by Michael Todd
“I considered becoming a vet when I was in high school, so when I was twelve, I bought a bunch of books about animals. Most of them were about raising pets, so I soaked in a lot of knowledge. Besides, my parents let me have pets.”
“Well,” Addams said with a chuckle, “now I know who to call when my dog pisses all over the place.”
“I’ll give you my card. You know, when we’re out of all this,” Sal said and gestured vaguely at the Zoo. “I’ll probably need to get a card first, I guess.”
Addams laughed, but any retort he had planned was forestalled by Kennedy, who looked paler than usual.
“I don’t suppose…” she said, out of breath as she leaned on her knees. “I don’t suppose we could stop for a breather? And maybe some lunch? I’m fucking starving over here.”
Addams broke away to check on her. Sal couldn’t help a small twinge of jealousy before he remembered that whatever it was that his overactive imagination conjured about the two of them, Kennedy was Addams’ patient first.
He really hated the petty jealousy. It was idiotic. It also wasn’t the first time his mind had created this kind of shit to make his life miserable.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Lynch snarked. “Is the tough going making the princess—”
“Shut it, Lynch,” Kennedy responded acidly. The squad decided to do as she’d instructed and took a break. Sal tried not to sigh too loudly when he eased the pack from his back. The conversation with Addams had helped to keep his mind off it, but now that he dropped the extra weight, his legs felt like lead. He also felt a lot lighter than before. The odd combination of sensations made him carry the pack up to where Kennedy ate a couple of supplements the medic had given her. Addams and Cortez sat together and chatted quietly while Lynch stood off by himself, apparently still angry at everything and everyone.
“He’s like a petulant child,” Kennedy grumbled when Sal came within earshot. He assumed that she meant Lynch.
“No, no,” he said quickly. He sat and retrieved some protein bars from the packs that he dropped next to her. “This squad only has room for one petulant child. I’m actually quite proud and jealous of my position as the sole PC here.”
Kennedy smirked. “You seem awfully chipper these days. You wouldn’t be used to the trials and tribulations of the Zoo, now would you?”
“Not used to, no,” Sal said. He bit into the bar and made a face. “No, I’m merely trying to keep your spirits up. I assume those supplement pills help to restore the nutrients you lost when you halfway bled to death.”
“Yeah.” Kennedy pulled a similar face to his as she looked at the pills. “They taste like death too. And thanks for trying to keep my spirits up.”
“You know it. I’m sure you’d better get some rest when we get back to the Staging Area. I’d recommend it now, but Lynch would probably initiate a mutiny and forget to invite everybody else.”
Kennedy chuckled. “He’s never been like this before. I’ve gone on three missions with him. They mostly went without a hitch, and while I always got a bad vibe from the guy, he was always a stellar teammate. He didn’t complain about much, and he was a good person to have on your side in a fight. It’s just…him trying to persuade my team to leave me behind—and behind my back, too—gets me a little, you know?”
“Yeah. So, when you were crowned queen of understatement, did my invitation get lost in the mail, or was I not invited? Because I’d be offended if I was the only one who didn’t get invited. I mean, did you want Sleeping Beauty? Do you want me to go Maleficent on your ass?”
Kennedy tilted her head. “Well, of all the things I’d want you to go on my ass, Jacobs, Maleficent is not one of them.”
Sal raised his eyebrows. “I…huh…” He nodded. “I’m not sure what to say to that.”
Kennedy grinned and winked. “They never are.”
Sal scowled, shook his head, and looked desperately for a change in subject. “So, how’s the gun working out for you?”
She looked at the big rifle with a thoughtful expression. “It’s a little difficult to work the trigger, but I’m sure I’ll get the hang of it when the animals attack and our lives depend on it.”
“You know,” Sal said, “if it puts too much pressure on your leg, I could hang onto it—possibly even take over, and you can have your pistol back.”
Kennedy looked amused. “If this is a way to try to get your hands on the goods again, I have to say, it’s one of the most convoluted, evil plans I’ve ever heard. I like it. We should give it a try.”
