Cryptid Kingdom (Cryptid Zoo Book 6)

by Gerry Griffiths

  Jack glanced back at the Fu Lions. The nearest was standing its ground but the other Fu Lion had turned its attention to a small group of people that had the misfortunate to run out from behind a hillock of rubble into the creature’s domain.

  The terrified park visitors saw the beast and scattered in all directions when the Fu Lion took chase.

  That left only the one Fu Lion.

  “Batter up, boys,” Nora shouted. She threw her rock but it fell short.

  Jack grabbed two decent sized rocks, wound up, and let loose with what he considered a decent fastball with a little too much assertion, as the rock flew over the Fu Lion’s head. His second attempt landed to the left.

  Lennie had better success and hit the Fu Lion squarely in the face with a jagged chunk of concrete.

  The stone burst apart in a thousand gravelly pieces like a sledgehammer had pulverized it. Again, the Fu Lion was unfazed.

  “I’m sorry, Nora, but I hardly think this is working,” Jack said. He looked up at Lennie, expecting him to come up with a solution but the Yeren was just as baffled.

  Jack heard what sounded like heavy machinery parts clanking together. He turned and saw the armor-wearing Fu Lion bounding towards them.

  There was nothing they could do to stop it.

  And then a strange bird fluttered down and landed in front of the Fu Lion.

  It was the size of a pelican but instead of a pointy beak, its head was long like a horse. The fowl had a dragon-like body with reddish plates alternating with black ones down to its tapered tail. The most unusual thing about the bird were its wings, as each one looked as though they had been stripped to the bone, leaving see-through gaps, the only feathers left remaining on the outer tips.

  The Fu Lion considered the bird for a moment, then in one enormous bite, gobbled up the bird whole and swallowed it down.

  “Jesus, did you see that?” Jack said.

  “Sure did,” Nora said and smiled at Jack.

  “Why are you smiling? We’re next.”

  “I don’t think so. Watch.”

  The Fu Lion frothed at the mouth and collapsed on the ground. “What the hell?” Jack said. “Don’t tell me it choked on that bird?”

  “That was a Zhenniao,” Nora said. “Their feathers are extremely poisonous.”

  Jack looked up at Lennie. “And here I thought you gave it a concussion.”

  Lennie shrugged his shoulders and huffed.

  47

  NO LAUGHING MATTER

  Anna had never run away from a fight in her entire life. She had stood toe-to-toe with the best of them, through her grueling training to become an FBI agent, to hunting down some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. But she had the good sense to know when a situation warranted a pass. Such as when confronted by an eight-headed dragon.

  Thank God it hadn’t been a fire breather.

  “Is it still after us?” Mack said, sprinting down a clear path between two demolished buildings.

  Anna glanced back. “No. I don’t see it.” She slowed down to a walk, listening for the legendary creature, but no longer heard it. “I think we’re good.”

  “Get a load of this,” Mack said. “Looks like a twister tore through here.”

  Mack was referring to the damage done to the massive tree in the enormous granite planter in the middle of the promenade. Many of the giant branches had snapped clear off during the quake and were lying all around the perimeter of the fifteen-foot diameter trunk.

  Anna saw arms and legs sticking out from under the split timber, boughs haphazardly strewn about and piled together like flood-swept detritus collected at the bottom of a washed-out ravine.

  And then she heard a cackle.

  “What was that?” Mack said.

  Crazed laughter erupted around them.

  “Sounds like someone got hit on the noggin,” Anna said.

  “Either that or a bunch of nut jobs escaped the loony bin.”

  Anna and Mack approached a fallen branch where someone underneath was giggling like they were being tickled with a feather.

  Mack reached down and pulled back a leafy branch. “Holy shit!” he yelled and jumped back. “It’s a frigging head.”

  Or rather, it was a melon-sized fruit with human facial features; and it was laughing its proverbial ass off as though it had heard the funniest joke of all time. And it wasn’t alone. Anna spotted more of them; chortling and guffawing like decapitated zanies in a mental institution straight out of a horror movie.

  “What is this?” Mack said. “Comedy Central?”

