Joe Hill looked up at the cloudless south Texas sky. He felt the heavy heat bearing down, threatening to bake him in his own skin. He turned to the shorter man standing beside him.
"It's hot as hell today," said Joe.
"That's the damned truth," said Rick Jones. He spat a stream of tobacco juice onto the ground. "Ain't seen it this hot, this early, in I don't know how long." Rick was trending toward portly and days like this were harder on him than most. He reached into his pocket for a handkerchief to wipe the sweat away from his brow. "Some cold beer will taste mighty good this evening."
The pair were standing at the edge of a clearing on top of a small hill. Below them a small group of armed men exited the tree line and began walking toward them. The men wore a patchwork assortment of quasi-military clothing and gear. All carried some form of AR-15 rifle and handguns of varied style and caliber.
"Yonder come the boys now," said Rick.
"How'd they do on the range today?"
"Not bad. They're getting better." Rick nodded.
The eight men reached the summit of the hill and formed up in front of their leaders. They stood at attention until Rick gave them the order to relax. These men were all locals, recruited from the surrounding population to be part of an armed force. On most days, they held normal jobs, went to their kids' sports games, hosted barbecues and did chores around the home. Every couple of weeks, a group of them got together and came out to this private piece of land to train themselves for the inevitable fall of modern society.
"Good job on the firing range today, men," said Joe. "Improved marksmanship is a vital part of our training. The rest of our session today will be used to sharpen our squad level tactics. Your squad leader will give you the details of the mission." He stopped to study the faces of the men before him and drew a deep breath in order to project his voice. "Remember, you are members of the Texas Lightfoot Militia. We train for the day when we are called to take back our country from those who would destroy it, those who would drag it down into the depths of depravity! We will stand against the commies, the perverts and the liberal scum, so that we can return our great nation to glory!"
A ragged cheer rose from the assembled men as they raised their weapons into the air. Joe nodded with satisfaction and turned the training exercise over to Rick.
The Hunter studied the men as it perched high among the trees. It was rendered invisible to the humans by its camouflage cloak, although the Hunter doubted the measure was necessary. The alien had grown frustrated with this hunt. The trophies taken thus far were few and of inferior quality. It read the biometrics from the humans below as they appeared on the inside of the Hunter's helmet. The readings made it gnash its outer mandibles. This prey was less than ideal. Most were overweight and poorly conditioned. Still, the Hunter sought to turn this situation to its advantage. It had conceived a plan which might draw more suitable prey to the area.
Joe Hill stumbled back up the same hill he had been standing on a short time ago. He had lost his hat and his left side was drenched in blood which wasn't his own. His breath came in quick pants and his mind reeled in shock.
All of his men were dead. He had been walking with Rick while the squad carried out their training. He first knew something was off when panicked weapons fire erupted from Team Alpha to his right. Unable to raise the fire team leader on the radio, Rick and Joe had run over to their location. Dodging trees and skirting the uneven terrain, they came upon a scene reminiscent of a horror movie.
The four men of the fire team had been slaughtered. The corpses were splayed out on the ground, still close to one another. Pools of lifeblood were slowly seeping into the Texas dirt. The two leaders stood there, dumbstruck, unable to comprehend what had happened.
It was only the screams and gunfire from Fire Team Bravo which broke the spell. The two men tore off in that direction, hoping to find someone alive and learn what was happening. The woods grew silent before they arrived, although neither man noticed. They found the second fire team in the same state as the first. The men had been quickly and efficiently butchered. There was no sign of anyone else in the vicinity.
"What the fuck?" said Rick, his voice high and cracked. He'd known these men for years. Now they were gone, all in a moment.
"We've got to get out of here," said Joe. "Snipers or some shit." He grabbed Rick by the arm. "Let's go. Now." The words had barely left his lips when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and heard a soft whirring sound. He felt Rick stiffen and then watched in disbelief as the squad leader's head slowly slid from his neck. Blood splashed onto Joe as the headless body crumpled to the ground. Experiencing this trauma snapped Joe's mind. His only thought was of escape.
