Flightless
Shanook Forest, West Virginia. 6:32pm, April 5th.
“This
looks like the perfect spot.”
“I don’t
know, Jerry, it smells kind of funny.”
“That’s
just the smell of the Great Outdoors, honey.”
Jerry swung the seventy pound backpack off his aching shoulders with
relief. They had been hiking all day
and now that the sun was going down they were getting hard pressed to find a
place to camp for the night. This was Mary’s
first trip and he wanted it to be perfect.
“If you
say so.” Mary replied hesitantly.
Mary
walked around the small depression that they had found a few hundred feet off
the trail. The ground didn’t have any
fallen leaves or sticks in this area, which seemed odd. However she didn’t know much about the woods
so she didn’t question it. Mary stepped
on something that cracked audibly under her new heavy boot. Bending down she picked up what looked like
a speckled piece of china ware.
“What do
you suppose this is, Jerry?”
“What?” Jerry was busy trying to set up the tent for
some much needed rest.
Mary
brought over the pieces she’d stepped on for Jerry’s inspection. He put the last finishing touches on the
newly erected home and turned to look at Mary’s prize. At first glance it seemed to be a half inch
thick piece of plastic. Jerry took the
piece and noticed it didn’t feel like plastic.
Turning it over in his hand he found the underside of the fragment to be
a shiny white and sticky to the touch.
“Strange.” Jerry said mystified. He took a closer look at the speckled
side. “If I didn’t know any better I’d
say it was a piece of egg shell.”
“Egg
shell? Nonsense, the egg would have to
have been the size of a basketball!”
“I know,
I know. But look at the way it curves
and the...”
Jerry
stopped at the sound of a snapping twig.
“What was
that?” Mary hissed in fear.
“Probably
just a raccoon, or a fox.” Jerry
responded in an unsure whisper.
“Look!” Mary pointed into the dark brush.
About ten
feet off the ground a wide set of reflective green eyes stared at the
couple. The rest of the animal was
hidden in the darkness of the forest shadows.
The two luminescent spots stared to bob slowly up and down. A clear clicking sound emanated from where
the eyes bounced.
“Don’t
move, Mary.”
“What is
it?” Mary whimpered. “A bear?”
“I don’t
know. Just stay sti...”
The
bright eyes suddenly lunged out of the wood at the pair. The attack was so quick that Mary’s high
pitched scream echoed through the lonely forest valley long after she and Jerry
were dead.
*************
Scully
turned the thin object that Mulder had given her over in her hand. One side was plain white and the other had
speckles. She couldn’t tell what it was
made out of. “Okay, Mulder, I give
up. What is this?”
“That is
a piece of egg shell from a Phorusrhacos.” (for the reader that is pronounced
Phos-for-Rah-kuss)
“Come
again?”
“Phorusrhacos,
a bird from the Miocene.”
“The
Miocene?” Scully raised her
eyebrows. “Mulder, that was 50 million
years ago.”
“I see
you know your paleontogy. Phorusrhacos
was one of the Terror-Birds. Eleven
feet tall, with a head the size of a horse’s head, not to mention one mean
hooked beak and large razor sharp claws on the end of powerful legs.”
“That
sounds like a lot of bird to try and get off the ground.”
“Oh, no,
they were a flightless bird, their wing span was only about two feet
across. They’re kind of like an
oversized carnivorous ostrich.”
“Right,
whatever.” Scully looked at the
fragment again. “So you are trying to
tell me that an exstinct flightless bird the size of a Buick is running around
the forests of West Virginia, and that it has gone unnoticed until now?”
“Well it
hadn’t killed anyone till now.”
**************
It was a
long hike to the crime scene out in the forest. A fine mist made its way through the thick trees making it seem
like the humidity was around 300%. The
trail had been closed to visitors and the bodies had been removed. The site itself had been preserved for
further investigation. Mulder held up
the yellow police tape for his partner.
Scully slipped under and gave he black trench coat a quick shake when
she got to the other side. The local
Park Ranger was already at the site waiting for them.
