RIOT DAWN_Attack of the Space Druids

by Anthony Thackston

  “I just got bit by living bear trap,” Carlos said. “What do you think it looks like?”

  Lino dropped down and rolled Carlos’s pant leg up. The wound was already bruising. The yellow and purple spot surrounded many puncture marks that were oozing blood.

  “Is your leg broken?” Jessica asked.

  “X-ray shows two fractures in the Tibia,” Lino said.

  “Can you walk on it?” Riot asked.

  Carlos glared at her but let it slide. They both knew it was an insensitive question but it was one that had to be asked.

  “Probably,” he said.

  “This is no time to be a hero,” Riot told him.

  “It is far worse,” Lino reported. “I am detecting a significant number of large lifeforms directly in our path.”

  “Another big druid?” Carlos asked.

  “Unconfirmed.”

  “Everyone stay here,” Riot said. “I’ll scout ahead.”

  Carlos tried to stand. “Not by yourself.” He winced and fell back to the ground.

  “That answers that,” Riot said, referring to his inability to walk. “Jessica, find something to make a splint.”

  The woman scanned the ground. “With what, Sarge?”

  “Just do your best.” Riot jogged down the path.

  The former Marine stepped quickly but cautiously, keeping her eyes in constant motion on the ground. Worrying about one soldier with a bad leg was going to cause problems. Worrying about herself with a bad leg wasn’t an option as far as she was concerned.

  The larger stones and uneven ground quickly leveled out to what may have once been a dry lake bed. It was completely open, allowing for greater visibility. In the distance, Riot could make out a grouping of towers. It should have been a relief to be so close. And it would have been if not for the herd of large four-legged monsters standing between her and the citadels.

  Chapter 26

  The team stood behind the last of the higher stones before the land gave way to the dry lake bed. Carlos struggled just to lean against the stone.

  “There’s no way I can make that,” Carlos said. “I can barely stand on this thing.” He ground his teeth as the weak splint shifted across his wound. The brittle stone pieces fastened by Jessica's ripped sleeve did little to stabilize it.

  “You want us to leave you here?” Riot asked.

  “Like hell. I can still shoot. My arms work fine…Both of them,”

  “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” Riot smirked. “How far away do those towers look?”

  “I’d say a mile,” Jessica said. “Maybe a little more.”

  Riot dropped into a crouch. “Lino, can you put a stealth barrier around us?”

  “Of course. But it would only be useful in concealment against radar. Other sensors, including biological ocular types will still detect us.”

  “Then that’s out.” Riot reached into her pocket and pulled out the talisman. The liquid in the stone was lower than half.

  “What is that?” Carlos asked.

  “Our only way across…Maybe.” She poked her head around the stone to survey the herd.

  There were three yards of empty space between them and the monsters. How many were between them and the towers was anyone’s guess. There was no sign of grass or foliage or even other animals to eat. Riot couldn’t figure out why they’d all congregated in the one spot. Guards for the citadels, maybe. But there didn’t seem to be much in the way of resistance on the planet. Except for the four of them.

  The way forward was not a direct route but Riot could make out gaps among the beasts. They were wide enough to snake through if they could do so without alerting the monsters. She looked back at Carlos. A thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead.

  “How’re you feeling, Marine?” she asked.

  “Kinda cold out here.”

  Riot took note of the temperature. There was a slight wind but it was room temperature more than anything. She glanced down at his leg, expecting to see it soaked from blood. It was certainly darker than the rest of his uniform but only where he’d been bitten. And the ground at his feet had no signs of blood drops. But he was definitely in bad shape.

  “Okay,” she said. “Let’s take stock. We’ve got about a mile of monster to get through and Diaz can’t walk and he sure can’t run. Lino, you’re carrying Diaz—”

  “I don’t need—”

  “You just said there’s no way you can make it. You wanna argue that?”

  Carlos swallowed his pride. “No.”

