by Michael Todd
“That’s the thing about the Zoo,” she said and patted his chest lightly. Even that barely-there touch still made him groan in pain. “It changes a person. It conditions you to be ready to fight whatever and whenever. That means that either you are my teammate or part of the Zoo.”
Kelson looked into her eyes. This close, they were illuminated only by the flashing lights outside but he saw enough to urge caution. He might still have tried to make her see the error of her ways but the effort to speak alone would be too painful to contemplate and he decided against it. Persuasion wouldn’t do much at this point, anyway, he consoled himself. She was as nutty as the shit someone took after eating fruitcake.
“And my teammates are in the Sahara,” she stated coldly as she pressed the gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger.
Courtney pushed to her feet and rubbed the side of her head. One tended to forget how loud gunfire was when it was always heard through the suit filters. She hadn’t had that luxury this time around and her ears would probably continue to ring for a while.
Footsteps thudded on the front porch—most likely the cops, she reasoned. They wouldn’t know that the other door had already been opened. She rolled her eyes before she padded downstairs to the front door.
“That should give these fuckers a new attitude,” she said gleefully.
“Repeat—shots fired, shots fired,” Williams called over the radio. His own .38 was drawn but he maintained his distance from the house. Keno, to his credit, tried to gain entry, but given the kind of security the old man had put in before he died, the kid was likely to break a few bones before could actually break through the door.
“Squad three-four-seven-six, responding to a ten-sixty-two reporting shots fired,” Williams shouted into the radio again. There had been some seven or eight shots—or maybe more—since they’d pulled up in front of the house, but it had been quiet since then. That generally didn’t bode well for the people inside. If there were still someone alive in there, they would have tried to get out and access police help. The perps should try to escape too.
No sound meant that everyone was probably dead or down. He didn’t intend to risk it, though, not without backup. The reality was that he wasn’t paid enough to risk his life in these situations.
Keno didn’t seem to think so, but he had now taken a break from his failed attempts to kick the door open. He panted and scowled at his partner as he threw his hands in the air in a what-are-you-waiting-for gesture.
Williams opened his mouth to make a snarky comment about what the kid was trying to do but he was cut off when an engine roared into life nearby. It was loud and rumbled closer, and blinding headlights swept the officer and the vehicle as what looked like a van barreled down the street. He circled quickly behind the squad car and held both his gun and the radio as he focused on the vehicle.
It screeched to a halt across the driveway of the house and a man scrambled from the passenger side, a pistol in hand. Williams ducked behind his car and dropped the radio but readied his gun as he took cover. He wasn’t sure what the fuck was going on—or even if he wanted to know—but as of right now, someone seemed about to shoot police officers. If that didn’t spur the rest of the force to screech down there with all kinds of hellfire, he didn’t know what would.
The stranger glanced at the patrol car but despite the officer’s original misgivings, didn’t seem at all interested in either of them. Williams still crouched behind the car and Keno had dived behind some bushes, but both were reasonably easy targets. Instead, the intruded focused on the house as he shouted into a radio for someone—presumably someone inside—to answer.
The entire situation seemed like something from a bad movie. Williams wanted to act but couldn’t be certain that the man was, in fact, on the wrong side. He could challenge him, of course, but his natural instinct for survival persuaded him to reconsider. Reinforcements were no doubt on the way, and he had a better chance to get out of this in one piece if he simply waited for the bizarre scenario to unfold.
An answer to the man’s repeated shouts finally came, but it was clearly not the one he had hoped for. One of the second-floor windows flung open and the shadowed man immediately directed a few shots at the woman who was now framed in the aperture. She yelled something indistinguishable and returned fire. The stranger hesitated, obviously surprised that the woman was still alive, and wasted valuable seconds that he could have used to escape. He fell with a grunt of pain and blood soaked into the manicured lawn.
More shooting erupted, this time from the van as the driver tried to return fire. The woman ducked below the window ledge but only for a second. Her shadowed outline was barely visible against the far edge of the window frame where she sought cover behind the wall while she extended her hand out the aperture and resumed firing. The van skidded into motion and raced away.
“Fuck!” The woman leaned out the window to shout at the police officers. “There went my intel, you useless bitches. I don’t suppose either of you got the guy’s plate?”
Williams stared at her. If she had made the call to nine-one-one, she wasn’t what he’d expected at all.
“Wait. Is that dumbass still alive?” she asked and indicated the man who lay face down on the lawn. The policeman glanced at the body and when he looked up at the window once more, she had gone.
“What…the actual shit?” Keno exclaimed as he straightened from behind the bushes, covered in dirt and mud.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Anja gritted her teeth. She wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d been left there. It could have been a day or it could have been more, but with no apparent change in the unending fucking darkness out here, it could also have been years. The creature with the glowing dots on its skin and the vicious row of teeth had left a while before, but she still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was far from alone.