“Okay,” Sal said and raised a finger. “Firstly, I didn’t grope you. It was in the heat of the moment and—”
“You wanted to cop a feel before we all bit it?” the sergeant asked with an eyebrow raised.
“I just… You know that I would never do something like that on purpose, right?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, I know you’re not the kind of guy who gropes women in the middle of a firefight.”
“Good.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll stop giving you a hard time about it, though.”
“Understood,” Sal grumbled and rolled his eyes. “Anyway, the second part of that statement was that I really think you need to rest your leg as much as possible.”
Kennedy nodded. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. Hand me my pistol.”
“Cool,” Sal said with a grin. She holstered the handgun and hefted the massive assault rifle into his hands. He grunted softly as she released the full weight of it to him.
“So, this is a Mark-Thirty-Five H&K Mechanized Assault Rifle,” Kennedy said. She hadn’t noticed his reaction. “They call it a MAR for short. Anyway, you can connect it wirelessly to your HUD, and that gives you a targeting reticle when it goes into combat mode.”
Sal nodded, touched the interface on the rifle lightly, and connected it to his HUD. A new option appeared that was marked as combat mode.
“Okay,” he said. “Simple enough.”
“The rifle is meant to be handled by the big metal hands on the suits,” Kennedy said and gestured to the suits the squad members wore. “You can still pull the trigger but need to pull hard. It takes about five pounds of pressure on the trigger. Anyway, keep tugging and you’ll get there eventually. Keep it tucked into your shoulder. It has an inside mechanism that reduces the recoil, but it still has a bit of a kick, so…you know, be ready for that.”
“Okay,” Sal said. “I think I’ve got the hang of it.”
Cortez moved over to them. “Do you feel you can move again, boss?”
Kennedy nodded and pushed to her feet. “I think we can get going.” She took a few moments to test her injured leg. Sal, for his part, found the added weight of the rifle to his original load made it considerably worse. He grunted as his thighs burned with a now familiar discomfort.
“Fucking hell,” he mumbled and pushed himself to keep up with the others as they picked up the pace. Kennedy, without any armor, was in the middle of a staggered diamond formation around her. Cortez took the lead with Addams at her right and Lynch at her left. Sal, toting his new MAR, brought up the rear.
He looked around as they moved forward. It was darker in this section of the forest, and for some reason, he felt unsettled—like the jungle itself watched them and disapproved of their intrusion. He held the rifle closer to him and tried to maintain the pace Cortez set. They were already closer to ground zero. He wasn’t sure how close, but it had to be less than fifty kilometers away.
The closer they got, the worse the feeling. He heard movement all around them. It made sense, he supposed—as the animal population grew denser, the more animals there would be to watch them.
Only a few minutes later, one of the creatures stepped into their path and they stopped. It was a smaller animal, one Sal couldn’t remember seeing it in the database. He had no time to snap a picture before it jumped back into hiding.
But soon, more creatures stepped forward to try to stop them. A handful even flashed teeth. One of
the massive panthers bounded forward and spat poison at the squad. It wasn’t acid, thankfully, so the thick milky liquid merely dribbled down Cortez’s chest plate.
“Well, now I’m officially grossed out,” he said. He shook his head and wiped the stuff off.
“They’re bolder,” Addams said. “It’s like they want us to stop walking into their territory.”
“If they thought we were intruding on their territory,” Sal interjected, “or maybe if we threatened their young, they would be far more aggressive than this. Or they would be if they acted like animals should.”
“This doesn’t seem like a warning to stay out of their territory,” Addams said. “Not unless many different animals all call the same piece of land home.”
