The Outpost by Noah Mann

Author:Noah Mann [Mann, Noah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science Fiction, horror, scientist, alien
Publisher: Noah Mann
Published: 2018-12-02T22:00:00+00:00

Fifteen

Flashlight beams swept across the trail leaving Tanner and to both sides of the path through the desert. At the front of the group Angelo kept the shotgun at the ready as the others tried to illuminate as much of the barren landscape as possible.

But not everything was intended to be seen.

“Don’t look, Julia,” Grant said, his flashlight finding what remained of their colleague.

But she couldn’t not look, her gaze settling on the pile of organs gleaming in the jumble of lights dancing past it.

Danny...

She didn’t want to believe it. There was an argument to be made that he might still be out there. That what lay on the trail could belong to another person.

But when considering the discarded clothing that was very clearly his, that argument was not convincing. Not even to her, and she wanted desperately to believe that this was all a mistake. That it was all some bad dream she would wake from.

“Wake up,” she said to herself.

Miriam noticed Julia talking to herself and slipped an arm under hers, easing her close as they kept moving, leaving the awful sight behind.

* * *

The airstrip existed in the dark only as a long expanse of flat desert stripped of flora, the flashlights wielded by the group revealing only a tiny portion of it as they reached their destination. Their first destination. The aircraft parked twenty yards from the end of the trail would carry them to their ultimate destination—somewhere safe. Anywhere but Tanner.

Grant jogged past Angelo as the plane came into sight, the others hurrying to follow. When they reached their pilot he was standing with a hand on the door release, a grim realization seeming to have settled over him.

“What is it?” Miriam asked.

Grant looked to her. “There are only four seats.”

“Then we cram in,” Oliver said.

“It’s not about space,” Grant told them. “It’s weight.”

“We’re carrying no bags,” Angelo said. “No cargo.”

Grant considered the argument. “Get in.”

He made his way in first, twisting his body to a position behind the controls, Oliver, Miriam, and Julia wedging into the two seats behind. Angelo hurried around the plane and opened the front passenger door.

But he didn’t climb in. Instead he turned away from the aircraft, scanning the darkness beyond the dirt runway’s edge.

“Angelo!” Miriam shouted at him.

Grant started the engine, the propeller spinning up, blasting a cloud of dust past Angelo outside the plane. He gave the unseen desert a final look then climbed in and closed the door, shotgun wedged between his knees, muzzle up. The plane’s landing lights blazed to life, illuminating nearly half of the airstrip ahead.

“What about the radio?” Angelo asked.

Grant slipped into his headset and listened, shaking his head. “Same as at Tanner.”

“Let’s go already,” Oliver said.

A push on the throttle revved the engine, the plane lurching slightly before beginning a steady roll as Grant flexed his hands around the yoke, sweat beading on his forehead.

“Would anyone mind if I share that I’m fucking terrified?” Grant asked.

“Join the club,” Miriam said.

She looked to her husband, immediately noticing his gaze narrowed as he winces.

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