The Legacy Protocol by K.M. Ashman

Author:K.M. Ashman [Ashman, K.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Four

The Southern Mountains

Ben, Grant and Carly stood on the top of a hill and stared down at the scene before them. At last, they had crossed the mountains and less than a few kilometres away; they could see a vast expanse of water stretching away as far as the eye could see. For a few moments, they just stared with relief, happy they had made it across, but as Grant walked down the final slope, Ben grabbed him by the shoulder.

‘Wait,’ he said.

‘Why?’ asked Grant. ‘There’s no one down there.’

‘Not that we can see,’ said Ben, ‘but once we are down there, our field of vision will be severely restricted. Up here, we can see much further.’ He removed his pack and retrieved his binoculars before scanning in both directions.

‘Anything?’ asked Carly.

‘Not a thing, but let’s just stick to this ridge for a while to keep the higher vantage point.’

They made their way along the higher ground until they came to a small crag blocking their progress. Ben didn’t hesitate and set about climbing the sharp rocks, closely followed by the other two, but as they reached the top, he dropped to the floor, signalling the two others to do the same. Again he produced the binoculars, and as his colleagues crawled the last few meters to his side, he pointed to something in the distance.

‘What is it?’ asked Grant.

‘Smoke,’ said Ben, it looks like there are the remains of a fire near the water’s edge.

‘Any sign of those creatures?’

‘Not that I can see, but we need to get closer. Come on.’

They made their way down the rocks and onto the sand, keeping themselves tucked against the cliff as they neared the fire.

‘It looks like they’ve long gone,’ said Ben. ‘Come on, let’s take a closer look. ‘

They walked out onto the beach and stood alongside the still smouldering fire. The surrounding sand was darkened through trampled ash, and the remains of some sort of feast lay scattered along the high tide mark.

‘It looks like those things camped here last night,’ said Ben crouching down to examine the carcase of a dead animal, ‘and this looks like that goat we ate up in the hills. What I don’t understand is, why they left so much meat on the bones, that’s quite a waste for any creature that hunts for survival.’

‘So we know these things are carnivores,’ said Grant looking around, ‘why doesn’t that make me feel any better?’

‘I wouldn’t worry too much,’ said Ben standing up, ‘cannibalism is very rare in nature, it’s too destructive.’

Grant stared at Ben.

‘Who mentioned cannibalism,’ he mumbled, ‘now you’ve got me really worried.’

‘Ben,’ said Carly quietly, ‘look at the sea.’

He glanced down and saw the water creeping closer to his feet.

‘The tide is coming in,’ he said, ‘so what?’

‘No, it’s not,’ said Carly, ‘look along the beach.’

Both men looked at the waterline on both sides before realising that as far as they could see, the water was only moving in the area where they were standing.

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