Author Note:

1: This story is based on the Altered Fates Universe concept established by Jennifer Adams, however I’ve taken some artistic liberties so this story doesn’t strictly adhere to the rules Jennifer established.

2: This is also a fanfic of the J.R.R. Tolkien world of Middle Earth in an untold tale of the First Age. Please note; I didn’t stay completely true to the Middle Earth that Tolkien set up. This is my take on what Middle Earth in the First Age might have been like.

Logan looked up from the monitor on the desk and glanced at Molly. “This is bad.”

Molly looked a little confused, “I don’t understand. We’re in the vault and there are several inches of steel between us and them? What are you worried about?”

“They’ve cut the land lines from the estate. I don’t have an internet connection.” Then Logan looked back down and began clicking through a series of commands. In a few seconds she’d logged onto the estate internal security network and then she brought up the cameras in the basement and they could see the terrorists. Logan and Molly watched as they opened a couple of backpacks and started pulling out items that looked like bricks wrapped in plastic.

“It’s bad because the terrorists are in control of the estate and all of the Firm’s guards are dead. Except for that asshole, cum-sucking, son-of-a-diseased whore, poster-child for abortion, fucking shark bait, grab-asstic piece of turtle shit, traitor Owen Henderson.” Logan ranted quietly while pointing to the blonde guy assembling something that Molly couldn’t really see. “In addition to being former SOF, Owen is a demolitions expert. With all that C-4 I’d say he’s assembling a breeching charge.”

“You don’t think he could blow the vault door, do you?”

“No, but he won’t even try. He’ll knock a hole in the wall next to the door.”

“And then they’ll be able to capture us, won’t they?”

“No, because we’ll be dead.” At Molly’s confused look Logan continued, “When they blow down the wall they’ll create an overpressure in this room that will probably kill us.”

At this Molly was silent and Logan looked around the room taking in all of the artifacts before looking back at Molly.

“What is it they’re after? Maybe we can work some kind of a deal?”

“I don’t know, not for certain anyway, what they’re after, although I can guess.” Logan looked quizzically at Molly and motioned for him to continue. “I told you Daddy’s been collecting artifacts and while that’s true, it’s not the whole story. You see he’s been collecting magic artifacts, like the medallion we used last night.”

With that Molly turned and pointed to the stone arch in the middle of the room. “Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, Daddy was able to get several priceless pieces from the sack of the Babylonian museum. That was one of the pieces.”

“And these guys want it?”

“Yes, I don’t know everything, but I guess there was a cult that was responsible for guarding it. During the chaos in Bagdad after the invasion thieves were able to steal it. Daddy got it from the thieves at an illegal auction. It took the cult several years but they eventually discovered that we had it. They tried to buy it about two years ago. Daddy refused. You see he knew it had magical properties and was working on figuring them out. Daddy can’t resist a mystery and he started to obsess about the arch.”

“So these terrorists aren’t terrorists at all?! They’re members of a cult?”

“Yes, if Daddy had known that, back when he was first approached, he probably would have sold the arch. But he didn’t know who they were or how ruthless they are. Then after Mom’s death there was no way he was going to give it to them. ”

Logan looked at the arch for a minute before she shook her head. “I doubt at this point they’ll let either of us live. Even if we opened the door and offered to give them the damn thing, they’ll still kill us.”

“There’s a way out.” Molly said, looking at the arch.

“What are you talking about? This room is sealed the only way in or out is through that door.”

“I told you Daddy was into magic and the occult. A month ago he finally figured out how the arch works. He just needed the key, which he only acquired last week. You see the arch is a portal to other worlds.”

“Other worlds? Like Star-Gate? Shit, you’re kidding, right?!”

Molly shook his head, “No I’ve been through it with Daddy, once. I think I can remember how to activate it. Come on.”

With that Molly moved around to the other side of the desk to where a large metal wall-locker was rested against the wall. Logan hadn’t really noticed it before. Molly opened the doors and pulled out a pair of professional grade hiking backpacks on ridged metal frames.