  Anna was beginning to think the laughing heads were malfunctioning animatronics when she spotted one that looked familiar. On a lark, she took out her cell phone and began browsing pictures she had posted on her worksite.

  “Mack, come here,” Anna said. “You’ve got to see this.”

  Her partner waltzed over. Anna held up her phone so he could see the screen.

  “Yeah, so?” Mack said.

  “Take a good look.” She pointed at the laughing head on the ground.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mack said. “That’s the congressman’s son.”

  “Sure is. We found Rong Tran. In a matter of speaking.”

  “How in the hell are we going to explain this?”

  “I have no idea,” Anna replied.

  48

  COME TOGETHER

  Gabe and Caroline were near the rendezvous point to meet up with agents Hunter and Rivers when a CAIC Z-10 military attack helicopter swooped down over the park, the aircraft heavily armed with twin turret 30mm machine guns, a 14.5mm Gatling gun on the bow of the cockpit, two 25mm M242 Bushmaster cannons, and anti-tank missiles housed in four pods mounted beneath the two stub wings.

  “Cover your head,” Gabe hollered to be heard over the thunderous roar. He grabbed Caroline to shield her from the blinding dust created by the low flying war machine’s swirling rotary blades. The Chinese chopper soared over the far wall of the park, banked to the left, and disappeared from sight in the twilight sky.

  “That was scary,” Caroline said, rubbing the grit from her face. “They’re actually sending in the military?”

  “Probably to assist in the rescue effort. I doubt they’d be using any deadly force with all the civilians running around.” He looked to see if the helicopter was coming back and was relieved when it didn’t appear that it was.

  He saw a black, smoky haze on the horizon in the dusk-approaching sky. “The city must have been hit pretty hard. The airport, too.”

  “Meaning we’ll be stranded here,” Caroline said.

  “We’ll worry about that later.” Gabe was getting his bearings when he felt the ground vibrate below his feet. “No, not another one,” Gabe said, anticipating an aftershock. Often the aftershocks could be just as damaging as the initial earthquake. He heard a rumbling noise and turned, wishing it were another tremor they were experiencing instead of the ground-shaking monster coming toward them.

  The Wuhnan Toad was as big as a dump truck and was next to a high pile of debris. It was so rotund, that when it leaped forward, it could only cover a distance of ten feet before landing back on the ground. The white throat sack billowed outward as it took in a deep breath.

  Gabe saw its hideous mouth open suddenly. He yelled out a warning to Caroline, “Get down,” the split second the albino amphibian flicked out its tongue.

  The sticky tip of the elongated tongue wrapped around Caroline’s waist like a fire hose and hoisted her off her feet. Gabe dove for her legs and grabbed around her knees to serve as an anchor.

  Normally the tongue would have snapped back like an overstretched rubber band, but with the burden of Gabe’s added weight, the toad was struggling to retract its tongue back into its mouth.

  “Don’t let go,” Caroline pleaded.

  Digging his feet into the ground, Gabe could feel his grip slipping, and knew he was on the losing end of the tug-of-war as Caroline was drawn steadily closer to t
he giant toad’s gaping mouth, like a prize fish being slowly reeled in by a determined angler.

  Caroline screamed and kept screaming, each time the pitch of her voice edging an octave higher.

  * * *

  “You’re sure it’s dead?” Jack said as they approached the Fu Lion lying facedown.

  “Pretty sure,” Nora said.

  “Pretty sure?” Jack hesitated before taking another step. He looked up at Lennie to see if he was sharing the same trepidation. The giant Yeren’s demeanor was as it always was: oafish and dullish; not to mention being besmirched. His face and massive leathery chest were no longer black, but a dusted gray from the swirling soot, and his thick orangey coat was so filthy, he looked like a wild animal that had narrowly escaped having run for its life through a raging forest fire.

  Nora said, “You saw how it keeled over.”

  “You sure it didn’t just choke on that bird?” Jack said.

  “No, it was the feathers. The toxicity must be off the charts.”

  “Thank God for that.” Jack gazed across the park and saw the crest of the sun disappearing behind the western wall like a gold piece dropping into a coin slot.

