Long after the frightening storm had passed, Thirteen didn't dare move. Dazed and
dizzy, he waited alone under the darkened sky for one of his companions to wake up. It appeared that the rest of the boys were still unconscious. It happened that the group was out in the open without any cover at the height of one the worst storms. The mechanized survival suits, built mainly of metal alloys, attracted the destructive lightning bolts like a magnet. Again and again, the bolts struck the tormented boys, who were writhing in fear and horror in their Shells. Hundreds of bolts came down from the heavens, maybe even more, but none of them hit Thirteen. His damn luck had worked again for the umpteenth time. And now as at other times, he was alone.
The day passed and after a bloody red sunset came nightfall. Even now one could hear the distant rolling thunder of the horrifying storm. Or maybe Thirteen was only imagining that he could hear it? It was really difficult to say whether it was true or not, since his ears were still ringing.
“Hey, come on! It wasn't that bad,” said Thirteen desperately. “You can't all be stunned.”
But no one answered, so the little Mechanic felt all alone. The Shells stood there still and menacing like massive tombstones.
“Don't leave me alone during the night. Wake up already!” he yelled.
It became even darker and Thirteen quickly turned on his suit's searchlights. Then he decided to walk around to try and get rid of his horrifying thoughts. While he was walking among the frozen Shells, the light shining on them created ugly crooked shadows that blended together and crossed one another.
“What...?!”
One of the suits would never move again. Thirteen carefully shined his light on the melted remains and wondered who it had been.
“We're down one more survival suit,” he noted anxiously.
Right then, he heard a strange sound. Thirteen froze in place trying to make out where the sound had come from. Was he just imagining it again?
“Hey, who's there? Did I wake you up?” asked Thirteen hopefully.
Only the sinister and quiet night sounds surrounded Thirteen. He was still alone. His heart was jumping in his chest, and a lump of despair had settled in his throat. Another horror-filled night – alone in the dark - awaited him.
“Damned luck! Damned luck!” Thirteen would have preferred to have been struck by the lightning. He would have preferred to be unconscious along with the others.
And again something made a noise, this time it was closer.
There was something out there that was slowly and carefully drawing near to the trembling Thirteen's horror. What was it and why was it stalking him?
“Hey! Wake up!” screamed the scared Mechanic and started to wave his hands hitting the sleeping Shells with all his strength.
Thirteen didn't stop making noise, even though it wasn't having any effect. When he reached Leegan's suit, he stopped and looked at the strengthened Shell. Then he kicked him between the legs. The metal contact gave a satisfying ring.
“Useless jerk!” proclaimed Thirteen. “I hope he felt it.”
Then he decided to find Bars' Shell as quickly as he could.
Thanks to Thirteen's series of continuous and hard hits that seemed to bash in his head, Bars came to. He succeeded in opening his eyes and understood that Thirteen was standing in front of him trying to wake him up.
“Come on! How many more time do I have to bang on your Shell?”
“Stop!” Bars raised his hands. “I'm awake! Why are you being so annoying?”
“I've been standing here for an eternity, while all of you have been unconscious,” replied Thirteen.
“I feel terrible!” shared Bars and his suit creaked in agreement. “Why don't you leave me alone and let me sleep while the others come to? I just don't have any strength....”
“No! Don't go back to sleep!”
“What? Why?” said the fatigued Hunter not understanding.
“Well...there's something prowling around,” said Thirteen jumpy. “Help me to wake the rest!”
With what strength he had, Bars looked around but didn't see anything threatening.
“What was circling around? A slug? Ha! I would have sensed it if it were within a few meters!”
“No! Not a slug and you good and well know it!” responded Thirteen. “Something else. And bigger!”
“You're right, there are no slugs here. Not one!” replied Bars darkly. “Ugh, I'm going to be sick!”
“No, no! Don't black out again, Bars!” Thirteen desperately yelled, while the Hunter sunk once again into the kingdom of dreams. “I need you!...I'm hungry!”
“I know!” Bars opened wide his eyes. “All of us are starving! I know that good and well...There's no need to fool ourselves...But, there aren't any slugs here…or I just can't find them....”
“There are, there are! Only come out of it and we'll try together,” Thirteen encouraged him hoping that it would wake him up.
“I'm sorry, ... it's impossible now! Not during the night...”
At that moment, a loud shriek exploded out of the darkness. Thirteen jumped, lowered his visor, and took a defensive position, standing with bent arms and legs.
“Urrr!” Yazo was awake. “Twenty-five lightning strikes before I fainted! Does anybody have a better record than mine!...Hmm, what's this blood from my nose?”
