“We don’t know what’s out there. All they’ve got are pocketknives.”
“Maybe we can go a short way into the jungle and see if we can find more of that fruit. Jonas said it wasn’t that far from here,” Cassie suggested. She noticed Georgia’s hesitation. “Maybe some of us younger women.” She gazed at Mik trying to teach some people how to catch fish.
“I don’t feel comfortable about this,” Georgia said and tried to pull Cassie back down.
“We’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Georgia. Why don’t you join the men to help them fish?”
Cassie called out to the groups. “I’m going to see if I can find some fruit. Anyone game to go with me?”
Several younger women jumped up and ran to join her.
A tall lithe young black woman said, “My name’s Tamara, Tammy for short. I can climb trees like the best of them.”
Cassie smiled. The woman looked as if she was heavy into working out. She had a very lean and wiry body. Five women in total had volunteered—Carolyn, Patty, Hope and Marlene were the other four. They looked in pretty good shape. Grimacing to herself, Cassie wished she’d worked out more. “Here goes. Stay together and in pairs if possible. At a sign of anything weird, run for your life back to camp.”
“Way to freak us out before we even go in there,” Tamara said. “Why weird?”
“I don’t know. This is all freaky. We don’t know what to expect. There could be wild animals lurking in the jungle.”
They hiked for a while, every now and then stopping to admire strange flowers or plants. There were very tall trees with skinny trunks and very straight branches sticking out at the top. Long green vines dangled from the branches. “Look at that,” Cassie said, pointing at the vines. “If they’re strong enough we can make a net for fishing.”
“Hopefully we won’t be here long enough to need that,” Carolyn said, frowning.
“I found some kind of fruit,” Patty called out from up ahead. She had a large purple fruit resembling a melon in her hands.
“Let’s crack it and see.” Cassie looked for a rock and found a few large boulders not far from where they were. She watched as Patty smashed the fruit against the rock. It split open to reveal fruit just as purple as its skin.
“Should we try it?” Patty looked at Cassie.
“I don’t know. What if it’s poisonous?”
“I’ll try it,” Tamara offered. “If I get sick, then so be it. I’m starving. There really wasn’t enough fish for all of us, not enough to still the hunger pangs.”
Cassie didn’t know whether to stop her or allow it, but it was already too late. Tamara dug large chunks of the fruit out of the shell. Purple juice dribbled down her chin staining the bodice of her tattered evening gown that hung in glittering strips around her waist and legs. “Tastes good. A mix between bananas and pears.”
They all sat on the rocks and waited for a while, but Tamara seemed fine so they went to the spot where Patty had found the fruit. There were many of them, some much larger. They gathered as many of them in their arms as they could carry and headed back to the river.
“Look, here’s a bush with what looks like cherries,” Hope suddenly shouted and after putting her melons on the ground, promptly started picking the maroon berries and ate while she picked. “They taste delicious.”
“We’ll need to come back for them,” Cassie said. “We have our hands full carrying these melons.”
“Are we going the right way?” Marlene asked. “We didn’t mark the way we came.”
“Just look for trampled leaves, broken twigs,” Cassie said. Marlene was leading now and Cassie made up the rear. They seemed to walk much longer going back and she was starting to worry that they were going in circles.
A scream. Cassie stopped dead in her tracks, as did the others. In consternation they watched as Marlene dangled in the air, her melons plopping to the ground, some of them breaking open. Cassie darted to the front and jumped up to grasp Marlene’s feet, but she couldn’t jump high enough. “What the hell’s got her?” she shouted.
“Wait,” Tamara yelled. She climbed up the tree next to Marlene heedless of what might be hiding in it. Crawling carefully along a branch she got close enough to reach out to Marlene. “Grab my hand!” she called out trying to overpower Marlene’s screams. Marlene’s legs thrashed, she clawed at something above her. While they watched, she suddenly disappeared.
“She’s gone,” Cassie said.
“How? What got her?” Hope asked.
“Tammy, do you see anything in the trees?” Cassie called up and watched Tamara clamber frantically through the tree, searching.
