by Michael Todd
Ainsley shot Mary a look as she shook her ass and continued, “Which means that we need to have each other’s backs out there. Jens is a fighter—we all know this. Ten years with the German army isn’t anything to scoff at, but this is the fucking Zoo. Krauts ain’t got shit on the things you will find in the shadows of the thick. Therefore, keep one eye on our warrior and your other eye roaming at all times.”
Mary spat. “Did you bring it?”
Ainsley tapped the top of his bag. “I brought it, but hopefully we won’t need it.”
Jens frowned. “Brought what?”
Ainsley sighed. “I wasn’t going to tell you because I didn’t want to freak you out, but I guess that cat’s out of the bag. We adopted a tradition of Horace’s. We bring in a couple of bottles of good liquor. If for some reason we get trapped out there and know we aren’t making it back, we drink until we either pass out or get eaten.”
Jens took a deep breath and put on a playful face. “Right. Knew a girl once who had the same policy. Let’s just say she never passed out.”
Mary whistled, and Horace glared at him. “Just a precaution. Obviously never had to do it.”
Ainsley clapped and pulled his long brown hair back in a low ponytail. “All right, put on your HUDS and let’s move out. Everyone knows their position. The map to the Pitas is loaded. You get separated, make your way back to Staging and we’ll meet you there.”
The group moved out. Ainsley took point, with Mary skipping along behind him, humming some strange tune. Jens was in the middle with Wizard behind him, and Horace took up the tail. As they stepped through the clearing into the jungle, the sounds and feel of the desert quickly melted away. The intense humidity hit Jens even through his suit. The leaves dripped a mixture of water and a blue substance that Jens could only assume was the sweet goop they were after.
Ainsley was right; it was easy to get caught up in the wonder of the Zoo. There was so much to see. Jens wasn’t going to get distracted, though. Through the vents in his suit, he could smell a mixture of soil, dampness, and something sweet that he hadn’t encountered before. He couldn’t quite figure out what it was, but it was almost enchanting.
Ainsley came over the comm. “You smell that, Jens?”
“Yeah. What is it?”
Mary giggled. “That is the calling card of a man-eating plant.”
Wizard chuckled. “I call them ‘Mary plants.’”
“Man’s off the menu for me. If they are lady plants, then I am flattered.”
Jens looked around for any sight of them, but he could see only deep green all around him. “What is it for?”
Ainsley chuckled. “What is any sweet-smelling perfume for? To lure you into their traps. Smells like a whore in church.”
Jens chuckled. “AKA Wizard’s mom on a Tuesday.”
Everyone laughed but Wizard. “My mother is a fucking saint, Schulze. Don’t you forget that.”
They laughed even harder, and Jens started to calm down. He was pleased to see his vitals returning to normal on his HUD. Each step was another minute he’d survived, one step farther than some poor asshole who had come in before him.
The trees swayed slightly, but Jens wasn’t picking up a breeze. Wizard whistled and gestured to the canopy. “Looks like the monkeys are having a party up there.”
Jens furrowed his brow. “Monkeys? I thought we were in the Sahara.”
Wizard laughed. “No, we are in the Zoo. This place doesn’t have anything to do with the desert anymore. It does what it wants to. These animals aren’t made for the desert. Shit, maybe they’re not even made for the Earth. They are constructs, creations of some alien race.”
Mary cleared her throat over the comm. “You think they are up there somewhere watching us? Like, got us on television like a reality show? Watching us stumble around in this deathtrap? Leave it to humans to get an alien missile fired at them, then go fuck around in alien hell just for money. I swear, if this thing wipes us out, we deserve it.”
Horace grumbled from the back. “We never learn our lessons. Now we are putting our babies in danger. It’s really sad.”
The group went silent, contemplating the Zoo and their place in it. For their first trek in, they didn’t go all that deep. Instead, they took a diagonal route across the thick to find a Pita patch Mary had scouted the week before. She had taken Horace with her, and the two had gone in and come out within a few hours.
As they neared their destination, they stopped and formed up. Jens blinked wildly at the patch of vibrant and beautiful flowers. It was thirty feet wide, and at least ten feet long. The jungle had cleared a patch just for them. A luminescent shade cast colored shadows all around the patch. The sun beat through the thin branches overhead and seemed to spotlight the flowers. It looked perfect.
