Exodus: Extinction Event

by Kaitlyn O’Connor

  It seemed to take an effort to prevent himself from flicking a look at the others over her head, and his smile was forced. “Ebery ting ok.”

  It was cold as hell outside. Monica was almost sorry she’d decided to follow Kael, but he pulled her close and engulfed her in the fur cape he was wearing. Between his shared warmth and the fur cape, she wasn’t completely miserable and she had no intention of taking a very long walk, in any case. She’d just felt a need to breathe smoke free air and escape the tension inside.

  Her second, second thought came when she discovered the kunga was outside. Other than sniffing her all over, though, he hadn’t done anything to really complain about, hadn’t behaved in a way that made her feel threatened.

  Until then.

  He was running erratic circles around the area just outside of their abode, tumbling in the snow.

  She actually thought he had tripped over something the first time he dropped to roll around, but she saw that he was rooting the snow with his snout, too, almost as if he suspected something was crawling around beneath it.

  His behavior was so erratic, in fact, that a coldness crept over her as she watched him, the uneasy sense that something was seriously wrong with the animal and that he might be dangerous.

  Evidently, Kael also didn’t like the beast’s behavior. He scooped up a handful of snow, squeezed it tightly in his fist, and then threw it at the beast.

  He missed kunga by a mile—no doubt intentionally—but Kunga leapt into the air and caught the snowball with his mouth.

  “Dat crazy ….”

  It hit Monica just as the beast charged them that he was playing.

  She thought.

  Kael took off running, waving his arms and jumping up and down to catch Kunga’s attention, but Kunga wasn’t interested. He charged right past Kael and leapt at Monica, knocking her flat when he caught her upper chest with his paws.

  Startled more than anything, Monica cried out in a voice shaky with fright, “Kael!”

  She realized two things almost instantaneously.

  Kung was playing.

  And Kael didn’t realize it.

  She flung both arms around the beast’s neck a split second before Kael struck with his trey-claw. “Kael! No! He’s just playing! Don’t hurt him!”

  Almost as if the beast knew she’d saved his life, the stuck his juicy ungodly wet tongue out at just that moment and thoroughly lathed her face from chin to forehead. “Ugh!”

  Monica tried to shove him off, but she doubted she would have had any success if Torin hadn’t appeared at that moment and whistled for the beast.

  Kunga’s head came up. His ears lifted.

  Torin whistled again.

  Almost reluctantly, the kunga charged off to his master.

  Monica spat and scrubbed her face.

  Kael dropped to one knee, grasping her arm to help steady her and examining her worriedly. “Meeka ok? No hurt? Damn beast!”

  “Gag! He licked me, damn it! Right on the mouth and I have seen that bastard licking his balls all day long!” She followed the statement by clutching her crotch suggestively and licking the air.

  Kael stared at her blankly for a moment and then burst out laughing.

  “What is funny?” Dar growled, clearly still uncertain of whether Meeka was attacked or not.

  Kael turned to him, stifling his laughter with an effort. “She says the damn thing licked her on the mouth when he’s been licking his balls with that tongue.”

  Dar and Torin both gaped at him for a split second before they both burst out laughing.

  Monica couldn’t help but see the humor of it although she wasn’t happy about the situation in the least. She got up with an effort, surreptitiously scooping a handful of snow in the process and packing it in her palm. “Yeah laugh, you jackasses! Wait till he licks you on the mouth!”

  Dar wasn’t expecting the snowball she lobbed at him. He stared at it blankly for several moments and then ducked just as it got to him.

  It hit Torin square in the face.

  Monica gaped at him in dismay. “Uh oh. Sorry! I was aiming at Dar.”

  Apparently, he didn’t understand English. He scooped up a handful of snow and launched a missile back at her.

  Kunga decided to chase it and bowled Monica over again before she could get out of his way.

  Kael tried to give her a hand up, but Kunga knocked him over, as well.

  Monica sat up, glared at Torin and began pelting Dar and Torin with a barrage of snowballs.

  Then she tried to outrun retaliation—not very successfully considering she was outnumbered two to one.

  Kunga decided he liked the chase game. He chased her down and flattened her again, and then began dragging her by her ankle until she sat up and beat him off.

  All in all, they were a freezing, wet bunch when they headed back in, and exhausted from laughing and running around in the snow like lunatics, but Monica felt more alive, and happier, than she could recall feeling in a very, very long time.

  “Dis jackass … what dis?” Kael asked when they’d settled around the fire to eat.

  “An animal with two very long ears and buck teeth that brays—hee haw!”

  Kael looked confused but he smiled good naturedly.

  Dar and Torin simply stared at her and then exchanged a long look that made her sorry she didn’t have another snowball.

  Kunga tilted his head inquisitively at the sound she made—for all the world like an Earth dog.

  She’d never liked dogs. They were too inclined to be destructive and too needy. She couldn’t afford the aggravation.

  She was glad she’d opted against a pet when they were told they would not be allowed to bring pets of any kind—unless they wanted to risk contributing them to the food stores if they ran short of food.

