started crawling towards Bruce and Alicia like demented demons; their traps snapped continually as they crawled through the dirt towards the humans.
“What the hell?” Alicia gasped.
Alicia stepped back as the plants slowly inched closer.
“I’ve never seen them do that before.” Bruce said.
Bruce shifted his backpack as he studied the plants that were crawling slowly enough for them to get away.
“Come on.” Bruce said, “We still have a long way to go.”
21
Dear God, Jack prayed from the clutches of the flying monster, Keep us safe. Keep my son safe. Protect him from harm. Keep him safe in Your arms. Could God even hear his prayer on this alien planet?
Jack tried to stay calm and figure out a way to get them out of the predicament they were in, but Timmy was screaming nonstop as the giant flying lizards flapped their fiery wings and soared across the sky towards the mountains.
The claw clenching onto Jack nearly covered his entire body; only his arms and head were free. Timmy was not as lucky – his tiny arms were constraint by the clutch of the monster and he was sobbing uncontrollably for his daddy to comfort him.
“It’s alright.” Jack screamed over the gushing wind, “I’m right here! We’ll get through this.”
Timmy didn’t hear Jack’s words over the gushing wind and his own crying and could think of nothing he wanted more than to be safe in his own bed back home. He no longer wanted to explore this new world and simply wanted to go home.
Where are you taking us? Jack wondered.
He stared down at the valley almost five hundred feet below them and then up at the creature that had them in its clutches. It was the most horrid creature he had ever seen and he was almost certain that no corner of hell could ever produce such a creature. It breathed loudly and spurted out fowl breath as it exhaled and drool dripping from its scaly snout would blow away every few minutes as it flew. With each flap of its wings, Jack noted that the scales that covered its belly moved like those of a slithering snake.
Jack knew there was not much he could do. He had to accept that things were beyond his control and just trust in God – He would get them through this.
Jack stared down at the green valley below them and watched as the valley turned into green mountain slopes. Once they flew over the mountain tops, the slopes on the other side were a vast contradiction; they were rocky, black and seemed burnt and desolate. There were no trees or plants… everything seemed dead as if a forest fire had swept across the slopes, but there was no smoke. Everything lay in charcoaled ruins as if forsaken years ago.
The mountainside was covered in spiky rocks that stuck from the earth like broken shards of glass that could cut you simply by looking at it – nothing seemed to live or thrive in this barren wasteland.
In the distance, Jack noticed a portentous glow that stretched all across the horizon and then it became clear that the monsters were flying towards it. When they got closer, he saw that the glow was actually a line of fire reaching up into the sky for hundreds of feet. The fire stretched for thousands of miles to the east and west before disappearing out of sight.
There was a lot of movement and commotion beyond the flames, but Jack couldn’t make out what they were flying towards and feared the worst while hoping for better. It was at that moment that his suspicions about the strange new planet was confirmed; it was too good to be true. Only God knew what lay beyond the fires they were heading towards.
The flying monster descended when they got closer to the fire and that was when Jack saw the magnitude of what awaited them – something none of his worst fears or nightmares could ever prepare him for; they were flying towards a gargantuan, fiery concentration camp filled with millions and millions of terrified humans trapped by the colossal ring of fire.
The screams of terror grew louder the closer they got and upon seeing where they were headed, Timmy started crying even louder. Jack was horrified at the sight of the millions of desperate people screaming for help that would never come – an absolution for a crime they never committed. No wonder they didn’t come across anyone else – everyone else were being held prisoner in the godforsaken part of the seemingly perfect world, but why?
The flying monster flew over the fiery wall and swooped down towards the crowd as people scattered away in terror and screamed at the sight of the monsters – some people were trampled to death in the stampede to get away from the approaching demons. When the flying monster was about ten feet from the ground, it dropped Jack and Timmy into the concentration camp and then took to the sky again.
