AZ Mystery – chapter 5

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I woke hearing a little girl shriek. I grabbed my carbine and ran out of the tent. She was pointing at something in the distance, as she yelled, “WHAT IS THAT?”

I quieted her with a quick ‘Shhh!’

The rest of our assorted group were waking up too. I looked where she was pointing and saw a very large snake-like creature a long distance away, 800 meters, maybe a click. It was about three meters high and twenty long. I looked through my scope. It had four sword-like appendages near its mouth, and was cutting a dead bison apart with them. It took no more than 15 seconds to dismember and eat the whole animal, probably over a ton! It started moving toward us, slithering across the rocky ground.

Pedro read my mind. “Keisha, what happened to all the cliffs?” He was right, there were none of the stone walls in sight. In a few directions I could see three or four kilometers with no obstructions in the way.

Pedro rested the huge sniper rifle’s bipod on a log and looked at the beast. It was around 500 meters away now, and still approaching. I kneeled and aimed for the center of the monster’s mouth. I quietly said to him, “Last one to hit it makes breakfast.” I squeezed off a shot. ‘Bang.’

I hit its back but it didn’t seem to notice. I fired three more times. ‘Bang. Bang. Bang.’

I was sure at least two hit it, and I heard a ricochet off the thing’s tough hide. A small bit of orange liquid dripped from its mouth. I had hurt it, at least a little.

I was about to fire again when Pedro took a shot. Instead of a ‘Bang.’, there was a powerful ‘KAABOOM!!!’ Dust flew up, obstructing our vision a moment. I couldn’t believe what I saw. The mighty 50 cal had only put a dent in the side of it and didn’t penetrate! All it did was anger the creature!

“Pedro, the mouth! Shoot it in the mouth!”

It was only 200 meters away now, and approaching fast!

I heard another ‘KAABOOM!!!’ with no apparent affect. I fired off the rest of a magazine on full-auto. ‘Budududududuh!’

In the time it took for me to drop the empty mag and load a fresh one, Pedro got off another shot, then yelled, “FUCK!” when his big rifle jammed. The monster was only 50 meters away now! In seconds it would eat us! For only the second time, I did it slightly before I said it. “SHIT!”

I slapped the full clip in tight, yanked the charging handle, and started to pull the trigger as the muzzle swung on target. I heard a loud “WHOOSH!”, followed half a second later by a “BOOM!”, then a girl crying. The monster disappeared in a cloud of flame and smoke. Bits of flesh and orange blood flew high into the sky. It rained alien parts for a several seconds, splattering Pedro and I with stinky orange goo.

I thought, “At least the mess will hide my booty malfunction.” The girl continued to cry, and I turned to look at her. She was laying on the ground holding her shoulder. A still-smoking AT4 launcher laid a few steps behind her on the ground. I was stunned when I realized … I asked her, “How did you learn to fire a rocket launcher?”

“OW! I saw it in a movie! OWOWOW! It hurts!”

I checked her and saw the shoulder was dislocated. “I’m sorry kid, but when I fix it, it’ll hurt a lot for a second. Can you be a brave girl for me? Be strong like a soldier, and take the pain to make it better?” I saw tears pouring down her face, but she nodded. “I’m going to pull it hard to fix it when I count to three, ok?”

She took a deep breath. “Okay.” I took a firm grip on her wrist and elbow. A little deception would save her some suffering, so … “Here we go. One …” I yanked it and set it in place.

“EEEEEH! OWWW! OWWW! OWWW!” I patted her cheek, and started to make a sling for her arm. “You did good, you were very brave.” I knew it must hurt like hell, but she smiled through the tears. I liked her. Once I had her arm in a sling, I went to the medic’s bag and got a painkiller syringe. “This will help a lot, okay, sweetie?” She nodded and cried a little less than before. I gave her a third of a regular dose. “It’ll be a lot better soon, and it might make you sleepy. If you want to take a nap, that’s okay.”

I saw her eyes gradually glaze over and close slowly. I checked her pulse and it was only a little rapid. Sam looked very worried, so I told him, “She did great, she saved us! It’ll take some time, but she’ll be okay.” He sat next to her and held her little hand as she slept.

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Report of Caretaker 9042

Species WDT – Cycle 8

Multiple specimens health 9/24 to 24/24.

Firearm, rocket, and hollow-charge technology demonstrated.

JZT subject destroyed by smallest WDT subject using hollow charge weapon at distance 30 rens.

Results to date:

Intermediate technology level.

Recommend opening communications with subjects.

Likely rescue candidates.

Technology level: 11/24

Resilience: 17/24

Progenation: 1/24

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Supervisor 3614 notes

Expose portal for hatch test.

Reward subjects with comfort area if hatch test passed.

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After searching the immediate area for any other dangers, Pedro helped Anna make breakfast. I got the drone working again and sent it up high. I saw the walls really were gone. Far in the distance, I saw a red light blink briefly, then a green one. I estimated the distance as five or six kilometers. I thought Pedro and I could easily make it there by noon, if we didn’t run into any more snake monsters. If all of us went, the kid and old lady would slow us down a lot.

As we ate breakfast, I filled in the rest of our little tribe. “I saw blinking lights in that direction, and it doesn’t look like there’s anything dangerous on the way there. I don’t know if we should split up, but if we do, Pedro and I should be able to make it there and back well before dark. What do you think?”

The little girl sat up and held her nose. “I think you should wash! You stink!”

I laughed. “I think you’re right!”

Pedro said, “There’s a lake over that way, it’s not far.”

“I saw it with the drone before. Anna, here’s a radio. I’ll set it to channel ten. If anything happens, push the talk button and give us a yell.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

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Pedro and I walked the few hundred meters to the lake. We put the radio and our weapons down, took our boots off, then jumped in the water with our clothes on. It was a little chilly, but being clean was more than worth it. I pulled my pants off under the water to empty them, then put them on.