He had almost made it to the top of the hill when slammed into his back. Despite weighing in at over two hundred pounds, Joe was sent sprawling into the grass. The air in front of him seemed to shimmer, then crackled with a strange energy. What emerged was a thing born of nightmares. Joe froze, his body locked up in fear and awe. Before him was a monster, seven feet tall, with mottled skin and no face. He had time to take in the huge size of the thing and that it seemed to be wearing some kind of strange helmet. The monster roared at Joe and a final survival instinct kicked in. He drew the handgun still holstered at his waist.
Joe Hill never felt the spear which impaled his heart, nor heard the scream of triumph from his killer.
Special Agent Gayle Singh had just sat down at her desk to begin the day's work. She was in charge of a special department at Homeland Security, one the public did not know about, nor did Congress. The work done at this department was of the super-secret variety and if knowledge of it ever got out into the public domain, the fallout would be immeasurable.
Singh was of South Asian descent and had been recruited after graduating from Yale with degrees in Computational Biology and Applied Physics. She had an easy smile and a core of steely determination. The people she had surpassed and stepped on during her meteoric rise through the bureaucracy would have called her something far less flattering. Her computer was booting up and she was taking small sips of her morning coffee when her assistant burst into the room. Singh had never seen Ryan Page look so excited, lit up like a schoolboy after his first kiss, so she assumed this was something big.
"Gayle, you've got to see this," began the junior agent, his eyes wide and his face flushed. "It just came in…" He stopped himself with visible effort and thrust an electronic tablet at her.
Singh took the device and watched the silent video footage play across the screen. Her heart rate shot up and adrenaline fired through her body. "Where?" she asked.
"South Texas," said Page. "Medino County. Footage was taken by the local sheriff's office. Victims are apparently a bunch of redneck militia from that area."
"Contact them and tell them not to touch anything at the scene."
"Already done. They knew enough to disturb nothing and call in federal support."
"What is our closest asset?" Singh asked.
"We can get Marshals, maybe Texas Rangers, there first to secure the area," said Page. "The closest our people would be is Houston."
"I only want Feds," said Singh. "No staties, no locals, except for auxiliary support. Get who you can, as fast as you can. Tell them to secure the area only. I want a 10-mile perimeter enforced. Under no circumstances are they to enter the kill zone."
"Got it," said Page, already tapping on his phone.
"Acquire transport for us, the fastest thing flying. I want to be in Texas by lunch." Singh took a deep breath. "Scramble Omega Squad. Tell them to pack heavy."
On the way to Texas, Singh examined the video evidence in detail. The camera was shaky in places, which was understandable given what the operator was seeing through the lens. A dozen flayed bodies had been strung up and hung upside down. All of the men had been skinned and gutted, suspended in a tight group from thick tree branches overhead. The view panned down to the red and gray piles of offal beneath each corpse. One was different. The head had been placed on top of the mound of guts and organs beneath one of the bodies. It had a recognizable face with sightless filmed over eyes staring up at the camera.
"What do you make of it?" asked Page.
Singh sucked in air between her teeth. "This one is different from other cases we've seen. All of the victims are accounted for, all of them displayed in the same way. We know these things take trophies from their kills, but to leave all the skulls would point to this not being much of a challenge. It's careless, shows contempt for the victims."
"Think it underestimates us?"
"Not these victims, obviously. Humans in general?" Singh shrugged. "Who knows?" She probably knew as much as anyone alive about these aliens. They came to Earth to hunt and kill. They weren't interested in conquest or establishing friendly relations with a fellow sentient species. They were big game hunters and had been using the planet as a game reserve for a long time. These creatures were technologically advanced, but very savage. The scattered and limited information available about them from around the globe painted them as nigh unstoppable killers, drawn to heat and conflict.
By the time Singh landed in Texas, a loose perimeter had been established at the required distance around the kill site. All normal avenues of egress had been blocked by federal agents. Singh and Page choppered in the final leg and met up with the senior agent on the ground. They got an update on the situation and went over protocols for this mission.
Page tapped Singh on the shoulder. "Omega Squad is inbound."
"Good," said Singh. "We sit tight until the muscle gets here, then we'll go in."
