Jack Strong and the Red Giant

Chapter 24: Hunger

Jack watched Ros disappear beyond the horizon.

He didn't come back.

Jack looked ominously at the volcano. It was still spewing smoke; every now and again there would be a tremor, each one more violent than the one before. Had Ros managed to get past it? As far as he knew the whole planet could be covered in these huge, coughing mountains of lava and rock.

Hours passed, or was it days? He couldn't tell with the red star hanging in the sky like fire.

Ros still hadn't come back and nor had Vyleria emerged from her silver cocoon. Perhaps she never would...

Frustration gnawed away at him. He couldn't just sit and wait in the hope that he and Vyleria would get rescued. He had to take a chance and do something, anything that might make it easier for them to survive.

He stepped out of the spaceship and started walking in the direction of the volcano.

All he found was desolation.

That and the hunger and thirst that increasingly nibbled at his stomach.

Half a day's worth of fruitless trekking had gotten him nowhere. He would have to go back to the spaceships. It was either that or become bones in the desert.

He'd been walking for hours when he noticed the red giant star hanging in the eastern portion of the sky. It was almost midnight. Had Vyleria woken up yet? He doubted it. She was probably dead along with Ros. It occurred to him that he'd never thanked her for saving his life when he and Padget had been attacked by the black goo. If she wasn't there then the others would most likely have flown off and left them to their fate. He only hoped that one day he could have her level of confidence and that he could be as important to the group as she was. He would feel good about himself then. That was if he ever got off this stupid planet...

He was just about to set off again when he felt the temperature drop suddenly. He looked up and saw a big brown wave on the horizon. It was coming his way. And fast.

The dust storm sped over the valley like a juggernaut, wind and sand blowing in all directions, getting into his eyes, ears and mouth. There was no way he was going to make it back to the spaceships in time. He looked around for some cover and for somewhere to hide.

Nothing but rocks and desert.

Still the storm blew, its anger unrelenting.

Something large hit him on the shoulder, then his leg.

Heart rate faster now.

Then he saw what looked like a cave towards the top of some cliffs above him. He rushed up the rock-face as quickly as he could, scrambling over rocks and boulders, desperation surging through him like a river.

Ten feet.

Six feet.

Five.

He could see the entrance now, looming large above him like a giant vampire bat.

He pulled himself inside as a wall of dust rushed in behind him, showering him in a hail of sand and fist-sized rocks. He was just about to see how big the cave was when he heard a loud, growling noise behind him.

He could pick out one word only:

"Hungry."