Moving the Beast
By Casey Jepson
"You keep it surrounded while we tow it; one man in front, one on each side, and two at the rear.. If it moves, screams, does anything you think might by dangerous, prod it. And don’t take your eyes off it for a second!"
"Sir! Yes sir!"
As the General marched back to his jeep, the soldiers haphazardly took their places around the cage. Jane stood at the left with her cattle prod ready. It would’ve taken a crowbar to pry that prod out of her hands. In the eight years it took her to reach Lieutenant, she had never seen anything so worthy of her fear. It had the same number of pieces as a human-- eyes, nose, two arms & legs, etc.-- but the similarities stopped there. Its nose and ears were grotesquely pointed, and it’s sharp, jagged teeth could cut a crocodile in half. It had five-inch-long, jet black, razor-sharp fingernails. Its sweaty skin was an ugly mix between yellow & beige, and the hair on it’s head housed a plethora of mud and insects.
But what really got Jane was the size of the thing. The steel cage was ten feet high, yet the creature’s head touched the ceiling even while sitting. The muscles in it’s forearm were as big around as she was. It could crush her head between its thumb and forefinger.
When the order was given to move out, Jane walked sideways, always facing the beast. A nearby explosion of dynamite would almost distract her. While they were moving, the creature turned its enormous head toward Jane and peered into her with it’s obsidian eyes. She knew there was more than curiosity in that gaze. It’s thinking, she thought. It’s definitely thinking. Oh, how I wish it were blind. It carefully pivoted its body to face Jane, causing a bit of commotion in the escort. The General merely yelled for them to keep moving.
After sitting quietly for a couple minutes, the creature let a low growl escape its lips, causing another stir. Soon its lips were moving the growl changed pitch to an unknown pattern. "Sir! The creature’s talking!" one of the soldiers yelled. "It’s talking to Jane!"
"Maintain your position!" the General yelled back. "And Jane, don’t you say a thing!"
For her life Jane wouldn’t dare say a thing, until the creature reached up for the bars and began prying two apart from each other.
"It’s opening the cage!!" Jane burst out.
Immediately the soldier in front blurted out "Zap it!" and all four men shoved their cattle prods into the cage. The dry air was torn by a roar that would frighten a marble. The creature swung its right arm around to the other men and slammed it into the steel bars, denting them outward by almost a foot. The soldiers withdrew their prods and stood back while several others cocked their guns.
"Hold your fire!!!" bellowed the General. Jane stepped a whole inch closer and held her cattle prod at ready, while the beast settled down with a calm growl. For half a minute nobody moved. Finally, the General gave the order to keep moving. They traveled another foot when the beast suddenly shot its left arm out through the opening it had previously forged, and snatched the cattle prod from Jane’s hands. The force and the fright knocked Jane to the ground. The beast had only a second to snap the prod in two before four more shocked his torso.
The next roar was as loud as the last, but harbored less rage. The air was quiet again just as quickly. As Jane stumbled to her feet the General approached her and pulled her to a safe distance from the cage. "Lieutenant, report to the rear at once!" Jane could breathe now for the first time that day. Never had a demotion made her so glad.
As a replacement soldier filled her post and aimed a fresh prod, Jane took her position at the back of the line. "I’m damn glad that wasn’t me," whispered the man next to her.
"That’s the strongest thing I’ve ever seen," she whispered back with wide eyes.
He replied, "There’ll be more."
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