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Surviving in an unbearable environment has become an everyday thing for the inhabitants of a planet with unique opportunities.

Running without looking back. Sure that the creature was approaching. Come on, come on, Jessa thought. She was wearing an advanced cooling suit to survive in the unbearable heat of the atmosphere. I have to get out of here.

httpa://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTs31fCQGEU

The creature stopped attacking once the people around it stopped moving—it had killed them all. Then it saw Jessa running and went after her.

If that thing reaches me, Jessa thought, it will be the end. She kept running to escape the chasing creature. Maybe I’ll find a place to hide.

Jessa was running across a vast plain of black rocks. A tear fell down her cheek as she remembered the creature’s attack. There’s no way out.

Certain of suffering the same fate as the others, she stopped. It was useless to keep running.

The creature also stopped. Staring with its green crystal eyes. Analyzing.

Jessa turned and saw the creature. Its body was larger than any land animal she had ever seen before. The beast’s marble-smooth skin gleamed in the sunlight. Jessa could see its fangs with every growl.

Any damage to the suit would cause Jessa an instant death. She was one of the survivors who lived in the control environments—entire cities under the surface of earth. Jessa was a member of an expedition that analyzed the surface and sampled puddles of liquid aluminum.

This was the first time that humanity encountered a being that can survive the unbearable temperatures. Sadly, the creature kept closing in on Jessa: lurking silently.

It could have been a statue, Jessa thought, accepting her fate. Maybe that’s how it came to life. Some god created them from a powder that cannot be burned, ready to survive this hell. We just had to sacrifice everything.

Jessa saw one of the colony’s vehicles crash into the creature. She couldn’t believe it. The vehicle continued and stopped next to Jessa—the nearby communication system activated.

“Hurry up,” Lieutenant Thomas Balise said. “We have to get out of here.”

“What’s that?” Jessa asked, climbing into the vehicle.

“I don’t have a clue,” said Thomas, accelerating.

Jessa looked at the rear view monitors as the creature got up and began to run after them.

13 comments
  1. Love listening to all the suspense as spoken through your fine storytelling voice.

    A thriller
    I’m seduced
    Good night

  2. Although I already enjoy reading your stories, hearing your voice bring them to life takes me to yet another wonderful level. Thank you!

  3. Hey, this is good and exciting you weather or not if they make it back to a secure area and environment. A good climb hanger. Well written. Great job! “The Old Airman”

  4. Good basic story. It lends itself to so many interpretations. The thing chasing them could be their own unconscious like “Visit to a Strange Planet”; the Id. Expand as in classic SF.

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