Leo and True wore old breed camouflage hunting suits, but the forest folk sentry guard possessed enough natural camouflage and blended into the surroundings. The group navigated by current position, using the dome network ruins as a compass bearing marker. With little remains of the domes viewable from a distance, they understood that they needed to get beyond the dome before the nightfall.
As a three-bodied group they had the tactical ability to cover front, rear and flanks. Before embarking on this journey, they did not consider taking any form of weapon, because if they found themselves in a position where a weapon might be of use; the odds of them being out-numbered by the enemy were high, blocking any chance of escape. Leo caught sight of a sudden movement of something large, from out of the corner of his left eye.
He dropped himself into a lying position in long grass. By lifting and dropping his arm up, he signalled for the rest of the team to do the same. The others crawled forward to be in line with Leo and pushed themselves up into a press-up position to see what had caught Leo's eye. The sentry pointed to her ear – signalling to the rest of them to listen.
With wind serving as an audio amplifier, they could now view and hear. What they observed was at a distance of a thousand metres, and first appeared to be a giant one hundred metre long and twenty metre wide dark green snake; with sections rippling to generate forward momentum. Upon taking a second and close look, what first looked to be the round scales of a giant snake; was the green steel helmets of soldiers.
But these soldiers did not stem from the human race and by making calculation of size and distance, Leo estimated that they must be larger than the tallest humans. And, although these soldiers marched as one troop, due to the enormous size and muscle; together with thick shields and club weapons of these reptilians; precise synchronised marching could not be achieved. What these troops got in-sync though, was the thunderous grunts and roars which became louder than any other noise. And sounded to be warrior chants in a strange, likely reptilian language.
The sentry pointed east and west. In both directions they discovered that the marching group of reptilians they observed had not been just one, but was part of a whole army. Leo realised that a tactical move of this size, out in the open meant that the battle for the Earth's crust had begun. And that this reptilian army intended to re-enforce the front line, which had been victorious in defeating human defence forces which made a stand. As it made no sense to risk attracting unnecessary attention to themselves and considering it was an army of beings known as not being human friendly; they remained low until the army had disappeared into the distance.
Considering the army must have consisted of thousands of reptilians, together with the clumsy marching style; it surprised them that the troops had passed within a relatively short time.
With this fresh knowledge of the reptilian invasion movements, Leo explained “We need to increase our pace now. I reckon that our success will depend on what is accomplished today.”
The group, while first remaining in a crouched position in case of being spotted by any of the army stragglers, now continued as planned. Now more tactically aware, it slowed the pace at first due to observation periods; but later the group made progress. After passing through a wooded spot, they looked on towards the open fields. Such a pleasant view broke the group's defences for a few moments. Just before they crossed the threshold from woodland to grass field the sentry stopped the rest of the group from moving forward.
It was doubtful that she had stopped the group for trivial matters. Leo, well aware of this asked “What is the problem?”
The forest folk sentry explained “If you look at the grass in front of you as a rule it should be the same colour; because the sun-rays have been shining direct on that part. But in the centre is a large circle of yellow grass, which tells me water is not retained below the surface.”
True understood and added “Okay, so you mean less earth is below the yellow grassed part? A sign that a layer of rock or something else large stopped the grass root growth, for example an underground building?”
“That's right. Now if I can just move forward enough until I am stood on grass, I will be able to gain more details.” the sentry confirmed.
The others watched as the sentry walked with a careful tread over the threshold onto the grass, stood still and let the feelers along the sides of her feet; anchor in between the grass blades. She closed her eyes and communicated with the network of grass roots underground. After ten minutes, she open hers eyes again, the feelers retracted, and she returned to the group.
True was so excited and curious, having watched how the forest folk sentry had gathered information, that she burst out “Well? Well? What do you know? What did you discover?”
The sentry, unable to share True's excitement because each of her folk had this communication talent since birth; shared her findings with the rest of the group. They discovered the underground material was concrete, that it formed a building in circle shape with a diameter of a staggering one kilometre. This had to be the education centre with the accommodation and classrooms within the complex. So now they had to find the disposal tube and guessed that they just needed to look for ejected cocoons.
