Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #12 March 2015 | Page 38

Every sense seemed to sharpen and the pain lessened.
He thought, they brought me here as dinner for their
woman. It was such an insane idea that he had to suppress the urge to laugh.
He knew he had to escape. He might die from a Russian bullet or a Lunarite spear; however, he was not
going to become a meal for the bloated horror before
him. The last of his pain was replaced by a surge of
frantic energy.

man she was eating.
Hiroshi turned to the Captain. “Okay, let’s get out of
here.” His voice trailed off as he looked at the man’s
legs. The left was intact. The right was not. It appeared
that a bullet had smashed into the kneecap and shattered it. The lower leg was connected to the rest of the
body by a few strands of flesh and muscle. Hiroshi
was amazed the man hadn’t already bled to death.
“What is it?”

He was startled by a voice from behind him. “Hey, are
you alive?”

“Sir, your leg is badly injured. I don’t know if I can
move you.”

Hiroshi rolled onto his other side. There was man
lying next to him. He wore the uniform of a Japanese
Army Captain. His hands were untied.

The Captain reached out and grabbed Hiroshi’s arm.
“You can’t leave me. I order you to get me out of
here.” The man’s face, twisted in panic, softened.
“Please, try. Just try.”

“Yes sir.”
“Good. I’m shot in the leg, but I can free your hands.
Then we get the Hell out of here. Agreed?”

Hiroshi nodded. He had no idea how he was going to
escape from this nightmare with the Captain’s weight
slowing him down. He also knew that if the situation
were reversed, he would want to be given a chance to
escape. Even if he died in the attempt, anything would
be better than remaining part of the larder for the monstrosity before them.

The rush of adrenaline increased. He felt like he could
run for miles while fighting off a horde of Lunarites.
He nodded and rolled onto his other side. He saw that
the Lunarite males hadn’t heard them. They were fixated on the woman. As the Captain worked at the rope “Okay,” Hiroshi said. He removed his belt and gave it
binding his hands, he had to suppress the urge to vomit to the Captain. “When I lift you, it’s going to hurt. Bite
in reaction to what he saw.
on this.”
The female was giving birth. Along the side of the
body, a sack of flesh rapidly inflated. It split with a
hideous wet tearing sound and disgorged a pair of
mewling Lunarites. They flopped onto the cavern
floor, joining the other squirming offspring. The Lunarite males hooted with joy. Hiroshi closed his eyes.
He was certain that if he saw anything else, his mind
would snap.
The Captain loosened the ropes enough for Hiroshi to
pull free of them. He lay still for a moment, letting the
feeling return to his hands. He then rose slowly to his
knees, keeping his eyes on the Lunarites. The gaze of
the swaying males was fixed on the bloated female.
The female’s face was obscured by the torso of the

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The Captain nodded and slipped the leather into his
mouth. He bit down on it and braced himself. Hiroshi
took a deep breath and slipped his arms under the Captain’s shoulders, lifting his body up. A groan escaped
from the Captain. He was obviously biting down hard
on the belt. Hiroshi positioned himself on the Captain’s right side and looped his arm around his body.
“Let’s go,” he whispered.
The two men shuffled towards the nearest opening in
the cavern wall. As they reached it, a high pitched
keening sound arose from behind them. Hiroshi
glanced over his shoulder. One of the Lunarites had
seen them and they were now heading towards him.