The Phoenix Colony

Derek woke up, went to retrieve a cigarette, and found that his arms were pinned down. His head began to rush with memories of the previous night, of being tossed into the air and narrowly avoiding being struck by a flying piece of steel. He attempted to wriggle himself out from under the deer for a few minutes, then decided it was pointless. He decided instead to yell for help.

"Hey! Anybody out there? Come get this deer offa' me!"

 

Pasha managed to find a different kind of tree further into the woods. He touched the surface of the bark, it was smoother then the rest. He began to run the sharp end of his rocks against the bark. It came off in thin, flexible strips. He quickly began to take off as many strips, making them as long as he could manage. He folding them up, placing them in one of his pant pockets.

"Pasha!" Bardon called out. "I think I've got something here."

Pasha quickly jogged in his direction, his stick in his hand. He looked at the fruit Bardon held in his hand, taking one into his own. The sweet smell sent his stomach growling, he quickly looked at Bardon.

“You think it’s all right to eat? I’ve never seen anything like this before.” He muttered.

 

“You think it’s all right to eat? I’ve never seen anything like this before.” muttered Pasha.

"Well...either we leave it alone and go back to the others so we can die of starvation, or we eat this and probably die from some crazy sickness. At least this way we'll have a full stomach if we die."

Pasha nodded. "Makes sense I guess...you first."

Tentatively, Joseph reached down and plucked one of the fruits from the vine. A syrupy blue liquid trailed out of the vine where the fruit had been. "Hm.." he said as he inspected the fruit up close. "Oh well..." Not being one to do something unless he was going to go all the way, Joseph bit a huge chunk out the the thing and chewed on it for a moment. His taste buds were barraged with a sensation they had never before felt. The taste was cool and refreshing, like ice water but with a certain kick to it. He swallowed the bite and looked up at Pasha.

"Pretty damn good actually," he said as he plucked another and tossed it to Pasha.

 

Pasha looked at the fruit, still not really sure about it. He knew Bardon was right though. He slowly lifted the fruit to his lips, and took a large bite. His taste buds seem to jump with glee. He gave a smile, taking another bite.

“This really isn’t that bad.” He said.

“You should take some to Viva too.” Yuri muttered, his voice seemed rather depressed. Pasha finished the fruit in his hand, tossing the core onto the ground. He plucked another, leaning against a tree. He started on his second one.

“Nice find.” He said with a genuine smile.

 

“Nice find.” Pasha said with a genuine smile.

"Thanks...maybe this will get some people listening to me about crossing the mountains," replied Joseph as he made a makeshift bag out of his shirt and began stockpiling the fruits. Once he had filled his shirt with the stuff he got to his feet and began heading back to the others. "We should probably be getting back...guards still have the guns you know."

Pasha nodded and as the two set off, things began to happen. It was subtle at first, but then it began to grow. It felt like his feet were stuck under water in a foot of sand. His eyes were covered in a misty blue haze. "Whoa..."

"What is it?"

"I dunno...I..." Joseph turned his head to look at Pasha whose voice seemed far off at the moment. Everywhere he looked was twisted oddly out of proportion...it was like looking at something under water or in a funny mirror. The trees loomed up menacingly around him...laughing? He felt his hands slip and the blue fruit went rolling all over the ground.

"These things...man. They are...some kind of..hallucinogenic stuff."

 

Pasha didn’t even hear what Bardon had said as he looked in front of him, his eyes as wide as saucers. Yuri stood in front of him, leaning against a tree eating a piece of the fruit.

“Not bad.” Yuri said, tossing it to him. He stumbled to catch it, but his body wouldn’t work with him. He fell forward. His hands felt so far away, as he struggled to pick up the fruit. It kept getting further and further away. Pasha stopped trying and turned his gaze up at Yuri. His face seemed to float above him, as the sky swam around him.

“You’re dead Yuri.” Yuri gave a laugh, his mouth opening wider then he remembered it could be. He realized Yuri’s face was starting to burn. It became as black and coal. He reached out.

