Against The Darkness (Cimmerian Moon)

by A. M. Griffin

  “Alright.” I rise and look around for something to cover him with. “We’ll need leaves.”

  He pushes off the tree to try and help me, but I stop him with a hand. “Stay there. I can find some.”

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  The rapid succession of noise penetrates the quietness.

  I drop low to the ground. “What the hell is that?”

  Wade eases slowly down the trunk of the tree “I don’t kno—”

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  My heart seems to crash against my ribs in time with each thump. It sounds so close.

  I scramble closer to the tree, almost hugging it.

  I glance at Wade, wondering what we should do. He’s just as scared as I am, but his fear is more controlled. I’m poised to bolt away, but he isn’t. It takes me a second to remember.

  “Your ankle. How will we run?”

  “It’s not near us,” he says calmly.

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  “See?”

  He’s right. It’s loud, but it isn’t close.

  I still don’t let up my grip on the tree. “Jesus. I almost peed on myself.”

  “Well, I for one am happy that you didn’t. There’s nothing like the scent of scared piss to make the predators all excited.”

  “I’m not scared,” I say, defending myself, although I swear he can see my body shaking.

  “It’s okay to admit when you’re afraid. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

  I pretend to rise. “If I was scared I wouldn’t be going to see what that noise is, now would I?”

  He reaches out, grabbing onto my arm tightly. “The hell you are.”

  I give him a sideways glance. “It was a joke.”

  He rolls his eyes, releasing me. “Hardy-har-har. Not very funny.” He blows out a breath. “It sounds like its coming from the direction of camp.”

  “You don’t think…” I stop right there. I don’t even want to form the words.

  Chapter Two

  After hearing the ominous noises, the plan for me to run back to get help is nixed. We don’t know what is out there and where the noise is coming from. For all we know it could be gunfire, but whether from humans or aliens is what we don’t know.

  I help Wade move deeper into the trees. The canopy of branches and leaves provide cover from the assault of the rain and, most importantly, we won’t be easily spotted from the sky. The new plan is to stay where we are for a couple of hours, let some of the swelling in his ankle go down and the pain to subside, and for the noises to stop, and then head back to camp together.

  Two hours turned into three. The loud noises continued on. Just when we thought they would stop, we would hear another round.

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  Sometimes closer, sometimes farther away. We sit on opposite sides of the tree, resting our backs against the trunk. He keeps his legs stretched out, with the left foot elevated on a rock that I found. My legs are bent and pulled up to my chest, and my chin is resting on my knees.

  “May…be we sh…should get closer together?” I ask. My teeth chatter as the chilly air seems to seep into my bones.

  “I know you’re cold, but in this position we have a better vantage point.”

  “O…okay.”

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  I cringe. It could be anything, but the more I hear it the more I realize it’s coming from the aliens. No one else would be that loud willingly. That would only invite the aliens to your location.

  Thump! Thump! Thump!

  Closer.

  Cringing again, I tighten my grip on my leg, scraping my nails against my skin. “I hate this,” I whisper.

  “I do too, but we’re going to be okay, Sin.”

  I don’t mind that he has shortened my name, using a nickname that only my mother and Mia call me.

  “That one sounded closer,” I whisper, so low that I’m not even sure he can hear me.

  A ship can be heard off in the distance. Although it doesn’t seem to be coming our way I keep listening for it, willing it away.

  “Yeah, but I still think its three or four miles to the south of us.”

  “That would put the sound between us and camp.”

  “Yeah, but I’m sure they’re doing what we are—hunkering down and staying out of the way. If the noise gets any closer, we’ll have to start heading north again.”

  “But your ankle.”

  “It’s getting better. I can feel it. It doesn’t hurt as much.” I hear him rustling. “We don’t have to make any hard decisions right now. We’ll wait it out. See what happens.”

