Flash Fiction #177 --Escaping Somewhere Else, Part 12: Biters

(Previous)

Needle-like teeth found my hands and bare spots on my arms.  I feared they were going to reach my face. The swarm of black swarm swept through the cave and beyond it I could see something larger -- human shaped, but not necessarily human.

I shook the creatures off my arms, brushed them from my shirt and hoped they didn't reach my face.  I stomped a few.  The others had to have gotten far enough down the cave by now --

Only they hadn't.  Beth leapt forward, Edmond in her hold, and began stomping the creatures as well.  At first I thought they must have gotten cut off, but then I realized that they simply were not leaving me behind.

They were putting themselves in danger for me.

Beth yelped when one of them bit her hand.  Edmond let out a growl and leapt down, despite my cry of protest.  He launched himself into them and his teeth did good work, but they were too many and they were clinging to his fur --

"Get back!" I shouted again. 

And this time they flew away from us, flying in a wind that hadn't been there a moment before.  I heard something larger down the hall give a shout of surprise as well, but I couldn't see what it was as the little black biters formed a cloud of destruction headed that way.

"In here!" Beth said, grabbing my arm.  There was no sign of any of the creatures, at least alive, in the area.  Edmond limped back to me, limping a bit, but otherwise looking quite pleased with himself.

Harvey was pulling some boxes away from the wall.  They seemed to move oddly and I saw they were attached to a chain.  Everyone was throwing themselves into the little opening on the other side.  Harvey had to squeeze through with some difficulty, and that left Edmond, Beth and I.  Edmond was shaking his head and mumbling something about playing mice.  He went in.  I followed.  Beth came last and pulled the chain so that the boxes came back into place covering the opening.  There was a good chance the enemy wouldn't know where we went and would keep down the main path.

The small tunnel through which we crawled wasn't too long and ended in a large area with a ladder heading upwards.  The others had taken the chance to sit down and rest, though.  I crawled through and found the first spot against the wall I could.  I was shaking with exhaustion and reaction now.  I bowed my head.  I must have just simply gone to sleep because I only came awake again when someone pushed a sandwich into my hand.  I looked up and gave a nod to someone who seemed human-like, and then bowed my head again, ready to go back to sleep.

"Eat the food, Mark," Edmond said, nudging my hand.  "You've slept as long as you dare.  We have to get moving again."

"Moving," I said, as though the word meant something dire.  My legs ached.

"We can't risk being caught in this hole," Beth said.  She settled on her heals in front of me and looked as though she thought she ought to apologize for something.  "We still have a long ways to go.  Can you move?"

"Yeah," I said.  I stretched a little and grimaced as I moved my hand.  I could see little bite marks on the skin, and it looked read and irritated.  But that reminded me of what had happened.  I thought back to the scene as I ate a bite of the sandwich: peanut better and jelly, which made me smile.

"I couldn't send the biters away the first time, but I manged it the second time," I said.  "No one was really in danger the first time."

"Right," Edmond said.  He appeared to have a piece of chicken.  They were taking good care of him.  "You really didn't have anything to protect that first time.  The biters were not a real danger until they attacked.  Before that, they were pretty much the same as the rest of us."

I had to think that one through.  It meant that, if we had gone in after the biters, my shout to stop would have backfired and sent us flying.  I dared not be the aggressor.  I wasn't by nature, but my recent adventures were pushing me that way.  I was going to have to take better control of myself.

I put Edmond inside my jacket as we started climbing up the ladder.  He settled in with an oddly contented sigh and I did my best not to hit his head on the metal rungs as we started to climb up to . . . Somewhere.  I still hadn't asked anything like how far we had to go or what we would find.

I had learned, I suppose, that there was no use anticipating what was out there.  Besides, my worries were not about what as going to attack us (and something would -- something always did), but what had happened to Maggie, Davis and the others.  Part of me wished Edmond had gotten out there to find them, and the other part was worried about what would have happened to Edmond, out there alone in this damned dangerous place.

So better that they would go together, I supposed.

Just so long as I learned --

"We've got trouble!" someone shouted from above them.

I sighed.  Edmond sighed.  I started moving faster

"Ow!" Edmond snarled, his voice muffled in the shirt.

"Sorry."  I tried to be careful of his head again.  He squirmed a bit.  "Don't do that.  You don't want to know how high we are."

"I didn't need to hear that."  He might be trying to bury his head in my armpit.

"Edmond!"

But we had reached the top.  Beth pulled me up and grinned.  "Looks good.  We have them right where we want them!"

That sounded great.

Right before the explosion shook everything.

To Be Continued. . . .