“There’s nothing here. It’s like she vanished into thin air.”
“Impossible. Something was up there. We have to find her,” Cassie said.
They looked in the area for a long time, listened for sounds, for possible screams, but nothing. Cassie finally called them together. “We need to get back to the river and wait for the men to return. Seems we’re dealing with some kind of invisible monster.”
They were all scared. Instead of walking steadily, they ran, Cassie taking the lead. She watched carefully for broken leaves, twigs and soon found the path they’d made when heading into the jungle. When they broke out of the brush and foliage onto the riverbank, she heaved a sigh of relief. After they put the melons on a pile Cassie joined Georgia.
“You were gone a long time, Cassie, and it seems you’re missing someone.”
“Yes. Something took Marlene right before our very eyes. She vanished. Poof, just like that. It was freaky. We looked for her for a long time, but there’s no sign of her anywhere.”
“How did she vanish?”
Cassie explained what had happened. Quite a few of the other people had gathered around and whispered to each other.
“Aliens. Told you,” a man said.
Cassie shrugged. “I’ve got no explanation for what happened. No more trips into the jungle. Let’s all hope the men return safely.” She was so worried about Jonas now, she couldn’t even eat any of the melon or the fish that they’d caught while she was gone. Her hunger pangs had disappeared. Jonas, I hope you’re okay…
Chapter Seven
Exploring the jungle…
Jonas led his group. He made sure they all marked trees as they ventured deeper and deeper into the jungle. They’d walked for hours already, or what seemed like a very long time. All Jonas could do was gauge the sun and its position. It was directly above them now, so it had to be around noon. Nothing spectacular had occurred during the trek so far, no animals, no reptiles or even an ant, though they’d heard rustling. They’d scattered some flocks of exotic birds, seen strange, exotic plants and trees and tasted different fruits. So far, no one had become sick from eating the fruits. They’d also discovered trees bearing nuts. They were unlike any nuts they all normally snacked on—the taste sort of a cross between a walnut and peanuts, except they were the size of an orange.
They came to a verdant green veld. Jonas shaded his eyes against the sudden bright sunlight. The veld stretched quite far, so far that the mountains in the distance looked miniature. They were beautiful. So green, they looked as if they were covered with emerald colored velvet. “How about we cross this and then take a break?” he called to the men behind him.
“I’ve got the feeling we’re never going to find civilization, whether it be human or alien,” Tom grumbled. “And if we don’t head back to the river, we’ll end up spending the night out here. It looks endless. Let’s be honest, this place is weird. We haven’t heard a sound, seen nothing in the sky resembling a plane or a helicopter and no animals in that jungle.”
“I vote we continue,” Jonas said. The other men agreed.
The grass was quite tall so with seven men walking through it, they left a clear trail as their feet flattened it. They’d walked for about two hours judging by the sun when they suddenly came to a halt to gaze down a steep cliff. At the bottom of it were a sandy beach and
a calm blue lake. Shading their eyes they gazed at the far shores but saw nothing, no houses, buildings, or boats.
“Maybe this is a better place for us to camp. What do you think?” Jonas asked, turning to the men.
“Man, we need to get back to civilization. We’re not on vacation, for God’s sake,” Richard said.
“Let’s sit for a bit and talk about our situation,” Jonas said. He sat on the edge of the cliff, his legs dangling. The men followed his example. “Let’s be realistic. Judging by what we’ve seen, we’re not on Earth. Nothing here resembles anything at home, not even the Amazon.”
“So if we were transported here by aliens, where the hell are they?” Tom said.
“I don’t know. I’ve never believed in UFO’s and aliens, but I’m starting to wonder now. If we were kidnapped by some alien species, surely they wouldn’t just dump us here and abandon us completely?” Jonas frowned, his mind fighting with the thought of the possibility.
Sirus nodded. “I’ve pretty much accepted that we’re on some alien planet.”