Once Thirteen heard Yazo, he was happy and stood straight up, but Bars cried out from the pain in his ears.
“At last! Come on let's wake up the rest,” said the little Mechanic urging him.
“I'll handle it,” replied Yazo and after a moment's hesitation. “Look over my Shell for any damage.”
While Thirteen excitedly examined Yazo's suit to see whether everything was okay after the acid rain and electrical charges, Yazo continued to yell for hours on end, until all the boys had eventually come to. Bars unwillingly listened to the screams and wondered whether Yazo hadn't gone crazy from the twenty-five lightning hits.
The wake-up call lasted until the early morning. But it was difficult to determine whether it was really daytime, since the sky continued to be clouded over, keeping the sun's rays from reaching the surface.
When Yazo finally stopped yelling, everyone was accounted for except for two Shells – Luhar, whose survival suit had been turned into a pile of melted metal and Leegan, who had been hit by the first lightning strike. For some unclear reason, the chieftain was still unconscious and now the boys wondered what to do.
“Is it possible that he's dead?” suggested Opatar.
“Ha! You wish!” laughed Rogar.
“Our survival suits are insulated against lightning, however strong it may be,” Zimmer interjected. “I checked his Shell and there are no ruptures that any acid could have entered. If he died, it wasn't from the storm.”
“Only Luhar had bad luck last night,” said Thirteen pointing at his pitiful remains. “The suits still aren't strong enough to take over 100 lightning strikes.”
“How are you so sure about how many hits he took...?” questioned Rogar. “I took about 20 hits, but after that I don't remember anything...”
“It's truly bad luck,” added Zimmer. “The acid rain would have washed away the sticky mess on his visor and he would have been able to see again, if this hadn't happened...”
“I lasted for twenty-five hits!” proudly announced Yazo again. “Is there anyone with more hits, huh?”
“I counted twenty-three! Phew, just barely!” sighed Lem and waved his hand. “Ugh, damn it....Zimmer come and look at this!”
The unlucky Defender was having problems with his broken arm again.
“It's worse than before!” noted Lem.
“Yes. Corrosive fluids have seeped inside. You should have protected your hand more from the rain. I don't think that I'll be able to do anything else for it,” concluded Zimmer categorically.
“Ah, damn it!!” Lem was completely disappointed, but the facts were unargua
ble. There was no way that he could be a Defender, not with only one functioning arm.
The hours passed. The sky cleared and once again a moment of terrible hunger gripped the group. But yet another day of dehydration was an even more serious problem and very soon would lead to a real tragedy.
“Are we going?” asked Bars. “Today, we have to find slugs! Let's stop wasting precious time!”
The Alpha Defender didn't move and the boys were wondering whether they should leave him.
“I don't know. If we look for food, who will lead the main group,” said Vestule wavering. “Without Leegan, our group will have only one Defender.”
“Calm down!” yelled Yazo. “I'll take his place. I'll be able to do it.”
“How will you take his place, huh?” argued Rogar, who placed his heavy Shell only a few centimeters in front of Yazo. “Leegan is still our Alpha Defender, even if he is temporarily inactive. You can't just take his place. Not without beating him in a fight first – those are the rules!”
“What kind of fight are you talking about, he's been unconscious for hours! He might never wake up,” said Yazo annoyed.
“We can't just stand around here anymore. Either we go or we die,” added Bars. “We have to make a decision now!”
“And what - leave him here? He's still our leader, whether we like it or not,” Rogar wasn't backing down.
“What then?! Let's knock him off the throne!” suddenly interrupted Radator and everyone stopped talking in surprise. “Yazo will destroy him, quickly and easily, since Leegan's unable to defend himself.”
Leegan's Shell still stood there motionless, covered in spikes from top to bottom eliciting respect even in his current state.
“What kind of fight would that be, since Leegan can't fight back?” argued Rogar.
“That's his problem. Now or never! Finish him Yazo!” yelled Radator full of desire for revenge. “Finish him and then you'll lead us!”
“Wait!” Rogar tried to protect Leegan, but no one was listening to him anymore.
“Do it, Yazo! What are you waiting for?” Radator's anger was boiling over and he was becoming even more bloodthirsty.
With a thundering roar and flailing fists, Yazo flew at Leegan's Shell. Every hit was harder than the previous one and as he hammered upon the metal, pieces of the armor broke off.
“Stop it, you jerk!” yelled Rogar, but he didn't dare get in Yazo's way.
The Defender landed his blows encouraged by Radator's yells, but he hadn't reached Leegan's suit yet.
