Prey

by Jon F. Merz

When, she corrected herself.

  Mick's fist went up and the signal passed down the line. Behind her, Julia knew everyone was scanning the walls and the ceiling. The creatures, even the illusion of them, had shown themselves very capable of scampering along the same places. And no one seemed anxious to have one of them drop down unexpectedly.

  Mick got down on his hands and knees and for some strange reason, Julia's eyes went to his butt. Even though he was wearing a thick layer of winter clothes, she thought it looked fairly admirable from this distance.

  Nice way of keeping your head in the game, she frowned.

  The tunnel had grown lighter, too. The ambient gray spilled into the remainder of the tunnel behind them and disappeared as the darkness overpowered it like a black hole.

  But up here, they could see.

  Wilkins kept his gun trained just beyond Mick's location, ready to fire at anything he deemed a threat.

  Mick stopped moving.

  They all fell silent.

  He turned then and waved Julia up.

  She got down on her hands and knees as well and felt the jagged rocks bite into her hand and knees. She made a lot more noise moving forward, but Mick seemed unfazed by it.

  He smiled at her. "Not the most comfortable thing to do, is it?"

  She shook her head. "Felt a lot worse, but this is no picnic." She looked down. "Can you see it?"

  He pointed. "There. About two meters further on. There's what looks like a big rock in the side of the tunnel. But you can see there," he pointed, "and there, where there's light coming out."

  "Some sort of door?"

  He shrugged. "Could be."

  "We've got to move it, then, haven't we?"

  "Yeah. If we want our questions answered."

  Julia frowned. "I just hope we like the thing that answers them."

  Mick smirked. "That might be hoping for a bit too much." He turned and waved on the rest of the group. When they'd gathered around, Mick laid out the plan.

  "That rock is the target. We need to get beyond it. There's a good chance that something behind there won't probably like us coming through."

  "No shit," said Wilkins.

  Mick smiled. "So, we'll treat the entire thing as hostile. I want us divided into two fire teams. One to confront whatever is waiting beyond the door and one to protect our asses." He pointed at Wilkins. "You and Darren will be in charge of moving the rock."

  Wilkins looked at Darren. Julia could see the cool appraisal run through Wilkins mind as he sized up Darren's approximate strength. He turned back to Mick.

  "Yeah. All right."

  Mick nodded at Darren. "All right with you?"

  Darren didn't hesitate. "Sure."

  Mick nodded at Julia. "Me and Julia will be first through the hole or whatever the hell it is. Kendall, you and Nung watch our rear. Once the door's open, Wilkins will fall in with us and Darren will fall in with Kendall's group. Everyone cool?"

  They all nodded. Mick looked at Wilkins and Darren. "Your show boys."

  Wilkins let his rifle go across his back on a sling. Darren did the same. They both approached the rock. Mick brought his own rifle out and aimed it loosely at the rock door. Julia did the same. Behind her she could hear Kendall and Nung turn and cover them.

  Wilkins sized up the rock and nodded at Darren, giving him directions without speaking. Darren got the hang of it soon enough and they both positioned themselves.

  Wilkins looked back at Mick who nodded.

  Wilkins nodded at Darren.

  Once.

  Twice.

  And on the third nod they both heaved.

  Julia heard the rock groan.

  More light appeared.

  She steadied herself now, raised her rifle more. Mick was peering intently beyond the rock at the ever-increasing amount of light spilling out of the opening.

  The rock moved more.

  Darren grunted. Wilkins swore softly under his breath.

  The fissure widened to about four feet.

  Mick gestured for them to stop. Wilkins swung his rifle down and out while Darren stepped quickly toward Kendall and Nung.

  Mick moved up, the barrel of his gun sniffing the air like a bloodhound.

  Julia followed him. As they got close to Wilkins, she could see the sheen of sweat cascading down his face. He looked to not be breathing hard, but Julia figured the combination of heavy lifting and adrenaline made him sweat more than he normally would have.