Jack fell onto his back and had the wind knocked out of him, but nobody stepped closer to help him to his feet. He could barely hear himself think with the deafening sound of all the scared and screaming people. He looked around him hoping to see Timmy right beside him, but he must have rolled and landed somewhere else… Timmy was nowhere to be seen.
“Tim!” Jack called out.
Jack got to his feet and searched the thousands of dirty, scared faces around him for his son. Where did he go?
“Timmy!” Jack called out.
The people were making too much noise; there was no way that Timmy would hear him. Jack pushed his way through the hundreds of people around him as he searched for his son – he was just another one crying out for help or looking for a loved one.
He finally spotted Timmy sitting in a puddle of mud hugging his legs as he rocked back and forth. Jack let out a sigh of relief as he pushed his way through the crowd and rushed over to Timmy. He embraced Timmy tightly and ran his fingers through his hair.
“I’m here.” Jack said, “Daddy’s here.”
Timmy was terrified and not responding. His eyes seemed vacant and distant as if he was in a state of tremendous shock... not that anyone could blame the poor boy. Jack held on tightly to him and stroked his head; trying to reassure him that things will be alright, but it he knew it was a lie. Things would never be alright again and it was in that moment as he held onto his son that he too felt like a scared little boy wanting his own warm bed.
“Daddy’s here.” Jack said.
He slowly started rocking Timmy in his arms – the rocking was probably more to keep himself calm and after a while he no longer heard the screams for help around them. He had no idea what to do. The situation was beyond anything he could comprehend. Why was this happening? What did the creatures want? Why did these foul monsters keep earth’s population imprisoned by means of a ring of fire?
Jack stared up at the millions of scared people; they were just wandering around, calling out for help – calling out to loved ones they might never find in the never-ending crowd.
22
Alicia and Bruce had been walking for hours; trekking over rocky terrain, swamps and finally another valley. They searched for her husband and son all the way, but found no sign of human life. Alicia was growing weary of walking as the two suns beat down on her tired body. She could only take so much and since she had never even stepped foot in a gym, the trek on the alien planet was like a marathon to her – a marathon with the most beautiful scenery, but straining nonetheless.
“We’ve been walking for hours.” Alicia moaned, “Do you even know where we are heading?”
“I’m taking you as far as I know the territory. Then we unfortunately have to turn back. You don’t want to be out here when it gets dark.”
“We haven’t seen any signs of life so far.” Alicia said, “Maybe there is nobody out there.”
“I doubt we will find anyone. I found you on the beach a few yards from my cabin. You can be glad you ended up on the beach and not out here. Out here carnivorous plants are the least of your worries.”
Alicia stared at their surroundings as they walked towards a gorge a few hundred yards ahead; the lush field stretched out as far as the eye could see and in the distance to her left she spotted an animal with antlers grazing blissfully unaware of them. It was a bit bigger
than a horse and looked like a cow with antlers and a long, fluffy tail. The animal seemed peaceful as it grazed – until a trapdoor in the ground shot open and a giant spider pounced out of the ground, grabbed the animal and dragged it back into the hole. Alicia watched in horror as the trapdoor shut again.
“Holy crap!” Alicia gasped, “Did you see that?”
“I’ve seen it before.” Bruce said uninterested.
“Well, is it safe to walk here? Won’t we step on one of those spider nests?”
“They don’t nest this close to the gorge. I know this area quite well.”
“Are you sure there won’t be more of those things in the direction we’re heading?”
“They know better.” Bruce assured her.
Bruce seemed very assured of his statement; almost as if he knew something he didn’t or wouldn’t tell her, but Alicia decided to let it go. They reached a gorge and Alicia stepped closer to the edge to get a better look – it seemed like an endless abyss of darkness that could perhaps pierce through to the other side of the planet. She couldn’t even see the bottom of the canyon and knew certain death awaited anything that plummeted over the edge. Her head started spinning and she stepped back.
“Careful.” Bruce warned, “You could slip and fall. You’ll die of old age before you reached the bottom.”
“How deep does it go?”
“Deep enough.”
There was an old tree at the edge of the canyon and had