by Michael Todd
“Likewise, Dr. Courtney Monroe.” He flipped her quickly onto her back.
Madigan leaned back in her seat. This was her little corner of heaven, one she had set up for herself by hauling one of the couches that had been in storage all the way to the roof of the main building of the compound. That had been the hard work, and it took little additional effort to include a couple of creature comforts that made it almost a living room away from the living room. A little tent erected over the area ensured that there wasn’t too much sun damage, but damned if it wasn’t worth it to open it wide and watch the sun rise over the green of the Zoo in the distance.
She turned when the door opened and someone joined her out on the roof. Her smile slid into a grin as Courtney evidenced a definite tendency toward a bow-legged walk.
“Oh, shut up,” the woman muttered when she caught the mocking look on her friend’s face. “I brought coffee.”
“I didn’t say anything,” Madigan replied, but the grin remained as the other woman dropped beside her on the couch and handed her one of the steaming mugs. “I don’t really have to, though, do I? We could hear you scream all the way from the server room.”
“Shit. It’s…uh, been a while, is all. I needed to release. You didn’t happen to hear Sal too, did you?”
“No, Sal is annoyingly quiet in the sack. He more than makes up for it in other ways, though.”
“Oh, absolutely.” It was such a strange situation—one she would never have believed was possible. She knew that with them both involved in a relationship with Sal, things should be far more rocky and uncomfortable, so she was thankful that they were still on speaking terms and even friends. He was really important to her, but that didn’t alter the fact that she really wanted a girlfriend to discuss this stuff with, and Madigan was as close as she had. Well, maybe Allen too, but that was different. He was an employee.
“It’s really fucking beautiful out here,” Courtney said to cut into the tension that had crept up in the silence.
“You’re damn right. It’s times like these that I wonder how I could ever consider leaving this place. I mean, it totally has it all. Money, decent food, adrenaline, and gorgeous views.”
“I know what you mean. Research is great, and the house my dad left is beautiful and comfortable to live in. Still, I find myself craving a situation where there’s sand up my crack and I miss the screech of animal monsters. But yeah, my dad left me a mess to clean up, and if I’m not there to pick up the pieces, everything goes to shit. Worse, that only helps Pegasus.”
Madigan smirked and took another sip of her coffee. “Even when our parents are gone, they still leave chores for us to do, right?”
“Right.” Courtney laughed. “But let’s not talk about that. Let’s enjoy this beautiful morning, acceptable coffee, and each other’s company.”
Her companion turned to look at her. “I think I can do that.”
Chapter Thirty
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go in there with you?” Allen asked and a small frown betrayed his anxiety. “I mean, I’m sure you could find some use for a personal assistant out there in the Zoo, right? It’s not like one more person wouldn’t be some kind of help.”
Courtney smiled, leaned in, and stood on her tiptoes to press a light kiss to his cheek. “Sorry, Allen, we can’t risk it. We need to be as light and loose as we can, and between the four of us—Madigan, Amanda, Sal, and me—I think that’s already enough. Any more, and we’ll attract all the wrong kinds of attention. But the fact that you can stay here and keep an eye on the compound while we’re gone and while Anja tries to decrypt the laptop is awesome. Thank you so much.”
Allen grinned. “If anything, I need to thank you for bringing me here. I…well, now I understand where the steel in you comes from.”
“You might say that it’s where the…uh, Heavy Metal in her comes from,” Sal said with a grin. Allen chuckled but she groaned softly and rolled her eyes.
“Fuck, you’re such a geek,” Amanda said in full agreement with the eye roll. “Okay, it seems the news has already spread. Pegasus knows that we’re heading into the Zoo and Anderson says that their troops are standing by. He says there are almost thirty of them. All armed with the best armor Pegasus has to offer and all the best assholes that the worst places in the world can dredge up.”
“Fan-fucking-tastic.” Sal grinned wickedly. “It looks like we have our hands full on this trip.”
“So, let me get this straight,” Madigan said as the four of them mounted up in one of the heaviest and best-armored Hammerheads that Amanda had worked her magic on. She still didn’t let anyone else drive the vehicles, though. “This is the first time that we’ll go into the Zoo with the express intention to kill people—humans—with no kind of profit. We simply lure the motherfuckers into a trap, yes?”
Sal nodded. “That sounds about right.”
Amanda eased the vehicle ponderously out of the compound and a moment of silence passed as the reality sunk into everyone’s heads. Courtney wore a light yet agile hybrid suit like Sal’s, while Amanda took a heavier approach and used a suit of armor intended for gunners similar to Kennedy’s. She’d claimed it from one of the Pegasus gunners they’d taken earlier, but she’d made more than a few modifications. Sal could tell that she felt excited to try it out in the field. This was also the first time she’d had the chance to go into the Zoo since she’d broken her leg.
“Good.” Madigan drew a deep breath. “So long as everyone’s clear on what we will do in there. There’s no time for guilty consciences while we’re in the thick of it.”
Again, he felt like he should feel something about this. Guilt over killing humans outright. Fear over having to stage it in the Zoo. Nothing lurked beneath the calm. He looked at his hands that usually shook with adrenaline by now, but which remained still and motionless—dead still and calm as a Spanish afternoon.
