The Veritas Codex Series, #1

by Betsey Kulakowski

  “Jean-René, did you throw that?” Katie asked.

  “I felt it come over my shoulder,” he raised his camera and saw the thermal figure of Lauren still standing in front of him. He turned the camera the direction the rock had come from. There was nothing there. It must have been Rowan, but why was he hiding? Only the thermal would have been able to see him in the dark.

  Miller, angry and hurt, pounced on the unconscious Mitch. He got ahold of his hands. He had them zip-tied behind his back. “You got him this time?” Jean-René demanded to know.

  “That jerk isn’t going anywhere!”

  “You killed him.” Billy came over and dropped to his knees, sobbing over the unmoving form on the ground. “Mitch?”

  “He’s not dead yet,” Miller said. “He’ll stay that way as long as he stays on the ground. Same goes for you. Don’t move. Don’t try anything.”

  Convinced the situation was under control, Jean-René started towards Lauren. She stepped out from the shadows. Even in the dim light, he could see her face was black and blue. Her hair was a wreck. “Are you okay? Where have you been? Where’s Rowan? What happened to you?” He hugged her.

  “I’m okay,” she said, catching her breath. “Those two numb-skulls left us in a dark cavern. Rowan’s hurt.”

  “You’re hurt.”

  “It’s nothing,” she said. “Rowan needs a doctor.”

  “Where is he?” Jean-René looked around. The first rays of sun broke over Mt. St. Helens.

  “He’s ...” she scanned the trees. Rowan staggered out of the tree line holding his injured side. “Rowan!” Lauren dashed toward him. She caught him, as he lurched forward. Jean-René caught his other arm, taking some of his weight from Lauren. A cry escaped the back of his throat all the same.

  “Nice shot, man!”

  “Shot of what?” Rowan’s eyes weren’t quite focused.

  “You threw that rock, right?”

  “What rock?”

  “Never mind,” Jean-René said. “Come sit down before you fall down.”

  “What happened to your tent?” Rowan paused at the sight of the fallen tree.

  “I’m just glad I wasn’t in it.” They got Rowan settled. He groaned as he was lowered to sitting. Jean-René steadied him.

  “Who’s that?” Rowan asked. He pointed at the guy in the Bigfoot costume.

  “That’s who kidnapped us,” Lauren sneered. “That goon in the monkey suit is the one that broke my arm.”

  “I’m sorry,” Billy sniffed, sitting down next to Mitch, still teary eyed. “It was a ... a ... a ... accident. I didn’t mean to.”

  Jean-René looked up the hill as something caught his eye. He thought he saw something move, but after a moment, he decided it was nothing.

  “Who triaged your injuries?” Katie asked, kneeling at Rowan’s knee.

  “I did,” Lauren lied. “I think Rowan has some broken ribs. But I can’t tell if his lung is punctured. He’s breathing better than he was when we were in the cavern.”

  “Your head is bleeding, Lauren!” Katie got up to grab the first aid kit.

  “A rock must have hit me during the earthquake,” she said. She put her hand to her forehead. The knot on her head sure did hurt.

  “What are these? Rabbit skins?” Derry examined the wrappings around Rowan’s chest as Katie returned with the first aid kit.

  “I found them in the cave.” Lauren came up with a quick lie. “It was so dark, I couldn’t tell what they were. They seemed clean enough. I didn’t have anything else.”

  “Where’s my shirt?” Rowan asked.

  “Lost it in the dark,” Lauren lied. Katie knelt in front of her to tend to her injuries. “We need to get Rowan to a hospital.”

  “When’s Bahati coming back with that damned helicopter?” Katie swore under her breath, but loud enough everyone heard it.

  “I’m better,” Rowan grunted. “I just wanna lay down. I’m so sleepy.”

  “Don’t do that,” Lauren said. “You need to stay awake.”

  “I’ll see if I can radio out for help,” Derry said, glaring at the rousing Mitch. The injured man moaned on the ground. Suddenly, the ground shook again. Rowan yelped as he nearly fell off the tree trunk. Leaves and pine needles rained down around them.

  “Look at the mountain,” Lauren tried to steady Rowan as she nodded over Jean-René’s shoulder.

