by Michael Todd
Kennedy dropped her boot down on the creature’s severed head and ground her heel down into it. “It’s a fucking pain to kill all the way, but I think the pieces that are left won’t attack us anytime soon.”
“Good,” Sal said softly. “Because I’ll need to pull the breastplate off to make sure that there isn’t anything still in there. The last thing we want is for it to cause trouble when we are mobile again.”
“Okay, what do I do?” Carson asked.
“Well, if you could run a quick diagnostic on your armor to make sure that there’s nothing still in there,” Sal said as he tugged and twisted at the levers that separated the chest plate from the rest of the suit.
“Already working,” Carson replied and grunted as Sal yanked and pried until the piece came off.
“Ito and Kennedy, if you guys could keep watch so that nothing tries to eat us while Carson is in a particularly vulnerable situation,” Sal said and didn’t look up from his work.
“Will do, sir,” Ito said. Sal didn’t pay enough attention or even want to find out if she was joking or not. He used a couple of smaller tools to pull the pieces of the breastplate apart.
Kennedy joined him where he squatted and worked the pieces apart. He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he was certain that she looked at him in that weird judge-y and yet unsure way as she had earlier. He didn’t have time to look up and confirm it, though.
“At the risk of repeating myself,” Sal said, his voice distracted, “what’s up, Kennedy? And before you say nothing again, if you do, I will make you fix this piece of armor while I keep watch.”
“Please don’t say nothing again, Kennedy,” Carson growled.
“Right,” she replied. “It’s just…I’ve noticed that you and Courtney have gotten closer than you were before.”
“What’s your point?” Sal asked. “She’s a part of the team—and, might I say, the only part of the team who I can bounce my ideas off without being insulted and called a geek and a nerd and…chess captain. Although I’m not sure how that last one can be anything but a compliment, the tone still hurts my feelings.”
“Come on,” she huffed. “I haven’t called you any of those things in at least a month.”
“No, but when I talked about the kind of tracheae through which the insect-arachnid hybrids breathe, I could hear your eyes glaze over from the other side of the camp,” he replied. His voice retained the faraway quality that indicated that while his mouth talked, his mind was elsewhere.
“Sure,” Kennedy admitted and nodded as she focused warily on the jungle with her weapon prepped in case any more of the creatures attacked. “But still, it seems like you two might be much closer than you were before.”
“You mean besides the fact that she has recently been added to our company and this is the first time that I’ve been out in the field with another specialist for an extended period?” Sal asked.
“Ugh, fine,” she muttered and shook her head. “I’ll make a sweep of the area.”
Sal nodded as she moved away, finished cleaning the breastplate, and connected it to Carson’s suit.
“That was some fantastic deflecting you did back there,” the man said with a grin.
“Thanks.”
“So, what was all that stuff about, anyway?” he asked when Sal showed no inclination to continue the conversation. “Are you and Kennedy involved or something? You guys an item?”
The specialist didn’t look up from his work. “Do you want me to deflect with you too? We don’t know each other well enough for me to put some effort into not deflecting, you know.”
“Oh,” Carson said and nodded. “Ten-four, loud and clear.”
“Excellent.” Sal forced a grin as he looked up and patted the breastplate. “There should be some issues with the surface sensors there. It looks like they were caught by the acid before I could get to them. A simple repair job should fix that, though.”
“Thanks, Jacobs.” Carson stood again and ran a few mobility tests. “So you really won’t tell me what’s going on with you and Kennedy?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said and forced a smile. “But I’ll make sure to let her know about your interest.”
“No…no, no, that won’t be necessary,” Carson said quickly.
“We’ll see,” Sal replied with a wink. “I think we’re ready to move on again.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
She would never have believed that she would be less happy to get back to the Staging Area after a trip into the Zoo. It wasn’t only that she didn’t want to leave Sal and Madigan in there, but there were also a lot of things happening that she wanted to be on top of.
And she was actually quite happy that there was nobody around who could hear her thoughts right about now. She didn’t want to think about how embarrassing this sort of thing would be if she had said something like that out loud. Normally, she would have assumed that crude jokes would be made at her expense, but all things considered…
It was annoying how much she cared about what other people thought of her these days. She had been such a strong, independent woman before, and because she got drunk and kind of raped one man, she suddenly became all needy and possessive?
She rubbed her temples gently as their JLTV pulled into the Staging Area. There had been very little actual resistance to their advance, and most animals moved quickly out of their way. That meant there was very little need for a specialist on their team.
Even so, she’d caught some pictures and taken a few samples. She might be off her game, but she wasn’t the kind of person to let any personal shit interfere with her work. Usually, anyway. There were some truths about herself that she only now began to discover. Not all of them were good, but she was a scientist. Any learning experience was a worthwhile experience, in her book.
She merely hoped that these learning experiences didn’t end with awkward conversations in the future.
The vehicle drew to a halt, and she jumped out of her seat. Back on the ground, she quickly completed the uplink between her suit and the SA’s database and added all the information that they had gathered. It was automatic, but the connection logs gave her a decent view of what had been collected, and there wouldn’t be a problem with them getting their cut for that. Although she reminded herself, it was probable that nothing would actually appear in her bank account from the sponsors until the other teams came in with what they had gathered.
