Sovereign Earth

Two hunters

His fingers tightened around the spear in his hand, his knuckles white. The air around him was damp from the early morning dew. He crouched amongst the undergrowth, using the ferns and vines as cover. The grey sky above him was barely visible through the thick tree canopy.
The cool morning wind blew against his tanned face. His dark grey eyes pierced through the low light trying to perceive something that wasn't there. He was a young man. It was evident he'd worked hard his whole life by his calloused hands. He was dressed with leathers over his torso, his arms bare aside from rough scar tissue. His hair was dark like his skin, also coarse like his skin.
In the distance a branched snapped. The young man shifted rising a bit from his hiding spot revealing his figure better. He was muscular and tied around his waist were several rabbits, along with a makeshift knife. The sound echoed through the forest again. The apparent hunter began to step towards the sound, placing his bare feet with precision as to not make any sound. He swung wide from where the sound had originated, keeping his spear at the ready. A large tree had fallen and was already being covered with moss not far from him. He moved towards it, climbing up to get a better view. Once he was perched at the stop he looked down at a herd of deer that had gathered to drink from a small stream. A smirk crossed the hunter's lips. He looked through the herd trying to decide upon his prey.
Among the herd were several doe, fawns, and one large buck. Perhaps a younger more zealous hunter would claim the buck as his mark, but this hunter knew his spear wouldn't be able to take it down, not in one hit at least. He focused on one of the younger does, she would be able to feed the village at least one meal. The hunter slid down from the fallen tree into the underbrush. He crept ever so slowly towards the herd.
He was nearly within striking distance now. The doe was stood close to the buck. The temptation arose to try and take the buck, but he knew even if he managed to kill it he would never be able to carry it back. Speed was everything in this forest. The doe lowered its head to the stream and began to drink. The hunter rose, holding the spear above his head. He prepared to throw it, breathing in he held his breath. His arm reared back and-
The silence of the forest was suddenly shattered by a resounding bang. The buck and the doe both fell as a hot flash seared through his arm. A tree not far behind him splintered, wood debris flying into the air. The hunter looked down at his bleeding arm and stumbled back into the shelter of the forest. He looked at the fallen deer, large bloody holes in each of them. Whatever beast had just slain these creatures scared him. The hunter turned and began to run back towards his village, back to what he hoped was safety.

***

She lowered the rifle and smirked softly to herself, looking across off clearing at the now scattering four legged creatures.
"Did you see that? You ripped through two of them!" an excited voice exclaimed as a scrawny teenager bounced up beside her. Most of his features were obscured by the large metal suit he was wearing, his light brown hair matted down by a transparent glass dome that wrapped around his head. His face was narrow and spotted with acne. A handgun was strapped to his waist. The woman holding rifle looked at him, feeling a bit proud of the shot after witnessing this boy praise.
"It wasn't intentional, trust me," she said immediately transferring the attention to her rifle. "These things were made to take down much tougher things than whatever those were." She wore a similar metal suit. Her's however fit closer to her frame. When she moved the metal seemed to bend and move with her. She too wore a dome on her head. The transparent glass showed through to her strong features. Her jaw was chiseled and defined, and her brown eyes darted around the forest.
Another female voice spoke up, this one with an edge of nervousness.
"I believe, based on my study of earth life, those were deer. I didn't need two specimen, but it will be interesting to see the effects of the event on both male and female." A young petite woman was standing farther back in the woods. She had her arms across her chest. She was unarmed, unlike the other two. She had a thin, plain face. Her deep blue eyes were wide. She wore a similar outfit to the others.
"Doctor, I think it would be best for us to collect the specimens and move on. I have the feeling we aren't alone out here," a deep smooth male voice said. He was older than the rest, in his early forties with already greying hair. An assault rifle was slung around his back. He stepped forward towards the teenager and the woman with a rifle. "Help me get these back to the ship, Kenny."
The teenager, Kenny, nodded a smile on his face. "Yes sir," he said. The older man turned to the woman,
"Beth, stay with the doctor." He turned his wrist up and pressed a button on it and spoke again. "Beth, don't mention it to the others, but I think I saw something over near those deer. I'm not sure what it was from the distance, but we should be on alert." Beth gave him a look that she understood. Something out there? She hadn't seen anything when she was scoped in, but perhaps she'd been too focused on the deer. The older man pressed the button again and spoke out over their coms, "Alright let's move." He said as he and Kenny both leaped up into the air about twenty feet before covering the distance to land at the deer.
The older man picked up the buck and threw it over his shoulder with ease. Kinney grabbed the doe and managed to do the same in a more awkward manner. The two didn't jump but instead ran back at a steady pace towards the two women. Beth pressed a button on her wrist, making the communication between them private.
"What do you think it was, Major?" She asked in a concerned voice. The group had started jogging through the forest. Major didn't respond for some time. Then he spoke again,
"It could have been a man." The realization almost made Beth stop in her tracks. A man? On Earth after what had ahead? It was insanity to believe such a thing was possible, but if the major believed it, she was inclined to agree. "It was definitely bipedal, roughly the size of a man. Perhaps it was just my eyes playing tricks on me."
"I thought all the survivors made it onto the ark," she responded the doubt already creeping in.
"So we thought, but if it was a man there is no telling what effects the radiation could have had on his body." He paused before adding grimly, "or his mind."
"Should we tell the others?" Beth asked already looking around the forest subtly as if some mutated man creature would burst forth at any moment.
"No, the less they know the safer they'll be. Tomorrow morning before sunrise I want you to head out on a recon mission. See if you can find any signs of a civilization." The Major said as the forest opened to a field of tall, wild grasses.
"Yes sir," Beth said and closed the private communication. They were nearing a medium sized spacecraft. It had been what they landed on the planet in. The doctor spoke out over the coms,
"If you would be so kind to take the specimens to my lab on board. We'll be able to better understand the effects of the radiation on life while we've been gone."
"It'll be done," the Major said gruffly as they approached the craft. The bottom of the ship lowered slowly to meet the ground as they arrived. Their quiet footsteps on the damp ground soon turned to the clanking of metal as they traveled up the ramp. Beth stopped and looked out across the grass field at the forest. It seemed so strange and different from what she had been told of the planet. Two hundred years ago the planet had been left a fiery wasteland, uninhabitable, but now it seemed the planet had rebuilt itself from the ashes.
Beth's ancestors had managed to escape the nuclear war by finding sanctuary on the ark, a giant space craft that would carry them across the galaxy in search of more inhabitable planets they could rebuild on. However they had found none, so they decided to return to earth to research what had happened. She had been chosen as part of the group to travel to the surface, the first humans on earth in two centuries. It baffled her that she was chosen for such a task.
However, now it seemed that humans had never left. She couldn't shake the feeling, but she knew deep down there were people out there.
"Beth, we're closing the doors." She blinked herself back to present. The Major was looking down to her from the top of the ramp. She nodded and walked up the metal ramp. The metal ramp raised behind her, but not before she could cast another glance outside.

{A/N: if you're interested in reading more let me know by commenting and voting. Feel free to tell your friends and what not}