He picked up a stick, checked his digital watch, and drew a line in the dirt about a foot ahead of his toes. "From the visions Dolos gave us, this is where the dome will close in about two minutes. We barely made it here in time." Then he threw a stick at the bags.
The branch sailed through the air and everyone in his group watched as it landed perfectly on top of the nearest bag...and bounced off. Cole blew out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding. As a test for traps, it hadn’t been a very good one, but he felt better now.
He started forward, and his group hurried across the line he’d drawn. As soon as they did, the sound of someone clapping came from the other side of the clearing. Several figures walked out from between the trees, revealing the other hiking group. Both groups were about the same distance from the supply drops.
Cole scanned them and felt dread in the pit of his stomach. Where is Ray Casey?
Ricardo, the head guide, had been the one clapping. He was smiling, but something about the man's expression did not sit well with Cole. Ricardo said, "Well, well, well. Looks like Dolos was right."
Cole's instincts screamed at him a warning, telling him the conversation was already off to a bad start. Now that he saw the group and thought about it, he briefly wondered why both guides had gone with one group to begin with. He’d been so preoccupied with Kiddy when they’d first gotten to the island he hadn’t even noticed. Cole mentally gave himself a rough shake and pulled himself back to the present. He held up his hands and said, "There are two bags. One for each group. Nobody has to fight, in fact, we could all join together. Why would Dolos save all of us just to let only one of us live?"
He kept his eyes moving, scanning the other group, and noticed their expressions. Warren's face had tracks through the grime like he had just been crying. Kenan had the same flat look he’d worn when Cole had picked him up from prison. Javier, the other guide, was twitching. Cole thought he might be on drugs. He recognized that kind of twitch from junkies he had seen coming in and out of his foster parents’ home.
The normally stoic Jarret Freidhof, one of his college buddies, looked awful. His face was grave, and he was slightly shaking his head while mouthing something. What was he saying? Cole tried to read his lips and finally understood the one word his friend was trying to communicate. "Run."
With a start, Cole noticed that Mohammad’s hands were on fire but the flames didn't burn him. The young man seemed to be looking to Ricardo for what to do next.
Ricardo shrugged, smirking at Cole’s wandering attention and meeting his eyes. "I think you're wrong. But to be honest, I don't really care about this...experiment. I'm just grateful God finally answered my prayers and I was given a playground to play in."
This is going nowhere fast, Cole thought. He struggled to hold onto his optimism, but he could feel it breaking, and his heart kept sinking with a terrible premonition. "Jarret," he asked. "Where is Ray?"
Jarret shook his head in denial and sorrow. Then he disappeared. In the corner of his vision, Cole noticed Ricardo began to move.
"Cole! Protect my wife!" Sheriff barked, and he rushed forward.
Everything happened at once.
The dome above flashed and shrank in an instant. The trees behind the glowing orange barrier began to catch on fire. Monsters’ and animals’ screams echoed from behind the dome wall.
Ricardo's grin widened into a predatory smile as he slowly stalked forward. "Kill them and bring me those supplies!" he ordered.
Chapter 6
Everything seemed to happen at once.
Sheriff rushed forward, and Nadia grabbed Annie Satin’s wrist, pulling her back. Kiddy took a few stones out of his pockets as he ran behind a tree.
Cole realized the gamer was being smart. Nobody knew what the other group could do yet. Part of him felt sad that nobody on the other side had just immediately defected, tried to leave the aggressors, but he needed to live in the moment, not might-have-beens. Almost everyone else was running toward the supplies, and at the same time, a handful of mutated gorillas erupted out of the trees, heading between the two groups.
“Crap crap crap crap crap,” he muttered, then he yelled, "Holly, help Nadia with Mrs. Satin and find cover! Nadia, wait for my signal! I'm going for the bags!"
Cole sprinted forward, but halfway to the supply drop, Sheriff tackled him from behind. They both tumbled to the ground, and Cole yelped, “Wha--” right before a crack split the air. He rolled free in time to see Ricardo lining up another shot with a pistol.