Gordon and Bill nodded. Gary and William still looked doubtful. “I don’t know,” William said. “Such an alien race would be more technologically advanced than Earth. Surely there’d be cities? Settlements of some kind?”
“I’m wondering the same thing myself,” Gary said.
Gordon put in his two cents. “Maybe they don’t want us in their cities. Maybe they had a reason for dumping us in the middle of nowhere. As far as I can see, there are no signs of any structures. We’d be hiking for days. We have no boat to get across the lake so we’d have to hike around it and then cross those mountains.”
“We can always build a raft,” Gary suggested.
“And carry tree trunks across that veld? And how do you propose to cut down trees for that? Did you have an axe on you at the club?” Jonas laughed at the thought of anyone going to a nightclub for a night out carrying an axe. “We’ve got nothing except some pocketknives and a jackknife.”
“True,” Sirus said. “I second that we camp by the lake, though we need to find out if there are any fish in it. We need to survive.”
“I’ll climb down,” Tom said. “I’m into climbing. Do it all the time.”
“It’s quite steep,” Jonas warned. “And it looks as if cliffs like this surround the lake, at least for most of it. Too far to see the other side. It will be quite a task to get everyone down the cliff. Maybe it’s not such a good idea. Also, the jungle is a couple of hours across the veld. It would take us half a day to go and get nuts and fruit.”
“We can make nets from those vines we saw in the jungle. Put a net on two poles and we can carry quite a load,” Gordon said.
“Good idea. I suggest two of us head back to the river to guide the other people. We’ll head back to the jungle to get vines so we can make ropes to lower people that can’t climb. Gordon and Sirus, why don’t you head back to the river. Cut vines and find some strong branches to make the nets and poles to put them on. When you come back, make sure everyone picks fruit and nuts to last us for a few days,” Jonas told them.
“What about the other scouting group?” Sirus asked.
“Hopefully, they’ll be back at the river when you get there.”
“They went a different direction. What if they found civilization?”
“Then you come back and tell us.” Jonas sighed. He felt as if the world’s responsibilities had been heaped on his shoulders. He’d never been a leader, had never had ambitions to be in such a position. For some odd reason the people had automatically chosen him to be in charge. “You’ll make faster time going back.”
“It took us most of the day to get here. We can’t make it back tonight,” Gordon said.
“That’s okay. We’ll camp here for the night. If you leave at daybreak, you should be back at the river by lunchtime. You’ll make faster time going back because we didn’t hurry coming here.”
“What if the other group isn’t back tonight?”
“Damn, I don’t know. I guess someone will have to stay at the river to wait for them,” Jonas said, impatience lacing his words.
They headed back to the jungle, this time walking much faster. When they got there, Jonas started cutting vines while the other men looked for suitable branches for poles and Tom knotted the vines into a net. He made two nets with loops on the long sides that they pushed the branches through. Next they gathered large leaves for night cover, fruit and nuts before heading back to the cliffs.
Chapter Eight
Disappearing companions…
Cassie and Georgia hurried to join the two men that emerged from the jungle. “Where’s Jonas? Where are the others?” Cassie worriedly asked.
“They’re fine. We found a large lake with beautiful beaches. Jonas asked us to fetch everyone and lead you back there,” Sirus said. “Has the other scouting group returned?”
“Not yet. How far is it?” Georgia said.
“It took us until about two in the afternoon. At least, that’s the time I estimated. But we didn’t walk all that fast and we had to cut through quite a few thick foliage spots. It’s too late to go now. It’ll get dark soon, by the look of the sun. We’ll leave first thing tomorrow morning,” Gordon told them.
“Does the lake have fish in it?” Cassie asked.
“Yes. We made sure of that first,” Sirus said.
Cassie sighed. “If you haven’t found any sign of civilization, how do we ever find out where we are? How can we survive? We have no clothes, nothing.”
“I don’t know. More important, how did we get here in the first place? That’s what I’d like to know.”
Gordon nodded. “Yeah. After traipsing through that jungle, we’re pretty much convinced that we’re not on Earth. I saw stuff I’ve only ever seen on TV, Star Trek and scifi movies. Ah, there’s Russell and his team. Russell, what did you find? Anything? Where’s the rest of your team?”