“That's how you'll do it!” said Radator and began to break off pieces of the Shell in order to help Yazo. The rest of the boys just watched and didn't believe that this shrimp had the strength to do any of this. - I can't walk, but I still have a pair of healthy arms, you jerk!
Leegan's suit remained unshaken even though there were two enraged boys, who were destroying his Shell.
Bars watched alarmed. He didn't have anything against Yazo becoming Alpha Defender and leader, but not in this way. However strict Leegan had been, he didn't deserve this end. And while conflicting thoughts occupied his mind, Yazo and Radator had succeeded in breaking off the bigger part of Leegan's Shell and had already reached the important part of his suit.
“Wait! Stop!” yelled Bars, surprising himself. “Don't kill him! He's still the strongest of all of us! Without him our defense will be seriously weakened.”
Yazo was looking at Bars stupefied and he was breathing hard with his metal fists, covered in torn bits of insulation and seals, just hanging in the air.
“Forget the damn rules – who's the leader and who isn't! Let's go get some food, and if he comes out of it, he'll come after us!” urged Bars.
“What are you doing, Bars?!” Thirteen stood before him.
“Don't stop now, you fool!” Radator looked at the hesitating Yazo, who had stepped back aghast, with rage. “I'll finish him off since you're not up to it!”
“I know how!” Thirteen came close to Leegan's smashed shell and pointed out a weak spot in the suit. “Right here!”
Radator stood over the exposed surface and prepared to take the final blow.
“That's enough?!” yelled Bars loudly, once he saw what was going to happen. His voice was heard throughout the whole area.
Radator froze when he saw Leegan's eyes open.
The Alpha Defender had woken up. Without a second of hesitation, he automatically threw a punch at Radator's suit with his heavy fist. The hit was monstrous and sent the little boy flying back several meters. Then the Alpha Defender jumped on him and started to smash him to pieces. Before the gazed eyes of the group, the scene repeated itself, but this time Radator wasn't going to get away so easily. After several stunning blows, Leegan aimed at Radator's damaged lower limb and with a few well-placed hits broke them into pieces. Radator remained upon the ground motionless, while streams of hydraulic fluid poured out of the smashed suit.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it, the ferocious Leegan was capable of more. When he had finished with Radator, he abruptly turned toward the frightened Thirteen. With one powerful swing, he sent Bars, who had tried to stop him, to the ground, and stood before the shaking Mechanic.
“I heard what you wanted to do to me, and I wondered, if you were foolish enough to do it!” said Leegan and took the Mechanic's suit helmet in his firm grasp. The strength of the grasp was so strong that the metal began to give way, making unpleasant sounds.
All of the boys were so stunned by what was happening, that they didn't dare move, because they didn't want to be noticed by the enraged Leegan.
“Stop! Don't!” Thirteen shook his head desperately, scared to death by Leegan's piercing stare.
“You worthless little punk!” The Alpha Defender didn't let go of his hold and did everything within his strength to smash the little Mechanic's head.
“Wait!” screamed Thirteen one last time, before his helmet cracked. “I know what to do! I can show you that I am useful to you! Let me prove it!”
Leegan suddenly let go of his hold, but his gaze was still right in Thirteen's face, who had lowered his eyes in anticipation of the worst to come.
“Right now!” replied Leegan. “And after that, you’ll fix my Shell.”
“Whatever you say!” Thirteen bowed his head. He was going to do something that he would forever be ashamed of, but there had been no other way to get out of Leegan's death hold.
“Well? I'm impatiently waiting for you to impress me.”
“I know how to make it so that your arms are even stronger,” said Thirteen quietly. “Now that we have the needed parts for the improvement.”
“Is that so? I doubt that there's anything in working condition left on Radator's suit. You're mistaken little Mechanic!”
“No, I'm not talking about Him!” replied Thirteen still quieter. “We'll take the needed parts from Lem's damaged arm.”
“Arr, you, little freak! Damn you!” said Lem, unpleasantly surprised, unable to accept Thirteen's suggestion so easily.
“You can't use it anyway! Since there's not enough pressure in the hydraulic system, it's just useless baggage!” Thirteen said trying to explain, but Lem didn't share his opinion at all.
“I'll remember this so you know! I might be left with only one working arm, but I won't lift it to help you, if it comes to that, you little bastard!”
“Calm down! You won't be harmed in anyway by the procedure. I'll just remove the lower part.”
“I won't let you do it! I won't give you my arm just so you can get your butt out of a jam!”
“Stop whining!” intervened Leegan and Lem quieted down for a second. “It's a practical solution! Now you wouldn't deny to voluntarily give your leader your useless growth, would you? Or would you prefer that I forcibly remove it?”
