“I wouldn’t say it’s too bizarre yet. I mean, we’ve barely started. If nothing attacks, then it will be bizarre,” Roo pointed out.
They marched onward.
Zoo animals rustled in the canopy and the undergrowth. Thor barked at all of them. Sometimes, there was an answering call, but nothing attacked. Several creatures crossed paths with them but, after a glance at the dog, they moved on.
“Do you think they’re scared of him?” Charles asked finally.
Booker shrugged. “That doesn’t really make sense. I mean, this place is full of animals ten times scarier and deadlier than Thor.”
“Maybe it’s the time of day?” Roo suggested. “Maybe it’s the heat getting to them? It sure as hell is making me not want to do anything.”
“You never want to do anything,” the American said.
“You know that’s not fucking true.”
“Eh. Maybe not. But you sure do complain a lot.”
Roo glowered. “Are you looking for a fight, Yankee? Is that it? You want to see if you’d best me?”
Charles rolled his eyes and marched past him.
Booker clapped Roo on the shoulder as he walked past. “Lighten up, Aussie. You know it’s all in good fun.” When he was out of the man’s reach, he looked over his shoulder. “Besides, we all know if it came down to a fight, Charles would kick your ass.”
Charles laughed, and Thor bounced up and down, barking.
“No, he fucking wouldn’t!”
“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Booker said.
They set up camp just outside the glade that held their objective. The late start prevented them from completing the mission in one day.
Charles tied Thor’s lead to a stump.
“You afraid he’s going to run away?” Roo asked.
“Not really. Back in the camp, I don’t feel it’s necessary to keep him tied up, but out here, it’s better to be safe than sorry. There are too many new and exciting smells for him, I think.”
“I’m sure his nose is celebrating,” he agreed. “Imagine having such a good sniffer and then only smelling Booker’s dirty skivvies.”
The Brit flipped him off.
“Are you two going to just stand around talking, or are you going to do something useful?” he demanded.
Charles and Roo helped him set up their camp.
The American made sure to keep an eye on Thor while he worked. The dog had walked around the tree, realized he couldn’t go anywhere, and lay down.
He glanced up again from digging a shallow pit for the fire. Thor was gone.
“Thor?” He dropped his spade and rushed toward the loose end of the rope. “Thor!”
Roo stumbled into the small clearing, streaked with dirt. He dumped his firewood next to Charles’ half-finished pit. “What’s wrong?”
“Thor’s gone!” he said, holding the rope up.
“Where’d he go?” Roo asked.
“He’s fucking gone. If I knew where the hell he was, I wouldn’t have said he was gone!”
The man held his hands up. “Okay. Okay. I’m sure he didn’t go far. Thor!”
The two called for the animal. They paced in ever-widening circles away from camp.
Booker returned from scouting when he heard them yelling.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Charles gripped the front of his shirt. “Did you see him?”
He peeled Charles’ fingers from his shirt. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Thor’s missing!” Roo yelled. His voice sounded close by, but the other two couldn’t see him through the trees. He crashed through the underbrush to join them.
“Fuck. No. I didn’t see him. You sure he’s missing?”
“No, I’m just walking around yelling for fun. Of course he’s fucking missing!”
Booker winced. “Right. Sorry.”
They searched the nearby area, yelling Thor’s name until it started to be too dark to see. They heard Zoo animals crashing around, but the dog didn’t show up.
“We have to get a fire going. It’s going to be too dark to be out here soon,” Booker said.
Charles groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face. “I can’t believe I lost him.”
Roo patted his shoulder. “He’s probably still out there. I’m sure he’ll find his way back. He’s a smart dog. He probably just saw a rabbit or something and chased it.”
Booker glared at him over their teammate’s bowed head. “A rabbit?” he mouthed.
The Aussie held his hands up.
“I’m sure you’re right,” Charles said. “It won’t be any help if we get injured or killed looking for him in the dark. He’ll see the fire and come back. He’s not afraid of fire like the Zoo animals are.”
Night closed in and the three men kept their bonfire high. Roo insisted on taking the first watch. He and Booker forced Charles to try to get some sleep.
Roo watched the dark Zoo. He was worried about Thor but didn’t know how to help the situation. The Zoo animals started their nightly routine of snarling and fighting in the near distance.
He could tell they were being watched from just beyond the firelight, but he couldn’t see anything in the blackness.
Charles was on watch. He had gotten a few fitful hours of sleep, but it wasn’t much. Mostly, he’d been awake, trying to think of ways to find Thor. When Booker had tapped him for the start of his watch, he’d already been wide awake.
He listened to the snarls of the Zoo animals and tried not to think of the dog out there alone in the dark jungle.
The sounds of an animal approaching caught his attention and Charles stilled. A few twigs snapped, and there was the distinct sound of something heavy crushing leaves as it walked.
He raised his Remington in the direction of the sound. He sighted into the blackness, his finger on the trigger. For a few minutes, nothing moved. Then the creature started creeping forward again. As it got closer to the firelight, Charles saw its eyes. Two glowing red orbs blinked at him from the blackness.