  “Good.” Riot held up the talisman. “Here’s the plan. We use this to cloak ourselves then we move through the herd. I want everyone to stay in close and make sure you don’t bump into any of those guys. I don’t want to have to face one of them much less a herd. Lino, can you scan if this barrier even works?”

  “Once it is activated, I can scan for its efficacy.”

  “Diaz, mount up.”

  Carlos pushed off the stone and limped toward Lino who picked him up and carried him like a groom carrying a bride over the threshold.

  “This isn’t embarrassing,” Carlos muttered.

  “Better than dead,” Lino replied.

  “Great, the robot’s got jokes.”

  “Everyone ready?” Riot asked.

  Jessica nodded her head, answering for the others.

  Riot held the talisman up and a tiny light shone out from it. “Lino?”

  “Barrier is present but integrity is already failing.”

  “Move!” Riot ordered.

  Riot stepped out from behind the stone with the others close behind her. They made their way quickly to the first line of monsters. Riot steered between two of them and almost tripped over the sight of so many others. A snapping sound caught her attention and she saw one of the beasts leap over the herd and disappear amongst them.

  “This is familiar,” Carlos said.

  “To what do you refer?” Lino asked him.

  “It’s just like the tower at the Russian-Georgian border.”

  “I noticed, that too,” Riot whispered back. “Now keep quiet, I don’t want to alert these things.”

  Two of the monsters bumped into each other and started a fight. Riot watched as the two reared up on their back legs and kicked at each other just like a pair of bucks. She only hoped it didn’t cascade to the others. It was becoming more evident that they could be easily crushed if this bunch decided to run.

  Riot shook off the thought and focused on just getting the rest of her team to the tower in one piece.

  “Barrier integrity at eighty percent,” Lino said.

  “How long do we have?” Riot asked.

  “Approximately three minutes till total failure. And the tower is zero point ninety-six miles away. Current rate of speed, twelve minutes a mile.”

  Riot looked back at Jessica. “How’s your five-minute mile?”

  “After five years of rest, I should be good, Ma’am.”

  “Good soldier. Let’s hustle.” Riot increased her speed, hoping the others stayed close.

  Keeping a full sprint was impossible without a straight line. Riot led the others as best she could but it was like running suicides on the track. It didn’t take long for her legs to burn. Though she’d kept in decent shape after her discharge, she still wasn’t used to the random maneuvering they were having to do. The sudden stops to avoid colliding with one of the monsters and the sharp turns just to stay on the clear path were pushing her muscles to places they were no longer as well practiced in. She bit through the pain and discomfort, happy to push forward whenever a long straightaway did present itself.

  As they continued on, Riot noticed one of the beasts acting strangely. Another sniffed at the air.

  “Barrier integrity down twenty-five percent,” Lino said. “One minute till total failure.”

  The team raced past the stirring monsters.

  “One minute till failure and two minutes to go,” Riot said.

  “Less!” Carlos
yelled. “We’re in the open!”

  Riot looked over her shoulder and watched in horror as one of the beasts they’d just passed started to chase after them.

  Chapter 27

  Carlos’s gun cracked as he fired bullets at their pursuer. The cracks made a few other nearby monsters stir while two others joined in the chase.

  “Barrier integrity at ten percent,” Lino reported.

  “That’s practically down!” Carlos shouted. He fired at the nearest beast, hitting it in the head. But like the first one they’d fought, it did little more than make the monster angry.

  “I can’t shoot them all!” Carlos yelled.

  “Look!” Riot pointed ahead. The herd was thinning and the way was opening up to empty space. “Lino! Get Diaz out of here! Jessica, hoof it as fast as you can!”

  Carlos raised his eyebrows when he saw flaps rise on Lino’s back. He could feel the radiant heat on his face as thrusters warmed up. Two seconds later, Lino leaped up and jet-fire blasted out from thrusters in his back.

  Riot watched as Lino zipped passed them. His legs stayed just above the ground. She wondered if he could actually fly or just perform forward thrust. There was no contrail behind him but the fire seemed to startle the stampeding herd. Not enough to stop them but the slowdown was a welcome reprieve.

