Twitching its last, another hunter died without a sound. Chucking its body into the bushes, Dustin returned to the clearing with its PMS. He was looking forward to getting back to work on the burrow, so that hopefully when he woke the next morning, he wouldn’t hit his head again.

There had taken to being a rather large group of predators hanging around the clearing with the influx of constant food being available. He hoped he could continue to handle them all so it didn’t get out of hand.

Climbing into the burrow, he saw that Olivia had dug a sizable space for them both to be able to comfortably lay down side by side. Her butt was wiggling back and forth as she dug at a root that was in the way. He paused to appreciate the view after tossing the PMS into the corner with the other two that were there. With a sigh, he grabbed the dragon skin and started dragging it outside. She had piled the dirt onto it, so, he dumped it on the side of the fallen tree, and started patting it into place. If it started raining again, he hoped the higher sides would prevent their hole from filling with rain as quickly.

Licking his lips, after a bit, he thought about getting a drink. As he turned around, he spied a flash of light on something moving very fast. Ducking into the burrow, he pulled the door he had made to look like a debris pile, over the entrance, and peeked outside to see what was approaching. She noticed something was up and stopped digging.

A herd of animals with long spear-like hairs stampeded through the clearing. The blood red fur under the giant quills, gleamed with a light of its own, reflecting sunlight every now and then, almost like glitter. Scratching his nose from the dust that had been kicked up, to prevent a sneeze, he thought they looked like a cross between a deer and a porcupine. A few even jumped over the logs, their hooves drumming their roof, knocking dirt down on top of them.

The hole near the entrance of their burrow, that the tentacled worm thing had burst out of earlier that morning, had been filled with some of the dirt from their digging, but apparently wasn’t filled enough.

SNAP

The porcupine deer fell heavily onto the ground, screaming in pain as it tried to get back up. Dustin could see that its leg was completely separated. There was no splinting that. Would it taste like venison? Could he use the quills as actual spears?

He was faintly curious what could have spooked them, when he heard a noise that sounded like bees. He hated bees more than he hated bugs in general. A flash back of throwing rocks at a hornet’s nest filled his mind, and he quickly started throwing dirt at the door to block it off even more. He wasn’t sure their plated hides would keep them from being able to sting them, and didn’t really want to find out.

Picking up on his panic, Olivia started throwing scoops of dirt at the doorway too. As they watched, the light that filtered in through the gaps between the logs went dim and they could hear the screams of the deer outside stop. The scratching of millions of feet on the wood around them filled the space, and Dustin rubbed his arms in disgust.

She watched him, but didn’t try to touch him. That was probably a good thing, because he wasn’t sure what he would have done, had she tried.

Sitting down in the back of the hole, he picked up the first of the three PMS devices they had acquired from the hunters and motioned for her to sit next to him. He needed something to focus on other than the swarm of insects outside.

After glancing at the door, she finally sat down next to him, and he placed the first device over the top of her PED. He knew it would take about thirty minutes to sync, and began to disassemble the next device for the subsequent upgrade. He ignored the look she gave him when it undoubtable told her that all its data would be lost if she accepted the upgrade. When she didn’t throw the device back at him, or attack him, he gave an inward sigh.

In his whole life, he had wanted nothing more than to settle down and have a family. His dad had been an awesome dad, but then he died. They said it was an accident, but never said how he had actually died. The money that the military compensated them with, for his war hero status, hadn’t filled the pain both him and his mother had suffered. She turned to the bottle, and he turned to sex.

Surprisingly, none of the girls he hooked up with wanted to have kids with him. They all insisted on protection, or were on birth control. Even the few that agreed to have kids, eventually left him. And all the guys he talked to couldn’t figure out why he wanted a house full of kids.

As he set down the first device, all ready to be used in her second upgrade, it fell quiet outside. Not the gradual lessening of the swarm receding, but the complete silence as if someone had pushed the pause button.

Olivia looked at him, but didn’t move. He studied the few gaps in their burrow carefully, but nothing seemed to explain the silence. Sniffing the air, he could smell the blood of the dead porcupine deer, and the dirt from the stampede. There was also a slightly sweet smell on the air, but he couldn’t place what it was. Probably the bees. Leaning forward, he placed his hands flat on the ground, and felt the vibrations of the retreating herd, as well as something else. It was so insignificant, he almost missed it.

His eyes widened as he realized what it must be. The bees were still swarming, because they were being driven. The vibration he was having a hard time figuring out was from a device he had heard about. It was known to cause ‘blackouts’ in sound when used, and drove animals and bugs absolutely crazy. If they had been outside, when it was used, they would have been unable to move, frozen in place, and at the whim of whatever happened along, as it would have disrupted their nervous systems. Fortunately, the trees above them and the dirt on either side of them, kept them safe.

Meeting her eyes, he knew that they had upped the playing field. The hunters had pulled out the big guns.