“No. Stay put.”
After another few minutes of waiting and hearing nothing, he decided to move. He flipped off the safety on his rifle. He had a fresh magazine loaded, and a grenade in the launch chamber. Using a hand signal, he motioned for Magnolia and Miles to follow him deeper into the jungle.
Red mushrooms with a purple glow lined the path. The largest suddenly pulsed like a heart and sprayed green fluid into the air—a defense mechanism, he supposed, and probably poisonous. Reaching up to make sure his helmet was secure, he maneuvered around the mushrooms and pointed them out to Magnolia and Miles before moving ahead.
A snake as long as his leg slithered across the dirt. X halted when he saw that the creature had two heads: one where it was supposed to be, and the other where the tail should be.
“Gross,” Magnolia whispered, jumping back. Miles let out a low growl, and X held up a hand to silence him.
The farther they trekked, the more X wondered what else was hiding in this deformed jungle. He kept pushing on, alert but undeterred by external threats. He could deal with whatever lurked out here.
The trail curved up a hill, giving him a look at the mountain above. Storm clouds drifted over the jagged peaks, dumping more rain on the island. The temperature dropped as they climbed higher.
The cold rain hit the canopy, and a stream carved its way down the muddy trail. Slinging his rifle, he grabbed the tree to his right, then planted his boots, found purchase, and climbed around the slick spot.
He turned to help Magnolia, but Miles moved with ease, bounding up the hill to stand beside him. The three continued toward the summit, where the jungle thinned, and the first sign of civilization gradually emerged.
It was hard to see the building at first. Thick undergrowth surrounded the concrete rubble of the structure, and vines clung to the foundation. Half the building had collapsed over the centuries, but the roof over the standing section was still intact. To the right, tucked between two trees, was the satellite dish X had seen from the beach.
The metal dish, angled southward, was draped with vines.
Magnolia took up position beside him, and Miles sat on his haunches, looking, listening, smelling. Behind the dish and building, X spotted movement. Magnolia saw it, too, and pointed at the birds perched on the branches.
They counted thirty of the flying monsters.
High on the branches, under an awning of pale banana leaves, there were twisted vines and thin branches which formed the bowl of what looked like a nest.
“Babies,” Magnolia said.
X zoomed in on the vulture nestlings. Even those were the size of a human child. Bald red skulls bobbed up in the nests, their yellow beaks clanking with hunger. As he watched, a full-grown vulture descended on the nest, something large and squirming gripped in its talons.
These vultures were both hunters and scavengers. Another change brought on by mutations and, perhaps, evolution.
He considered using his grenade launcher to blow the little demons out of the nest, but really didn’t like the idea of going head-to-head with one. Nor did he like the idea of starting a fight that could draw more monsters to their position.
No, the best way to get into the compound was to sneak in and not make any noise. He pulled back the charging handle of his rifle to chamber a round, then tilted his helmet toward the building.
Magnolia shook her head.
“Let me take point, X,” she whispered over the comms. “I’m faster than you, especially right now.”
He checked the birds again to make sure they couldn’t hear the hushed conversation. But the perched creatures remained quiet, the only movement a fist-size blob of white shit that splattered on the ground.
“Remember that time in Hades when you didn’t trust me, and—”
X cut Magnolia off. “And you almost died? Yeah, I remember it perfectly. I don’t want a repeat of that near disaster.”
He really didn’t want Magnolia pouting or complaining. A deep breath helped him dial back the frustration. “Patience first. Always patience first.”
“I know. So does that mean I can check this building out, or not?”
X thought on it another moment, checked the vultures again, and nodded. Magnolia moved out of the tree line, where the rain beat down on her. She sprinted in a low hunch across the field.
Miles took her place, and X put a hand on him to calm him. X wasn’t the only one slowing with age. Miles was ten now, and even with his genetic modifications, he didn’t move the way he used to.
X raised his rifle at the trees, keeping the birds in his sights. Their long beaks were down against their feathery chests, their eyes closed.
The nearly constant flash of lightning overhead was messing with his night vision, and he switched it off with a bump to his chin pad. The entire sky was illuminated by the storm, spreading weak blue light over the terrain.
He checked the baby vultures with his scope, confirmed that they hadn’t seen Magnolia, and then moved his scope back to her.
She was almost across the field. Hopping over a patch of red mushrooms, she made a run for the building. When she reached the foundation, she hugged the wall and crept toward the door.
As X watched, the noise-reducing microphones picked up a mushing sound. Miles must have heard or sensed something, too. He suddenly stood up, back ridged.
X moved his scope back to the trees, scanning the branches for movement. But the vultures were still sleeping, and their babies weren’t moving.
The mushing sound came again, like boots hitting mud.
“What do you see, Miles?” X whispered.
The dog was looking toward Magnolia and growling softly. She grabbed the handle of the closed metal door, then hesitated, turning to her right. As she reached for the curved blade at her back, something slammed into her, knocking her to the ground in front of the building.
X stood, holding in a shout. He trained his rifle on the area where something had tossed Magnolia across the dirt like a rag doll.
“Mags!” he yelled.
The birds in the trees burst into flight, their great wings kicking up a draft fierce enough to rustle the leaves on branches far below them. They screeched in alarm as they crossed the skyline.
But it wasn’t X’s shout that set them off.
The grunt of the thing that had Magnolia pinned to the ground came over the speakers in his helmet, and he flipped on his night-vision goggles to finally see the abomination.
The lizard that could split its head in two wasn’t the only camouflaged creature out here. But this was no lizard—it was a hoglike beast covered in thick brown fur the color of the terrain.
Miles growled at the mutant, apocalyptic version of the pigs on the Hive. Covered in thick fur with a spiky mane, it was four times Miles’ size, and it had Magnolia pinned to the ground. Tusks, upper and lower, protruded from a long jaw, dripping saliva onto her visor.
“X!” she shouted, flailing, writhing to get free.
Hold on, kid…
He was still trying to get a shot, but she was in the way, and the thought of hitting her made him hesitate. He flipped the selector switch to semiautomatic, and a second later, the beast’s jaw moved into view. He squeezed off a shot that shattered an upper tusk. He pulled the trigger again, and an eyeball exploded.
The beast leaped off, squealing in agony, and looked at X with its remaining eye. He kept the creature in his sights, just in case it decided to make a run for him, but instead it turned and bounded into the foliage. The birds screeched overhead, circling and watching from a safe distance.
By the time the beast vanished into the jungle, X was running. Miles chased him through the thick weeds and around the patches of mushrooms.
Magnolia lay in the dirt about twenty feet from the building. She reached up for her helmet, and X grabbed her by the arm and helped her to her feet.