This time, the clown wasn't there.
Jack pressed his forehead into the bed of leaves beneath him, wheezing, his entire body shaking from the fear. He was trying to remember what had happened before the monster clown began chasing him, but he couldn't. His thoughts were a blur. He couldn't focus. Every instinct in his body screamed at him to forget the pain and the exhaustion and keep running. He had to get out of this forest. The woods had to end at some point. He just needed to keep going.
"No," Jack whispered hoarsely. "Think, Jackson. Remember. Focus."
He pushed up onto his knees and tried to concentrate, but nothing materialized. He'd had a plan. Something itched at the back of his brain. But what was it?
"Lost," he muttered. "Need to find my way. But which way?"
"That way," a soft female voice spoke from inches away.
Jack rolled onto his back and scrambled away from a Japanese girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. She wore a plain white dress with spaghetti straps and no shoes. Her skin was ghostly pale in the moonlight and her hair was long and dark. She was pointing towards the east.
Jack caught his breath a few moments later and pushed to his feet, staring at the girl warily as if expecting her to attack. The girl stared at him, unblinking. "Hurry. She's waiting for you."
"What's the point anymore?" he asked hoarsely, exhausted. "There's fourteen miles of woods out here. I can walk in circles for days. Weeks. And that's if I'm lucky and the yakuza don't find me first."
"They're waiting for you," the girl said softly.
"Who is?"
"Kamala...and your daughter."
Something cold slid up Jack's spine. A piece of what he'd forgotten clicked into place.
"Hurry," the girl said, still pointing. "Men are coming to kill you."
Jack flinched, glancing around him. "What?"
He looked back to see that the girl had vanished. He shuddered deeply and fell into a limping, slow gait as he headed in the direction she'd indicated.
Along the way, he stepped down into a small pond and paused long enough to take a drink and wash the sweat that had begun to dry on his face. He stared at his gaunt reflection and hardly recognized himself.
And as he stood there, ankle deep in the water, he heard something moving behind him in the darkness.
He pretended not to notice. It was probably the clown again, getting his second wind, waiting for another chance to attack. The adrenaline returned in a sickening rush, but he forced himself to stay where he was and keep drinking the water, using the small puddle as a mirror over his shoulder. Finally, the figure passed by the water's surface.
Jack whirled and threw a swift right hook. He missed. The figure grabbed his wrist and then his arm, flipping him completely in a shoulder throw. He hit the ground, the air smashed from his lungs, staring dazed into the canopy of stars above him at the olive-skinned woman holding a knife inches above his throat. He blinked once. Twice.
"...Snow?"
The Scottish woman stiffened and knelt above him, squinting. "Dr. Jackson?"
Jack groaned and pushed up on his hands, rubbing his aching skull. "I knew you didn't like me, but was that really necessary?"
Snow let out a deep breath and slid the knife back into its sheath at her side. "I could have killed you."
"Don't worry," he said wearily. "The yakuza are getting to that just fine. Where the hell have you been and how did you find me?"
"Long story." She gripped his chin and examined his face. "What's wrong with you?"
"Huh?"
"Your breathing's all wrong and you keep checking behind me like you see something. What happened after you left the caves?"
"Baba Yaga attacked. I barely made it out. Cracked some ribs and passed out from the pain. When I woke up, Aisaka Tomoda had found me. She took my pack and my equipment and tied me to a tree. Drugged me with something. A hallucinogen, I think. I'm drifting in an out of lucidity every several minutes. Had a nasty one just before you showed up."
Jack paused and squinted at her. "Actually, there's a good chance that's what's happening right now and you're not real."
Snow considered him for a moment or two. She then slapped him hard across the face. "Gah!"
She then arched an eyebrow. "Can hallucinations do that?"
"Ow," Jack said pointedly. "Also, no. Guess I walked myself right into that one. Now what's your story?"
