“What — you just wanna pretend like Lurch wasn’t killed by faceless monsters with bugs for blood? What the hell is this place?” His face contorted. “I mean, did we die on that ship? Is this, well… you know?”
“Seriously?” Nathan’s face was strained. Elena could tell he was trying hard not to keep his fear in check.
“Hell yeah I’m serious. I can admit it. I never really thought about it before. You know, afterlife and all. How could I?” Hayes looked up with red-rimmed eyes. “I mean — I did some pretty bad things. You know, in the field. Things I’ve never told anyone. One time there was this kid, this stupid kid in Afghanistan that got too close to—”
“Shut up, Hayes.” Ariki cautiously pushed aside a thick green leaf taller than he was. “We’ve all done things. You can’t dip your hands in blood and expect to come out clean.”
Elena glanced at Nathan. He stared ahead with a blank expression. She had heard rumors. Something about him possibly killing his father. It was hard to imagine him hurting anyone. No wonder he was so remote.
Hayes babbled on as if he couldn’t stop. “So what does that mean? You think we died on the ship? Maybe we all sank at sea, and this is where we were… taken?”
Nathan blinked, then turned with a smirk. “You think we took a group trip to Hell? Like some discount if we all go together? Get a grip, man. We’re on an island engulfed by an Aberration. Deal with it.”
“You deal with it, Nate. Maybe if you had more guts than mouth, Lurch would still be alive.”
Elena felt her face flush. “Geez, Hayes. You just don’t stop, do you?”
“Why are you always standing up for him, Ruiz? He your little bitch, is that it?”
“I’m about this close to—”
“To what, Ruiz? What are you gonna—”
The threat abruptly ended when Nathan jabbed his handgun against Hayes’ temple. His face twisted into someone Elena didn’t recognize.
“You think you’re in hell, Hayes? Keep pushing me, and I’ll send you there.”
Hayes stared in disbelief. “You out of your mind, dude? You really wanna go ape-shit on your own detail? Get a grip, man.” His eyes rolled over at Elena. “Tell him, Ruiz.”
She carefully laid a hand on Nathan’s arm. “Come on, Nate. Cool it.”
His eyes darted from her to Hayes before he lowered his weapon. “Yeah. Okay.”
“What the hell’s gotten into you, Nate? This isn’t you.”
“Maybe you just don’t know me, Elena.” Without his glasses, his face looked different. Harder. That was unexpected. He was right — it was a side to him she had never seen before. Maybe the rumors were right.
“You dipshits finished?” Ariki glared at them. “Or do you want to keep flexing on an island full of living nightmares?”
“Tell him that.” Hayes gave Nathan a hard stare as he walked past. “You point heat at me again, you better pull the trigger. Psycho.”
“Get your asses in gear. And try to keep up.” Ariki led the way, picking his steps carefully as he crossed a rushing stream. Hayes followed, scanning the murky foliage.
Elena gestured to Nate. “Go. I’ll take rear.”
He hesitated. “Maybe I should—”
“Don’t argue with me. Just do it.”
He gave her a shaky grin, but nodded without comment and fell in behind Hayes.
“How’s your vision, Nate? Can you see without your glasses?”
“It’s okay. I don’t really need them, anyway. Just a bit nearsighted is all. Don’t worry about it.”
She was surprised by his resilience. He was a noted control freak with OCD tendencies, and had never seemed the type to quickly adapt to unexpected change. But he appeared almost calm, as though his earlier moment of panic had never occurred.
Maybe he’s just holding it all in. God knows that’s all any of us can do right now.
The terrain seemed to fight against them; slick, tangled, wet and dark. Even with the rain, it was still blazing hot. She glanced up. The canopy of vines and branches nearly obliterated any view of the sky. Everything was oversized, as though she and her squad had been shrunk to the size of ants. The foliage creaked and quivered, as though something heavy skittered across, just out of the range of sight…
A hand dropped on her shoulder like a pale tarantula, jolting her from her thoughts. Stifling a scream, she spun around and raised her weapon.
Sid Damon’s skeletal smirk greeted her. “I don’t think you understand the concept of rear guard at all, Private Ruiz.”
“They came from everywhere.” Damon’s face was decorated by a fresh, livid gash that ran from scalp to chin. Blood oozed, mixing with the rain and painting his collar crimson. “We all got separated. Ravens were all over the place. Fighting the creatures. Like they were on our side or something.” He shook his head. “I’ve seen a lot of crazy things in this business. Done a lot of things people might question. Never lost any sleep over it. But this…” His voice trailed off, eyes glazed and distant.
Ariki nodded, his tattooed face grim. Hayes’ face was pale, his eyes lost as if in memory. Even Nathan seemed to understand. His lips were clamped together, his eyes locked on the moist ground.
All of them are killers, even Nate. The thought was unsettling. Until the attack on the ship, Elena had never fired a round at a live target. She didn’t count the bizarre monstrosities as human, didn’t feel any guilt or remorse about their deaths. But to kill a human being, much less a number of them… she shuddered, not wanting to imagine what questionable things someone like Damon might have done.
His fingers quivered when he lifted a damp cigarette to his lips. “But this. This is on another level altogether. I read the briefings, watched Michael McDaniel’s interviews, but still didn’t get it. Didn’t understand exactly what we were up against.”
Ariki glanced up. “You think the others are still alive?”
“I don’t know. I heard someone scream. Couldn’t say who it was. We all sound alike when we’re being torn to pieces. I doubt any of us are going to leave this place alive.” A mirthless grin slashed across his face.
Elena swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. “Any idea what direction we’re heading?”
“I tried climbing a tree to get a lay of things. Had to come back down.”
“What, you scared of heights?” Hayes’ quivery smirk vanished when Sid impaled him with a withering stare.
“No. There’s a lot of webbing up there.”
“Webbing? Like… spider webs?”
“Yeah. Like spider webs. If the spider were the size of a Humvee.”
The group went silent as the comprehension settled in.
Damon grimaced at his wet cigarette. He flicked it aside as he stood up. “Well, that’s enough rest. Got a feeling the longer we stay in one place, the more likely the chance of something hunting us down.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Ariki’s heavy muscles flexed when he hefted his belt-fed MCR AR15 rifle. “We need to keep moving. This is an island. Can’t be too hard to find a laboratory on it.”
“Supposedly,” Nathan said. His expression was dejected, his voice monotone.
“What do you mean, ‘supposedly?’ It was in the briefing report. The lab is somewhere in the vicinity.”
Nathan gazed at their rain-drenched surroundings. “Yeah it could be. It could just as well be another dimension, too.”
Hayes scratched his head. “You mean… like another world?”
“Who knows? That storm came from out of nowhere. It’s been verified that ships and planes have vanished without a trace in the Bermuda Triangle. Where did they go?”
“The bottom of the ocean,” Ariki said. “Simplest explanation.”