“Not yet,” she said. “We still need to know what they’re doing in there. Let’s go around back.”
The still-standing hangar was long enough to house a commercial airliner. They went past the single door on the side where Mack and Anna had seen the man come out to greet the Cryptos when they had arrived. It wasn’t until the agents rounded the corner to the backside of the hangar that they saw two sets of windows. They crept over to the first window and raised their heads slowly to gaze inside.
The room was set up like an office with a desk and chair, two couches against opposite walls, and a few filing cabinets. A door was partially open but offered no real view of what was going on inside the hangar.
Anna and Mack moved to the next window.
From there, they could see men working diligently, staging wheeled carts, some with animal cages, others with three-foot tall saplings in black plastic five-gallon pots, next to the open loading bay of a cargo jetliner.
Anna spotted the Cryptos in their hooded sweatshirts and balaclavas, all carrying Uzi submachine guns, watching in what appeared to be a supervisory capacity while men in tanned uniforms did the actual work.
A man holding a clipboard gazed down into one of the cages on a cart, made a notation, and then said something to the worker.
“Recognize him?” Anna whispered to Mack.
“Well if it isn’t Dr. Haun Zhang. What’s he doing here?”
“No good by the looks of things.”
“What do you think are in those cages? And what’s with the nursery trees?”
Anna took out her cell phone. “Maybe I can get a clear picture.” She held up her phone and clicked off a few random shots. Ducking down, she scrolled to the first clear image, and tapped her finger on the glass to enlarge the photos. Anna held up the screen so Mack could get a good look at the cartful of saplings.
“They’re fruit trees, so what?” Mack said.
Anna shrugged and went to the next picture. “Take a look.”
Mack studied the animal in the cage, and then said, “That’s a lion cub.”
“Try again,” Anna said, enlarging the screen even further. “That’s a Fu Lion.”
“Zhang must be head of some kind of smuggling ring.”
“And as the Cryptos are here, we can tie Wilde to their shady little operation.”
“Nail two creeps with one rock,” Mack said. “I like it. Think Chang is involved?”
“No idea. Come on, let’s—” Anna’s ringer shrilled on her phone.
“Jesus, Anna.” Mack stuck his head up to make sure no one heard from inside the hangar while Anna fumbled to silence her phone.
Two Cryptos were staring back at him.
“We’ve got to get out of here!”
Anna and Mack bolted around the corner and sprinted toward the SUV.
The side door of the hangar opened the second Mack reached the driver-side door.
The men in hoods and masks stormed out. One of them cut loose with a steady barrage just as Mack flung open the door and jumped behind the steering wheel. Bullets pinged off the rear bumper and punched holes in the fender, a few taking out the rear side window.
An angry voice yelled, “You stupid idiot, that’s our ride.”
Anna crawled in the passenger side and shut the door. “Drive, drive!”
Mack stepped on the brake pedal and pushed the start button, slammed it into gear, and stomped on the accelerator, all the time keeping his head down as he gunned the getaway vehicle away from the airfield. He glanced over at his partner and saw Anna staring at her phone. “Who almost got us killed?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t recognize the number.” Anna hit redial. “Hello, who is this?”
“Hello, hello, can you hear me?” a panicked voice came on the phone. “This is Caroline Rollins.”
“Caroline?” Anna glanced over at Mack. “It’s the senator’s daughter.”
“Is she okay?” Mack asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Are you hurt?”
“No,” Caroline replied. “But our friends are dead.”
“I’m so sorry,” Anna said. “Who is with you?”
“My boyfriend. Gabe. Gabe Wells.”
“He wouldn’t by any chance be Nick Wells’ son?”
“Why, yes. How did you know?” Caroline said.
“Mack and I were assigned to look after his parents when they were in D.C.”
“Oh my God. Really?”
“Where are you?”
“We’re at the park.”
“What park?”
“Cryptid Kingdom.”