She sighed in annoyance as she helped him to his feet. "We went in after you. Your lass noticed that the yakuza had infiltrated the caves and so Fry wanted us to go back. The little tart said no, so I was ordered to take her back by force, but then she told Fry she was pregnant and he relented. He told me to return to camp to gather reinforcements while they went after you."
Jack frowned. "Why didn't you go?"
"Fry didn't drag me out here to just turn tail at the first sign of trouble," Snow growled. "So I did some recon instead."
"What did you find?"
"The enemy camp. It's five miles west of here. They have over forty men. They've been sending them inside the perimeter in small teams. Judging by the explosions I heard a short while ago, that means that someone's acquired the dragon. I've been following their movements since I left the cave system so I could report it back to Fry and the others. Doesn't matter if we get the dragon if they have a small army waiting for us. We have to take them out first or they'll kill us and take the dragon anyway."
"I don't get it. Why didn't you tell Fry and the others where you went? Why didn't you shoot up a flare?"
"I was about to when one of the yakuza got lucky and spotted me. We tussled and he busted my comm equipment." She showed him her cracked arm panel. "The flare gun fell off my belt when we went tumbling down the hill and I couldn't find it. My tracker still works, so if our team gets within range, they can still find us. I was heading in the direction of the ruckus when I heard you stumbling in the dark like a babe in the woods. Figured one less yakuza was a good thing."
Jack eyed her. "So you're certifiably insane or...?"
Snow rolled her eyes. "Do you want my help or not, Jackson?"
"Fine, but it's at your own risk. I've had a killer clown chasing me for the last fifteen minutes, so I don't know what good it'll do you to have me around."
She stared at him. "A killer clown."
"Bite me. Twelve percent of the people in the world are scared of clowns, alright?"
"Now who is the certifiable one?" She turned and marched away from him. He fell in step behind her, impressed that she apparently knew her way without the use of the flashlight on her cold gun.
"Still you," Jack said, rubbing his still-tingling jaw from where she'd hit him. The woman sure packed a wallop, even when she wasn't trying. "What the hell were you thinking trying to sneak through the woods and spy on a bunch of psychotic dragon-obsessed murderers by yourself?"
"I work better alone."
"Why? What the hell do you do for a living?"
Snow heaved a sigh. "Bounty hunter."
Jack stopped dead. "Wait, what?"
Snow turned, flashing him an irritated look he could see even in the sparse light. "I track and retrieve fugitives of the law for money."
"I know what a bounty hunter is," Jack said mildly. "I'm just...trying to absorb the fact that you are one. Explains that sparkling personality of yours."
"Can we go now?"
He resumed walking behind her. "And you decided to become one on purpose or you fell into it?"
"I chose it. It's good money and I am my own boss. Are you done pokin' into my personal life now, Jackson?"
"For the moment." He squinted up into the canopy. "Are you seeing three pink elephants sitting on that branch right now?"
"No."
"Shit," he grumbled. "When I get my hands on Aisaka, I'm gonna rip her in half."
"Is she the one that shot you last month?"
"Yeah. How'd you know that?"
"Fry gave me the case file before I ag
reed to help."
"Let me guess: you're jealous she got to shoot me?"
Snow didn't answer. Jack rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Our current predicament is a direct result of your actions," she spat. "Perhaps it's time you reflected over that and not my opinion of you, Dr. Jackson."
"Men make their own decisions," he countered. "I didn't tell those men to steal our research and clone a killing machine. Hell, the first species we tested it on was a non-lethal dragon that just happened to have a mutation that made it the size of a horse. The intent of the project was restoration of nature."
Snow let out a bitter chuckle. "And you see how well it turned out for nature."
"I've heard it all before, lady. Point fingers all you want. We took an entire species and wiped it out for nothing more than sheer vanity and perpetuated ignorance. Pardon me for giving a shit and wanting them to have a second chance."
She whirled on him then. "And who made you God?"