Sal nodded. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
Suddenly, one of the creatures bounded out from behind a tree. It resembled the hyenas but was smaller and had the same bristles on its back as the panthers did. The animal rushed from behind, missed Sal by a whisker, but charged at Lynch. Sal raised his rifle and, in a panic, pulled the trigger. He missed, but he still hit the ground between the creature and Lynch. It panicked and leapt into the undergrowth. The squad spun and prepped their weapons for a fight, but all they saw was the animal’s backside vanish into the jungle as Sal rubbed at his ear to recover his hearing.
“You good, rookie?” Lynch asked. “Or do you want to try a shot at me too?”
Sal shook his head. “Nope, I’m all good here. How are you?”
Kennedy rolled her eyes. “Let’s move and maybe pick up the pace before these critters think we’re a new, self-delivering meal.”
Sal nodded, and they resumed their journey. The feeling intensified now, and Sal could see that his companions felt it too. The sounds also increased so that it seemed they were surrounded by a large number of creatures that tried to work up the courage to attack as they had the day before.
He wondered if he would have the balls to pull a plant out of the ground today. It didn’t even have to be a Pita plant at this point. The smallest bush might be enough to snap the pent watchfulness of the animals around them and send them into a killing frenzy. Sal sighed, closed his eyes, and tried to keep it together.
You got this, Sal. Pull it together. It’s not like you’re completely defenseless anymore.
“Come on, Jacobs, pick up the pace,” Kennedy called, and he realized he’d fallen behind. “We’re almost there.”
“Hurray!” he muttered under his breath and hoped his sarcasm would dull the panic that rose within him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sal jogged forward. As before, the trees seemed to withdraw from the Pita bushes to create a massive clearing. The squad had the first actual view of sunlight that they’d had all day.
“That has to be the biggest money bush I’ve ever seen,” Lynch said at the sight of the massive Pita plant. Sal took a quick look at the records, and there weren’t any this large on record.
“Holy shit,” Kennedy said and stepped forward ahead of the group. Sal was the last to enter the clearing. In the sunlight, he didn’t have to imagine the trouble that surrounded them at that moment. While still not visible, he knew the animals had begun to close in around them. They didn’t make the sounds animals usually made and while they were all different species, they seemed content to watch quietly.
It was more than a little unnerving, and Sal wondered if he wasn’t imagining it since none of the group seemed to notice anything odd. They all ogled the massive plant. Like Lynch said, it looked like the biggest payday the squad had ever seen.
He shook his head and joined them. At least the animals didn’t seem to mind when Cortez cut the flowers and sealed them into sets. Still, it seemed they waited for something else to happen, almost as if they stood guard. Sal wondered if they knew that there had been attempts to take plants out of the Zoo and were there to preempt it. But why hadn’t reports of this behavior reached the database? Was this new, or had the previous squads been too wrapped up in the thought of money they’d make if they got a plant out?
Both scenarios seemed equally possible, Sal realized as he ran his fingers over one of the flowers and peered into the shadows. He couldn’t see actual eyes, but he could still feel them watching him.
“What’s up your ass?” Cortez asked, and Sal jumped. He hadn’t realized the man was so close. “This is the score of a lifetime, and you look like you’re about to throw up.”
Sal indicated the moving shadows. “We’re not exactly alone here, you know.”
Cortez shook his head. “We haven’t been alone since we got to this Godforsaken place. You get used to it after a few trips. Come on, don’t let your nerves take over. You’re looking at a bigger payday than anybody here has ever seen on their first haul. It’s okay to feel a little happy about it.”
“This feels different,” he responded and shook his head. “Like they’re waiting for us to do something stupid.”
“Get your mind off it, okay?” Jorge shoved a fist into Sal’s shoulder. “There’s enough here for us to get paid and for you to whip up some more of that miracle stuff for the sarge.”
Sal tilted his head. “You know it’s only crushed flower juice with saline solution, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Cortez said with a shrug. “Who gives a shit? Whip some up while we collect the rest.”
Sal nodded. Cortez had a point. The guys had gathered what looked like at least five sets already, and the animals hadn’t attacked yet. If they waited for them to leave the clearing, it would be a good idea to have Kennedy up and running at full speed by then.