“Call me back when you find a safe place and we’ll come and get you.”
“All right. I have to warn you, it’s pretty crazy here.”
“Not half as crazy as out here,” Anna said. “We’re on our way.”
41
TEMPLE OF MONKEYS
As soon as Nora and Jack realized they were trapped and were unable to exit Yeren Temple because of the two savage Xing-Xings blocking the doorway to the outside, they decided it was best to remain calm and not panic, even though the other three fifty-pound apes were only twenty feet away; agitated having seen Jack kill one of their own. The dead ape was on the floor with the shaft of wood protruding from its chest.
Nora knew if they tried to run, the primates would sense their fear and attack. The baboon-sized apes showed their yellow teeth and snarled, posturing to get up the nerve to avenge their dead comrade.
The Yibimins hadn’t stopped fighting since they had escaped from their enclosure and were flogging each other so viciously, that three were already dead. The one-armed monkeys, deceased on the floor, were so battered they resembled nothing more than mangled, bloody lumps of fur. The remaining left-arm Yibimins continued to screech and throttle the shrieking right-arm cryptids.
If anything, the manic monkeys were a much-needed distraction, as the only alternative for Nora and Jack was to retreat deeper inside the Temple in hopes of distancing themselves from the unpredictable Xing-Xings, who at the moment were grunting and pounding the floor with their fists, displaying their disdain for the annoying Yibimins.
“There should be a service door in the back,” Jack whispered, staring at the apes and taking a cautious step back. “I forgot. Do we establish eye contact with these things or not?”
“Not directly,” Nora said in a low voice, following Jack’s lead and slowly moving away. “And whatever you do, don’t smile. They see teeth and they’ll think you’re being aggressive.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not smiling.”
Nora glanced over her shoulder. The dust had settled somewhat and she could see across the large room littered with rubble, and the damaged front to Lennie’s enclosure.
A heavy beam had crushed much of the fake foliage.
There was no sign of Lennie.
Nora prayed he wasn’t buried under the fallen debris.
Finally, the Xing-Xings had had enough of the deranged monkeys with all their noise and nonstop scrabbling. The primates charged the smaller creatures and quickly decimated the Yibimins, pummeling them with their fists and ripping the screeching monkeys apart with their teeth. The two Xing-Xings guarding the main entrance left their posts to join in on the brutal assault. Still there was no way Nora and Jack could skirt around the mayhem without fear of being attacked.
Nora saw a Xing-Xing grab a monkey by its single arm and use it like a mace ball on a chain, slamming the animal to the floor and cracking open its skull like a coconut.
“Come on,” Jack said, scurrying toward the far side of the room.
The floor shook and more debris rained down.
“It’s another tremor,” Nora said.
A portion of the ceiling caved in. Orange tiles crashed down like they were falling out of a World War II airplane’s bomb bay, many hitting the Xing-Xings like they were intended targets, killing two in the process and mortally injuring another; the Yibimins now all dead and scattered about like ambushe
d victims in a massacre.
Covered in dust, and angry as ever, the two remaining Xing-Xings zeroed in on Nora and Jack.
Jack searched the floor for a weapon.
The savage apes charged, loping on all fours.
“Oh my God,” Nora yelled, knowing they had only seconds before...
Lennie stepped in front of Nora and Jack. He backhanded the first Xing-Xing to leap in the air and sent it flying across the room like it had been shot out of a tennis ball launcher. The second ape met its fate when Lennie used his fist and came down on its head like a mallet ringing the bell at a carnival.
Once Jack was satisfied that the Xing-Xings were no longer a threat, he gazed up at the twelve-foot tall Yeren and said, “Nice of you to join us.”
Lennie puffed out his chest and rolled his shoulders forward, flexing his muscles, and then looked down at Nora. She reached up and stroked his huge hand that was twice that of a silverback gorilla. Lennie worked his thick, black lips into what could be construed as a grin.
