Chapter 12

Twelve

It was daylight on the other Earth in the same way that it would be in the actual Earth. As they emerged from the shelter of the cave, fed and watered, Theo had a chance to look around the place properly, the sun illuminating everything in a way that the moon had not been able to do.

They had spent the night in a cave carved into the cliff which towered behind them. It was a familiar sight as much of the coast of the southwest of England was full of such cliffs. But what did it mean about the evolution of other-Earth that it was so similar?

And then not…

There was a copse of trees in the distance and a bright blue, wriggling flower trailed in and around the trees, which to Theo's inexpert eye looked like oaks or birches. No such bright blue flower existed in Theo's England though and he knew this by the fact the flower was pulsing oddly and every so often shot blue liquid onto the trees. It was possible the trees were not birches or oaks at all because they seemed to drink the liquid into their trunks.

Overhead a flock of rainbow-eyed beetles passed by. They had wreaked havoc on Bristol city centre with their penchant for attacking fair-haired people, and they were strong, a flock of them well able to lift a small human from the ground. They often deposited them somewhere else entirely, and also from a great height, meaning injuries were not uncommon, and sometimes worse even than that.

The sky was the same colour blue as that of Theo's Earth and the clouds in the sky were the same wintery white, though they did look as though they were slightly tinged with silver. The grass was a familiar green but every so often some of that grass moved in a way that it never would have in the next dimension.

So similar.

And yet not.

Theo huffed out a breath against the winter cold. His army jumper had been replaced with a jacket the monster had given him from a store beneath the platform bed, and if Theo wasn't mistaken it seemed to respond to the change in temperature around him, heating and cooling him as needed. It had also moulded itself to Theo's size which he was thankful for as he would have looked quite ridiculous wearing something designed for the monster.

The monster…

"What's your name?" he asked as he looked across at the man(?) who just a handful of hours earlier had stroked Theo's cock. Theo had tried not to dwell on that too much since then but given the entirety of his monster-on-human sexual experience centred on one monster and one monster only, Theo was unsurprised that it refused to leave his thoughts!

"We do not have names in the same way you do," the monster said. "But you can call me Baku."

"A being that devours nightmares," Theo said slowly, and Baku tilted his head in obvious surprise.

"The name is taken from your Japanese folklore."

"I know," Theo said.

Baku seemed to…not smile exactly…but there was something almost like approval in his expression now. "You are well educated," he said.

Theo nodded in response, seeing no reason at all to let Baku know that his knowledge of Japanese folklore was almost exclusively tied to a board game that he'd spent a year playing obsessively. Let his monster think he knew more about the world than he really did!

His monster… Theo was thinking of him in that way now, which was both ridiculous and unexpected. Ridiculous because this time yesterday Theo had been setting off to confront a contingent of munching monsters completely unaware monsters like Baku existed, and unexpected because Theo was a cautious kind of guy, and it was rare that he experienced instant attraction.

There was instant attraction now.

Theo had accepted that even before they left the cave because as well as being cautious, and slightly neurotic, Theo was also pragmatic. He knew what he felt. He might not like it, but he acknowledged it.

"Come," Baku said, and he turned and began to walk through the wriggling grass.

Theo looked down. It wasn't the grass that was wiggling but what looked like thousands of tiny, pulsing, blue maggots. Delightful!

"We're going in the opposite direction to yesterday?" he asked as he picked up the same pace as Baku, which was challenging, as there was quite a difference in their stride. But once again, just like last night, when he didn't quite keep up, Baku adjusted and waited for him, making sure they were walking together, and Theo was within seizing distance. Yesterday Theo might have thought that was because the monster was scared Theo would run…today he was not so sure…

"How do you know that?" Baku asked as they walked side by side.

Theo gestured behind them to where the forest had been. "I run a lot."

"Why? Do you get chased regularly?"

"No. I do it for fun."

"For enjoyment?" Baku asked.

"Yeah."

The monster looked across at Theo. He was wearing the same sort of jacket but on him it was really moulded. He was ripped, there was no other word for it. Ripped men were absolutely Theo's weakness.

"But you do not fuck for…fun," the monster asked after a moment and Theo tore his eyes away. It was better not to think about how attractive the monster was, especially considering he wasn't even human!

Theo must remember that!

It was surely quite an important fact!

"So…the direction we're heading…" Theo began instead, choosing to ignore the monster's words entirely. "If this is a mirror of my world the coast is that way, beyond the forest, but we're not going that way at all even though the munching monsters are down there."

"We will have to enter the forest eventually," Baku said. "But the less of the forest we go through the better. I am taking us a longer way around which will leave us only the very edge of the forest to walk through." He paused and looked around. "We must get there before dark. It is dangerous enough to be so close to the forest during the day but to do so at night…"

"It's winter here as well?"

Baku nodded. "Yes, the seasons are the same."

"Is everything the same?" Theo shook his head. "That was a stupid question, of course everything isn't the same."

"But much is, so it is not a stupid question at all." Baku started walking again though he waited for Theo to match his stride before he really began to pick up the pace. "This planet is much the same as your planet in its composition," he added. "There are the same number of other planets in this system. We too have a single star."

"And a universe?"

"A single universe yes."

"Not a multi-verse?"

Baku nodded slowly. "Perhaps. The joins between our worlds suggest as much."

