by M H Ryan
“I’m not sure about that, Jack. I can see her animal side building each day she’s around you. She has new feelings, and they are directed at you. If you aren’t interested, we’ll tie her up at night and make sure she leaves our Jack for us.”
“Don’t tie her down,” I said. “Let’s just get to the island and help Cass out, okay?”
“Fine,” Aubrey said.
The island wasn’t too far off now, and I kept an eye on the sky and the tree canopy. After a few minutes of watching the treetops, I’d only spotted two birds. Before there were hundreds. It’d only been a few days since we were there last. Where had they all gone? There wasn’t enough time for their young to hatch and fly away.
The rocks blocking the lagoon in appeared, and I steered the raft to the left of it, on the sandy beach.
“Where’d the birds go?” Benji asked.
The raft slid onto the sand, and with just the three of us, we were only able to pull it slightly out of the water.
“I don’t know, but I saw a few up in the trees. So let’s move low and fast. Grab and go.”
“We should grab some mangos,” Benji said.
“A few other things as well,” Aubrey said. “We can’t waste this chance on collecting food.”
“Okay, we’ll grab what we can on the way,” I said.
We climbed over the rocks, which had blocked our view of the magical lagoon. When we got to the top, I saw the horrifying scene below and then knew what had happened to all the birds.
Chapter 23
Below us, in the once-pristine lagoon that I had personally considered one of the wonders of the world was now sullied with the dead, floating foul. The vibrant and protective birds were now in varying degrees of decomposition. Some were near featherless, their gray skin showing underneath. Many looked mangled and broken, as if they all went through some churning machine that broke them and spit them out into this lagoon.
“What did this?” Benji asked, covering her nose and mouth.
The smell of them wasn’t as strong as I would have thought. Some of the bodies were bloated, while some of the birds looked relatively fresh.
“I don’t know,” I said, looking into the forest, thinking of the animals that were capable of this.
“Freaking disgusting,” Aubrey said, pinching her nose. “That smell, oh my God.”
“A pack of tigers?” Benji said, as if throwing out the ridiculous.
“Moshe,” I said. “Full-grown versions.”
“No way,” Benji said. “There is no way she’d be capable of this.”
If Moshe were indeed nothing more than a kitten, then at some point she might be the size of a 150-pound mountain lion—more than capable of taking out a bird or two. But this was near-genocidal. It would take a pack of them, working in unison and quickly. That didn’t explain why they were here, in this lagoon, though.
Could the watchers have done this? I felt them, not far off the shore. They were nervous about us again, and curious. They were pissed off as well. Complex emotions seemed to be growing every day with them. Whatever it was that I was doing, they didn’t seem to like it.
In the forest came a crunching sound, something that wasn’t concerned about how much noise it made. It got louder, coming closer. We all watched the forest bushes rustling and listened to the broken branches and leaves getting trampled.
Benji had her bow out and pulled the string back with an arrow. Aubrey got ready with a spear. It moved slowly through the underbrush, and I spotted a dark green shape. We were still on the rocks that flowed out into the sea, protecting the lagoon and also keeping the dead birds in place.
Before, when there was this kind of death ready for the taking, the crocs had descended on our island to take it all. They were ravenous, and I couldn’t imagine they wouldn’t do the same with these birds unless they were somehow not edible to them.
“Whoa,” Aubrey said as the body of another dead bird emerged from the bush.
Its head flopped around on a loose neck and its body was held by large mouth. As the croc emerged from the forest, I recognized the beast and had a sickening thought about what these birds all were.
“That’s the croc I was telling you about. The one from the cave I saw a while ago,” I said.
“That was in the cave we went into?” Benji asked, lowering her bow and leaning forward in awe of it.
“That is a straight up Jurassic croc,” Aubrey said. “Is this like a nuclear waste site or something? Because that doesn’t look natural.”
The first time I’d seen the beast, it had been partially showing from its cave, but now it was on full display. I was dumbfounded at its size. It had to be thirty feet long. The bird in its mouth looked as small as a turkey. It moseyed along a path down the beach, toward the lagoon.
“We were in the cave with that thing?” Benji asked again.
“Yes,” I said, feeling the creature with my extra sense.
It was annoyed and tired but didn’t seem to notice or care about us. It felt old, as well, as if it’d been there for as long as the island.
“You think it killed the birds in the cave, when, you know, we drew them all in there?” Benji asked.
“I think most of the birds must have gone into the cave after us. I felt the croc near the entrance, but it was sleeping when we passed by. I suspect the birds made a lot of noise coming in and awakened it. It might have gone right to the entrance and blocked any exit the birds might have made.”
“Jesus,” Aubrey said. “I mean, the birds would probably try to fight that thing, but it would just kill them one at a time.”
“And now it’s cleaning its cave out,” Benji said.
The croc carried the bird and swam into the water before spitting it out and going back to shore. The new deposit joined the crowded space.
A bird flew above, circled once, and flew back into the forest. If there was ever a showing of pure carnage, this was it. The birds wouldn’t likely land down here, and I felt better about getting the bark and even the food now. I think avoiding the massive croc wouldn’t be too much of a problem.
