Extinction Page 5

  He was gasping, coughing, sucking in breath after breath of alien air.

  She exhaled and then sampled another deep breath.

  Her lungs weren’t on fire. She wasn’t suffocating. Her body wasn’t shutting down. The air might be clean, and alien, but it worked. She was alive. Living. Breathing.

  She knelt next beside Martin and placed a hand on his back. “Slow down, Martin. Slow down. Breathe slowly. In. Out. In. Out.”

  She inhaled through her nostrils. Exhaled out of her mouth.

  It seemed impossible, but she tasted the difference. Smelled the difference. She could not believe how pure she felt.

  Her grandfather told stories about camping in the wilderness. He’d load up the family and a tent. They would drive out of the city, leaving smog and crime and technology behind. For a week they lived in the mountains and fed off the land. They fished and hunted for food. At night they sat around a campfire; the sky was lit with stars. Those same stars were in the sky when home, but city lights dimmed the view to almost non-existent.

  By the time her father was in school, though, most of the forests were gone. The mountains were littered with dwelling complexes. The space was too valuable.

  She remembered always wanting a vacation like that, and her father always saying he wished he could take her, that the experience was like nothing else he could compare it to.

  Here she was on an alien planet, and except for carnivorous giant lizards, she couldn’t help imagining this was as close as she’d come to vacationing in the mountains with family—if the mountains were replaced with a dangerous jungle, and Martin was substituted for family.

  She wanted to laugh, but refrained. “Martin?”

  He finally stopped gasping. Still coughing, he sat up on his heels. He clapped a hand against his chest. He took slow, deep breaths. His eyes were wide. They stared at Aria in disbelief. “We’re breathing.”

  When he smiled, she smiled back. “This is good. We’re good. Now we just need to find the ship.”

  “We’re okay. We’re going to make it,” he said.

  She wouldn’t deny him hope. They were far from safe, lost in a jungle of predators. If he needed a crutch, she’d let him have it, especially if it helped him run faster. “We’re going to make it!”

  Several yards away, the ground cover began parting.

  Twigs snapped.

  Aria saw something jump and then disappear.

  Whatever was running at them was small, low to the ground.

  There was more than one.

  “Martin,” she said, standing up and grabbing him by the arm. “We have to go. Now.”

  Martin looked back. He must have seen what she saw. He let Aria help him to his feet. They didn’t discuss which way to go next. They just ran.

  The things behind them closed the gap quickly.

  Aria kept looking back, firing blindly, and hoping she either hit something, or the sound of the blast would scare the creatures away. Nothing screamed in pain. And from what she saw when chancing a peek, more of those things—whatever they were—had joined in on the chase.

  Martin was several feet ahead of her. She wouldn’t have thought he could run so fast. Firing off useless shots slowed her down. The things closed the gap between them. The way they lept over the logs and fallen branches, they’d be on her in seconds. She pumped her legs as hard as she could. She watched the ground. If she tripped and fell, it was over.

  The things were squealing. Squeaking. Either they’d just started making the noises, or they were so close she could hear it now. It wasn’t good. It meant they were excited. They knew they’d catch her.

  She couldn’t outrun them.

  There was no way she’d give up.

  She had to make it back to the ship. Their world depended on the samples collected. They needed to know about the creatures roaming the planet.

  She wanted to make it back home.

  Squal. Squeak.

  They were closer.

  Close.

  She ran faster, as fast as she could.

  Her lungs now felt like they were on fire. It wasn’t the air she breathed; it was the cardio she wasn’t ready for. All of her training, even in boot camp, hadn’t prepared her for this type of chase.

  She kept seeing herself tripping.

  Grace was never her strong point.

  Shrieking came from above—an ear piercing sound. It made her bones shake. Shielding her eyes from the sun, she looked up.

  Three giant birds flew through the air. The wingspan had to be over fifteen feet wide. The body was long, thin. They had tails.

  As if communicating with their shrieks, they dipped down and dove right at her. She crossed her arms over her head for protection from sharp talons on the end of three-toed feet.

  The toe of her boot caught under something. She was flung forward. She landed on outstretched hands.

  She rolled over onto her back, ready to face death.

  Chapter 13

  There was little time for thinking. The lizard with the bowed, sharp spine ran at them. Braddox placed Candice down in the tall grass. It was his only option. Otherwise, they’d both die.

  “Don’t move,” he told her. “Stay still! You hear me?”

  He stood up.

  “Stay still!”

  As he ran, waving his arms, trying to draw the lizard’s attention, he yelled, “Don’t move!”

  He ran to the west, away from the river, away from the ship, away from Candice. “Here I am! Come get me! Hey, come and get me!”

  He hoped the thing changed course and was chasing him now. He wanted it to leave Candice alone. He didn’t look back, but kept waving his arms in the air, and yelling, “Here I am!”

  His mask hummed steadily. The lights inside displayed in constant red.

  He was out of air.

  The thing would have him in seconds. He couldn’t get far enough away from Candice to give her a fighting chance.

  He breathed hard and fast.

  The air was too clean. That was the issue.

