SNAFU: Hunters

by James A. Moore

  “Weapons ready,” Nathan ordered.

  There were clicks and shuffling sounds as they reloaded. Deacon placed the tracker on the ground so he could ready his weapon.

  “Where is it?” Leon said.

  Deacon motioned with the barrel of his M79. “It’s closing, slowly. Thirty meters.” He read the distance from the device at his feet. “Twenty meters. Ten.” He steadied his rifle. “Wait. It stopped.”

  “Where is it?” Donaldson whispered. “I don’t see it.”

  “What’re we waitin’ for?” Leon growled.

  “For visual.” Nathan scanned the canopy. “I think it’s in the trees.”

  The squad was silent, frozen in anticipation. The thing was out there, just ten meters away. They searched, but saw nothing but forest, heard nothing but whispering wind, breeze-blown leaves. The red blip on the tracker was motionless.

  Leon screamed.

  Nathan swivelled in time to see Leon dragged along the forest floor by one of the mantis-things. It moved so fast it looked like they were flying, and in a split second they were two dozen paces into the brush.

  Concealed by the vegetation, Nathan couldn’t see Leon, but he could hear the furious slashing of the demon. A few shots rang out, then a scream.

  Nathan fired his 40mm. THUNK. BOOM. The brush exploded. Nathan was hit in the chest by a chunk of the creature; the rest of the squad knocked over by the shock wave. Nathan landed on his back, ears ringing.

  Nathan, Deacon, Donaldson, and Hiro pushed to their feet, shook themselves. They were lightly painted with a mixture of red and green from the casualties.

  “Fucking Christ,” Nathan said.

  “How’d it get over there without us seeing it move?” Donaldson asked, a tremble in his voice.

  “It didn’t. They’re hunting in pairs.” Deacon motioned to the tracker. “The other one’s still there.” The red dot was motionless. Then it darted suddenly.

  “It’s on the move,” Deacon said, glancing between the tracker and the water.

  Nathan scanned the water. “Where?”

  “The river.”

  There was a splash, and a faint ripple in the water moving towards the opposite bank. Donaldson fired a few shots of his M1, but the target had vanished.

  “Shit. What do we do?”

  “I don’t know.” Nathan bent to pick up the tracker. The red dot had moved fifty meters towards the bay.

  Hiro grabbed Nathan by the shoulder, pointed to the exploded bodies of Leon and the second mantis creature, then pointed to his bag of supplies.

  “Yeah.” Nathan nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Hiro retrieved the iron knife from the bag then ran to the bodies.

  “C’mon,” Nathan said to Donaldson and Deacon. The three of them followed Hiro to where a small crater had been blasted into the ground, ringed with the carnage.

  “Head,” Hiro said, pointing to his own. Then he scoured the area. Nathan joined in the search, brushing aside leaves, and the others followed his lead.

  “Got it.” Donaldson shouted, and kicked the green demon skull like a soccer ball. It rolled to Hiro, who promptly knelt and stabbed it. The head gave way with a crunch then turned to dirt.

  Hiro stood, stared at Nathan. “One more.”

  Nathan nodded then pointed across the river.

  “Wait a minute,” Deacon said. “We’re not really goin’ after it?”

  “There’s one left, and we know where it is.” Nathan pointed to the tracker. “I’m done being hunted. We’re doing the hunting now.”

  “Opium.” Hiro pointed to sac on Nathan’s shoulders.

  “Sure,” Nathan said, opening the bag. “Go ahead.”

  “Now? But we’re about to go after that thing,” Deacon said.

  “Better for him to be relaxed than itching.”

  Hiro heated the spoon, prepared the syringe then injected the liquid into his arm. He held out the needle to Nathan.

  “No thanks. I’m working.”

  Hiro pushed the needle forwards, insistent. “Ngu’Tinh,” he said. “No eyes.”

  “No eyes?” Deacon raised an eyebrow. “The hell does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. Doesn’t matter.” Nathan took the drug paraphernalia from Hiro, then put it in the bag and swung it over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”

  Hunt or be hunted. Nathan marched into the river, trudging through knee-deep water. Cool wetness soaked up into his clothes, a welcome relief from the humid air. He was gripped suddenly with fear of what might be lurking in the dark water. But he had a monster to kill. Nathan pushed forward, deeper into the river. Hunt or be hunted.