Charles tightened his finger on the trigger, about to pull it, when the eyes disappeared. The animal had darted away. He lowered his gun.
Movement off to his left caught his attention and he swung, the shotgun up. Another pair of glowing red eyes looked out at him. Charles started to pull the trigger. The animal leapt forward. Thor bounded into the firelight.
He dropped his gun and rushed toward the dog.
Thor leapt on his chest, toppling them both. He licked his face. Charles laughed, running his fingers through the animal’s fur.
Booker and Roo woke up to all the noise.
“Thor’s back,” Charles yelled, still on his back with Thor wagging his tail and licking his face.
The dog bounced off his master’s chest to greet the other two men. He gave them the same treatment.
“Where were you, you silly wombat?” Roo asked, scratching behind Thor’s ears. “We were worried about you.”
“I almost shot him,” Charles said.
“What? Why?” Booker asked.
“His eyes looked red in the firelight. There were a bunch of animals close by and I thought he was one. I was pulling the trigger when he burst into the light and I saw it was him.”
“Glad you didn’t,” Roo said.
“Yeah, me too.”
Charles secured Thor to the stump again. He double-knotted the lead and checked it multiple times before he was satisfied that he wasn’t going anywhere.
The next day, while they were completing the mission, Charles kept the dog close. Thor didn’t seem traumatized by his several hours of being alone and missing.
The men watched him as they dug up the purple-leafed plants they’d been tasked to gather. Charles had checked him thoroughly for injuries, but he hadn’t had a scratch on him. They watched to make sure he hadn’t caught some sort of Zoo disease from the animals they were sure he had encountered.
Thor ignored them, except to lick a
face when they stooped to his level. He busied himself with snuffling through the plants and chasing the various bugs he scared into flight. He only paused to give Charles an annoyed look when he called him closer.
“I’m ready to be done with these plants,” Roo said after they’d spent an hour gathering. “How many of these do we need?”
“Franco said the order was for twenty.”
“Don’t we have that now?” Charles asked. He snapped the lid to his collection container shut. He frowned at the plant inside.
The roots pressed against the synthetic walls of the receptacle. The subtle movement reminded him of the way maggots squirmed on rotting flesh. The leaves—a deep beet-purple—gave off a rancid cabbage smell when they were disturbed. The whole area smelled of it as the men ripped the plants up.
“Yeah, but it’s always better to have some extras. Just in case Franco rejects some of them.”
They stayed in the clearing gathering the plants until they had thirty full containers.
“You okay, Charles? You don’t look so good,” Roo said, laughing.
Charles flipped him off. “Let’s just get out of here before the smell of these things makes me hurl.”
Booker slipped the last of the containers into his rucksack. “Okay. Let’s move out.”
The way back to the gate was as uneventful as their march out had been. Thor barked at several Zoo critters, but none made an appearance.
“I should get a better lead and then we can bring him into the Zoo more often. He’s like a good luck charm,” Charles said.
“It is weird that we haven’t had to fight anything. But I have a feeling it was just a fluke,” Booker said.
“I think it’s Thor being a good guard dog.”
“Really, Charles? Remember that giant lizard thing that spat acid at us?” Roo asked.
“Yeah.”
“You think that thing would be scared of Thor?”
Charles shrugged. “Why not? Elephants are scared of mice, aren’t they?”
“That’s an urban legend,” Booker said. “Besides, that’s definitely not the same thing.”
“Don’t listen to the two non-believers,” Charles said to Thor, who looked up at him, his purple tongue lolling and tail wagging. “You have to be good luck. You disappeared into the Zoo for hours and came back unscathed. It has to be a sign.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Container Alley, The Harvesters Camp
“Do you know what’s been bothering me?” Booker asked.
Charles shrugged. He placed the dog he’d finished whittling on the crate he used as a nightstand.
“Just fucking spit it out, Booker,” Roo said. He was sitting on his cot, sharpening his knife.
“That bleddy Bowser mission. I don’t like how we left it.”
“How we left it? You mean how it left us? On medical probation, itching like crazy?” Charles asked.
Booker shook his head. “You know what I mean.”
“Yeah. I don’t think any of us likes to fail,” Roo said.
“We have the mule now,” the Brit pointed out, “and I bet the swamp’s not in the way anymore.”
His teammates looked at him. He stared right back.
“Ah, fuck it. Let’s go get the three-headed bastard,” the Aussie said.
Charles nodded.
Booker grinned. “Great. I’ll go confirm that it’s still wanted. I haven’t heard that it’s been captured yet.”
He strolled to Franco’s, whistling. There was only a guard standing outside the door when he walked up.
“I need to speak to Franco,” he said. “Please.”
The man opened the door and disappeared inside.
The dispatcher soon appeared. “Booker, what can I do for you?”
“Is the Bowser mission still a go?”
“Yes. No one’s been crazy enough to attempt it since you tried.”
“Great. We’re going to go out again, and the next time you see me, we’ll have your animal—alive.”