  As they neared the towers, Riot could make out details around them. Just like those below the cliff, there were druids surrounding the towers that circled the center citadel. There weren’t nearly as many but it still meant the team was blocked in on two sides. The druids blocked them at the front and the monsters at their rear.

  Jessica blind fired over her back at the herd, shooting till her gun was empty. “I’m out!”

  “Keep moving!” Riot ordered. Her lungs were on fire and she was regretting the years of drinking she’d done. That she was moving that fast was impressive even to her. Riot brought her cyber arm to her mouth. “Plasma grenade!” A door in the top of her forearm opened and a small rocket popped up. She sighed, accepting the result even though it was not what she wanted.

  Riot’s legs stumbled and slowed as she tried to stop. There was no telling if the monsters would give up the chase. With the whole herd after them, she wasn’t sure most of them even knew what they were chasing. She aimed the rocket for the nearest beast. “Buncha dumb cows. Fire!”

  The rocket launched from her arm. It was almost as defective as the cybernetic limb. The projectile raced forward and dropped straight for the ground in front of the stampede. That it blew up at all was a total surprise after the way it had flown.

  The explosion blasted up dirt and rock, creating a decent sized crater in front of the rampaging monsters. Some of them actually fell in the crater while others turned, veering off course. Unfortunately, they headed straight for Riot who stood totally vulnerable in their path. To her relief, the turn pushed the others until the herd had moved farther to the side of the lake bed. Riot turned around. It was a short-lived moment of relief as a few of the druids took notice of her.

  A nice wind blew toward her but Riot didn’t stop to enjoy it. She pushed her legs on sheer willpower as other druids sent their own attacks her way. Riot fired at one of them, knocking it to the ground. Down but not out.

  She watched as Jessica disappeared inside the center tower. As fast as Lino had traveled, she was confident that he and Carlos had made it safely inside. Of course, there was the possibility they were having their own battle inside the citadel walls.

  A pillar of rock shot up beside her. Riot dodged it but chided herself for being distracted. All of the druids turned their attention to her and began chanting. A strange orange glow rose up from all of them and Riot looked skyward, following the trail of light.

  Above her a very wide pillar formed. Riot’s head snapped back to her front where she saw chains leading from the citadel entrance to a drawbridge on the ground.

  “Raise the bridge!” she yelled. “Raise the bridge!”

  She looked up again and saw the pillar getting larger as it fell toward her.

  Riot screamed as her legs did the same under her push for them to move faster. She leaped forward, her hands out and hit the wooden bridge as it rose. She didn’t bother getting back to her feet and just let the rising door carry her to the floor inside the citadel.

  Before the door was even halfway up, Riot heard the thunderous sound of the magically conjured pillar fall to the ground outside. There was little doubt she would have been crushed to death under that thing. She was even confident that the pillar could crush one of the towers if the druids wanted it to.

  Riot took a look between the closing drawbridge and the stone doorway. The giant death dealing pillar faded away in the same orange glow that had summoned it. Its disappearance cleared her line of sight to that of a giant Redwood tree coming into view as one of the surrounding towers faded away. “That’s one more on Earth. We’re losing this war.”

  “That’s not all, Sarge,” Jessica said.

  “Are you okay?” Riot asked her, trying to catch her breath.

  “I’m fine. But…” Jessica's words trailed off as she turned to Carlos who lay on the floor.

  Lino crouched beside him. “He’s not doing well.”

  Riot did her best to put on a brave face after her last ordeal as she walked to the middle of the space.

  Carlos was still sweating and his teeth were chattering as if he was in a freezer. “Cold. So cold.”

  Riot took her top fatigues off, leaving her only in a black tank top. She crouched down and laid her battledress on Carlos, adding another layer for him. She took another glance at his pants leg but it was the same as before. It wasn’t a matter of blood loss. She leaned into Lino’s ear. “What’s going on?”

  “Sergeant Diaz’s life signs are fading, Sergeant Dawn.”