  Mick peered into the intense bright light. His eyes squinted, trying to process the light and anything he might be able to see beyond it. He looked at them both and nodded.

  Then stepped through the opening.

  Julia followed.

  And Wilkins came on her tail.

  The opening branched off immediately once beyond and several things struck Julia simultaneously.

  Bright - heat - humid - green.

  Jesus Christ - a jungle?

  She heard Mick swear.

  Wilkins snorted the air and then swore, too.

  Around them, lush green plants with leaves the size of palm fronds gently waved in some sort of balmy breeze. Julia felt an instant sweat come on. Mick's face was already running.

  But he kept scanning their immediate environment.

  A crude path of brown earth tracked through the underbrush, leading in a looping fashion off into the distance. Mick knelt down and examined the ground.

  He looked up and gestured Julia to him.

  When she got close, he put his mouth to her ear. "Tracks." And then he pointed at the ground.

  Julia glanced down and frowned. They weren't human footprints. But there seemed to be two apparently separate sets of tracks leading down the path. But what had made them. Both sets only contained two indentations, meaning the thing that had created them must have walked up right.

  But what?

  And where were Havel's tracks?

  Julia frowned. Maybe he'd been carried.

  Maybe he was already dead.

  She heard the other team members come into the opening and spread out, still facing behind them. But she saw the incredulous look in their eyes. A jungle inside a mountain in Antarctica of all the crazy things.

  She almost couldn't believe it herself.

  But here it was.

  Mick brushed the closest giant leaf and shook his head. "This doesn't exactly look like the latest generation of this species."

  Julia grinned. "You an expert at horticulture?"

  "No."

  She turned and waved Darren up. "Fortunately, we've got one of the best." She pointed at Darren and then at the leaf. "What do you make of that?"

  Darren knelt down and examined the leaf closely. He turned it over and seemed particularly interested in the stem running back toward the trunk of the shrub. After two minutes he shook his head and looked at Julia.

  "Damnedest thing, boss."

  "What?"

  "This plant hasn't existed on earth for about sixty-five million years."

  She looked at him. Mick turned slightly.

  "Excuse me?"

  Darren nodded. "It's a subspecies of the palm genus. The kind that used to litter the planet way back in the late Cretaceous period. Sixty-five million years ago. They evolved into what we commonly refer to as palm trees now, but back then, these plants were a food source for a whole lot of animals."

  Mick cleared his throat. "What kind of animals?"

  Darren's face clouded. "Well, there were the early mammals around back then. Some birds just starting to show up on the scene."

  Mick's jaw grew firm again. "Anything else?"

  "Yeah," said Darren. "Some species of dinosaurs liked this plant, too."

  Julia heard Kendall sniff derisively. "Dinosaurs? Give me a break."

  Wilkins shot him a look. "Keep your damned eyes peeled, Kendall. I don't want anything coming at us from behind because you were too busy spouting off your bullshit."

  Kendall frowned but turned back t
o watch the opening.

  Mick chewed his lip. "Well, I don't think we were attacked by dinosaurs in the tunnel back there. And I have a hard time believing that a dinosaur could be intelligent enough to come through the roof of the greenhouse and carry of Vikorsky."

  Julia looked at him. "Still."

  "What?"

  "We all saw the creatures back there in the cave."

  "It was dark, Julia."

  "Not dark enough. I saw a tail at least once."

  "Doesn't mean it was a dinosaur."

  She nodded. "I think we'd better keep our minds open to any possibility, however."

  Mick nodded. "Absolutely. I just don't anyone running around with visions of Jurassic Park in their heads is all. It'll distract us from finding the real source of our problem."

  "You mean rescuing Vikorsky and Havel," said Julia.

  "Yes," said Mick. "If that's even possible."

  He turned back to the ground. "These tracks aren't all that old. Maybe a few hours. We should follow them and see where they go."

  Julia's throat went dry. Somehow the idea of tracking down the...creatures did not appeal to her much. A wave of fear broke over her confidence and dragged her resolution out into a sea of worry.