“We better get out of here before the rest of it comes down,” Jack said.
“Let’s hope it’s safer out there,” Nora said.
They stepped through the wreckage and over the dead creatures, and went outside.
Most of the buildings she could see looked like a wrecking ball had demolished them; even sections of the wall surrounding the 100-acre park had sustained damage from the quake.
Hundreds of people were climbing over the rubble, trying to find a way out of the ruination.
Lennie let out a deep-throated growl.
“What is it, Len?” Nora said, gazing up at the scowling Yeren and then turning to see what he was looking at.
Instant panic gripped the pit of her stomach like a clenched fist.
A Fu Lion was roaming through the scraps of lumber and piles of ruin, searching for food as another Fu Lion in the background was feeding on what looked to be a man’s body. Nora saw partially eaten corpses lying everywhere, perhaps left intentionally to be snacked upon for later meals.
Both Fu Lions looked up, catching the scent of new prey, and glared at Nora, Jack, and Lennie.
42
SEWER RATS
Finder feared they would be buried alive when the passageway suddenly shuddered and huge cracks opened up in the ceiling and heavy chunks of cement came crashing down all around them. The overhead lights went out as they tried to outrun the falling debris, trapping them in the dark.
Then the red emergency lights came on, transforming the blinding dust into a suffocating crimson fog.
“We have to go back for my father,” Luan shouted, covering her mouth with her hand as she struggled to breathe. Her face was smudged, her black hair gray from the soot in the air. Her clothes were so filthy; she looked like she had been crawling through the desert for days.
Finder glanced back and saw the tunnel sealed by tons of concrete boulders. “I’m afraid that’s not possible! We’ll have to find another way!”
The tunnel ahead gave way in a tumultuous roar. Finder grabbed Luan by the arm and they fled down a side corridor, chased by a raging cloud of billowing dust.
They kept running and quickly reached the main concourse of the underground facility where workers were scrambling to avoid being struck by the hailing debris.
“What’s the best way out of here?” Finder asked Luan.
Luan looked down the rows of employees’ shops and the series of glass entrances leading to the workers’ living quarters. She turned to her right and pointed down a wide passageway. “There should be a service stairwell that way.”
“Let’s hope it isn’t blocked off,” Finder said.
They were about to start down the thoroughfare when Finder heard a groundbreaking roar like a dam giving way and then the onslaught of rushing water.
Before Finder and Luan could even think to turn the other way and run, the flood was upon them, scooping them off their feet, and plunging them into the torrential four-foot deep watercourse.
The ceiling cracked open and people in bathing suits cascaded down like trout spilling over a waterfall. Finder figured they were drowning victims from the water park.
Bodies slammed into them as Finder and Luan fought to keep their heads above the surface. The fast-flowing river propelled them to the center of the concourse where the floodwater flattened out and dispersed into shallower areas of standing water.
“Are you hurt?” Finder asked Luan. He waded over and helped her up.
They stood knee-deep in the water amongst fifty or more bloated bathers that looked like so many dead fish washed up on a beach after a storm.
Finder heard a buildup of loud screeches coming in their direction. “What the hell is that?”
A flotilla of large furry creatures was dogpaddling towards them. Finder took one hard look. “My God, tell me those aren’t what I think they are.”
“Yes, they are rats,” Luan confirmed. “Bamboo rats.”
The Goddamn things are huge! Finder thought to himself. They looked more like giant beavers. Seeing them swimming on the surface, Finder guessed each one had to weigh in the vicinity of 80 pounds—and there were more than a hundred rats.
“Where’s that exit again?” Finder asked.
The giant rodents split up and swam for the floating bodies. As there were more rats than people, two or more would set upon a single body, ripping out chunks of flesh with their sharp teeth and claws, many unwilling to share and fighting amongst themselves.
Finder saw a rat swimming straight for Luan. “Look out!” he yelled, trying to kick the rat’s head but only able to splash it with water.
