Part 7 (1/2)

25.

It seemed as if the entire shed instantly filled with fire. The creature was engulfed in flames as it frantically writhed and twisted in pain. It ran around the room and bounced off the walls as it tried to escape the fire. Liz reached Howard and dragged him from the flames. His legs and feet smoldered. He cried out in pain.

The fire spread at an alarming rate and Liz was just barely able to drag Howard out the door before the entire building went up. She dragged him as far as she could and collapsed in the snow trying to catch her breath.

Howard was still conscious, but just barely. Liz lifted his blood soaked s.h.i.+rt and saw the gaping wound in his abdomen. He tried to say something.

”What?” Liz put her ear closer to his mouth.

”I'm. Sorry.”

”You killed it, Howard. You saved us.”

”Farm.”

”What?”

”Stay. Away.”

He lost consciousness.

26.

Liz stared out the window of the Bell 412 and looked at the endless water a thousand feet below. She felt a tug at her s.h.i.+rt sleeve and was surprised to see Lisa sitting next to her.

”How are you doing, kiddo?” Lisa's voice crackled in the headset Liz was wearing.

”I'm feeling pretty lousy actually,” Liz responded. ”I must be coming down with something.”

”That's all you need now is to get a cold.” Lisa patted Liz on the knee and gave her a sympathetic look.

”It doesn't seem right, leaving him back there. He's just lying there on the floor.”

”I know, but let's face it. The entire station is one big crime scene. We had to leave everything the way it was. Don't worry about Phillip. He'll get a proper funeral when all this mess it sorted out.”

”You believe me about the alien, don't you?” asked Liz. ”You don't think I'm crazy?”

”Right now, all I care about is getting you to a hospital. We need to make sure you're okay.”

”Oh, I'm fine. Just a little under the weather.”

”If you're so fine, then why are you leaking?” Lisa pointed at Liz's nose. She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and it came away b.l.o.o.d.y.

”Sure, b.l.o.o.d.y nose,” Liz said. ”What else can go wrong?”

”Face it kiddo, this ain't your day.” Lisa handed her a handkerchief.

”Thirty minutes ladies,” Ron announced over their headsets. ”I radioed ahead and they've got two ambulances waiting at the airport.”

”An ambulance for me too Ron?” Liz asked. ”A little overkill don't you think? I'm fine.”

”Have you ever been in a cab in Rio Grande? Trust me, you're banged up enough as it is. Worst drivers in Argentina.”

Liz looked over at Howard. He was strapped to a stretcher on the helicopter floor. Before Ron and Lisa returned, she was able to stop the bleeding and clean the wound the best she could, but he hadn't regained full consciousness. She gave him as much pain meds as she dared without cras.h.i.+ng his blood pressure and kept a steady stream of plasma flowing through an IV. If he could get to the hospital within the hour he might make it.

”I'm going to head back up front,” said Lisa. ”He's on no sleep and is bound to crash and kill us all if I don't keep an eye on him.”

Liz smiled and looked back out the window. She dabbed her nose again and sat back. She really did feel terrible and was a little glad she was taking an ambulance to the hospital. At least it would feel good to get back to civilization again.

Part Two - Exposure.

1.

Forgive me if I do a poor job of describing the first moments after I gained consciousness. It's not for lack of trying, but all I can remember is floating in a hazy state of semi awareness. Think of all the times you've hit the snooze bar and fallen back to sleep seconds later. Sometimes you don't even remember doing it, do you?

Sounds and smells crept into my dreams as I struggled to waken. When I finally opened my eyes for the first time, I shut them immediately, squinting due to the brilliant sun beating down on me.

It's amazing all the little things that go on with our bodies without us ever giving them a second thought, isn't it? As the pupils in my eyes automatically adjusted to allow the appropriate amount of daylight in, my heart continued to pump, my lungs expanded and contracted, and the pores on my skin excreted perspiration to help regulate my body temperature. I mention the perspiration only because I was warm. Uncomfortably so.

But I digress. Listen to me rattle on about nonsense when you're no doubt wondering where I was and what happened to me. That would make two of us.

The sky above me was a brilliant shade of blue and a few clouds were scattered about. In the periphery of my vision, I could see leaves and branches. Judging by the density of the foliage on almost all sides, it appeared I might have been in a clearing of a wooded area. Jungle, maybe?

I apologize. By now I'm sure you're screaming at me to sit up and look around, but I neglected to tell you, I suppose I should have opened with it, that I couldn't sit up. I was flat on my back and it felt like I was strapped down to something. I could feel the restraints on each of my forearms and another across my chest. My legs were also trapped.

I could turn my head from side to side but, unfortunately, some sort of foam barrier obstructed my view. Probably to protect my head, I'm guessing. I tried to lift my head but that just gave me a slightly better view of the trees beyond my feet.

Lifting my head also increased the pain, so I only did it once. I didn't mention the pain yet, did I? Again, I apologize. So much to tell; I'm having a problem getting it all out in an order that makes sense. There was a deep throbbing around my stomach. A little lower, I guess, in the abdomen, off to the side. If I could touch it, I would have been able to see if I had some sort of wound down there.

I was also dealing with some major discomfort a little farther south. I felt like I had to pee but when I finally allowed myself to try, I couldn't tell if anything was coming out or not. Ladies, you're probably already aware of how much we gentlemen are always grabbing at our crotch. Believe me when I say it was driving me crazy not to be able to use my hands to give Mr. w.i.l.l.y a once over and see what was happening down there.

I tried to make sense of my surroundings but couldn't remember what had happened to me. Besides a few bugs flying overhead from time to time and typical birdcalls you would hear in the jungle, I didn't hear anything else.

I finally called out, my own voice sounding strange and scared. I don't recall exactly what I said but ”h.e.l.lo” seems like a pretty logical guess. There was no response, so I yelled out a few more times. No answer.

Other than the foulness coming from my armpits (I had a feeling they hadn't seen soap in a while), I kept catching a whiff of a burning odor. Heavy and toxic, it smelled like fuel mixed with burning plastic or some other synthetic material. Mingling with that was just a touch of wood smoke.