“Good
afternoon, Agents.” The Ranger greeted
cheerily. “I’m Ranger Richard Hothwell,
but please call me Rick.”
“Good
day, Ranger Rick.” Mulder replied
holding his hand out. “I’m Agent
Mulder, and this is my partner Agent Scully.”
“No
introduction needed.” Hothwell replied
shaking Mulder’s hand. “I’m the one who
sent you the egg shell. I’ve heard all
about your work. To be honest there is
not much to do out here other than read the paper, and such. I knew you’d listen, even if no one else
would. The local police are not taking
this very seriously.”
“Two
people are dead, what’s not to take seriously?” Scully asked.
“Ah,
well, you see they think it was a bear.”
The Ranger turned to the side and spat.
“I’ve been out here fifteen years, this was no bear attack.”
Scully
looked around the shallow depression that they were standing in. The ground bore deep rents and scuff
marks. What once had been a tent was
now a heap of blood stained nylon, the mist had kept the two day old blood wet
and bright. All over were bits and
pieces of clothing. It had all the
signs of an animal attack.
“How do
you know it wasn’t a bear?” Mulder
asked also scanning the damage.
“Well,
for one thing there are no tooth marks on what’s left of the bodies.” Rick grimaced at the memory. “For another the food sack was left
untouched.”
“Food
sack?”
“I can
see you’re not a backpacker. When you
come out into the wild you’ve got to carry everything you’ll need on your
back. That includes food. Now the first thing a bear is going to go
for is your food because bears have gotten to like the sweet taste of human
food. Well, there were six Snicker bars,
among other things, left in their backpacks.
No self respecting bear would eat a human and leave a Snickers.”
“I see.”
“Who
found the bodies?” Scully asked when
she felt she’d seen enough of the crime site.
“I
did.” Hothwell replied. “I was on my rounds looking for any illegal
campsites, you know people camped too close to one of the streams or next to
the cliffs.”
“And how
did you come to suspect that the attack was by a Phosfuro, Fos...” Scully stumbled over the strange name.
“Phorusrhacos.” Hothwell supplied. “Well, for one thing, as I said, there is not much to do out here
other than read, and I read a lot of books on ancient animals.”
“Surly a
little piece of ‘egg shell’ wouldn’t be enough to identify an exstinct animal
out of a book.”
“Oh no,
of course not.” Hothwell laughed. “I can identify it, because I saw it.”
************
“You
witnessed the attack?” Scully asked
shocked.
“Well,
no.” Hothwell admitted. “But I’ve seen that big bird before. Everyone around here says I see it because I
drink too much.”
“I
see.” Scully said slowly. “And do you drink, Ranger Hothwell?”
‘Well...
Like I said, there’s not much to do out here.”
Hothwell looked uncomfortable for a moment and then added “but I’ve been dead sober every time I’ve
seen her.”
“Right.” Scully looked up at her partner. “Can I have a word with you, Agent Mulder?”
“Uh-oh,” Mulder grinned. “She used ‘Agent’. That’s
how I know I’m in trouble.” He
explained to Ranger Hothwell. “Please
excuse us for a moment, Rick.”
“Sure.”
Mulder
followed Scully over to the far side of the crime scene.
“How do
you do it?” Scully whispered fiercely.
“What?” Mulder asked innocently.
“Talk me
into joining you on cases like this.”
“Oh
that. It’s just my blinding charm,
forgive me.”
“Be
serious.” Scully snapped. “This man is obviously delusional.”
“I don’t
know, Scully, he seems pretty educated to me.”
“He is a
drunken, lonely man who is seeing exstinct animals. For all we know he killed the pair himself just for the company
of law enforcement. What are the
chances of these bodies being discovered so quickly?”
“Scully...”
“He knew
who you were, he practically lured you out here. I’m not saying he is dangerous for sure, I’m just saying that we
should look at the obvious answer here.
And the obvious answer does not involve giant flightless birds of
death.”
“You
don’t know...”
“Have you
taken the ‘egg shell’ to a paleontologist?”