We waited until the croc had waddled back into the forest and then we jogged over the chunky rocks and onto the sandy beach. With weapons in hand, we trotted down the beach toward the woods.
“I remember seeing one over here,” Aubrey said, referring to the willow tree.
Just a dozen feet in, she spotted the tree and ran up to it.
“Okay, just cut some of the bark off. A few pounds will give us a good supply,” Aubrey said.
“Okay,” I said and went to slice some of the bark off.
“We’ll get some fruit,” Aubrey said.
“Mangos. We’re getting mangos,” Benji said.
“Stay close and keep an eye out for…anything. We don’t know if our theory about the croc is right. There could be something else out there.”
“We’ll be all right,” Aubrey said, pushing Benji forward and into the forest.
I mentally reached into the forest for any creatures and felt a few things I was reasonably confident were the last of the birds. Some were scared, but still had a protective feeling, as if they had young in those nests up there. Good, you guys stay up there, and we’ll be down here. There was another feeling in the forest, but it came and went, as if there was a stealth to it.
The urge to call out to the girls and bring them back was strong, but they were grown and strong women. They could handle trouble if they found it.
I glided the knife around the willow tree, peeling back the bark and stuffing it into my bag. If this would help Cass’s fever, I’d be shocked. I was used to popping a pill. God, I hated that stupid octopus for taking our first aid bag. Those were things we weren’t going to be able to easily replace, if not impossible. I should have taken those scissors in there and the pills. Instead, we were risking our lives on Food Island. Home of the monster croc, pissed-off giant birds, and now featuring a Lagoon of Death.
The feeling
of that stealth popped into my head again. It jerked me back from the tree, and I scanned the forest. The girls were out of sight but I thought I heard Aubrey’s voice. I wanted to call out to them, but I sensed that this creature was looking for us and that making noise wasn’t the best action.
With a couple pounds of bark in my bag, I grabbed the spear I’d leaned against the tree and headed in the direction the girls went. I found them quickly not two hundred feet from the willow tree.
I breathed out, seeing they were fine. Benji was walking around a mango tree, touching the fruit as a person might at a grocery store. When she found one to her liking, she plucked it from the tree and put it in her bag.
Aubrey stuffed oranges in her bag without much consideration.
I rushed up on them, feeling the creatures in the forest. They were getting closer.
“We need to go,” I whispered.
“What?” Benji said, pulling another mango off the tree.
“There’s something in the forest. I think it’s hunting us,” I said.
“Crap,” Aubrey said, scanning the nearby forest.
Benji pulled a few more mangos off the tree in a rush.
“Be quiet and follow me,” I said.
We weren’t more than a few hundred feet from the shoreline and another couple hundred from there to the raft, but I sensed them. Maybe three of them now. They weren’t being as stealthy and were moving faster. They were breathing in, trying to get our scent. Good, that probably meant they hadn’t spotted us yet.
I jogged through the forest, constantly looking back for the girls and for the predators that seemed to be tracking us now. Then the three stealthy creatures emotions shifted in an instant, and a clarity hit them.
“They’ve found our scent,” I whispered as I cleared a bush.
“What are they?” Aubrey asked, staying close to me.
“I don’t know, but they’re predators. I don’t think we’re going to make it to the raft.”
They were much closer now, and I felt them more clearly. They weren’t hungry or angry but they were hunting us. They seemed to enjoy rushing after us, as if it was a sport of theirs. They fed off each other’s energy and moved faster. My God, they were fast.
I jogged onto the sandy beach of the lagoon and knew we only had seconds before they’d be on us.
“We have to hide,” I said, going into the water.
“No freaking way,” Aubrey said in an angry whisper.
Benji didn’t say a word, just went right into the water with her bag of mangos.
“Shit,” Aubrey said, looking back and then getting quietly into the water with us.
I walked as fast as I could, shoving a bird carcass out of the way as I got to waist-deep water. Aubrey and Benji stayed with me, walking through the water right next to me. The smell, when we were up on the rocks, was bad, but down there in the water, the stench was enough to make me gag. Decaying bodies had a specific smell, but water amplified the smell of decomposition and accelerated the deterioration of the body.
The water had a film on the surface, like oil, and the feathers that floated did little to soak up the surface slick. We pushed past more carcasses until we were surrounded by the bloated, dead birds.
“I can’t swim,” Benji said, gripping my arm tightly.
I took her into my arms and held her right in front of me, her back to my chest. I used one arm to stay floating and kicked my legs hard to keep us both up. I really didn’t want to dunk my head into the water around me. The oil on the water slicked up my neck and the birds kept bumping into us.
Aubrey pushed one away, and I saw her hand sink into the bird. She yanked it out, a gelatinous, reddish goo attached. She went pale and threw up onto the water next to her.
She pushed the vomit away from her and looked as if she might throw up again.
My gag reflex kicked in, and I looked away. I felt Benji tensing in my arms as she gagged herself. I glanced at the beach, between two carcasses, and spotted them.
“They’re here,” I said, and was damned glad we’d hid.
On the shore stepped out three large cats. They were of the same type as Moshe and with similar coloring, but as big as lions. Two hundred pound cats. They had found our scent and went to the edge of the water.
