The sliding door was only an inch away from the vine when it slid back into the corridor. The leading edge of the door disappeared into the frame’s recess with a welcome thud of metal. Pounding on the door followed the muffled cry of the alien’s frustrated shriek.
Jack freed his grip on the stiff vines and looked at Jane when she released her hold on the one she had pulled from the doorway. “That was close, thanks.”
With a worried frown, she asked, “Will the door stop it?”
Jack placed a comforting hand on her arm. “Unless it can operate the door it will.”
“Hurry up you two,” called out Lucy. “We need to catch up with the others before we lose them.”
They headed into the pungent undergrowth.
For the third time Richard almost stumbled into Theo and Eli. The injured man slowed them down and would get them all killed. Though he’d thought about suggesting to Theo they leave Eli, he knew the man wouldn’t listen. To increase his chance of escape, he squeezed past the two men and took the lead.
Their feet, invisible in the ground-hugging stagnant mist, sunk and squelched in the hidden layer of decaying vegetation covering the ground. Brittle vines, branches and roots crunched under their feet like the cracking of ancient bones. The verdant mass of plants, creepers, bushes and branches seemed to reach out for them with twigs that had the manifestation of thin, gnarled fingers. They constantly batted, pushed and bent them aside as they progressed through the corridor.
Theo screamed when a large hand-like thing sprung out and grasped his face. He released his hold on Eli to claw the thing away.
Eli laughed. “It’s only a branch Richard disturbed.”
Theo calmed his panic and held the sapling at arm’s length. He let out a relieved breath. “I thought it was an alien face hugger.”
“That’ll teach you to watch films of that caliber before entering an alien spacecraft,” said Henry.
“I wouldn’t have if I’d known I’d be doing this today.”
Henry’s eyes wandered around the thick vegetation. The ship had thrown another surprise in their path. “Keep moving. This place gives me the creeps.”
Theo grabbed hold of Eli to support him and noticed Richard was nowhere to be seen. The two of them headed along the faint trail the man had forced through the bushes.
Richard, a little way ahead of the group, paused and peered into the vegetation blocking his view. He thought he’d heard something. He remained still and silent. A strange moan―low, mournful and full of menace—came from somewhere ahead and close by. Fear grabbed Richard in its clutches. The blue overhead illumination, which failed to penetrate more than a few feet through the gloom-laden foliage, was useless in highlighting the danger that lay ahead. If there was another of those alien monsters stalking them or some other nightmarish creature, it would be better if the others found it. The sound of their scrambled dash through the undergrowth behind him drew closer. When he turned to look back, his eyes swept past a dark shape in the corridor wall. The leafy branch he pulled aside revealed the straight edge of an open entrance. His anxious grin at finding an escape route twisted into a mask of malignancy at the opportunity that presented itself. It was his chance to dispose of a few of his rivals, and in the process distract the monster’s attention away from him while he made his escape. He slipped through the dark hole without warning the others of the danger they were about to run into.
The Web creature, frustrated its prey had escaped, remained outside the door and glanced at another of its kind as it joined it at the entrance. Their trap had failed. Its evil eyes wandered to the button its kind had long ago learnt would open the barrier between it and its prey, but it was hesitant to open it. Others not of their kind dwelt within the forest on the other side, and like them, those inside were also territorial and would fight to protect their domain and everything within. The two creatures grunted at each other. Hunger outweighed caution. One of them stretched out a clawed hand toward the door button.
“I’ll be glad to be free of this verdant hell,” said Jane, freeing another twig that had snagged her hair.
Muffled by the thick vegetation choking the distance between them and the others, the yell of alarm that froze them was quickly followed by a panicked voice. A second scream, packed full of pain and horror, sent a shiver of dread through them.
“That was Eli,” said Lucy, shakily.
Frightened by what lay ahead, Jane grabbed Jack’s arm for comfort and listened to the heavy rustle of bushes disturbed by their friends’ panicked dash away from the thing they’d encountered.
“There must be another of those monsters up ahead,” said Jack.
The sounds settled into silence.
A monster shrieked and then silence, again.
“It sounds different from the one in the corridor,” said Lucy.
Jane peered into the undergrowth, her ears straining for sounds of anything moving toward them. “It might be a different species, but it sounds just as dangerous.”
Jack turned to the two scared women. “It’s not safe to go forward,” he whispered.
“It’s not safe to go back,” Jane replied, anxiously.
As if to emphasize her words, they heard the metallic rasp of the door opening behind them and the sounds of something moving through the bushes toward them.
They were trapped!
Jack wondered if the Web monsters were working together, because it certainly seemed that way.
Lucy pointed to something on their right. “Is that a doorway?”
Jack peeled back the foliage and gazed upon the dark shape Lucy had spotted in the wall. It was an opening and their only chance of survival. “Stay as quiet as you can and follow me.”
Richard was alone and frightened, frightened about every single thing around him. The undergrowth seemed alive and rustled as its never-ending mass of tendrils threatened to close in on him. His fear caused him to be uncertain if the loud pulsing thump was of his own heartbeat or blood pumping through the sinewy vines all around him. He placed his hands over his ears to block out the awful sounds of things unknown that he believed were hunting him. Whether imagined or real, he was no longer sure.
I should have stayed in England. I should never have come here.
He backed against the trunk of a black, gnarled tree and sunk to the ground a shaking mass of terror. The stench emanating from the dank ground was a mildewed, moist shroud that clogged his nostrils and threatened to suck the oxygen from his lungs. Worried he might hyperventilate, he forced himself to remain calm. It’s just my imagination. Nothing is out there. The creepers are just organic lifeless plants, nothing more. He took a few deep breaths until he had regained control, however tenuous, over his frayed senses.
He removed his hands from his ears. The slight rustle of undergrowth was, he told himself, caused by a draft blowing through the ship, nothing sinister. He forced his body upright and peered through the countless layers of vegetation lit by the inadequate headlamp he had switched on during his rush away from the monster. He’d heard Eli scream and assumed he’d been killed. It had nearly been him. He needed to find an exit, but his panicked rush through the jungle-choked room had caused him to lose his bearings. Incapable of telling which way he had come or should now go, his dread-filled eyes gazed nervously around in search of a clue to point him on the correct course. They only saw thick depths of never ending undergrowth full of gloom that radiated despondency.