“No.” Mulder admitted.
“Have you
had it analyzed in any way?”
“Not
exactly.”
“So all
we have to go on is Ranger ‘Rick’s’ word?”
“All
right, all right.” Mulder put his hands
up in surrender. “So what’s our next
move?”
“I’m
going to take a look at the bodies and you’re going to take that fragment over
to the nearest specialist.”
“Yes,
Ma’am.”
************
The
nearest morgue was fifty miles away so for the moment the bodies were being
held in one of the walk in refrigerators at the local supermarket. Scully noted with disgust that the food
hadn’t been removed, simply pushed to one side. The bodies lay on the concrete floor in the back corner under a
sheet. Scully turned to the Sheriff
that had lead her here.
“I want
these bodies taken to a proper morgue the second I’m done here. Understand?”
“Yes,
Agent. Sorry, we didn’t know what else
to do.” The young Sheriff looked
abashed. “Most dead folk are taken
directly over to the local crematorium.”
“What do
you do when there is a suspicious death?”
The
Sheriff looked around the supermarket refrigerator and smiled.
“Never
mind, Sheriff. Just make the
arrangements.”
“Sure
thing.”
The
Sheriff was glad for a reason to scuttle away.
Scully walked over to the bodies and lifted the sheet off. Despite refrigeration the stench of blood
and decay washed over her. The bodies
were completely destroyed. All of the
internal organs were missing with the exception of the small intestines which
had been stuffed back into the body probably by the people who moved the bodies
for easier transport.
To
Scully’s eye it looked like the pair had both died of disembowelment. Several large gashed on each body lead from
the chest to the open stomach. The
muscles of their legs had been torn off and for the most part were
missing. However, just like the Ranger
had said there didn’t seem to be any tooth marks.
One of
the woman’s leg bones had been cracked clean in half and striped of
muscle. Scully put on a pair of gloves
and picked up half of the broken bone. Looking inside the long bone she found that all of the marrow was
missing. That almost confirmed the idea
of an animal attack. Many carnivorous
animals love the protein rich marrow found in bones and will crack them open to
get it.
Scully
turned, bone in hand, when the refrigerator door opened. A young spotted faced employee stepped
inside. He jumped slightly when he
noticed he wasn’t alone.
“Sorry,
Ma’am.” He stuttered. “I, I just need some more tomatoes for the
produce display. I’ll be out of your
way in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.”
The boy
hurried over to where the tomatoes were kept and picked up a box of them. He took a quick glance at the bodies and
went a bit paler. He shook his head
sadly. “Same thing happened to my dog.”
“Excuse
me?”
“My dog,
Wolfie, he was a big German Shepherd Husky mix. One day we were out in Shanook Forest and he took off. I found him several hours later, ripped
apart, just like those two. I’ve also
heard tell of people finding deer and stuff like that. Funny thing is that Wolfie could have easily
out run any old Black Bear.” The boy
shrugged. “Well, got to get these
tomatoes to the people. Have a nice
day.”
“You do
the same.” Scully replied absent
mindedly.
Something
out there was hungry if nothing else.
***********
“Considering
this place doesn’t have a morgue I’m surprised that they have a resident
paleontologist.”
“He is
retired, he just happened to grow up around here.” Mulder replied turning the infamous egg shell over and over in
his hands.
Scully
looked around the dingy hotel room for somewhere sanitary to sit down. She finally sat on the bed next to Mulder
since she was going to have to sleep there anyway.
“So what
did he have to say?”
“Well,
first he laughed at me.”
“Understandable.”
“He said
that it indeed looked like an egg shell to him, but he really only dealt with
fossils so he couldn’t be sure. He said
that I needed to take it to an ornithologist.
Unfortunately there isn’t one of those around. One thing he did know was that there would never be hard evidence
as to what it came from because neither fossils nor egg shell contain DNA. The shell is mainly calcium and other
deposits and of course a fossil is just rock.”
“Well at
least we know it isn’t Ranger Hothwell.
Unless he is also into slaughtering and eating dogs and deer.”