  I bury my face between my knees. I don’t want to think about what he means by “hard decisions”. Wade and I can’t leave everyone else behind and take off on our own. Mia is still back there. “I can’t leave without Mia, or everyone else.”

  “Stop thinking like that. I don’t think we could make it back on our own. We need all the help we can get.”

  “Do you really think they’re okay?”

  He pauses before he answers. “Yeah.”

  Does he really think that? Was there a hint of uncertainty in his voice?

  “Are you worried about Mia?”

  “I’m worried about her and everyone else, but mainly her. I can’t lie. We’ve been best friends since we were in the second grade. She’s the sister I never had. If anything happened to her, I don’t know what I would do.”

  “She’ll be fine. They all will.”

  I close my eyes and will what he says to be true. She had just moved to America from Medellin, Columbia and, on her first day of school, the teacher assigned me to be her buddy. We haven’t separated since, even though we’re more different than alike. I spend most of my time studying and the only time she’ll crack open a book is if I make her. If she didn’t hang out with me, I have no doubt she could assimilate into the “in” crowd, while I would be stuck hanging with the nerds. She has a golden skin tone, telling of her Latin heritage, and mine is a light caramel color. She’s gorgeous, with more of a woman’s body than I have, curves in the right places and breasts that can actually fill out an adult bra. If I didn’t wear a bra, no one would ever be able to tell the difference.

  But I really did hit the jackpot in the best friend category. We’re inseparable.

  “I don’t want the aliens to get them. And I especially don’t want them to get us.”

  He chuckles. “I don’t see us going with any aliens without a fight.”

  I reach for my butcher’s knife. “I’ll make a lizard-skinned belt out of one of them first.”

  “Pft. Have you seen how big those motherfuckers are? We’ll have enough left over for some cool boots, maybe a hat for me and a purse for you.”

  “And a jacket. Not a short jacket, but a long one, down to my ankles.”

  “We won’t make it easy for them,” he promises.

  “No, we won’t.”

  We talk about everything that comes to our mind for the next couple of hours, trying to keep our minds off what could possibly be going on in the distance. We’ve talked about school, band and our families. I know he’s the middle of three boys, that his family has an impressive collection of weapons, and he’s been hunting since he could hold a rifle.

  I’ve told him I’m an only child. I don’t elaborate that I’m my mother’s only child but the youngest of three of my dad’s. I tell him that my mom is black and my dad is white, which he says he pretty much guessed on his own. I don’t tell him that my mom and dad aren’t married, that they’ve never been married, or that I’m the product of an affair. There’s no need to go into all of that. Mia is the only one I’ve ever told my secret to and, as far as I’m concerned, it can be one I take to my grave.

  So I go on about my dad being an corporate lawyer for a pharmaceutical company and that he travels a lot—that’s why no one from school has ever seen him around—not because he can’t have anyone recognizing him and telling his wife. And I also tell him I have ne
ver held a weapon in my life. Besides band, track and volunteering at the free clinic, I have no other extracurricular activities. I spend my spare time hanging out with my best friend Mia, who is safe—I pray.

  I pick at the rocks in the dirt around my feet. “What’s the first thing you’re going to do when you get home?” I ask.

  “Get my weapons and join my family in fighting these bastards.”

  After hearing about his family and their farm, I wouldn’t have expected him to answer any other way.

  “I’m going to help my mom. I know she’s probably at some hospital. Well, maybe not a hospital. I doubt if any are still standing. But I’m sure she’s helping people somewhere.” Picking up one of the rocks, I skip it on the ground, so that it lands a few feet in front of me.

  “I’m sure she could use your help. You’re good at this kinda stuff.”

  I smirk. “You say that like you’re surprised.”

  “I am. Sinta Allen, first chair clarinet and current record holder in the one hundred meter dash. I would’ve never guessed that you had a helping streak in you.”

  “Hey, that’s not fair. I help out a lot.”

  He chuckles playfully. “It’s not that I didn’t think you helped out. I just never thought of you outside of school.”

