by Michael Todd
Billie took a deep breath, remembering the moment when she had been lying in the dirt, assuming she was done for. She had looked at the stars for the first time since she was a little girl. It was the last time she had done it, too. She had no time for frivolous fantasies—unless of course they had to do with her ops man. Then she was rolling through Fantasyville with a stop in Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down Land.
Billie chuckled at her thoughts as she stepped through the veil of the Zoo. “Choo, choo, motherfuckers.”
It had been a long time since she had been inside, but it felt both familiar and just as dangerous as before. The enhanced colors in her headlamp were vibrant and wild, and the vines curled over the trees. They shifted and hissed as her light hit them, but she just ignored them, not interested in a fight with a man-eating plant at that moment.
She pulled up the map on her screen. “Let’s see, where am I going? Probably some human-hunting saber-tooth beaver waiting for me there.”
She lowered her voice like her ops guy. “Nonsense. All animals have been digitally uploaded to your server. This baby is capable of cataloging and updating even when you switch off. She goes all night long.”
Billie rolled her eyes and pulled up the map, realizing she’d just irritated herself. The Pita patch was only four clicks northwest of where she was. She pulled her pistol and held it at the ready as she began walking through the thick.
Curtains of vines hung down, and she carefully moved through them into a clearer section of the jungle. “Excuse me, plants,” she muttered. “Not trying to wake you.”
Hickok knew there were probably a dozen or more new species of animals out there, not to mention the venomous plants that liked to hide under the brush. She didn’t care, though. She needed to get in and out so she could help JB. That was the most important mission on her mind at that moment. Besides, her new armor was state-of-the-art; a rocket launcher couldn’t pierce the shit. She was in the mood to boot-stomp some asshole predator coming for her at that moment. The Zoo was the reason her friend was dying, and the Zoo was going to correct the mistake, or she would release holy hell on the place. She wasn’t sure how, but she would nuke the fucker if she had to.
Shit, she had connections.
As Billie stepped through the undergrowth she paused, hearing gunshots to her right. “Computer—”
The HUD interrupted her. “My name is Isabella.”
Billie clenched her teeth, knowing her ops guy had programmed her with that name. Talking through her teeth, Billie continued, “Okay, Isabella, open the scans. I want to know if there are humans close by. Sounds like a fight.”
The system did its thing, quickly coming back with results. “There are five heat signatures four hundred yards to your right. Guns are being fired. There are also nine C83s attacking.”
Billie furrowed her brow. “Pull up the file on C83.”
The system flashed a large picture of a long, scaled animal that looked like a cross between a crocodile and some sort of taller four-legged creature. In the notes, it described the kill zone. “One armor-piercing bullet to the throat or chest will drop the creature and kill it. One to the head will roll it over for better access to the kill zone.”
Waving away the information, she brought her gun up and headed toward the scene. She was still a serious adversary, even more so than before. She was wiser, older, and full of tricks she had learned. Not to mention, she was ready for some payback to the fucking Zoo for all the hell it was putting her through.
She crept along the sidelines, looking through the trees. She turned off her light and used her infrared to find the mercs and the beasts they were fighting. A smirk moved across her lips as she leapt into action, dodging and weaving through the trees. She fired her weapon at the incoming crocs, hitting two in the head. Just like the notes said, they rolled over on their backs.
Billie hadn’t brought a ton of ammo since she planned on being in and out, so she pulled a knife and charged the rolled crocs. As she ran, another swerved toward her. She hopped into the air and grabbed a branch. Swinging her legs hard, she landed on top of the croc, blasting it in the head and then leaping on top of the other two. She jammed her knife into their throats one after the other and sawed them open. Blue blood poured over the ground as the life left them.
She could hear the other team continuing to shoot, but she was unsure whether they could see her. She didn’t care, though. She was there for her own reasons.
Hickok circled back to the third croc and raised the knife over her head. Plunging it downward, she stabbed it in the heart, pushing as deeply as she could until it died. She yanked the knife out and looked up just in time to see another leaping at her. She put her hands up and caught its jaws, slamming its mouth shut. Before the legs could get to her, she swung the beast in a circle and launched it into a nearby tree. She sprang after it and grabbed its head.
Reaching down to her shin, she pulled out a short sword and stabbed it through the beast into the trunk. The croc thrashed, banging against the tree until it went limp. She grabbed the handle of the short sword, grunting as she yanked it back out of the tree, using one boot for leverage, and wiped the blade off on the leaves on the ground. She raced toward the main group and staying to the side, fired her weapon at the crocs, helping the other soldiers control the fight. She was dressed all in black, surging through the night like an angel sent to help them.
When all the crocs were dead and the jungle was silent once again, Billie stepped back into the trees and disappeared into the dark. The only things she left behind were the stories of the ghost and the dead croc bodies on the ground.
FUBAR was hopping that night, crews coming in and out at all hours. Holly reached up for a bottle of liquor, looking at Paula. “I thought people were out of the jungle by nightfall.”
Paula shrugged, pouring three shots. “Apparently some company put a twenty-four-hour bonus on all Pitas, so teams are saying fuck it and going in and out in the dark. I think it’s dumb.”
