Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #21 December 2015 | Page 13

shields, leaf-bladed assegais, and knobkerries with human teeth impacted into the ironwood heads. Their weird, gibbering laughter haunts us through the night. “Are you awake?” I hear Rolf whisper. Rolf and Suzi show me the buttons from some scraps of uniform they have found. The insignia is not from a unit we recognize, the badly rusted rifles unfamiliar models. “It’s those animals.” “I’ve been calculating. That battle we saw today, it was fought before our front passed here.” That night some hyenas slink into the column, eyes flaring in the firelight. We scare the ugly beasts off with a few shots over their heads. To Be Continued 13