  “Well, we both have secret lives outside of school. You, the avid hunter and furry animal killer and me the junior Florence Nightingale.”

  He chokes. “Junior Florence Nightingale? I think that’s a bit of a stretch.”

  “That bothers you and not the furry animal killer?”

  “Hell no. As a matter of fact, if a furry animal passed by me right now I’d grab it, snap its neck and cook it up.”

  “Gross.” But my stomach growls when I think of eating some kind of meat—furry or not. I haven’t had any in so long. “But I’ll let you teach me how to hunt.”

  “It’ll be my pleasure.”

  We’re silent for a few more minutes. “I’m sorry about talking mess about you before.”

  He’s silent for so long I didn’t think he heard me. I was about to say it again, louder this time, before he finally spoke. “It’s okay.”

  I straighten and rest my head against the tree. “No it’s not. I shouldn’t have said those things.”

  Thinking back, I said some horrible things. I hadn’t intended to, it just happened. I had been sitting with Mia, complaining about how slow scouting with Wade was. All the other teams had gone farther than we had and come back quicker. I didn’t want anyone to think we were the weak links in the group. No one had said that we were, but they griped and mumbled under their breaths.

  I only meant to complain to Mia, but her boyfriend Ian Harmon approached us and, as soon as he had, she started telling him everything I told her. Then he told everyone else. It had snow-balled from there, with the guys and some of the girls teasing him. I hadn’t joined in on the teasing, but I started it just the same.

  “That wasn’t the first time I’ve been teased about my weight.”

  I flinch, knowing he was right. It makes me feel worse. I’ve heard how the other band members teased him for being overweight and for playing the tuba. I should have used more restraint and been more understanding. In short, I acted like a bitch.

  On that thought, I fling a rock through the air where it hits with a “tink” on the nearest tree.

  “What’s that?” Wade whispers, his voice coming out fast and strained.

  “Nothing. That was me, sorry.”

  He let out a relieved breath. “I think I just had a mini heart attack.”

  I wipe the dirt from my hands off on my sweats, resigning to controlling my anger and stop throwing rocks. “I won’t do it again. I’m just mad at the way I acted. I’ve never acted that way before. I shouldn’t have—”

  “Sin, forget about it. Look on the bright side. This crash diet is doing wonders for my figure,” he jokes. Then, in a more serious tone, he adds, “I really don’t want to mention it again.”

  I still feel like I have more apologizing to do but I snap my mouth shut. We sit in silence for a while longer. It’s starting to get darker as the sun begins to set and, luckily for us, the rain ceases. I keep watching through the trees for anything that shouldn’t be there, mainly of the alien nature. I know Wade is doing the same, but in the opposite direction, and I’m glad he has my back.

  Finally I take a glance at my watch again. We haven’t heard anything for an hour and, taking that as a good sign, I stand. The muscles in my legs hurt from being worked all morning and then the long lapse of no movement without so much as a stretch.

  Wade peeks his head around the tree. “What are you doing?”

  I bend my leg and reach behind me for my foot, stretching out my thigh muscles. “We haven’t heard anything for a while.” Grunting, I release my leg to do the same to the other.

  He pulls up his pant leg, revealing his ankle. I come around to see it. The swelling has gone down and the redness is almost gone.

  “How does it feel? Can you walk?”

  He rotates his foot and grimaces. “It’s still a little sore but a lot better. I should be fine.”

  “Good.” I reach out my hand.

  He glances up to me. “You’re going to help me up?” He chuckles. “You weigh what? Ninety pounds soaking wet?”

  “I weigh more than that,” I grumble.

  He reaches out for me and I take his hand. I pull him hard as I can, leaning back on my heels. He’s heavy, but with my help, he’s able to stand.

  “I weigh one-hundred and ten pounds to be exact.”

  “Oh, that makes you so able to pick me up.”