  Everyone turned. A plume of ash boiled from the top of the barren volcano. It billowed up into the atmosphere.

  “What the ...” Lauren turned at a startled grunt from Miller, who’d been pushed to the ground by the fake Bigfoot. Billy scooped up his cousin and threw him over his shoulder. He made a dash for freedom in the middle of the chaos.

  “Stop!” Derry yelled. He fired a shot over their heads, but the frightened man didn’t stop. He disappeared into a dense bank of trees. Miller took off after him.

  “We have to get out of here,” Lauren said. The team hesitated, debating what to do. “Rowan can’t wait for him to come back.”

  “Miller!”

  “Let’s get to the clearing where the chopper can land. They know we’re here. They’ll come to evacuate us,” Katie said. “Miller will find us, if he can. If not, we’ll come back for him.”

  Lauren took Rowan’s arm. “Lean on me, we have to move.”

  “What about our stuff?”

  “Emergency supplies. Only what you can carry,” Lauren ordered. The continued trembling waned and peaked intermittently. “If nothing happens, we’ll come back for it. If something does happen, well, it didn’t matter.”

  Jean-René hesitated. When no one was looking, he picked up the backpack full of diamonds. He tucked it into his camera bag. “Hurry!” He rushed to catch up with Lauren, and gingerly took Rowan’s other arm.

  Chapter 42

  Keeping Rowan on his feet was a challenge. Intermittent quakes were enough to keep everyone moving. The mighty pine trees cracked and toppled around them. They dodged falling timbers more than once.

  Prevailing winds carried the ash cloud to the south, away from them. The sky darkened. Lauren realized the rumbling of the earth had grown to a deafening cacophony of shaking ground and tumbling rocks, cracking tree trunks and skittering stones. She felt her lungs burning, and her muscles screaming.

  Even when it grew quiet, her heart was still hammering. “Come on! Come on! Come on!” She urged Rowan on.

  “Lauren!” Derry yelled “Lauren! It stopped!”

  “Lauren! Stop!” Jean-René’s voice snapped her out of her panic. Rowan dropped to one knee, taking her down with him. Lauren fell back on the ground, her head throbbing. Her lungs burned. She struggled to catch her breath.

  “Rowan needs a break. Are you okay?” Katie asked. Rowan looked pale, but her face had gone bright red.

  “Yeah,” she panted. “I just need a minute. We need to keep moving. There could be more aftershocks.”

  Derry shook his head. “Take a minute, though.”

  “Can you radio out?” Jean-René came over and dropped to one knee in front of Katie.

  “I’ll try again, but I probably won’t get a response. Once we get to the meadow, we should be closer to the radio relay tower. I’ll try there.”

  “We have to keep trying,” Lauren said, catching her breath. She accepted a canteen of water. She held it to Rowan’s lips, letting him take a sip first.

  “We’ll be okay,” Derry said.

  Lauren nodded. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked them away. She didn’t want the others to see her moment of weakness. She was near her breaking point. She wanted nothing more than to see that helicopter come over the rise.

  “Lauren,” Rowan lifted her chin. He inspected her black eye and bruised cheek. “It’s ... okay. We’re going ...to be okay.”

  She sniffed and nodded. “I know,” she said, stoically. Rowan held onto her and pulled her into him, leaning on her heavily. She reached up under his shoulders and clung to him. It was all her fault Rowan
was hurt. She knew he wasn’t the kind who liked to admit to being vulnerable, but he was just as mortal as the next guy. She couldn’t bear thinking how badly hurt he was, even though he seemed improved under the care of the Bigfoot healer.

  “What is it?” Rowan asked.

  “Can we please just keep moving?” She sat back on her heels.

  “Okay. Just not ... such ...a break-neck ... speed, okay?”

  Lauren nodded. She got to her feet and helped Rowan up. He grimaced as she steadied him. She kept her back to the others as she turned and headed up the mountain toward the meadow.

  Chapter 43

  Billy stopped running when the shaking quit. He sat his cousin down against a tree. “Mitch? Wake up, will ya?” He shook him. He sat back on his heels when Mitch groaned and opened his eyes tentatively. “I thought you were dead.”

  “Not yet,” Mitch grumbled. “Get these things off me.”

