Michael stood in the middle of the chaos, his face frozen in a deranged snarl. He held twin pistols at the ready, but never squeezed the triggers. His eyes were glazed, as though he saw something beyond the macabre attack. One of the Others swept past the circle, its elongated fingers stretched toward him…
Nathan remembered his handgun. In a series of clumsy motions, he managed to rip it free of its holster and raise it with shaking hands. Even then, he didn’t dare fire. The Other was too close to risk an errant shot. He stood as though frozen, fear coating his limbs like heavy frost, paralyzed as the Other grabbed ahold of Michael’s arm with a pasty, claw-tipped hand.
It disintegrated.
It seemed to melt before Nathan’s eyes, crumbling into the fog like a mass of dying embers. It made no sound, but Nathan thought he heard a plaintive shriek echo in his mind.
Michael didn’t appear to notice. The pistols dropped from his hands and he lurched forward, ignoring the shocked warnings from the rest of the squad. He walked as if sleepwalking, away from the protective circle and into the thick of the mist. The rest of the Others shrunk back, circling around him as they dashed past. He ignored them as he stumbled in the haze. The ravens followed, disappearing into the fog, their raucous cries muffled as they vanished.
“Michael!” Nathan’s voice rattled in his throat. He knew he couldn’t follow. They were pressed in by pale, wet flesh-bags, each and every one thirsting for blood. The Others died in complete silence, bodies torn to pieces by the close-quarters fire. Bullets thrummed through the air, the muffled echoes smothered by the thick fog.
Clouds of pale, wriggling insects floated in the air around them, nearly thick as the mists.
Nathan gasped when inhuman hands seized him from behind. He twisted in desperation, struggling to pull back against the surprising strength of the gaunt Other. The vein-riddled, faceless head jerked forward, and Nathan reeled from the surge of voiceless whispers that assaulted his ears. He planted the pistol against the Other’s skeletal, pockmarked chest and pulled the trigger. The flesh exploded in chunky wads.
A torrent of beetles poured from the gaping wound.
Dull, colorless bodies covered Nathan. He staggered backward, flailing, unable to see, trying not to scream. He heard the clicks of their hard-shelled forms, felt thousands of bristly legs crawl across his head and face and into his clothes, their pinchers nipping his skin. He stumbled and fell into more insects, a flood of scuttling forms which only grew thicker as the corpses of the Others struck the ground. His eyes squeezed shut, his lips clamped together, muffling his panicked grunts. Viscera spattered across his face and slicked his hands. His lungs broiled, his chest felt on fire. Still the insects swarmed, until it felt he would drown under their creeping, rustling bodies.
Strong arms caught ahold of him, yanked him up from the mass, swatted at his clothes while insects fell off like a nauseating kind of rain. His chest heaved as his breath collapsed from his lungs. His legs felt like rubber, and he would have fallen again were it not for Ariki’s supportive grip. Elena’s voice sounded distant in his ears. Her face was streaked with insect guts. He tried not to focus on the half-crushed caterpillar that slid down her neck.
“Breathe, Nate. Just breathe…”
“Just breathe?” Hayes’ voice was incredulous. “Are you kidding me? More like, man the hell up.” He slammed his hand into Nathan’s chest. “Look at you. We’re here fighting for our lives and you’re flopping around in a pile of bugs.” His face was pale, his eyes bulging. “You better haul your own weight around here, man.”
Elena shoved him back. “Hey — lay off, Hayes.”
“Lay off? You’re sticking up for this pussy, Elena?” He glared at Nathan. “C’mon, bro — what’s your kill count — one lousy bag?”
Lurch’s voice warbled, thick and nearly incomprehensible. “Didn’t I tell… you to shut your… face, Hayes?” He squinted their direction, took a faltering step, then toppled face-first into the insect-riddled ground. His right arm was reduced to a stump of shredded meat and exposed bone. Blood jetted from the wound like water from a hose.
“Lurch!” Elena darted forward, but was stopped by Ariki’s massive arm.
“Don’t.”
The insects that flooded from the remains of the Others skittered to Lurch’s body like bits of metal to a massive magnet. He thrashed as they attacked him, his screams muffled by the living stream that poured down his throat.
Sweat dripped from Ariki’s face. His jaw clenched when he raised his rifle, aimed, and fired a single shot.
Lurch’s body jerked and went still. The torrent of insects continued to pile on, until his form was lost under the mass of shifting creatures.
“Aw, hell.” Hayes’ mouth worked wordlessly for a moment. “That’s just… aw, man.”
“He’s done. Gotta suck it up and drive on. We need to get as far away from these things as possible. Catch up with the rest of the detail.” Ariki placed a hand on his headset. “Radio check. Damon, do you read me?”
A grimace crossed his face. “Just static. Charlie Foxtrot this is Ariki, over. Do you copy?”
“Rest of the squad?” Hayes pointed to the thick, roiling fog. “We don’t even know if they’re alive, bro.”
“Better than staying here.” Ariki shouldered his gun and took point, gingerly stepping forward. “I can’t pick up anyone on the wire. Time to pop smoke. You want to stick around, you’re on your own.”
Nathan stooped to pick up Michael’s forgotten pistols. “Ariki’s right. We have to find the other group. Or Michael, at least.”
Elena ejected an empty magazine from her pistol and quickly reloaded it. “I don’t think Michael’s going to make it. Not alone, and not against those things.”
“You didn’t see what I did.” Nathan slipped the extra pistols in his cargo pockets. “We’re the ones who won’t make it if we can’t hook up with the others.”
“Yeah?” Hayes paused in the act of wiping bug guts off his face. “Why’s that?”
Nathan took a look at the tangled, mist-enshrouded surroundings. “Michael and Guy are the only two who know where they’re going. And in case you didn’t notice, neither of them are with us right now. If we don’t find them, we’re as good as dead.”
Chapter 14: Araneae
The fog gave way to rain so quickly that Elena didn’t notice when one ended and the other began. The downpour came from nowhere without warning, drenching them with shock-cold water and limiting visibility to only a few yards. The deluge created roiling streams that cut jagged lines through the moist earth, cascades of water fell from the heavy foliage like miniature waterfalls.
“This is worse than the fog. Can’t see a thing.”
It was hard to keep her voice controlled. Hard to maintain any semblance of normality when reality itself was being rewritten in the language of madness. She had no idea how they managed to get through the attack by the twisted, faceless monsters out of some horror movie. The training had taken over, turned her reflexes automatic. Adrenaline turned it all into a hazy stew. She was just glad to be alive.
“Yeah.” Ariki stepped carefully, his eyes sharp for incoming threats. “Anything can be out there.”
“This is crazy.” Hayes’ face was streaked with bug guts like camouflage. “This ain’t what I signed up for.”
“Shut up, Hayes.” Ariki gave him a warning glance.