The Hunter had not been idle. It had observed the human activity as it prepped the area for a hunt. It has watched the humans discover its kills. Most of them had been armed, but the Hunter did not harvest them. It was gambling upon better prey.
The Hunter had noticed other humans gathering in small groups surrounding the kill site. They were also armed and carried an air of authority, but these humans kept themselves at a distance, so the Hunter waited. Every so often, one of the primitive human drones would fly over, looking for it. The Hunter tracked the machines, but considered them harmless. Its superior technology allowed it to remain undetected.
"Do you think we're safe here?" asked Page.
"Safe? No," said Singh. "I'd be surprised if our alien friend didn't know we were here. But, we are far enough out and on open ground, I think we will be okay. We know they like to use trees and tall structures to move around. None of that right here."
"Maybe we should carpet bomb those woods. Pick up the pieces after."
"We could," said Singh, "but that would go against our mission. I want to take that thing alive, and if we can't, I want it as intact as possible. Plus, somewhere close by, it has a ship. It didn't walk to the middle of Texas. I want it all. Think of what we could gain from it."
A few minutes later, two helicopters appeared on the horizon. One carried Omega Squad, the other was full of specialized equipment. The choppers circled once, then landed to offload their cargo. Once everything was on the ground, the two aircraft lifted off and departed.
Most of the Omega personnel immediately began break open crates of equipment. One man detached from the squad and jogged over to Singh and Page.
"Agent Singh. Agent Page," said the man.
"Agent Turner," acknowledged Singh. Ben Turner was a large man. He towered over the diminutive Singh. His military background was obvious in his bearing and manner. It irked Singh at times, but she had to admit the man was good at what he did. That hard excellence is what made Turner the ranking agent on Omega Squad, the brawn behind Singh's brains.
Omega Squad was a hand-picked special ops team, culled from the elite echelons of the military, intelligence agencies, law enforcement or anywhere else Singh could find someone useful. The squad had been trained specifically to deal with this alien threat. They had access to cutting edge equipment. The accounts by the few survivors of alien encounters had been thoroughly studied to glean knowledge of their adversary. They had run countless simulations, but this was the real thing.
"This is it, Turner," said Singh. She waved her hand down toward the large wooded area stretching out below them. "Somewhere down there is our quarry. We think. There has been no further contact since the initial kills, though the opportunity was there. We are going to the kill site to investigate and then Omega Squad will do what it has been trained to do. We leave as soon as your team is ready. Copy?"
"Copy,' said Turner. He turned and jogged back to his unit.
"That guy never shuts up," joked Page.
"Hmm," mused Singh. "Let's go get our gear on."
Later, the entire team landed up into two large ATV's and drove down to the edge of the woods. Once there, the group dismounted and began to deploy. Omega Squad formed a loose diamond with Singh and Page in the middle.
"Kill site is about 120 meters in," said Singh. "Stay frosty, people"
The team was outfitted in the latest Quantum Stealth camouflage, which was effective in masking both thermal and ultraviolet signatures. Each agent also wore the most advanced version of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS). These devices attached to a modified helmet and allowed each person enhanced vision and readouts on the surrounding environment. It covered the upper half of the face.
The agents also wore Level 5 body armor plates. It was thought this armor would protect the bearer from advanced weaponry, this would be the first test against extraterrestrial armaments. Each agent carried a tranquilizer pistol loaded with four shots of advanced paralytic agent. Other weapons dispersed among the team included drum-fed Fostech shotguns, new Kriss Vector rifles with .45 caliber ammunition and modified XM-25 grenade launchers. Everyone was also strapped with a personal sidearm. Comms were synched up so everyone could communicate. Singh and Page did not wear any of the armor, but did carry comms and an extra weapon.
A day in the Texas summer had not improved the condition of the kill site. The corpses had begun to putrefy and were covered in flies. Small critters had been gnawing at the meat. Still, it was largely intact. Page held a small container of menthol gel out to Singh. She spread some under her nostrils to help neutralize the smell. Omega Squad took up perimeter defense positions.
Singh examined each flayed body, making note of any observations. She searched for wounds and studied positions, looking for any kind of order to the victims. Page followed her, recording the grim impromptu autopsy. Singh took her time, but at last she finished. Putting her hands on her hips, she sighed and frowned.