  “Shit.” Deacon edged into the water. “We’re really doin’ this?”

  “Yep,” Nathan said.

  The ground dropped out below, and Nathan started treading. Donaldson was spitting up water, struggling to keep his head above. “How you fuckin’ swim like this?” he shouted. “My shit’s weighing me down”.

  “We’re SEALs,” Nathan said. “It’s what we do.” In training they’d tied his hands behind his back and threw him in a swimming pool, blindfolded, weights on his ankles. He made it through that hour-long test, so this river crossing would be a breeze. Unless any of those creatures came back.

  Hiro reached the bank first, then climbed up and headed towards the bay.

  “Slow down,” Nathan called out. “You don’t even know where it is.”

  Nathan felt the river bottom with his foot, then stood, dripping wet, and rushed to catch up with Hiro. He hopped into the bay alongside the man, and the two of them stood in the placid, waist-deep water. The top was caked with algae, and the pool was littered with moss-covered boulders, oddly round.

  Hiro moved to one of the boulders with the ornate iron knife in hand.

  “What’s he doin’?” Deacon asked as he joined Nathan.

  “I don’t know.”

  Hiro thrust the knife and punctured the boulder. There was a hiss of air followed by a green cloud of gas. Hiro turned his head and closed his eyes, then reached his hands into the gash and pulled it apart, groaning from the effort.

  “Egg,” Hiro said to Nathan.

  “Holy shit.” Nathan looked again at the bay, littered with dozens of the mossy eggs. “It’s a nest.”

  Donaldson caught up and hopped into the bay with a splash. “Jesus. There must be a hundred of ‘em.”

  “Let’s just hope their mom doesn’t come back.”

  Hiro had torn the shell open wide enough to see inside. Nathan eyed the contents with horror and disgust. A creature was curled up inside, wrapped in what looked like a bag of snot. Hiro dug into the goo, clutched the head with one hand, and thrust his knife. The whole mess turned to dirt, which dissolved into the bay. Then Hiro walked to the next closest egg and punched a hole with his knife.

  “So what do we do?” Deacon asked.

  “We help.” Nathan drew his KA-BAR combat knife.

  The four of them worked their way through the nest. Donaldson spearing the eggs with his M-series bayonet, Nathan and Deacon hacking with their KA-BARs, tearing open the shells, and Hiro delivering the killing stroke with his iron knife. They were halfway through the nest when Nathan stopped suddenly. Something didn’t feel right.

  “Stop,” he yelled. “You feel that?”

  The algae was vibrating, the water subtly sloshing, the eggs shaking. A crack formed on one of the shells, and a green limb emerged.

  “They’re hatching,” Nathan shouted. “Hurry.”

  Hiro moved quickly, splashing through the water, slashing the embryotic mantis-things as they pushed free from the eggs. But the dog-sized demons were popping out faster than Hiro could catch them. The bay was quickly teeming with the demons, and the water erupted into splashing as they thrashed and swarmed.

  “They’re comin’ straight for us,” Deacon shouted. Nathan and Deacon sprayed on full-auto, sweeping left and right across the hatchling demons, but the swarm closed on them.

  Deac
on let out a scream as serrated arms ripped through his legs. Nathan grabbed Deacon by his shoulders, felt the body go limp as Deacon’s legs gave out.

  “I got you, buddy.” He yanked Deacon from the thrashing creatures, their green arms now adorned with fresh ribbons of human flesh and ligament. Nathan backed up a few steps and heaved Deacon to dry land beside the bay. Hiro was in the middle of the chaos, leaping from one demon to the next, plunging his knife into their skulls.

  “Hey, over here,” Donaldson shouted from a dozen paces away. He took careful aim then fired. One of the creature’s heads exploded from the shot, and the body fell. The swarm rushed in Donaldson’s direction. He took out two more before they closed on him. Slashing arms took out his Achilles tendon, and Donaldson crumpled. He dropped his rifle, started fumbling with something he pulled from his pocket, and the swarm enveloped him.

  An explosion ripped through the cluster of demons. Nathan instinctively shut his eyes, shielded his head. The blast knocked him back, and he was pelted with chunks.