  There was no other choice. The faceplate was being sucked in tight. There was nothing left to breathe in the tank.

  He removed the helmet and threw it aside. He never slowed his pace.

  He held his breath while he ran. If he could make it back into the jungle, he could hide, and force the giant lizard to search for his suffocated body. That could buy Candice a minute or two.

  She might be out of air as well. Although she hadn’t been breathing as heavy. It wasn’t like she had been carrying him.

  He exhaled. His head felt like it might explode. He didn’t want to pass out. He didn’t want this thing to catch him.

  He breathed in the air as he ran.

  The air wasn’t stopping him. When he realized he wasn’t going to die from what filled his lungs, he felt rejuvenated, almost refreshed. He picked up the pace, and trampled forward back into the jungle. He cut right and left. He lept over logs, and stumps, and anything that might trip him up.

  For the first time the thought he might make it, that he could get away from that thing, outrun the giant lizard chasing him.

  And then he heard it crashing through the trees behind him.

  He only realized other creatures had been chirping and making noises when he couldn’t hear them anymore. Everything was replaced by the sound of tall trees falling over. It echoed inside the jungle. The pounding of the lizard’s feet sent out ground-shaking tremors. Nothing else under the canopy made a sound. He bet those other creatures were thrilled seeing new prey, him, the attention off them.

  I’m losing my mind, he thought.

  He would have laughed if he weren’t grinding his teeth while he ran. He needed a place to hide. If he couldn’t find somewhere soon, the monstrosity would catch and eat him.

  Of all the things he worried about prior to the journey—never waking up from the sleep chamber, flying way off course, asteroids blowing up the mother ship—he never once feared he might get e
aten. It had never crossed his mind. Maybe he expected semi-intelligent alien life forms, but nothing like this. Not in his wildest dreams. Lizards as tall as buildings chasing him through a jungle had never been on his radar.

  He hoped his running helped Candice. She had mostly been out of it when he set her down. She’d lost so much blood, he couldn’t expect much from her. She might not have the strength to get to safety, to get back to the ship.

  Seeing two completely different lizards forced him to accept truths. There had to be more out there. Maybe a variety of types, species. It only made sense. These lizards were the alphas on the planet. Nothing else stood a chance against them. He couldn’t imagine a colony from home settling down here. The blue waters and the vegetation all looked good. The air was more than breathable, and it was preferable. He noticed the difference breathing it in and out. It tasted and smelled clean. There wasn’t smog and stench associated with it like back home.

  They couldn’t survive.

  The giant lizards would decimate a colony.

  Even a heavily armed colony.

  Blasters didn’t seem to affect the lizards at all. Their scales, or shells, or whatever it was that made up their. . .skin, was like armor. Impenetrable armor.

  There was only one viable option. He was small, compared to the thing chasing him, and low to the ground. He could hurdle debris, cut left and right easier. Best chance at surviving was if he kept running. Stamina.

  The fresh air felt amazing inside his lungs.

  He watched his footing. Every step he made could be his last. There were too many obstacles. He set palms down on a log, threw his legs over, and continued forward. He dodged thorned branches.

  Without looking back, he knew he was putting distance between them.

  It was slowing down.

  He wasn’t sure how far they’d run from the ship. There was no way he was confident they’d gone far enough.

  Whistling while he ran and waving his arms, he opened antagonizing the lizard worked. If that thing gave up on him, it might turn back and hunt down Candice.

  That wasn’t acceptable.

  He couldn’t hear trees falling.

  How long had it been since he’d heard wood splintering?

  Looking over his shoulder, he came to a stop.

  The lizard was no longer behind him. . .

  He heard someone screaming. He didn’t think it was Candice, though. It had to be someone else.

  Chapter 14

  Aria couldn’t believe she was about to die. This journey was supposed to change her life. She didn’t care about fame. She didn’t volunteer for the mission so when she returned home she’d be in demand. It wasn’t ever about the interviews, the celebrity-status associated with her name, with her accomplishments, and with the research conducted, or because she’d helped find a comparable planet worthy of colonization.

  If she received any popularity, so be it. She thought about some of these things, of course. And before they’d launched, she’d been on late night talk shows and morning TV. It was exciting and a bit surreal. It didn’t matter, though. It was just heightened daydreaming.

  What she wanted, hoped for, was far more basic, and something she’d always felt denied. Above all else, she wished for love and marriage. She wanted kids.

  Her days were too routine. She went to work, home, to bed, and repeated the cycle six days a week. Although she would never give up her career, she wanted to share her life with someone. She longed for a family.

  Now she knew she had been dreaming.

  It would never happen. Couldn’t. Dead had a way of preventing the future.

  The things coming at her resembled rats, but were the size of dogs. They looked hungry. Big round black eyes locked on her. There were no whites. No pupils. The entire eyeball was black. Immense fangs lined the mouth under twitching white whiskers that looked more like sharp, dangerous quills.

  Some of the monstrous rodents hopped over everything in the tall grass. Others charged forward, leaving a path of trampled blades behind. They were all headed directly for her. The end had come. She saw no way out of this.

