The creature froze when it heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.
The two men inside were loud and boisterous, and it could hear them even from a distance. The creature smelled the sharp odor of that drink the hu-mans consumed to make themselves feel good; it had lapped at some once but the liquid had not been to its taste and it wasn’t sure how the hu-men could stand the stuff. But wasn’t that just like hu-mans? To drink something foul that also made them stupid?
It snorted in disgust.
At the edge of a neglected cornfield, the creature hid behind an abandoned agricultural vehicle, which barely managed to conceal the creature’s considerable bulk.
Down the dirt track came the small vehicle with the boisterous hu-men, shouting and singing their terrible songs.
When the vehicle came near enough, the creature shifted, its dagger claws extended to their fullest, its muscular limbs stretched and rippling beneath its thick, armored hide.
The vehicle slowed, then stopped. The voices of the men carried to the creature.
“Wanna head back?”
“What’s the point?”
“The point is we can still make it for supper. I’m hungry.”
“I got all the dinner I need right here.”
The creature heard a metallic pop, followed by the soft hiss of pressurized liquid. More of the stupid-making drink. There was brief laughter and the sound of more drinks being opened.
“Hell, there’s nobody out here.”
“I heard the old guy brought in some newcomers today.”
“Yeah, that’s the first group in a long time. How many of these jaunts have we made and not even seen a squirrel?”
“Too many. You know what we need to do.”
“Expand the perimeter. Search farther.”
“Maybe even to Chicago.”
“Up to Minnesota.”
“We’re talking days away from camp.”
“Damn straight.”
The creature heard the sounds of metal touching metal.
“So I nominate you to tell Sims.”
“What? Why me?”
“He likes you. He’ll just yell at me.”
“No, he won’t. Not if you make it simple.”
“What do you mean?”
“Sanctuary needs people. There ain’t no people left around here. We have to go farther to find folks to save.”
“Yeah, that might work.”
“Of course it will work. See, you just have to identify what a guy wants and make him think you’re giving it to him. I’ve done it a thousand times.”
“What did you do before?”
“I sold used cars.”
The creature had heard enough. It was restless, the way it had been conceived to be. The target was near here. The hunt was almost over. It was also hungry. So very hungry.
It raised itself to its full height, appearing from behind the machine like some monster from hu-man mythology. It knew the hu-mans below had never seen anything like it. Now they would fire their ineffective little weapons, and when they saw it was not damaged, they would scream and cry with fear.
Fear was good. Fear made the meat taste so much finer.
The creature tore away the top of the hu-man vehicle and began the feast.