“Okay, Gregor,” Young said as he closed his comm. “I’ve relayed the mission statement to my superiors, and they’ll relay that in turn to your bosses. We should hear from them any minute now, and they’ll most likely send transport to pick you up. Soldier to soldier, it won’t be first-class accommodations, but until then, they’ve set you up in the infirmary. I’ll make sure to drop your suit off where your people can pick it up, and I promise that nobody will snoop into the mechanics of it.”
“I appreciate that very much, Sergeant Young,” the Russian said and offered his hand. “I will never forget that you and your team saved my life.”
Young cracked a smile, probably the only one for the whole day. He took Gregor’s hand and shook it firmly.
“I can only imagine that you’d do the same thing for any one of us out there,” he said with a smile. “An ambulance will be here soon to take you to the hospital. In the meantime, I’ll head to the commandant’s office and see how much of a profit we’ll actually make for this very short and yet very productive mission.”
Courtney looked on as Young and Sousa headed off. It had been a long day, but mostly because nothing really interesting had happened to make it go by faster. She wasn’t complaining, but at the same time, boring meant longer-lasting.
“If you could send my thanks back to Kennedy and Dr. Jacobs too, I’d really appreciate it,” Gregor said to her.
“He’s not…he isn’t a doctor,” Courtney said before she paused and smiled.
“But he’s a specialist,” the Russia
n said, clearly confused. “And one of the brighter ones too, especially for someone so young. Make no mistake, I think that you’re quite intelligent too, but then you are a doctor.”
“He’s merely a very smart guy, is all,” Courtney said. She needed a drink. No…no, maybe not. But she would like to have a hot shower and a real meal.
“I need to head out too, Gregor,” she said with a chuckle when the ambulance rolled into view. “You take care of yourself, you hear?”
“I will do that, Dr. Monroe.”
Kennedy still gave him the silent treatment, although he had caught her glaring at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. Well, technically he hadn’t, but his new suit had a very interesting set of cameras that could provide decent footage from the side and the back that filled him in on the details.
Why did she look at him like that? And why had she interrogated him about Courtney? Did she actually think that something had happened?
Well, something had, of course, but it had been while he was unconscious and one hundred percent not his fault or doing. What, did she want him to have put up more of a fight or something?
As the day wore on, he found her silence more boorish than usual. They were friends, despite everything, and he associated their trips together into the Zoo with the banter they always exchanged to pass the time. They did have a good rapport, both in and out of work, and all this silence made him miss the whole relationship more.
He broke away from his study of a new set of insects—ones that actually were insects. He even collected a few live samples and added them to his bag before he headed to where Kennedy kept watch.
“Are you finished with your samples, Jacobs?” she asked but didn’t look at him.
“Oh, yeah, and we’re ready to move once more,” he said with a smile.
She merely nodded and keyed her mic to get the attention of Carson and Ito. “We’re moving again. There’s another Pita bush about five klicks away, and I want to get there before it gets dark. You all know the kind of pain that goes into collecting those fucking flowers after dark.”
“I don’t,” Ito said and raised her hand.
“Well, I’m sure you’re smart enough to infer how much of a pain it is,” Kennedy responded shortly. “Let’s keep it moving, people!”
She forged ahead, and Sal picked up his pace to catch up with her. With power function in his legs this time, it was actually easier than it had been before.
“Hey, Kennedy,” he called.
“Anything I can help you with, Jacobs?” She focused her eyes resolutely ahead.
“Yeah, you could tell me what bug crawled up your ass,” Sal snarked, his patience now worn thin. “Come on, you’ve been in a foul mood all day, and honestly, I’m sick of it. I don’t see why I should put up with it. I’m the one who didn’t get any sleep last night, so I’m the only one who’s allowed to be in a bad mood, okay?”
She looked at him and narrowed her eyes. “Don’t put up with it, then,” she snapped and increased her pace.
“Except I have to, don’t I?” he pointed out although he now had difficulty keeping up with her. “You’re my partner in all this, Kennedy, and if something bothers you, the best way to get it fixed is to get it out in the open. So, tell me, or I’ll continue to nag you. I don’t want to do that because I don’t like to run when I don’t have to. Seriously, could you slow down?”
She finally slowed, took a deep breath, and met his gaze.
“It’s nothing,” she said finally.
“Yeah, because nothing says business as usual like cryptic interrogations and silent treatment,” Sal retorted and rolled his eyes.
“By nothing, I mean it’s something stupid,” she said with a shake of her head. “Something that you shouldn’t have to deal with. A personal problem, and something that I’ll work through. And I don’t need help.”
“Wait,” Sal said and raised a hand. “You asked me about Courtney. Do you have a problem with her? Did she say something about—” They immediately ended the conversation when the unmistakable sound of gunfire caught their attention.
“Did you guys hear that?” Sal asked. Ito and Carson both nodded, and the four of them prepped their suits and weapons for action.
