That Which Devours

The next time I woke up, it was bright in the cavern. Fewer people were around and I wasn’t in the same spot I had gone to sleep in. That bothered me. Folks had moved me while I was out cold, and it hadn’t woken me up at all.

My dried mouth bothered me, and I found the canteen right next to me. I took slow sips as I sat up and tried to connect the dots. My head still felt off, fuzzy, like everything wasn’t connecting the right way. Still, I was out of the cold tube, I had water and… my stomach growled.

I needed food.

After several more moments of drinking water, I slowly climbed to my feet. I tossed the strap from the canteen over my shoulder and shuffled toward the entrance to the cavern. It became easier to move once I reached the wall and I could use it as a support. The rock was damp and felt cool to the touch.

Slowly I made it toward the outside. The entrance to the cavern narrowed to a tight walkway that I barely fit through without turning sideways. I wondered how they’d gotten me there, unconscious. The path opened up to bright sunlight overlooking a giant carcass. Trees took over just beyond the carcass, stretching toward the sunlight overhead. The plants were bright shades of green that my mind couldn’t comprehend. The colors were just so different from the evergreen forest I’d camped in back home on Earth. More vibrant and alive, somehow.

Abby’s back was to me as she cut into the giant creature, her knife flashing in the bright light. Flies buzzed around her as she worked. A campfire burned to the left, producing some smoke that the flies stayed away from, but not enough to keep them away entirely. Sticks stuck into the ground with strips of meat hanging off of them, roasting over the flames.

That was a dead dinosaur.

Thick leathery skin, giant body, though this looked like just the rear half with a long tail. A foot sat off to one side, and it was the size of my head, with talons longer than my fingers. My knees trembled, but I forced myself to stay standing. Traveling to an unknown world was always going to be hard, I just hadn’t expected to crash on a planet with dinosaurs.

It was almost a dream come true. I loved dinosaurs, and watched any movie that came out with them in it. Even if it was a reboot.

I found Abby watching me when I glanced back at her. “You shouldn’t be standing. Take a seat near the fire, I’ll grab you something cooked.” She climbed to her feet and set the knife down on a woven mat that I hadn’t noticed. It had strips of raw meat piled on it.

She pulled one stick hanging over the fire out of the ground and tested it with two fingers before nodding.

I hadn’t moved.

She waved at me to get moving. “Well, come on. You should sit. We need to talk.”

I let go of the wall behind me and crept closer to the fire. “Where is everyone?”

Abby let out a deep sigh. “Searching for survivors, but I think you’re likely to be the last one.” She held out the cooked meat once I got close enough.

I sat down on the rocky ground, trying to not move my head too fast. My vision spun if I moved too quickly. The meat tasted good. It was gamey, and it was warm.

“We found the other side of the dropship in the valley below. More survivors were there, but they had to deal with more dinosaurs than we did up top.”

“So they are real.”

“They are, honey.” Abby moved back to the carcass and sat back down.

“What about classes? I remember something about how I didn’t unlock class selection…” I said between bites. This time I tried to slowly eat the meat, instead of just inhaling it like I had the ration bar. The outside was tough to bite through, and that helped.

“Everyone who wasn’t a laborer went through class selection during the crash. All of you young adults didn’t unlock it. I think there are fifteen of you in total.”

My stomach roiled at that news. Our dropship had started with over fifty laborers, and we were down to fifteen? That didn’t seem right.

“How? The crash?” Images of dinosaurs chasing after humans in the jungle made me shiver, but hopefully that hadn’t happened.

“The crash killed plenty on impact. The drop ship hit the top of a mountain range and the end broke off, which is where we were. Some in the middle went flying in their cold tubes, like you. The front continued, over the edge.” She motioned toward the trees. “It hit in the valley below. We are halfway down the cliff headed to the valley.”

“And my family?”

“John and Benny are already in the valley. Your father is helping people down the cliffs and doing rounds. Most of the survivors are fighting down below, to clear it of threats.” Her knife hacked into the carcass. “Once I’m done cooking this up, we’ll head down there as well. We can’t be wasting food right now.” She motioned to a basket near the campfire. “We can’t stay too long before the smell will draw things here. So, I’m cutting and cooking fast.”

The food helped settle my stomach. However, it all felt too fake. We’d crashed, something was wrong with my head, and the survivors were fighting dinosaurs to make a safe place to build camp. I let out a chuckle and then caught myself just before I shook my head.

“I did something to my head…” I mumbled.

“We’re pretty sure the crash knocked you silly, but you're recovering faster than I’d have guessed.” Abby got up and took the woven mat full of strips of meat with her. She set it near the fire and tested the rest of the meat still over the flames. Each chunk that was cooked enough got tossed into the basket. Then she speared raw pieces onto the sticks. “Now, we just need to wait.”