“When we went through last time we used these. We talked about exploring further and had put together some gear for a longer stay. Then the cultists tried to kidnap me and Daddy changed his mind. We were going to explore the arch once things were a little safer.”

Molly handed Logan the smaller of the two backpacks and without a word Logan tried to put it on. However, she quickly realized that it needed to be adjusted to go on over the combat vest she was wearing. By the time Logan had adjusted the straps and put it on she glanced into the monitor and saw that Owen had assembled his device and was getting ready to mount it on the wall to the left of the vault door.

“Shit! We need to hurry.”

Molly was now standing in front of the arch chanting. Moving to stand next to him Logan saw that Molly had a stone knife that looked like it was made of obsidian in his right hand. He paused in his chanting and used the knife to cut his left hand and then looked at Logan.

“Give me your left hand.”

Without a word Logan extended it and Molly made a shallow cut on her palm. When Logan looked up at the arch she saw that the symbols were glowing with a faint red light. Molly placed her bleeding palm over the symbol to the far left. For a second nothing happened then the air within the arch started to become hazy like heat waves on a summer day. The effect intensified with the air blurring to the point that Logan couldn’t see anything through the arch.

“Logan,” Molly said pulling Logan’s attention back to him. “You need to press your hand on the same symbol I did or when you step through you’ll just be on the other side of the room.”

With that Molly moved to one side and Logan pressed her bleeding hand against the symbol. As soon as she did Logan felt a weird vibration under her palm, and then a steady buzzing filled her body.

“What now?”

“We step through.”

With that Molly picked up his backpack and the AK and walked through the arch. Logan was expecting him to disappear but was still surprised when he didn’t appear on the other side of the arch. Logan glanced at the monitor just in time to see the last terrorist leave the basement.

“Shit!”

Knowing that they were going to blow the wall at any second Logan stepped through the arch. As she did she felt a tingling sensation and a moment of dizziness and then darkness.

The cool breeze hitting Logan in the face was the first thing she felt as she blinked in the bright light. Looking around Logan saw Molly standing a few feet away grinning.

“I told you it would work!”

Logan spun around and lost her balance and tumbled to the ground. ‘I may not be used to my body but this is ridiculous,’ Logan thought. Then when she looked up she saw an arch that looked similar to the one in the Falk’s vault. In fact the air within this arch was still distorted like the one in the vault although it was fading. Logan slowly and carefully climbed to her feet using her AK-47 as a cane.

“What now? Does it go out or something?”

“When Daddy and I used it we didn’t stay very long, but the distortion faded after a couple of minutes. That symbol on the far right is the symbol for our arch in our world. You have to use this knife it’s called a “key” and each person has to pay a blood-price and then they can step through.”

Just as Molly said this an explosion sounded and a burst of air and dust rushed out of the arch. Fortunately both Molly and Logan had moved to one side so none of the debris hit them. Logan took a cautious step forward feeling awkward and off balance. There was something very odd going on but she was determined to see if the arch had been damaged.

Logan moved over to the arch and noticed that the air now looked completely normal. She reached out and ran her hands over the black stone, it was smooth and warm to the touch. Logan now saw that there were seven symbols cut into the stone. Four of the symbols, including the one to the far right looked kind of silvery. When Logan touched the symbol that Molly had said represented the arch they’d used she felt a slight tingle under her fingers. The three remaining symbols had become dull, tarnished, and pitted. When Logan touched one of these there was no tingling sensation.

“What’s wrong with these three?”

Molly had moved over to stand next to Logan, “Daddy, thinks that they’re the symbols representing arches that have been destroyed.”

Satisfied that there wasn’t anything wrong with it Logan turned to face Molly. “Where are we?”

Molly shrugged, “I’m not sure. Not on our world.” Then as if to prove it he jumped. Logan’s jaw dropped. Molly landed at least thirty feet away by a crumbling wall. Molly turned around to look at Logan grinning broadly.