Flash Fiction #176 --Escaping Somewhere Else, Part 11: Found

(Previous)

Beth found me some boots. 

"You might as well have them," she said, looking around the cave with an odd frown.  They had lights, which must have been magical, set in niches all along the walls.  The light was greenish and the air felt a little damp.  "We'll have to leave most everything behind anyway.  I have a jacket that should fit you, too.  We've stored and scavenged for years.  I hate to think it was all for nothing now . . . But at least it gave us something to do."

I thought about being trapped here for years.  Not just this cave, but in this strange world.  I did my best not to shiver at the thought.  My adventure so far had been one odd day after another, with hardly any rest.  I was simply passing through, not trying to find a way to survive here.  Just rest for a bit.

She wandered off.  I sat down on a crate and tried on the new boots.  They fit pretty well.

"Hey, you okay?" Edmond asked.

I hadn't noticed him enter the area.  The sound of his voice gave me a little start, but I nodded his way.  "Tired," I admitted.

"You have been using a lot of magic lately," he said, jumping up on the crate beside me. He looked around the area with a quick flick of his ears, as though he expected some trouble. "I don't think you even realize the magic you use sometimes.  You're not used to it.  This will give you a chance to sleep and rest."

"You trust them?" I asked softly.

"Yes," he said.  That took me by surprise.  "I could be wrong, you know, but everything I've seen says they're exactly what they say they are. I wouldn't leave you here alone otherwise."  I reached over and petted him.  I'd never done that with Edmond.  It won a surprised purr from him and then a little laugh.  "Humans are good for some things," he said.

"You be careful out there," I said again.  "We don't know all the dangers, besides what might still be following us.  I don't trust Darman.  He's just crazy."

"We'll just do our best to avoid him," Edmond agreed.  He stretched out on the crate.  "What are you doing to do when this is over, Mark?"

"Over?  It can't ever be over for me, you know.  I can't go back to what I had been."

"Would you want to?"

"I miss my family," I admitted.  "I try not to think about it.  I know I did the right thing when I stopped Tommy Creston, and I don't regret what I did then or anything that's happened since . . . But I am tired.  And lost.  And I still have no idea what being a Sanctioned protector means."

"It means you take care of those who need help," he said.  "And you're doing it fine already."

"I --"

The ground rumbled.

"Oh, no, no, no!" Edmond leapt from the top of the crate and cowered down beside it.  "I knew this was a bad place!  Damned mouse hole for two-legs --"

I could hear shouts and in a moment a dozen of our companions came darting down the hall.  Beth came from the opposite direction and tossed me a jacket. I quickly put it on, watching the way the others come from.  A few more followed, including a couple humans I hadn't noticed until now.

"Cloudsiders breaking in," Harvey said.  He had a knife in hand and I thought there might be blood on it already.  "They must really want this guy!  They're breaking in the door you came through."

"The only one they know, then.  Grab what you can!  We're going deeper!"

"No, no, no," Edmond mumbled as I picked him up.  He was almost limp in my hands.  I hadn't realized he had a fear of this place.  No wonder he'd volunteered to go out and look for the others.

"This way, this way," Beth said and caught me by the arm.  "We're going to seal off part of the tunnels."

"But you have other ways out," I said.

"Yes.  Several.  We just need to get enough distance between us and them, and enough roadblocks that they don't know which way we went."  Everything rumbled again and she looked at the ceiling with a scowl.  "Though at the rate they're going, they'll bring everything down anyway.  No, come on.  We've planned for this, you know.  We always expected they would find a way in."

"Coming after me," I said, holding Edmond closer.  He burrowed into the new jacket.

"Could be.  But they'd been watching for any of us.  This way.  Keep low and watch your head."

I followed, but I was aware that there were sounds behind us that sounded to me like --

"Damn.  They let the biters in," she said, looking back.  "Get moving everyone!  Tunnel Bear Cave."

I heard some affirmatives from ahead.  Apparently everyone had gotten past us.  I was glad, and hoped they were safe.  I had no idea what we were heading into -- but I hoped this way lead to an exit soon because the ground shook again and I thought Edmond had the right idea about hiding.

The constant click of the little creatures behind us grew louder and closer.  I glanced back to see a swarm of grey things, about the size of his thumb, rushing down the dimly light tunnel.  They were gaining fast and at the next curve I looked back to see they were only a few yards behind and something else was following.

I stopped.  "Get back!" I yelled at the things.

They let out a hiss that sounded like an enraged steam iron.

And then they came faster.

"Take him!" I shouted, grabbing Edmond out of my jacket and tossing him to Beth.  I didn't even have time to see if she caught him before the things were on me, their little teeth biting everywhere.

To Be Continued. . . .

1000 Words

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