by C. O. Amal
“There is a town beyond this forest. Are you ready to check it out?” Isaac asked.
“Last town was enough for me. I don’t want to be near any other people, whether they are crazy or not.”
Isaac nodded. They slowly entered inside the forest. There is a narrow path through the forest, through which people often travel to gather forest resources. Robin and Isaac took that path. They walked rest of the way.
“Let’s at least watch that town.” Isaac said.
“Okay, but, we don’t go anywhere near it.”
“Agreed.”
“Why there are no birds here.” Robin asked.
“I didn’t even noticed that, until now.” Isaac said.
“Something must have happened. We need to be careful.”
“Is it a disease?”
“Did you ever heard about a disease which will make you crazy?”
“Craziness is a disease.”
“Whatever, let’s find that town fast. And let’s get it over with.” Robin said.
Isaac nodded. They slowly continued their journey. The forest is dead silent. Before long they exited the small strip of forest land and they saw the outline of the town far away. Suddenly a swoosh came from the sky. Robin and Isaac froze. They quickly ran back inside the forest. Then they examined the sky. Then the swoosh continued to play in the background. Then they saw it. A gigantic flying vessel is slowly moving towards the forest.
“What the hell is that thing?” Robin asked.
“A flying vessel. But, I heard it only in stories.” Isaac said. The flying vessel is in silver colour and within minutes it passed over them. Suddenly a sharp growl came from near the town. Then they saw it. Dozens of gigantic dogs are running towards them at full speed from near the town.
* * * * *
Chapter 10
“Run ...” Isaac shouted.
They broke into a sprint. They moved deeper into the forest landscape. Then they saw a place shrouded by jungle shrubs. Isaac led Robin towards that part. Then they crouched down and hid under the shrubs. A moment later the growl got louder. Isaac and Robin frantically peered everywhere. Then they saw two gigantic dogs running through the narrow path. A few minutes later five more dogs came. They all ran away from Isaac and Robin. A few minutes later, silence again took over the forest. Isaac and Robin took a deep sigh.
“Isaac, what is that flying vessel doing here, and what are those dogs?”
“I don’t know, Robin. I don’t know. Come on, let’s go in the west direction. There are people in the forest. They might be normal and they might have information.”
“What if they are not normal?”
“We have to try it, Robin. We can’t spent our whole lives in here. There may be a way to save the crazy people.”
Robin reluctantly nodded. They quickly started their walk towards the west direction. West is full of forest and there are jungle shrubs everywhere.
A few minutes later, a river came in front of them. They crossed the river through a shallow region and they continued their journey. All this time they didn’t see any animals. They are about to exit the forest when all of a sudden they heard a scream.
“Ahh ... God, save me ...”
Isaac and Robin stopped and they listened. The cry is coming from their north. Isaac quickly moved towards the scream. But, Robin grabbed Isaac’s arm and she stopped him.
“It could be a trap.” Robin said.
“It seems that someone is in pain. No danger is here, Robin. Let’s at least check it out.”
“Then I am not coming.”
“Okay. You stay here.”
Isaac quickly moved towards the sound. Robin for a moment stood there with panic, then she followed Isaac.
“This is a bad idea.” Robin muttered.
Isaac smiled. The scream is coming from near a tall tree. Isaac and Robin slowly approached that tree. Then they saw the man who is crying. He is right behind the tall tree, sitting on the ground. Suddenly Isaac and Robin froze. The man is definitely not normal. But he is not a crazy. There is an uncontrollable growth of fur in his body.
“Hello, mister.” Isaac called.
The man turned towards Isaac. Then Isaac clearly saw his face. His face is covered in fur.
“Please, help me. Ahh ... God ...”
The man is trying to pluck away the fur using his hands. He scratched his face using his finger nails. It looks like that the man is in lot of pain. Robin and Isaac stared at the man without knowing what to do. Then they saw it. The man’s lips became bended in an unusual manner. Then his hands wholly got covered by fur. Then the man made a sharp scream and then the man dropped to the ground. Isaac slowly approached the man. Then he crouched down near the man.
“Careful, Isaac.” Robin said.
The man is breathing steadily, but now, there is no way he is human. He looks like a monkey. Isaac touched the man’s head and he slowly shifted the man’s head. Suddenly the man opened his eyes and he stared at Isaac. Then the man made a sharp roar and it all of a sudden stood up, but not on two feet, in four, just like monkeys do. Then he ran deeper into the forest. Isaac stared at the leaving monkey man with panic and worry. Robin also is in complete shock.
“Isaac, what would we do? People are becoming crazy in one place, and here people are becoming monkeys. What is happening here, god?”