He sighed, dropped his packs, and groaned as he rubbed his sore shoulders before he set Kennedy’s rifle down. After easing his weary back, he retrieved the pestle and mortar and the rest of the equipment he needed, clipped off a couple of the flowers, and ground it to release the goop.
“Hey,” Lynch protested and turned to him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here, rookie?”
Sal looked at him with wide eyes. “I’m…making more serum to treat Kennedy’s leg is what I’m doing. What are you up to, Lynch?”
“No, you wasted the ruined ones to get the princess nice and sharp and walking again, but if you think I’ll let you grind up good money here to make something she’ll get at a hospital, you’ve got another think coming, Jacobs.”
It was the first time Lynch had called him by his last name, Sal realized. So far, it had been “laddie” when the man was in a good mood and “rookie” when he was in a bad one. He wasn’t sure he approved of the change. It sounded like Lynch might have other changes in mind.
“Lynch, shut the fuck up,” Kennedy snapped and glared at him.
“Nah, I have the right to speak my mind for a change,” the man roared and looked like he was about to explode. Sal was very conscious of the fact that he still carried his rifle. “You’ve ignored me all this time, and I think it’s time I step up before you lot make a powder of our flowers to snort up. This is mah money too, ya crazy fucks, and I won’t stand around and watch you waste it.”
Sal glanced quickly at the jungle. If clipping the flowers hadn’t drawn a reaction from the animals, the yelling certainly had. They moved closer, and some even stepped into the light. Sal could feel the tension emanating from them, even though most of the eyes he could see were now fixed on Lynch.
“Guys—”
“Zip it, rookie,” Lynch snarled, “ʼfore I shoot your arse so many times you’ll eat lead for breakfast.”
“Woah, that’s graphic.” Sal took a step away from the irate man as he watched the animals grow more and more agitated. He finished the serum as Lynch now seemed occupied in an argument with the rest of the squad.
“What is it, Lynch?” Kennedy demanded. She looked more than a little annoyed. “Do you want me to pay you back the money you’re losing on this trip? Is that it? It’s all about the money for you?”
Lynch nodded. “That would be a start, yes, las
s, but I think we both know it won’t happen. So why don’t you zip your whore mouth and not waste our money for your own personal beauty treatme—”
His sentence cut off as Kennedy slammed a fist into his jaw. The blow was powerful enough to send him to the ground. He tried to raise his gun and stand, but the sergeant, despite her injured leg, had already lunged to stand over him. She pinned the metal arm and rifle down with one foot and balanced there to hammer the other into the man’s side. Even with the armor, it knocked the breath out of Lynch’s lungs.
“Call me a whore again, bitch,” Kennedy warned and drew her gun. She held it to his forehead. “See what happens.”
“I think we need to chill the fuck out right now,” Sal shouted, which surprised the entire squad, even Lynch. They all looked at him, a little shocked. The sergeant looked annoyed at the interruption, while Cortez simply grinned. Sal wasn’t sure if it was at his outburst or because he actually wanted to see Kennedy and Lynch fight it out.
Sal spoke before anybody could ask him what his outburst was about. “Look around you, guys, and tell me that a little calm is a bad idea.”
They did, and Sal could see their instant frozen reaction. The animals had closed in on the clearing. A firm circle surrounded them, and a few had broken from the jungle shadows into the sunlight. Dozens of different species had gathered and all looked tense, but none of the predators bared their teeth or made threatening movements. They all seemed content to watch the humans fight it out.
Kennedy pulled away from Lynch and offered a hand to help him up. The man ignored her, stood, and cradled his bruised jaw. The animals seemed to lose interest and backed away. It was more than a little frightening how they all did it in sync with one another.
“I think we should get what we came here for and go,” Sal said, unable to hide a slight tremble in his voice. No one seemed to notice, but they did get back to work. Lynch, Kennedy, and Addams collected the flowers, while Cortez stood watch, his gaze flickering over the circle of retreating animals.