  “I just did, didn’t I?” I flex my biceps like the weightlifters do and kiss each one. “Welcome to the gun show.”

  He burst out in a laugh and catches himself. We both glance around for aliens. When we don’t see anything we begin to laugh again, this time quietly and covering our mouths.

  He takes a step forward and doesn’t flinch. “Come on, let’s head back.”

  I roll my right shoulder. “You need my support?”

  He takes some more steps and I follow him. “Naw, I’ll give your shoulder a break. I don’t want to go limping back into camp supported by you. That’s all I need right now.”

  “I said I was sorry.”

  “I was jo-king,” he said, elongating the pronunciation of joking.

  “Oh.”

  We walk for only about twenty feet before I hear something.

  Trampling? Running?

  I stop and put out my hand, catching Wade on the chest, stopping him. “You hear that?” I whisper.

  He tilts his head to the side. “Footsteps.”

  I search for a tree—a large one. “We have to hide.”

  As I try to turn away and make a run for it, he’s the one to stop me by grabbing onto my arm. “They’re human.”

  “How do you know?” I’m scared and unsure, but I don’t try to get away from him.

  He scowls, lifting a brow. “I’m a hunter. I know the difference between animal sounds and humans. Someone is running this way.”

  “Should we hide?”

  He thinks for a minute as the steps come nearer. Whoever it is running, is doing it at full speed.

  “Get behind the tree.”

  That’s all I need to hear. I rush to hide and he follows, putting himself in front of me.

  We wait.

  My breathing is heavy and I try to control it by not taking in deep breaths. Before long my chest begins to hurt as I strain. Standing at Wade’s back, I press against him with my hands fisted in his shirt.

  We both listen to the approaching footsteps.

  Closer and closer they come. I hear the heavy breathing of someone—no, more than one person.

  “Oh, no.” Wade takes a step forward. I don’t step with him and I don’t let him go. His shirt stretches in my grasp. “MJ,” he calls out.

  MJ?

  I step from behind the tree and
see what he does. Ian, Mia, Shayla, MJ and Ms. Burgess are ten feet from us. I don’t even know if they register who we are. Their eyes are wild and scared. But not only that, they’re dirtier than before. Mia has paint all over her. MJ and Shayla have grass and leaves stuck to them, like they’ve been rolling around on the ground. Mud coats their already brown skin. Shayla has twigs sticking out from her micro-braids. Ian, the normally nothing-bothers-me type of guy, has a green tint to his face, making it almost the same color as his eyes.

  Something is wrong.

  I don’t know why I know this, but maybe it’s the way Ms. Burgess is watching us. She’s normally so composed. She has a thin and wiry build. Her hair is usually in a perfect bob, but she’s been pulling at it, making parts of it stand up straight. Her light brown eyes are darting from side to side, as if she’s afraid to focus on just one thing. Her skin is so pale that it’s almost white.

  Mia takes one look at me and bursts out with a cry. “Sinta!” she screams. She runs at me full speed and I see the same red paint splotches on her face that dot her clothes.

  What the hell did she get into?

  I move past Wade. Something is off but I can’t figure it out. She reaches me and grabs me in a bear hug. I wrap my arms around her, feeling her body shake as she’s wracked with tears.

  “What are you guys doing here?” I ask.

  Her reply consists of mumbles and cries.

  “I can’t understand you. Shh, it’s okay, you’re fine now,” I say, trying to console her.

  The others come to us, everyone talking at once. I can’t understand any of them any more than I can understand Mia.

  “One at a time,” Wades says, but no one seems to be listening. Their voices only pick up, they’re all talking and their sentences run together.

  I rub Mia’s back, trying my best to calm her down. The sooner she’s calm, the sooner we can find out what is going on. “Mia, please. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “They…they…they…” she repeats on a bad loop.

  I keep rubbing her until my hand becomes wet and sticky. “What’s this all over you?” I pull it away to inspect it. “It’s all over my hand.”