“Gravity here is different. Lower. That’s the main reason Daddy thought this was a different world instead of our world.”

Logan realized her mouth had been hanging open and snapped it shut. ‘Okay, first things first,’ Logan thought. ‘We are now in a survival situation.’

“Did you and your dad do much exploring the last time you were here?”

“Not really, we weren’t prepared for a long stay. We’re standing in the ruins of some kind of watch tower or outpost. That tower was the only building and when it collapsed it took out half the wall. There’s a gate around to the left but it’s closed. We can climb out over there where the wall collapsed.” Molly said, pointing.

“Is there a water source nearby?” Logan asked, turning in a circle to scan the courtyard.

Molly shrugged and then jumped back toward Logan. The amazing jump was ruined when Molly stumbled on landing and fell over. He grinned ruefully and stood up, “We didn’t do too much exploring. We were more concerned about getting home.”

Logan took a couple of cautious steps and realized that the lighter gravity was causing all kinds of problems. ‘Alright just take it slow’ she thought. Logan made her way slowly toward a crumbled part of the wall only to have Molly suddenly land next to her and then stumble sideways into Logan and sending them both to the ground in a pile.

“Watch what you’re doing!”

“Sorry, but I can’t help it. This is fun!”

“Your house was just attacked, we were almost killed, you’re dad’s missing, and you’re having fun?”

Logan was almost shouting as she stood up and the second she finished her outburst she regretted it. Molly’s face sort of crumbled and Logan had the unique experience of watching her former face tear up.

“Oh, God, Daddy. Do you think he’s okay?”

Logan shrugged abruptly conscious of how her boobs were being squished by the combat vest and the straps from the backpack.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I’ve worked his detail a few times and he sometimes leaves early for his downtown office. I think that if they’d captured him they would have brought him down to the vault to open it. So, yeah, he might have escaped.”

“Or he could be . . . dead.”

This time tears started leaking out of the corners of Molly’s eyes leaving twin streaks in the dust on his face. Logan moved to kneel down next to Molly and put her arms awkwardly around him.

“Look we don’t know that, alright? For all we know he’s just fine. Let’s not assume the worst until there’s a reason.”

Molly returned the hug burying his face in Logan’s chest. Stroking his former head to comfort Molly was one of the oddest situations Logan had ever been in. After a few minutes Molly pulled away and wiped his face.

“I’m okay now. What were you doing before I knocked you over?”

Logan stood up again amazed at how easy it was in lower gravity, “I was going to climb up that wall and have a look around. We need to find a water source if we’re going to stay here for long. Wood for a fire would also be nice, since I think we need to stay the night.”

“Why would we stay the night? Shouldn’t we just head back through in a couple of hours?”

“No, whatever’s going on back in our world, we need to wait it out. I’d suggest a full day. Assuming the arch is what the cult was after, they’ll have to move it somewhere safe to store it before sending it back to Iraq. I’d rather come out in a warehouse in the middle of the night than during the day.”

“You think they’ll get away with this?”

“Yeah, at least at first. The raid was really well planned. Owen must have been involved with the planning, I’m sure he’d have thought about how to move the arch. So, yeah, I think there’s a really good chance they’ll get it out of the country.”

With that Logan took a closer look at the wall next to them. It was old and covered with moss. It had also partially collapsed so it was just over five feet high. Putting both feet together Logan jumped straight up. She was shocked to see that not only could she have jumped over the wall but that it would have been easy. Logan landed in the same spot where she’d started and looked over at Molly and couldn’t help grinning.

“Okay, that was fun.”

Then with a smaller jump and just a little forward momentum Logan landed lightly on the wall. For a second she thought she might lose her balance but caught herself in time. The view from here showed a dried out ditch at the base of the wall. ‘Probably a moat when this place had been inhabited,’ Logan thought. Another fifteen to twenty yards back was a tree line with what appeared to be pretty thick undergrowth. Abruptly Molly landed next to Logan and almost tumbled forward off the wall, but Logan caught his arm.

