James Axler – Gaia’s Demise

“Thanks again,” Ryan said with unaccustomed feeling. “Okay, move with a purpose, people! We’ve got to get to land if there’s going to be trouble!”

Ryan and J.B. put their backs into stroking, and the rest of the companions started paddling with their bare hands.

“Mebbe we should stay and help,” Dean suggested, bent at his task.

“Too vulnerable out here,” his father barked. “On land, we can offer them assistance. But out here, we’re only a liability, making them protect two things.”

The boy nodded in understanding and redoubled his efforts.

With excruciating slowness, they gradually pulled away from the line of clicking beings when the raft violently shook as if it struck a rock. For a heartbeat, the companions thought that’s all it was, just a rock. Then the tiny craft heaved upward, going higher and higher to finally flip over and spill them overboard.

Desperately holding his breath, Ryan grabbed the sinking Steyr before it got out of reach and started for the surface. Stroking with one arm, he got a brief ; glimpse of a dark shape moving among them at incredible speed. Whatever their attacker was, it wasn’t one of their guardians or a rock. A submarine? ‘

Reaching the surface, Ryan caught his breath and saw that the raft was destroyed. The logs were smashed and floating away freely, the thick chains snapped apart, the precious supplies sinking to the depths below.

“Gator!” Jak shouted, splashing around, a knife in his hand.

Kicking to stay afloat, Ryan looked at the dry land so terribly far away. “Back to the swamp!” he shouted, and started swimming in that direction.

With every kick, every stroke, the man waited to feel the crushing bite of the alligator seizing a limb. But he reached the muddy banks alive and struggled into the knee-deep water. The others were only seconds behind, and the companions moved away from the invisible border and checked their weapons.

“Everybody here?” Ryan demanded, working the bolt on the Steyr.

“Looks like,” J.B. announced, cleaning the droplets off his glasses. “Dark night, was that a gator? The bastard thing must have been over thirty feet long!”

“Seen bigger,” Jak commented, shaking the excess moisture out of his Colt Python.

“How did you chill it?” Mildred asked, pouring the water from her med kit to lessen its weight.

“Didn’t. Aced whole ville.”

“Oh, hell,” Doc said, scowling at his LeMat, the fresh charge of black powder dribbling out. “Lost my sword-stick, too. Can somebody loan me a blaster?”

Steyr in hand, Ryan tossed over the SIG-Sauer. Doc made the catch and expertly dropped the clip to check the ammo, then slammed it back into the butt of the pistol and jacketed the slide to chamber a round. Doc might prefer an old-fashioned revolver, but he knew how to work a modern blaster perfectly well.

“What’s going to stop it?” Dean asked, checking his pockets for spare clips. He found only two; the rest had gone to the bottom.

“Grens will,” J.B. stated, passing out the military spheres from his munitions bag. “Don’t get crazy. That’s it for explosives. One each. The rest went down with the raft.”

“This is enough,” Krysty said, unwrapping the electrical tape from the handle. The ball was green with a black stripe, high explosive with steel shrapnel, exactly what they needed. Too bad they had only these few charges.

Out on the watery expanse, noises and splashing were coming from under the turbulent surface. Red blood spread outward from the aquatic combat, obscuring whatever was happening.

“I don’t think our friends are winning,” Ryan growled.

Then a large shape rose into view. A dozen spears were sticking out of its hoary hide, but the triumphant beast had a limp warrior dangling from its huge jaws. Tossing the body aside, the gator rolled over, showing its pale belly to the sky, then dived out of sight.

Tucking the gren into a pants pocket, Krysty furrowed her brow in thought. “An animal that size can’t live in this swamp,” she decided. “There’s not enough food. The mutie must come from somewhere else to feed on these guys when it’s hungry enough. It’s probably the terror of their world.”