“What?”
Scully
told Mulder about the grocery boy.
“Yuck. Remind me never to buy ‘fresh’ produce
again.”
“Anyway,”
Scully continued “what do you suggest we do now.”
“The only
thing I can think of is to take a walk in the woods and hope we find this
thing.”
“Before
it finds us.”
“Scully,” Mulder said in a mock astonished tone “was
that a ‘joke’?”
“No.”
**********
The mist
like rain still persisted. Every lung
full of air was half water. Scully’s
hair fell in loose wet locks as the three wandered through the Shanook Forest. They weren’t wandering aimlessly,
exactly. Ranger Hothwell was taking
them to the places where he’d caught glimpses of the creature before.
“I still
don’t see how something so big can go unnoticed for so long.”
“Well,
Agent Scully, it’s like this. We people
who live in the sticks have a bad enough reputation as it is. We don’t want to go around shouting that we
see monsters and make it worse.”
“You told
people you’d seen it.”
“Yeah,
and look what happened.” Hothwell
spat. “I’ve been branded a drunken
lunatic.”
“Point
taken.”
“Some
places make big money in tourism by advertising local monsters.” Mulder added.
“Yeah,
well, we don’t really take to tourist either.
We certainly don’t want to take responsibility for them getting eaten.”
“Touché.”
After
another hour walk they came to a large grassy meadow. Ranger Hothwell explained that the area had been clear cut a few
years back and was starting to regenerate.
The tall grass was covered in droplets of water from the unrelenting
rain.
“This is
where I first saw her.” Hothwell turned
around. “Hey, where’s your partner,
Agent Scully?”
Scully
looked at the empty woods behind her.
“He was right...”
Three
ringing gun shots in succession sent Scully running back into the thick
forest.
***********
Earlier
while Ranger Hothwell was leading them to the site of his first encounter
Mulder’s eye caught a hold of a motion off in the trees. Instinct caused him to turn in the direction
of the motion in hopes of another glimpse.
Mulder stood stationary waiting for whatever had caught his attention to
reappear.
When he
was ready to give up on the hunch Scully and Hothwell were well out of
sight. Mulder hadn’t thought he’d been
distracted for very long. They were off
the trail here so he couldn’t easily follow.
Mulder was just about to call out for Scully when the flash of motion
ran past his peripheral vision once more.
Thinking
that the others wouldn’t get far before noticing that he was gone Mulder
decided to try and get a closer look at whatever was stalking around the corner
of his eye. The vegetation was lush
from the constant supply of water so plowing through it towards his goal Mulder
made quite a racket as far as the woodland creatures were concerned. However, no animals scurried out of his way
and no birds took flight before him. It
was like the whole forest had been abandoned.
Mulder
finally stepped into a small clearing.
Looking back he suddenly realized that he wasn’t quite sure where he had
started from nor which direction they had been traveling before he got
distracted. Mulder stood in the middle
of the clearing looking about. There
wasn’t a single sound to be heard. Even
the misty rain seemed somehow muted.
“This
probably isn’t smart.” Mulder muttered
to himself.
At the
sound of his voice a clicking noise started up. As Mulder turned to face the noise the object of their searched
stepped from the brush where it had been hiding. The titanic bird stepped into the clearing with Mulder with a
single graceful step. It’s oval,
brightly feathered body balanced upon two long bare legs that rippled with
powerful muscle and ended in fiercely clawed toes. The birds slender neck gave way to an almost comically outsized
head that wore a beak shaped like that of a hawk’s.
Both
Mulder and Phorusrhacos stood for a moment seemingly paralyzed. The fine mist collected on Phorusrhacos’s
green and blue streaked feathers in round droplets which slid off as soon as
they formed. The clicking noise started
up again. It was Phorusrhacos snapping
her enormous beak in excited anticipation.
Mulder
slowly went to pull out his gun.
Phorusrhacos turned her head to get a better look at her prey. In a abrupt flurry of motion Phorusrhacos
spread out her stunted wings, flashing their brilliant red undersides. At almost the exact same moment the mammoth
bird attacked and Mulder fired at the animal three times.
