Beyond Tomorrow:
A loud
crack broke the morning quietude followed by the sound of a monstrous tree
toppling and crashing through the surrounding foliage. It smashed to the earth
with a resounding thud. Birds squawked in alarm and male voices could be heard
shouting in triumph. Jeremy and his crew
at work!
“Do you
think the boats will be completed in time to sail this year?”
Geena
stomped down, brushing inch long ants from her short leather leggings. “Damn
it. Even the bugs around here are huge.” She glanced up, the tawny eyes
flashing. “Jeremy said most of the larger ones are seaworthy and the smaller
outriggers are almost finished but I don’t know any more than that.” She
shrugged looking bored. “I got better things to do besides chop down trees.”
“It’s
just…I just wonder how many of the Nukes will come with us.” A pang of loss
wrapped her heart. The tribe had grown pretty close to the primitives and
leaving them behind seemed almost like desertion. They fought side by side with
the tribesmen during the numerous Cro attacks and had been instrumental in
alerting the camp when strangers were in the vicinity. The Nukes and the tribe
were pretty dependent on each other for survival. For herself, she’d learned
quite a bit from the Nukes, mostly about living off the land and identifying
edible plant life. The Nukes’d eat almost
anything.
She felt
rather than saw the tracker tense up. The air around them stilled. Even the
birds ceased their chirping as if sensing trouble. Her stomach flipped. Hairs
rose on the back of her neck. That uncomfortable feeing of being watched swept
over her.
“Get down,” Geena hissed as she whipped
out her throwing knives and hunkered down in a defensive stance. “Cros!”
Instinctively
Rachel ducked. “Give me your bow,” she croaked out, reaching for the weapon.
Geena’s
hard gaze scoped the surroundings. Without losing an ounce of focus, she eased
the bow and arrows from her shoulder and handed them over.
Rachel
notched an arrow and waited, heart racing and breath escaping in short pants.
“Where are they?” she whispered through
quivering lips. She bit down, stilling their trembling. No time to lose control. She scanned the trees and the high brush
searching for any tale-tell sign of the savages’ presence. Leaves rustled in
the gentle breeze but beyond that, there was nothing. A swallow convulsed her
throat. If Geena said the Cros were out there—they were out there! The tracker’s dead-on intuition was legendary
amongst the tribe members.
Terror held her motionless, the bow
gripped in sweat-slick fingers. Minutes crept by. Still…nothing!
A puff of air ruffled the tracker’s
short blonde locks. She sniffed, nostrils expanding as she searched for scent.
“They’re out there,” Geena rasped out. “I can smell ‘em.”
Rachel sniffed but only the smell
of the pines and the cooking fires assailed her olfactory nerves. Whatever Geena
smelled, it wasn’t catching.
“Why don’t they attack?” she
whispered.
Patsy
P.L. Parker
www.plparker.com
2 comments:
Sounds great Patsy, isn't it wonderful to finish that initial draft!
Yes, it is Lyn. Thanks
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