Crashing noises to one side drew Cole’s attention and he saw the group of monster gorillas running straight toward Ricardo now. He thought he saw more coming out of the jungle, too, likely attracted by the noise of the gun firing. Ricardo almost didn’t see them in time, but recovered, yelling as he backed up and fired at the misshapen animals.
Someone in the other group dropped to the ground with a startled cry, and Cole thought he saw a stone flying through the air behind them. It looked like Kiddy’s aim was off, but he’d still hit someone from his firing position.
Suddenly, the other Costa Rican guide near Ricardo, the twitchy one, yelled in Spanish and threw something. The cluster sailed to one side, and Cole thought they might be grenades or some other kind of weapon. He put his hands over his head, fearing an explosion, but when nothing happened other than a few more gunshots, he looked up and realized that they were smoke bombs.
The man’s goal had clearly been to blind Cole’s side, but the faint wind through the jungle began sending the smoke over the entire clearing. The crawling wall of blue-grey was already nearing Cole’s position.
“Crap crap crap!” he grunted. Sheriff had already gotten up, moving into the smoke. Smart, thought Cole. Visibility was already bad, but he looked at the other side of the clearing where most, if not all of the gorillas were already down. Ricardo might be out of bullets, but Cole betting his life on that assumption didn’t seem very wise. Sheriff had obviously thought the same, and Cole followed the older man directly into the smoke.
Yelling and crashes penetrated the grey curtain hanging over the clearing, but Cole grimly stumbled forward toward the supplies. He didn’t only have his own hunger to worry about. Nadia and the others needed these supplies too.
When he judged he was almost to the duffel bags, he saw the faint outline of something glowing at the edge of his vision. Acting on instinct, he dropped to a soccer slide, ducking under a ball of flame flying through where his head had just been. Mohammad stood on the other side of the supplies with a sickly grin on his face. The man’s eyes were wild, and he said, "I always wondered who would win in a fight between us. You've got your MMA but I've got thirty pounds on you. Oh, and I have this now too."
His hand flared, and he cocked back like he was going to throw something. When his arm snapped forward, another ball of fire sped toward Cole.
Cole managed to roll out of the way, tucked his chin, and scissored back to his feet. In another second, he was up within punching distance of Mohammad. “So you're gonna kill us now?"
Mohammad moved back, and Cole’s nasty jab didn’t hit anything but air. The taller man laughed. "It's eat or be eaten, man. Always has been. Now it’s just more obvious."
Cole's vision unfocused, and he slipped between two fast, savage, but clumsy strikes. This fight would be much different than an MMA match. This was his worst nightmare, a life-and-death fight with someone he knew. Cole wished everything was happening differently, but he wasn’t a pacifist. He didn’t want to die, didn’t want Holly or Kiddy to die, so lying down without a fight was out of the question. The noises around him seemed to grow distant and it was almost like he watched himself flip a switch, accepting the reality of the situation.
Mohammad threw powerful haymakers, and he was an athletic guy, but Cole had trained to judge distances correctly. If any of the powerful strikes had connected, Cole would be in trouble, but big, wide punches like this were slow and telegraphed. Part of him noted that the bigger
man should have tackled him, taking him to the ground, maybe used his fire abilities there.
Cole kept his fingers loose, parrying a punch or two, retreating carefully so he wouldn’t trip over anything. He kept fearing he’d be shot, or a monster would run out of the smoke, but none did.
When Mohammad went in for a throat grab, Cole knew it was time to counter. He slapped his open palm against Mohammad's elbow, using the big man’s momentum against him. Mohammad stumbled forward, cursing, and Cole snapped a kick to his groin. Just like that, at least two hundred pounds of pure muscle turned into a wet noodle, the other man’s knees buckling beneath him.
Before his enemy fell to the ground, Cole channeled his entire weight from his back foot to his wrist, whipping his momentum forward into a palm strike low to Mohammad's temple, right above the jaw. The guy was out cold before he even touched the ground. Cole jumped over him, feeling sadness, but no pity for someone who had attacked him with deadly force.