  Nathan took advantage of the distraction provided by Donaldson’s grenade and dragged Deacon deeper into the forest, three-dozen paces from the demon-filled bay, then turned his attention to the wounds. Deacon’s lower legs were missing, bones exposed. The thighs were half-butchered. Deep-red blood was pouring out, and Nathan could see a trail of blood from where they’d come.

  “My legs.” Deacon looked down at himself. “My fucking legs.”

  “You’re alive.” Nathan pulled two field tourniquets from his jacket pocket. “Now let’s keep you that way.” Pulling out his KA-BAR, Nathan sawed away the pant leg, tore the fabric away, and exposed the gashes. He wrapped the tourniquet strap around Deacon’s right thigh, and tightened it. “Stay with me, buddy.” He tightened the second tourniquet above the deep gouges in the left thigh. “How you doing?”

  “I’ve been better.” Deacon groaned.

  “This should help,” Nathan said, injecting Deacon with a syrette.

  A rustling in the brush behind; something coming towards them. Nathan’s grip tightened on his weapon. The leaves brushed aside. Hiro stepped out with a smile.

  “Holy shit,” Nathan said. “I think he got the rest of ‘em.”

  “No way. That’s not possible,” Deacon said, his voice slurred.

  Hiro walked towards them calmly. “Opium,” he said. “Ngu’Tinh, no eyes.”

  “I think…” Nathan paused. “I think he’s saying they can’t see him when he’s high.”

  “Bull-fucking-shit.” Deacon’s voice stronger this time.

  “How the hell else did he kill all those things? And with nothing but a knife?”

  Nathan tossed the bag to Hiro, who fished out the metal spoon, lighter, a vial of brown liquid, and a syringe. He heated the drugs into a bubbling brown liquid, filled the syringe, injected it into his arm then smiled.

  “All right, Hiro.” Nathan rolled up his sleeve then held out his arm. “Hit me.”

  Deacon watched with wide-eyed disbelief.

  Hiro nodded; prepared another dose. Nathan clenched his fist and Hiro aimed for a vein on Nathan’s inner elbow. He felt a pinch as the needle went in. Then Hiro pushed the plunger.

  Calm. That’s what Nathan felt. The high wasn’t mind altering or disorienting. He was wide awake, just suddenly happy, mellow. Then he remembered the mantis demon. Nathan quickly checked the tracking device.

  “That thing is still out there,” Nathan said. “I’m gonna go kill it.” Then he turned to Hiro. “Protect him,” he pointed to Deacon. “I’ll be back.”

  Hiro nodded, and Nathan walked into the forest.

  On the tracking device, the red dot was slowly circling the bay. Nathan gauged its path, positioned himself for intercept, then crouched in the brush and waited.

  A twig snapped.

  Leaves rustled.

  The creature was there, a few paces away, slinking through the trees.

  It edged closer, within arms-reach. He’d seen how fast it could move. He’d get one chance. Nathan steadied his CAR-15. How did I get myself into this shit?

  He pulled the trigger.

  Click.

  The creature turned towards the sound. A stabbing fear ran through Nathan’s spine as he realised the weapon misfired, and he found himself staring face to eyeless-face with the demon. Heart pounding, breath caught in his throat, the stare-down seemed to last an eternity.

  You can’t see me, can you? He tossed his rifle to the side. It landed among some reeds with a splash, and the demon swivelled to face the sound. Then it lurched towards the water, slowly stalking the source of the noise.

  I’ve got you now. Nathan drew his KA-BAR then followed the creature. It had a plodding gait, rising and falling a full meter with each lurching step. Nathan stepped carefully behind, slowly, matching its rhythm. The creature bent to the reeds, probing with its serrated arms. Then Nathan leapt.

  He landed on the back of the creature and wrapped his legs around the torso. It stood, thrashed its limbs. Nathan struggled to hold on, sawing at its neck with the KA-BAR. The two of them spun in place, the demon thrashing wildly, whipping its body left and right. Nathan’s knife tore through the last strand of the neck, severing the head, which dropped and thudded to the ground. The creature fell, and Nathan with it.

  He landed, picked up the head, and ran back to Hiro.

  “Here.” He tossed the green head. Hiro caught it, placed it on the ground, and stabbed it with the iron knife. The head turned to dirt.