The sound of a roar echoed through the trees surrounding the rock face.

I spun to face that direction, and everything blurred into nonsense.

Abby made a tsk-ing sound. “The big ones can’t make it this far down. It’s the small ones we need to worry about.”

The meat in my stomach felt off as I fought to keep it down. It took longer than I’d have liked before I could turn my head to look back at Abby.

“What class did you get?” I asked, wanting to know more about this class thing she had mentioned before. That green text still puzzled me.

Abby chuckled. “It’s all people can talk about when they have a moment to rest, the classes that people got.” She shook her head and adjusted a stick over the fire. “I got some sentinel nonsense. My profession is a much better fit for me, cook. I have skills that let me cook faster, which as you can imagine is very important, until we recover more supplies from the crash sites.”

“Professions?” Now I was confused. I thought we were talking about classes.

“It's just like a class, but don’t worry about it. You’ll get one after your class, from what we can tell. To be honest, we’re all still figuring it out. It’s not like there’s a manual, and this whole thing is rather surreal. We certainly didn’t train for it.” She waved her hand over the meat, shooing flies.

For a second, I could smell the cooking meat, and it made my stomach growl again.

Abby tossed another piece my way, and I thankfully caught it. It was warm, but didn’t burn my fingers. This time I ate it a little faster. Each bite helped my head feel more connected to the rest of me. I felt more solid.

I wanted to ask more questions, but the food in my stomach lulled me to sleep again. Next thing I knew, someone was shaking me awake.

“Hey, Sprout, time to get down the cliffs,” said my father. His dark eyes searched mine, and he nodded. Something looked different about him from before. “You look a lot better.” He grinned at Abby. She wore a basket on her back, but she looked tired. The campfire was out.

I got to my feet, and my father handed me a walking stick. It’d been carved from a single piece of a branch. “Thanks.” I studied him a little longer. “Your beard is different.”

His mouth opened then shut. “Really?” His hand reached out and touched his chin. “What changed?”

“The gray’s gone. You had a patch near your ear, but it’s all dark now.” At least that was what my memories were telling me. He’d had gray in his beard, and only a little in his hair. His hair wasn’t noticeable with how short it was.

Abby chuckled. “I guess it really made you younger.”

“Younger?”

“Your father hit level ten this morning, it sent all of us into a spin when we noticed.”

“Just doing my job at keeping everyone safe,” he growled and motioned toward the trees. “We have a little walking until we get to the edge.” He took the lead, with Abby walking behind me. That’s when I noticed the heat, and how muggy the air was. Each step took me through giant bright green ferns and towering trees. Vines dangled from the branches of some, while others had massive leaves that hung down.

Bugs flew through the jungle as birds called from above. The sunlight drifted down in patches, but the canopy made it hard to see the sky.

“We have a small camp set up below, near the front half of the dropship,” said my father.

“Back to this level ten thing, what happened?” I asked. The walking stick helped me keep my balance as I moved through the undergrowth. The air smelled like leaves and dirt, but it wasn’t bad.

“I got a skill that improved my physical body,” he explained. “I’m still figuring it out. Once I do, I’ll report to everyone the specifics. I didn’t realize my gray hair was gone, though. It’s not like we have mirrors.”

First classes, professions, and now skills. It sounded like we were in a video game or something. Level ten sounded important, since he’d learned a skill that literally made him younger and more fit. Given that Dad was already at peak physical fitness for someone his age, that blew my mind. Maybe this place would be good for all of us, as long as we survived.

More sunlight poured through the trees as Dad and Abby halted. Dad held up a hand, and I paused. The trees ended just ahead, and blue sky took over from the canopy of leaves. He motioned me to approach.

“So, I am going to tie a rope around your waist, and lower you down below.” He motioned toward the cliff.

I took a small step forward, then I took in the view.

A valley spread out below, and a waterfall was toward my left in the distance. Down below, I could see part of a drop ship, and lots more trees, plus some kind of open area around a lake, glittering in the sunlight. Tents were set up near the drop ship, and there were people. People raced around, doing who knew what, filling the spaces I could see near the crashed ship and tents.

Farther out, I could see creatures by the lake. They almost looked like triceratops, but seemed small. A group of five stood in the water.

This was actually real.

Dad tied the rope around my waist and drew my attention to the other rope. “I recommend you hold on to that rope and use it to anchor yourself to the wall. Then, you can walk down the cliff face. I will lower you from above with each step you take. I should only be the safety measure. Once you are down below we have more supplies to lower down, then Abby, then I’ll climb down a bit later.”

“It’s a plan,” I replied, forcing myself to believe.