Natural Selection

by Dave Freedman

  “Well . . . yeah.”

  “That logic doesn’t hold, Monique. Just look at man. Man evolved faster than any species in the history of the planet. What it took the others millions of years to do, we did in just ten thousand. So who says this species couldn’t evolve even faster than that? I mean, imagine what would happen if there were a million of those things flying around out there.”

  “A million?” Jason thought that was insane. “Craig, that’s not possible. That’s not even close to possible. There’s one animal out there right now. How do you get to a million?”

  “Jason, you know how big the damn oceans are. Two miles deep on average and almost triple the surface area of land. Triple. Do you realize how much space that is? We have no idea how many of those things there could be down there.”

  “It’s nowhere near a million.”

  “No? Do you know what the worldwide shark population is?”

  A pause. “No, I don’t.”

  “Fifty billion.”

  “No way.”

  A firm nod. “Fifty billion. And if these rays have been around for as long as the sharks have . . . Who knows how many of them there could be.”

  No one said anything. They just digested the possibilities.

  Jason cleared his throat. “So what are you saying here, Craig? That this thing could be our apocalypse?”

  “Is it so ridiculous? All the doomsayers always said it would be a virus. Maybe it’s this thing instead.”

  “I think we better just kill the one that’s out there now,” Phil chipped in from the chair.

  Darryl stood. “I’ll drink to that. In fact, why doesn’t everyone drink to that?” He grabbed a six-pack of Budweiser from the kitchen and returned. “Lord Socrates,” he said, tossing Craig his.

  Six beers were raised, clanked together, and tipped toward the ceiling. As the amber liquid flowed, the others reluctantly admitted that Craig Summers had raised some fascinating points. What if there really were a million Demonrays? Or just a dozen? Or even two or three?

  But they all told themselves that wasn’t realistic. For once, Phil Martino was right. They had to kill the one that was out there now.

  NO ONE slept soundly.

  At six the next morning, Jason turned over on his bed when there was a knock on his door.

  Craig entered rapidly, fully dressed and tense. “We just got a reading, Jason.”

  He jolted up. “Where?”

  “In the same area it’s been returning to. Right where I thought it would be. Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER 79

  A BLINKING dot moved quickly across the sweeping green line, disappeared, then continued as the next sweep popped up.

  “Where’s it going?” Jason said, totally without his bearings.

  Summers glanced at a map. “Toward us. Looks like near the first thermal camera . . . We might get a visual here. . . .” Craig bounced to the thermal monitor, enlarging one of the images to full screen. The view was aimed skyward along a redwood trunk: the dark gray trunk, then, above it, a lighter gray forest canopy and bits of sky.

  Suddenly, beneath the canopy, a solid white form sped into the frame. It continued for a moment, then banked and flew straight down, heading directly for the camera. It steadily grew larger, then banked again, just above the lens, and sped off and disappeared.

  “Where the hell did it go? . . .” Craig checked the other images but didn’t see it anywhere. “It’s got to be around here somewhere.”

  Jason just stared at the monitor. “Can you replay that?”

  Craig hit a button and replayed it in slo-mo . . . the massive white form eased into the frame . . . continued slowly . . . turned straight down . . . gradually grew larger . . . then very large. . . . Then Craig hit another button, freezing it.

  They all stared at the image. It was eerie, the huge eyes, the protruding horns, the open mouth, the teeth . . . all in bright white.

  Craig nodded. “Right where I thought it would be. Told you this stuff would help, Hoss.”

  Darryl just gave the frozen image a dirty look. “Let’s see where it is when we get out there.”

  THE EARLY-MORNING air was crisp and cool. And oddly, without a trace of fog. It was quiet, too. Just two sounds. Their hissing walkie-talkies and little snaps from underneath their boots.

  The hunting circle moved slowly. Every head turned, looking high, low, left, right, back, and front.

  Jason just looked up, wondering where the fog was.