“Easy there big guy we need to take it slow until we adjust to the gravity!”

Molly took a look over the side and gulped. The ground at the base of the wall dropped away sharply until it bottomed out in the dry ditch.

“Gravity might be lower here but if you break your neck you’ll still be dead.”

“Yeah, I’ll be more careful. So what’s next?”

Logan scanned the area and spotted what might have once been a road that angled toward the place that Logan assumed was the gate. Pointing toward it Logan said, “I think we should start over there and work our way around the ruin while we’ve got some light. The priority is to find water, after that some dead wood would be good for a fire.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

Then, without waiting for Logan, Molly jumped from the wall. Logan watched in awe as he sailed over the ditch. He landed in the grass on the far side of the ditch and then looked back at Logan with a grin.

“Show off!” Logan shouted and then jumped. The feeling of sailing through the air was marvelous and even when she started down it didn’t feel like she was falling as fast as she normally would have. Logan landed and absorbed the shock by flexing her knees. She’d been expecting a much harder landing considering she was wearing a combat vest and a backpack.

“This is amazing!”

“I know! I just can’t help myself.” Molly replied, with a broad grin.

They worked their way over to the road and Logan saw that it was now little more than an overgrown dirt track. At Logan’s suggestion they began circling the ruin by putting their backs to the road and keeping the ruin in sight on the right. After about fifteen minutes Molly spotted a stream running along one side of the hill. Logan sat her backpack down on the bank and looked over at Molly.

“What did you guys pack into these things?”

Molly shrugged, “Daddy did most of the prep stuff. I gave him a couple of sets of clothes, some extra boots, a few feminine items, and that was about it.”

The bank sloped gently down to the swiftly moving water and was reasonably flat, giving Logan a perfect place for exploring her backpack. Logan looked over at Molly. “We’d better do an inventory.”

They spent the next few minutes going through their gear. In addition to the weapons they’d taken they each had three sets of clothes, extra hiking boots, individual tents, sleeping bags, a couple of Army MREs, empty Camelbacks and iodine tablets. Molly’s backpack also had some feminine hygiene items including pain medicine and toilet paper. Logan had to suppress a shudder at the thought of using some of that stuff.

“I don’t think these boots are going to fit.” Molly said, holding up a pair of boots in Richard’s size.

Logan looked over and couldn’t help laughing. The boots were obviously a couple of sizes too small. “Your dad might be tall but it looks like he has small feet.”

Molly snorted in disgust. “Well, I think I can make due with running shoes for a day. I’m just glad the pants and shirt will fit.” Then he picked up the empty Camelback, “Do you think the water’s safe to drink?”

Logan turned around and looked at the clear swift moving water. “Probably, but drop one of these tablets into the Camelback after you fill it.” At Molly’s confused look Logan continued, “They’ll make the water taste like crap but they’ll kill any bugs.”

Molly picked up his and Logan’s Camelback and headed down to the stream. Logan repacked her backpack and then started to go through a weapons check. By the time Molly made it back Logan had consolidated the ammo and reloaded her AK. Molly handed Logan her Camelback and looked at the AK she’d slung over her shoulder.

“I’m down to three and a half mags for my AK and four mags for my 9mm and my knife. How are you for ammo?”

Molly grunted, “I’ve got two full mags for my nine plus the one in the gun. I’ve only got two mags for the AK plus what’s in the one that’s in it.”

“Well, if we’re lucky we won’t be doing any more shooting now.” Then after a pause, “When did you learn how to shoot? Your record with the Firm didn’t indicate that you knew anything about firearms.”

“I . . . ah, I guess you could say I learned by magic.” At Logan’s confused look Molly grinned, “When I changed into you I held the medallion to your jacket for twenty minutes. I’ve got several of your memories and skills. When the terrorists attacked, I sort of shut off the Molly part of my mind and turned the Logan part loose.”