"What is it?" asked Page.
"All these men were killed with clean precise strikes, either with blades or blunt trauma. There are no plasma burns."
"So?'
"So, it's strange. If we were in an urban area, I could understand that. Those plasma casters are bright and not great for use in enclosed spaces. But out here in the wild? Our friend got up close and personal for every kill, then took no trophies except for skins.
"Back at the office you said it was because this wasn't a challenge."
"Yeah, but the way these men were left, sure to be found in this condition, almost as if it is mocking us." Singh thought for a moment then sucked in a long breath. "Oh, shit."
"What?" said Page, who had picked up on Singh's sudden change in demeanor.
"Our friends like a challenge. That's why they go primarily after armed, tough alpha types." The senior agent waved her hand at the hanging dead men. "These guys didn't even make it break out the good toys. So, it baited the area and waited for better prey to come sniffing around."
Page looked out at the ring of heavily armed, highly trained agents. "Us," he said.
"Us," agreed Singh. "Fuck." She keyed her comms. "Turner, come to me." The big man hustled over to Singh and she filled him in on what was happening. "Take the squad and do a sweep. It's here and waiting for us, I'm sure of it. Flush it out." If Turner felt any fear, he didn't show it. He ran back to the perimeter and got his squad ready to move out.
"We're not going with them?" asked Page.
"Hell no," said Singh. "They are the professional hunters. We would just get in the way. We will stay here and when Omega has done the job, then we go in."
"Just us over here amongst the corpses," said Page softly. "With a psycho killer alien on the loose. Super cool." He watched Omega Squad disappear into the woods and shook off a chill running down his spine.
For the first time on this excursion, the Hunter was surprised. It had watched the two big vehicles rumble down to the tree line, but had not seen any occupants. Doors opened and the trucks creaked like something was moving inside them. The Hunter retreated to a perch on a high tree. Something was off. It dialed up the auditory receptors installed in the battle helmet and listened. It picked up soft human voices and heard them moving stealthily about. Its vision was keyed to the infrared spectrum as humans gave off plenty of body heat, but that was not the only mode available to it. The Hunter flashed through different spectrums until stopping at electromagnetic. It trilled softly in excitement. Humans produced their own weak magnetic field and this time it had given them away. The Hunter could see them outlined in a blue energy. The humans had developed a rudimentary camouflage to conceal their heat signatures. They knew what waited for them. At last, worthy prey had arrived.
It watched from a suitable distance as the humans arrived at the kill site. These humans moved in sure, exact maneuvers. Their biometrics were promising, all were young, strong and healthy. It appeared the leader was not the largest male, but rather the smaller female. This was rare, but not unheard of amongst humans. The Hunter saw the human males respond to orders from the female and enter the woods, no doubt to begin to search for it. The alien laughed low and soft to itself as it bounded away to begin stalking the humans.
Turner relayed his commands to the squad before they melted into the woods. "Stay within sight of the agents next to you. If you see something, anything, out of the ordinary, say something. If we have any contact, rush toward it." A comm check ensured everyone was on the same channel and able to talk to one another. The agents assumed a modified "V" formation and moved forward into the trees.
Singh watched Omega disappear, then took out her sidearm and tossed it near the base of a tree. Page looked at with the obvious question poised upon his lips. "With what we know of these things, they hunt by a code," said Singh. "They prefer armed prey and may not attack someone who is unarmed and non-threatening."
"The 'may not' in your theory is doing a lot of heavy lifting," said Page.
"I suggest you do the same," said Singh. "Get rid of any weapons you are carrying. It may save your spine from getting ripped out."
"Stupid," said Page. He took his guns out and stared at them for a moment, then cast them nearby Singh's discarded piece.
Turner kept point, but it was Special Agent Malik Johnson who discovered the first evidence of something out of place. Johnson was on the right side of the formation. He took turns scanning the trees and the ground, his IVARS feeding him visual information. He stopped when he saw dark splotches of blood in his path.
"Turner, I've got a blood trail here," said Johnson into his mic. Turner immediately halted the group and ran over to Johnson's position. The dried blood spattered the grass and fallen foliage and angled off to the right.