  At the head of the circle, Darryl wondered the same thing. Studying the patches of blue through the canopy, he was growing increasingly uneasy. “I don’t think it’s up there.” He halted. “It wouldn’t have anywhere to hide.”

  Craig nodded. “The readings were from further ahead.”

  Darryl ignored this, not moving. He didn’t think the creature was close.

  And yet the forest was so very silent.

  THE DEMONRAY banked silently, careful not to make a sound.

  It had been waiting for them to stop. Now that they had, it glided away from them. Just above the treetops, it tuned in for something else.

  After a minute, it detected what it was searching for. It found a hole in the canopy and plunged through it. As it banked over a huge patch of pink flowers, it saw them, nibbling on a fern patch. A family of deer, eight animals covered in soft brown fur, chewing their food unknowingly.

  The largest, a three-hundred-pound big-horned buck, saw the creature first, then froze. Simply “not moving” was a well-known tactic deer used to evade detection from predators. The Demonray flew straight for them.

  The buck galloped away and the others followed. Within seconds, they were streaking through the trees.

  The predator caught up instantly, but did not attack. With the cool morning air surging past it’s head, it carefully scanned the sprinting animals, first the buck, then the smaller does, then, bringing up the rear, a tiny fawn.

  The black eyes locked onto the fawn. The little animal was doing its best to stay up with the herd but wasn’t quite able. Its big eyes suddenly went wide when a powerful surge of wind blew through its fur. Then it leaped over a fern patch but didn’t come down.

  It had been caught by a pair of enormous teeth.

  Very much alive, the fawn suddenly began to ascend. As saliva dripped onto its head, it watched as its family ran away below and disappeared. Then it was whisked toward the treetops. . . .

  The Demonray continued for a minute when it abruptly banked. Easing into a glide, it surveyed a clearing hundreds of feet below, lined by trunks, rhododendrons, and ferns, and not outwardly special in any way.

  Then it released the fawn.

  When the tiny animal landed, it tried to run, but couldn’t even get up. Its legs weren’t working.

  The creature watched it coldly, simultaneously tuning to six human heartbeats nearby. Then it banked and flew away.

  “THIS IS where we saw it. It was from that camera, right there.” Craig gestured to a black thermal camera on top of a tripod, pointed up along a redwood trunk.

  Phil’s eyes darted nervously, scanning the empty forest. “It must have moved, huh?”

  Craig raised the radar gun to the sky, and the sweeping green line in back was empty. “I guess so.”

  “There’s not a trace of fog here,” Jason observed.

  Darryl eyed the camera suspiciously, just sitting there on its tripod. He couldn’t make sense of it. “Let’s go. Everybody pay attention.” He walked forward.

  They passed redwoods, ferns, a giant fallen tree, and then they saw it. Darryl first. A fawn in the middle of a clearing. It was just lying on the dirt, a tiny animal, maybe two feet tall and covered in white spots. Darryl couldn’t say why exactly, but something didn’t smell right about it being there. Plus, it was clearly in pain. He removed an arrow, aimed, and—

  “Darryl, please don’t.”

  He hesitated. It was his wife.

  “Ahh . . . Jesus Christ, Monique . . .”


  “Please, Darryl. Please.”

  He lowered the weapon, and she trotted toward the fawn.

  Jason looked up at the sky, wondering what was going on.

  Darryl studied the sky too, eyes darting. “I don’t think the damn thing’s around here.”

  Monique crouched next to the fawn and saw it was shivering slightly. “Oh, your leg’s broken.” She petted its head, trying to calm it down.

  Darryl looked around suspiciously. “Think it would try something without the fog, Jason?”

  “I don’t know.” But Jason felt like Darryl did. Something didn’t smell right.

  Darryl eyed his wife. She’d put her rifle down and was holding the tiny deer in her arms now. “I don’t like this. Let’s head back. Let’s head back right now.”

  “Wait a second.” Craig raised his radar gun. “I got something here.”

  Phil scanned the sky in every direction. “Where?”

  Darryl suddenly pointed. “There.”