Logan nodded, thinking about how normal and natural her body felt if she wasn’t thinking about it. She only felt awkward when she was thinking about it. Then she wondered if the magic would cause her to become more and more comfortable as Molly. Would she want to change back when the time came? Then Logan remembered that when the terrorists attacked she’d gone into full professional operator mode. In fact she was still functioning more as an operator than as a college girl. Logan let out a sigh and decided to think about it later and to just focus on surviving. While Logan had been thinking Molly started repacking his backpack.

“You know this is really weird. I mean I’ve never shot a gun in my life. Yet when I needed to know how, it was like I was watching my hands as they knew what to do.” Then Molly shuddered, “And the guy guarding the door to the house.” Molly looked over at Logan, his eyes filled with worry, “I killed him with my bare hands. At the time I didn’t even think about it, what did the medallion do to me?”

“It gave you the skills you needed to survive. I doubt that Owen knew that I was spending the night at the estate. But even if he did, he had enough terrorists with him on the raid to account for one extra operator. Instead, thanks to the medallion, he had two. I think the medallion saved our lives.”

Molly nodded and looked down at his hands, “Logan, I’ve never hurt anyone in my life. I killed that guy with my bare hands, and I shot four others.”

Logan moved over and put a hand on Molly’s shoulder noticing that he was shaking. “Molly, what you’re going through is normal. Most guys after their first firefight get the shakes. Just remember you didn’t have any choice. You didn’t ask them to attack the estate, and they killed several of my friends before we even got back onto the grounds. If you hadn’t acted the way that you did, you’d probably be dead right now.”

Molly nodded, “Yeah, I know. I can still feel that guy’s head in my hands. Breaking his neck was . . . easy.”

“I know.”

They sat there on the bank looking at the quick moving clear water as it ran by. In a way it was surreal. The setting was so quiet, so peaceful, and only a few minutes earlier they’d been fighting for their lives. The starkness of the dichotomy left both Molly and Logan feeling shaken.

“So what do you think we should do next?”

“Collect some fire wood and find a decent spot in the ruins to spend the night.”

“That’s just what I was thinking,” Molly responded, with a laugh.

Logan poked the fire sending up a small burst of sparks. It had gotten dark quickly so she was glad to have the fire. After finding water they’d returned to the ruin. Jumping over the wall had been amazingly easy. Logan picked a spot to set up camp in the far corner of the courtyard and had sent Molly to collect fire wood. The spot was protected on two sides but didn’t obstruct their view. She’d considered going into the ruined tower but then decided not to because it looked unstable. While Molly was gone Logan changed out of the running clothes she’d been wearing into the more durable hiking clothes from the backpack.

The weather looked clear so Logan ignored the tents and pulled out both sleeping bags setting them on the ground. She had no intention of climbing in unless it got really cold. Sleeping on the bag would provide some insulation from the ground and allow her or Molly to be up and fighting in no time if that was required. Because the courtyard was paved with irregular looking stones, Logan didn’t try to dig a fire pit. Instead, she found several loose bricks and made a circle with them. The dead wood Molly returned with soon formed a teepee. Some dried grass and small twigs formed the inner teepee. Next came small pieces of wood with larger sticks layered above. Molly dug a lighter out of his backpack and soon the fire was roaring.

Once that was done they’d spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the ruins and getting a good idea what the surrounding land looked like. As far as Logan could tell the trees and grass were identical to what she’d seen back home. One thing that was very different was the time of day. It had been early morning when the raid had happened, yet when they’d stepped out of the arch they’d walked into a late afternoon sun. Once the sun was setting Logan and Molly returned to their camp site and dug out a set of MREs for dinner.

“What do you think happened after we left?” Molly asked looking at Logan from across the fire as Logan took a bite of the Chili-Mac.

“It’s hard to say. I don’t know if an emergency call made it out or not. Owen took out the CP first, but each agent had an emergency call switch. So there’s a good chance somebody got a signal out.”