Jack took a deep breath and didn't flinch under her frostbitten glare. "Nobody's playing God. We killed them. It wasn't natural selection or evolution. We did that. There's no telling what kind of world we'd be living in now if dragons hadn't gone extinct. Maybe one that wouldn't be so ignorant that it would consider electing Donald fucking Trump for President of the United States."
"And you think filling the world with monsters will help us regain our sense of wonder?" Snow replied with the utmost sarcasm.
"Maybe, yeah. Human beings think they know everything. It makes them feel safe to label things and say we've got something in the bag. Well, that's a lie. There are entire sections of the ocean we've never explored. We haven't even explored five percent of the known universe with our space program. There is so much we don't know and we can't evolve as a species until we understand our effect on the world around us. We have a responsibility as sentient beings to repair the damage we've done. Bringing back the dragons is one small step to restore what has been lost in this world. By finding them, we might find ourselves again."
They stood there staring at each other for a long moment. Snow shook her head and moved away.
"You are the most naive man I've ever met."
Jack watched her turned back and snorted.
"Coming from you, that's a compliment."
He took a step and frowned as it sounded...off. Not a dry snap of twigs or a crunch of dirt. It sounded wet. Jack glanced down.
He was standing on corpses.
Eviscerated bodies spread out along the forest floor, blood leaking out black and inky in the darkness, organs slithering out of the enormous tears in their chest cavities. Men, women, children, so many of them littering the ground, their mouths open in soundless screams, the whites of their eyes glowing like silver coins in the moonlight. The man he'd stepped on released a hideous hissing sound of pain and exhaled in an accusing tone that chilled him to the bone.
"Your fault. It's your fault we're all dead."
Jack backpedaled, shaking his head. "No, I didn't...didn't do this..."
He stumbled to one side and pressed his hand to a nearby tree to hold himself up as his stomach lurched, threatening to expel what little sustenance he'd consumed. Jack shut his eyes to the landscape of gore, but he could smell them, smell the blood, smell the waste, smell the bile of the rotting corpses. They'd still be alive if it weren't for him.
"Jackson!" Snow barked.
Jack flinched and opened his eyes again, finding that he'd sunk onto his knees and had nearly curled into a ball. She had one hand on his shoulder, the other gripping his chin to make him look at her.
"Focus," she said. "Focus on me."
Jack gritted his teeth and nodded tightly. "Sorry. Told you. It...comes and goes."
"Well, I'm not bloody carrying you out of here, so you'd better get a handle on it." She hauled him to his feet again. He took several deep breaths until his hammering heart rate slowed to its normal rhythm. His hands still shook from the hideous imagery he'd just seen.
"Talk," Jack muttered. "About something, anything. At least until we're at the campsite."
Snow scowled at him. "I'm already regretting my decision to help you."
"Yeah, well, it is what it is, lady. If you want me to stop spazzing out, you're gonna have to keep me distracted."
"I hate you."
"Join the club. We have tea on Wednesdays and knit each other sweaters."
Snow threw up her hands and marched on ahead, not disguising her distaste. "What do you want for your first child? A girl or a boy?"
"Dunno," Jack said, wincing as his ribs stung sharply when he stood up and trailed after Snow. "Kind of get this gut feeling we're having a girl, but don't ask me why. Can't believe Kam told you."
"She was under duress," Snow said.
Jack narrowed his eyes at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"What do you think it means?"
"Y'know, I try not to hit girls, but you're really pushing it, lady."
She flashed him a sharp grin. "Try it and see what happens."
"I'm drugged, not stupid. But if you put your hands on the mother of my child again, I'll take my damn chances."
Snow rolled her eyes. "Typical male response. As if she needs you to protect her. She was doing just fine without you."
Jack winced. "That's how she is. Kam's a survivor. A fighter. I don't deserve her."
"Hell of a time to decide that, her being pregnant with your spawn."