“Come on, let’s check out that village in the forest.” Isaac said.
They quickly continued their journey. They exited the forest and saw the outline of a village far away. There are trees everywhere near that village and all houses are very small. Isaac and Robin ran rest of the way. Then they began to see wandering monkeys here and there. All monkeys were normal people. They walked just like monkeys do. The monkeys stared at Isaac and Robin with curiousness.
Robin and Isaac couldn’t believe what is happening around them. Before long they entered inside the village boundary. There are monkeys everywhere. There is not a single person who looks normal. Suddenly a sharp howl came from far away, from the north. Then Robin and Isaac saw two gigantic dogs running towards the village.
“Get inside that house.” Isaac said pointing at a nearby house. They quickly rushed inside that small house and Isaac dead bolted the door. Then Isaac went near the window and he peered outside. A moment later the dogs came into view. The dogs are just outside the house and now Isaac and Robin could clearly see them. They are tall as a grown man. They almost looks like a wolf-dog hybrid. A few minutes later the dogs ran away from the village.
Robin and Isaac took a deep sigh.
“Now where would we go?” Robin asked.
Isaac stared outside and he fell in thoughts.
* * * * *
Chapter 11
“Isaac,” Robin called.
“What?”
“Ruby said he want to discuss about the strategy. What were you doing?”
“Sorry, I just got lost in thoughts.”
Isaac slowly followed Robin. They passed a darkest part of the cave and then took a staircase to the top of the cave. The staircase is very long, and finally they exited the cave and stepped into the sunlight. There are trees everywhere and in a corner, a river is flowing down to the waterfall. Isaac then saw Ruby and a few other men discussing something. Isaac and Robin walked towards them.
“Isaac, sit down.” Ruby said.
Isaac and Robin quickly sat down besides Ruby.
“We were discussing about how to salvage your weapons.” Ruby said. “Are you sure you want those weapons? Bows and arrows are very effective against them.”
“We want those weapons. Bow is pretty slow if there are too many enemies, but the weapons in my outpost are very fast and are pretty effective against them. Those weapons are also needed to destroy their towers.” Isaac said.
“Okay. We need to be quick. Last night I had a dream about our mother. She is in lot of pain.” Ruby said.
“Okay. So, when are we going?” Isaac asked.
�
�Today. We don’t want to wait long.” Ruby said.
Isaac and Robin nodded. Ruby stood up and went to the edge of the cave’s roof, near the waterfall. Then Ruby looked at Isaac.
“So, tell me where your outpost is.”
Robin and Isaac stood up and they went near Ruby. Other Thibarians did the same.
“Our outpost is in the north, in that forest.” Isaac said pointing at a forest. Ruby nodded and he turned towards his men.
“Men, let’s do this. Gather your weapons and meet us in the cave exit.” Ruby said.
Men nodded and they quickly ran away from Ruby.
“Isaac, Robin, let’s go.” Ruby walked towards the staircase. Isaac and Robin followed Ruby and they entered inside the cave.
* * * * *
Chapter 12
Isaac, Robin and Ruby stood near the exit of the cave where the wall of water is present. They waited a few minutes, then ten Thibarians joined them. Ruby then motioned at everyone to follow Isaac and Robin. Isaac and Robin quickly jumped into the water and they swam towards the other end of the river. Ruby and team closely followed them.
Before long the short swim ended and they all stepped into the river bank.
“People, now we have to be extra careful. Those dogs could be everywhere.” Isaac said.
Everyone nodded at Isaac.
Everyone quickly drew out their bows and arrows. Arrows were wrapped in plastic sheets.
“Now, before proceeding, why not send two scouts to look for any danger?” Robin suggested.
“That’s a good idea.” Ruby said. Ruby turned towards his men. “Jumpo, you and Dango go and look whether there is any danger, and signal us if it is safe. That way we could anticipate an attack if it do arise.”
Quickly Jumpo and Dango, the two Thibarians, nodded and they ran deeper into the forest. Isaac and rest of the team slowly marched forward.
* * * * *
Chapter 13
Dango and Jumpo finally reached near a big rocky hill.
“Their outpost is on top of this hill, right?” Dango asked.
“Yeah. That’s what they said. Come on, let’s find a way to climb.” Jumpo said.
Both of them quickly walked along the hill’s boundary, looking for a way to climb. Then they saw an inclined rocky path, perfect for easy climbing. They quickly began to climb. There are many trees along the hill and there are many tough vines on those trees. Jumpo and Dango used the vines for support.
A few minutes later they touched the top part of the hill. The top is also filled with trees. Birds are actively chirping from the trees, and so far, they detected no danger.
