Exodus: Tales of The Empire: Book 2: Beasts of the Frontier. Read Free Page B

moment, then turned their heads to
track in on the path of something.  With a grunt from the larger of the two
animals they both headed off onto the scent trail, their eyes soon giving them
another sign of the prey’s passage in the prints in the snow.
    Dang struggled
to run through the snow, his feet going twenty centimeters down before he could
pull each out.  The lift rig had been intended to allow people to walk over the
snow without sinking deep, something it could do with minimal energy
expenditure.  While the snow was not so deep in the woods as it had been out on
the high mountain plateau, it was deep enough to make the man struggle.  He
wished he had brought configurable boots that converted to snow shoes, but with
the lift harness, it had not seemed necessary.  The large creatures tracking
him had been made for this environment, their clawed feet splaying out like
snowshoes to distribute their weight.  That and a gait that compensated for
their feet sinking somewhat into the soft surface despite that weight.
    The man felt the
cold air rasping through his lungs as he fought to keep going.  He was still
well short of a hundred percent, tired, hurting, with two beasts chasing after
him that would make short work of him if they caught him.  He looked back, not
able to see the predators due to the trees, hearing their huffing breath as
they moved through the maze of trunks.  He looked back ahead, searching for
something that would provide safety.  A glance at the trunks showed that all
the trees were of the same type, with no low branches that would allow him to
clamber up.
    One of the
hunters roared behind him, a sound that sent shivers up his spine.  He turned
to see one of the predators standing fifty meters away, looking right at him,
while the partner grunted in the near distance.  The death walker took a step
forward, then another, before taking off into a hunting charge straight at the
human.
    “Shit,” yelled
Dang, fumbling for his pistol, finally getting it out when the creature had
closed the distance.  He flipped the selector to full automatic, looking up in
time to what seemed like the creature towering over him, though it was still
twenty meters away.  He aimed center mass and pulled the trigger.  The magrail
bucked in his hand as it sent a stream of high velocity rounds into the chest
of the predator.   Hot blood splashed onto the cold snow, and the death walker
let out a screaming roar.  The pistol ran through its magazine in less than two
seconds, releasing seventy pellets, each traveling six thousand meters a
second, pushing the man back.
    The predator
roared again, then fell over onto its side, legs thrashing, blood dripping from
between its sharp teeth.  The mate came running, its gaze shifting from Dang,
to its partner, and back again.  The man backed away, hand fumbling with the
magazine release, dropping it from the gun to the snow.  He tried to pull
another magazine out from the holster, fumbling it with his fingers, then
turned and took off in a panic.
    He could hear
the footsteps of the second predator coming after him, squishing through the
snow.  He frantically searched for someplace to go, but there was nothing. 
Could he feel the breath of the predator on his neck, or was it his
imagination?  Either way, it was closing.  He had almost resigned himself to
turning and facing the monster while he tried to reload, when the wounded beast
let out a plaintive roar, and the monster chasing him stopped in its tracks and
turned, hesitated for another moment, then ran back to the injured mate.
    Dang turned and
stopped, his breath ragged, trying to regain his wind.  The one beast was still
on the ground, struggling to get up and not succeeding.  The mate sniffed at
the fallen predator, then tried to push it up with its nose.  Dang took one
last look, then stumbled away, hunched over, still trying to catch his breath. 
He kept looking for someplace to hide, some kind of