********
“Mulder!”
“Scully?”
“Where
are you?”
“I don’t
suppose ‘over here’ answers your question.”
Mulder finished his sentence in a series of labored coughs.
“Keep
talking, Mulder.”
“Easier
said than done.” Mulder coughed
again. “No pun intended.”
Scully
followed Mulder’s voice to the small clearing.
Mulder was sitting with his back to the tree that he’d been pushed into
by the force of the bird. His parka had
a diagonal slash across it from which bright blood seeped. Scully knelt beside him and pulled back the
fabric to get a better look at the damage.
A deep cut was rent in his chest from his right clavicle to his left
tenth rib. When Mulder coughed again
Scully put her hand near his mouth. She
pulled it away only to find her palm spattered with blood. At least part of the wound had reached his
pleural cavity. The pleural cavity
holds the lungs and is under negative pressure so when it is punctured it
starts to equalize the pressure by sucking through the new hole, this draws
blood into the lungs.
“What
happened?”
“I was
attacked by a turkey, a really big turkey.”
Mulder tried weakly to laugh.
“But I got him, twice I think.”
“Hush,
Mulder. Keep breathing you have to keep
the pressure stable.”
Hothwell
finally caught up with them. “Good
Lord, she got another one.”
“We have
to get him out of here.”
“The
nearest road is eight miles away.”
Hothwell lamented.
“He’ll
never make it that far. He needs to
concentrate on breathing.” Scully
looked around desperately. “Can you
lead paramedics here?”
“I can
get them here, but not in any kind of a hurry.”
“Go. Tell them to bring the necessary tools for a
sucking chest wound and a supply of A negative blood. Okay?”
“Sucking
chest wound, A negative.” Hothwell
repeated. “Got it. I’ll be as quick as I can. And keep an eye out, Agent Scully, she might
come back for more.”
**************
Phorusrhacos
stumbled away from the clearing. She
was confused and hurt. One moment she
was bearing down on her prey and the next there was a searing pain in her
chest. Unlike mammals an avian’s lungs
do not collapse when they are punctured.
However they still start to fill with blood. The wounded animal ran blindly from her attacker with no thought
other than to escape the pain.
However
the pain followed her. There was no
hiding. When Phorusrhacos found she
could no longer provide enough oxygen to her powerful legs she fell onto the
shore of a small lake that she had come to with a splash. Thrashing in a desperate attempt to get out
of the water and back on her feet the once mighty bird only made matters worse. Finally her lungs filled with thick blood
and thin water. With one last spasm
Phorusrhacos died.
Drawn by
the smell of blood and sounds of struggle a smaller version of the dead bird
bobbed up to the carcass. This was
former occupant of the egg shell that had been the beginning of the end for the
elder Phorusrhacos. Now her son
approached her dead body. Although only
old enough to be half her size he was already more colorful and flashy than his
mother had been. His iridescent
feathers shone bright in the afternoon sun.
The young
Phorusrhacos nudged his mother with his already formidable beak. There was no response. He circled around her nervously and squawked
his immature call. He tried again to
get her to rise, but a glaze was already forming over her eyes. When the young Phorusrhacos had done all he
could to revive her he slashed open her stomach with his sharp claws. The waters turned crimson.
After
eating the last meal his mother would ever provide for him the young
Phorusrhacos dragged the rest of the carcass into the water so that the smell
wouldn’t draw other predators.
Satisfied that the kill was hidden he stalked back off into the
woods. From now on he’d have to hunt
for himself, and there was blood in the air.
**********
“Talk to
me, Scully.”
“Okay, I
wish you would stop running off and getting in trouble or hurt. I wish you would stop dragging us into these
insane cases we can’t win. I wish...”
“Forget I
asked.” Mulder smiled. “You know you can always transfer to another
division.”
“Don’t
tempt me, Mulder.”
