CHAPTER 4: MISSING PEOPLE.
Grand Mesa National Forest, Gunnison County, Colorado. October 12th, 2004.
The normally quiet forest road was filled with the roar of dozens of vehicles. A caravan of Ford's, Jeep's and ATV's led by the county sheriff's SUV. Eddie Morales parked the vehicle in the spot where Buddy Benson's truck had been found abandoned a day before.
He climbed down and walked into the woods, followed by Darcy Benson and dozens of Crested Butte's townspeople.
-"Ray," he called out to his Deputy officer. "Go to the water collector junction." The deputy saluted with his hand on his forehead and obeyed. Some villagers went with him. "Hey," Morales said, "be careful, we don't want any more incidents." Ray Adams nodded.
-"Joe," he called to his second deputy, "you guys check the river." Joe Leonard whistled and several men dressed as hunters followed him. Morales headed towards the mountain. The possibility that Buddy Benson or even Sam would try to find a phone signal on high ground was slim, but he had nothing to lose by trying. In the distance, he heard the calls from the townsfolk.
-"Buddy! Sam!" They yelled, "Sam! Bud!"
By dusk they had found no trace of them. It was as if the earth had swallowed them. Darcy was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but hope kept her going. She and Eddie Morales ascended the hilltop. Behind them was the valley and town of Crested Butte, ahead the endless Grand Mesa National Forest.
Eddie Morales knew that they could not cover all that green extension, perhaps he would have to call a helicopter. There was one on the helipad of the medical center. It wasn't uncommon during peak season for inexperienced skiers to be injured and have to be rushed out to the hospital.
-"Ray, go ahead." He radioed, "Ray, can you hear me?"
-"Loud and clear, Sheriff." Ray Adams replied.
-"Something new?" Morales asked, lowering his voice.
-"Nothing, boss." Ray replied, "The people are tired, I'm going to send them back."
-"Fine," Morales agreed reluctantly. "We will continue tomorrow."
-"Okay, over." Ray said, after a buzz of static, he added. "Ah boss, by the way… it looks like Harry and the rest have left the place."
-"Okay, over and out." Eddie put the radio back on and turned to Darcy. "
-"I'm sorry, Darcy," he told the woman, "we'll start again in the morning."
-"I'll stay," Darcy replied, buttoning up the jacket. "My son and husband are there, Eddie." Darcy replied, looking out into the woods, "They wouldn't stop looking for me."
-"I know, but It's dangerous…" Morales said, but he stopped when he looked at the woman's frowning expression. "I mean... I don't want something to happen to you too."
Morales glanced over again. They would have another half hour of sun before it sank into the mountains. Enough time to go down the hill.
Odd , he thought to himself. There was a part of the forest bare of trees. He couldn't make out very well at that distance, but it looked like part of the forest had been chopped down. The helicopter would check the area as soon as the sun rose.
-"Let's go?" he took Darcy's arm, "We'll start tomorrow, try to get some sleep." Darcy reluctantly agreed and the two began their descent back to the vehicles.
- o -
The next morning.
The restaurant was bustling, most of the people there had been searching in the woods the day before. Kelly O'Brien walked in holding Molly's hand, closely followed by Tim. They sat at one of the tables near the counter. As Molly ran over to the arcade games, one of the waitresses came over with the menu.
-"Chicken steak sandwich and a coke," Kelly said without even looking at the menu.
-"Would you like to add French fries?" the waitress asked.
She shook her head. The woman turned to Tim.
-"Denise, I'm going to want to-" he started, but Denise cut him off.
-"Belt buster, chili cheese fries and coke. Chili on the side and no salt for the fries. right?" She recited, smiling.
-"That's how it is." Tim said, somewhat embarrassed.
Denise turned to Molly, who was furiously twirling the joystick of an arcade machine.
-"Hey Molly!" she called to the little girl, "Are you going to want the usual?" she asked her. Molly nodded frantically.
-"Corn dog. Fries, Sprite." She wrote down Denise in her notebook.
-"And a raspberry blizzard." Kelly added.
-"Oh no." Denise stared at her. "She doesn't like raspberry anymore. Now she likes chocolate. I'll be back." Denise said, heading to the kitchen.
Kelly grunted under her breath. It didn't seem right that a stranger knew more about her daughter than she did.
-"We eat here a lot," Tim commented, but Kelly didn't take the bait.
-"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Kelly sneered. Why don't you cook?