  Chapter 28

  “Get up, Diaz!” Riot barked. “You ain’t an army grunt, are you?”

  Carlos snickered at the comment.

  “So you got bit, big deal,” Riot placed her hand in her mouth and bit down, hard. Her canines punctured the skin. “See that, now I’ve been bit. And I’m still standing.”

  “I don’t think that counts,” Carlos said.

  “No? How about I tell you how I got this?” She raised her cyber arm.

  “I have taken a toxic screening of the bite mark, Sarge,” Lino said. “There are traces of a poison that is not in my data banks.”

  “I can still hear you,” Carlos said.

  “Can you administer an anti-toxin or something?” Riot asked.

  “My design was for offensive purposes. I am equipped to diagnose and recommend for medical issues but not to administer. Even if I could, I would not have the proper anti-toxin. We must get Sergeant Diaz to a hospital as soon as possible.”

  “You think nine-one-one makes house calls out here?” Carlos joked.

  “Save your breath, Diaz. You’re gonna need it when I chew you out for laying down on the job.”

  “Sir, yes, sir,” he said weakly.

  “That’s more like it. Now we’re gonna get you on your feet and finish this mission. Then we’re gonna go home and—”

  “We don’t even know how to get home,” he said weakly. “We both know what this was, Sarge.”

  Riot stayed quiet. It was the first time he’d called her Sarge instead of Dawn. She didn’t know if it was some act of respect or just the last words of a dying man.

  “Don’t talk like that, Diaz. We can—”

  “I’m sorry about giving you such a hard time. Truth is, I’ve read a lot of briefings about you and your people. You’re an impressive bunch and you’re a hell of a leader, Riot. I kept it in but I was pretty excited about teaming up with you. I jabbed at you cuz our ranks were the same. But really, I was proud to follow you in. We took out two of those towers under your leadership,” Carlos went on. “And now, you’re about to take out the whole bunch of them.”

  “I don’t even know how to do that,” Rio
t said. “And now, we’re down another man.”

  “Nah. I’m just staying here to keep watch. Keep guard of your six.” He tried to slide out the magazine of his gun but his fingers shook as though they were being held open.

  “Musculature is seizing up,” Lino said.

  “Thanks, tin man,” Carlos told him. “Wasn’t sure what that was.”

  Riot grabbed his gun and slid out the magazine then helped him reload another. Her metal hand had no trouble closing his hand around the gun’s grip.

  “Gotta promise me something, Sarge.”

  Riot leaned down and got right in Carlos’s face.

  “Gotta promise not to bring me back. I don’t want it. And you can’t carry me all the way back to the tube.”

  Riot didn’t respond to his request. She only pulled the slide on his gun back. “You’re locked ’n loaded, Marine. You make sure nothing gets through that door. We clear?”

  “Oohrah.” Carlos’s voice was low but still full of conviction. “Give’em hell, Sarge,” His eyes closed and his head rocked to the side.

  “Is he..?” Jessica asked.

  Riot stood, staring at the soldier at her feet. She saluted. Even through their disagreements, he had proven himself. And more, it was those very disagreements that made him a good fit for her squad. In that way, he was the same as the others.

  “He’s gone,” Riot said.

  “Finally!” a voice shouted from the dark. “I thought he’d never croak, much less shut up.”

  Riot turned. “Hick?”

  “The one and only.”

  “Where are you?” Jessica asked.

  “In the center of it all. Just follow my voice. I got someone you need to meet.”

  Riot glanced at Jessica who only shook her head.

  “Hick, come out here, we still got a mission to finish!”

  “That’s exactly what this is about, Sarge. Mine and our mission.”

  “You talk like they’re not the same!” Riot shouted.

  She looked around the space. It was the first time she’d really taken it in. The central citadel was different from the others in that they seemed to be in a front foyer of sorts. It was unlike the other towers that had only the first floor and subsequent floors above that. The lighting in the front hallway they stood in was brighter than the dim green glow of the towers. Along the walls were spheres that glowed orange. They even flickered like torch light.