The Genesis Machine

Chapter 5

It quickly became apparent that slogging through miles of loose sand under the blazing desert sun was no picnic. At first, some people in the group had chatted as we walked, trading guesses about what we would find when we reached the mountains. Now, however, we trudged along in silence, eyes downcast and squinted against the harsh desert glare. The sun was relentless, and its heat and light beat down on us, causing rivulets of sweat to pour off our faces, then it bounced off the sand, blinding us and scorching our legs and lower bodies. 

Even Eleven was subdued, the fierce light in his eyes dulled to a glazed look as he forced himself to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Our walking became a mindless trek, the only sound other than the grating sand was our ragged breathing as we panted, hoping for a breath of wind to cool our scorched throats. 

Water had already become a concern: With as much as we were sweating, we were guzzling down the water from our canteens much faster that we had anticipated, and still it didn't seem to be enough. Six told us not to bother trying to ration it, the water wouldn't do us any good in our canteens rather than in our bodies. We needed to drink to replace the precious moisture we were losing through perspiration. 

I took a deep breath, feeling the hot dry air flowing across the back of my tongue and down my increasingly dry throat. I stopped for a second, uncapping my canteen and tipping my head back to take a long drink. The water was warm, but I didn't care. I needed it, needed the life-giving moisture and my body didn't care if it was warm or cold, it just needed water.

A shadow covered me for a second and I glanced up, grateful for brief shade offered by a stray cloud. The sky remained an unbroken blue dome, however, not a single cloud was visible. I glanced around in confusion and saw something that made my heart miss a beat: A large avian creature was circling above us, silhouetted against the bright sky. 

I could make out the shape of vicious talons curled beneath its enormous wingspan, easily wider than I was tall. Its cruel beak was long, with a hooked curl at the end, clearly designed for shredding flesh from bone.

I stared up at the eerily silent creature as it circled above us, barely flapping its large wings and appearing to hang in the air like an ugly specter. Then I quickly hurried to catch up with Eleven, who raised an eyebrow in question when I grabbed his arm to get his attention. I was out of breath from my frantic dash through the ankle deep sand, and so I simply pointed up by way of answer. 

Eleven craned his head back to stare up and the sky and I saw his other eyebrow raise to join the first. I couldn't tell if he was frightened or simply surprised at the sight of the large bird. I suspected the latter, however. I had a feeling that nothing could actually scare Eleven. He leaned over to Ten and muttered something in her ear. Without a word she darted forward and disappeared into the crowd. 

A few moments later she reappeared, accompanied by Six, who looked annoyed at having been dragged to the back of the group without an explanation. He started to voice this irritation when Eleven pointed skyward. Six's eyes darted up and he let out an involuntary gasp. "What are those?!" I looked up in surprise. Those?
Sure enough, the first avian creature I'd spotted had been joined by two others who also drifted in lazy circles above us, still eerily silent.

"I have no idea what they are," Said Eleven. "But that's not the point. They had to come from somewhere. Nothing can live out in the open. They have to have a roost of some sort, and with the way they just appeared, it has to be close by."

Six looked both impressed and thoughtful. "And a roost could be shelter for us," he mused, studying the bird-like creatures. Then he turned to me. "Did you see which way they came from?"

I shook my head, wishing I had. "No, I just glanced up and there was one circling. When you got here the other two were up there but I didn't see where they came from."

"That's a shame," sighed Six. "Well we'll have to remedy that." He glanced at Eleven and answered his raised eyebrow. "We're going to bait a trap. I'm guessing that they're scavengers, following anything moving about in this heat on the chance that it dies and gives them a good meal. If we can make it seem like some of us are succumbing to this heat then it might attract more of them. Then we can determine which direction they're arriving from."

Eleven nodded his agreement. "Not to mention, when they land we can try to bring down one or two." Some fresh meat would do wonders for morale." He gestured towards the crowd which had stopped and was breaking into smaller groups, some looking up at the circling creatures, some just panting with their heads drooping in defeat. "Most of us are only walking because the person in front of us is. We could all use a little boost."

Six considered this for a moment, then nodded. He turned to the milling crowd and raised his voice, "Okay, people. I know you're all tired so we're going to take a bit of a break. You might have noticed our visitors." He pointed towards the still circling creatures. "Some of us are going to try a little experiment, to see how edible the wildlife here is. While we wait why don't you all sit down, drink more of your water, eat a little, too. You'll need lots of energy for when we start again."

Most people seemed too tired to even question him, they just sat down adjusted the coats covering their heads, trying to block out as much of the scorching desert sun as possible. A few looked up at the ugly avians, but no one raised any cry of alarm. They were simply all too exhausted to care. "Six." I said. "What's our plan? Who's gonna be the bait?" Before he could reply, he was interrupted by Two, who walked up and pushed her way into our huddle. "Why do we need bait? We catching something?" 

Eleven glanced at Two in poorly disguised annoyance. "We aren't catching anything, if that we includes you." Then he looked Two up and down with an obvious leer. "On second thought, you're the perfect bait. A fragile little thing like you would be just perfect." Two's face was already flushed from the heat, but her sunburned skin darkened with anger and her green eyes flashed. I expected her to draw her knife and attack Eleven but all she said was "Fine. I'll be the bait, since you clearly don't have the balls for it."

This time it was Eleven's turn to flush with anger. His face twisted at the petty insult and I was sure he would strike her. Before he could move though, Six shoved in between them, causing Eleven to stagger backwards off balance. "Stop it, both of you." He glared at Eleven. "You were out of line, Eleven." Then he glanced at Two. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Two's emerald eyes didn't leave Eleven's iron gray gaze. "Absolutely," was all she said.