Write to Rank 2023

Round 7 - Other Bones

Prompt: A betrayal no one saw coming. The words: "Building trust is the first step in the perfect betrayal." End in a cliffhanger.
Word Count: 1900-2000

***

"You okay?"

Bone waved off the question from his partner, Clay. He was doubled over, hands braced against his knees, and wheezed like a stuck pig.

"I think you're getting old," Clay remarked.

"Says the...guy with the...gray beard," Bone gasped. With some effort, he straightened. "Next time, you're dragging the Other from its ship."

Clay scoffed. "Don't be daft, kid. I'm too delicate for such things."

"Delicate."

Bone gave his partner a long, pointed look.

With a scruffy gray beard and a face heavily lined by a hard, stressful life, Clay looked every bit of his 68 years. But he was immense and burly, with wide shoulders and a round gut that persisted even though he could easily lope across rugged terrain from sun-up to sun-down. He was the kind of person that endured like a cockroach: tough, gnarly, and stubborn.

"Exactly." The old roach grinned, as if knowing exactly what Bone was thinking. "Now then, let's take a look at what you dragged in."

They both turn their attention to the body. It lay sprawled awkwardly upon the dusty earth, its one-piece gray suit reflecting the harsh sunlight. At first glance, it looked like another human in a weird, body-hugging space suit, complete with a rounded, featureless helmet.

But Bone already knew one thing: this thing, this Other, weighed at least twice as much as a normal person. It had been an absolute nightmare to drag it through half a mile of ravine to their base camp.

Clay nudged the body with a toe. "You sure it's dead?"

"Yes. I got it with the ion rifle for a good ten seconds. Doesn't matter if it's organic or machine, it's good and cooked."

Bone crouched and placed a hand on the Other's arm. It felt cool and smooth, which was strange because in this unforgiving place, everything was hot, dry, and unbearable.

Clay slowly walked around it. "We've been hiding in this ravine for eight years because of these bastards. They've been picking us off one by one and akari'shtet! Look at it. That could be one of us in this suit!"

Bone could understand the old roach's outburst. When he'd first dragged the Other out of its ship, he too, has been deeply unsettled. The shape and size were exactly that of a human, but its weight...

A furrow dug into his brow. It felt like a mockery.

How many people had vanished into thin air, taken by Others? A handful every month, dozens every year. And that didn't count the many, many who had died fighting them.

Bone knew that one of these days, he'd be another casualty. He'd go down fighting to the very last breath, and he'd make sure to take at least one of them with him.

"We don't know what it is yet," he finally said. "Let's get the helmet off first."

"Tch. Ma'kri, Bone. Be careful. I'll cover you." Clay shrugged the rifle off his shoulder and aimed at the body. His finger rested a millimeter from the trigger pad along its stock.

It was one of the two ion rifles the entire group of survivors possessed. Bone had the other, though it now rested against the rocks a few feet away. It was an uncomfortable feeling to be so far away from his best weapon, but Clay was here.