“Suppose so,” Eric said flatly.
They came back to the sight of the overturned jeep and Douglas shut off the engine. Birds were high up in a nearby tree singing but there was no breeze and the heat sat on you and cooked.
“You know, that creature,” Douglas said. “I think I know what it was.”
“It wasn’t a hyena?”
“No, it was. But it was obviously far too large to be the spotted hyena it appeared. I’d read about something once called Hyaenodon. It’s the ancestor of the hyena only much larger. I wonder if it could still exist out here?”
“The villagers think it’s punishment from God.”
“Yes.” Douglas pulled out a flask and took a drink, “that it might be.”
Douglas pressed the horn but no one came so he stopped. Noon turned into afternoon and afternoon into evening as they sat in the jeep, drinking water and eating snack chips and dried meat. The sun went down and darkness descended, sparkling stars covering the tar-black sky. “How long do you think we should wait?” Douglas said, obviously losing his nerve. “I don’t like sitting out here in the dark.” “You want to leave?” Eric said, amused. “I thought Thomas was your friend?” “He is, of course,” Douglas said, offended. “I’m just saying there’s not much we can do just sitting out here like bait.”
Their heads turned simultaneously. Out past a small tree came a sound that had burned itself into Eric’s mind. Something that would appear in his sleep like a ghost; the sound of maniacal laughter.
CHAPTER
57
Darkness covered Thomas and his only light was the moon, but he pressed forward. He searched the tall grass with his rifle held in front of him, his palms sweaty. The roar of one of the big cats was in the distance; a leopard probably. Sometimes he’d hear the hollering of baboons but they were rare.
“Sandra!” he yelled out against his better judgment. He wasn’t exactly certain that he expected a response.
Thomas stopped underneath a large tree and sat down, exhaustion weakening his legs and making his feet ache. The moon was full and shone brightly in the night sky. It reminded him of his drunken days in Africa. Watching the full moon through the jungle canopy, unsure what day it was and not really caring.
He rose and continued his search.
There was little in the Indian night that could surprise him any longer. He knew the calls of every animal out here. But truth be told, he was taken aback by the creature he’d killed yesterday. He’d heard rumors from the tribesmen for years about giant hyenas that stole children in the night, but how could one believe in such stories?
As he made his way through the grass he became acutely aware that something else was in here with him. Whenever he’d move forward, he’d hear the grass behind him parting.
He took a few steps forward and heard the sound again. Thomas took a deep breath and dropped to one knee, spinning around with the rifle held in front of him. But the grass was empty. The wind rustling through a few of the taller strands.
He lowered his rifle and stood up, feeling foolish. Glancing around, he could see that he hadn’t been following any sort of trail for quite some time. He was just wandering aimlessly, breaking the first rule of searching the plains.
Walking back through the grass, watching the moon and the stars, he saw movement in the periphery of his vision. A roving mass just to the left a few yards away. He could tell by the width of the part in the grass that it was something large.
Thomas raised his rifle and took aim. The mass was moving closer, crawling slowly along the ground.
It was stalking him.
His finger lightly pressed on the trigger, not pulling it the entire way until he had a clear shot and knew what he was hitting. The movement slowed, and then stopped. The part in the grass stayed in one place.
Thomas watched it. It must’ve spotted him. He steadied the rifle and fired. A whine sounded as a leopard jumped into the air, its body twisting as it howled in pain. The lithe body of the cat landed in the grass and limped away, a large wound adorning its shoulder.
Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, and walked toward where the leopard had been. They were ferocious creatures; he’d seen one take on a wildebeest by itself. There were even stories of them killing adult gorillas. Injured, they were downright unpredictable. He saw the leopard hobbling to a nearby tree and he raised his rifle and took a step forward.
As he did, he felt something soft giving way underfoot. Glancing down, he saw a cylindrical shape underneath his boot. He bent down and picked it up, bringing it into the moonlight. It felt rubbery and wet; it was a severed arm.
Thomas dropped the arm and stumbled backward; it was the arm of a Caucasian female, the nails painted red. The flesh looked gray and was flaking off the bone.
He looked at it a moment longer and then turned away, choking back his emotion. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he started making his way back to the jeep.
CHAPTER
58
Eric sat still in the jeep, his heart beating quickly and pounding in his ears. The laughter they’d heard had stopped and was replaced with silence. Not even the crickets made a noise. It was terrible silence; unnatural.
“Maybe we should drive off for awhile,” Douglas said. “Then we’ll circle back and try and find Thomas.”
Eric nodded, not taking his eyes off the tall grass and forest that was in the distance. Douglas started the engine and instantly there was a roar and cacophony of laughter. A massive hyena lunged out of the grass.
Eric jumped and fell over Douglas as the beast rammed its head into the jeep, causing two of its tires to lift off the ground. He rammed it again and the metal creaked as the jeep flipped over onto its side.
Douglas screamed as his leg was crushed under the weight of the vehicle. Eric was thrown out and landed on the dirt. The beast circled around the vehicle, drool pouring out of its mouth in long strands as it spotted Douglas on the ground. It approached; Douglas’ screams piercing the night air as the animal put its mouth over his head and bit down. The loud crunch of his skull caused bile to rise in Eric’s throat and he stood and began to run.
He ran along the dirt road, his ankle throbbing with pain, and could see shapes in the grass chasing him. They would run ahead of him and then stop and let him pass just to run ahead again. The laughter was at a fever pitch, saturating the air. It was coming from both sides of the road.
Another hyena dove out of the grass in front of him and Eric nearly ran into him. He avoided the beast’s mouth and ran behind him into the grass. The animal turned and ran after him.
Eric let the grass whip his body as he dashed through it, not looking back. The laughter was circling him, running ahead of him and closing in from behind. He sharply turned to the right and then up, trying to place where the animals were by their laughter. But they followed his movements and ran ahead of him again.
He could see light up ahead and gradually saw the shape of a house outside the patch of grass he was in. Calling on the last of his strength, he dug deep and sprinted.
Eric burst out of the patch of grass and onto a flat clearing. Ten yards away was a white house with a large porch. He darted for it, hearing the snarls of the animals behind him. The porch light was on and it seemed like a beacon in the darkness. His legs were failing him and he was slowing down but he felt the hard wood of the steps as he ran up the porch and to the front door. It was locked.