Holly rolled her eyes. “It is dumb. They are purposely putting these people’s lives at stake for goop. Fucking stupid. At the same time, though, the mercs don’t have to participate, I guess.”
Paula smiled at Holly, picking up some shots. “No, they don’t, but money is a big incentive for a lot of them.”
Holly shook her head as she set a drink down and took payment. She glanced at Paula as she put it in the register. “Just like everything else in life, the rich prey on the poor.”
Paula patted her back. “Welcome to the world of big planes and fast cars, but only for the rich people.”
Just then, the door flew open and five members of one of the Heavy Metal teams walked in the door. They were covered in dirt and what looked like dried goop. The bar went quiet as they walked through, stopping at the bar and slamming a hundred-dollar bill down. “This is to get the team started. We got one hell of a story to tell.”
Holly took the hundred and put it in the register as Paula went to work taking orders. Holly pulled out the beers as they yelled the names out and set them on the bar. “What kind of story?”
The main guy was tall, with broad shoulders and huge arms. He took a long gulp of his beer and let out a deep breath. “We just fought a hell of a lot of crocs.”
Someone down the bar waved their hands. “What’s new? Those bastards are taking over.”
The main guy shook his head. “That’s not the story. I don’t know if I would be sitting here right now if it weren’t for the ghost in the night.”
Everyone went quiet. “Like Wild Bill?”
The guy shrugged and Holly cleared her throat nervously, trying not to let anything show on her face. “I don’t know who it was. It was fucking pitch-black out there and we were fighting for our lives, when out of nowhere this black-suited warrior ran through the trees and started slashing crocs.”
One of the guys nodded, wiping beer from his beard. “They started out with a gun, but then started just using their han
ds to slam crocs all over the fucking place. They pretty much used their knife to fucking gut the sonsofbitches while holding their jaws shut with one hand.”
The main guy nodded. “And whoever this fucker was, they did a backflip through the air, landed on a croc, and ripped its fucking throat out with their bare hands.”
Another patron of the bar called, “Bullshit.”
Another guy from the team shook his head. “Fucking God’s honest truth. This merc, whoever he was…”
The main guy raised his beer. “Or she.”
The guy nodded. “Or she. They were the most lethal thing I’ve seen in the Zoo in a very long time. By the end of it, they had flipped almost half the crocs, and there was nothing but heads and severed limbs all over the ground. Then they just stepped back into the darkness.”
The main guy shook his head. “It was fucking insane. We tried to track them to thank ‘em, but there wasn’t any heat signature or footprints. It was seriously like they were nothing more than a fucking ghost out there.”
Holly looked down at the drink she was pouring and smirked, knowing for damn sure that had to have been Billie. She had gone out to find Pitas but made sure to send these unsuspecting mercs back with one hell of a fucking story.
Chapter Eight
Hickok laughed as she turned on the heat shield so no one could detect where she was going. She put her dagger back in its sheath and pulled her rifle around in front of her. She was getting close to the Pita patch, and she wanted to get the petals and get the fuck out of there. She’d had her fun, but now it was time to go.
She paused for a moment and wrinkled her nose. “I sound like Ops. Fuck me, getting responsible and shit.”
She continued walking, not hearing much of anything as she went. Most of the animals were asleep; she figured the crocs had only attacked because there were mercs out at night, which was strange in and of itself. Billie didn’t give a shit, although she did wonder what the guys would say when they got to FUBAR. Holly was going to have to hold it together, hearing stories she knew were about her. Billie didn’t think it would be a problem, though. Holly knew it was important to keep her mouth shut.
The red dot meant the Pita plants were close. She reached a narrow gully and jumped down, using her climbing skills to get to the other side. When she stood up, she wiped the leaves and dirt off her and stared at a veil of vines between her and the plants. Slowly she moved through the hanging vines, not wanting to upset anything. She got through them easier than she thought she would but stopped in her tracks.
In front of her were a pair of bear-like creatures, each of them having two heads. They stood about seven feet tall, their claws were sharp and silver, and their fur was bright white with a long strip of black down the back like a reverse skunk. They both snarled at her and she slung the gun over her back again, putting up her hands. Slowly she lowered her right hand to her dagger and unclicked it from her belt.
She swallowed hard and stepped to the side, noting the plants right behind them. “All right, boys, let’s just take it easy now.”
There was no fear in Billie’s heart, but she absolutely respected the creatures. The beasts in the Zoo might be alien, but they were alive none the less. She was in their territory; they were only doing what was necessary to protect their home. At the same time, though, she was protecting the people in her life who had been hurt by that very thing.
One of the bears roared, the sound echoing through the trees. Billie tilted her head to the side. “Now, now, just calm down for a moment. You see those plants back there? I need those petals. I’m not leaving here without them, so you can either get out of my way, or you can die. The choice is pretty simple, and it is yours to make.”
As she talked, her HUD scanned the creatures, giving their stats. They were strong and hard to kill, but if you were able to get a knife to their throat, they died pretty easily. They were flesh and bone, just like her. The thought was comforting since she knew they wanted to eat her, but it also made it harder to want to take their lives. She might have become wiser with age, but it had also brought the realization of all the lives she had taken through the years. She made it a point to kill only when absolutely necessary now.
