Steph's Outcast

Juth just gets to his feet, frowning. He crosses his arms over his chest, watching as one of the creatures makes the bullhorn-sounding noise and digs with its nose. Pak moves to his side, clutching at his leg, and his normally wagging tail is utterly still. There's a terrified look on Pak's round face, and I ache for the little boy.

"Papa," he says in a small voice, tugging at his father's belt. "We dropped the food."

Juth's expression turns grim. He looks back at me, studying my face.

"I'm sorry," I say. "I tried to hold onto it."

He drops to a crouch beside me, and woo, that is a blatant sort of thing. I force myself not to look down, because that's rude. Rude, I remind myself. Rudedontlookathisballsruderuderude. I watch him, curious to see what he's going to do, but he only runs his fingers along my jaw, as if checking me over to make sure I'm all right. The touch is surprisingly sweet. Startling, but nice.

"I'm okay," I whisper when he studies my face. I nod, managing a smile. "Should we retreat more?"

He doesn't answer me, and I remind myself that he doesn't understand what I'm saying. I know what he says because I have a translator implant that makes me automatically understand his language, but he has no such thing. Me talking to him is me babbling into the wind. Juth brushes his thumb over my cheek and then gets to his feet, his dick practically in my face. I make an alarmed noise and avert my gaze.

"Pak," Juth says in a low voice. "Watch the female."

Before I can wonder what he's talking about, he races back down toward the creatures. Gasping, I clutch at Pak. Oh god, This is a really, really bad idea. I want to call for him, but I also don't want to make him stop, in case one of those enormous heads notices him and decides to casually lean over and eat him. My ankle throbs painfully, but I don't look over at it. If I pretend it doesn't exist, maybe it won't bother me. I can't take my eyes off of Juth, anyhow. I watch in terror as he darts between the enormous creatures as they use their heads to shovel, digging holes in the sand for god knows what reason.

He's fast, though. I'll give him that. Juth is practically at the shore before I know it, and I hold Pak tightly to my side as I watch him scoop up the basket full of food that I brought and then races back toward us. Another creature is coming up on the shore, and it snaps at him, furious. He simply rolls away, ducking, and continues racing away.

Juth manages to somehow dodge all of the enormous creatures and makes it back to us, collapsing on the sand with the food.

I want to be angry, but I can't. I'm too shell-shocked. I stare, numb, at the creatures that have taken over the beach. Our home is destroyed. I can only pray no one has been injured.

Juth turns and watches the creatures as they tear up the beach. He shakes his head as if to clear it, and then tightens his grip on the basket under his arm. "They do not attack."

It takes a moment for his words to sink in, but he's right. As I watch, the monsters seem far more interested in digging in the sand than coming after snacks, i.e. us. That's a relief.

"Let us get somewhere safer," Juth tells Pak, holding out his hand. "Come."

When he looks over at me, I nod. Right. Away from the beach is probably safer, though I don't know what we'll do if they keep moving forward. Retreat into the mountains? Head for the distant fruit cave? Somewhere farther inland? I turn, glancing down the beach where my tribe was. Everything in me says I need to rejoin them. I heard screaming. If they're all right, they're going to need to talk this through. They'll need me. Not just for a calm, reasonable voice, but because I'm another set of hands. Something tells me we're all going to be needed in the next while.

I point down the beach. "My tribe—"

Juth shakes his head, coming to my side. "Not right now." His tone is harsh and brooks no argument. "Not with these things on the beach. It is not safe. I will take you back to them later."

Of course. His words make perfect sense. I never really think of how long the beach is, but I'm probably a mile down the shore from the others and a mile has never seemed so very, very long. My ankle throbs again, reminding me that the beach would be a longer walk than usual. It'll be okay. We'll regroup when things are safe. At least Juth and Pak and I are together, I reason. Safety in numbers. I glance over at the monsters again and shudder. I want to cry, but tears feel stupid and useless.