Chariot 3: Conception
Chapter 51 – Odors of a dead land

The time passed slowly for the lonely visitor.

And the sun approached the horizon, bringing the nightfall to the scenery.

At the distance, an engine noise blended with the sound of wheels rolling over the uneven terrain, penetrated the craft through its crack.

Alarmed, the survivor who no longer tried to sleep neither fight the morbid smell that overwhelmed the cockpit, rapidly got off one of the seats, still intact after the crash, and exited through the hatch that opened underneath the left wing.

Activated by the thought, the hatch closed behind the alien. He looked to his left and stared towards the approaching light still far deep in the night.

With the advantage of its photographic memory, the creature who had already climbed that same hill for a few times on that very same day, did it much faster at this time.

As soon as the panting visitant reached the peak, his hearing led his eyes to the side where he located the increasing lights that started to slow down as it became closer to the collection of debris that separated them.

Obfuscated by the approaching brightness, the Grey did not quite identify what it was.

For an instant, the extraterrestrial creature understood that his momentary apprehensiveness probably resembled, in some aspects, the feeling of many other beings that his race had abducted throughout the universe, but that did not bother him in any way.

As the lights turned to the left, the Grey finally saw the shape of the vehicle slowing down until it fully stopped, allowing him to see the contour of its structure and the three occupants.

As the car stopped and the humans got off, the Grey recognized the same man guiding the other two. It did not take much from his highly developed intellect to deduce the other two uniformed and well-armed individuals were a military enforcement of some sort.

Trying not be seen, the distrustful and extremely cautious observer kept his body close to the ground while he strove to see the faces of the other two men, blocked by the shades of their caps. As they finally slammed the doors of the vehicle, both men removed their caps and dropped them through its opened windows.

Despite the distance, the hidden spectator had a clear visual of their faces. Both the men had short hair, one of them had a wide face and a strong body composition while the other had skinny features and a calm expression which suddenly changed along with the others as they covered their noses, trying to avoid the strong decomposing smell that spoiled the air.

For several hours, the undetected visitor continued to quietly watch the three Earthians walk over the field and load their vehicle, a dark green military Jeep, with a variety of parts from his allied craft until for the surprise of the creature, the men finally layered their funny looking bags on the ground, and then there in the open, they slept.

Fighting against himself not to fall asleep, the Grey creature felt the intense fatigue hitting his unrested body. Assuming he was out of risk, the skinny and exhausted creature got back on his feet, descended the hill and returned to the discomfort of his craft where, although separate by the distance, he would still share similar discomfort with the humans, the putrefied and intoxicating smell of dead alien bodies.