  Mick must have seen it on her face because he took her hand. "It'll be okay. Just stick close to me."

  She grinned. "I've got no intention of being anywhere else."

  Darren cleared his throat. "It's damned hot in here."

  Mick nodded. "Seems like some kind of controlled environment, doesn't it?" He pointed at the ceiling. "It's still the mountain, near as I can tell, but the roof is almost a hundred feet over our heads."

  "Why would this cavern be so large?" asked Julia.

  Mick shook his head. "I don't know."

  Julia heard a zipper coming down. She turned and saw Wilkins shrugging off his jacket. He smiled at her. "Way too hot in here to keep our gear on."

  She nodded and undid her own jacket. Mick waited until she was done shucking her winter clothes and then did the same. Julia watched his jacket come off and reveal the massive size of his arms. Sweat still coated his skin, making him resemble some type of oiled bodybuilder.

  And Julia didn't mind one bit.

  He hefted his rifle and when everyone had stowed their gear under the largest palm shrub nearby, where it hopefully couldn't be easily spotted, Mick pointed to the path.

  Time to follow it and see how far it went.

  Julia took a final glimpse back at the cave opening and then turned and followed Mick into the jungle.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The trail sloped gently downward, winding as it went, leading them further into heavy undergrowth. A steady breeze swept through the leaves and branches of various shrubs and small trees. Julia marveled at how such an ecosystem could even exist in the middle of a mountain.

  Mick never stopped eyeing the path as it led them deeper into the jungle. Julia could feel the tension coming off his body in waves. He was primed, she thought. Ready to explode into action if needed.

  They had to keep stopping for Darren who would break ranks and examine every new plant he saw, exclaiming about how rare it was.

  "Darren!" Julia said it for what felt like the millionth time. "We have to keep moving."

  Wilkins whispered something in Darren's ear, which made the young man's face go pale. He stood, grabbed his rifle and hurried back into the line.

  Julia grabbed Wilkins. "What did you say to him?"

  Wilkins' face was stone. "I told him that if he brought down any heat on us from those creatures, I'd kill him myself."

  He turned and continued walking. Julia watched him go and wondered what was happening to her team.

  Mick called a halt a few minutes later and they formed up. Mick kept his voice low and soft, but audible at the same time.

  "The path forks up ahead."

  Worried expressions bloomed on the faces of the team. Nung cleared his throat. "Please tell me you aren't going to suggest we split up."

  Mick shrugged. "It'd save a lot of time if we did. We could cover more ground and possibly locate our missing people even faster."

  "And we could blunder into an ambush and get killed off a lot easier if there are less of us to fight," said Darren. "No thanks."

  Mick glanced at Julia. "It's your decision."

  Julia looked at her team. She could feel their stares. She could tell they were scared. And she knew that she'd have to go against Mick on this on.

  "We stay together," she said finally.

  Mick nodded. "Fair enough. Left or right?"

  "Sorry?"

  "Which way do you want to go? The path goes in one of two directions."

  Julia shrugged. "How about left?"

  "Sounds good." Mick stood and grabbed his rifle If he was upset that Julia had overruled his motion to split the team, he didn't show it.

  Nung wandered past. "Thanks, boss."

  "Forget it."

  She trailed behind, wondering what they'd managed to get themselves into.

  Mick led them left and they walked another couple of hundred yards when his fist shot into the sky and they all crouched low and off the main trail. Mick got down on his hands and knees and slow-crawled ahead.

  He disappeared around another corner.

  Julia waited.

  Where had he gone? Why hadn't he motioned her forward? She hoped he wasn't making any more decisions she'd end up overruling. She didn't want to piss him off too much. She didn't want to hurt her chances of possibly having some sort of relationship with him when this whole crazy mess was at last behind them.

  Mick didn't reappear after five minutes and Julia felt the pit of her stomach start to ache. Where was he?

  Wilkins tapped her on the shoulder but she only shrugged it off as if to say, "how the hell would I know?"