He found the supplies in a few steps but realized one of the duffels was gone. The smoke was starting to clear up a bit, so he was able to see the jittery guide about ten feet away. His name is Javier, that’s right, Cole suddenly remembered. The man smiled, and in that moment, Cole noticed an absurd number of details, like the burning jungle behind the distant barrier, and how Javier had a bandana around both his forehead and his neck. The guide’s gold chain glittered as a light from the orange dome overhead leaked through the smoke.
Javier’s eyes were fuzzy. He’s high as a kite, Cole thought. The big stick in the man’s hands, held quarterstaff-style, was no joke, though. When Javier sprung forward to attack, Cole heaved the duffel bag in his hands to block it. Then he got a feeling, like he knew where Javier would attack next, and trusted his gut. He twisted his body awkwardly, and the stick barely missed pulping his knee.
At that moment, Sheriff strode out of the smoke, throwing a nasty strike with his machete. Javier managed to backpedal, and kept the older man at bay with his longer weapon. It seems there are some limits to precognition, or maybe Sheriff isn’t using his power, thought Cole. That might be likely. Maybe he was conserving his energy or needed to eat first before he used it again.
“Grab that bag and get out of here!” ordered Sheriff.
Cole immediately ignored him, moving to one side where the smoke was still somewhat thick, and circled back in a way he thought might surprise Javier. His plan worked. He could see Javier through the thick smoke, pushing Sheriff back, getting close to planting a solid strike. Cole frowned--he hated all of this.
The guide never knew what hit him. Cole blindsided Javier, jumping forward and driving his heel into his knee. The guide screamed, falling to the ground and holding his joint in pain. Gurgled whimpers escaped his lips.
From behind, Cole could hear a familiar voice. “Cole!” He turned to see Holly jogging forward, head swiveling back and forth nervously.
“We need to get out of here! Go back!” he shouted.
“You’re tired! I can help.”
“Fine.” Cole threw her the duffel bag and yelled, “Hurry! Take this back."
His girlfriend caught the supplies, turned, and sprinted. Cole began to follow her, and realized how exhausted he really felt. Ragged breaths worked his lungs to their limit. Sheriff followed behind, and Cole was almost too tired to worry about how quickly the smoke was clearing up. A rock whizzed through the air some distance away, and he figured Kiddy was taking shots again.
Suddenly, new voices made Cole turn. "Fuck you! I'm not killing anyone for you, you monster!"
Through the fading smoke, he could identify that Warren was the person he’d heard. The blond botany major’s bun had come undone and he was struggling with Ricardo.
The two surged back and forth, getting closer to the orange barrier. Warren had both hands on Ricardo’s wrist, desperately controlling the knife in the other man’s hand. Despite normally being such a gentle person, Warren looked wild, teeth bared, his brightly colored pony shirt dirty and torn. He screamed and head-butted Ricardo in the face.
After reeling, the guide snarled, and black fog, like a boiling absence of light, came out of his hands, moving like it was alive. The bizarre cloud completely covered the two struggling men.
Nothing happened for a couple moments, but then Warren was shoved out of the expanding black miasma. Cole watched in horror as the hand on Warren’s face shoved him backward into the glowing orange barrier. Warren let out a blood-curdling scream as the back of his head began to smoke, and he struggled blindly for a few seconds before his body seized up and the upper half of his torso fell through the ring. His corpse smoked before bursting into flame.
The killing hand retreated back into the dark cloud.
Cole didn’t notice he’d been running toward the scene until he’d almost arrived. He’d just moved without thinking. “Warren!” he cried. Then he hit the inky fog, passing through it like a cold breath.
As soon as he’d stepped into the fog, he regretted it. He was completely blind and all of his other senses had dulled, too. Then somehow, he could sense that something sharp was about to hit him.
He could feel his death approaching, unable to check his forward momentum, unable to avoid it, when suddenly a powerful hand grabbed him from behind. Sheriff jerked him back, all the way out of the cloud. When Cole stumbled out, sound, sight, and even taste came back to him in a rush of relief.
“What were you thinking?” the older man yelled. "Get out of here! That crazy man made this thing, he can probably see us clear as day!"
Cole nodded dumbly, and noticed the black fog moving towards them about the same speed as a walking man. It was slowly growing bigger, too. “Okay let’s go!”