Molly stared into the fire. “The second panic room has a direct line to the Firm. Daddy might have gotten a call out.” Then he sighed, “But it really doesn’t matter for our situation. They can’t come through the gate after us without a key. Also, there were a dozen symbols on the arch they wouldn’t know which one we picked.”

“Molly if you’re worried about them coming for us you can relax. I don’t think that’s high on their priority list. Not if they were really after the arch all along. If they know what it does, then all they have to do is put a watch on it. We have to come back through eventually.”

For a while neither of them spoke. “Are you going to eat?”

“How can you think of food?” Molly asked.

“A guy’s gotta eat.”

“Really?” Molly snorted and tossed his MRE back into his backpack unopened. “You don’t look much like a guy.”

At this Logan glanced down at her chest. The large bumps pushing her flannel shirt out were a clear indication that Logan wasn’t a ‘guy’. Molly watched as Logan continued to eat, the movements were well practiced and economical. This wasn’t Logan’s first MRE.

“This is no big deal to you is it? Fighting, killing, doing things most people can’t even relate too.”

Logan stopped eating and looked over at Molly. “If you think this is no big deal,” at this she gestured down at herself, “then you’re wrong. Until yesterday I’d have said that magic doesn’t exist. Now I’ve been transformed into the hottest girl I ever met and tossed into an alternate universe. No, I’d say this is a very big deal. I’m just trying to stay focused and stay professional. Once we’re home the first thing I want to do is get that damn medallion and change back.”

“So you think I’m hot?”

For a moment Logan just stared at Molly, “All of that and you took away, ‘Logan thinks I’m hot?’”

At this Molly laughed, “Well, I think you’re hot too.”

Logan shook her head in disgust. Then a look of concern crossed Logan’s face. “Where were you and your dad keeping the medallion?”

Molly noticed the change and couldn’t resist, “In the vault, of course, why?”

“Shit! It better still be there when we get back.”

Molly leaned back using his backpack for a backrest and put both hands behind his head. “Oh, I’m sure it’s fine. Besides, I’m starting to get used to this body. Maybe we should just stay this way.”

Logan glared over at Molly, “Are you fucking crazy. That wasn’t the deal.”

Molly started laughing and after a second Logan realized she’d been had and chuckled, “Okay, you got me.”

“Of course I want to change back. Do you think I want to be some big smelly guy for the rest of my life? Oh, and Daddy kept the medallion in the safe in his bedroom. So even if everything in the vault is destroyed the medallion should be fine.”

Logan let out a sigh of relief and scraped the rest of the Chili-Mac out before glancing over at Molly who was staring quietly into the fire. ‘This is the weirdest thing,’ Logan thought. ‘I’ve sat around a fire hundreds of times but this is the first time I’ve been able to look at myself.’

“You really should eat something.” Logan said, standing up.

“Where are you going?”

“Relax. I’m going to find a spot to take a leak.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Maybe I should come with you.”

“Oh, for God’s sake relax. I can take care of myself.” Logan patted the pistol strapped to her leg, “besides I’ve got this, and I won’t go far.”

“Be sure to take the TP with you.” At Logan’s questioning look, Molly laughed, “You’ll need to wipe when you’re done.”

Molly watched his former body walk toward the ruined tower and couldn’t help appreciating the view. Then his stomach rumbled and Molly figured he’d take Logan’s advice. Digging through the MREs Molly settled on a beef stew.

“I’ve got to say, roughing it as a woman sucks!”

Molly looked up to find that Logan had returned and couldn’t help grinning. “Oh, what do you mean?”

Logan grimaced, and then shook her head, “I never thought much about having to squat to piss before. What a pain!”

At this Molly started laughing, “I’d say welcome to the club, but I can pee standing up!”

Logan settled onto her sleeping bag and stared into the fire for a few minutes. Then she looked over at Molly, “We should take turns sleeping. Since you’re still eating I’ll sleep first. Wake me up in four hours.”

The slight touch on Logan’s shoulder brought her awake. For a second she stared up into Molly’s familiar face before the events from yesterday returned. Molly put a finger to his lips. Then he used two fingers to touch his eyes and pointed toward the ruined tower.

