He had no idea of what he and Ryan might come across on the excursion in the forest, being that he was no experienced outdoorsman. Theirs was to be a foray of sheer opportunism, delving into the unknown.
On the gathering side of things, their miniature quest remained a dismal failure, as they failed to locate any nuts or berries of a recognizably safe nature in the general vicinity of the camp. Anything they found turned out to have a very questionable appearance, and Lee was not about to chance a possible threat to their health. If any of them were to get sick, the prospects of treating the illness were very remote at best.
They had an altogether different experience in regards to hunting. About an hour and a half into their sojourn, Lee heard a couple of high-pitched screeches coming from deeper within the trees and brush, somewhere directly ahead of them. He signaled immediately to Ryan, to duck down and take cover behind some nearby trees.
Situated close together, Lee and Ryan waited in crouched positions, poised in a state of keen alertness.
Several minutes later, a group of four apparently flightless birds, each at least three feet tall and heavier of body, came into sight. Spread apart at staggered depths, they stalked slowly forward as their eyes swept through the area.
The heavy-bodied birds had large, and sharp-ended, curved beaks at the ends of their sizeable heads, which provided conspicuous evidence that the creatures were predators to be respected. Their stout bodies rested upon pairs of long, powerful legs, equipped with sets of horrific-looking talons. They had a very limber, muted step, and their purposeful movements gave off the appearance that they were ready to explode into rapid motion at any moment. The creatures also possessed two very undersized wings, readily confirming their flightless nature.
It was quite clear to Lee that their darker plumage was very advantageous to moving stealthily amid a world of shadows, brush, and earthy colors. They blended extremely well with the background, and it was plainly fortuitous that the area that Lee and Ryan had been trekking through contained only sparse, patchy areas of undergrowth.
To Lee, the creatures looked like they had emerged right out of a far distant past. He was simply glad that they were the size that they were, and not like some of the monstrosities of a very similar type that had walked the prehistoric ages of his own world.
While Lee realized the dangerous nature of the predatory birds, he also recognized a prime opportunity at hand. Though the large birds were themselves hunters, they were now about to become the hunted.
Lee gestured for Ryan to remain idle, while he kept his eyes riveted upon the approaching quartet of birds. The birds continued to methodically step through the area, fanning out broader as they looked about for smaller game.
Holding his position behind the tree, Lee waited patiently while he slowly brought his stake up in both hands to a level plane. When his arms came to rest, the sharp end was pointed towards the nearest of the birds. He kept a strong, firm grip upon the stake, the muscles of his arms, back, and shoulders tensing in readiness.
About a minute later, one of the other birds stepped over very close to where Lee was hiding. Lee carefully shifted the point of the stake to align with the advancing creature. It had just started to pass by the trunk of the tree, and in another stride or two would be in a position where it would not fail to discover Lee.
Lee was not about to let that transpire. Having kept rigidly still, he remained poised, a serpent coiled to strike. The very instant that the bird poked its head by the tree that Lee was behind, it found itself abruptly impaled with a powerful thrust of the makeshift spear. His robust strike was well-executed, bringing his body’s weight and momentum fully behind it, and driven all the more forcefully by Lee’s growing hunger.
The blow landed squarely in the bird’s body, the sheer force knocking it backward and slamming it down into the ground. Spiked and grievously wounded, it made a loud squawk of dismay, which instantly roused the others of its group.
Lee yelled loudly at the birds, hoping to startle and scatter them. Instead of taking to flight, the others three birds recovered quickly, spreading out as they started towards Lee. Lee’s heart sank precipitously, seeing their aggressive intention.
Secondly, and even more worrisome, Ryan was nowhere to be found.
“I need some help here, Ryan!” Lee shouted in panic.
His voice echoed off into the woods, without any reply other than the sounds of the predators encroaching upon him.
Lee yanked the crude pike out of the bird lying before him, raised his leg, and stomped down as hard as he could upon the creature’s neck area, feeling his heel crack bone. The bird underneath him thrashed once more, before falling entirely still.
The other three continued to close in upon him. Lee raised his spear up, and readied in desperation to fight them.
Ryan entered the fray at that moment, yelling at the top of his lungs as he rushed out and skewered one of the incoming birds, taking it completely by surprise. The blow did not land as flush as Lee’s had, but it knocked the bird off its talons and to the ground.
In burst of adrenalized vigor, Ryan hurled himself forth and threw his weight fully upon the end of the stake. His efforts drove the wood through further, and effectively pinned the writhing bird to the ground.
The two remaining birds were momentarily distracted and confused by the sudden attack of the shouting newcomer, enabling Lee a prime opportunity to strike cleanly and formidably. He focused and delivered another solid strike with his crude spear.
Yet another thrashing bird hit the ground, expiring a moment later after Lee had moved in and landed a couple of vicious kicks to its head, the last one crushing its skull.
The lone remaining bird, seeing the violent fates of its comrades, and no longer finding any strength in numbers, whirled about with a resounding cry, and bounded briskly off into the depths of the forest. Its body melted into the shadows and brush, vanishing in just a few strides.
“A lot harder than I thought,” Lee remarked between heavy breaths, looking towards the depths of the forest that had engulfed the surviving bird’s fleeing form. “Didn’t think they would attack us. I hate surprises.”
“Yeah, it was alot harder,” Ryan agreed, then adding with a grin, “But at least we got something.”
“And you took long enough,” Lee retorted accusingly, with a grin that was only half in jest. His heart was still racing from the uncertain moment when the three birds had stalked him.
“Timing is everything,” Ryan responded without hesitation. “Worked too, didn’t it?”
“Okay, I’ll give you that,” Lee conceded, though not entirely assuaged. “But you still took your sweet time.”
The three slain birds were now fully motionless, hard-won prizes for Lee and Ryan’s efforts. Lee pulled his spear out of the dead creature that it was currently lodged in. He took a few moments to walk around and make certain that the other two fallen birds were indeed dead before trying to handle them. Lee knew that just one slash delivered from one of the powerful talons, or a lone, hard strike from the creatures’ sharp beaks, could quite possibly cripple or kill him.
Each of the creatures weighed somewhere between sixty to seventy pounds. “We’ll have to settle for two on one trip, it looks like,” Ryan said, straining to heave one of the carcasses up and over his right shoulder.
Lee shrugged. “We’ve got more than enough here, and we don’t have any place to store the excess.”
“I hate wasting it, since we killed it,” Ryan stated, looking over at the third bird. “Maybe we should come back for it.”
“I think the meat will be made good use of, long before we can get back,” Lee said, looking up into the surrounding trees. His eyes remained fixed on the branches above them. “They aren’t going to be upset if we leave the bird. And I don’t think they’ll wait very long when we are out of sight. In fact, you and I are probably now heroes to them.”