Jack held his hands out in a strangulation motion behind her head. "Wasn't exactly planned, you know. If I did the math right, conception happened during our first time and we used protection. Just seemed like a genuine freak accident."
"God doesn't make mistakes."
Jack blinked in surprise. "Didn't take you for a believer."
"I believe in a higher power only because it's better than the alternative."
"That come from your family too?"
"I'm Scottish. What d'you think?"
"Well, ask a stupid question," he agreed. "So that stuff about Captain Demeter...did your family teach you that story when you were a kid?"
"Yes."
"Sounds like you have quite a chip on your shoulder about it. Any particular reason why? I mean, it happened so long ago."
Snow halted so abruptly he nearly bumped into her. Jack tensed, unsure from her posture if she was about to clock him again for touching a raw nerve.
The woman faced him. "Do you really want to go this route, Jackson?"
He studied her and then gave her a faint shrug. "I'm a scientist. Curiosity killed the cat."
"My ancestor was the only man alive to ever successfully kill a Baba Yaga. The remains that they had on the news recently was the very dragon he and his men slew, in fact."
Jack blinked in surprise. "No shit."
"After the dragon had been slain, Captain Demeter and his remaining men brought it back to the town. They were going to sell its corpse and split the money, but his second mate got greedy. He murdered Captain Demeter and the other men while they slept and sold the corpse himself."
"Shit," he murmured. "Never knew that. The history books said it was a rival group of dragon-hunters."
"No," she said quietly. "It was his own best friend who slit his throat. His relatives found out and put out a bounty for his capture so they could bring him to justice. They spent years trying to get the dragon's corpse back into their custody as reparations for the man's betrayal. It bankrupted them. The dragon's body had been bought and sold over and over again, traveling the world until it became lost during a heist. My family name was associated with shame over the years for never being able to bring the man who killed Captain Demeter to justice and for never finding Baba Yaga."
Something swam through her crystalline eyes, but it was gone as quickly as it had come. "Dragons have done nothing but cause misery for those of my bloodline. Forgive me if your inspiring speech from earlier was lost on me. I don't believe in second chances.
What's done is done."
Jack swallowed hard. "I'm not going to stand here and pretend like what I've done with this project hasn't royally fucked up my life and the lives of innocent people. I'll go to my grave with this guilt. That much I know. It might even get me killed someday. But the benefits of this project...I don't suppose it's something I could explain to you. It's not just about the dragons. Yes, I started there, but it was never my intention to stay there. The dragons are symbolic. It's something that will get people's attention and make them remember a different world than the one we've got. Once we've gotten their attention, then maybe we can move towards changing things for the future. If people see the history, see the effects we're still having on this planet and its inhabitants, and realize that the track we're on is going to get us all killed, then maybe it's not too late to save it. To save future generations."
"Good intentions," Snow whispered. "You know how those end, don't you?"
Jack nodded. "If my kid can grow up happy and safe, I'll take the consequences in stride."
Snow cocked her head to one side. He fidgeted. "What?" he asked.
"I still hate you," she said, facing front.
"But you might make one hell of a father someday."
"What have we got?" Fry asked the second his boots touched the ground. Dr. Friedman looked even more haggard than before, but he could tell the little man was slightly relieved to see him.
"Want to be more specific, Agent?"
Fry rolled his eyes. "How are you planning on transporting this behemoth?"
"Down the road is a cold storage container attached to an eighteen-wheeler. It'll keep her in her dormant state until we get her somewhere secure."
Fry glanced as the helicopter that had just dropped him off began to lift off again. "Better be a damned armed convoy for the transport. The yakuza showed up en force. I wouldn't be surprised if there are thirty or so men out there in the woods. Any more of the compound arrived?"
"Yes. We'll keep men inside the container with her in case she wakes up and tries to burn her way out. We should have some left to refill your reserves."
Dr. Friedman glanced around expectantly. "Where's Dr. Anjali and Dr. Jackson?"
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