The ATV was on its side, but its structure ensured that it retained its shape no matter which side was up. Still, that really wasn’t her chief worry. It was more than a little uncomfortable since all the seats were designed to be used with the vehicle on its wheels, but she was more than happy to remain on her back and look up at the window. Some light filtered through the dense, shadowed canopy, she could see, but it was little more than tiny pinpricks that provide almost no illumination. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that she was looking at the stars.
The ground underneath her shuddered for a second and drew her attention back to the moment. She scrambled around, hesitant to use the flashlight unless she absolutely had no choice. There was no way to know how long the batteries would last, and she preferred to believe that she still had something in reserve if things truly went bad. The light itself wouldn’t save her, but it might help her to save herself—or, at least, make her feel better.
She finally located the pistol Andrej had given her and gripped it tightly as she aimed it toward the window. Logic told her that any attempt to shoot anything from in there would, at best, break the environmental seal that currently protected her from whatever was out there. At worst, the bullet would strike the armored shell and ricochet all over the place. In that case, it was more than probable that it would skewer her a few times before it ended up buried in one of the seats.
That, plus the fact that the gun’s safety was still on. Even with her limited knowledge of firearms, she knew that was a dumbass move. She shook her head.
“Stupid, idiot girl,” she admonished herself and thought about it for a few seconds before she flicked the safety off. After a moment, she clicked it on again and placed the weapon down beside her, then lay back. She didn’t want the damn thing to go off accidentally, but she wanted it close. So far, none of the beasties that had snooped around the overturned ATV had been able to find a way in but she couldn’t assume that it was strong enough to hold up against everything in the Zoo. She didn’t want to be one of those people whose assumptions finally killed them.
Claws scra
bbled shrilly for purchase on the sides and she jerked to a sitting position again. She’d spent most of the first couple of hours in this armored bubble trying not to sob too loudly but now, she felt like she was all cried out. She’d survived a death sentence from the motherfucking FSB back home and, while that was a completely different challenge from what she faced now, she would make it out of this. She would survive—thrive even. She wouldn’t make a liar of her cousin.
She took a deep breath and held the gun tightly with both hands. Caution kept her finger off the trigger but she nevertheless clicked the safety as she drew a deep breath.
“Get a grip on yourself, Anja,” she whispered, nodded, and steeled herself when she saw a hint of movement over the window. “You’ve got this.”
Sal snarled his discontent and shook his head to wake himself up as he pulled his armor on. He’d spent more time in the Zoo these days than out, and he now felt more than a little fatigued by even the thought of going in there one more time. Still, it was something he had to do. He’d signed up for this mission for more reasons than only the money they would receive, but he couldn’t help another grumble of annoyance as he looked at the wide expanse of green out there.
“Well, you look like shit,” Kennedy commented from behind him. She was already halfway into her suit and now tested the pieces of leg armor that she’d had trouble with before.
“And you look…pretty damn good,” he responded and raised an eyebrow.
She grinned in response. “Why, thank you. I do try to moisturize.”
“No…well, yeah, that too, but how come you don’t look like you’ve spent half the night driving through the desert?” he asked. He dragged his power armor on and connected it to his helmet. The power functions came online with a satisfying blip.
“Well, there’s this magical potion that was unlocked by the ancients,” she explained sagely. “It’s made when you burn a bean, grind it up, and boil it in hot water.” She paused for a moment and searched his unamused expression. “Coffee. I got some coffee.”
“I don’t suppose you got enough to share?” Sal asked and managed a hopeful grin.
“I needed a lot of it,” Kennedy replied unapologetically. “Besides, what would you prefer—having your own and feeling slightly less miserable with me in a bad mood, or having none with me in a better mood?”
“Don’t even talk to me right now,” he muttered as he shifted the various parts of his body to ease the armor into a more comfortable fit and slipped his helmet under his arm.
“Seriously?” she asked and stepped beside him as he headed out to where a small van waited, ready to roll out.
He smirked. “I don’t think you’d be able to stand me in a bad mood. No offense, of course, but I think that anyone would have trouble with that. And without coffee to help, I might realistically be in a bad mood all friggin’ day long.”
“Heaven spare me from your wrath—ow!” She jumped as he punched her in the shoulder with his power arm hard enough that she stumbled a couple of steps to the side.
“You watch it, missy,” he said and pointed a finger at her. “I may put you over my knee.”
“And I may let you,” she retorted with a wink. The conversation ceased when they moved into earshot of the Russian group that appeared to be all ready to leave and only waited for the two of them.
“Jacobs! Kennedy!” someone called from the back of the convoy. They turned as a familiar figure strode toward them with a broad grin. “Where is Dr. Monroe?”
“She needed to take some personal time, unfortunately,” Sal said. He gripped the Russian’s hand. “Nice to see you alive and well again, Gregor.”
Kennedy shook his hand as well and managed to fend off his attempt at a hug. It would have been awkward with that much armor between them.
One of the men in full power armor approached them. They could see little of him except the clean-cut blond hair and muscle-heavy features. It was hard to say how much height was added by the armor itself, but he appeared to be a solid foot taller than Sal.