The tip of a metal pole plunged into the rat’s back and made a crackling sound, causing the rodent to squeal.
Finder saw the burn patch on its fur then looked up at the woman holding a stock prod with two electrodes on the end. The rat she had given the high-voltage to was already scampering through the water to get away.
Luan turned to the woman. “Song, thank God.”
“Come Dr. Chang, we must go this way,” Song Liu instructed.
Finder let Luan and Song go ahead of him so he could make sure the rats didn’t follow but then realized there was no reason to worry as the rats had found themselves quite the smorgasbord feasting on the floating bodies. He caught up quickly and overheard the women speaking. “Where are we going?” he asked.
“Song is concerned about a friend,” Luan said, as they waded through the water.
“Why, what happened?”
“She believes he is in trouble. She thinks you may know him.”
“Who is he?” Finder asked.
Luan said, “Song says his name is Mason. Lyle Mason.”
“I don’t know him,” Finder replied.
Song turned to Finder. “He came here with the others. He works for you.”
“If he came here with the cryptids, then he must be one of Dr. McCabe’s men as I certainly never met him.”
“Will you help me? Find Mason,” Song said desperately.
“Sure. We’ll help. Where’s the last place you saw him?”
“I’ll show you.”
They sloshed their way through the water and stopped when they reached a convex concrete wall with a metal door.
“He was right here,” Song said. “The door is locked. Only Dr. Zhang can open it.”
“And me,” Luan said. “I have a master keycard.” Luan took out her card and swiped it inside the reader on the wall. The lock made a mechanical click and the door popped open. Luan stepped inside and the lights automatically came on.
A naked man was lying on the floor.
“Oh my God. It is Mason,” Song said.
“Is he alive?” Finder asked Luan as she felt Mason’s neck for a pulse.
“Yes. Help me sit him up.”
Finder hoisted Mason up by the shoulders and propped him up while Luan tried to wake him up by gently slapping the side of his face.
Mason’s eyes flutt
ered. “Hey...what...the...”
“What happened to you?” Finder asked.
“I don’t know,” Mason said groggily.
“Look what I found,” Song said. She held up a used syringe and an empty vial.
“What does the label on the bottle say?” Luan asked.
“Vecuronium bromide.”
“What the hell is that?” Mason said.
“It’s used to paralyze muscles on patients during surgery,” Luan said.
“Hey, where are my clothes?”
“Right here.” Luan found Mason’s clothes neatly stacked on a table, along with his boots.
Song turned her back to give Mason a moment to get dressed. Finder and Luan went over to gaze through the small window at the dark room on the other side of the wall.
“What’s in there?” Finder asked.
“The rooting system for the Jinmenju tree,” Luan said.
Finder noticed the pull-down door on the wall. He yanked down the handle, peered down the chute, and got a good whiff. “Smells like a compost pile of rotten fruit.”
Song flicked on a wall switch and the lights came on in the room.
“Oh my God,” Luan said, staring through the window. “There’s something moving in the dirt.”
Mason staggered over and squeezed between Finder and Luan so he could get a look. “You got to be shitting me,” Mason said.
Tentacle-like roots were slithering about the loose dirt in search of nourishment.
Mason looked at Finder and Luan, and then at Song. “Damn bastard was going to feed me to that thing! He must have done the same to Ramsey. Son of a bitch!”
43
DR. ZHANG’S ZANY LAB
Every muscle in Mason’s body ached and his head throbbed. He feared he might throw up at any moment from the after-effects of the drug. But still, he was able to keep up with the others—doing his best to ignore the stench—as they waded through the floodwaters log-jammed with bobbing bodies.
“What’s happened here?” Mason said, thinking they looked like victims from a shipwreck.
“You didn’t feel it?” Finder said.
“Feel what?”
Cryptid Kingdom (Cryptid Zoo Book 6) Page 12