Was he too used to this shit?
Andressa grimaced at the suit she wore. She’d encountered a fair number of questioning glances when she first joined the team that would head into the Zoo and she’d prepared herself for what she thought would be the inevitable protests. Instead, from the way the men remained silent and went about their preparations, she deduced that they were used to the exotic demands of their employers. She had taken the time to read each of their files and so was well aware of the fact that her insistence that she be on the team was, in point of fact, tame compared to some of the other ridiculous demands that they’d had to deal with.
She moved the right arm first, followed by the left, and tried to establish a familiarity with the suit while she waited for the other team members to wrap things up. It wasn’t entirely new as she’d been in hundreds of simulations, mostly out of curiosity since Pegasus were the ones to develop these training sims. To her surprise, she’d actually managed to get in deep even though she’d worked alone. This wasn’t a simulation, though, but at least this time, she had a team that would watch her back. Their contracts included a stipulation that if she didn’t make it out with them, they wouldn’t be paid. It wasn’t a popular measure but it certainly was effective. These men needed to understand that they worked for her now. They worked for the money that Pegasus offered them and they would risk their lives to ensure that she wasn’t left behind.
The upgraded Hammerheads thrust forward into the Zoo once they penetrated the outskirts and didn’t stop and force the team to continue on foot. Andressa breathed a discreet sigh of relief. She was religious about her morning calisthenics, of course, but that was different than a hike through one of the most dangerous places in the world.
“What’s the read in there?” one of the men asked and leaned toward the driver.
“It looks like they’ve stopped,” the driver replied as he followed the tracker planted in the Hammerhead that had driven out of the Heavy Metal Compound. “Three klicks into the Zoo. Things get pretty hairy out there and it’s virtually impossible to drive. I’ll head t
here but won’t go in any deeper with the Hammerhead than that either. There are critters past that point that can outrun the vehicle and stomp it and us into paste. I’d rather be on foot.”
They all turned to look at her and a small smile touched her lips when she realized that these hardened soldiers wanted her input. That said, she was more than willing to go with their judgment.
“It makes sense to stop where they did,” she conceded. “It’ll be easier to track them on foot anyway, right?”
“Roger that, ma’am,” the driver said and returned his focus to the way ahead. They formed a small convoy with three heavily armored Hammerheads, all altered to last longer in the harsh terrain inside the jungle, but there had been nothing that really prepared her for how dark it was. The trees created such an effective cover that spots of sunlight were rare. She could see the gentle blue glow of the goop where tiny smudges of light showed from between the porous bark.
She gripped the side of her seat as the vehicle stopped abruptly. Andressa looked around and tried to determine if there was any trouble from the faces of the men and women in the vehicle with her. The only expression she could see was the calm collectedness of professionals. She wondered if that would remain even if they were attacked.
“The Heavy Metal Hammerhead is dead ahead,” the squad leader advised the contingent of twenty-six men and women who had been recruited. “We’ll track them from here. No combat restrictions. Shoot on sight and shoot to kill. That goes for the monsters as well as the Heavy Metal assholes. Are we clear?”
A chorus of affirmatives issued from the team as they set off toward the Hammerhead parked a little way ahead. They all seemed, at first, to search for tracks. In the thick underbrush, it was hard to make out anything, even something like suits of armor that could weigh over a ton and a half. Andressa looked around and wondered if she’d made the right decision to come along. She couldn’t add value to any of the combat preparations, and she doubted that she could do much in combat either.
No, she reminded herself harshly, she’d decided to come here and make it happen herself. She didn’t intend to be a burden, so it was entirely pointless to beat herself up about it, especially since it was far too late to change her mind.
She pushed her thoughts aside as one of the men called his comrades and drew their attention to a single set of tracks that headed off into the east.
“I thought there were three of them,” Andressa said, a little confused.
“Yeah,” the team leader responded dryly. “I’d say that they might be expecting us out here. Stay frosty, boys. We’re heading out.”
The mercs fell in behind their team leader and they continued in the direction of the tracks. A couple more appeared here and there—lighter suits, like the kind Jacobs was known to use were visible in places—but mostly only the heavy, tank-like treads from Kennedy’s suit.
“Where are they headed?” Andressa asked. She disliked the idea of traveling blind.
“They could be in here for another Pita plant run,” the team leader replied. “The dossier provided says it’s the bread and butter of their little corporation. That said, we can’t put aside the possibility that we might be walking into a trap.”
“Shouldn’t we call for backup if that’s the case?” Andressa asked.
“Sister, there are three of them, and twenty-seven of us,” the man said with a chuckle. “We are the motherfucking backup.”
She smiled when she realized that he’d counted her among the number as well, but the satisfaction dissipated quickly. Her motion sensors seemed to go crazy and she scanned the area with a slight twinge of panic. After a few moments, she reminded herself that since motion was something to be expected in a jungle, she didn’t need to worry about it too much. Besides, none of the others looked anxious.
