Dirty Girls Read online

  In my haste I stepped into a small puddle. The filthy water splashed onto my legs and darkened the leather on my boot, but thankfully my foot remained dry in my weatherproof footwear. The disruption frightened three of the small hoppers that I discovered yesterday, which in turn scared the shit out of me. I reached out and grabbed one of the green sticky bushes to keep my ass from hitting the wet ground. The leaves were uncommonly rough on my fingers, but they didn't cut me. The nasty glue was much worse of a problem.

  Not only did some of the sticky clear substance cling to my hand when I pulled it away, one of those ugly jumping bugs came along with it. It was nearly three inches long with a head like a mantis, huge eyes locked in the frozen stare of its death. I wondered if the secretion from the plant was toxic, killing anything that landed on it.

  First, I attempted to use a skinny branch from the ground to pry the nasty bug off of me. That was fucking disgusting. It broke apart and took several tries to get every piece of it free. Then I scrubbed my hand in the dirty puddle. The vile substance lost some of its adhesion but wouldn't wipe entirely clean. I could even feel a layer coating my skin as I moved my fingers. Rubbing it against my cargo shorts helped a little, but mostly spread the mess around.

  Once I gave up on my puddle bath, I looked around for the girl, or whatever it was that I thought was a human female. It was a wonder that she didn't hear me yelp when the jumpers surprised me. The sound I heard might just as well have been an indigenous creature being frightened or caught instead of a woman's scream.

  It was stupid of me to take off running like that in an unknown world. I could have easily darted into a herd of the Woah bears, or something worse that I have yet to discover. I decided to continue more discreetly in the same direction. If there really was a woman, she might have a camp close by. Wouldn't that be the shit?

  I let that fantasy fuel my morale as I continued walking. I didn't quite realize how depressed I had become since my drop from the portal cliff. My new situation was considerably worse than being stranded on a deserted island. I was trapped on an alien planet, with awfully little or no chance of rescue. The four men that came through before me never returned. It was sheer wishful thinking on my part to expect to find more of my kind here. Or at least in a better condition than myself.

  I assumed that my predecessors were male, but I didn't know for sure. That wasn't included in my mission briefing. Or maybe it was, and I just ignored it like I did most of what they told me. The same went for the detailed instructions for activating a second beacon.

  A small tripod that extended to a full height of three feet was also included in my pack. The transmitter on it would send data picked up by the various sensors mounted on the pole. They covered with me all the things that it would record, but I blocked it out as I stared at Doctor Zhang, imagining a slinky body and naughty personality beneath her purely business facade. I had no intention of activating the beacon, unless it could somehow lead to my rescue. Maybe I should have paid more attention to that part after all.

  More than a dozen birds flew by at an alarming rate not more than a few feet above my head. When they banked to circle back around, I sought better cover. The yucky shrub wouldn't conceal me sufficiently unless I went deep into it. I doubted that I'd be able to pull myself free from of it if multiple parts of my body were secured. And honestly, I had no interest in cleaning any more of that gross shit off of me.

  Another massive red tree was within sprinting distance. It was perhaps larger than the one I spent the night in. By the time the green flyers passed by a second time, I was already under one of the thicker branches. They could still easily come under and get me if they wanted. The branch was twenty feet in the air. Perhaps they didn't notice where I went. Or, they weren't after me in the first place.

  Either way, I liked the giant trees with the brick red bark. The foliage varied little with greenish centers shifting to maroon along the edge. They gave me a sense of security with their huge reach and wide leaves blocking the view. It was impossible to see the top as I looked up from the wide base.

  There was another gigantic one down the hill close to the stream. That was where I conceivably imagined that woman. I decided to head there next, after doing a little recon. While remaining still I did my best to spot any and all movement on the ground or in the plants. Birds, bears, jumpers, anything that I just soon avoid. That was when I noticed the skinny yellow trees dancing again.

  I still felt zero breeze. And those trees weren't very tall. I was beginning to doubt my previous assessment that wind was the cause. As I studied them more closely, the air began to shimmer. Then I felt moisture on my skin. It was drizzling, but not from above. I was currently under a tree that would drastically slow the descent of precipitation. The effect bewildered me yesterday. Maybe the wiggling of the lanky plants soaked up more of the life sustaining moisture.

  After I got over the peculiar sight, I checked for possible hazards again. Once satisfied, I made my way more shrewdly to the next tree. It placed me very close to the slow-moving stream. I could detect movement of creatures along the surface of the light green water but was unable to distinguish size or shape from my angle.

  More of the red goats played happily along the riverside, making that disorienting sound that was remarkably like baby laughter. It was even more peculiar when I could see their mouths open in sync with the noise. They casually drank from the stream, but that didn't necessarily indicate that the water would be safe for me to ingest.