  “Hey,” Deacon said with concern. “The tracker. Is it still transmitting?”

  “I don’t know,” Nathan said, amazed Deacon was coherent considering his injuries, but the man loved his dolphins.

  “Check the switch.”

  Nathan examined the device. The toggle was still in the on-position. Shit. He flipped it off just as another blip moved into range. It was coming down the river.

  “Another one incoming,” Nathan said. “Where’s your gun?”

  “Dropped it. Where’s yours?”

  “Fuck.” Nathan closed his eyes. He’d left his weapon in the reeds. It was jammed, anyway. “All right, here we go.” He bent his knees, combat ready, and held out his KA-BAR. Hiro followed his lead and readied his own blade.

  “Thirty meters. Twenty. Ten. It’s right next to us,” he said. “Sittin’ in the river”.

  “What do we do?”

  “You sit tight,” Nathan said, and he stalked towards the river. He approached slowly then peered over the edge. There was a large shape in the water. Nathan leaned closer, KA-BAR raised, and a smooth, blue-grey snout broke the surface.

  Nathan laughed. “Holy shit. Rob the dolphin.” The small tracking device was still strapped over the dolphin’s right fin. A second dolphin appeared, minus the tracker. Nathan laughed again. “And Billy.” Nathan bent and patted the dolphin on the head. “Jesus, am I glad to see you two. Wait right there.” He rushed over to Deacon. “You’ve got to see this.”

  “What? What is it?”

  “Come on.” Nathan heaved Deacon up, lifted him over his shoulders and carried him towards the river. Hiro followed them to the bank.

  “Rob! Billy! But how? I thought for sure…” Deacon wiped his eyes. The dolphins chirped, and Deacon laughed.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry, just happy to see them.” He shook his head. “Now lower me into the water.”

  “What?”

  “They’re trained for riding,” Deacon said. “And they know the way back to base.”

  “Are you telling we can just ride ‘em back to base?”

  “That’s what I’m telling you.”

  Deacon was acting remarkably calm for someone missing both his legs. Nathan wondered whether it was because of the syrette or the dolphins. “You sure?” he said.

  “Yeah,” Deacon answered. “Let’s go.”

  With Hiro’s help, Nathan lowered Deacon into the water. Deacon gave Billy a pat on the head, th
en grabbed onto a fin, and the dolphin took off back towards base, shrinking into the distance downriver.

  Nathan turned to Hiro. “Thank you”.

  Hiro nodded. “I stay.”

  Nathan handed Hiro his bag, then lowered himself into the water. He took hold of Rob’s fin, and the dolphin started back to base. Nathan held tight to the rubbery grey handhold, and looked back to see Hiro standing on the bank, iron knife in hand. Somewhere out there was the demon mother, Ngu’Tinh.

  Deacon and Nathan made it back to base without incident. They never had to explain themselves to General Cain as they were immediately moved off-base. First the shit hit the fan, then intel’ verified what they could. Six months later, after things had settled down, a handful of medals were awarded, most of them posthumously. Nathan was given a promotion and offered command of a new team, SEAL team-X, clandestine operators tasked with hunting the things they’d found in the forests of Vietnam. The team was equipped with new weapons, NGX series: 40mm iron frags, iron KA-BARs, iron-tipped stoner rounds. Each operator also got a handy pack of epi-pen opioid injectors.

  Nathan never liked hunting animals. But hunting demons was another story. Ngu’Tinh was still out there.

  Warm Bodies

  An Alpha Unit story

  Kirsten Cross

  “Taints are, without doubt, the biggest threat facing us today. As a result of our ignorance, our arrogance, and our misguided sense of scientific endeavour, we have created a serious threat to the safety and security of this country and its people. This committee therefore recommends the immediate formation of a specialist unit made up of elite members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces with the expressed duty of combating this threat above all else. We also recommend that the unit include experts in the field of science, military tactics, and Vampirism.

  May God help us all.”

  Professor Edward P. Glaston, Chairman, COBRA Emergency Committee Report, August 2015.

  The trouble with night-vision goggles is that the slightest flash of any bright light and you’re effectively ‘blasted out’. And when you’ve got some dirty little bastard Taint intent on chowing down on any soft tissue it can find about three feet from your arse then being blind, even for a split second, is not an option.