Another alien crawled from between the huts, its gnarly fingers dragging its body across the ground as if it had no use of its legs. Zypher rolled over in that instant and discharged the rifle, blowing the creature’s head off. Blood and brain particles burst into the air, sounding like rain when they splattered the soil.
Little by little the gunfire tapered to a stop but the women continued screaming and Birmon squawked in a frenzy. Bronto lunged at the door and flung it open. Four of the ladies were huddled in the southwest corner, hugging and squeezing each other and crying. He stepped inside and his heart lunged to his throat. “Where’s Ivy?”
“She’s gone,” Jade blurted.
“What do you mean, gone? Where is she?”
Wisteria clung to Pearl and was sobbing so hard she didn’t appear to be breathing. “Where!” he shouted.
Jade flinched as she pointed to the roof.
Sucking air, he raised his eyes to the ventilation hole. The leather was torn and the opening twice its original size. Dear God.
“They took her, Bronto,” Pearl wailed. “They reached in and took her.”
The color drained from his face and he dug his feet in the ground to prevent himself from swooning. His heart thundered in panic and he refused to let them see the fear that soared through his guts like a raging fire. Pain racked his body. The worst pain he’d ever felt in his life. In his moment of dread he barged outside, removing himself from the women’s view.
No sooner had he reached the corner of the hut than he dragged mouthful after mouthful of air into his lungs.
He’d failed Ivy. He’d miserably failed to protect her. Oh dear God, the fear she endured. The aliens were desperate. It would only be a matter of time before they strapped her down and turned her into an experiment.
Fuck. Fuck!
“Zypher, they have Ivy,” he shouted.
“Who?” Zypher spun around and looked at the hut.
“The species. They pulled her through the ventilation hole.”
“Then what the fuck are you doing standing here? Let’s go,” Zypher hollered then whistled to garner Vulcan’s attention. “They’ve captured Ivy,” he shouted. “We’d better find her before they turn her into a fucking mutant.”
“Go,” Vulcan shouted. “I’ll secure the women then catch up to you guys.”
Bronto felt as if Zypher bashed him in the head with a rock. A mutant? Jesus, he hadn’t given that a thought. His guts were busting apart with worry that they’d drain her blood.
His jugular twitched and his heart pounded so fiercely it reached his ears. “They were able to avoid us so they must have fled east,” he said, peering eastward above the huts. “Let’s hope the tribe guarding the area stopped them.”
Bronto tore into the woods but didn’t see a soul mixed within the trees. He halted to look and listen. Nothing. It was eerily quiet. Not even the sound of leaves rustled.
He followed smashed ferns, not knowing if the tracks were fresh or left over from their feet when they’d chopped down trees.
“Bronto?” Vulcan shouted, halting him in his tracks. “Wait.”
He turned.
“Let’s mount the horses and ride out. We’ll waste too much time on foot,” Vulcan instructed.
“Caw. Caw.”
Bronto glanced overhead. Birmon’s mom circled the treetops, her massive wings swooping air. She flew toward the mountains, hovered over an area for a moment then returned, gliding above the trees.
“Caw. Caw.”
Vulcan stepped beside Bronto, keeping his eyes on the sky as she again headed toward the mountains. “It’s unusual for her to appear for no reason,” Vulcan said. “Let’s ride over there. Zypher, untether the horses.”
Bronto shot past him and mounted his horse. He didn’t wait for Vulcan or Zypher and he raced toward the foothills where the thirty-foot-long bird treaded air.
Suddenly she changed direction, flying straight ahead to a clearing, and swooped up and down within a large area. Bronto halted and gazed at the open meadow. There wasn’t a damn thing in sight. No footprints in the dirt. No footprints in the grass. No fucking evidence at all.
He tried silencing his raspy breath to focus on unusual noises but the only things audible besides air rushing in and out of his lungs were horse hooves beating to a stop behind him.
“Caw. Caw.”
“What the fuck,” he shouted, rubbing sweat off his forehead with the back of his arm. “We’re wasting time. There’s nothing here.”
Again the creature took flight and changed direction, gliding to the southeast.
Where the fuck was she going? Bronto kicked his mount into a run. For all he knew the bird could be leading them to their deaths. She’d shred them to pieces as she’d done to that bastard Sledge. The SOB deserved it.