True mentioned “If the children are accustomed to artificial light, I reckon it be best for the actual escape to take place before dawn; otherwise they'll need time to adjust to the brightness of the daylight above ground.”
“Good point True.” Leo confirmed and continued “First we need to find the refuse disposal cocoons though. Do you have any idea at which location our search should start?”
Before answering, True looked around, scanning the ground with her eyes. She said “Well considering that concealment is important for the centre, I imagine they might not want to expose the location by having refuse disposal cocoons out in the open. So the cocoons must exit the tube somewhere... look! Beyond the grassed land in front of us. That wooded part is more dense than it should be for such a small group of trees, so is the place to start our search.”
After agreeing, but before they moved across the grassed land, Leo suggested that they take a longer route which took them along the left edge. Although the sentry was able to walk out on the grass and return unnoticed, the risk that moving as a group might trigger an alarm remained. The group led by Leo, followed the edge of the grassed land to the left, ensuring they stayed on the other side of the threshold; which was a mixture of dark forest foliage, fallen and rotten wood and nettles.
The humans in the group noticed that the nettles did not sting the sentry, who's legs had no protection. Upon reaching the other side, they found themselves in the wooded part which True had seen and suggested to start the search for the refuse disposal cocoons. Now the sentry led the group, and they spread out in one line to move forward combing the ground as they went. Just as they were considering calling the search off and trying elsewhere, Leo nearly fell over a steep slope which was not viewable from a distance.
The slope was one of the sides of a small valley, which split the woods. Leo's nostrils filled with the stench first, which rose from the bottom of the valley. He noticed the cause of this pungent fowl smell was a pit of refuse disposal cocoons. Each cocoon being consumed at a slow rate by a bath of yellow acid. They found what they sought – entry to the education centre.
Without an exchange of words, the group now sat on the ground; a bed of dried leaves cushioning the abrupt drop into a sitting position. The constant energy supply required to stay alert while on the move, was more than thought and now the human bodies needed replenishment. The sentry could tap into the energy source nature offered, so did not need a rest period – but still seated along with the others. Leo ran through the rescue plan with the group as they rested.
“Let's go through our plan again so that each of us remembers our roles.” he said.
After the others nodded in agreement, Leo first addressed the sentry “I'm sorry, but I hoped that during the journey you'd tell us by what name you go. Communication with each other will be important, so what are you called?”
The sentry felt awkward at first by the question, but understood that it must be unique to humans.
Smiling, she said “Mine is too difficult for you to pronounce. So you can call me 'Demla'. That is near enough to my real name.”
“Okay Demla, thanks. To recap, you'll act as scout, and once we've located the children you'll be responsible for keeping them calm to enable as quick a getaway as possible. As we got surprise on our side, I hope we'll not be up against a small army. So once we're sure that we're not in danger after taking out any security personnel; it'll be best if you headed back to the refuse disposal tube and guard it for our return with the children. I'll be responsible for breaking any locks, combat measures and protecting the children.”
After the briefing, for a while Leo monitored the intervals between cocoon ejections from the refuse disposal tube. He noted that on average, one cocoon left the tube every sixty minutes. This schedule no doubt allowed for the acid at the bottom of the pit to start destruction of both cocoon and refuse content before the next one landed.
They decided that Demla enters the tube first, to get to the end and press the emergency button; which will stop the machine and open the cocoon loading door. She could take care of the machine operator and secure the refuse zone. It made little sense for everyone to enter the tube together as there was a risk that for whatever reason the cocoon rejection schedule might change. On her own Demla stood a chance of getting back out if required. The group was now ready to move. True had wedged the tube's steel exit door open by using a long branch she found and pushed deep into the ground; to stop the door closing on them.