  The giant birds in the sky reminded Aria of bats the size of albatross. The wingspans gave the impression of space fighters from back home. If lasers beams shot from the bird beaks, she wouldn’t be surprised. Nothing about this planet surprised her anymore. A beautiful world with plenty of water, trees, and a variety of terrain seemed like an answer to their wants and needs. The deadly lizards brought an element no one expected. She only hoped the other recon missions had better luck; were safe on the planets they ventured toward. One of the teams had to find a new home, or everyone on her planet was doomed.

  Aria’s breath caught in her lungs as a series of unexpected things all happened at once.

  As she was about to turn, a last ditch effort at fleeing, a huge rat leapt onto the small log she’d tripped over and then launched itself in the air toward her. A massive bird dove from the sky. Talons clutched the rat and swooped away.

  While she thought nothing about the planet could surprise her, it was Martin who ended up stunning her most. He jumped in front of her, her blaster in his hands. He screamed as he fired. His shots hit nothing. He kept shooting, kept yelling. He panned left and right. The blaster spat rounds in a constant, chig-chig-chig-chig-chig. Flames shot from the mouth of the barrel.

  One rat exploded. Then another. A third’s head splattered the fourth behind it.

  A fifth jumped toward his chest.

  His scream went from adrenaline-wild to terrified as the octaves rose, crackling in his throat. He dropped the blaster as the rat latched onto him. His hands went to the rat’s neck in an attempt to keep from being bitten. The weight of the rat knocked him backward. Its hind legs dug fast and furious threw his suit and into his flesh.

  He lost his balance, and fell backward, but before he hit the ground, a second bird stabbed six sharp talons from its two claws into his body. Two pierced just under the front of his collarbone, four were thrusted into his back. With a flapping of wings that sounded like a hurricane unleashed around her, Aria watched the bird lift Martin and the flailing rat into the air.

  She rolled over in the grass and retrieved the dropped blaster. On her knees, she aimed as best she could before firing. If she couldn’t bring down the bird, hitting Martin might not be horrible. His screams echoed down from the sky.

  The bird’s head raised up. One claw released Martin.

  Aria fired on the creature again.

  The rodent caught fire and fell away. It hit the grassy ground and scurried off toward the trees; if she didn’t know any better, it cried the entire way.

  Holding the blaster up and out, she closed an eye and trained the crosshairs on the bird’s underside, aiming right for the gut. She squeezed the trigger over and over. The recoil from firing the weapon slammed repeatedly into her shoulder. She didn’t stop until the thing squawked, faltered in its flight, and finally released Martin.

  She hadn’t killed the bird. It, and the third winged monster, flew away, joining the other that scored a rodent.

  Martin hit the ground hard.

  He didn’t bounce back the way the rat had.

  She ran toward him, calling out his name. Her heart was beating wildly inside her chest. He had saved her life.

  But for how long?

  “Martin?”

  She reached him and dropped to her knees beside him. Blood bubbled up out of his mouth. He was alive. His eyes were open. It took a moment for them to find her. His hand rose up. She clasped it into her own. “You saved me, Martin. You saved me.”

  “My bag,” he said. “My bag.”

  The man was dying, but not selfish. He wanted his samples saved. He proved to be a more courageous than she ever expected. People at home needed to hear about his heroics. “I’m with you,” she said, squeezing his hand.

  He was looking at her. His eyes didn’t seem focused. There was blood behind them. It also dripped from his nose.
Knowing she was crying, she tried to hold back her sobs. She wanted her strength showing, her appreciation. “Thank you,” she said. It sounded stupid, trivial. She meant it.

  “The bag,” he said.

  His eyes stayed open. Lifeless. She placed her palm on his face and gently closed them.

  She looked around. All she wanted was help. There was no one to call on. She didn’t want to leave his body here, not in the grass for the animals to pick him apart. The thought made her stomach churn. She heaved and wrapped an arm around her waist.

  His bag was slung over a shoulder. She lifted it off him, trying not to stare at his corpse. She hoped his soul was somewhere better. He shouldn’t have died like this.

  She wasn’t going to die like this.

  Somewhere behind her a lizard roared.

  As much as she didn’t want Martin left behind, it was time to go. She needed to get back to the ship. Now.

  Chapter 15

  Aria ran through the grass and back into the thicket of the jungle. She was covered in sweat; the heat was nearly too much. If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear her skin was melting off the bone. Banged up and bruised, she held onto her side while she ran. She thought she might have a broken rib from when she fell. She hoped it was pulled muscles, and nothing more. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t slow down. She ignored the pain and continued on.

  To the far right were mountains. Tall red rock formations. There were caves along the cliffside. Holes that led deeper into the mountain. They could actually prove perfect places to hide from giant lizards. She wasn’t sure how she’d scale the face, though.

  The one thing she knew for sure, Liberation was not that way.

  She adjusted her course, dismayed by how lost she was. She feared the others were dead as well. She’d been unable to raise any of them on the comm. No one tried to reach her. Racing toward the ship might prove merely consolation, and little else. She was no pilot. No one had ever shown her the first thing about flying. Reaching the ship, alone and the sole survivor would be useless, a mere coffin as her final resting place.