Everything behind the orange barrier was on fire now, and the flames had begun to creep through the orange wall, creating fresh smoke in the area. Cole coughed as he ran back toward Holly and the others. On the way, he caught sight of Kenan, who hadn't moved far from his original spot he’d been standing before all the fighting. He had the same dead look on his face as before. Cole yelled, "Come on, man! If we work together we can survive, take Ricardo out!"
Kenan’s eyes moved to Warren’s body, then back to Cole. He shook his head, turned around, and silently walked back into the jungle. Cole yelled his friend's name one more time before half growling, half whining in frustration. Why would nobody listen to him?
Then he noticed the barrier moving again. The curved orange wall began to creep inward, actually making the fire at its edges spread faster. With a sinking feeling, Cole realized that unlike before, when the barrier had snapped inward when the time limit had been reached, this time it would probably creep inward the entire time.
They all needed to move, and move now. Again, Sheriff had already been ahead of him, this time literally. Sheriff turned his head and seemed to look for something. After he spotted his wife, he ran to her while yelling over his shoulder, "Get the fuck outta dodge, kid!"
Cole nodded but frantically looked around the entire area, trying to make sure everyone in his group was still alive. “Where is Kiddy?"
"Right here," called Jin casually.
Cole whipped around to see his oldest friend helping up a pissed-off-looking Mohammad on the other side of the clearing. Jin adjusted his glasses.
"What the hell are you doing, Jin!" Cole screamed. "They just tried to kill us!"
Jin shrugged half at Cole and half at Ricardo who had stepped out of his black fog, clearly curious about the new development. The gamer coolly responded, "I'm switching teams. The most aggressive team always wins, and Ricardo isn't afraid to push. You just don't have it in you to see this for what it is."
Cole gritted his teeth. He felt cold, too shocked to even process the new, terrible betrayal. He began running back the rest of the way to his group when he heard Ricardo chuckle darkly behind them. He turned in time to see the guide step back into his fog. Then the dark mass sprang forward, moving toward Cole’s group. Ricardo stepped
out again with only a hand held inside. He gave a sinister smile.
Up ahead, Nadia peeked out from behind a tree and Cole screamed, "Nadia! Do something!"
The dark-skinned girl nodded, stepped out from her hiding place, and slammed her hands into the ground. In an instant, roots, vines, and any other plants grew and lifted themselves from the earth. They twisted beneath Cole and Sheriff, and it took all of his balance not to fall to the shifting ground.
Behind him, a huge wall made of plants, bark, grass, and moss burst from the jungle floor. Meanwhile, with a smile on her face, Nadia passed out on her feet and began to fall. Suddenly, Jarret Freidhof became visible, appearing out of nowhere, catching Nadia before she touched the ground. He gave Cole a thumbs up.
Over the new plant wall, Cole could see rising dark fog, and the orange barrier beginning to move faster. Sheriff grabbed Cole’s shoulder and yelled in his ear, "Come on, kid! Move or die!"
Cole hustled to join his group, helping a silent and now visible Jarret carry the unconscious Nadia away from the closing dome. They escaped the other group--the one that Kiddy had joined.
Chapter 7
Five minutes after fleeing from the supply drop, Cole was exhausted. Jarret had been helping carry Nadia, but he didn’t have much energy left to give. He could barely believe only an hour had passed since they’d met Dolos. Every minute since then had been so intense and surreal that it seemed like he'd lived a lifetime since then. Every new insane thing that had happened seemed to be worse, building up to Kiddy betraying them.
Cole knew it was ridiculous to keep focusing on Kiddy abandoning them when some of his friends had just died, but his sorrow was being swallowed by the boiling rage inside him. He should have seen it coming, but even in hindsight, it just didn't make any sense to him. Cole was Jin’s oldest friend. He’d thought he’d known him as well as he knew himself, but apparently not.
Maybe five years earlier he’d really known Kiddy, when they’d been close. Over the years his friend had grown so detached from everyone who cared about him that it had taken Holly reaching out to Jin's parents to convince him to come to Costa Rica. What had changed in the last five years?
Cole Blooded Page 5