Ainsley clicked his comm. “All right, team. Only took us a few hours to get here, so the way I see it, we won’t have to camp out here if we get going. Remember, do not pull whole plants. Gently pick the petals. The fewer bruises, the more cash in our bank accounts. When you have filled your bags, report to Horace. He will carry them out.”
Ainsley took the perimeter watch, and the rest of them spread out around the edges of the patch. The Pitas were not clumped too closely together, so they were able to walk between the plants without fear of disturbing them. Jens had never picked a real Pita before, but he had worked on a simulator that Ainsley had nabbed from a used military gear store in the town. He got down on one knee and ran his fingers gently over the petals. The plant seemed to sway with him, almost like it was a living and breathing person waving at him.
He reached into his pack and pulled out his bags, opened them, and carefully placed them on the ground. The first petal was soft under his fingertips as he plucked it and very gently placed it in his bag. “These things are wild. Is that blue stuff oozing out the goop?”
Mary looked up. “Yep, the nectar of the gods. The serum that will stop death, supposedly—not that any of us will ever see it. The meek will never inherit the Earth, ‘cause they can’t afford to live forever.”
The group continued picking petals. Jens loaded his in one bag until it was full, then gently sealed it. He turned to start on a new plant but paused. He heard rustling at the edge of the trees, which was only ten feet from where he stood. Suddenly Ainsley was there with his fist held high. “We have contact, team. Weapons up. Eyes peeled.”
Jens stood up. His hands were shaking. He knew he wasn’t going to make it out alive.
No. He couldn’t think like that.
Jens clenched his teeth and gripped his weapon tightly. He wasn’t going down without a fight.
Chapter Four
Horace slowly pulled his pack onto his back and narrowed his eyes. He raised his rifle and brought the scope to his eye. The tracker on his HUD zeroed in on a heat signature in the bushes, and he peered at the spot through his scope. “Looks like a Philopod.”
Jens stared at the bush, confused. “A what?”
Horace took one step back, his eyes fixed on the red heat sensor. “A long, slender, wolf-like creature with fangs like a lion. It’s got a spiked tail like a dinosaur, and a sense of smell like a German Shepherd. I faced one a few years back. They are trackers, for sure, and they run in packs. Keep your heads on a swivel; this guy is not alone.”
On cue, a tall beast jumped from the bushes and coiled in front of the Pita patch. It snarled, its fangs dripping saliva. The brown and orange fur on its back stood straight up as it focused on Horace. Horace stared right back at the thing, then squinted into the scope and squeezed the trigger. The bullet hit the Philopod in the head, and the beast gave a soft grunt and dropped.
Jens looked at Horace with wide eyes. Horace nodded. “Good thing a headshot takes them down.”
Before Jens could turn back, three more creatures appeared at the tree line. The team began to back into a circle. Mary gritted her teeth. “All right, boys, let’s mount these sonsofbitches and show them what we’re made o
f.”
Wizard shook his head as he pulled out his knife. “Baby girl, you mount whatever you want.”
With that, he surged forward. Fur-wrapped muscle swirled over him as he dodged wicked spiked tails and sharp claws. One of the creatures reared back on its hind legs and swiped at him, and he saw an opening and took it. His knife flashed, sinking into the Philopod’s chest. Wizard roared in triumph, jerking his knife up and out its neck. Green-blue blood splattered everywhere as it hit the ground.
Mary yelled and ran behind one of the beasts, jumped on its back, and straddled it. Its tail whipped up and slashed her across the back. She bucked but still held tightly with her rock-hard thighs. She leaned forward, wrapped one arm around its furry throat, and pressed her gun to its temple. “Fuck you, asshole.”
She pulled the trigger, and the bullet burst from the other side of its head. Mary held on as it went down, sliding across the ground. She flipped forward, hit the dirt, and tumbled past the beast. She tried to stand but groaned. Blood welled and spilled from the deep lacerations across her back. Horace ran over and picked her up, slinging her over his shoulder. “Hold tight, girl. Hold tight.”