“See, you’re dead.” Pasha muttered as he crawled forward. He looked around, everything seemed to move as if it had all become liquid. His eyes struggled to concentrate as he looked at Bardon.

“Hey man, Yuri’s here.” He said, pointing towards Yuri’s burnt figure, “He’s the living dead.”

 

Viva woke up after a short while, a little disturbed when she didn't find Pasha or Bardon. She giggled and then yawned, walked out of the protection of the tree.
"I'm so hungry, and little monsters are gone!"
Her voice was sarcastic and yet squeaky like a child. She pushed her hair back and started foraging for food.
"Looks like Viva will have to do everything by herself after all."

She giggled and then placed her hands on the ground, lifting herself to turn upside down. Her tutor's voice echoed in her head as she balanced her entire body on one finger, turned upside down.
Aim in silence.
She didn't move one inch as she heard scuttles and noises.
Feel the noise kill your hunger.
She felt her saliva going back into her glands and then breathed in and out.
Picture a defense, not an attack.
She allowed herself to assume the churning noises to be from a wild animal, and then assumed her defense position by folding herself, like a porcupine.
Attack.
She somersaulted suddenly, and stroke the antelope into half.

"Goodness, you look beautiful."
She chuckled, and then pulled the antelope along with her.
"I never thought I'd end up here after you, Pasha."
She spoke like a normal person for once, without the childish effect.
"Oh well, a job's a job. Even if you have to change your planet."
She then giggled and said in her childish voice:
"Or your attire!"
With that, she hummed a tune as she walked back to their shelter.

 

*********************************************************************

 

"I'm Allen."

Reva nodded acknowledgement of his name and they shook briefly, causing her a small smile at the incongruity of the gesture in their circumstances.

He had nice eyes, she thought, regular features, light beard stubble.

"Do you have a camp around here? Someplace with some food and a place to shelter from the rain?" He asked hopefully.

"I came from there last night when I was chased. I'm not sure how far it is...I was running flat-out. Some of the other women and I stayed in the nose section of the ship. There is only a small space - enough for a few people - that isn't crushed by the crash."

She sat down wrapped her arms around her knees and looked down at the water. It had covered the banks during the night and had become a rising lake. Good thing she had gotten them out of there or they'd have woken up swimming.

"Still, it's dryish and relatively warm. Try getting up again."

Reva wasn't sure what the other women would think about having the strange man added to their group but she couldn't just leave him here, injured and probably concussed.

 

Cull had Smith sit down, He checked his head over then cleaned the area with a little disinfectant and covered it with gauze before shining the guards flashlight in his eyes to monitor the movement of his pupils.

“Try and check in with me when you can, when a person is concussed its hard to say if it could be severe or not when you don‘t have the equipment.”

He turned his attention back to the other man, he seemed to be getting a little of his colour back, “how‘s it going down there mate? Can you tell me what‘s wrong with you?”

 

I am dreaming, thought Juan Mercerdo as he looked over the patches of grass. His stump throbbed painfully. He didn’t need to look at it. He could tell the edges would raw and angry. He sighed, “Not a proper woman in sight, just penal scum. I can’t even dream up a hand and some nice clothes.” A hand pushed the hair from his face. A right hand. Juan looked down and his hand was back. “Yea, definitely a dream. Wait a minute, that’s not my hand? What kind of freaky dream is this?”


His legs started moving on their own. “What’s happening? Oh God, I’m not talking!” Juan passed a thick piece of shiny metal. His head turned. “Who the hell is that?! I'm not dreaming. That’s not me! Help! Oh God help me. HELP ME!!”


An inky blackness fell over his eyes as Juan’s voice returned. He was on the ground, cold, wet, and shivering. His stump felt like it was on fire. “HELP ME!!!!”

