Artificial Earth

                        CHAPTER 04

                                  30

        "Gravity explains the motions of planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion."
        
                                   --- Isaac Newton

Danvers Bar
7:35 a.m

              JOE, JAKE AND GARTH FINALLY MANAGED TO Break through the wall. They were all happy to see each other, glad that everyone's safe and still breathing. The trio were exhausted, Jenny and Rob too after taking turns trying to punch a hole through the wall. Tommy offered to make soup and went to the kitchen together with John and Maria. Inside the Bar, a small lantern was placed on top of a table at the center, soft light flickered throughout the room, casting eerie shadows on the walls. The broken table, pieces of glass and blood were cleaned up and any traces of the shooting incident were gone, except for the old man lying on the couch with a bullet wound on his shoulder.
       "What do we do now?" Jenny asked, sitting at the end of the couch were Danver was lying.
       "Just let me think for minute." Joe replied, sitting on one of the chairs.
       "What happened to the old geezer?" Garth asked, sitting beside Joe.
        "Accident." Jenny replied, looking at Cathy who was sitting quietly just beneath the staircase.
        "The Gunshot we heard..." Jake said, standing gaurd in front of the hole in the wall they just came through, looking at Jenny.
         Silence...
        "Okay, Let's think for a minute....What do we know about this creature so far?" Joe asked.
         "It's fast, that's for sure." Garth said.
          "What else?" Joe added, turning towards the group.
           "It's possible that this creature can think, maybe acts instinctively.." Jake contributed.
            "It also feels pain....When we shot it, saw it move back a bit." Joe pointed out. "Meaning....It can be killed." he added.
         "It would probably take a lot of bullets before we could even make a dent on that thing." Garth said.
         "We still have three grenades, a missile launcher.....plus we now have two cans of gasoline." Joe said.
         "Think that'll be enough?" Jenny asked, moving closer to the old man to check his temperature.
           "Why can't we just blast our way through? I mean...use the gasoline, make a fire....then use one of the grenades to cover our escape. If that thing out there comes at us, we use our guns....we'll still have two grenades and a missile launcher for back up." Garth suggested.
          "That could work, assuming there's only one of  those out there. Fact is.......We don't really know how many or what else is out there." Joe said. "We also have an injured old man to look after for." he added.
           "I can look after myself!" Danver interjected, trying to sit up. "Don't need babysitting...stupid soldier..." he added.
             "Ssshhh, now now, just be still....." Jenny said, holding him down.
            "His fever's high...Cathy....Make yourself useful and please go get me a small towel and a pail of water, tap water will be fine." Jenny said. "You can use one of the flashlights, it's on table.
             Cathy stood up, walked towards the table, took the flashlight and went straight to the restroom behind the kithen.
            "How about staying and waiting for the storm to pass? Maybe when the storm's gone, the reception will be back, then we call for help." Jake suggested. "Or....What if we send three of us out there, go make a run for it using the grenades to go get some help?" he added.
           "What do you think?" Garth asked Joe.
      "Okay let's weigh our options....One, We can all try to make a run for it, take our chances....Two, Stay here and wait for the storm to pass, wait for help to arrive....Three, We send some of us out there to go get help. What will it be?" Joe asked.
        "I say we put it to a vote." Jake replied.
         "Then let's do that when the others get back from the kitchen and everyone's here." Joe concurred.

      INSIDE THE KITCHEN, MARIA WAS PREOCCUPIED With making soup for the entire group, cutting and dicing vegetables which they took from the freezer. Tommy and John were both sitting on small wooden stools watching her cook while a small lamp that Joe and the others took from the shed was directly in front of  her. Pans of all sorts and sizes hung above the kitchenette. Dozens of knives varrying in shape and sizes were placed on a long wooden rack, spoons and forks were placed inside a metalic container with a lid to keep the utensils clean and an oven with two
large magnetic plates for cooking lay on a corner next to a gigantic walk-in freezer.
        "So....You two are from Crystal City." Tommy said, trying to create small talk.
          "Yeah. My wife Maria there's originally from Crystal City...I'm from Emerald County." John said.
            "Emerald City? That's Wilderness Country right?"
          "Yep. It's like Artificial Earth's version of Africa."
             "Wow. So you...you see lions there?"
              "No....I mean...yeah but they're in large cages, like a reserve. All sorts of animals."
               "Wow. That's cool. Only animals I've seen are dogs, cats, birds bees and other insects."
              "You should go there someday, come visit us. John and I would gladly give you a tour." Maria cut in, inviting Tommy.
    "Wow! Sure...Thanks!" Tommy said, smiling gratefully.
         Tommy's Eighteen. Black short straight hair, brown eyes, lean and muscular for his age from chopping wood and doing regular push ups, around five foot eight inches tall with boyish good looks. He never had a chance to travel or go anywhere ever since his mother died.
         It was winter that day, snow in the artificial planet's brutal, knee deep. His father went out to get more supplies and medicine from the city and he was alone with his mom in bed. She died in her sleep. That was four years ago.
        "Hey Tommy..." John said. "Did you see the...ummm...thing...creature out there?"
     "Shot it actually."
      "What did it look like?"
       "It's hard to explain...It looked like trees, I mean vines, all meshed up. It had no eyes, no mouth, no feet....just...vines."
        "Were you scared?"
         "Da...Yeah. Saw it drop a car on top of that guy....Buddy or was it Ray something, can't remember who."
         "Think we can fight it off?"
         "Can't say....It's a living tree, or looks something like that...don't know what to make of it."
           "Do you think we stand a chance against that thing?"
    "I sure hope so." Tommy concluded.

          THE RESTROOMS OF THE BAR ARE LOCATED at the back of the kitchen. Cathy opened the door with the sign "Ladies" on it and stepped in, pointing the light inside. The room was fairly large. There were two stalls inside, each with it's own toilet bowl. Two sinks were positioned in the middle of a long marble counter facing the stalls, a large rectangular mirror was mounted just above the sink, beside it was a wooden cabinet. A shower was at the far end of the room, above it was an open window.
         "It's chilly in here." Cathy thought out loud, walking towards the counter. She opened the cabinet, inside were several large neatly folded towels, beside them were smaller ones. On the top shelf were a pair of toothbrushes and toothpaste. Placing the flashlight on the sink, she opened the faucet, cold water rushed out then she stetched out both her hands and splashed water on her face.
        Cathy took a towel from the wooden cabinet, wiped her face then looked at her slightly illuminated reflection on the cloudy mirror. She had blonde wavy hair falling just above her shoulders, tired hazel eyes stared back at her.
          Suddenly she froze, a silhouette was at the window, someone was watching her. She couldn't move, the hair on her arms and neck stood up, the way they do when you see ghosts or feel a presence. Her heart was beating so fast and so strong she could swear it'll burst out of her ribs in a few more minutes. She wanted to turn, to verify what she was seeing, the shadow on window moved. The air around her grew thicker, breathing became harder, she could physically feel a presence, malevolent in nature, violent and undeniably evil.                       The shadow moved again, this time an arm stretched out and grasped the windows frame, it was slender and burnt like roasted beef, then another....slowly the head emerged from the shadows, gristly, macabre. Cathy was screaming, she screamed and screamed but no sound was coming out of her mouth. She wanted to run, to get away, to escape, to live. The figure was now halfway through the window, inching it's way in, moving slowly, ghastly.
       Tears began to fall from Cathy's eyes, she could literally taste fear from her mouth which was hanging open. The head of the figure caught a part of the reflected light, revealing it's face.....Cathy finally managed to scream.

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Authors Note

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