They watched a refuse disposal cocoon travel along the tube and end the journey with a not-so-dramatic fall over the slope; splash-landing in the acid pool. As soon as the cocoon left the tube, Demla dashed into the entrance without a word; and was deep inside the tube tunnel before the rest of the group could look. Although the inside of the tube was smooth due to regular usage, Demla's foot feelers gave suction as required and enabled her to propel forward at fast speed; even though moving in a crouched position.
At this pace she was well on track to reach the end of the tube within sixty minutes. Demla, unlike humans, did not need light to move without obstruction; her senses served her well for orientation and in this tight space her hearing kept her bearings central by sound ranging from her body to the inner tube walls. With her foot-feelers ensuring soft and quiet foot-steps as she continued her journey through the refuse disposal tube; Demla was able to reach the end without attracting unwanted attention from anyone who may have been operating the tube loading machine.
At the end of the tube a large round metal disk, worn smooth from years of launching of refuse cocoons; and gave a calculated shove to give each of the balls of rubbish enough momentum to exit. Demla now searched for the emergency button, to spring open the cocoon loading door. She had not looked far before she found the button at the side of the door. The button, built into the tube wall; could be accessed with ease.
Demla used her long-range hearing to listen for movement outside the tube, to be prepared for possible close-quarter combat; for which she could use her skills acquired during sentry guard training. She pressed the button as slow as possible, to stop the door from opening wide. Demla heard the click and as the door protruded outwards she followed it at the same speed, landed on the loading tray; and sprang mid-air into a roll to land feet first on the concrete floor. The room was well lit which under these circumstances was more of a hazard, leaving little shadow for cover.
As the room door was ajar it did offer a shadowed spot behind it, into which Demla moved. Looking back into the room, she found the cause of the overwhelming stench – trolleys with sacks of mixed refuse. Years of refuse storage had allowed a fowl aroma to sink into the room ceiling, floor and walls. Her feelers suddenly felt the distant vibration caused by rough-edged wheels rolling over concrete. And assuming that someone now pushed the next trolley of refuse sacks along the corridor towards the room, Demla pushed herself back into the corner behind the door and waited.
The door swung back as the corner of the trolley smashed into it. The speed of the opening door buffered by a metal arm connecting the top of the door to the wall. An over-weight uniformed man pushed the trolley through the room entrance. Due to the mundaneness of this man's duties, he had no cause to be on the alert for intruders. Whistling an unknown tune, he continued to unload the sacks of refuse; to be later squeezed into the cocoons.
Demla approached the man from the rear, ensuring that the room's lighting kept her shadow behind her. As the man's extra weight was lower torso, it could be seen that he never had a muscular figure; and so she was able to access his shoulder pressure point. Her green fingers clamped tight, on the point until unconsciousness arrived within him. She then bound and gagged him before being placed in wooden cupboard used for storing brooms and mops.
When no cocoon ejected from the tube as per the current hourly schedule, Leo took that as being the signal for True and himself to enter the tube. With True leading and Leo following behind, the end of the tunnel soon came into sight as light shined in from the room. Demla lent them a helping hand to climb to the ground from the tube. The rescuers now embarked on the quest to locate the children. In the corridor no noise could be heard apart from the slight buzzing sound which the turbines circulating the re-cycled air in the over-head air- conditioning pipes produced. As they approached classroom doors, Demla looked at a slant through the glass door pane to avoid being seen.
As they walked along the corridor, Leo drew small crosses on the blue walls at ankle height with a piece of white chalk he obtained before leaving; for them to be able to follow when they retreated. Lessons ended earlier and possibly the children had finished their evening meals by now. So they searched for the accommodation dormitories. The corridor now came to an end at large double doors.
The rescuers now crouched, with Demla and Leo at the doors. From what they heard, the children chatted and giggled, defying the tutor who shouted commands for them to be silent and sleep. They had found the accommodation. They continued to listen until Leo was content that just one tutor remained in the room. Now they needed to wait until that tutor made an exit.