"Singh, we've found a blood trail. Following it," said Turner.
"Copy," replied Singh. "Keep an eye on those trees."
The Hunter chittered to itself out of excitement. The humans had taken the blood lure and were headed right where it wanted them to go. Hunting techniques honed over ages remained tried and true. Groups of humans could prove formidable and dangerous. A skilled Hunter would panic the herd, get them to break apart and pick them off one by one. The alien moved off deeper into the woods.
The agents continued to track the dried splashes of blood through the forest. The heat became stifling as the summer sun beat down upon them. The equipment each carried added to the discomfort. The underbrush began to thicken and the tall trees began to thin, as the unit pushed forward. The blood led them to a small natural clearing, populated mostly by long grass and shrubs. In the middle of the clearing was a large deer. It had been stood upright and impaled on a long wooden stake, the sharpened point poking through the animal's neck.
Turner stopped at the edge of the clearing and studied the area. The agents immediately fanned out and took up all round defensive positions behind him. Turner could not see any movement and his IVARS was reading all clear, but his instincts were on high alert. Maybe this was nothing but some twisted alien ritual or it could contain a clue his team could use to find their quarry. Turner made his decision. He motioned for two agents to follow him into the clearing. Weapons drawn and moving cautiously, the trio edged toward the carcass. With Agent Walker and Agent Hsou flanking him on either side, Turner did a quick survey. He found nothing of import. It was just a dead deer stuck on a pole.
"Turner, I'm picking up something strange on that tree ahead," said Walker.
"The alien?" asked Turner, immediately dropping to a knee.
"No, it's small and giving off a weird energy signature." Walker pointed it out and Turner saw a device embedded into the tree. It was no bigger than the size of a fist.
"There is another over here," said Hsou. He indicated a tree across from the first one. If he hadn't known what to look for, Turner might have missed it completely. Alarms began to go off in his head.
"We have to get out of here," said Turner. "This is a trap."
The Hunter was hoping to draw more of the humans into the clearing, but only three had advanced into it. They had spotted the ultraviolet light emitters it had placed around the small area. The humans began to withdraw which forced the Hunter's hand. It triggered the devices.
The naked human eye cannot detect ultraviolet light. The IVARS system worn by the agents contained UV blocking in the facial shield covering to counteract bright sunshine and dampen glare. It was not designed to cancel out high bursts of concentrated UV light. The three agents inside the clearing and two more staring into it from cover saw a momentary flash of bright green, then immediate pain and loss of vision. The Hunter saw the effect of the UV burst on the humans. Before it leapt into action, it set off another device designed to scramble the human communication tools.
Turner was blind and hurting. He could hear Walker and Hsou in similar condition. Worse, he could tell others in the unit had been affected as well. He reached out and grabbed Hsou by the shoulder. "Focus", he barked. "Walk toward the sound of the unit."
"I can't see," said Hsou.
"Neither can I," said Turner. "Walker's blind, too. We need to get out of this clearing and back to our people. Now move, slow and steady, but move." Turner reached back and grabbed Walker. "Follow us."
In that moment, when the humans were disoriented and scared, the Hunter struck. It had taken a position on the far side of the clearing. The injured humans were now in front of it and also between the Hunter and the able-bodied agents in the rear of the defense. It bounded across the clearing, its long powerful strides rapidly closing the distance. As it closed in on the trio of agents still inside the clearing, the Hunter extended the long sharp wrist blades attached to the gauntlet around its forearm. Turner felt it coming, but he was too late. The creature slashed Walker across the neck as it rushed past him. Blood spurt over Turner as Walker fell to the ground, his life leaking away. Turner pushed Hsou down and dove into the grass.
The Hunter elongated its combistick, a telescoping spear weapon, as it vaulted over the edge of the clearing and landed amongst the confused combat team. Agent Naomi Crawford was the team medic. She was pulling her med kit to tend to the injured when something big jarred the ground in front of her. She had barely looked up when the inhumanly sharp spearhead punched through her armor plating and skewered her heart.
