none by Shakil

Author:Shakil [Shakil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: none
Published: 2012-01-02T05:00:00+00:00

Lorenzo had been counting out a minute in his head. As he reached sixty, Greiss gave anod, and Muldoon disappeared into a bush. Myers provided a distraction, this time, byyelling “jungle lizard!” and firing into the undergrowth before professing, with mocksheepishness, to have been mistaken.

They proceeded at length, expecting Trooper Landon to reappear before too long, atwhich point somebody else would slip into hiding. After twenty seconds had passed,though, Lorenzo saw that Greiss was getting worried. Another five, and he came to a halt,and drew breath to give the prearranged signal that would call off the operation.

That was when Landon yelled out, at last.

Only this wasn’t a yell of discovery. It was a yell of fear.

Lorenzo was running before the echoes had subsided. They had come too far, because Landon was still all the way back where they had left him, and Lorenzo was pushing hismuscles as hard as he could, willing himself forward, and yet still the path to his comradeseemed to stretch a near-infinite distance. He concentrated on what he could do: pumpinghis legs, faster than he could think, so fast that he was sure only sheer force of will kepthim from falling. There were sounds ahead—ugly sounds, full of foreboding—but theywere almost drowned out by his heartbeat, by the crashing footsteps of comrades aroundhim and of Woods in front.

Every second counted. Every fraction of a second.

And there weren’t enough of them.

Landon yelled again: a terrible gurgling scream, which was cut off in mid-flow and couldonly have meant one thing.

He came into sight at last, limp and no longer straggling in the grip of a figure that washumanoid in shape but a mockery of a human in its aspect.

The monster was caked in dirt, centimetres thick, and it bristled with grass, dead leaves,living flowers and the severed roots of larger plants as if a whole section of the planet hadbeen scooped up and wrapped around its frame. Lorenzo thought the monster was flora,at first, but he could make out patches of suntanned skin, and human fingers around Landon’s neck. Woods had already charged it, a lasgun fanfare presaging his arrival.

Lorenzo had brought up his weapon but hadn’t fired, fearful of hitting the monster’scaptive—but Woods had seen what he hadn’t, or rather accepted what he didn’t want toaccept.

It must have waited for Landon, he realised. It was right under the tree in which the

Guardsman had concealed himself—but he wouldn’t have come down from there unless

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