by Anna Hackett
They headed down another ruined corridor, splashes of paint still visible on the walls. Suddenly, two zombies shambled out in front of them.
Nik aimed and fired, but Nera was already exploding into action. Two fast slashes of her sword and the creatures’ heads rolled across the floor.
“I suggest we make this quick and then get out of here,” she said.
Nik nodded. They pushed on, and ahead he heard the low and urgent murmur of voices.
They charged through a doorway and Avril’s head snapped up, guilt stamped over her face. Galen stood next to her, and between them, an old metal safe stood open.
“You two picked a shitty time to go radio silent,” Nik bit out. “Zombies are here. The Centurions are surrounded and the creatures are in the building.”
Galen cursed, and Avril bit her lip. But the astro-archeologist finished rifling around in the safe. “It was important.”
“Well, you might pay with your life—with all our lives—so I damn well hope it was worth it.”
She pulled out a piece of paper, covered in a film of protective plas. “It is.” She turned it and Nik saw a hand-drawn map.
Nik frowned. “What the hell is that?”
“A map drawn by Captain Barth Blake.”
Realization burst through Nik. “You came in here, risked your life, for a map to the Lost Inca treasure?”
Avril carefully tucked the map into her bag. “It’s out there, somewhere. Imagine if we find it. We’ll go down in history.”
“You’re crazy,” Nik replied. “It was a myth, even in Terran times. You don’t think people tried following that map? And you know the rest of the legend—his partner, Chapman disappeared in the mountains, and Blake mysteriously drowned. Lots of explorers and adventurers searched for it…none of them came back from the jungle alive.”
Avril’s expression tightened. “A hoard of Inca gold, Nik. Artifacts, history, it’s priceless.”
Niklas eyed her. “And ripe for sale on the antiquities black market.”
Her brow creased. “What the hell are you talking about?”
He switched his gaze to Galen, who looked over Nik’s shoulder and stayed silent.
Nik wanted to believe Avril wasn’t a part of it. But he knew there were too many powerful people in the Institute who would sell off something as valuable as the Inca gold so they could line their own pockets.
“You aren’t a part of the Institute’s black market ring?”
She gasped. “Black market? Nik, you know the Institute does what’s best for historical artifacts.”
Nera, who was glancing out the doorway, pulled back. “You’ll have to have this argument later. Zombies incoming.”
Nik bit off a curse. “We need to get back to the Centurions. Now!”
The four of them moved into the corridor. A small group of zombies were loping toward them. Galen, Nik and Nera opened fire. They took down the lead zombies, but others were gaining fast.
One zombie made it through and threw itself at Galen.
“Shit!” Galen shouted.
Nik kicked the zombie, and once it was free, he unloaded his laser into its head. He helped Galen up. The other man hobbled and winced.
“Injured my leg.”
Nik spotted a ragged piece of metal stuck in the man’s leg. He reached down and yanked it out. “Not much we can do now. Put your arm around my shoulder.”
Galen gritted his teeth and nodded.
When they turned back, Galen was lifting his hand to fire at the oncoming zombies again.
“Stop,” Nik told him. The agent frowned, his weapon still aimed, but Nik grabbed his wrist and pushed it downward. “Nera.”
With a nod, she rushed forward, pulling out her sword. She swung the blade and turned, dropping low. She cut down two zombies before leaping into the air and swinging her lethal sword again. When she landed back on her feet, her sword above her head, dripping with black blood, the zombies lay around her. Dead.
“We should go.” She nodded down the hall.
Nik caught up with her, part dragging Galen. “You are magnificent. Let’s move. Fast.”
They ran through ruined rooms, and fought a few more small groups of zombies. Then they headed out through a smashed section of wall and reached the front of the museum ruins.
The Centurions were ahead, surrounded by zombies. Dozens of them.
“Dammit to hell.” Nik ground his teeth together. “Options?”
“Can’t they use the Centurions’ laser saws and cut through the zombies?” Avril asked.