“Ugh!...OK, OK!” Lem agreed surly. “But let Zimmer do it. I don't want that freak to get anywhere near me!”
Leegan
gave a sign to the Head Mechanic and he quickly began working on the task.
“Settle down now. Don't move!” Zimmer started to explain. “Pull back in your own arm as much as you can. If you aren't going to use it anymore, it will most likely atrophy, but it mustn't get infected or freeze, that's why you need to keep it well-insulated in the warmth of the cocoon.”
Rogar joined Zimmer in helping to remove the extra parts under Zimmer's oversight, while Lem angrily growled, staring at the ground.
“How much stronger will my arm be?” asked Leegan.
“Well...,” Thirteen felt terrible and if he could, he would have dug a hole and hid in it. “Once the extra parts are correctly installed, you'll have twice the strength.”
“So I'll be able to smash your head more easily the next time you mess up?”
“It's up to you how you'll choose to use your new strength,” replied Thirteen, and Leegan grinned at him.
After leaving the frightened Mechanic alone, the chieftain went over to Yazo. A few minutes ago, he had been storming, but now he just stood there numb waiting for his sentence.
“No, I haven't forgotten you,” said Leegan calmly. “I will give you one free lesson!”
Yazo's quick breathing suddenly stopped in anticipation of the inevitable.
“Aim your hits at certain points, otherwise you will only waste your strength without any effect,” shared Leegan. “You have to know exactly where to hit, understand?”
Yazo just blinked several times, but that was enough for the Alpha Defender.
Never before heard thundering swears poured out of Lem's foaming mouth. Rogar tried to remember some of them and after he had cut of the arm of the suit, he gave it to Thirteen, who set to fulfilling his promise. While he worked nimbly under Zimmer and the other boys' astonished looks, Leegan began to think out loud.
“Two of our group are not going to proceed with us wherever we may go. The melted Luhar, whose suit wasn't even useful for spare parts, and you, Radator, since all you can do is lay there flat on your back on the ground.”
“I only needed one more second and I would have beaten you!” replied Radator, still seething with mindless rage, even in his present condition. “Then you would have been in my place! Left amid the dunes!”
“You will regret that second of distraction for the rest of your short life,” replied Leegan. And while Radator shook with rage filled yells, Thirteen began to make new welds with his tools.
“OK, and now to where?” asked Rogar.
“Bars will choose the way. He still has to fulfill his promise,” said Leegan.
“If it hadn't been for the storm, I would have succeeded!” replied the Hunter.
“You would have?”
“Yes, now I know what needs to be done!”
“And what exactly is that?” asked the leader intrigued.
“We'll head straight for those distant rocky outcroppings, which each of you have noticed already. I know that you aren't burning with desire to go there, but that's exactly what we'll have to do.”
“Are you crazy? Did one of the lightning bolts hit you a little harder than the others?” Vestule was unable to hold back anymore, and even the other boys were terrified by Bars' suggestion.
“We must head for new territories, where there will be slugs for all of us. The Savage Shells are there somewhere, but that's a chance we'll have to take! Or we'll starve to death, slowly and painfully!” said Bars determined.
The group of scared boys continued to complain. The Savage Shells were a frightful enemy.
“So be it! But that's going to be your last chance to prove that you are really the best Hunter! If you fail this time, Vestule will take your place!” Leegan said cutting them all off and everyone became quiet. “Now go get some slugs. If you find them – don't shoot off your signal flare! We'll follow in your tracks, so sooner or later we'll catch up with you. If you notice any danger, return immediately to the main group, clear?”
“Understood,” replied Bars, and Vestule nodded his head dissatisfied.
“Hey, Bars!”
The Hunter dropped his gaze upon the Gatherer who was lying helpless on the ground.
“Come here! I want to ask you for one last favor,” Radator whispered. “I really can't continue on, that's why I would like to finish with this once and for all. Right now!”
Bars couldn't stand the sight of the suffering boy in his broken Shell. His limbs had been mercilessly crushed, without any hope of being repaired. Radator was doomed to remain in his survival suit until he died of starvation.
“Just aim well and with one hit, you'll end my suffering!” Radator begged him. “But make sure you do it right!”
“I can't!” replied Bars. He wasn't even able to look at him.
“You can't reject a dying man's last request!”
“I'm sorry! I can't!” said Bars and turned his back on him. Then at a quick pace he headed toward the dark rocks while Radator's yells followed him.
“Don't leave me like this, Bars! Come back! You owe me at least that much! Come back!!!”
The two Hunters didn't stop and soon they were out of sight of the group.
Chapter 11
The Feeding Season Page 13