After ten minutes the tutor switched the room lights off and bid the children 'Good Night'. It took another ten minutes though for him to leave the room – he had stayed behind to listen out for possible offenders who disobeyed the rules on purpose. As the tutor left, the room the doors swung shut behind him. The tutor still held his cup of tea as Leo cupped one hand over the man's mouth and nostrils – blocking the supply of oxygen. Demla sprang forward and took the tea cup before it fell. True helped Leo to drag the now limp body of the tutor into the nearest classroom. They waited until snoring began and no talk came from the dormitory before entering. Demla entered the room first alone.
Once inside, with eye-sight as good in the dark as in daylight, she saw the rows of beds. An uncountable group, but she reckoned that between fifty and one hundred children lived in this building. As Leo and True entered the room, like Demla they could not believe how many children housed together at this location. Demla switched a few room lights on for the others. They located her in one of the rows and headed over at the cue of a wave of her hand. The pair's bodies vibrated once inside, and the cause was Demla herself, who was now in a trance state; but conscious and aware of her surroundings. As they arrived at her side, Demla let out humming sounds between breaths.
At each bed she held the hand of the child, and as it fell into a trance she helped it out of bed. Afterwards she led the child to the next bed and repeated the procedure for the next one. Demla indicated to Leo and True to take the children, who now stood hand-in-hand, out of the room and to head back to the refuse disposal tube. Once the children had joined the chain escaping from the centre, Demla passed the group at an amazing speed, and returned to the tube to secure the refuse disposal zone.
The centre staff must have deemed the complex secure enough as no security guards patrolled the corridors during day or night. The children were still in a trance state and protected by True at the front and Leo at the rear; watching out for any staff who discovered the dormitory to be empty; now arrived at the tube. Demla entered the tube and headed the group out of the education centre. As the last child entered the tube, Leo followed and closed the loading bay door just enough to avoid triggering the cocoon eject mechanism.
As Demla left the refuse disposal tube, she made a short reconnaissance patrol of the immediate surrounding ground. Although the air outside was a welcome change to that within the tube, her sense of smell filtered a heavy, damp and pungent stench; which did not belong to this dry wooded location. Even the dump of refuse disposal cocoons did not account for this vile odour.
She stood still, listened for sounds and sank her feet-feelers through layers of dirt into the earth; and was content it was safe for the rest of the now larger group to exit the tube. Having returned, Demla signalled again with a wave of her hand to True that they should now leave the tube. As the group appeared from the tube, Demla remained in front of the exit on the slope; to guide the children up on to the flat ground. True found a piece of flat ground not dense with trees, on which they could gather.
Once the whole group arrived, Demla, Leo and True decided they could make better progress if the children remained in the current trance state. Demla, using both hands, connected to both ends of the chain of children and intensified the frequency of the vibrations.
A series of three metre long wooden stakes shot up through the surrounding ground, and between each one was rope net. They now realised the clearing in the woods was not natural, but instead cleared as part of this giant trap which had now encircled them.
Leo ran around the inside circumference of the trap looking for an escape route. But he was unsuccessful because the reptilians contructed it to contain humans! True, trying to control her emotions, looked now to view the captors, who until now had not been interested in showing themselves. Then, at first she felt a slight movement below her feet as if an earthquake was starting. Within five minutes though, away from the trap the ground sank; forming a circle of ten metres in width. Within this circle the earth exploded outwards, showing the exit of a dark tunnel.
She recognised the vehicle that drove out of the tunnel though and shouted to the others “Reptilians!”
Demla and Leo ran over to True, in hope of an explanation and reassurance that they were safe. Now unable to contain herself, True dropped to her knees as she released a burst of tears. The others held her.
“I'm so sorry things ended in this dilemma. We cannot escape now.” True said, pointing to the bulky vehicle from which muscle-bound reptilians now jumped.
“Hope always remains.” Leo said in a strong voice.
Shaking her head, True explained “No! No! You must understand, that vehicle is the same as the one in the dome; and those reptilians are not soldiers, they're the butchers ready to collect our body parts. The other ones now coming out of the tunnel, they're soldiers and will make the first killings. Time will soon be up for us I'm afraid.”