  “I got my hunting knife on under my Bigfoot costume,” Billy said. “But I can’t reach it.” He held up his own bound hands.

  “You’re telling me you can’t break those off?” Mitch patronized him. He scooted himself up off his hands. While Billy’s hands had been bound in front of him, Mitch’s were bound behind him.

  Billy strained against the plastic zip tie until his face turned red and a bead of sweat ran down his forehead. They wouldn’t budge. “I can’t do it, Mitch.” He panted.

  “Come on, buddy.” Mitch’s voice softened. “You’re a big bad Bigfoot. You can do anything. Remember? You’re stronger. You can run faster and do all kinds of smart stuff when you have your Bigfoot costume on.”

  Billy smiled, blushing. “I am stronger.”

  “Prove it, man.”

  Billy gritted his teeth and set his jaw. He pressed his arms apart until the plastic stretched and finally snapped. He nearly punched Mitch in the face before he caught himself. He looked surprised but quite pleased. “I did it! Mitch! Did you see me? I did it!”

  “Good job, Billy. Now get the knife and cut me loose.”

  Billy struggled with the zipper in the back, dancing around trying to reach it. Once he got a hold of it, he was able to work it down. He only had to shrug his massive shoulders to get the zipper to slide the rest of the way down. From there, he was able to peel out of the fake fur suit. He left it hanging at his waist as he found the Buck knife on his belt.

  “Don’t cut me. Okay?”

  “I’ll be real careful, Mitch,” Billy promised. With a careful hand, he cut the zip-ties and Mitch was free.

  Mitch smacked him affectionately on the head. “Good job, dork,” Billy smiled. “Now give me the knife. We’re gonna go get our loot.”

  “But the policemen took it.”

  “They weren’t real police.” Mitch took the Buck knife and waited for Billy to hand over the sheath so he could put the knife on his own belt.

  “But ... we can come back and get some more rocks,” Billy said. “I don’t wanna be in any more trouble.”

  “Don’t be such a baby, Billy. We’re not gonna get in any trouble in the first place. Let’s get our rocks. Then, we’ll get the hell out of here. No one’s gonna tattle on us. We’ll be long gone before anyone finds out.”

  “Where we gonna go?”

  “Wherever you want to go, I guess,” Mitch said.

  “Can we go to Portland?”

  “What’s in Portland?”

  Billy shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been there.”

  Mitch smiled. “Okay,” he said. “We’ll go to Portland. Just as soon as we get our rocks back.”

  The sound of a broken branch cracked behind them. Mitch ducked, pulling Billy behind a tree. Someone was following them. Mitch had only seconds to get his bearings and figure out where they were, and where to find the idiots who stole his diamonds. He wasn’t about to let them get away with his loot. He’d worked too hard to get the whole ruse set up. They’d scared away hikers and tourists, and even other jokers like Billy in fake Bigfoot suits. This was his payload. He had plans to go to Mexico. He would find a beach and get drunk every day. He might find him some sweet little señorita with big boobs and let her screw him to death. That was how he wanted to go out. Hopefully that would take a long time.

  * * *

  An hour later, Mitch was sure they were lost, but he was certain they’d lost whoever was tailing them. He didn’t blame Billy for getting them lost. He’d done a good job getting them out of that camp, but he must have run willy-nilly through the forest. It didn’t help that the ground kept shaking or that the volcano acted like it might blow its top any minute. He didn’t care about that. He just wanted his rocks.

  “Do you think they’re alright?” Mitch heard the voice before he saw anyone. He managed to grab Billy and pull him back down behind a large boulder.

  “I hope so,” Pauline said. “We should have found them by now.”

  “Could you tell whose tent was flattened?” The people didn’t see them as they passed. Mitch knew they had the drop on them.

  “I think it was Jean-René’s,” Pauline said. “Why would they go off and leave all their supplies?”

  “If the ground was shaking as hard here ...”

  Mitch jumped out from behind the boulder and clobbered the man over the head with a rock. The woman jumped and yelped, backing into Billy, who wrapped his arms around her and held his hand over her mouth, growling at her.

  “Hello, Doll-face,” Mitch smiled.

  “What the ...” The curse was muffled as Pauline struggled. The hand wrapped around her arm was humongous and unyielding, not to mention hairy.