Franco raised an eyebrow. “Feeling confident this morning, are we?”
“Just better prepared.”
He returned to the container to get his teammates to stock up for the mission. Thor tagged along with them.
“When do you want to head out?” Charles asked.
“Soon as we replenish our resources.”
“Sounds good to me,” Roo said.
Dan was finishing up with another group when the three walked in. He nodded at them and finished the transaction quickly.
The three men smiled at each other when they heard the other team leader swearing at the exorbitant prices. They inclined their heads at the group as they left the pole barn.
“What can I help you with today, gents?” the supplier asked.
“We’re going to need an electronet, six grenades, and six boxes of seven-point-six-two-millimeter rounds, three boxes of nine-millimeter rounds, and two boxes of twelve-gauge slugs,” Booker said.
Dan nodded. “You got it.” He gathered what he had asked for quickly and stacked the boxes of ammunition on the table next to the folded net.
“We’re also going to need fuel for our mule.”
“Oh, and we’ll need two canisters of propane,” Charles added.
“You guys preparing for bear?”
“Nope. Preparing for a three-headed monster,” Roo said.
The supplier grinned. “Shit. You trying that again?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes,” Booker said.
The man held his hands up. “Right. Sorry. Let me just get the rest of your supplies and you fellas can be on your way.”
When Dan finished filling the propane canisters and the gas can, he added them to the table. “Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Charles said.
Dan rolled his eyes. “Let me guess. You want me to watch the fleabag?”
Thor’s tail thumped on the ground. His master grinned.
“Fine. I’ll do it.”
“And please, don’t give him any beer to drink this time,” he said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The American raised an eyebrow. “Sure. Then where did Thor learn the habit of begging for beer when we go to the bar?”
“But he likes it,” Dan said.
“No beer.”
The supplier glared at the dog. “Snitch. And against yourself too, what a shame.”
Charles scratched Thor behind his ears. “Be good.”
The mule bounced around, jarring Roo’s teeth with every rut it went through. He glared at the back of Booker’s head. He swore the man was doing it on purpose.
He was positioned on the back of the mule with all the supplies. The rough ride was not only irritating, but it made him nervous to be sitting next to the containers of fuel.
“I’ve got movement,” Charles said. He raised his shotgun and fired.
The slug ripped through the oncoming locust and eliminated it.
Six others approached the rear of the mule. Roo fired his AK, quickly quashing the attack.
“And everything’s back to normal,” Booker said.
“Is it everything you ever hoped?” the Aussie asked.
Booker grinned. “Everything I ever wanted and more.”
After the brief attack, the Zoo lapsed back into relative silence. Soon, they ran out of road for the mule to drive on. Charles and Roo got off and walked next to it as Booker navigated the thick undergrowth.
“This is great and all, but we really need a Humvee,” Roo said.
The American rolled his eyes. “Already outgrown the mule?”
“Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, Charles.”
They were able to ride the mule half the time, and even having to walk the other half, they still made good time. Booker steered them straight toward the target’s territory. They soon arrived at where the swamp had been.
He stopped the mule and the men looked at the st
retch of land.
Already, the Zoo was growing back. Trees pushed up through the cracked mud and dried reeds. Fuchsia and brilliant blue flowers bloomed, painting stripes across the dead swamp.
“It’s pretty incredible,” Booker said.
“What?” Roo asked.
“How fast it all grows. Less than a month ago, this was all a wretched swamp. And now look at it.”
“Do you think they’ll really be able to harness this accelerated life and use it for good?” Charles asked.
He shrugged. “I’m sure someone will figure it out. The whole ‘using it for good’ part might be a little harder to achieve.”
“Let’s stop philosophizing about this and do the damn thing,” Roo said.
“Patience is a virtue,” Booker pointed out.
“No. Patience is the bitch I lost my virginity to.”
“You lost your virginity to a girl named Patience?” Charles asked.
“Yeah. It’s not really important.”
“Then why’d you bring it up?” Charles asked.
Roo groaned and rolled his eyes. “Let’s just go.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it, Roo?” Booker asked. “Seems like you want to talk about it. Maybe we should wait. Paint our nails and then all tell the story of how we lost our virginity.”
“Was it magical?” Charles asked.
“Fuck the both of you. This is why we can’t have normal conversations.”
“I’d like to point out—again—that you’re the one who brought it up.”
“And now I’m closing the door on the subject.”
“Suit yourself.” Booker grinned and shoved the mule in gear.
As they drove across the dead swamp, howls and snarls reached the men. They advanced cautiously until they spotted a small pack of the wolf-like animals fighting over the body of what might have been a crocodile mutant. One of the predators raised its head and watched them as they drove past. Blood dripped from its fur.
Charles and Roo kept their guns aimed at the scavengers as they passed. The animals were too preoccupied to bother the men.
“Well, that was disgusting,” Booker said.
“Won’t catch me disagreeing,” Charles responded.
Reprobates (The Bohica Chronicles Book 1) Page 25