The Cold, Wet Forest

**American Patriot** · November 24th, 2009, 15:34

Andrew McCarthy pulled his off his wet boots and stepped into the mudroom of his small log cabin. He leaned his rifle against the wall near by and noted the cabin had not been molested in his absence. His dog, Rosco, a multitude of mixes sniffed the air and dashed off into the main room through the doggie-door Andrew had installed last week.

There had been no sign of human life in the past three months, but animals seemed unaffected by whatever was making people drop dead. The strange noises overhead still lingered at night, but McCarthy had no inkling what caused the sounds. They weren't airplanes or helicopters and occasionally through the foliage above he could observe a light or two, or a shape, but none of it made any sense.

Andrew made his way into the main room and put some kindling into the fire place and stoked the fire up and poured some water into a pot to make some coffee. He'd found some supplies in another cabin a few miles distant and would put all of that stuff away after he warmed up. The cold was coming, and it had been raining for three solid days now. His rain water collection was growing and he needed to find some containers to bring the water into the cabin so it wouldn't all freeze in his buckets outside.

Rosco had parked his tired, wet, smelly-dog frame right in front of the fire, but was up like a shot and looking out a window. A short warning bark sounded and his ears fell back, the hair on his neck scruff stood our. Andy fell over his wet boots grabbing his rifle but manged to quiet the dog and look out the window. Behind the trees in the distance....

Genre - Science Fiction. Category - Disaster/War/TEOTWAWKI/invasion/alien (Anything can go into the story)

**MinutemanCO** · November 24th, 2009, 18:29

…something moved. He sensed the movement. Felt it, not actually observing anything. A shiver ran through McCarthy’s body as if to prepare him for something unseen. He fumbled with his rifle, flicking back the safety.

The door creaked as it opened. Damn thing needs oil. Then it hit him… the smell collided with his olfactory senses like a runaway semi-truck. What the hell would produce such a rank odor? Rosco growled from the doorway, a long ominous vibration that would have scared off any would-be intruder.

**Luke** · December 3rd, 2009, 19:02

With the safety off his rifle he slowly walked out on his front porch, and closed the door behind him. A voice from the woods called out, "Tesla".

A smile grew on Andrews face as Rosco barked viscously.
"Thunder" he called in answer. "Would you be James Woodson Titor?" Andrew asked.

" That would be me" James Titor replied stepping from behind a large oak tree. "How the hell are you Andrew?"

"Good" Andrew replied. " I figured it must be you by the smell you time- jumping miscreant. Judging by the smell you must have been gone for more than a few days."

One of the unfortunate by-products of time travel was that skin cells tended to continue to die at an unusual pace. On returning to the present they had decomposed creating a terrible odor. It normally took more than a few days to shed all the cells.

"So where did you leave your machine?"asked Andrew.

"Down in the old mine, behind the stadium." James replied. " Look, the cold is coming, you mind if I come inside your digs?"

"Not stinking the way you are now" Andrew said with a chuckle. "Do you remember the old number 7 bunker we used to play in when we were kids? I have a small heater, and some food and water cached there if you want to stick around for a few days, just till the stink wears off." Rosco stopped barking and sat quitely by Andrews side.

"Thanks man" James said. "So fill me in on whats been happening. How goes the war effort?"

"Well, lucky I recognized you first of all, the new password is Armstrong,answer with Aldin. Hell thats been changed for a couple of years now. Just how long have you been gone?" Andrew asked.

"I'm not real sure" James replied. " I guess what they say about time-jumping is true, like most fun things it can be quite addicting."

"As you may know after London was nuked, we lost Chicago, Washington and San Fransico."Andrew spoke in a somber tone."We took out Islamabad, Pyongpen and Tehran" "There were a lot of minor battles, but after those shape shifting Theta-Reticulans arrived everyone is pretty much united in an effort to repeal the bastards."

"Great gobs of goo" James exclaimed." Maybe I have been away too long. Look Andrew it is starting to get pretty chilly, I will check back in a few days, OK?"

"Sure enough" Andrew says smiling again." Hey the next time you see your rotten brother John, remind him he still owes me $20."

"No problem Andrew" James said as turned and began walking away.