They were repulsed by the smell of decay and backed away from the beach. They made a clicking sound with their mouths and looked at each other. They were smart cats, and I could tell they were thinking about where we might have gone, because the trail had gone cold. From the slick look of their fur, I had no doubt these were water cats, just like Moshe. If they spotted us, they might not decide to wade into the putrid waters, but I wasn’t going to bet on it.
Benji tightened up in my arms, and I felt her gagging. If she hurled, it would get on us both, but I wasn’t letting her go. Thankfully, she kept it down.
The three cats paced the shoreline then spread out, running up and down the beach. They would pick up our scent and then lose it again. They were having fun trying to find us, and I felt the pleasure of it for them.
“Just leave, fuckers,” Aubrey whispered so low I barely heard her and then she wiped her mouth on her shoulder
My legs were starting to hurt as I kicked hard, trying to keep Benji and me up. I knew one thing for sure: before any shelter was made, or weapons, I was teaching Benji how to swim. I don’t care if the geyser blew right on us, we were spending some time back at the pool on our home island. Not knowing how to swim in a world of mostly water was going to get her killed and maybe me, too.
A few more minutes passed, and my energy started to flag.
The bird’s bodies thankfully continued to give us good cover. They floated a good foot and half to two feet over the water, blocking those things from being able to see us properly. I used my swimming hand and pushed a bird away from my face.
It’s wet feathers peeled off from the bird, and I wiped them off my hand in the water. The simple effort of pushing the bird away almost sent Benji and me under the water.
Benji kicked her legs and paddled her arms. She kept them under water, making for silent movements, but she grabbed and kicked at the water, like she might be doing some strange dance. It helped some, but I was wearing out quick.
The cats made a barking sound and converged right on the spot we left the forest and moved down to the beach. I could feel them thinking—plotting and getting excited as one of them sorted the trail out. The cat at the center looked out into the water, searching for us.
“Don’t move,” I whispered to Benji.
She went still, and she had been helping a lot more than I imagined. We dipped under the water, and I felt the scum of the surface coat my face like an oil painting. With a burst of frantic kicking, I got us nearly instantly back onto the water, but in the process, I made a splash.
The cats heard it and zeroed their attention to our area of the lagoon.
“Shit,” I whispered.
One thing I knew is that these cats were more deadly in the water than on land. I’d seen Moshe firsthand, taking on a whale. If they got through the grossness of the waters, they’d be on us in seconds, and there would be little we could do to defend ourselves from such a predator.
Then a rustling came from the forest, and I felt the presence of our most unlikely savior.
Captain Croc appeared with another bird in its mouth. The cats hissed at it as it entered their space and puffed up their fur. The croc spat out the bird on the beach and rotated its massive body toward them. The cats jumped back from it and kept moving back as the croc lumbered toward them.
The croc knew no fear, while the cats were terrified of the beast, that terror was tinged with a kind of arrogance that might overpower common sense.
Sure enough, one of the cats jumped up, clearing the croc's mouth and landing on its back. It bit at the thick scaly skin, but it might have well been trying to bite into steel. The croc rotated its head back, snapping at the cat.
The more agi
le cat moved, avoiding the large mouth. The other cats moved around the croc, confidence building at the success of their kin.
“We need to leave now,” I said.
It didn’t really matter who won this fight—both resulted in trouble for us. Either the cats went into the water to search for us there, or the croc would grab the bird and swim into the lagoon to dispose of the bird. In the process, it might find a more appetizing meal in us. Plus, I didn’t have much left in me.
With me still holding Benji around the chest, I swam backward and away from the island. Looking back as I swam, I spotted the lagoon’s narrow opening into the ocean. Just fifty birds were between us and it.
The dead birds seemed to gravitate toward us, as if they were performing some sick postmortem joke on the humans trying to get by. Maybe this was their revenge, their haunting on us. I knew if we got through this, I wasn’t going to forget this swim anytime soon.
The surface here wasn’t just the oily slickness from before but also the occasional string of entrails leading out from a bird, like seaweed might from the ocean floor. I wished I could say it didn’t touch me and wrap around my neck, but I’d be lying. I heaved and Benji heaved, but we both kept it down.
I couldn’t see the battle on the beach, as the birds were now too thick between them and us, but I saw the ocean and heard the soft waves. I’d never wanted to be out of something more in my life. The clean ocean water looked like heaven, and I swam hard, trying to end this nightmare of grossness.
We got to the edge of the lagoon, and we were able to scramble over the rocks where the water was just a foot deep. I kicked off the rocks, with Benji in my arms, into the clean ocean water. We kept swimming near the outside of the edge of rocks as they rose from the water, and soon we were able to run down the edge of the rocks as they were tall enough to block the cats’ view of us.
We got back to the raft, groaning as we struggled to get it back into the waters. Finally, I felt it break free from the sand when a wave washed up against it.
“Now!” I yelled. “Push as hard as you can!” The raft launched into the sea and I jumped on after the girls, using my spear to push us off and away from the island. A hundred feet into the ocean and away from the birds and cats and crocs, I took my first deep breath and ran to the edge of the boat.