The fire had burned down to a few embers, but the moon was out and quite bright. Logan saw movement in the shadows by the tower and reached out to lightly squeeze Molly’s arm. Then she grabbed her AK and slowly rolled over into a prone firing position. All of Logan’s movements were slow and smooth. Abrupt motion tended to draw the eye, although with the fire there was no way that they hadn’t been noticed. Whatever it was in those shadows it was stalking them.

Molly stretched out on the ground a few feet from Logan AK ready. The waiting seemed to take forever then the shadows moved again and slowly the creature came into view. Logan felt shock run through her body. The creature had eight legs, a large head with multiple sets of eyes, and a pair of gigantic fangs.

“Shit! That’s a damn spider!” Logan hissed. As soon as Logan spoke the spider seemed to orient on her.

“It can’t be a spider, it’s too big!”

With a burst of speed the spider jumped. Both Molly and Logan opened fire. Logan couldn’t tell if she hit the thing and was forced to roll to the side when it landed right where she’d been stretched out. As she scrambled away Logan could hear Molly firing and knew that his bullets were striking home. The thing was as big as a large dog and from this range it was almost impossible to miss.

The spider turned toward Molly making a strange hissing sound and Logan switched to full auto and emptied a mag into the thing. The monsters death scream was odd sounding as it tried to turn toward Logan and then it just collapsed in a fit of convulsions.

“What the fuck!” Molly said walking around the spider.

Logan felt adrenaline hit her system and started shaking. Then from within the tower there was a strange sounding cry. The cry sounded far away, but was unmistakably similar to the scream from the now dead giant spider.

“Do you think there are more of those things?” Molly asked.

“I don’t think we should stick around and find out. Come on.”

With that Logan and Molly went to work and in a few seconds they’d packed up their gear and Logan kicked out the fire. By the time she was done Molly was ready to go. With a single leap they both made it to the top of the wall. Behind them and then heard another cry from the tower followed this time by several more each closer than the last.

“How many of them are there?”

“I don’t want to find out,” Logan said and then jumped to the ground. Logan moved forward in a series of jumps that ate up distance. She stayed close to the tree line until they found the remains of the road and then turned down it moving away from the tower as quickly as possible.

“Do you think they’ll follow us?” Molly asked.

“Probably, but spiders aren’t known for running prey to ground. They’re more likely to set a trap or take prey from an ambush.”

After a few minutes they had to slow down as the trees closed in and following the road became more difficult. Soon the trees had closed in to the point where they blocked out the light of the moon. This made long distance jumps impractical and slowed them down.

“What I wouldn’t give for a pair of NVGs!” Logan said.

“We’d better take it slow before we blunder into something.”

They could still faintly hear screams coming from the ruin and then Logan’s blood ran cold when she heard another scream in front of them. “Oh, shit. We’re probably in the middle of their range.”

“What now?”

“Let’s move off the road and find a place to settle in. Based on what we saw earlier I’m guessing these spiders are nocturnal. If we can avoid them until dawn we might be able to sneak back into the ruin and get home.”

With that they moved off the road. The trees were thick and the underbrush made it hard to move quickly. After a few seconds Logan realized it was now pitch black.

“Molly,” she hissed.

“Yeah,” Molly replied behind Logan and slightly to her left.

“Stay where you are. I’m going to come over to you.” Logan moved toward where she’d heard Molly, “Give me a slow count.”

“One . . . two . . . three . . . four,” Molly said quietly. It took almost a minute for Logan’s out stretched hand to encounter Molly’s broad chest.

“What now?” Molly whispered.

“We settle down here and wait. When the sun comes up we go back to the road and follow it to the ruins.”

“What if the spiders find us?”

“Then we shoot the bastards.”

They moved carefully around through the underbrush until they found the base of a tree and settled in under it. As they did Logan realized that she hadn’t heard any hunting cries from the spiders in a while. She didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.