I got the message. I stepped forward and into the first row of plants. The others followed to either side and slightly behind. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started pulling the blue fruit off the stalks and dropping it into my bag. It was mindless work, which was good because the only thing on my mind was the possibility of a tang lying in wait for me. As I picked the fruit I looked back to see what the klees were doing to protect us. The answer was, nothing. Just the opposite, we were there to protect them. While Boon and another klee stayed at the wagon, the others walked behind us, inside the arrowhead, shielded from a surprise attack. Kasha was with them, which gave me a little reassurance. Very little.
When my bag was filled with blue apples, a gar came forward, took it from me, and gave me another empty sack. The gar dragged the loaded bag back to the wagon where he dumped the fruit. They had a couple of gars shuttling loaded sacks. I realized pretty quickly that once the wagon was loaded, there’d be no room for us poor gars to ride on the way back to Leeandra. That is, assuming we survived.
The picking was slow going. I’d say it took about a minute to get all the fruit off a single plant. I quickly learned that after a plant was picked clean, it had to be uprooted and laid down. That meant as our formation moved forward, we cleared a path through the crops that grew wider as we went. I don’t know how long we were picking. Two hours? Three? It was grueling and I was getting tired. The klees didn’t give us water, either. Or food. It struck me that if the tangs were smart, they’d attack later in the day, once their victims were burned out. I really, really hoped they weren’t smart.
I finished another bag and held my hand up to signal a gar to come and take it. But nobody came. They had been pretty quick up till then, so I realized that for some reason the process had slowed… or stopped. I looked to Kasha and held up the heavy bag.
Kasha saw it and shouted out, “Here!” Nobody came to fetch it.
The other gars stopped picking. I instantly felt the tension as they stood up and looked around nervously. The cats reached for their weapons and slowly brought them forward. Uh-oh. Everyone stood absolutely still, not making a sound, only listening. A few seconds went by. The only sound I heard was the wind gently rustling the plants. Where were the shuttling gars? Were they just slow in emptying the sacks at the wagon, or was the answer more ominous?
I looked to my right. Standing a few feet behind me was the gar who earlier showed me his amber cube. His every sense was on alert, listening, looking, smelling. He was scared. I didn’t blame him. So was I. The guy looked ahead into the dense crops, but saw nothing but plants. His gaze wandered until he saw me. Our eyes met. Instantly his look went from one of fear, to one of serenity. Seriously. It was like the tension left his body as he broke into a big smile.
It would be the last action of his life.
A second later I smelled the stench. It was the odor of a hungry tang. Another second passed and the tall plants in front of the gar rustled. Something flashed out. It went so fast I can’t really describe exactly what happened. One second he was standing there, the next second a green blur wrapped around him and pulled him into the dense plants. I stood frozen, a scream caught in my throat. A moment later I had no trouble screaming, because something came back out. It hit the ground and rolled close to my feet. I looked down to see something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Lying at my feet was the head of my friend the gar. His lifeless eyes staring up at me.
I screamed…and the attack began.
JOURNAL #17
(CONTINUED)
EELONG
Theassault was fast and violent.
The tangs were waiting for us, just as I had feared. As soon as the first gar was killed, it was like the signal had gone out for the others to attack. They sprang from the plants in front of us like guerrilla fighters. These may have been beasts, but they were smart. Their green color blended with the green vegetation so well that we were nearly on top of them before they made their move.
A tang leaped for me. Without thinking, I swung the bag full of apples. It wasn’t exactly a deadly weapon, but the heavy bag saved my life. I hit the tang’s gut with such force, I heard it grunt. The beast fell back, its scaly tale thrashing. It wasn’t hurt, but the move gave me the few seconds I needed to do the only thing possible.
I ran.
It all happened so fast that I can only remember quick, horrible images. I saw another tang leap out and grab the gar who was picking fruit on the other side of me. The gar’s scream of pain cut right through me. I never saw him again. All around me, gars had dropped their bags of fruit and were running back toward the wagon. They had no weapons. They were sitting ducks. Or running ducks. The klees didn’t do anything to help them. The cats held their wooden staves up as they backed toward the wagon, but it was to protect themselves, not the gars. A few tangs attacked the klees, but the experienced foragers used their weapons expertly, fending them off and knocking a few senseless. There were screams all around me, both from gars who were being attacked, and the tangs who were pouncing on them with a bloodlust. I had no idea how many tangs there were. There could have been ten, or a hundred. It was all a blur.
All I could do was block out the horror around me and get back to the wagon. I pumped my legs, jumping over the crops we had just picked. I didn’t dare turn around for fear of what I would see. Besides, it would only slow me down. I’ve always been fast, but I had no idea if I was faster than a hungry tang.
Up ahead of me, the klees were on the run. They were down on all fours and chewing up the ground to escape. I didn’t see Kasha, but I figured she was right there with them, abandoning me. So much for trusting the next Traveler from Eelong. Behind me, I heard tangs crunching across the fallen plants, hungry to catch up. But my confidence was growing. I was faster than they were. I was going to make it to the wagon. My thoughts went to what I would do once I got there. The klees would make a stand, I was sure of that. But could I count on them to protect me and the other gars who were lucky enough to make it back? Could I rely on Kasha? And Boon? I would find out soon enough. Up ahead, I saw the wagon. Boon was standing up in the driver’s seat, motioning for us all to hurry. I shouldn’t have been looking at him, because it meant I wasn’t watching what was in front of me and… I tripped.
I stumbled forward and did a complete somersault only to come face-to-face with a dead gar. Blood trickled from his mouth. I jumped up quickly to see what I had tripped over. It was another dead gar. I then knew what had happened to the group that was shuttling the fruit back to the wagon. They had been ambushed by the tangs. A quick look to my right showed me a tang dragging a gar back into the high stalks. He had gotten his prize. I shot a look to where I had come from to see a tang was running for me. Its mouth was open to reveal bloody, sharp teeth. I was like a deer caught in the headlights. The tang was on a dead run. I was just…dead. There was no way I could turn and run fast enough to get away. I was tang chow. I backed away, but too late. The tang leaped.
And a blur flashed in front of me, knocking the tang off balance. It was a gar! He fought the tang valiantly, but the poor guy didn’t stand a chance. I took a step forward to help him, but it was too late. The tang swept its arm back and stabbed the gar with its long, sharp talons. The three talons went right through his body, coming out his back. It was hideous. The gar writhed in pain, but managed to turn his head and look at me. The guy was in agony, but when he saw me, he relaxed. It was like the pain had magically gone away.
I recognized him. It was one of the gars I had spoken to on the wagon. His eyes looked peaceful. He wasn’t in pain anymore. He smiled. I swear, guys, he smiled. This primitive human-animal had sacrificed his life to save mine. But why? Blood started leaking out the sides of his mouth, but he kept his smile. He croaked out two words. He said them with such a soft whisper, I could barely hear.
“Black Water,” he groaned.
His eyes closed and he died. The tang pulled its talons out of the guy, threw him to the ground and looked at me. I wasn’t sure if it was going to attack or make off with its conquest. I didn’t stick around long enough for it to decide. I turned and ran for the wagon, trying to hold down the sick feeling in my stomach. I expected to feel the
