The Genesis Machine

Chapter 6

"Okay, Two, you stand over there and walk in circles for a few minutes and then lay down on the sand," Six said, pointing at a patch of sand a little way off from the rest of the group. "A couple more of us will come join you in a few minutes and act like we're succumbing to the heat." Two snorted and pushed her hair off her forehead where it had stuck to the sweat that was running down her face. "That won't be hard. I think I'm pretty close already." Her face was red, burned from the harsh light and flushed from the heat. The rest of us didn't look much better, we were going to be in real trouble if we didn't find a way to get out of the sunlight soon. 

As Two wandered away from us, walking in circles and pretending to stagger, Six called out "Don't forget to keep your knife at the ready." In response Two simply flicked her wrist, causing the knife slide out of her sleeve and into her hand where she could use it to stab at one of the birds when it landed to investigate. 

"Okay, Four, you next." Six smiled encouragingly at me and nodded. "Make sure you end up close enough to Two to help, but not so close that the scavengers are scared away." I nodded, trying to look brave as I turned and started staggering around in the general direction Two had gone, but all I could think about was the cruel beaks of the still silent creatures above us. 

When felt like I was far enough away from the main group, I let myself fall to my knees and roll onto my side. I had to squint my eyes against the glare from the twin suns and their reflected light off the sand. I could make out Two laying a few feet away, her knife clutched in both hands, eyes barely open. I heard staggered footfalls and then a muffled thump as someone else pretended to succumb to the desert's heat. From the weight of the footsteps and the body falling I guessed it was probably Eleven, but I had no way to be sure, as whoever it was had fallen somewhere behind me.

And then we waited.

And waited.

And waited some more. 

There was sweat running down my face in torrents, dripping into my eyes and stinging them. Both suns were now directly overhead and the heat only seemed to get more intense as we lay there, eyes squinted, not daring to move, barely breathing whenever one of the huge shadows passed silently above us. I heard the person behind me sigh with annoyance, definitely Eleven, and them move as though he was about to stand up. 

"Don't!" I hissed. "Just stay there." If Eleven got up now, he would ruin this entire plan and all the water we'd lost sweating in the sun would be wasted. "Why?" Came the muttered reply. "This isn't working, it's a waste of time."

I opened my mouth to snap back when an eerie keening cry split the silent desert air. One of the shadows passed over me as creatures began to circle lower and I froze as the other two repeated the strange call back. The cry seemed to hum in the air, rising higher until it vanished beyond our range of hearing, but still causing the air to vibrate slightly with the sound of it.

Then sunlight vanished as one of the creatures dropped again, seeming to hang motionless above the sand before it folded its enormous wings and dropped to the ground. Now that it was forced to crawl across the desert sand it was obvious that this creature was ill-equipped to be on the ground. Its wings were folding so it seemed to walk on its elbows while its ugly bald head turned from side to side, watching us with huge yellow eyes. Eventually it decided on its first meal, and turned towards Two. 

Now that it was waddling away from me, I could see that its back wasn't feathered like a bird's. Rather it was covered with dense silvery quills, probably to reflect as much sunlight away from its body as possible. Obviously any creatures that stayed out during the daylight hours would have some sort of adaptation to minimize their exposure to the rays of the twin suns.

The ugly creature had almost reached Two when I heard sand shifting as Eleven pushed himself quickly to his feet and leaped over me towards to ungainly beast. Above us, one of the still circling creatures let out a piercing alarm cry, clearly meant to warn the grounded one. I quickly forced myself to my feet, feeling my head spinning slightly as the blood rushed back to my legs. Then I charged after Eleven, whooping to get the creature's attention.

Its head snapped around and it fixed Eleven with its malevolent yellow stare, and then lunged with surprising speed. Eleven was caught off guard, clearly the creature only seemed awkward on the ground and could move quickly when it wanted to. As it was, he barely dodged to the side, and the long hooked beak snapped shut on empty air, barely missing his right arm. Eleven was now off balance, however, and the creature was not. It twisted sideways, using its long ugly neck to shove Eleven over. There was no way he could roll away now and it pulled its wrinkled head back, preparing to stab that terrible beak into Eleven's chest. 

Then it shrieked with rage and twisted around, revealing Two clinging to its back, her knife sunk deep into the bird's neck. I jumped forward, trying to pin one of the flailing wings, but the elbow struck me with surprising force, tossing me off my feet and splitting the skin where it struck me above my eye. Warm blood gushed down into my eyes, blinding me for a moment and forcing me to blink and shake my head. 

Then Eleven grabbed me, pulling me to my feet and both of us threw ourselves onto one of the beast's wings, pinning them while Two pulled her knife out and stabbed it again and again. for several moments we struggled, the creature shrieking in pain and rage and us grunting as we attempted to hold on and then it was over: The bird collapsed, dying suddenly and falling into the dust with one large, yellow eye still staring at the suns overhead.

For a moment we just sat there, stunned at our victory, and then another shriek made us look up at the other two creatures. Their eerie voices rose and joined, making the hair on my arms stand up as they began a strange keening song and then wheeled across the sky, soaring effortlessly as they flew higher and then vanished behind the dunes.

Then Six let out a whoop and came racing towards us, cheering the whole way. A few other people followed him, clearly reluctant to get too close, but obviously curious.

"That was brilliant!" Six yelled, obviously delighted that the plan had worked out so well.

"That was disgusting." Muttered Two, wiping her bloody hands on her white jacket, staining it crimson. "I'm pretty sure we sweated out all the water we drank earlier. We're going to need more really soon, otherwise we're dead." Then she glanced at me. "You look like hell, Four. Your face is covered in blood and that was stupid, trying to tackle the wings like that while it was flapping around."

Then she smiled and smacked both Eleven and I lightly on our arms. "We did it though! We killed the hideous thing."

Six was kneeling next to its head, studying it. "Ugly bastard, isn't it? Look here." He said, pointing at the beak. "It's serrated. That thing wouldn't have let go once it got a hold of you. Good thing you didn't give it the chance to." Then he slid his knife out, poising it near the shoulder. He smirked. "Now comes the fun part."