Meanwhile between thirty and forty reptilian soldiers left the tunnel and now surrounded the perimeter of the human trap. During her last confrontation with them True noted that they wielded large clubs, this time they used roughly-made axes and jagged-edged carving knives; issued for the task of butchering. Leo, although a fully trained soldier with combat experience, had not come to terms with the visual contact with these walking lizard beasts. And considering the miserable dilemma, he should now have other things on his mind but instead he starred at the reptilian soldiers; studying them with a strange interest a fellow soldier had.
“Whatever happens, we should try as best we can to make sure the children stay in a trance state until the end. At least they'll be spared the sight and pain of the onslaught to come.” True said to Demla.
Demla now confided “True, I am to blame for us now being trapped. Because when I scouted here earlier, I smelt a strange foul odour which did not belong in these parts and could not match it to any of the surroundings. I cannot understand my failure to trust my senses.”
Although among the reptilian soldiers there was much hissing and bickering, even punching each other; they did not try to attack the captured humans. Leo shared this finding aloud after he finished his long-range inspection of one of the reptilian soldiers; and mixed attire of canvas rags and rough-made bits of body armour.
“I don't understand! Look, they just stand around doing nothing, as if on a training exercise?” asked Leo.
But True did know why, and relating back to the reptilian attack in the dome, explained “They're just soldiers and have no own thoughts or ideas. Think of ants or wasps; the hive command network of those little armies – what is different is that the reptilian soldiers are three metres in height! No, they carried out given orders and now await the Commander, and if I'm not wrong it will be a creepy species in a cloak. That monster feeds on fear and terror endured by those to be slaughtered.”
Leo considered what action he could take, to make use of this lull; before the reptilian Commander arrived and gave the order for the butchering to begin. While looking around, something flying through the air caught his eye – the object flew fast and did not have the form of any bird; it looked more to be a hand-sized winged bag. A burst of these projectiles followed the first, on an elevated path through the air and descended on the targets – the reptilians.
The prisoners knew through this commotion though that a rescue was underway. But Leo, although now allowing his military-trained adrenalin take control, was thinking how they could help the rescuers. By now the first barrage of the objects thrown had landed on the targets. Upon contact, the little bags, each made of three tree leaves, burst at the seams; allowing the sealant to ooze out from between the leaf edges. The bags landing on the muscle-bound reptilian soldiers provided little distraction, but just enough needed for the odd bag to the make an exact hit. The intended targets being the scaled reptilian faces, in particular the nostrils.
Observing how the rescuers' weaponry was intended to work, Leo shouted in a commanding tone “Kick dirt, kick, kick as much at them as possible. Quick! Kick, kick as I'm doing.” and as he spoke he kicked up dust from the dry ground, at the surrounding reptilians.
Demla reacted at once to Leo's command, although did not hesitate to consider the reason for the required action. Sinking her feet-feelers into the ground, and at speed hard to follow with the human eye, she turned until in a spinning state. At which point, while remaining in that state, she moved around the inside of the guarded enclosure. She made sure she remained in contact with part of the group of children at intervals. Although poor sighted due to the dust cloud too, she saw a few of the reptilian faces, on which the projectiles made an exact landing.
As Leo had intended, the dust served a multi-purpose, blocking sight and providing the best conditions for the sealant to dry. The reptilians let out a mixture of noises which, depending on the individual air supply; varied from deep roars to high-pitched yelping before using up the last oxygen intake. With the reptilian guard pre-occupied with fighting to stay alive, the rescuers advanced into the open; and hauled any guards still standing to the ground by use of rope and slip noose. With the enemy overwhelmed, and the dust now settled, the identity of the rescuers could be seen. Leo was the first to recognise the camouflage suits of the old breed hunters. As the hunters pulled at the reptilian enclosure, a voice was most familiar to them.