The time for stealth was over. The Hunter engaged the plasma caster fastened at the shoulder. The targeting mechanism zeroed in on Agent Brian Cooper, his face a mask of shock on seeing the death of Crawford. The superheated plasma hit him in the chest, melted the composite body armor and blasted through his body. He dropped without a sound. The plasma bolt alerted and focused the remaining agents on the danger in their midst. Those who could began firing their weapons. The Hunter had anticipated this. It worked in precise, smooth motions. The plasma caster was set on auto, firing on motion sensors. Relying on tactics and instincts perfected over innumerable hunts, the Hunter dealt death in quick succession. Plasma, spear, wrist blades and thrown shuriken made short work of the resistance. Blood soaked into the Texas soil.
Turner heard the brief sounds of combat, the screams and then the sudden silence. He had crawled through the grass until he reached the beginning of the timber. He propped himself up against a tree, flung off his helmet and angrily wiped his eyes to try and regain some of his vision.
Hsou was crawling in the opposite direction, calling out pitiably for Turner as he went. "Turner! Help me! Where are you?"
The Hunter, its weapons dripping red gore, approached the fallen man. It walked purposefully, but unhurried until it stood over Hsou. It made a sound somewhere between a throaty growl and a purr. Hsou froze at the sound, then began to plead for his life. The Hunter took no notice of the human speech. It lifted the spear and drove the point through Hsou's back. Seeing the body twitch in the throes of death, the Hunter gave the spear a good twist, and pulled it free.
Turner heard Hsou die. He still couldn't see, but the death of his fellow agent gave him the general location of his enemy. He brought his weapon up and sprayed bullets across the clearing until the magazine was empty. The blinded man fumbled to get a loaded magazine out of a pouch on his combat vest. The gunfire had nearly deafened him, but he could feel a presence close in on him. Blind and deaf, his time was up and he knew it. It had come to an end much faster than he ever anticipated. Turner stood and yelled defiantly, "What are you waiting for, you alien bastard? Do it, you coward!"
The Hunter admired how this prey faced its inevitable demise, with courage and honor. Not wanting to damage its trophy, the Hunter reached out and grabbed Turner by the neck with one hand and hoisted him off the ground. Using the wrist blades, the creature punched into Turner's chest cavity and drew down, first cutting into his heart and then disemboweling him in one smooth motion. Turner spasmed once and died amid the rain of blood. The alien dropped the remains to the ground. It noticed a thin stream of bright green blood dripping down its arm. One of the bullets must have grazed it. The Hunter snarled, but otherwise ignored the wound. Having dispatched the human, the Hunter admired its handiwork for a moment then rushed off through the forest. There were two more trophies to collect on this hunt.
Singh was trying not to panic. She and Page had heard the distant gunfire, but they could not raise Omega Squad on the comms. Even now, in the conspicuous silence, no one was answering her calls. Fear was the mind killer and it was blooming in her gut as she fought to control it. She tried again to contact any of her people out in the wilderness, but to no avail.
"Gayle, we need to get reinforcements down here," said Page. "Call the guys up at the roadblock. They can be here in fifteen minutes."
"Just give it a moment," said Singh. She didn't want to believe the worst had happened, that her crack crew had been wiped out by the alien at first contact. Yet, it was becoming more apparent with each passing second that something bad had occurred. The last communication she had with Omega had been as they reached the end of the blood trail. Now, she heard nothing but static. Singh turned and nearly ran face first into one of the hanging corpses. Its sightless, white eyes stared at her from the red raw face. Maybe a kind of warning, or an omen. "Alright," she said, "Let's leg back to the vehicles. We will try to radio one more time from there and if nothing, we will drive back up to the roadblock."
"Great," said Page. Let's get the fuck out of here." He turned to go and Singh saw something that made her heart go ice cold. A red targeting triangle was on Page's back, the lasers slowly inching up toward his shoulders.
"Ryan, stop moving."
"What are you talking about?" He turned and saw Singh was pointing at his midsection. Page looked down and saw the triangle centered on his chest. He froze, his whole world shrunk down to these three pinpoints.