  Instantaneously, an enormous swooping mass fell out of the sky, arching away from them.

  Darryl aimed, but the creature was moving much too rapidly, darting behind a grove of trees. But pieces of it were visible. It was within reach. Darryl sprinted after it, Craig, Jason, Phil, and Lisa rapidly following. Flying at head height, the speeding form came into view. Darryl halted and fired twice, but missed. The predator surged away, still within sight.

  They ran hard and saw it again. Just above the forest floor, rushing over ferns and rhododendrons . . .

  Darryl slowed to shoot, but the animal hurtled past the foliage and the shot was gone.

  They ran hard for ten more minutes, the Demonray darting in and out among the trunks. Finally, Darryl had a shot. He dropped to one knee and . . . Jason ran up just as he released. The arrow rocketed away, on a rope, ripping toward the creature. It was the most amazing display of marksmanship Jason had ever seen. He actually felt the arrow tearing through the air. A hit, a hit, a palpable hit.

  The creature suddenly banked, and the arrow plunged into a tree, splintering to pieces.

  They ran after it. Darryl fired twice more but missed both times. Craig fired three times, all misses.

  Suddenly the animal was gone. Disappeared. Darryl froze, looking all around the forest.

  Craig ran up, gasping. “Where the hell is it?”

  But the forest was silent. Nothing moved.

  Jason, Phil, and Lisa ran up.

  “How’d we keep up with it for so long?”

  Darryl turned to Jason. “What?”

  “How’d we keep up with it?” Jason tried to catch his breath. “I think it let us stay close.”

  Phil looked around. “Why would it have done that?”

  Darryl Hollis suddenly felt ill. “How far did we just run?”

  Jason checked his watch; they’d largely sprinted hard for a total of fifteen minutes, so . . . “A mile at least.”

  Darryl tried to stay calm. “A mile at least. So we’re too far to run back now.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, Monique’s not here.” Darryl swallowed nervously. “I think that thing isolated us from Monique.”

  CHAPTER 80

  JASON STARED at Darryl. Everyone stared at Darryl.

  He methodically exhaled a few times. This was no time to panic. “Can I borrow your walkie-talkie, Lisa?”

  She shoved it to him, and he pressed the button. “Monique, you there?”

  He waited a moment.

  One second ticked past. Then another.

  The walkie-talkie was silent, just a light hissing.

  “Am I pressing this damn button right?”

  Lisa eyed his finger. “Yes.”

  He pressed it again. “Monique, you there? Monique?”

  He waited again.

  Again, there was nothing.

  He turned to Craig nervously.

  Then the walkie-talkie crackled. “Hey, Darryl.” She sounded as casual as ever.

  Darryl breathed easier. “Are you OK?”

  “Fine. You guys ran off, and I couldn’t keep up holding this little guy.”

  Her tone was all wrong. She didn’t understand what was happening. “Do you see that thing around there anywhere?”

  “No, it’s just me and this cute little fawn.”

  “Forget the goddamn fawn, Monique!” Darryl exhaled, calming down. “I think that thing set you up somehow.”

  “Set me up? It’s not even here, Darryl.”

  Darryl eyed Jason. “Any way this is just a coincidence? That maybe it went somewhere else?”

  Jason didn’t answer right away. He replayed what had happened. “This is no coincidence. No way. Somehow, it lured us to that area, to that specific area. I just don’t know h—Craig, those readings we got . . . It did detect that equipment. It detected it and used it against us. It called us to that exact spot.”

  Summers replayed it, too. “Son of a bitch; you might be right. . . . But why? Why there?”

  Jason went over it again. “The fawn. There was something strange with that fawn being there.”

  “Like what?”

  Jason began pacing. “What if the ray knew how Monique would react when she saw it?”

  “How could it possibly know th—”

  “The mountain-lion cub in the bear trap. Darryl, it was up in the fog watching us yesterday. It saw Monique’s reaction to that lion cub. So it called us to that exact spot with the equipment, it found the fawn, broke its leg, then waited for Monique to find it. When she did, it swooped down to draw us away, then kept going until we were so far removed that we couldn’t get back to her.”