“Yep, these reptilians are definitely the ugliest species to have walked this planet! Guessed you might welcome a ration of help young Leo, and besides we had no more rabbits to hunt.” Relt said.
Leo gave Relt a strong hug. And as he looked at the heaps of scaled green reptilian bodies on the ground, commented “I must say that help came just at the right time.”
Releasing Relt from his hold, Leo ran over to the nearest reptilian soldier and crouched next to it.
Puzzled, Relt inquired “Leo what's wrong?”
As Leo touched the thick stone-hard spiked scales over the shoulder blades of the reptilian's back, he said “I just had to take a closer look at these creatures. Never in my wildest nightmares could such beasts have appeared.”
He found that with many scales, in particular those around the shoulder tops of the reptilian, he could prise a finger underneath them and they retracted afterwards; due to the grisly thick skin attached to the inside of the scales. Rubbing his left hand over the now lifeless taloned hand, which still held an over-dimensional meat cleaver tight; Leo saw that a thin film of mossy slim had stuck to the palm of his hand.
With an automatic urge, he raised his palm to his nostrils to smell this strange goo. Within a second his nasal sense registered a fowl decayed odour and his brain, unable to match the unrecognisable stench, instantly triggered a vomit session. Recovering with an intake a fresh air, Leo wiped his hand over the reptilian's ragged shirt below the body armour and returned To Relt and the others.
With a grin Relt said “I could have told you that any creature living underground, in damp, filthy conditions, might not smell of roses!”
He pulled a stern face and now assuming command of those present, Relt turned to the group and urged “Let's get out before the reptilian backup forces arrive.”
The hunter group split, with one part leading the convoy and the other covering the rear. Demla and True remained at the front and rear of the single file of children. The children walked hand-in-hand and stayed in the trance through the vibration frequency controlled by Demla. Leo and Relt joined the team of hunters covering the rear of the convoy. As they proceeded forward, in rotation they looked back and to the flanks and continued this procedure even during short conversations.
Looking back at the reptilians, Leo commented “What a pity we couldn't make use of any of the reptilian weaponry.”
After sixty minutes, during which time the convoy followed the fur markers the hunters tied to trees during the outgoing journey; they came to a forced stop due to a high blockade of thick thorn bramble. One of the lead team of hunters gave a series of short calls by blowing through his cupped hands. Within seconds the brambles started to shake and rise from the ground as members of the forest folk who had been lying below the blockade; moved up onto hands and knees and transported the brambles to one side. With the bramble blockade now moved, the convoy continued.
After the rear hunter team passed through, they placed the blockade back in the original position. A small team of forest folk went back and at the point the convoy had stopped at, laid false tracks off to the left for three kilometres; in the event that the reptilians sent a tracking troop to look for them.
The convoy reached the lines of hundreds of forest folk and old breed, spread throughout the woods. They had with them custom-built rucksack frames, each designed to carry a child. For each frame a pair of old breed men teamed up, so they could take turns in carrying a child. Demla, together with the other forest folk, followed on behind those old breed carrying the frames, to make sure a continual supply of energy flowed through vibrations; needed for the trance state of the children.
During the journey back, the old breed hunters laid a series of traps, varying in design; to make sure that any reptilian force which found the true tracks were at least injured or even killed as they passed through the unseen obstacles. Waiting at the forest edge to escort the returning convoy was a line of the old breed, to avoid having the children awaken to the faces of the forest folk. This allowed the children first to get accustomed to the different surroundings.
Later they had to attend a gathering, to be briefed and the forest folk and elders were to appear at the end to greet the children. At the gathering, Jessica and Thorn shed tears of relief knowing Leo and True had made it back to the safety of the forest. Now that the forest dome was complete and in place, Leo approached the elders together with Mulrog as his translator; and explained that the threat of a reptilian attack on the forest was high and that they should take necessary defensive measures. He proposed that a guard force be established and if possible that the sealant dome be camouflaged from the outside with leaved branches. The elders respected Leo's combat experience and consented to his propos