Galen and Nik both shook their heads.
“The clearing is too small,” Nik answered. “They can’t maneuver around here to take them down.”
“We could fight our way through,” Galen suggested.
“We’d never make it.” Especially not with Galen hobbling like he was.
Nera was eyeing the trees. “We could try climbing.”
The trees glistened with the dark, oily substance coating them. “The black stuff doesn’t look friendly.”
“The zombies are going to notice us soon,” Avril said.
Nera yanked something off her belt. “I’ll clear the way to the Centurions, you run.” Her gaze met Nik’s. “Don’t stop. Don’t look back. I’ll be right behind you.”
Everything in Nik revolted. “No way. I’m not leaving you.”
“I’ll be right behind you.” Her voice lowered. “I promise. Besides, you’ll owe me. And I will make you pay up.”
The sensual promise in her words made his gut tighten. “One scratch, Nera, and I don’t care what you do to me, I will turn you over my knee and punish you.”
Her eyes flashed. “You can try.” She pressed something on the small metallic object in her hand. “Now, get ready to run.”
She tossed the object, and Nik realized it was a grenade. It landed in the middle of the group of zombies.
Then it detonated. But there was no explosion or shrapnel. Only noise. Nik winced at the high-pitched whine the grenade emitted, but while it was uncomfortable to his ears, the zombies howled. They fell to the ground, hands clamped to the sides of their heads. Their tortured moans were deafening.
“Go!” Nera yelled. She ran at a group of zombies least affected by the sonic grenade. She tossed another grenade and drew her sword. Black blood splattered the ground.
Nik ran, helping Galen along, but every footstep felt wrong. He wanted to race back to her side, help her. Dammit, he wanted to protect her.
But she didn’t need his protection, and would slap him down for it. He sucked in a breath. Being crazy about a strong, capable woman was hell on a man.
Nik shot a lone zombie as they neared the closest Centurion. The back door slid open and Avril dived inside, and Nik and Galen leapt in together. Solomon was there, slamming the door closed behind them.
“Glad you could make it,” the younger man said.
Nik pressed up against the side window. The sonic effects of the grenades had worn off, and the zombies were crowding in on Nera. She spun with her sword, lethal as ever.
“Come on, Nera,” he muttered. “Get over here.”
The others in the vehicle were tense, watching and waiting.
She wasn’t making much progress. Nik was getting ready to pop the top hatch on the Centurion and find a way to help her, when he saw her turn and run toward a tree. She pressed her boots to the trunk and leapt high. She grabbed a thick branch, her legs dangling above the zombies’ heads. Then with a brilliant display of athleticism, she swung, released the branch and grabbed onto another. She continued like that, from tree to tree, flying through the air with more grace than a space circus acrobat. Soon, she was above their vehicle.
Nik reached up and opened the top hatch. She dropped down on the vehicle’s roof, and slipped in beside him. Nik slammed the hatch closed.
“Damn, this stuff burns.” She tore off her gloves and dropped them to the floor. The black gunk on them was sizzling.
“Radioactive, t
oo.” Galen was holding a beeping scanner. He pulled some hazmat gloves from a compartment and snatched up Nera’s contaminated ones. He slipped them into a small containment box.
Nik grabbed her hands, studying their smooth lines. There wasn’t a mark.
God, he wanted to yank her to him, kiss the daylights out of her. But with the others watching, he didn’t.
“Let’s get out of here,” Avril yelled to the driver.
The other vehicle was already moving, its laser saw firing up.
“You got it,” their driver called back.
The Centurion lurched forward, and soon they were following the same path they’d come through. The other vehicle had moved ahead and they’d lost sight of it.
“Stars,” Avril said, her gaze glued to the windshield. “The vegetation’s already grown back in places.”
The laser saw was once again cutting through plant life. Nik shook his head, staring at the jungle. In the short time they’d been in the ruins, the jungle had already claimed back much of the path they’d cut earlier.