  An ominous purple bruised the darkening sky; the veiling evening looming shadows everywhere.

  Jack saw a quick flash in the night sky. “Jesus, did you see that? Don’t tell me a storm’s coming.”

  “That wasn’t lightning,” Nora said. “I’m pretty sure that was a Sky Serpent.”

  “What, something else we have to worry about?”

  “To be honest, I don’t know much about them.”

  Jack looked up and saw half a dozen snake-like displays of flashing light move about the darkened sky a hundred feet above their heads. “How do they stay suspended in the air like that? I don’t see any wings. It’s almost like a parlor trick.”

  “Like I said, I’m not sure.”

  Jack looked around and noticed that Lennie was no longer with them. “Hey, where did he take off to?”

  “He was here a second ago,” Nora said.

  That’s when they heard a woman scream.

  * * *

  “I can’t hold on,” Gabe yelled. His right hand slipped away first, then the fingers of his left hand let go. He watched in horror as the Wuhnan Toad continued to retract its tongue, dragging Caroline over the dirt.

  Since the toad’s tongue was attached to the front of its mouth and wasn’t designed to help it swallow, it would have to wait until Caroline was completely in its mouth and then roll its eyes down into the roof of its mouth to propel a soon-to-be gluttonous meal down its throat.

  Gabe scrambled to his feet and lunged to grab Caroline who was still screaming out Gabe’s name, her voice becoming increasingly hoarse.

  He missed her by inches and yelled, “No, no!”

  A large creature stepped in front of Gabe and snatched Caroline. It looked like a Bigfoot, only twice as tall, with dirty fur and big hands. Oh my God, Gabe thought, Caroline gets spared one brutal death only to suffer another?

  * * *

  “It’s them,” Anna yelled to Mack, hearing the screams coming from the other side of a demolished building. “Caroline and Gabe.”

  They pulled their service pistols and ran to the edge of the wreckage.

  Anna froze when she saw a huge, hairy beast lifting Caroline off the ground.

  “What do we do?” Mack said. “I don’t want to take a chance hitting Caroline.”

  “Get its attention. Maybe I can sneak up on it.” Anna ran in a low crouch toward Gabe.

  “Hey!” Mack shouted, waving his hands in the air. “Over here!”

  The big ape turned and glared at Mack. That’s when Mack saw the thick, pinkish cord wrapped around Caroline’s waist.

  “Agent Rivers,” Gabe yelled, getting Anna’s attention as she lined up a shot on the Chinese apeman. He began pointing. “Kill that, kill that!”

  “What?” Anna said. She looked beyond the edge of the rubble and saw a monstrous white toad as big as a utility van.

  She noticed the giant ape was holding a large rock. It came down with a powerful blow, severing the fleshy cord. Blood gushed all over Caroline and the big beast.

  Once Caroline was released, she ran as fast as she could into Gabe’s open arms.

  Anna kept her gun trained on the big ape.

  Mack climbed up the debris onto the collapsed roof. The unstable tiles beneath his feet kept shifting as he made his way to the edge.

  He looked down and saw the horrendous toad. Blood speckled its face.

  The toad heard Mack moving above it and looked up with its mouth wide open.

  “Not today, you ugly son of a bitch!” Mack said, leaning out to take the shot. The loose tiles suddenly slid out from under him.

  Mack toppled down straight into the toad’s mouth, which immediately shut, having consumed a new prey.

  Anna swept her gun muzzle at the gargantuan amphibian but she dared not shoot in fear of a bullet hitting her partner. That is if he were even alive.

  The toad began to close its eyes, a sign that it was about to swallow.

  A muffled gunshot could be heard inside the creature.

  The left eyeball exploded, spraying out a clear gel, and then there was another shot and the right eye burst out of the socket like an enormous runny soft-boiled egg. A salvo of bullets exited the toad’s head, punching out thin, crimson geysers.

  The massive creature flopped to the ground.

  Anna, Gabe, and Caroline dashed over to the dead toad.

  “Mack can you hear me?” Anna shouted as they tried to pry open the creature’s mouth.