  She had no idea why it was that she suddenly felt like crying when she’d lost nothing in that respect.

  Almost as if he sensed her sadness the kunga crawled over to her on his belly in a supplicating manner, slapping his tail on the floor, and very carefully eased his snout onto her lap, looking up at her with two of the saddest eyes she’d ever seen.

  Monica stared down at him, sniffing.

  “You aren’t getting my damn dinner, you shit. I don’t care how pitiful you look!”

  * * * *

  Torin felt his belly knot with emotion he could not identify as he watched Kunga crawl to Meeka. He was too surprised to know how he felt about it beyond stunned—because he had never seen the beast behave in such a way.

  Actually, until a little while ago, he had never seen the beast behave so playfully. Even when he had been young he had had more of a tendency to hide from the critical eyes of the other colonists than to come out and play.

  But perhaps that was the answer? He sensed their distrust and even animosity, knew instinctively that they wanted to kill him or drive him off.

  Even though he always earned his keep and then some.

  Even though he had proven ten times over that he was an asset to the colony not a liability, they still despised him, expected him to turn on them.

  Kunga felt safe with Meeka, Torin realized in surprise.

  She was alien. Her scent should not have given him comfort—far from it. And yet, he could scarcely deny it given Kunga’s almost submissive behavior.

  It was an enigma that continued to elude him.

  When they woke the following morning it was to the discovery that Kunga had claimed the empty space at Meeka’s back—vacated by whichever mate was standing guard at the time.

  Torin was not happy about the situation—he found Kunga’s new devotion more than a little disturbing—but she did not object and he did not think that it presented any kind of danger to Meeka. In fact, he thought the opposite was true.

  He knew very well that Dar and Kael stood guard more for his benefit than because they were concerned that man or beast might stumble upon their shelter and attack. They would not have to stand guard
to be on guard. That was to show him they were on guard.

  So Kunga’s added protection was not necessary, but it seemed pretty clear the beast thought he was protecting her by staying close because he did so from that point onward unless he was ordered out to hunt.

  And he left her with obvious reluctance.

  When he asked Dar what Meeka thought of it, she laughed and told Dar that he was determined to foist his love upon her because he knew she did not want it.

  He could not decide from that whether she actually believed what she’d said or if it had been simply meant to be humorous.

  Did her people understand the beasts better? Were they able to communicate with them?

  She had attributed traits and understanding to the beast that only higher beings should have.

  Man was certainly contrary, prone to reacting just the opposite as one would think, particularly in regards to affection, but beasts?

  What, he asked Dar, had her capacity been among her people?

  Dar looked reluctant to ask but finally did.

  “Botanist,” Monica responded with a wry chuckle. “My specialty is plants.” Her passion was plants. She loved growing things … and that was just about as useful on this world as her reproductive organs and her degree in mechanical engineering!

  Torin stared at her curiously, trying to decide whether the laugh denoted the irony of her situation—to be a specialist in plants on a world where so much of the plant life, at least in the immediate area, had been wiped out.

  He supposed, finally, that that must be it.

  It was a pity that he could not speak to her directly. It might have been beneficial to all if he could pick her brain.

  Well, he thought that he had learned her language as well as Dar and Kael in the weeks he had stayed with them, but that was not sufficient to actually conduct a conversation. They communicated needs well enough to work together. They even seemed to manage a smattering of conversation now and then.

  But that would not be sufficient to pass knowledge.

  “Do you think that might make her more desirable to the colony? That would be useful, do you not think?”

  Torin felt his belly clench with a mixture of empathy for Dar and Kael, and regret he had not expected to feel for Meeka.

  “It is possible,” he said, carefully neutral.

  Dar’s lips tightened. “But you do not think it likely?”

  Torin struggled with his response. “I do not know if it would be likely or not. I think many would not really understand what it is that she does. There are few scientists in the group. And, even if they did, they would not think it would be useful because she is alien and cannot know a great deal about the plant life here. She came here after much of it was destroyed or died in the aftermath.

  “I wish that I could believe they would accept her, my friend, but I do not. That is not to say that I am unwilling to do what I can to convince them she would be an asset to our group, but I could promise nothing.”

  * * * *

  His boredom since Torin and Dar had left on a hunt had led Kael to fantasizing about whiling away his time making love to Meeka, but he thought she was more likely to brain him if he tried anything than welcome him.

  They had spent much of the night before making love and she was heavy eyed today with lack of sleep—not desire.

  Truthfully, he was fairly certain that she was not happy that he and Dar had ignored Torin’s presence and made love to her. She had been stiff and unresponsive at first. They had managed to capture her full attention, but she had not been happy about it.

  Chaffing from the inactivity, knowing if he stayed inside much longer he would do something Meeka would make him regret, Kael had decided to go outside to look for something useful to do—like gathering fuel for their fire which he hated with a passion that far surpassed what it should have for such a simple task.

  But it was tedious and he was bored already.

  And then there was the fact that he could not go far without leaving Meeka unprotected and they had pretty much cleaned out the immediate area of everything burnable.