-"Because I work," he excused himself, "while you were flying helicopters in Iraq."
-"Look," Kelly sighed, "it'll be only for a whil,e while I find a place. In the meantime, could you and Denise keep this away from Molly?" Tim closed his eyes and nodded.
-"She missed you," he said.
-"And I missed her."
Denise returned with three breakfast plates and dropped them off on the table. She silently left without saying a single word.
-"I should be the one to move in," Tim continued. "It's enough that Molly loses her parents, she doesn't have to lose her home too."
Kelly stared at him, sandwich in hand.
-"She's not losing her parents." she said. "It'll just be different." She turned to Molly, now trying to get a stuffed animal from the claw crane machine.
At the next table, Kelly watched as Carrie Adams poured a cup of coffee for Dallas, who was reading the classified ads in a newspaper.
- o -
-"How's the job hunt going?" Carrie asked him.
-"Not qualified for a whole lot." He responded, putting the newspaper aside and taking a sip from the cup.
-"Do you have any skills?" Carrie asked.
-"Well…" Dallas paused for a second before replying. "I've been a thief for fifteen years, what do you suggest?"
Carrie was thoughtful, not knowing what to say. She knew how difficult it was to get a job with such a background. She scratched her temple with her index finger and said. "I heard the bank is hiring," he winked, poured her more coffee and returned to the kitchen.
Dallas laughed. At that moment, he saw Eddie Morales talking to Darcy Benson outside. The woman was carrying a stack of sheets and a stapler. She stapled up a MISSING poster with Bud and Sam's picture on it. Morales tried to reassure her. Darcy walked over to the next post and continued her task. Eddie walked into the restaurant and sat down next to Dallas.
-"How is your search?" He added, looking at the newspaper in Dallas's hands. He shook his head.
-"John McTiernan is hiring at his mill." Morales passed him the tip. "Tell him I sent you, the pay isn't good but..."
-"That won't be a problem, Eddie." Dallas said, putting the newspaper on the table. "How is she doing?" Dallas asked, pointing to Darcy across the street.
-"I told him that Search and Rescue will send the helicopter today," Morales said, "If anyone is able to find them, it is them."
Carrie approached with a cup of coffee for Eddie. "Ray left very early this morning," she said. "He didn't even want to eat breakfast."
-"He left alone?" Eddie asked.
"Yeah," Carrie agreed. She looked at Dallas and Eddie and whispered. "The arm... Ray is very worried about Sam."
Eddie nodded silently. Ray was a nice guy, kind and helpful, Eddie would catch up with him as soon as the chopper was ready.
-"It's okay, Carrie." He told her, finishing the cup of coffee and heading back to the police station.
-"Well, I'll see you later." Dallas said, getting up from the table and putting down a ten before walking out the door.
Carrie gathered up the cups and money and headed back to the kitchen. Denise and Ritchie, the cook, were there. Ritchie handed him a plate of food.
-"Carrie, darling," the burly man said. "See if Doris is out there, she hasn't shown up this morning."
Carrie nodded and took the plate. That was strange, Doris the bum religiously showed up in the back alley every morning to pick up her plate of food that the cook was donating to her.
-"Doris?" Carrie asked as she opened the back door. The place was empty, even the bags in the dumpster were intact. The homeless hadn't shown up either. "Doris?" She called again.
A huge rat screeched out from under the container. Carrie screamed, dropping the Styrofoam plate. "Jesus Christ!"
Ritchie came out upon hearing the ruckus. "Carrie, what the hell?!" he exclaimed as he saw Carrie bent over, picking up some chicken pieces and waffles.
-"Just a rat," she said, "a big, disgusting rat."
-"Come on," he said, tending her his hand and helping her get up. "I've seen a lot of these pesky pests lately."
- o -
Eddie Morales cursed, the helicopter was in Gunnison. There had been an accident at one of the mines and the wounded were being transported to Denver. It would be back by the next day at the first hour.
This time, fewer people joined the search. It was not surprising, many sympathized with Darcy, but they had to take care of their own and attend to his business.
Next to him was Nathan, an employee of the electric company. The guy was responding to a radio call from his operator. "Nate?" The man said, "I am registering power line failures near Watercrest and Houston."
-"Fine," Nathan replied, "Ask Jones if he can go and check."
-"I did it," replied the operator, "he went down there this morning and I haven't heard from him since."