 

Cull jolted upwards as he heard the scream, he knew the quiet was to good to be true. A man somewhere back towards the crash site. Cull excused himself from the group he was with and hurried towards the sound. If this was what it took for a little piece and quiet he was all for it. There was a man thrashing about on the earth screaming. Cull ran towards him and scooted down on his knees next to him.

“Hey, mate what‘s wrong?” he asked putting a hand to his shoulder, “My names Cull Brackwell, you look like you‘re in pain so you can call me whatever the **** you like.”

He pulled the medical pouch from under his belt and opened it up before, looking for some kind of injury on the man. He checked him over the grimaced as he saw the swollen and enflamed stump.

“Mate I‘m going to sedate you. But I need to make sure you know what‘s going on first.”

 

Juan gripped the stranger's sleeve and pulled him close. "It wasn't a dream! I ... I left my body! Am I a god? Oh God ... my arm it burns .... it burns. Help me. Please help me. Are you a doctor? You have to give me something. Do something. Damn the pain, it hurts ... help me!"

 

Cull nodded, then realising the man had his eyes scrunched up tightly spoke out.

“I‘m going to give you some sedative then treat you. Then I‘ll need you to take some antibiotics to combat that nasty infection in your arm. I‘m an anaesthesiologist. I‘ll look after you.”

Cull gently pulled his sleeve away and frowned. A god had the infection gotten that bad already. He uncapped a bottle of local and drew it up the syringe before using a torn piece of cloth to make a tourniquet on his upper arm. He flicked the syringe with his finger tip then injected the liquid into a fat vein inside his elbow.

“Your going to go to sleep now, But don‘t worry I‘ll be here when you wake up.”

 

Harold stumbled through the camp and tried to stand up straight.

You’ve let yourself get soft. Taking orders from a blind nut case. Eating people. Letting people offer you food. You should be giving orders. If he boys could see you now, they’d put a bullet in your melon.

He looked around at the makeshift shelters and the small crews that were forming.

I should be in charge. Be a man Harold. It’s time for you to be a man. Now where do I start? What would the Godfather do?

He caught sight of someone giving Juan a shot.

“Hey you! What’re you doing?”

 

Cull swore and looked up, “I‘m trying to treat an infection,” he muttered. It was the man he had attempted to help before. “And how are you feeling any better? Not that I got a chance to look you over properly.”

He turned back to the man and tore a swab packet open. It held a sashay that was scented like an emergency ward. He stared at it for a moment before he felt the crawling feeling by his ear again. Not now it had to start bleeding now.

 

The mobster smiled. A doctor … the Godfather always said to make sure you had a doc you could trust. He gave the man a once over.

If you were gonna kill me, you could’ve done it by the river. Besides I won’t last long like this.

“Yea, the girl was drowning. I … I think I saved her. Huh … guess that makes me some kinda hero.” Harold looked around. No one was watching. He knelt down and gave Juan a good look over, making sure the blind man was truly passed out. “Hey doc, my chest still feels like someone’s got it in a vice and my left arm ain’t working to well. Think you could fix me up?”

 

Allen felt that thrill run up his spine again. He was going to make it. He didn't like that there was company, but he could work around that. If he really needed to there could be a couple of accidents. He would try and avoid that though. It would be very difficult to pull off in his condition, and Allen never killed unless he had to. That's bad form.

"That's great." Allen let out a sigh. "Well, let's see if I can get up." Putting his good hand on the ground, he pushed up and got his feet under him. When he tried to straighten up though, his head gave another swirl. He staggered a couple of large steps to keep from falling over before the swirl slowed down a little, allowing Allen to straighten all the way up and take stock of himself. His arm was broken, he probably was concussed, he was one massive bruise all over, there was a pain in his back when he bent over to the right, and he wouldn't be suprised if some of his ribs were cracked. It was a miracle that he got off with only minor injuries. It seemed that Reva knew what she was doing when she set his arm, it was in the proper place and completely immobilized.

Allen looked at her, wincing as his heavy breathing shot pain through his chest. "Well, let's go. I think I'm good for a couple of miles. If you see any food, well let's just say I'm hungry."