Horace pointed his gun with one hand and fired into a furry monster. He paused for a moment, looking at Ainsley. “We are getting beat up out here! I don’t think this is where we want to be. These bastards are relentless!”
Ainsley nodded. “I know, but we don’t have a choice other than to keep fucking fighting!” He turned and cursed. His HUD was fogging up, and the readouts were indecipherable. Something was wrong.
He grabbed the latch on his HUD and opened it, then yanked it off and tossed it on the ground. Grabbing both pistols from his waist, he snarled at a group of Philos and fired. With each blast, he stepped closer to the three Philos. They took the hits, but they had Wizard cornered and were growling at their prey. He had a knife in one hand, but the other was clamped to his side. Blood oozed from his fingertips.
Ainsley fired a blast across their backs, and the beasts finally turned and roared at him. They jumped back as one red and white Philo was torn apart by bullets.
Ainsley rushed to Wizard’s side. He helped the white-haired man up and pulled him toward Horace. Ainsley made sure Wizard could walk, then turned to Horace. “Get out of here. Take them, and Jens too. I’ll distract them.”
Horace wrinkled his forehead. “No. Hell, no. We fight together. There is no human sacrifice bullshit on the schedule today.”
Ainsley groaned, knowing he was right. He let Wizard drop at Horace’s feet. “Give him cover.”
Wizard nodded. Sweat was pouring from his forehead, and his vitals were going wild. Ainsley whistled at Jens, who was backing away from the body of one of the smaller animals. Jens made eye contact and nodded. Just then, a massive Philo jumped from the bushes, knocking Jens to the ground. Jens rolled across the leaves, his gun flying from his hand. The beast pounced on him.
Jens couldn’t speak or scream. He knew he was gone.
Suddenly, a hand came down and grabbed the beast by the neck. Ainsley’s arms bulged, and he roared as he pulled the animal off Jens. Its claws scraped down Jens’ arms as it struggled to find purchase.
“Get the fuck. Off. The new guy!” Ainsley growled as he threw the beast back. It scrambled on the ground before Ainsley shot it in the snout, then snorted wetly and died.
Jens rolled over and crawled to his gun. He grabbed it, checked the chamber, and rose to his knees. Once he was upright, he started firing, spraying bullets at a Philo leaping toward Ainsley. Ainsley breathed heavily and ran over to him, grabbing a smoke grenade from Jens’ waistband. He reached down and helped Jens to his feet. Ainsley waved his hands to catch everyone’s attention.
He yelled as loud as he could, “I’m going to throw this! Get ready. If you can’t run with your pack, fucking throw it down. We’ll come back for them. Don’t worry about direction, just fucking go! Is everyone ready?”
Horace held tightly to Mary, who was draped over his shoulder. He reached down and pulled Wizard to his feet, and they nodded. Jens followed along, dropping his pack for good measure. Ainsley shook his head and pulled the pin, then threw the grenade into the center of the Pita patch. It rolled for a couple of seconds before smoke blew from one end, creating a wall between them and the Philos.
Everyone took off, their legs pumping. Somewhere along the way, Horace reached down and picked Wizard up. He slung the man over his other shoulder. Running with two extra people barely weighed him down. Jens kept his eyes on Ainsley, following him through the brush. He looked back every so often to make sure Horace and the others were okay. His legs burned and his breath wheezed as they ran, jumping over logs and fallen trees along the way.
Jens grunted in anguish, shaking the screen of his vitals away. They were off the charts, anyway. He had to get the hell out of there; it didn’t matter if his heart was on the verge of exploding or not. They kept pushing, trying to put as much distance as they could between them and the animals. When Ainsley finally slowed, they slowed with him.
Horace brought up the back, his face a broad grimace as he stopped and laid both Wizard and Mary on the ground. Both had lost quite a bit of blood but were still conscious. Horace stumbled and hit his knees, his own gashes and injuries finally taking their toll. He was cut in a thousand different places, which Jens hadn’t noticed until that moment. His own arms bled heavily, and Ainsley had a deep gash across his thigh as well as gouges all over his arms.