No sooner had she relaxed when she saw something she definitely recognized—the long barrel of a heavy assault rifle carried by someone in a heavy suit of armor.
“Get down!” Andressa yelled, and cursed when she realized that she had isolated her comm frequency to an unused channel. She switched it over quickly to the team leader’s channel. “Get down!”
It was too late. A single report split the muggy air, and the team leader’s head imploded as the armor-piercing round punched through his helmet and didn’t come out the other side.
Chapter Thirty-One
Andressa flung herself down as the jungle erupted into a roar of continued gunfire. The trained mercenaries organized quickly and laid down covering fire at the figure in the distance. It wasn’t that far away—less than a hundred paces—but in the darkness and completely reliant on heat sensors and motion sensors for any kind of visibility, it had been an impressive shot. The figure remained in position for another couple of seconds and fired a few more shots at the men, but when they returned fire, she ducked again quickly.
“That has to be Kennedy, right?” Covington looked around but none of the men answered her. They snapped orders and confirmed sightings as they pushed forward in the direction of the heavily armored woman. Cautiously, they followed her through the jungle while each man attempted to remain under the cover of the vegetation as much as possible.
Another rifle shot cracked. This was lighter and smaller and sounded like a faint clap from somewhere to the left. The men weren’t prepared to be flanked, and two of them dropped before the rest of the squad fell into formation and began the pursuit. More orders were delivered in sharp tones as they turned to engage the new threat.
Another threat soon became evident—one she’d half expected and fully hoped to avoid—and she turned as she drew her rifle out of the holster on her back. Her gaze scanned the underbrush that seemed to close in on them. The animals had been drawn to the sound of gunfire and now gathered on the perimeter. They remained out of the way of the battle but they seemed to grow more and more agitated as the gunfire continued.
Wait. Andressa froze as a disquieting thought struck her. Wasn’t the new metal in the armor supposed to deflect bullets, even the heavy ones fired from these massive rifles? She looked at her armor and suddenly felt a lot less safe about her position. With a slight quiver of panic now seated low in her belly, she fired a few rounds at the massive panthers that edged menacingly closer.
“No, don’t shoot the animals!” one of the men called and panic entered his voice as he reached over to try to stop her. His protest came too late. One of the panthers already lay dead a few yards away. She scanned the scene in an effort to determine what it was that he was so worried about. The animals had begun to retreat—any idiot could see that. She had driven them back. With a wild laugh she couldn’t suppress, she squeezed the trigger again and hurtled forward to try to annihilate more of them. Did they think they could put her on the run? Did they really think that?
A proximity warning bleated on her sensors a moment before something landed on her shoulder. Her suit wheezed under the weight and she fell heavily as the panther that had attacked her from above bounded away. The remainder of the squad converged quickly and released a barrage of shots at the creatures that pushed toward her.
They backed away, and Andressa screamed. She wasn’t sure why, she realized as she scrambled to her feet. There had been a moment of sheer terror back there, but she had never thought of herself as someone who screamed in the presence of danger. Oh, well, you learned something new about yourself every day, right?
“Stay in the circle,” the new squad leader snarled at her, and she noticed that a couple more of the men had been downed in the effort to reach her. The animals now dragged the bodies away.
“What are they doing?” she asked before she could stop herself, and the man simply shook his head and cursed in a language she wasn’t familiar with. Before she could voice the automatic reprimand, he dropped and a couple of smoking holes appeared in his armor.
That was definitely not supposed to happen, Andressa told herself. These suits were supposed to be sturdier than tanks and able to w
ithstand the power of an RPG without breaking. The squishable human inside wouldn’t fare as well, of course, but these bullets punched through armor that was supposed to be top-of-the-line.
What the fuck was happening? Something had gone disastrously wrong.
She dragged her focus to her surroundings and someone in lighter, sleeker armor who stood with a rifle and maintained a steady stream of bullets at the men who hadn’t taken cover. They were trying to protect her. That truth struck home as two more fell with hideous chest wounds and she reacted instinctively to return fire. The leaner suit was more difficult to hit, and she missed every single shot until the man dropped out of sight. That had to be Jacobs, she was sure of it.
She turned, her attention drawn by something that lumbered and thrashed through the underbrush. It was immense, taller than a human at the shoulder but about five or six meters long and with a massive tail that extended six more meters, at least.
It seemed to ignore the rapidly diminishing numbers of mercs and focused instead on another leaner, lighter suit of armor. The figure stood on the other side of them, so she knew that it wasn’t the same person. But that didn’t make sense. Gutierrez was supposed to use heavy armor. Why did she wear the light hybrid? She was no specialist.
Interestingly, the massive monster seemed to sneak up behind the figure that crouched and fired at the mercs as they tried to take cover. They had to now adjust their formation to deal with the fact that they were shot at from all sides and the reality that their armor simply didn’t work as promised.
But instead of the lethal attack Covington had expected, the figure turned to watch the monster approach. The rifle raised as if to shoot at it, but to Andressa’s surprise, it lowered almost immediately. The beast leaned in closer—like it somehow communicated with the figure—and suddenly, both turned to look at her.