  The shimmer faded away, as did the wetness on my skin. I glanced back toward the grove of thin yellows to see them motionless. It was such a weird sight. It would be easy to chalk it up to my imagination if it hadn’t happened two days straight.

  The sound of a Woah bear in the distance drew my eyes to the far bank. I couldn't locate the source of the sound, but I soon spotted something much better. There dodging between the bushes was an undeniably familiar sight. A human girl. Or maybe it was a young woman. She was thin, brown haired, wearing shorts and a top that gaped open to reveal her upper chest. Her skin was covered with dirt. So much so, that it couldn't have been from falling in the mud. Maybe she had gone weeks without a bath. After months of isolation, even a stinky girl would make a good travel companion.

  I waved frantically, but she wasn't looking my way. When she moved farther up the slope, I nearly lost sight of her. I needed to call out before she got too far away. I cupped my hands to my face to project my voice and sucked in a deep breath. That's when I sensed heat descending on me from above. With it came the invasive scent of burnt antifreeze.

  I slowly rotated my head to look up at the branch behind me. Resting there on the flat limb of the tree was a giant green lizard, steam coming from its nose. Head like a crocodile, but with a long scaly neck. Legs were longer, too, and folded up beside the massive body. A muscular tail dangled over the far edge of the branch.

  The terrifying face was directly pointed toward me, but the beast's eyes were closed. It was sleeping. I was fortunate to become aware of the creature before yelling to the girl. I could have startled it and quickly become the thing's next meal. Roughly fifteen feet long, it was intimidating even during slumber.

  I silently turned to peer back across the stream again. Unfortunately, the girl that I had observed was nowhere to be found.

  CHAPTER FIVE:

  Two of the strange Woah bears drank peacefully from the stream about fifty feet to my right as I tiptoed to the waters' edge. Trees and bushes were scarce this close to the green liquid, the dirt becoming looser as I approached. I carefully squatted down to reduce my chances of being spied by a predator. Several of my muscles complained, still sore from yesterday's fall down the rocky cliff.

  Though the color of slime, the river water looked somehow inviting, almost magically enticing. It was impossible for me to see more than a few inches, making it very difficult to judge depth. Dark green beetles rested lightly on the slowly moving surface until abruptly eaten by a
fish of a matching color. The swimming creatures resembled snakes with large fins and four eyes behind their narrow toothless mouths. A few could be observed leisurely going about their feeding activity, measuring up to five feet in length.

  I apparently wasn't spotted by any predators during my cautious approach. Though no longer in view, I assumed that the monstrous lizard remained sleeping inside the grand canopy of the red tree behind me. I still had plenty of food and drink to last me into tomorrow, so I didn't bother to interact with the stream or its contents. Following the girl was much more important for me. The river would still be there when and if I needed it.

  Two notably different humans I surmised. If the first one was a redhead, I still wasn't sure, I had spotted two separate people in the same vicinity. I considered for the first time that there could be an establishment of my kind on this planet. That of course changed everything. Not only would having others impact my daily life, it could dramatically improve my chances of survival. This place might not be a death sentence for me after all.

  I followed the quiet river that flowed sluggishly to the left to avoid the bigger animals upstream. It continued in a straight line for more than two hundred feet before narrowing to less than ten feet wide. I extended my walking stick to test the depth near me and found it less than knee deep. Hopefully, that would be the case for the entire width. That would still allow water into my boots, though. I would need to take them off and go barefoot through the murky fluid. That was not an inviting task by any means but pursuing the small female I had noticed earlier was my primary focus.

  It had been nearly four months since I had sex. My current, or should I say most recent, girlfriend was a reasonably attractive woman. Our sexual experiences were rigorous and extremely enjoyable. Between this recent departure from Earth and her dwindling visit attempts, her love for me was surely a thing of the past.

  She was kind of a good girl, always taking care of her family in any way that she could. If I was being honest with myself, she deserved someone better than me. It was hard to let her go, though. She was the only person that I knew for sure believed that I didn't kill all those people.

  Shauntee was her name, a black girl eight years younger than me. She had a shapely body but did not flaunt it often. When I had her dress up nice for a trip to the club, she would unintentionally draw male attention and make me proud to have her on my arm. But mostly, I missed the quiet moments that we shared together. The times when we could both be real.

  I bring up the sex for one reason. Finding a girl alone out here in this alien environment was a much more appealing prospect than finding another man. There were some assumptions that went along with that kind of thinking.

  First of all, a man would likely be more adversarial. We might not get along. I was never much of a follower, so we would have to come to terms with equality or my superiority. His mentality and living situation would have a huge impact on that scenario. In the end, for survival I would try to play nice, until I had a better option.

  Secondly, a young woman might be happy to have my protection and be fairly agreeable to receive it. I didn't have much in the way of weapons, or knowledge of how to survive in this place, but my chances of becoming the provider would be much better if it was just me and a damsel in distress.