The Hunter was furious. The female and her male cohort were still in the same spot, but were not armed. It had seen where the two had discarded their weapons. The rules of the hunt were explicit. It was not honorable to kill unarmed prey. Any hunter who did so would be shunned, stripped of honor and possibly become the hunted itself. Unlike other species, humans had no natural weapons with which to threaten a hunter. They had to be armed, even a blade or club would suffice. It decided to push the situation and see if the humans would make a fatal choice. It stepped forward and turned off its camouflage cloak.
The two agents saw a cascade of energy, like tiny bursts of lightning, that revealed to them a terror, something used to frighten children around a campfire, but this was horribly, unbelievingly real. It towered over the agents. They could feel the alien nature of the creature, even with its face hidden. Muscles like corded rope glistened under its marbled skin. It wore bits of armor and a strange type of thin netting. Its hands and toes ended in sharp claws. Braided ringlets, almost like dreadlocks, hung down past its shoulders.
What drew the attention even more were the weapons. In one huge hand it held a spear, the lethal point glinting in the sunlight. The gauntlet around the opposite wrist had double blades embedded in the top. The plasma cannon sat atop one shoulder, the barrel pointed right at Page, like a yawning black hole. The alien pointed at the plasma cannon to draw the humans' attention. It walked slowly away, but the cannon stayed on target, the targeting triangle never leaving Pages' chest. The creature went over to the guns the humans had dropped and picked them up. After a cursory glance, it threw them at the feet of the agents.
Singh slowly raised her hands up level with her head, palms out. "Do not reach for those guns," she said. Her eyes drank in every detail about the alien, storing them for later use.
The monster came forward, close enough for Singh to smell it, a combination of heat, blood and something she couldn't identify, an alienness. It roared at them, the sound rolling over the agents and assaulting their senses. Singh wanted to break and run, the flight edging out the fight, but she held.
"I know you," she said to the creature, staring defiantly into the eye sockets of the things' mask. "We're not armed, so you can't do shit. I'm using your code against you." The alien snorted in surprise and drew back a little. This human was proving to be a different kind of challenge. The Hunter did not know the speech the human used, but it recognized the body language and tone. The female was taunting it. Inside the battle helmet, the Hunter narrowed its eyes in fury.
"Ryan, I want you to turn and walk away. It won't kill us if we are unarmed. Just turn and walk to the vehicles. Do you hear me?"
"I hear you."
Singh slowly turned on her heel and kept her hands raised at shoulder level. Page did the same. Singh took a step, then two. We are going to get away with this, she thought. We will get to live to fight another day.
A thin noose settled over Page's neck and yanked tight. The agent was jerked off his feet and dragged backward. Page tugged at the band, tried to work his fingers underneath the material to keep it from choking him, stop it cutting deeper into his throat. Hand over hand, the alien drew Page back to it. Singh watched her partner slide past her, gagging and struggling to breathe. She spun and saw Page lying at the creature's feet. It was staring straight at her. It stood, one end of the wire wrapped in one hand and placed a foot on Page's chest, pulling the cord tight. Page's face had turned a bright red, a thin ring of blood flowing down his neck. The alien pointed at the guns on the ground.
"You won't kill him," said Singh. She raised her hands again. "I won't give you an excuse."
The Hunter regarded the poise of the female. The human was smart enough to know some limitations of the hunt. She had figured that it would not kill the unarmed male, but it wondered at the strength of her conviction. The Hunter bent and clawed four furrows down the males' face, deep enough to show a flash of bone. Page screamed, overtaken by shock and a new avenue of pain.
Singh was shook. She had not expected the alien to be cruel, at least not like this. Her eyes flicked from the bleeding Page to the pitiless eyes of the alien still boring into her. It might not directly kill Page, but it would apparently go to some length to injure him in order to goad her. The monster pointed again at the guns lying in the grass, Page's blood dripping from its nails. Singh had her composure shaken even further when Turner's voice was thrown back at her.
"What are you waiting for? Do it, you coward!"
Singh knew that would only mean a quick death for her. "No," she said. The alien twitched its wrist and the twin blades slid out. It placed the tip of one on Page's thigh and looked expectantly at Singh. She felt tears beginning to run down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Ryan." The creature pushed sharp metal into the meat of Page's leg and twisted it. The agent screamed again and began to incoherently plead for his life. Singh did not move, not so much as a quiver.
