Journeys of the Shepherd

Chapter 17: Not Alone

Luke squinted, the heat stung his eyes. He gasped for air. With each breath he took, the thick smoke that swamped him burned his lungs. He couldn't see a thing, only the black smoke and the fire getting closer and closer.

Luke reached around him, he could feel the heat radiating from the metal walls, but there was  nothing else. There was no door, no hatch, no chance of escape. He tried to scream, but there was no sound coming from his mouth. Overwhelmed with panic and desperation, he started banging his fists on the walls. There was no response, he was alone.

He hit his fist on the wall again, and again. His skin was getting seared by the heat, but he continued. Louder and louder, whilst he felt the flames crawling up his legs.

Luke shot up. He was panting, his clothes were drenched in sweat. He suffered from a tremendous headache, he felt as if his brain was about to burst open his skull. He ripped open the flaps, and crawled outside to escape the damp and choking heat of his tent. He got up, and stumbled out of the camp.  

He would be in a lot of trouble if the captain discovered he went outside alone and in the dead of night, but he didn't couldn't care less at that moment. He needed the fresh air.

Another fucking dream. Luke thought. It was just a nightmare. Just one of many nightmares.

The dreams began a few nights ago. At the time, Luke didn't give it much thought. But now, his experiences during the final hours of the Space Shepherd revisited him every single night. Every time he felt as if he was back on the burning ship as it plummeted to the ocean's surface. The raging flames, the black smoke, and the charred bodies made the dreams indistinguishable from reality.

The nightmares were terrifying, but what scared Luke the most was realizing how his experiences were affecting him, and realizing how little control he had over it. 

Luke climbed up a dune, and glared at the horizon. The past few days, the coast had been overwhelmed with ocean fog, reducing visibiltiy to just a few dozen metres. But tonight, the sky was clear. In the shimmering of the light of the stars and the planet's twin moons, Luke watched the calm and rippling ocean waves. In the surf, a pack of the arthropod creatures were feeding on a washed up carcass of another marine creature. 

Luke sat down, and took a deep breath. After a few minutes, he had calmed down. His headache had faded, and the tumult in his mind started to clear up. He was entranced by the peaceful scenery that lay in front of him, and he barely noticed the sound of someone walking towards him.

For a moment, he panicked, fearing it was Captain Hamilton. The old man would be furious if he discovered him alone and outside the camp, especially after what happened to Jake. It had been a week since the last time they saw the predator, and Luke figured they had killed the creature.

Hell, it should be dead. Luke remembered thinking. The animal had been shot in the chest two times, it was unlikely that the creature survived. However, Luke knew that there could be more predators in the forest, and Hamilton had forbidden them from leaving the camp without armed backup. 

Luke looked past his shoulder, and was suprised to see Marshall climbing up the hill. 

''Good night, Luke.'' The engineer greeted him, as he reached the top of the tune.

''Hey.'' Luke said in response.

''What are you doing here?'' Marshall asked. ''What's up?''

''Nothing.'' Luke said, deciding not to mention his nightmare. ''Just having some trouble sleeping. What about you?''

''Same problem.'' Marshall said. ''I've been working on that positioning receiver. Tried connecting it to another antenna, no luck so far.''

The engineer glanced at the horizon.