  Thirdly, and possibly most important, the longer I went without the loving touch of a woman the more that I craved it. Sitting in solitude made it nearly impossible not to think about it. Pursuing a lone female got things pumping in my body that my mind had no control over.

  Those were the motivating factors as I slipped off my boots and socks, preparing to place my bare feet in this murky unknown liquid. At least there were no snakey bug eating fish nearby that I could see. However, there could easily be something worse along the bottom out of my view.

  Just as I slipped the toes of my left foot into the drink another large shadow swept across the ground, over the river and in the direction that I was heading. I quickly looked up to see the belly and wingspan of the giant green lizard from the tree. It had wings! It flew! I watched in shock as it veered to the right and landed in another tree similar to the one from whence it came.

  Dragon! That's what it was! This world had dragons! Or it had at least one dragon. That's what had caused the immense shadows that I had been seeing since yesterday. If there were only one of them, it was stalking me.

  The wings were nearly translucent like a bat. Long flaps, maybe every two seconds, propelled its huge body up and forward. A wiry neck swung from side to side, allowing it to see everything below as it traversed the space between the trees. If it was looking for something to eat, my body probably popped up on the menu.

  I needed to get out of the open and find good cover. But my shoes were already off. And there was a young woman over there somewhere. She looked filthy dirty, but it was a girl just the same. That's what hormones did to a man. It made me make dangerous decisions.

  I figured I had at least twenty seconds before the dragon could decide to launch again and come back to get me. If the river was not treacherous, I could hide somewhere on the other side and continue the pursuit of the woman more cautiously.

  The water was surprisingly warm. And the riverbed was soft. I felt silt slip up between my toes. I took another step with the same results. There were no sharp rocks, claws or teeth so far. I was feeling good about my chances.

  One more glance at the flying lizard, I could barely see it perched on a low branch over there, then I high stepped swiftly through the stream. I nearly slipped and fell in a couple times. Other than that, I encountered no hazards.

  Still carrying my dry hiking boots, a thin polyester sock tucked into each one, I scrambled for the largest bush nearby. The sticky shrubs were shaped like one of those fried onion appetizers. There was room to slide under the branches and avoid the leaves, but I had to get very low. That put me face to face with the occasional insect. Those were definitely looking like the better option since the dragon came upon the scene.

  I waited patiently for an attack that never came. I had to crawl around the bush to see the dragon again. Either that or pop my head up like a target. The thing appeared to be sleeping once again. The hot steamy breath of a real-life dragon was what I had felt on my neck just a short time ago. I was scared shitless and excited at the same time. If I ever did get back to Earth, this would be one hell of a story to impress the ladies. That was assuming that they believed me. Maybe I should set up that tripod transmitter after all. Not for scientist advancement. No. It would just be to support my claim of being within reach of a fucking dragon!

  I spotted another bush, even bigger than the one I was under, just thirty feet away. It was also in the direction that the girl went, presumably. I didn't actually watch her run away. I damn well hoped that my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. If this was pure fantasy it would crush my spirits and any drive that I had mustered to survive in this alien world.

  I continued from bush to bush, several times, until I was in reach of another jumbo red with thick flat branches. I took my time examining every section of the tree in search of more flying lizards. I only saw a dozen white birds and a couple large blue ones. Neither looked very menacing and I considered their level of comfort to be a good sign.

  While I was still watching for predators, I slipped my socks back on my now dry feet, then the sturdy new boots. Sprinting for the tree I launched myself into the air to grab those cracking hand holds of bark. A few seconds later I was in my very own dragon perch, just like the one where I spent last night. If I didn't get any sizable visitors, I might just stay there for a while.

  I rotated my vision methodically to take in my surroundings. It wasn't much different on this side of the river. In fact, as far as my eye could see it was roughly the same. There were plenty of variations in altitude. In fact, there wasn't much truly flat land at all. And a good thousand feet away I could see another cliff wall. It was while I was looking in that direction that I saw
her. The dirty girl.

  Covered in mud from head to toe, except for her nice black outfit, she was squatting down low and staring right at me with wide eyes. She was also wearing black shoes with a wedge heel of a few inches. Her attire put me in mind of a sexy stewardess. But the filthy appearance of her skin threw me off. Why wasn't it on her clothes?

  She was a little less than a hundred feet away. That was damn close. Now that she saw me, maybe we could finally meet. I waved my hand and smiled, still too worried about predators to yell over to her. Immediately she jumped to her feet and took off running away from me.

  Dag nabbit!

  I needed to go after her. If I couldn't catch her, I might at least be able to see where she went. There could be others. Maybe she already had a man back there. Perhaps there were other women to befriend, preferably some not so grimy.

  I felt tired all of a sudden. The physical exertion, I guessed. The sore condition of my body. The drastic effect that all the unknown characteristics of this place had on my mental state. I desperately needed to rest. As much as I wanted to chase after her, I just couldn't right then.