The Hunter growled in disgust. It now thought it had miscalculated. These two humans did not appear to be worthy game. There was no fight in them. It retracted the wrist blades and removed the noose from the male's neck. Page began to crawl away, back toward Singh, leaving bloody grass in his wake.
Singh was sure they were going to make it out alive. The alien had let Page go and had put away its weapons. It seemed to be paying them no mind at all now, tapping on its wrist gauntlet. She took a deep shuddering breath. Then the creature moved toward her without warning. She had time to register surprise at its speed and quickness. It was so fast for a thing of such size.
The Hunter grabbed the female by the neck and pinned her against a tree. It slowly lifted her off the ground until her face was even with its own. It turned her head to one side, then the other, taking in the contours of the skull beneath the skin. The Hunter longed to take this trophy and it was seething that such a prize would be denied to it. The female's breath came in short bursts and her heartrate was elevated. The Hunter extended the wrist blades again, showing the female the lethal tips. It them moved the blades slowly down, catching the material of the female's clothing just below the neck. The material parted easily exposing the upper chest.
Singh had never been so scared in her life. She could barely grasp what was happening, overwhelmed by the alien nature of the thing holding her up like a toy. Then the pain hit and distilled her focus down to a single burning point.
The Hunter cut into the females' flesh. She struggled mightily and screamed at last, but it held her tight to make the work smooth. Using the wrist blade, it carved the symbol its species used for "coward" into the humans' chest. It cut deep enough that when the wound healed, the human would have a fat scar as a permanent reminder of its shame. Finished, it dropped the female to the ground.
Gunfire erupted in the forest. Page had crawled over to where the alien had tossed his weapons. Singh's screams of agony had galvanized him. Thinking she was being murdered, he powered through his own painful wounds and swung into a sitting position. He held a 9mm handgun and he centered it on the creatures' back. When it dropped Singh, Page opened fire. A bullet or two pinged off pieces of armor, and some missed, but a couple got though as blooms of bright green blood appeared on the alien's back. The thing roared in pain and surprise. Page continued to shoot as the monster moved, faster than anything he'd seen. The handgun lacked the power to kill the alien, its hide was tough, but the lead would still sting. It zig-zagged around the clearing to evade the fire, while closing down the space between it and the human.
All too quickly, the slide locked back on the pistol. Page ejected the empty magazine and felt around for a replacement on his belt. His fingers had closed upon one and he was pulling it free when the alien spear ripped through his chest. The deadly point passed through his body and embedded itself in the dirt behind him. Held upright by the weapon, Page jerked once and died.
The Hunter knew its aim was true when it threw the spear. The human was neatly transfixed. Smarting from the wounds it had just sustained, the Hunter walked over and pulled the spear free of the body. It kicked the corpse over and sliced twin furrows into the back. Bending down, it looked over at Singh. The female cried out, extending one palm forward while the other was clasped to its chest wound. The alien reached into the body and in one swift violent motion, yanked out the skull and spine. It roared again, this time in victory.
It faced Singh again, blood and gore dripping from the trophy in its hand. The female had collapsed back into a ball on the ground, making mewling noises. Then Hunter had to tend to its wounds and collect the keepsakes from its earlier kills. Following that, it was time to leave this place before more humans arrived. Ignoring Singh, the Hunter loped off back into the woods and was gone.
Singh eventually staggered to her feet. She refused to look at Page's remains as she limped out of the clearing. The pain in her chest was awful, but nowhere as bad as the knowledge of her failure. The agent stumbled to the vehicles and managed to radio for assistance. A short time later, a relief team arrived.
Afterward, when Singh had been healed and thoroughly debriefed, she returned to work. Her mistakes had cost her. She lost her position and with it, a good amount of authority. However, her first-hand experience with the alien was considered valuable. She was now one of the few survivors of a lethal encounter. Singh took it all in stride. She carried the scars of that day with her and would for the remainder of her days. Her curiosity had been replaced by a burning desire for vengeance. One day, she thought, those bastards will return and I'll be here waiting for them. She dreamt not of gaining new technology, nor of studying an intelligent lifeform, but of bathing her hands in bright green blood.
THE END