As Andrew aimed the crosshairs of his rifle to the back of James head he quitely under his breath exclaimed "By the way stinky, your side lost" Squeezing the trigger he looked down at Rosco.

"Well partner, I would say you have about an hour and a half before dinner is frozen solid, so I reccomend you hurry up. And by the way make sure you shape shift back to a dog before the cold gets here so you can use that damn door I built for you."

**American Patriot** · December 3rd, 2009, 19:56

DOH! THAT was a turn of events...

/chuckles

Next?

**MinutemanCO** · December 7th, 2009, 14:42

Ouch! Got me going sideways on that last entry, Rick. This is going to take some thought.

**American Patriot** · December 7th, 2009, 14:59

Wasn't me, it was Luke. It's ALL his fault.

**MinutemanCO** · December 7th, 2009, 16:06

Originally Posted by Rick Donaldson

Wasn't me, it was Luke. It's ALL his fault.

Now why did I think you wrote that last entry, Rick. I better have my eyes checked, or even my brain.

Nice work, Luke. Now I'll ask you what I asked Rick - Is Andrew a shape shifting Theta-Reticulan... and he just killed James who is a human?

Or, is Andrew a human with a Theta-Reticulan pet?

**American Patriot** · December 7th, 2009, 16:15

Originally Posted by MinutemanCO

Now why did I think you wrote that last entry, Rick. I better have my eyes checked, or even my brain.

Nice work, Luke. Now I'll ask you what I asked Rick - Is Andrew a shape shifting Theta-Reticulan... and he just killed James who is a human?

Or, is Andrew a human with a Theta-Reticulan pet?

LOL!

I'm so confused.

I know *I* was going down a road with the story and it took a sudden, unexpected turn into oblivion. Which is precisely how stories "grab" you!

(Good job, Luke!)

**MinutemanCO** · December 7th, 2009, 19:23

“For certain they’ll be looking for the machine,” Andrew muttered as he hiked out to the old mine. The forest was quiet, the presence of his man-form striding through the ponderosas scattered birds and animals alike.

The entrance to the Los Muerto mine was obscured by sagebrush and broken rock. The vertical shaft lay thirty-five feet from the opening to the small cavern. Where there was once a sturdy wooden ladder, existed only an ancient length of woven hemp tied to a steel post bolted to the cut stone.

“How on earth did James stash the machine in this dismal hole in the ground?” The time alteration device was compact, about the size of a milk crate, but very heavy. McCarthy gave the rope a hefty tug. The old filament creaked and groaned but held his weight without fear of failure. He was unable to see the other end as it tailed off into the absolute darkness of the deep reaches.

McCarthy paused before lowering himself over the edge of the shaft. He could hear a faint hum from below. His experience with the TAD was extensive for a Theta-Reticulan of such a young age, but he couldn’t remember ever hearing a sound emanate from the machine while it cycled into dormancy. In fact, the mind bogglingly complex system of digital quantum mechanics never ever made a noise – not a whir, a beep nor a hum. It was creepy in all its efficiency.

“What am I hearing?” McCarthy wondered aloud. “What’d that fool do? Bust up the machine on a piece of mountain granite?” He cursed under his breath and swung his feet over the rim. He could have shifted to a flying form, but didn’t have the time with Beta Sector thugs closing in. The beam of light from his LED headlamp illuminated the shaft. After lowering himself for what felt like an hour, the rocky floor appeared.

The sound was louder. A pulsating green glow signified the location of the TAD. It was sitting in the opening of a secondary shaft. McCarthy turned and stepped toward the device, when his mind interpreted the source of the mechanical hum. A loud pop and a flash of red light ripped into the darkness. He felt the flesh of his left shoulder explode in pain. He dropped to the cold wet floor of the shaft as fast as his body would move. Titor had set up a mobile sentry unit to guard the stashed TAD. If he moved again, the sentry would triangulate and his life would be over.

**Luke** · December 10th, 2009, 20:03

Andrew was once human, Rosco is indeed a Theta-Reticulan, James was a figment of Rick's imagination and I watched way too many episodes of Sterlings Twilight Zone as a child.

I may take a chance at adding to Minutemans continuation, at risk of being a thread killer.