Scully
looked up at the setting sun. Normally
it would not be cold, but the rain brought along with it a chill as the warm
rays sank away. Mulder was doing as
well as could be expected. Scully’s hands
were stained with his blood from trying to stanch the flow. She found that the puncture was only at the
very top of the wound so at least it was a slow leak. Most of the bleeding had been slowed, however, if help didn’t
come soon blood loss was going to become a factor. In an attempt to try and make him comfortable Scully had him lay
down with his head on her lap. Scully
ran a gory hand through Mulder’s hair.
“How are
doing, Mulder?” Scully knew she had to
keep him awake, the slow heavy breathing of sleep would just make matters
worse.
“Dizzy.”
“Don’t
worry, the paramedics will be bringing some blood.” Scully sighed. “Maybe I
should start carrying a pint or two around with me.”
Mulder
tried to laugh but ended up coughing again.
Scully couldn’t help she just had to wait for him to stop. When he did Mulder was sucking hard at the
air with rasping gasps. Scully snaked
her hands down onto the spot where the puncture was and applied pressure. He must have reopened the wound. Now Scully had the choice of applying more
pressure and increasing the rate of blood filling into the lungs or letting go
and risk having the lung collapse.
“Damn it,
Mulder, don’t you dare die on me out here.”
Scully
kept the pressure on Mulder’s chest to prevent collapse, despite the blood flow
danger. There was nothing more to be
done. Slowly Scully became aware of a
rapid clicking sound. Looking up she
found a set of luminescent eyes staring at her from the far side of the
clearing. Mulder struggled trying to
warn her.
“Stay
still, Mulder.” Scully hissed.
Scully
couldn’t take her hands off the puncture to get her gun because she could tell
from Mulder’s breathing that his lung was about to collapse. At the same time it wouldn’t help to get
killed herself. Scully wavered a moment
in indecision with her eyes fixed on the slowly bobbing green spots.
“Agent
Scully!”
It was
Hothwell.
“Over
here!” Scully responded. “Hurry!”
Hothwell
burst into the clearing with three paramedics who instantly went to work on
Mulder without question. Scully looked
around desperately for the green eyes, but they were gone. Scully shook her head, it could have been
anything, perhaps just a curious deer. It
didn’t really matter. The important
thing now was to get Mulder to a proper hospital.
The young
Phorusrhacos watched from a safe distance as the band of strange creatures fled
the site. He hadn’t really been hungry
anyway, he had just wanted some practice.
However his ancient instinct told him that he was gravely out number all
of a sudden. This territory was
becoming too dangerous. Phorusrhacos
turned away from the party and fled on strong legs. It was time to find a place of his own.
************
“How are
you feeling, Mulder?”
“Like
I’ve been run over by a lawn mower.”
“Well,
they did end up putting seventy eight stitches in you.” Scully sat in a chair next to Mulder’s
hospital bed. “You were unbelievably
lucky to get out of there alive.”
“We both
were. Have they found it?”
“Hothwell
and a team of volunteers have combed the area, they can’t find a feather.”
“I know I
shot it, it couldn’t have gotten far.”
“Mulder,” Scully said slowly “it simply isn’t there. I
don’t know what attacked you, but I think the shock might have made you a bit
delusional.”
“I don’t
believe this.” Mulder muttered.
“I’m
sorry, Mulder.”
“No, it’s
not you. It’s just this curse that
surrounds me. I never can seem to get a
hold of the evidence I need. Even a
flightless bird seems to have taken wing.”
***********
Rankee Forest, Ohio.
4:17 pm, November 12th.
“Come on,
Ed.”
“Yeah, I
guess were not going to catch anything today.”
“I’m
telling, ya, it’s like all the deer are just gone, I haven’t seen one in
months.”
The two
hunters climbed down out of their deer blind and started the long walk
home. One of them stopped and picked up
something that was half hidden in the brush.
“What cha
got there, Tom.”
“I don’t
know, it looks like a giant feather.”
“I’ve
never seen a bird that color around here.”
“What was
that?”
“What?”
“That
sound. Here it?”
Click,
click, click, click, click, click.....
*****************