  By dent of sheer determination, he had managed to gather a small armload of sticks and dry dung when it hit.

  At first he was too surprised to grasp why it was that his legs had begun to shimmy. He was not certain that it had completely registered in his mind before he dropped his load and tore off toward their shelter as fast as he could, but all doubts had fled before he made much progress. The gentle shimmy that had made him wonder if there was a strange weakness in his legs had turned to a violent shaking that knocked him off his feet.

  There was a loud roar of sound around him that increased in volume until it was nearly deafening, drowned his voice when he bellowed, “Meeka!"

  He managed to get within sight of the opening to their shelter just in time to see it belch a gust of dust and smoke. “Oh Loka! Tell me she was not in there!”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Monica was so exhausted she could barely see straight, let alone think, but as tempted as she was to climb back on the pallet and sleep, she had a bad feeling she would have to brain Kael with something if she did.

  As if it wasn’t enough that he and Dar had ignored their audience and fucked her silly the night before!

  Because it was her damned time of the month and they weren’t missing a chance at pussy without consequences!

  And maybe they didn’t care but actually got a little thrill out of being watched, but she damned sure didn’t!

  Granted, she had cum, but she’d had to work at it when she usually didn’t.

  And she’d felt suppressed about the whole business so she couldn’t just let herself go and thoroughly enjoy the attention.

  No—sleep was out anyway she looked at it. Kael would join her and she would have to do something nasty—which meant she wouldn’t get any sleep even if she managed to oust him.

  In fact, she had days more of little to no sleep to look forward to.

  Because evidently they didn’t trust her.

  Or maybe they hadn’t understood any of her ‘confession’ about not being able to get pregnant?

  They still considered her period the only safe time for sex.

  She shrugged off her irritation after a little bit. Getting up from her stool by the fire with an effort, she gathered a little fuel and fed it until she could tell it was getting warmer and then she lit a number of candles to help with the heat and the light.

  Gathering several in one arm, she made her way through the door at the back to the facilities.

  She didn’t think she could stand a full bath as cold as it was, but she thought dabbing at it would help her to wake up and hopefully, make her feel a little better.

  It was so dark and cold and damp in the ‘bathroom’ area that the candles hardly penetrated either the darkness or the cold. They did at least help her to see a little better and when she’d used the pot, she moved to the ‘shower’ debating whether to just take the plunge and use the icy water that had collected there or to go back and wait half a day to heat some water.

  She’d just reached for the water when she noticed her legs felt funny and the sensation was creeping upwards.

  The shaking intensified in a matter of seconds to the point that she knew it was a quake not a weakness of her body.

  But by the time her mind finally screamed ‘run’, it was already too late. Pebbles and dirt began to rain down around her and then larger stones. She’d already headed toward the doorway that led out before she realized the stones were coming down so fast she’d be buried alive or stoned to death if she even tried to escape that way.

  Whirling, she fled to the shower—the only thing in the room that presented any shelter at all. The rocking intensified, pitching her off balance. She lost her footing even as she dove inside the cubicle and landed on her knees on the hard stone. Ignoring the pain, she struggled to climb inside the shower for the shelter it offered. A choking wall of dirt engulfed he
r and then something that felt like an elephant landed on her leg.

  She felt the bone snap. She screamed. A wave of intense pain and nausea washed through her and then she was swallowed up by darkness.

  * * * *

  Typically, when Torin gave Kunga the command to hunt, the beast took off running, very quickly disappeared from sight, and shortly afterward reappeared chasing some beast toward them.

  This time was no different in the first respect.

  They had left the general area of the shelter by a goodly distance before Kunga picked up a scent and alerted Torin to the possibility of a kill. He gave it the command to hunt and Kunga took off at a dead run. He skidded to a halt only a matter of yards from them, however, lifting his head as if he heard something they did not.

  Surprised, Torin tightened his grip on his weapon and lifted his head to listen, as well.

  He did not hear anything but just about the time Kunga launched himself in a dead run heading back toward their camp, he felt something.

  Something ominous.

  “Shake! It is a Ducran quake!”

  Dar, who’d been staring, dumbfounded, at the rapidly disappearing beast, abruptly leapt into motion and began to race after the kunga. “Meeka! Kael! Loka’s balls! They are in the shelter!”

  Stumbling and falling when the shaking intensified until it tossed them to the ground, both men struggled up and tried to run, did their best to move as quickly as possible in a situation that made running nearly impossible.

  There was no sign of Kael or Kunga or Meeka when they arrived at the abode, but smoke and dust was still wafting from the crumbled opening.

  Dar’s heart sank, but he dashed to the opening without hesitation.

  “We will do them no good if we are crushed!” Torin growled, trying to appeal to Dar’s logic.

  It was a wasted effort. Dar had no logic at that moment. All he could think of was digging his mates out as quickly as possible.

  They discovered when they got inside that Kael was already working on removing rubble from the back.

  In actuality he was removing the debris Kunga was pitching at him, for Kunga was burrowing at the pile frantically, whimpering and making strange mewling sounds none of them had ever heard before.