  “Get me out of here!” Mack answered.

  Gabe and Caroline managed to prop open the mouth with their shoulders while Anna reached in and grabbed Mack’s hand. She put her foot on the toad’s chin and yanked, but Mack seemed to be lodged in the toad’s throat. Anna could only assume that the muscles in the upper esophagus had begun to constrict in a mid-swallow to the gullet and had clamped down on her partner.

  “Hurry up!” Mack shouted. “I’m suffocating in here!”

  “Hold on, we’re trying.” A boggy stench wafted into Anna’s face, a combination of organic matter being dissolved by digestive juices and hydrochloric acid at work deep within the stomach.

  Brushing Anna aside, the huge apeman took over, reached inside the giant toad’s mouth, and pulled Mack out.

  Mack fell out onto the ground, his head and clothes covered in a mucous slime. “Thank God,” he said, then saw his rescuer. He raised his gun in a knee-jerk response.

  “Please, don’t shoot,” a woman cried out. “He won’t hurt you. I promise.”

  Anna turned and saw a man and a woman hurrying in their direction.

  “Yeah, he’s just trying to help!” the man hollered.

  Mack put down his gun.

  “Who are you?” Anna asked, lowering her weapon.

  “I’m Nora Howard and this is Jack Tremens.”

  “Believe it or not,” Jack said, “we’re here to bring Lennie home.”

  “This Bigfoot is yours?” Mack said.

  “Technically he’s a Yeren,” Nora corrected Mack.

  “You might say he’s part of the family,” Jack said, gazing up at the big ape. “Ain’t that right, knucklehead?”

  Lennie looked down at Jack, stuck out his fat, black tongue, and blew a wet—and extremely loud—raspberry that sounded like a flatulent bull farting into the wind.

  Everyone broke out laughing.

  Bricks came crashing down when a bulldozer plowed through a section of wall.

  Two more heavy equipment earthmovers shoved through on their tractor treads, opening up a wider path. Scores of rescuers in red overalls and hardhats charged into the park, carrying first aid kits and folded stretchers, along with canine Search and Rescue teams. Camouflage uniformed soldiers armed with carbines came in next and dispersed quickly about the park. It wasn’t long before there was sporadic gunfire.r />
  “We have to get Lennie out of here before they shoot him,” Nora said.

  “This way,” Anna said, pointing to a narrow opening by the west entrance. Mack ran behind Gabe and Caroline while Jack and Nora coaxed Lennie to the park exit.

  49

  OVER THE LINE

  Carter Wilde gazed out from the hangar at the night-shrouded airfield. He was standing next to the front wheel of a Boeing 777F cargo plane that at one time had been part of the FedEx—the logo on the fuselage and the vertical stabilizer now Wilde Enterprises—decommissioned fleet before Wilde purchased the aircraft for a song.

  “How’s the arm?” Wilde asked, removing a cigar from his jacket inside pocket.

  Dr. Joel McCabe’s left arm was cradled in a black sling. “I’ll need to have it properly set once we land.” He popped the cap on a vial and swallowed a couple of pain pills.

  “I’ll have someone waiting,” assured Wilde. “What do you think of our new venture?” The billionaire was referring to the cages upon cages of exotic creatures that were being loaded onto the plane. Four workers pushed a long glass tank on casters containing a six-foot long giant black salamander with yellow spots. The amphibian was not at all happy and kept barking and hissing, and even whining.

  “Damn thing sounds like a baby,” Wilde said.

  “It is often called the infant fish.”

  Wilde and McCabe turned and saw Dr. Zhang approaching with his clipboard.

  “You should be happy to know that samples of every cryptid that Mr. Chang had in his park are on your plane. And more.” Dr. Zhang motioned to the workers pushing two animal cages toward the loading door.

  “What are those?” Wilde asked.

  “The white bear is a Bax-Xiong,” Dr. Zhang said like a proud father, “and the brown one is a Golden Moon Bear. Very sacred.”

  “Well, Joel. Looks like we’ll be up and running in no time,” Wilde said triumphantly. “Soon we’ll have parks all over the world.”