“The outpost is somewhere here.” Jumpo said. They carefully peered and they moved forward. Then they began to see tents and makeshift camps.
Jumpo frequently checked all around him for any danger, but they didn’t detected any danger. They are about to signal Ruby, when they saw the first dead body. It was a woman. Her hands and legs are chewed and parts of the hands lay here and there. Blood is all over her body.
Jumpo carefully looked around there and saw five other dead bodies. Dango moved a little deep into the camp.
“Jumpo, here.” Dango called.
Jumpo quickly moved towards Dango and saw a pile of dead bodies near a makeshift camp. All bodies are lacking one or two limbs. Jumpo and Dango covered their mouth using their hand in horror.
“I see no weapons here. What if those aliens took all the weapons?” Dango asked.
“Let’s call them anyway. They may have hid the weapons.” Jumpo said.
“Okay.” Dango quickly put his hands together in the form of a pipe, in front of his mouth, and he sharply cooed in a special rhythm. A moment later someone cooed back from below the hill.
* * * * *
Chapter 14
Isaac and team finally reached on top of the cliff. They found Dango and Jumpo near a dead body.
Isaac looked at his dead man in horror.
“That’s not all. There are more near that camp.” Jumpo said.
Isaac went near all the dead bodies and he counted each dead body.
“There is only twenty here.” Isaac said.
“They may have escaped.” Robin said.
“I hope they didn’t get caught by those creatures.” Isaac said.
“Let’s hurry. Where are your weapons?” Dango asked.
“We hid the weapons in a tree trunk.” Isaac said. Isaac moved towards a large tree and as soon as he reached there, he clawed on the tree trunk. Suddenly a part of tree trunk fell off, revealing a secret compartment. In the secret compartment lay blue coloured guns.
Isaac and Robin quickly took three guns with them. Thibarians took rest of the guns.
“So how to operate these guns?” Ruby asked.
“It’s pretty simple. This is the trigger. You just point at your target like this and then pull the trigger.” Isaac showed everything using his gun. Then Isaac took a back pack from the tree trunk and he threw it across his shoulders. “Come on, let’s go.”
Suddenly a sharp roar came from nearby, and a hellish, gigantic, dog arose from behind a tree. Then the dog lunged at Ruby.
Boom!
Without further thought, Isaac pulled the trigger and the dog went down for good.
“Wow. Your gun indeed is powerful.” Ruby said with shock and surprise.
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here before more of them return.” Isaac said.
Everyone nodded. Without wasting time, they quickly started their return journey.
* * * * *
Chapter 15
Inside the cave
Isaac and team sat on the cave floor in a circular fashion. Isaac took a stick and he began to draw lines on the cave floor. Since they are directly under the roofless part of the cave, everything is clearly visible.
“Okay, south tower is down for good. We should first take out this tower, in the north. We need snipers on trees around this tower.” Isaac said.
“Snipers?” Ruby asked.
“Well, snipers are someone who shoot the enemy by hiding behind something. If you’re good with bow, you can use that instead of guns.” Isaac said.
“We all are good at shooting by hiding somewhere. We are also good at stealth combat.” Ruby said.
“Okay, fair enough. Then, we all will march to the north in the morning.” Isaac said.
Everyone nodded.
“We need food for the journey too.” Robin said.
“We could take dried fish and dried meat with us.” Ruby said.
“Okay. Then prepare everything. Be sure to cover the arrow tips using plastic sheet, since we are going through the water.” Isaac said.
Ruby nodded. Ruby then stood up. A moment later everyone stood up and they all went in their own way.
Ruby, Isaac and Robin moved towards the waterfall.
“Ruby, this mission will be a difficult one. I can’t promise that all of you would return.” Isaac said.
Ruby nodded. “We will do anything for our mother, even if it costs our lives.”
Robin and Isaac nodded.
“Then, let’s send those bitches to hell.” Robin said.
* * * * *
Chapter 16
Planet Zera’s Orbit, A.D. 2077, Ship Victoria
Samson and Sandy took a plateful of nutritious food and they sat around a table. Everyone in the room is hurriedly eating. A moment later Captain Miller came and he sat near Samson.
“Are we there, captain?” Samson asked.
“Oh, yeah. We are there. I have sent two drones to the planet’s surface. That report must have come now.” Miller said.
Samson nodded and he hurriedly finished his meal. Sandy and Miller done the same. Then Samson washed his mouth from a sink and he walked towards the mic. He took the mic and attracted everyone’s attention.
“People, we are near Planet Zera. We will land at any moment from now on. I want all of you ready to take on your jobs. Enemy could be anywhere. And be care
ful.” Samson put down the mic.
