Lost Encounters

There's Something Wrong

Kate struggled to open her eyes. Her head felt as though thousands of angry hornets had stung her. Smoke stung her eyes and her left leg felt broken. She was relieved that she could still move it, even though it caused pain to circulate through her. Her vision was blurry, but over time it cleared. Around her she could hear the others coughing and talking quietly among themselves. Smoke hung thickly in the air, and Kate heard the crackling of a fire as it consumed something.
   Kate glanced curiously around her, taking in the surroundings. She found herself lying in a small grassy field. A few feet away from her a small fire burned, and over the fire nestled a small steaming kettle of water. Around the grassy field was several trees, which appeared to be thousands of years old.
  Kate finally recognized the twisted and destroyed body of HR-31C, still smoking from the lightning that had set it ablaze. Just judging by looks, she really had no idea how anybody survived. She looked around for the others, but couldn't see them. She heard their voices nearby, but she didn't see them. Kate's mind started to panic, as she struggled to keep calm. She heard their voices clearly, but where are they? A hand touched her shoulder, causing her to involuntarily jump.
  Spinning around, Kate came face to face with a young girl. The girl was dressed in a long flowing black dress. Her black, beady eyes twinkled with mischief, and her smile was cold and evil, sending shivers down Kate's back. The girl's long black hair shone with a wicked light.
  "Kate?" The girl said with Cpl. Ryan's voice. Kate blinked. The girl vanished in a cloud of black dust and in her place stood Ryan, his face filled with concern.
"Are you alright?" Cpl. Ryan asked, shining a flashlight into her eyes and then placed his hand on her forehead.
"I'm fine," Kate replied with a sigh of relief. The members of her unit appeared beside her and around the fire. She shook her head, trying to shake the picture of the girl out of her mind. She was relieved when she found out that nobody was seriously injured. The worst injury was Capt. Gomez, who's head had a slash along the forehead. Medic Ryan quickly fixed him up though. Everyone else had scratches and cuts here and there, but everyone was thankful that no one had died.
"Well," began Sgt. Banks,"that was one Hell of a ride!"
"One that nearly cost us our existence!" added Lt. Walker as he broke up a small stick and threw it into the flames.
"Our compasses are all messed up," commented Pvt. Sheller, "and our handheld radios don't work either."
"But it is a good thing that we dropped our emergency supply package before the crash," Capt. Gomez observed, "Otherwise we wouldn't even have our two weeks of rations and our extra ammunition for our guns."
"I have a bad feeling that we'll be here for more than a couple weeks, Cap," Cpl. Ryan stated.
"He's right. How will HQ find us here when all our communications are cut? We can't even give them a heading!" Pvt. Cooper exasperated.
"The helicopter had a black box in it," Capt. Gomez replied. "They'll track it to our location."
"But that's just the thing. None of our equipment works," Pvt. Cooper argued back as he loaded his pump shotgun with bullets. "So how in the world do you know that box is gonna work?"
"How about we just not worry about that right now," Pvt. Sheller butted in. "We have better things to worry about." Sheller stuck a cartridge into his M16 and cocked it.
"Are you okay, Kate?" Capt. Gomez asked the girl, who was just staring into the flames. At hearing her name she glanced up.
"Yeah, I'm just fine."
"Here," the captain unholstered one of his 9mm pistol and handed it to her. "This might come in handy."
"Thanks," Kate said, fingering the gun as if she hadn't seen one before. "Something's not right about this place." Kate said in an almost whisper.
"She's right about that," agreed Sgt. Banks. "First, an unknown mass of blackness overtakes our gunship. Next, our instruments go crazy, and then, to make it worse, a bolt of lightning knocks our bird off balance and we crash into this place. We can't give any info on where we are or even how we got here. All communication with  the outside world is gone."
"I have a really bad feeling about this place," Cpl. Ryan added his two cents worth. "I think it's haunted."
"Hey guys," Capt. Gomez motioned for silence. "No matter what happens, we must stick together. Whatever this place holds has to fight all seven of us just to get one." He paused, and then glanced around the campfire. He made eye contact with each soldier under his command. "There will be rules," he continued. "Chiefly, no one goes anywhere alone. Always be with someone at all times. Next, we don't know how long we'll be stuck here, so we need to use our rations and ammunition sparingly. Lastly, no secrets. If you see something, say something. That will keep all of is safe. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir,"chorused everyone but Kate. Gomez looked inquiringly at her. She held her gaze at the blaze.
"Kate?"
Kate nodded an acknowledgment without looking up. The captain sighed and then added, "Good, because there is definitely something wrong with this place. And I feel that something very bad is going to happen. We need to stick close and keep a sharp eye out."