“What the hell?” the driver cried out, the vehicle skidding to a stop.
Nik and Nera bumped into each other. They traded a glance, then leaned forward, looking out the front window. Thick, black vines slapped against it. They were writhing and glowing an eerie neon green.
The driver muttered under his breath, then backed up. Then he aimed the laser saw at the mutant vines.
Neon-green fluid sprayed out from the vines as they spasmed, then retreated.
But the green substance sizzled on contact as it hit the hood, burning through the metal. Another splatter hit the thick synth glass of the window, and started eating through.
“Hell.” The driver backed up again. “Damn stuff is corrosive or something, it’s eating right through. And that’s military-grade reinforced armor and synth glass.”
Nik stared grimly at the fist-sized hole in the window. “We can’t risk getting hit by that again. Find another way through and avoid that particular vine.”
“Right.” The driver sounded dubious. Gears ground and the Centurion moved forward, then turned left to divert around the mutant vines.
The engine coughed.
“No, no!” The driver tapped at the controls, his hands dancing over the screen. Red lights were flashing. “Dammit to hell!”
The vehicle ground to a halt.
There was silence. Nik caught Nera’s gaze, and she raised a brow.
“What is it?” Avril demanded.
“That acidic shit has eaten through to the engine.” The driver peered at his control screen. “Looks like a crucial electrical cable is damaged.” He swiveled. “We aren’t going anywhere.”
“Hell. And look at that.” Solomon pointed. The hole in the window had grown, the substance continuing to dissolve the glass. Three long cracks were forming, traveling across the window.
“We get another solid hit by a mutant plant or a rampaging pack of zombies, I’d say we’re fucked,” the driver said.
“And not in the good way,” Solomon added.
“Centurion One, this is Centurion Two.” The driver tapped at the control screen. “Are you reading us? Our vehicle’s been disabled.”
There was no answer.
“Centurion One—” Static hissed across the line. With a wince, the driver turned the noise off. “They’re out of comm range.”
“They’ll come back, right?” a young agent asked, wiping his hand over his mouth.
Nik heard what no one was saying…they didn’t have time to sit around waiting for a rescue.
“What can we do, people?” Avril demanded. Her face was pale. “Options.”
“We need to repair the cable. I have a patch.” The driver cleared his throat. “But someone needs to go out there.”
“Great. Just great,” Nik muttered.
Nera stood. “I’ll go.”
Chapter Sixteen
“What? No!” Nik tried to control the fear-tinged fury running through him.
Nera turned to face him, her face calm. “Someone competent needs to go out there. I’m volunteering before you do.”
She was trying to keep him safe…again. “One of the security team can go. They have experience—”
“I said competent, Niklas.” She lowered her voice. “The driver can’t go, and the others are petrified to go out there.”
Nik gritted his teeth. Yeah, he’d seen the way the young agents were sweating.
“We both know if any of them head out, they’ll end up zombie fodder, or worse. I want us out of here.” She let her firm gaze connect with his. “I’ll be back.”
“I’ll go,” Galen said.
Nera didn’t even look at the other man. “You’re injured.”
A muscle ticked in Nik’s jaw. “Fine. But I’ll provide cover fire from the top hatch.”
Avril stirred. “We can’t leave the top hatch open. That leaves us all at risk—”
“The windscreen has a damn hole in it, Avril. We’re at risk anyway.” Nik grabbed a laser rifle that Solomon held out for him, checked it. “And she is going out there, taking the biggest risk of all, to save all our butts. I am going to cover her.”
Avril drew in a shaky breath and fell back in her seat, silent.
Nera looked on, faintly amused. Galen held something out to her.
“Think you’ll need these,” the agent said.
She took the set of gloves with a nod and yanked them on. Then she held out a hand to the driver. “The repair patch.”