“I’ll say it again. Either get out of my way, or I will have no choice but to put this knife in you and watch you die.”
The bear to the right snarled with both heads and lunged, swiping his claws. Billie jumped back, slicing her dagger down the cheek of its right head. The bear stumbled back, screeching and clawing at its face. She knew she wouldn’t be getting to those plants without one hell of a fight, and she sighed and muttered, “I should have saved my fucking energy.”
Both bears took off at the same time, charging straight at her. She waited until the last second before turning sideways, arms in the air, and sliding right between the two of them. She came out on the other side and watched as they slowed their gallop, their sharp claws raking divots in the ground.
The bears turned around and snarled. The one on the left charged again, coming straight at Billie. She put up her arm and blocked a sideswipe from the beast, punching it square in the nose. She stopped, surprised at her own reaction, and looked at the blood trickling from its snout. She smiled and punched the other one, not wanting to give them enough time to react. The bear lurched up on its hind legs and roared loudly.
Billie took a step back and took a deep breath before lifting her leg and kicking the bear in the stomach as hard as she could. The beast slid back several feet and fell to the ground, gurgling in its own vomit. The other bear immediately attacked, racing toward her at a speed she hadn’t known bears could achieve. Then again, these were two-headed furry beasts, not really bears.
As the bear drew close, Billie jumped high into the air, bring her knees to her chest. Her feet caught on the top of one of the bear’s heads and she flipped over it, landing on its back. Billie laughed at herself for a moment and kicked her heels into the bear’s sides. “Giddyap, bitch.”
She lifted her arm in the air and swung it around as the bear attempted to buck her off. Before she could lower it, though, the first bear was on her, wrapping one of its mouths around her arm and dragging her off the other bear’s back. It sank its teeth into her armor, pinching her skin. Billie could feel the warm blood pooling under her suit. The bear shook its head back and forth, whipping Billie from side to side before letting go. She flew through the air, tucking her body into a ball before she slammed into the side of a large tree.
With a grunt, she fell to the ground and put her hands beneath her to steady herself while her ears rang. She took a deep breath and looked around, locating her knife a foot away. She coughed, blood splattering inside her HUD. She sniffed and crawled forward, pain surging through her. She wrapped her hand around the dagger’s hilt and slowly pulled herself to her feet. She’d had enough of these bastards; she didn’t want to play anymore.
The bears looked at her as she let out a low scream and charged straight for them. At the last moment, she veered toward the one on the right, her dagger in the air. When she got close, she blocked a blow from the bear and dragged her knife down its arm. “How does that feel, you sick furry sack of shit?”
The bear screamed, waving its other arm at her. She put up her hand to block her face and screamed as the bear’s claws pierced the armor on her shoulder and dug through her flesh. With gritted teeth, she grabbed the tuft of hair on the bear’s head. “I need those fucking petals! You should have just gotten out of the motherfucking way, you sack of shit!”
She lunged forward, tackling the bear to the ground. They rolled through the dirt and leaves, Billie not even feeling the weight of the beast as it rolled over her. When she stopped, she was on top, and the bear was disoriented. She didn’t hesitate, raising her dagger high and then moving her arm swiftly downward, stabbing the blade into its throat. Gargling sounds came from both of the beast’s heads as she sliced hard to the right, spraying the other bear with its companion’s
blood.
Billie pulled the knife back out and stood up, watching the life leave the animal. She wiped her knife on the side of her suit and looked at the blood pouring from her arm. She hadn’t brought a pack with her, so she would have to wait until she got back to tend to her wounds. They weren’t life-threatening, or at least not yet.
She stumbled slightly sideways as she turned toward the Pita plants, untouched by the battle. The HUD began to fritz, and Isabella’s voice buzzed in her ear. It was just her and the last bear, face to face in the Zoo. She reached up and unclicked her HUD, removing it from her head and dropping it on the ground next to her. The screen went black, but Billie had her eyes glued on the two-headed bear in front of her.
One of the heads was growling while the other kept its focus on the dead bear, whimpering softly. Billie wiped the sweat and blood from her mouth and forehead and took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to kill your friend. I think you know by now, whether you understand me or not, that this is war. I’m not here for the money or the glory. Those petals will save my friend’s life. They will mend the damage your home did to him.”
The bear stopped growling but kept its place firmly in front of the plants. It was obvious it knew she was there for them, but there had to be some sort of middle ground. Billie knew she might not have enough strength to get through another fight. She didn’t want to die in the Zoo, but she wasn’t going to leave without getting what she had come for.
Pulling her gun in front of her, she held it tightly to her chest. “I’ll say it again. I’m not leaving here without those petals. You can get out of my way, or you can die.”
They stood there in complete silence, even the trees stopping their normal swaying. Billie could smell the sweet odor of the plants behind the bear. She put up her hands and reached in her pocket, pulling out several zip-lock bags. “I just want the petals. I won’t pull the plant.”