"I feel like I have a million questions that I want to ask," Theo said. They had passed through the worst of the wriggling maggot things now. Another flock of rainbow-eyed beetles passed overhead. They did not seem to be attracted to Baku's silver hair but then even if they had been, Theo suspected the monster could swat them aside with one large hand.

"Ask your questions," the monster said. "We have a long, gruelling walk ahead."

They began to move down a hill, putting the forest behind them. If Theo's sense of direction was correct, Baku was taking them in a loop away from the forest but then back down to meet the coast. It would add hours to their journey but was apparently preferrable to risking the entirety of the forest. Theo was sure it had something to do with whatever Baku called the rages. And how fucking awful were they if a monster his size wanted to avoid them?

"On our planet Europe is one of the most temperate areas," he began.

"Here too."

"But your people don't live here?"

"We did for hundreds of thousands of years," Baku said. "Then the rages came. It has been some time since we have lived here now."

"The rages are the monsters that live in the forest?" Theo asked.

"In all the forests. They have taken over the area you would call Europe in almost its entirety."

"Are they…are they people?"

Baku seemed to struggle with that a moment before answering. "Something close and yet not."

"Are you the only people then on this planet?"

"By people do you mean sentient beings or beings that look like us?" Baku asked.

They came to the bottom of the hill. In the distance Theo could see what looked like the outlines of a small settlement. It was completely abandoned and reminded him of ancient structures in some parts of Europe. Had it been from when Baku's people lived on these lands? If so, it could be hundreds and hundreds of years old. Vines grew around the pillars, and several trees shot up from the space in between what had once been buildings. Those same blue flowers wrapped around the vines and shot their blue liquid out in varied pulses.

"I guess I mean beings that are capable of language, of higher thought," Theo said just as one of the vines shot out to capture some of the liquid. "And I suppose that look like us too."

The monster pointed to a trail through the grasslands ahead. It was much higher than what they had just walked through, at least waist height for Theo. The alien maggot things were quite a bit bigger as well though there were fewer of them.

"Then we are not the only ones," the monster said.

"There's more than you and just the rages?" Theo asked, flicking an alien maggot off his thigh.

"Yes."

"Have any of them come through into our world?"

"Many."

So, there were sentient monsters roaming Europe. Theo had always suspected as much. But why had they come through? What did they want? The government kept a firm grip on any information regarding their new monster neighbours and not least because Theo did not think they even knew how many had come through or what type they were.

But people…

It was all so…odd…

"Are you descended from primates?" he asked after a moment.

The monster answered instantly. "Not in the same way you are."

"From what then?"

"Why do you ask this?"

"I'm trying to understand why you look so human," Theo said.

Did the monster growl again? Was Theo being too human-centric? What was the etiquette in a situation like this?

"It is a successful design," Baku eventually said. "Evolution encourages successful designs."

"But we are so similar! All the features!" Theo said, flicking off another alien maggot. This one had wiggled onto his chest. Theo dearly hoped they did not find a way to wiggle under his clothes.

"The basic structure of life between our dimensions is the same," the monster said. "Life started in the oceans and evolved from there. And then, the rips between the dimensions we see now are not the only rips that have ever existed. I am sure that we have cross-contaminated each other's dimensions for millennia."

"We're related?" Theo said.

"Yes."

They had made it across the waist high grass now, but Theo was slightly dispirited to see that it was just one of many, many such fields. The coast was behind them, and they were moving firmly inland.

"How far do we go before we loop round?" he asked.

The monster described their route, and Theo was able to visualise it in his mind by considering the map he'd been shown in the briefing room just yesterday morning. How was it such a short time ago?

"That route doesn't give us that much daylight."

"We will not make it to the edge of the forest until late afternoon," the monster replied. "There is a shelter there we can wait in until the following morning."

"We go to battle tomorrow?"

"Precisely."

The image of one of those monsters tearing Gill's ear from her head filled Theo's mind. He swallowed uncomfortably, not at all pleased to be reminded of what the monsters could do. There was no question that Baku was big and presumably strong, but even he wouldn't be able to stop hundreds or thousands of them and by this time tomorrow there would be many, many more unless the other members of the wider squad had gotten to them.

Theo shivered slightly as he thought about them, and about his colleagues. Were they okay? Were they looking for him? Had he been presumed eaten? Had Joel shaken his head, flexed a purple, goo-splattered arm, and set them off towards the coast regardless? It would take them and more to stop this group of munchers.

He and Baku were just two.

How were they going to stop them?

"Baku," he began. "Do you have a plan for how we're going to stop the munching monsters?"

"Yes," the monster replied. "You are an essential part of it."

"What am I to do?" Theo asked as it suddenly occurred to him that if Baku had gone to the trouble of snatching him from his dimension, then there must be a very good reason for that.

"It is a complex plan," the monster said, his chest rumbling again. "And I will explain it to you in detail this evening when we have made shelter." He paused before adding, "I will explain exactly your role and why I am so appreciative of your aid."

Appreciative.

And Theo remembered exactly how the monster expressed that. The image of him, topless, bulging, filled Theo again. He shuddered and snuck a look at him, shaking his head slightly at the sheer size and musculature of the monster. Why couldn't he have looked like a spitting monster, all insect legs, and creepy fingers, and gaping mouth?

No, he had to look like this.

And they would be alone together again in a shelter.

Alone.

Suddenly, Theo wasn't sure what he was more nervous about. That or his imminent battle with the munching monsters!