 

Cull nodded as he tended to the other mans arm, “of course, I was going to come back to you after I was finished with this gent.” He finished the swab and wrapped the mans arm stump in white gauzed then a ragged bandage. He finished off by injecting the man with a dose of antibiotics and sitting back. There’d be no pain killers until he woke up.

“While saving a girl is admirable and any man in your place would‘ve done the same it might be best if you stayed out of the water from now on. How lets lift that shirt and have a listen to your chest.”

Cull felt like kissing the stethoscope he’d found. It was going to prove most useful.

 

Harold took off his shirt.

Jeez … when the hell did I get so fat? I mean, I was never tiny but…

He began to bend forward and shift around trying to catch sight of his shoes. A couple of cons walked by. Both of their necks disappeared beneath thick bands of muscle. Harold rolled his eyes but inside he knew … if things got bad, he would last. Not without his crew and a gun. He thought about trying to snatch one of the guns.

What’re you stupid? You can barely walk. They’d dump your body in the river without a second thought.

“So Doc … you got drugs and needles. How long do you think it’ll be before one of our friends here try and take them form you?”

 

Cull listened intently to the mans heart.

“So Doc … you got drugs and needles. How long do you think it’ll be before one of our friends here try and take them form you?”


“It‘s most likely they won‘t last to be taken at this rate. Even with what I receive off of some of the people I treat. Even so I‘d like to see the little f*****s try. I hope they like to sleep because that‘s what the medication I jam up their arm will do.” Cull pull the stethoscope away from his ears. Blood spilt from the left one thick and warm it soaked the shoulder of his shirt. He frowned this was more then a nick. He wondered if when he had hit the wall in the ship that it had done some internal damage. Though his heart was hammering in his chest he decided to ignore it.

“You’ve definitely got something in your lungs, be it water or mucus. Your breathing is a little tight, you ever suffered from asthma before? Also the arm any past injuries that might have caused that?”

 

Raylene and Fox walk out of the shelter and look around their surroundings. It's their first glance in daylight. The trees were tall, moss hung from the branches. This is an old forest, most decidedly with old creatures, ones that surely would've become extinct if they lived on Earth.

"Which way do you think she went?" Raylene asks Fox. She shrugs and starts searching the ground for any sign of footprints. "The wind probably destroyed any tracks, Fox." Fox shrugs again and continues with her search.

 

“Past injuries? You’re funny Doc. I’ve had half my ribs broken, my nose busted up twice, and I don’t know how many times I took a pipe to the arm. Hey, better an arm than the ol’ melon – know what I mean?”

A thick puddle of blood was building on the doctor’s shoulder.

He won’t be in good shape for long and then these animals are going to jump on him. Maybe the stuff he’s got won’t get them high … but they won’t care.

“Umm .. Doc? Ya know your bleeding right?” What would the Godfather say? Wondered Harold. He pulled the Doctor in close. “Listen here. Sooner or later you’re going to need a friend. I’m offering my friendship. I only make this offer once.”

 

Cull laughed he was right protection in numbers as for the blood he was sure he could explain it easily enough. “Yes I know, It‘s superficial so lets not stress over it, I‘ll fix it up in a bit.” he bit his lip deciding how he would take the mans offer. “You know what, I think I‘ll take you up on that offer. You look to me like the sort of guy I could hang with. Now Your friend here will wake up soon, the local should be wearing off. By the way call me Cull.”

 

Harold’s ham sized fist swallowed Cull’s. “You made a good choice my friend. If I was you, I’d get rid of the blood. It makes you look weak. Don’t be fooled Doc, we’re still in the joint. It’s just a bigger one where we get to make our own cells.” The mobster clapped Cull on his shoulder. “You’ll be alright. I’ll take care of you.”

That’s it Harold, make sure he needs you. That’s the first rule of making a crew. He looked down at Juan. Do I really need you?

“So Doc what did you do to get send here?”