Ainsley dropped his pack and helped Horace out of his. “We only have two packs, and the sun is starting to go down. We can’t walk through here in the dark, especially not with my HUD broken and these two in bad shape. Jens, you good to help me set up camp?”
Jens, still breathing heavily, nodded. “I got you.”
The two of them moved quickly, putting up the few sensors and lights they had. They erected two tents, but no one wanted to go inside. The sun had begun to set, and the jungle was almost completely dark. Ainsley pulled out all of their food. He and Jens helped feed and give water to Wizard and Mary. Horace might be busted and bloody, but he was still going strong.
Jens bent down next to Mary and took gauze from his bag. He went to touch her wounds but she grabbed his hand, shaking her head. “That’s not going to do any good. I need a doctor. Just let it be for now. We’ll see if the Zoo lets me out alive.”
Putting the gauze back in his bag, Jens nodded. He helped her take a sip of water and fed her some food. She looked him in the eye. “You seem like a nice guy, but I promise you this place will change that. If you plan on continuing this line of work, I suggest you let it. Get hard. Don’t let it take you down.”
Jens chuckled, capping his canteen. “It’s not often a chick tells me to get hard when I’m supposed to keep a serious face.”
Mary smiled but then cringed. She leaned carefully against the tree.
Ainsley sat in the middle of the group. “If I’m reading this map right, I think we are only an hour’s walk from the Staging Area. We won’t make it at night. First light, unless we need to move sooner, we will head out and get you guys medical attention.”
Horace put his hands on his knees. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but not one of us, except maybe you, is going to last the night. We’ve all lost blood. On top of that, the Philos have incredible tracking abilities.”
Ainsley stared at him for a second, knowing full well he hadn’t a clue where they were. “What are you saying?”
Horace stared at him with cool eyes. “I’m saying you should go, and you too, Jens. Mary can barely stand, and Wizard is in and out of consciousness. I’ll protect them as long as I can. You two make it out, you send my family my love.”
Ainsley shook his head wildly. “No. Fuck that. I didn’t put this motherfucking team together to leave my guys behind. We’ll stay and fight with you, right, Jens?”
Jens lifted his canteen. “Fuckin’ right. I mean, I’ve seen the world. I can deal with fighting
to the death.”
Horace sighed and shook his head.
Mary cleared her throat, her face pale. “Well, if we got time to kill until time kills us, you better break out that liquor, my friend. I could use a drink.”
Wizard groaned and opened his eyes. “I second that.”
Jens chuckled. “The Wizard returns.”
Wizard pulled himself into a sitting position. “For one last hurrah. One last time on stage. Pass me the fucking whiskey.”
Ainsley stared at his bag for a second and shrugged. He shuffled inside the bag, eventually pulling out two bottles of Dewar’s. “We got Scotch.”
Wizard put out his hand. “That’ll do. That’ll do.”
They popped both bottles and Jens, Ainsley, and Horace poured out their canteens. They filled the tin canisters with liquor, and let Mary and Wizard drink straight from the bottles. Going around the circle, they each told the group something they would miss from being topside.
Ainsley dug his heel in the dirt. “Fucking good coffee. I’ll miss a good hot cup of really stellar coffee.”
Jens smirked. “Pussy. I will miss pussy.”
Wizard coughed. “You can’t miss what you never had, bro.”
Mary scoffed. “Shit, I know my lesbian ass is headed straight to hell. There will be plenty of that down there. But I’ll miss hot chocolate and snowfalls. I know, it’s girlie, but fuck all of you.”
Horace chuckled for a moment, then went somber. “I’ll miss my family. My wife and kids. I know I set them up real good, though, so they’ll be okay. But I’ll miss them.”
Everyone went quiet for a moment. Jens realized he was already buzzed. He smiled at Wizard. “How about you, Wiz? What are you going to miss? The Flash? Superman? Batman?”
Before he could answer, there was a rustle from the bushes. Ainsley put down his canteen and took a deep breath. “Looks like we got company. Do we battle royale or just let them come?”
Mary shook her head. “I’m not moving, that’s for damn sure.”
Jens could feel the alcohol surging through him, tearing through the fear he’d once had. He grabbed his canteen and his gun and stood up. “Fuck this. These shit-goblins ain’t taking me down.”