Eddie looked at him curiously. "Hmmm," He frowned and grunted, "he's probably gone for a drink." He paused for a moment and called again. "Listen Karl, I'll go as soon as possible, but tell that bastard that if he shows up drunk again I'll kick his ass." Nathan turned to Eddie and said. "Sorry sheriff, I have to go."
Eddie excused him and the man returned to his vehicle. After Nathan left, Eddie radioed Ray.
-"Ray, come in" he called, "D'you hear me?" He received no response. "Ray?"
-"Ray… zzzzz ere." A voice was heard among a burst of static. "zzz…up, sheriff?"
-"Ray," Morales repeated, "You're too far away, I hardly hear you, over."
Another burst of white noise. "River ar... zzzz marks..." Ray reported.
Drag marks? Eddie wondered. "Roger," he said, "but come back before dark. We'll check the area as soon as the chopper arrives."
-"Rog… nd out." Ray called back.
- o -
The ka'thorag emerged from hyperspace a short distance between ghom and its moon. The ghomon homeworld was covered in a myriad of luminous patches on its night side. The ghomon had spread across the globe since Vrka'yu's last visit.
Floating in orbit around the planet were various artifacts. Vrka'yu activated stealth mode and the ka'thorag vanished from sight.
Good, Vrka'yu thought. If all went well, the ghomon would never know he was there. A brief scan indicated that Anu'ka's ship had fallen into the mountains on the piece of land that stretched from pole to pole. Luckily, it was nearing dusk and he would go unnoticed.
The Ut'pu headed for the lock and entered the b'jakosa. Moments later, the silvery pod descended in a ball of fire.
- o -
NORAD, Colorado Springs. U.S.A. 2000 Hours, October 13th, 2004.
-"It's gone," the radar technician reported. "One moment it was there, then it disappeared. It appears to have burned up in the upper atmosphere, sir." the technician concluded, looking back, where General Stevens and Agent Garber were staring stoically at the screen.
Stevens grunted, he and Garber exchanged glances, then left the room.
-"What's going on?" Stevens asked, "Do you think they came to retrieve the ship? Prevent it from falling into enemy hands?"
-"Most likely," Garber said. -"We don't have much time. I'll warn the National Guard." Stevens agreed, "A unit should arrive from Colorado Springs tonight."
-"We'll wait." Garber stopped him, shaking his head. "Previous encounters indicate these creatures take keeping their secrets very seriously." He reminded Stevens of the Valverde incident, where 300 acres of tropical forest had burned, and the most recent incident in Los Angeles. Fortunately, they had been able to recover one hand and one of their masks.
-"If we rush, they will nuke the whole area." He consulted a map of the Grand Mesa National Forest, pointing to a spot on it, "Keep your men ready here, Highway 135 near Three Rivers. As soon as we have confirmation on the Predator's presence, we lure him away from the ship, capture him and then secure the asset."
It seemed a good plan, Stevens agreed, looking at the screen again. An AEW&C plane was heading towards the Anthracite Range.
- o -
Ray had been following the markings on the ground. From the size of the marks, it was possible that Sam had dragged his father. Even though it was getting dark, he decided to investigate.
The marks ended in a small clearing in the woods, but there was nothing there. The pine needles covering the ground prevented any footprints, only an expert hunter would be able to track an animal -or a human being. What's that? He crouched down to examine a small area of the floor, it seemed burned. The ground was black and covered in dark gray ash.
The sun was below the horizon and the only light came from the almost full Moon, so Ray switched on his flashlight. A pale yellow flash appeared at the edge of the clearing. When he got closer, he could see that it was a dead bug.
What the-? Ray thought. The thing was about the size of a house cat, lying upside down with its bony legs curled up. It had a long scorpion-like tail spread out on the ground. Ray had never seen anything like it. The bug had been shot, possibly by a hunting rifle. Had it been Bud?
-"Bud? Sam?" She called, but the forest was silent. There was no buzzing of insects. "Bud, are you there?"
A clicking sound reached her ears downhill.
The forest was covered in a thick fog. Ray hesitated, it would be very easy to get lost here, but Sam needed help. Ray was certain that the arm found was Bud's, and that he was probably dead. But he wouldn't give up until he found Sam.
-"Sam?" He walked slowly through the ferns. Even with the flashlight, the fog did not allow him to see more than a few meters. A metallic sound tinkled as his feet tripped over something. He aimed his flashlight at the ground and saw a charred piece of metal, its surface covered with strange symbols.
