The Descent

Chapter 25 - Rain

Denton stood up and walked to the perimeter of the tree foliage. The rain was still coming down hard, and it didn't look like it was going to stop anytime soon. He turned and nodded. "We might as well. It doesn't look like the rain is going anywhere."

"Oh, I almost forgot. There's a gun with a holster in your backpack. Take it out and strap it on."

"A gun? Are you expecting trouble?"

"Let me put it this way. It's more likely we'll encounter trouble than not. Besides, carrying weapons won't be out of character in these neck of the woods so we might as well be prepared."

Denton felt the beat of his heart quicken at the thought of a shootout in the rain. He reached into his backpack and retrieved the gun. He held it in his hands and burst out laughing. "What's this?" he said as he turned the shiny silver-colored revolver in his hand. "Isn't this a bit antique?"

Leah smiled and nodded. "Sure, but that's what we're dealing with here. We can't come in with laser pistols and stuff. It'll draw more attention than we need for this mission. That antique, as you call it, might be old but it works just fine."

"If you say so," Denton said and sighed with a smile and shook his head.

"Here, let me show you the basics. You do know how to fire a weapon, right?" she said and stepped closer until their shoulders touched. While she held the gun, explained its features as well as the location of the safety. The backpack had spare ammo, should he need it. "Got it?" she finally said and stepped over to her backpack to retrieve a similar weapon for herself. Denton nodded and exhaled as he realized that he had been holding his breath the whole time she had been next to him. He felt strangely dizzy and took a deep breath. He pushed the feeling aside, reached for the holster and strapped it on. What was happening to him?

"One more thing," Leah said and held out her hand. Denton picked up a small device and examined it as he held it between his fingers. "It's an earpiece, just in case we get separated," she said.

"Oh great, one for each ear then."

"I'm sorry?"

"I've already got one to chat with Tanner," Denton said and pointed to his right ear.

"Oh. Well, we may not need it, it's just a precaution. Put it in, let's try it out."

Denton inserted the earpiece and turned away from Leah. "Soundcheck, 1, 2, 3, can you hear me?"

"I can hear you. Can you hear me?"

Denton tapped the device in his year. "Not in the earpiece. Do I need to turn up the volume?"

"The volume adjusts dynamically based on background noise so no. I should know better than to try new tech the first time on a mission." Leah shook her head and sighed. She paused for a moment and seemed to be thinking only to make up her mind moments later. "Ok, well, at least you can let me know if you need help, I just won't be able to tell you whether I can help or not."

"Let's hope it doesn't get to that."

"Yeah, I agree. So, are you ready?" she asked as and secured the backpack and hoisted it up on her back.

"Let's do this," he replied as he positioned his own backpack on his back. "Lead the way."

Leah looked at the compass in her hand for a few moments and then took off towards the forest that loomed in the distance. Denton braced himself and then stepped out into the rain.

As they left their temporary shelter behind, Denton intentionally lagged a little behind Leah. He needed to check in with Tanner, and he felt it would be best if the conversation was private. When Leah was far enough ahead, he touched the device in his ear. Tanner responded immediately.

"I'm here."

"Do you have our location?"

"Hello to you too. Yes, of course I do."

"Good. Any problems pinpointing where we are? It's raining pretty hard. We took cover for a few minutes."

"I see. No, no issues. Say what you must about the Terran systems, their network for location data is pretty robust. In fact, I can see you moving now."

"Good. Keep an eye on our location. I'm not sure I trust Leah's method of navigation."

"What is wrong with her...."

"Don't worry about it, alright? It's just a bit old fashioned, it might be fine. Just let me know if we seem to go off course."

"I will, naturally. Hopefully the weather doesn't get worse. I've been told that comms can be sketchy in that area when the weather gets really bad, regardless of how good the tech is."

Denton sighed and shook his head. "Worse than this? I'd love to see that. No, scratch that, I definitely do not have any desire for the weather to get worse. Just do what you can, ok? Denton out."

Leah looked over her shoulder and stopped to let him catch up. "Everything ok?"

"Yep. Just checking in with Tanner. Everything's fine."

Leah looked at him for a moment, shook her head and then continued on. For the next ten minutes, they trudged through knee-high grass, soaked by the rain. For each step, the thin stems of grass clung to their legs, bending from the weight of the accumulated rain and twisting around their ankles and shins with every step. The cloth of their pants clung to their legs like glue, requiring extra effort just to move and causing the coldness inherit in the rain to spread throughout their bodies like the venom of a deadly snake.

Denton breathed a sigh of relief when they stumbled on a trail that stretched through the field. He couldn't tell whether it was an animal trail or one used by someone of his own species. He didn't care. A trail meant that their progress forward would be easier.

"I've never been so happy to see a trail before," Denton said between his breaths as he leaned forward.

"It's unfortunate that it doesn't lead in the direction we're heading," Leah said, somewhat subdued.

"What do you mean? We can easily follow it to the trees, can't we?"

"It's out of the way."

"Do you really want to spend another half hour slogging through this crap?" Denton said and pointed towards the field between them and the trees. "I'd rather follow the trail and save my energy. Sure, it may take a bit more time to backtrack to get back on course, but I think we'll be better off."

Leah looked at Denton for a few moments, then at the trail and the trees in the distance. It didn't take long before she nodded her agreement. "You're right. It's better to save our energy. Let's just hope this trail takes us to the woods."

It did. Denton was surprised himself to find that the trail led almost straight to the forest at the edge of the field and a trek that could have taken half an hour was cut to just ten minutes. They stopped momentarily in the shadow of tall evergreen. Leah pulled out a map from a pocket in her jacket and consulted her compass and her surroundings. She motioned for Denton to come and take a look.

"See, we're about here," she pointed on the map. "The trail is actually on the map, it's just not shown as stretching across the field. It looks like we can follow it all the way to town."

"Likely not wildlife then."

"Not, it's a human-made trail, I'm pretty sure of that. With that in mind, keep your eyes open. We'll continue on the trail but let's limit talking as much as possible. Listen to your surroundings. Got it?"

Denton gave her a thumbs up.

"Alright, let's move out."