  Darren exchanged glances with Nung. Nung glanced at Wilkins who shrugged just as Julia had.

  What were they waiting for? What was going on around the corner.

  After ten minutes, Julia couldn't take it anymore. She looked at Wilkins and nodded once. That was all it took. Wilkins crawled past Nung and Darren and disappeared around the same corner.

  Julia thought she heard something then. Nothing much, just a muffled sort of movement. Had Wilkins been attacked? No. He would have been able to squeeze of a shot at least. Taking him down wasn't easy.

  So what had happened?

  Her stomach ached more than ever. Part of her desperately wanted to find the nearest rock and go relieve herself in the big way. But she couldn't. Was this one of the joys of leadership? Was this what the pressure did to you? Did it squeeze all the worry and fear into a pulsing globe of hell and push it down into the depths of your bowels?

  Sure felt that way.

  Nifty, thought Julia. All the way at the bottom of the world and not a bottle of Imodium AD in sight.

  Where the hell was Wilkins?

  Just as she was about to crawl on ahead herself, she saw Mick come crawling back followed closely by Wilkins. Relief flooded her at the same rate as anger. She motioned for them both to come to her.

  "What the hell was that all about? Why'd you disappear around the corner and what happened to you?"

  Wilkins held up his hand. "Steady on boss. It's cool. Mick just got himself something to watch, that's all. And when I went around the corner, he had to make sure I didn't do anything to alert it."

  "It?"

  "One of the creatures," said Mick. One of the ones looked like what attacked us back in the tunnel."

  "What was it doing?"

  Mick shrugged. "I thought it might be eating the plants. But it wasn't. Near as I can tell, it was standing guard."

  Julia frowned. "Standing guard?"

  "Yeah. But then it moved on. So, maybe it was just hanging out. I don't know."

  "Wonderful."

  Wilkins shook his head. "Damnedest things. Looks like some weird combination of reptile and...I don't kn
ow what."

  "Reptile?"

  "Yeah. Got them long tails, doesn't it? I could see some spikes on it, too. Real nasty ones."

  Mick nodded. "He's right. Whatever we do, we'll have to be damned careful not to end up on the wrong side of those things. One swing and we'd be done for."

  "Tails with spikes?"

  "And some kind of beaklike face," said Wilkins. He shrugged. "I know Darren said these plants were from the Cretaceous period and all, but that thing actually looked a little bit like a dinosaur to me."

  "And to me," said Mick. "A little bit."

  Julia felt like this was all happening to fast. Dinosaurs? In a jungle? In Antarctica? In a mountain? This had to be a bad dream.

  "Well, what else did it look like?"

  "What do you mean?"

  Julia sighed. "You said part of it looked like a dinosaur. What did the other part look like?"

  Mick frowned and glanced at Wilkins. "Uh..."

  "I don't know, boss. Had really long arms and legs though. Those seemed almost human."

  "You think it was a half-human half-dinosaur you just saw?" She almost grinned in spite of herself.

  "I know it sounds weird," said Mick.

  "Sounds more than weird," said Julia. "The only thing that keeps me believing you two is the fact that I saw something in the tunnel. And while the light wasn't good, I did see a tail. We all did. So against my better judgment - which seems to have gone out the window - I will believe you."

  Wilkins heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

  "So, where'd it go?"

  "It left," said Mick. "Walked off down the path."

  "Still keeping on the same route we are?"

  "Yeah."

  "And you want to follow it?"

  Mick shrugged. "Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we? It might lead us to our people."

  Julia nodded. "All right. Pass the word to the others. We'll follow this...thing and see where it takes us."

  "We'll have to be damned quiet," said Mick. "No stopping, no conversation. If it gets wind of us, hell will break loose."

  "Make sure everyone understand that," said Julia. "I don't want any cock-ups on this."

  Mick smiled. "You're starting to talk like a boss now, you know that?"

  "Am I?" Julia grinned. "I'm relieved."

  Mick frowned. "It was supposed to be a compliment."