What's this? He said to himself. Then he saw that there were more of the metal sheets scattered across the forest floor. The tops of the trees had been uprooted. "Bud? Sam?"
The moon peeked through the clouds and the clear was bathed in the silvery light, Ray stared in amazement.
In the clearing there was a metallic object, at first glance he thought it was an airplane, but the silhouette did not correspond. The fuselage was too stubby and there was no trace of wings, although these may have been destroyed during the crash.
The artifact had left a deep groove in the forest floor that was filling up with water from the creek. Ray realized that the mist that covered the forest was actually water vapor rising where the water entered one of the ship's thrusters, which still glowed with a pale blue light.
The realization left him speechless. The crack of a branch made him turn immediately and he flinched. A man was standing there in the mist. "Buddy?" he asked, somewhat relieved, "Bud, for God's sake, where had you-?" The sentence was left in mid-sentence when the ghostly figure advanced and stepped out of the mist. Ray backed away, slowly moving her hand to his gun holster.
The ghost let out a low roar, like the call of a mountain lion. Ray could see it clearly.
It was almost a meter taller than the average man, with scaly yellow-brown skin mottled with black. He had sharp nails on each finger and was dressed in a mix of body mail and pieces of medieval armor. Its face was covered with a metallic mask engraved with symbols similar to those on the strange ship.
Ray fired, yellowish sparks flying where the bullet hit. The monster let out a furious roar and a pair of curved blades unsheathed from its wrist. Ray fled, brushing aside bushes and leaves with his arm, occasionally glancing to see if he had outrun his pursuer. He didn't get very far.
The monster materialized in front of him in a shower of sparks. The curved blades tore through his abdomen as easily as a hot knife through butter. He wanted to scream but only a gurgle followed by thick blood gushed out of his mouth.
- o -
Vrka'yu admired the ka'pa just taken from the body. It hadn't been much of a trophy, but it was the first ghomon he had killed in several cycles. He placed the zul'ka in the hollow of a tree and hung the flayed corpse. With the r'ksa infestation going on, he didn't have time to prepare him properly, but he could come back for him once his task was done.
Next step, Vrka'yu thought. He walked over to the crashed man'daca and slipped inside through the opening in the hull. The interior was full of crackling wires and flooded by water.
There, impaled by a metal beam, was the inert body of Anu'ka. The yaksi hadn't had a chance to use her self-destruct device. The computer lay on her forearm, smashed.
Vrka'yu reached out and stroked the warrior's mask, mourning her loss with a low growl.
In the cargo section, the Ut'pu located the ten broken glass tubes he had seen in the transmission. The r'ksa eggs inside were empty. Not counting the dead grub in the forest, there could be nine of the beasts and the abomination lurking around. Ten against one, a worthy challenge for one of his status, though it wouldn't be easy.
The ship belonged to the rak'sasa. In the wall there was a weapons cache. Fortunately, the Ut'pu had some flexibility when it came to cleaning up infestations. They could use equipment that was forbidden to other hunters, and strictly prohibited to unblooded younglings.
He grabbed an extra plasma cannon and a few laser mines. He also found a tube of bright blue liquid. Vrka'yu recognized the substance. It was a powerful corrosive agent, capable of dissolving even the hardest shell of a r'ksa. It would be very useful in erasing any evidence of their presence.
When he was ready, Vrka'yu performed one last task. He walked into the bridge and used the holographic keyboard to activate the ship's reactor. The singularity created by the ship's damaged power source would consume the man'daca -and Anu'ka's body -before evaporating.
Vrka'yu paused for a moment to watch as the derelict disappeared into a point of light, leaving only a water-filled crater. The ghomon would find nothing.
- o -
A/N: This chapter is based mostly on deleted scenes and the original script by Salerno. It expands on the bums in the sewers and also what's going on with Kelly. I changed Wolf's arrival and Ray's death in order to clear some plotholes, like the use of weaponry and why he killed Ray. In this version it was because Ray discovered the ship. Also, added some of the OWLF motivations and why the National Guard didn't arrive earlier to secure the ship. Till now, they didn't have any knowledge on the aliens.
In case you didn't get it, Vrka'yu derives from a sanskrit word meaning Wolfish, or wolf. Ut'pu is a word used as a verb: To clean, cleanse... As the name Wolf was given to that Predator in reference to the Pulp Fiction's character Winston Wolfe, a Cleaner.
I hope you liked this one and see you soon, next time: the infestation starts! Don't forget to leave your comments.