Even so, he had a professional look to him as he shook their hands, first Sal’s and then Kennedy’s.
“I am Master Sergeant Volkov.” He introduced himself in good English with a heavy accent.
“I’m Salinger Jacobs and this is my partner Madigan Kennedy. Thanks for thinking of us for this mission.”
“Of course,” Volkov said with a stern nod. “I was told that there would be three members from your company?”
“Our specialist had some family issues that called her back to the US,” Sal explained. “I’ll take over in that capacity myself. I hope that’s not an issue.”
“Of course not,” the master sergeant said with a small, professional smile. “You come highly recommended by those who tell me that the two of you are some of the most experienced in what the Zoo has to offer. We are glad to have you on our side. Regarding scientists—or as you say, specialists—we have two with us, so maybe you won’t be needed in that respect, not for the most part. We have been called in for a job regarding one of our other teams. Most were killed but one managed to bring out footage of a beast that we have not seen before.”
Sal looked at a file that had been transmitted to his HUD. He opened it and watched a couple of videos of a fight between men in the rustic Russian power armor and something long and winding. The carapace shield that covered it told Sal that the body itself would most definitely be smaller than the outward size. Large jaws lunged in attack and broke through armor, but more importantly, Sal thought, the hundreds of legs all seemed to be tipped with venom like a centipede’s.
Interestingly enough, though, it seemed that these men had stumbled on what looked like a nest filled with insectoid eggs, perfectly spherical and mostly white, and all larger than an ostrich’s egg.
“Well, that’ll haunt my nightmares for a while,” Kennedy muttered. “Thanks for that.”
“You are welcome,” Volkov said, although whether he returned her sarcasm or not was difficult to tell. “It will be our duty to find that nest and, if possible, recover the eggs and maybe some parts from the mama nightmare for study.”
“Have you guys named it yet?” Sal asked. “Something like that needs a cool villain name. Something like a…killer-pillar?”
Volkov smirked. “Nyet, this was done by John Ringo and David Weber. We love their books. We call these ones ubiytsa gusenits.”
“Yeah, I won’t even try to pronounce that,” Sal said and shook his head firmly. “But anyway, how do you plan to track the nest down again?”
“Many dead men were left in the area, as you can see from the video,” the Russian responded. “We know there is a possibility that the ubiytsa has moved since the attack two days ago, but it is a place to begin our search.”
“So, we track the nightmare factory down,” Sal said.
“Is this a problem?”
“Not really,” Kennedy said. “It’s not like it’s the first time that we’ve gone in there to hunt something big and nasty. We simply like to complain about it. Is everyone ready to go?”
Volkov nodded and hefted his weapon. “We waited only for you two before heading out.”
“Fantastic,” she said cheerfully. “Let’s get the hell out of here and into some hell ourselves.”
They boarded the ATVs and the entire team checked their weapons and equipment in preparation for the trip into the Zoo. Sal was a fan of not having to walk all the way into the place. The Russians had developed their ATVs for travel inside, which meant that what would normally have taken a day or two could be traversed in a couple of hours. It was a pity that they hadn’t had Gutierrez in on this one. She would have been able to isolate what it was that made these vehicles so much sturdier than those they had at the Staging Area, which would fall apart after a couple of klicks into the damn jungle.
They drove through the rough terrain for a couple of hours and the place grew steadily darker the deeper they went into it. When they finally h
alted, there was some concerned conversation Russian between Gregor and Volkov. They were at the spot where the GPS had been located, but oddly enough, there were no bodies, no nests, and no killer-pillars.
Sal had decided to stick with the name. It was cooler than whatever it was that the Russians had come up with.
The team scrambled out of the ATVs and unloaded their equipment. A couple of men remained behind to watch over the vehicles while the rest moved deeper into the Zoo. There were more than enough of them to keep any oncoming horde of critters off their backs until they did something stupid like trying to pull a plant or kill one of the huge bipeds.
Sal shook his head, adjusted his rifle for better grip, and joined the group. The two scientists led the way but they peered around and tried to identify some tracks that would indicate a direction for their search. As it turned out, a centipede the size of an anaconda that carried a nest full of eggs wasn’t that difficult to track, even through there. With their night vision on, there was a very clear path to follow. It seemed like the creature had literally dragged its nest away and the visible swath it had left in its wake led them in a firm southeasterly direction.
The group moved quickly. Many of them had the look of people who were new to the Zoo. In fairness, if you hadn’t been around for the past year or so to get used to the dramatic changes that had taken place, it would be difficult to acclimate to the darkness, the number of dangerous creatures, and…oh yes, the plants out there that attacked people and dragged them away to be eaten in some horrifyingly slow death.
Sal wasn’t sure that there was a mentally stable person alive who would feel comfortable about acclimating to that—at least not if they planned to remain mentally stable.
Did that mean that he was something less?
Probably.
He raised his hand quickly and glanced around. Kennedy and a couple of the others immediately stopped but the bulk of them continued to follow the tracks.