The Altian Chronicles

Chapter V: In The Valley

Crouching over the lifeless bodies scattered across the forest floor, Sental tried the radio once more. The response was silent. With white noise washing over his head, he hung his head low. "We've got to get back to Rogain" I said quietly. Sental just shook his head. "It's a days walk from here, and I'm already exhausted."
"We have to at least try, the base will still have troops posted."

With a sigh, Sental released what breath he had left and stood up straight. He could see no light in the darkness of war, even under the brightness of the midday sun. To me, it was now down to survival. I reached down inside me and gathered what courage and hope I had left in me. "We'll leave in five" I said "Grab what ammo you can." The wind picked up slightly. The gusts rolled over two figures crouched over each bloodstained body in search for ammunition.

The men set off along the ridge line keeping far off the road, and heading straight for Camp Rogain. To the West the outline of dismal towers stood sharp on top of the deep and darkening valley in front of them. On the other side, three Striders were sporting along at moderate speeds throwing packets of dust behind them.

"Come on Vernon, keep moving" Sental said, " Those Striders are gonna find that mess we left." Our chances of survival were getting slimmer and slimmer. I watched him as he disappeared behind a small oak tree. He was his route quickly but carefully and I was content to follow after him.

Sitting down, I became aware of just how hot Stratis could get. I dulled distastefully at my 'greenback' fatigues in attempt to find any source of fresh air. A bush rustled to the left as i picked up my rifle. I stood up to see more clearly into the dense mass of foliage.

It was unmistakably my faithful ally. and i eased as Sental emerged through the bushes, limping slightly, dirty and with dead leaves sticking to his legs.  He paused for a moment as he saw me."I saw some patrols in the next gulley along" He said. "I don't think we can stay here long". We were in the archaic remains of a dried up river bed, and precisely half way to our destination. The bottom of the valley had been plunged into darkness as the sun  had fallen beneath the hill in front of us.

We split our rationed food , as I made a small fire surrounded by circular rocks. The smell of burning wood hazed around the bushes. Sental cleared his throat and whispered something. "What did you say?" I hadn't quite heard him. "I said the food's good." I said nothing but nodded. We continued to sit around our fickle flame, gazing at the high walls of the valley and the distant glimmering valley.

We noticed the Striders coming back, now accompanied by a medical transporter. They knew that we were alive. They knew that we were hiding. We slung on our backpacks and left our campsite, stamping out the remains of our solemn fire.

We continued up along the contours of the valley. The ravine had been plunged in to shadows and I had not seen the sun for the last hour or so. I followed the green backpack in front of me. We had arrived at the edge of the road which lead around the outskirts of valley. We lay on the edge of the road. Underneath a layer of tall grass. "We past this road, then we're clear for Rogain." Sental whispered from in the shadows.

I look further down the path. A bright light emerged from around the corner. Two means of light shine down in front of four small wheels. " "Get, down" I said quietly. The Quadbike revved and sped up as it flew suddenly through my vision. In my peripherals I saw the back of a CSAT solider glide around the next corner, then all returned to the dimness and silence of the evening.

We crossed the road and headed up  the hill, back into the diverse colors of the dry landscape. Stalking from cover to cover up the rocky slope we moved quickly and efficiently. Behind us men were walking to the bottom of the ravine, flashlights scanning the riverbed . We stopped to watch them as they discovered our empty embers. They were on to us, and we were running out of time.