The Company [Ongoing]

Ch.5 - The Company, prt 1

James walked through the dark, fog obscuring his vision to near nothing. He kept his eyes on the dusty ground. His left arm throbbed with pain, but the bleeding had more or less stopped. Exhausted, he stumbled in the darkness.

'Hey, keep on your toes,' Dakarai said and put a steadying hand on his shoulder.

'Thanks. How far to the ship do you think?'

'No clue. But sure feels like we've walked for longer than it took to get there, yeah?'

James nodded. It sure did. A large cliff loomed on the left side. Had they passed a large cliff like that earlier? He couldn't recall. Sand, cliffs, fog. Some dead trees reached upwards with rattling branches. Something growled.

Wait, what? He held out a hand to stop Dakarai and hushed.

'Did you hear that?'

Dakarai nodded. They stood like frozen, looking around for the source of the noise.

A dark shape approached from ahead and James gasped. Dakarai jumped back. Something gave a guttural bark from the right, and rapid footfalls approached.

'Shit!' James and Dakarai uttered in unison.

'Sshh!' A sharp whisper from the approaching shape.

James realized it was Bill, crouched and sneaking.

'By the d-' James snapped his mouth shut, realizing his error.

Bill shook his head violently, and backed away from them. The footsteps on the right neared, and something like heavy breathing floated on the air. The hairs on James neck stood on end.

Bill beckoned, and moved farther ahead, vanishing into the foggy dark. James and Dakarai followed his example and crouched. Every muscle strained, and every nerve tingled.

The heavy breathing and footfalls came closer. James looked around and spotted a large, darker shape moving alongside them, keeping pace. He almost cursed, but bit the words back.

What was that thing? It was huge!

Dakarai stepped on a stick on the ground. The little dry snap boomed loudly in James ears. The beast on their right twisted and threw itself towards them. James yelped in fright as the thing passed them by, only a metre or so away. The sound had the creature spin towards him and charge again. James sidestepped, sucking in his breath. The monster flew past, right in front of his face. He swallowed but managed to keep quiet this time. The monster stopped, and swung its large head back and forth, waiting.

No, listening.

James didn't dare move, his eyes glued to the large dark creature moving through the fog.

Then someone shouted ahead. Rebecca. What was she doing?

The monster sprang forward, growling, leaving James behind. He didn't waste any time.

'Dak?' he whispered, and looked around.

'Here.' Dakarai had crouched down by a large rock on the other side of the monster.

Thank goodness he was alive.

James pointed towards the noise and Dakarai nodded. They crept forward, following the monster's path. If Rebecca was there, surely the ship must be there too?

It didn't take long before the lights on the ship's roof gleamed ahead, like a beacon of false hope in an ocean of murkiness. Still, it was the only thing they had. Hurrying their steps, they half-ran as quietly as they could to the side of the ship.

Dakarai placed the engine on the ground and climbed the short ladder up to the ship's walkway. Then he beckoned for James to give him the engine. It was heavier than he'd though, but he managed to push it up. Then he did the same with the box of scrap. When all was up, he started climbing. The monster rounded the ship, huffing and snarling.