Brand leapt over a root, convinced he could still hear the pounding feet of the beast behind him. His toe snagged against it, throwing him forward and causing him to crash face first into a mound of dirt. It sounded hollow but was resilient enough to make him bounce off of it.
Blood ran down his face, mixing with the sweat and stinging his eyes. He groaned and rolled away, staring behind him and expecting massive jaws to clamp shut on him at any moment. Instead he found himself alone in the jungle. Alone and exhausted.
Brand wiped the sweat and blood from his face. He gasped for air and looked for his laser rifle. He crawled over to it and picked it up, noting that it had cooled down and come back online. He felt better, even if the creature that had chased them all had proven stronger than the energy weapon. He sat there a few moments longer catching his breath, then glanced up and saw that he was in a section of the jungle that seemed less dense with trees.
It was brighter, but that also meant hotter. He could see insects flying above, insects that he could not identify in spite of the fact that they were larger than any bug he’d ever heard of or seen. Far up in the branches he saw movement as well, a multi-limbed creature was slowly moving about, stalking some unseen prey or seeking shelter. Brand didn’t know or care, as long as it stayed away from him. On the jungle floor undergrowth sprouted upwards, reaching for the faint promise of sunlight far above.
He jerked his hand, feeling a sudden tickle on it. Looking down he saw another insect, this one half as big as his foot. It was multi-segmented and possessed multiple legs, as well as some wicked looking mandibles. With a curse he jumped up and away from it and leveled his laser rifle at it.
He stabbed the trigger and stared, uncomprehending, as the large bug continued unharmed. At that range and with his experience he knew he couldn’t have missed. He yanked the trigger again twice before glancing at it and noticing that the gun had gone back off line. A faint smell of burnt electronics reached his nose. He tossed the gun aside and cursed, then looked at the bug again.
The bug that had touched him was only the first of many. A line of them approached and fanned out, coming towards him without fear or concern for their own safety. His delay while trying to work the rifle had only given them more time to approach and surround him. He swore again and turned to run, but found his ankle had been twisted by the earlier fall and wouldn’t support the sudden movement.
Brand grunted and tried to pull himself away, flailing with his feet as he did so. One of the bugs grabbed and bit through his boot and into his foot. Brand screamed, first in fear and then in pain as some sort of burning venom entered his foot. He pushed harder to get away, smashing the bug that had bitten him in the process.
He scrambled onto his hands and knees, then tried to rise up but a growing numbness in the bitten foot left him off balance. He rolled onto his side and into a patch of flowered grass. The pollen stunk and made his eyes water, causing a sneezing fit at first, then a swelling of his sinuses and throat as anaphylactic shock set in. He labored to breathe, forgetting momentarily about the swarm of insects that were climbing onto his legs.
They bit him anew, drawing fresh attempts to scream for help from him. His cries were raspy, limited by his restricted air flow. He beat at them with his hands until they, too, were covered with the clinging and biting bugs. Brand continued to wheeze for help as the bugs swarmed over his body and into his open mouth, seeking the hot moisture within.
It never occurred to him that his vow for vengeance had failed. Not only had he not killed the crew of the Rented Mule but he hadn’t even made it past the inhabitants of the planet to find them.