Cassie noticed the somber expression on the men’s faces. “What’s wrong?”
“We found diddly squat. Two of our men were killed,” Russell said.
“Killed? How? Wild animals? Aliens?”
“Lightning. It was unbelievable. A clear blue sky and suddenly lightning came from nowhere. Burned both of them to a crisp. We covered their bodies with leaves and were going to bury them when we returned. When we got back to that spot, they were gone.”
Sirus shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t need any more convincing that we’re on alien territory.”
“Some of us women went looking for fruit. Marlene, one of the women, was plucked up by nothing. There wasn’t a thing above her. She just hung there, suspended in midair. Suddenly she was gone. We haven’t told anyone. I don’t want a panicked crowd on our hands.”
“People will ask questions. They know how many men were in the two scouting groups. We’re going to have to tell them. I suggest we get everyone’s names and do a headcount.” Sirus raised his voice and shouted, “Everyone, quiet for a minute please.” He waited for the people to stop talking. “Come and gather together here! I’d like everyone to stand. If you arrived here as a couple, please stand together. We need to do a headcount.”
“I’d like to know what you found out there,” a young woman yelled.
“Let’s do a count first and get everyone’s names. It’ll take a while to remember everyone, but since it looks like we’re stuck here for a while, we need to become familiar with each other. Does anyone have a pen? Some kind of paper?”
Cassie chuckled. “Look at everyone’s torn and tattered clothing. I doubt anyone brought their purse or notebooks.”
No one spoke up. Some men and women stood next to each other, indicating they were together. “Cassie, you count the women and I’ll count the men.”
When they were finished, they had counted forty-five men and thirty-three women, including the four men that had stayed at the lake. One by one they yelled out their name. Several of the couples were husband and wife, and some
of them were engaged. There wasn’t a person there over fifty.
“Sit down everyone.” Sirus waited until they all sat. “Altogether there are seventy-eight of us. We’ve found a huge lake just beyond a large grassy veld. Its beaches are pristine and there’s plenty of fish in the lake. We didn’t see any sign of civilization of any kind, no buildings, no boats. What we did see was a lot of foreign flora, and with foreign, I mean alien. We found a lot of fruit and nuts, again, nothing like we know. Between us, we’ve decided we’re not on Earth.”
An older man jumped up. “Bullshit. I don’t believe in that kind of nonsense!”
“Neither did I, but there is no other explanation for the alien fruits, the alien flora, and also, we’re not safe. Two of the men from the second scouting party were killed and one woman has disappeared,” Sirus said.
Cassie put in her two cents. “She disappeared like a puff of mist. Gone in seconds.”
“Something must have done it. Yanked her into the trees or something,” a woman shouted.
“Then how do you explain lightning zapping down from a clear blue sky and incinerating two men in seconds? If we move to the lake, we’ll have a clear view over the veld. We can see anything coming for miles from all sides. We’ll be better off there,” Sirus said. “We’ll leave first thing in the morning after we’ve eaten.”
Cassie was glad Georgia had stayed with her that evening and slept close by, though Cassie noticed Georgia was as restless as she was. Who could help having nightmares, reliving the horror of the explosion and fire at the club, and worrying about loved ones and friends that weren’t among the survivors. Every now and again, she got up to throw more wood on the fire. Its flames and crackling were comforting, though she still heard the rustling in the jungle.
Dawn was about to break and the sky was slowly becoming lighter. Cassie had lain awake for quite a while thinking about Jonas, then found her thoughts drifting off to the abortion she’d had and the baby that could have been. What would the baby have looked like? She, a redhead and Jonas so very black—it made for an interesting combination. Shrubs at the edge of the jungle rustled. Startled, Cassie leaned on her elbow and peered at the jungle’s edge. The little girl stood there again, the doll dangling from her hand, this time she wore a pretty yellow dress.
Deadly Passion, an Epiphany Page 7