The reptilian man slapped it into her palm. “Just wrap it around the damaged area. It’ll turn green when it’s repaired the damage and the cable is active again.” He held out another of the slim, black patches. “Here’s a second one, just in case. And a multi-tool, just—”
“In case. Got it.” She took the patches and the tool, and shoved them onto her belt. Then she reached up and opened the top hatch. After she climbed through, Nik followed. He jammed his boots onto the backs of the chairs below, his upper body poking up through the hatch. He lifted the rifle and looked through the scope. The dark walls of the jungle came into focus.
“Nera?”
She paused, perched on the roof.
“Be careful. I have plans that involve those long legs of yours wrapped around my waist. Come back in one piece.”
She looked like she was trying not to smile. “Same goes, Phoenix.” She turned and skidded down the hood.
Nik waited until she was crouched over the huge burn hole in the metal before turning back to the jungle.
He heard the zombies coming, crashing through the trees and vines. Their moans raised the hair on the back of his neck. “Nera. Incoming.”
“I need more time.” She didn’t even lift her head.
He scanned the trees. As soon as the first zombie came into view, he blew its head off. He kept working, taking them down one after another.
But more kept coming. “Nera!”
“Almost…there.” Her hands were still working inside the engine.
“Phoenix!” Solomon shouted from below. “More coming from the eastern side.”
Nik swiveled and saw another small mob pushing out of the trees. He took down as many as he could before he switched back to the first group. “Nera. You’re out of time. Get back in here.”
“I’m close, but it isn’t connecting. I need another minute.”
“You have two seconds to get your butt back in here.”
“You giving me orders, Phoenix?” She kept working, her head down, but her voice was edged in danger.
Oh, she was going to make him pay for that. Well, he didn’t care, as long as she was safe.
The zombies were getting closer, moving into a shambling run as they spotted her, crouched on the hood, in easy reach.
Nik’s heart was hammering so hard it hurt his chest. “Nera, dammit.”
Suddenly, the zombies stumbled to a halt. They milled around, their dark eyes wide. A few backed up, ma
king strange choking noises in their throats. Then they started back toward the trees.
Nik picked off a few more, frowning at them. What the hell were they doing? “Nera, they’re retreating.”
“Finally, some luck.”
Nik didn’t believe in luck.
And a second later, a huge black shadow slunk out of the trees, toward them. God, in this case, Nik hated being right.
Everything in him went cold. It looked similar to the mutant cat in the museum in Mexico, only twice the size, and it had two heads. Both with jaws filled with sharp teeth.
Its powerful muscles bunched, its glowing green eyes leveled on Nera.
“Nera!” Nik shouted and pulled the trigger.
The beast pounced.
***
Oh, hell. Nera saw it coming.
She slid off the hood, her boots hitting the muddy ground.
The creature flew over her, its huge, powerful body outstretched. It landed in front of the Centurion, skidded in the mud, and spun to face her.
Damn, it made the beast in the museum look like an expensive, pampered pet. This thing was huge, and those two heads, each containing teeth the length of her forearm, were the stuff of nightmares. She slid out her sword and felt like she was facing off with a giant while holding a butter knife.
Laserfire hit, and the animal twitched as though it had been bitten by an annoying insect. Its black hide was too tough for the laser to do much damage. Nera moved slowly. She wanted the bulk of the Centurion between her and the animal.
But as she moved backward, it walked forward, its movements slow and measured. It was hunting her.
“Nera. Inside.”
Niklas sounded stressed. She forced his worry out of her mind and focused on her prey. She still needed another minute to get the Centurion functioning. If they stayed stranded here, she was sure this monster would rip the vehicle open like an old-fashioned tin can.
The creature lunged. She tensed and jumped backward, her hip hitting metal with a burst of pain. But the creature hadn’t come far.
It was toying with her.
Nera didn’t enjoy playing games unless she was the one instigating them.
She pressed her foot to the Centurion’s footboard, then jumped. She came down on the creature’s back, and with two swift strokes, opened up the back of its neck. It wasn’t a bad wound—its skin was just too tough—but the animal let out a howl. It twisted both of its heads, trying to reach her, but Nera had already jumped away.