  “Shut up,” Mitch ordered. He pulled the knife out of its sheath. He held it up as he walked over to her and pressed the blade against her face. “If you scream or make a peep, I will cut you. Understand?”

  She nodded, wide-eyed. Billy took his hand away from her mouth. She kept her lips pinched tightly shut for a moment before demanding “Who are you? What do you want?”

  “You know the people that were there at the camp site?” Mitch asked. She nodded. “They took something from me, and I want it back. You’re going to help me get it.”

  “Okay,” she said, not fully understanding the predicament. “I’ll get it for you as soon as we find them.”

  Mitch smiled. “Good. Then I don’t need him.” He reached down and caught the unconscious FBI agent by the hair and tipped his head back. He drew the blade across his throat in one swift motion. Blood gushed and Pauline gasped, covering her face with her hands. Mitch tossed the dying agent to the ground. He drew back his fist and struck her in the stomach. She dropped to her knees but moved to roll the agent over. She felt his life ebbing from his veins as she clamped her hand over the wound, trying to save him.

  “Get up!” Mitch pulled her up by her ponytail, putting the bloody knife to her throat. She could smell the blood and almost taste iron on her lips. She struggled in vain to free her hair from Mitch’s grasp. “On your feet, and not another peep!”

  Chapter 44

  Mitch was emboldened by his hostage. Despite Billy’s protests about killing the FBI man, he pressed on. They caught up with the other group just shy of the meadow. He marched right up to them, with Pauline in front of him. He held the knife pressed firmly to her throat.

  “Give me my backpack!” he demanded. “No discussion. No arguments. Just give me what’s mine and I’ll let her go.”

  “He killed Joshua,” Pauline sobbed.

  Rowan and Lauren stopped. Rowan struggled to catch his breath. Miller and Katie took a more offensive stance, while Jean-René turned so the guys couldn’t see he had their pack in his camera bag. Lauren put up a cautious hand. “Just let her go.”

  “Not without what’s mine,” Mitch dug the blade into her skin. She yelped. Fresh blood ran down the front of her fern-green uniform shirt.

  It appeared to be superficial, but it was frightening none the less. Lauren backed up. “Okay. Okay!” She glanced at Jean-René. “Gi
ve it to him.” He pursed his lips and hesitated a moment. He didn’t think she’d seen him pick it up. Begrudgingly, he unshouldered his bag. He took out Mitch’s bag of stones. He held it out, taking a tentative step towards him. A deep rumble reverberated all around them. The ground heaved, nearly upending them all. Mitch didn’t even flinch. He narrowed his eyes coldly at Jean-René. The camera man looked towards the volcano. His jaw dropped.

  Mitch’s gaze followed Jean-René’s gaze. Above the barren dome, a silver object appeared from behind the plume of ash. Then there was another ... and another.

  Three objects arranged into a V formation circled the volcano. They maneuvered like a flock of geese. Below, everyone on the ground were momentarily blinded by a glowing blue light as the three objects came together into a unified disc. It hovered above, seeming to lower. It kicked up dirt and rock, sandblasting them with grit.

  Mitch took the momentary distraction to make his move. He dropped Pauline and snatched the pack from Jean-René’s outstretched hand. He grabbed Billy’s sleeve. They turned and bolted from the edge of the clearing. They disappeared into the woods.

  Lauren rushed to Pauline’s side, shielding her from the dust storm around them. Her gaze returned to the disc. It hovered a moment longer before lifting higher. It shot off and was gone.

  “Are you okay?” Lauren asked Pauline once the dust began to settle.

  “What the hell was that?” Pauline gasped.

  “God only knows,” Lauren said, under her breath. She moved Pauline’s hand to inspect the wound on her neck.

  “How bad is it?”

  “It’s not as bad as you’d think,” Lauren said. “Nothing more than a flesh wound.” Lauren found a tear in Pauline’s untucked shirttail and ripped a section of it off. It was clean enough for her purposes. She tied it gingerly around her neck, creating a temporary bandage. “You’re okay. Keep pressure on it until the bleeding stops.”

  The team froze as Miller dashed out from the tree line, breathless. “Where’d they go? Everyone okay?”