign of the demon encampment being lit in any way. They had occasionally observed the red eyes moving back and forth, and from what they could tell there were two of them.

  I was bursting by the time I got to the others. I could not wait to tell of my heroic battle. I went on and on about how Minhafa had jumped right at me and had then knocked the demon over, allowing me to attack.

  I told them about how easily the bat crushed the body of the demon and how it continued to try to right itself. And then I told of the green fog it again used to remove all evidence of its existence, once it had met its demise.

  During my time at the creek, the others had not gathered anything new about our foe, other than there being two of the demons moving around Woods Ridge. With the elimination of the one by my hand, we now knew that there had been at least three. We reasoned there could potentially be more. There was no way of knowing how many of the machines were walking around, and we had not seen any sign of a ship, or, most importantly, of Kyle. We would have to wait until morning to get a better look.

  We took turns sleeping, staggering it so that only one person was up at a time. We had no fire to sit around, so the only thing left to do, for whoever was up, was to stare through the binocs at the far ridge. For the remainder of the night, the activity level of our enemy remained at a minimum.