“Where’s it coming from?” the specialist asked.
“My sensors tell me that it’s roughly in the same direction that we’ve moved in all day,” Ito said. “Which means that they’re probably between us and the Pita plants we’ve been headed toward.”
“Fuck,” Kennedy hissed. “Let’s move. With our luck, it’ll be the rest of Gregor’s team still fighting for their lives like they were when they abandoned him to our tender care.”
They hurried through the jungle with renewed purpose and rapidly closed the distance between them and the gunshots.
“You know, running toward gunshots and explosions isn’t the best survival instinct,” Sal said.
“It’s the instinct we’re taught,” Ito growled. “It’s not like we were born with the need to head toward the loud noises.”
“So, Jacobs,” Kennedy said, “you said something back there. You asked if my problem with Courtney was something specific, and honestly, it sounded like you had a particular something in mind.”
“This is really not the time, Kennedy,” Sal said. “Although it is good to know that you actually do have some sort of problem with Dr. Monroe. The first step to healing is admitting.”
“Just…shut up,” Kennedy snapped. “Fuck!”
Sal glanced at her quickly, alerted by the sharp edge to her tone. A scrape in the paint of her shoulder armor indicated that one of the bullets had struck her.
“If these motherfuckers aren’t in trouble, I’ll fucking kill them myself,” she snarled. With that, she adjusted her grip on her weapon and headed in. The animal sounds of rage and pain told him that whoever these people were, they actually were in trouble. He couldn’t tell if Kennedy was relieved or disappointed.
“Get ready for some action,” she said and leveled her weapon.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Unlike the animals that had attacked them at first, these appeared to be mostly reptiles teamed up with the massive grasshoppers. There were a couple that weren’t locusts, though, Sal realized. Not entirely, anyway. They had the same six legs and wings, but tails protruded from the back that made them look suspiciously like they might have merged with scorpions.
He shuddered because that was the last thing they wanted right now—the most numerous of aggressive creatures in the Zoo to suddenly grow pincers and poison-tipped stingers. Hell, knowing the kind of creativity with which these creatures were being created, maybe the pincers would contain poison too. Or they’d be tipped with acid, with their luck.
Sal held his weapon at the ready but made sure to record as much as he could of the tailed locust creatures before they were gunned down.
The animals seemed surprised with the sudden arrival of and attack by the four humans from behind, and after a brief battle, they backed away. Once the last scorpion-locust dropped, the remaining creatures quickly broke away and disappeared into the jungle again.
It wasn’t always easy to ensure that both teams’ lines of fire didn’t place each other in jeopardy. At one point, he was worried that Kennedy might try to shoot them on purpose if another round impacted her armor. He knew that it had to hurt, but more importantly, Boulos would charge them through the nose to have the dents removed.
Sal looked around once the animals were all dead or had retreated. He could say with some degree of certainty that the party that they had saved were Russian, or at least equipped by them. He didn’t give it too much thought, though, as he quickly applied his scalpel to collect the stingers of the new creatures as well as samples of the poison.
Kennedy moved in closer to the men. “Hey there. Correct me if I’m wrong, but are you guys from the Russian base?”
A couple of them responded in a different language that definitely wasn’t Russian
before one of them came forward.
“We are from the Russian base, yes,” the man said, but his accent sounded South African. “We really appreciate that you lot stepped in and helped us out like that. We’ve run from what looks and feels like the same group of animals for days now. They’ve backed away and given us some breathing space, but they always come back harder than before. It felt like this time, they might have had us. We really appreciate the assist.”
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” Sal said, “but Gregor said that it was mostly hyenas and panthers that attacked you when he was separated from the group.”
“Gregor is alive?” the man asked and looked shocked.
“I’d say alive and well, but he sustained some injuries and a destroyed suit that required us to evacuate him to the Staging Area,” Sal said. “He thought that you were all either dead or merely assholes who left him behind.”
“Well, that’s some very serious language from him,” the man said. “But we’re glad to hear that he’s alive. He ran our little team and kept a lot of us alive throughout the run.”
“Well, I’m Sergeant Kennedy,” she said and stepped into the conversation. “This is Corporal Ito and Corporal Carson. This is Salinger Jacobs, our specialist. Who are you guys?”
Sal studied the five men, including the one who had spoken to them. With the heavy helmets and armor, it was difficult to make out anything else about them, except that one had to be a medic since he knelt beside another. The patient lay on the ground with the left leg of the armor removed for treatment of what looked like a very serious wound.
“My name is Janko de Beer. These men are Kotze, Lutz, and Malan. The young man you see on the ground is Solaratov, the only other Russian assigned to our team,” Janko said. One of the others whom he’d pointed out as Malan looked up from where he treated the Russian’s leg.
“What happened to him?” Sal asked and moved closer.
“One of those new insects with the stingers managed to get some of the poison through a crack in his armor and under the skin,” Janko said quickly. “Malan is our medic, but since there hadn’t been any encounters involving venomous creatures, we didn’t think to bring any anti-venom with us.”