  Darryl swallowed sickly. It made horrifying sense. “Monique, did you hear all that?”

  She hesitated over the hissing. “How could it possibly have broken the fawn’s leg?”

  Darryl felt like vomiting. He had no clue; he just knew it had happened. “Jason?”

  Jason took the walkie-talkie, thinking it out. “It must have carried it in its mouth, Monique, then dropped it from the air. Is the fawn’s fur sticky, like from saliva?”

  MONIQUE HOLLIS swallowed nervously.

  She didn’t need to look. The tiny animal was covered with dried splotches of something. She’d been wondering what they were all along.

  “Is its damn fur sticky?”

  This was Darryl’s voice again.

  “Yeah, Darryl. It is.” She calmly put the fawn down, grabbing her rifle off the soil.

  She looked up. The forest was silent. No sign of the creature anywhere, just branches, tree trunks, and evergreen for as far as the eye could see. And still not a trace of fog.

  “It’s not here.” Not yet anyway.

  “You sure?”

  She scanned everywhere. “Positive.”

  Although she had to admit . . . it was very, very quiet.

  “STAY COOL,” Darryl said, his face as tight as a guitar string. He reconsidered running back to her, but there wasn’t enough time. He turned. “You buy that it’s not there yet, Jason?”

  Jason quickly ran some numbers in his head, quadruple-checking calculations he’d made earlier. Maybe the Demonray had flown slower than he’d anticipated, but he thought he’d estimated its speed conservatively. “If it’s not, it should be very soon.”

  “Keep your eyes peeled, Monique.”

  But even as Darryl said the words, Jason feared she just wasn’t seeing something.

  MONIQUE TURNED, scanning everything, trunks, branches, patches of blue sky. There was nothing up there, nothing at all.

  “It’s not here.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Goddamn it; I’m positive!” She clutched her rifle tightly, still searching. “It must have gone somewhere else.”

  DARRYL TURNED to Jason. “Could it have gone somewhere else?”

  Jason swallowed nervously. “I don’t think so.”

  Darryl nodded. “Monique, it’s gotta be there.”

  MON
IQUE WALKED back in the direction they’d come from.

  “Wait a second. . . .” Was it wrapped around a tree?

  “What is it?”

  She walked closer. . . . It was something a hundred feet up . . . something big and dark.

  “Monique, what is it?”

  She walked closer still.

  No, just a discoloration in the bark.

  “Nothing. There’s nothing here, I really think you might have jumped the gun.”

  DARRYL looked to Jason for support but he shook his head firmly, eyes glaring. “It’s up to something. It’s there, I’m telling you; it’s got to be there. Craig, do you remember anything special about that area when we set up the equipment? Anywhere it could be hiding?”

  Craig frantically searched his brain. “Jesus, Jason . . . no.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yeah, I don’t remember a goddamn thing!”

  “Something’s up, Darryl.” Jason shook his head. “It’s hiding somehow. Get her out of there; get her out of there right now.”

  MONIQUE CONTINUED walking, still looking up.

  “Monique, just get out of there.”

  She walked faster, heading to the fallen tree they’d passed earlier. “Where is it?”

  “Just get out of there! Run!”

  She walked faster still. “Where is it, Darryl? I wanna know where it is.”

  “We don’t know!”

  She jogged, frantically scanning the skyline, spinning in circles. “Where is it? I just want to see it.”

  “Goddamn it, get out of there!”

  She jogged faster, still looking up.

  THE EYES were looking up at her.

  Less than fifty feet away, the predator was flat on the soil, its colossal form gently rising and falling. It was in front of the fallen tree. The tree’s dark coloring closely matched its own and made it very difficult to see, especially with the dark soil. The animal knew that if someone had been inclined to look up, and wasn’t looking right at it, he or she wouldn’t even notice it was there.