The Pilot

by Michael Cole

  “Oh yeah, right,” Rex scoffed. “Coming from the lady who manipulated us into going after this thing. She’s probably lying to get out of dodge.”

  “No, she’s right,” Sutton said. His voice was somber. “I don’t think there’s any hope for him. Whatever it does to its victims, it begins straight away. Maybe it’s making food out of them…I don’t know.”

  “I know one thing, guys,” Seymour said. “We’re gonna double back to the bunker, let Hawk finish what she needs, then we’ll get out of here. Then we’ll come back, better equipped, and blow this bastard to hell.”

  The team stood silent for several seconds. It was a struggle to conceive leaving a man behind. However, each of them realized Seymour was right. The odds were not in their favor. With the creature at full strength, with superior firepower and stealth, it had the advantage.

  The wind kicked up harder.

  “Believe me, we’ll be coming back,” Terrie said.

  The team turned and moved in a single file formation.

  CHAPTER

  25

  The ShinMaywa rose and fell with each wave as the storm neared. Rock ‘n Roll blared over the speakers, keeping Charlie lively as he battened down the unsecured cargo. As he moved about the plane, his eyes watched the massive wall of clouds move in. The sky turned into an ugly black, and the increasing scream of the wind gradually became more audible.

  Charlie turned up the volume, blasting AC/DC’s Thunderstruck. He secured the drone, having just returned it from its island reconnaissance. He attached a charger to its battery, tapping his foot to the beat of the song. He sealed the device into the cargo hold near the armory. He stood up and looked out the window, just in time to see the large wave rolling toward the plane.

  The plane leaned hard as the water lifted it. Charlie hugged one of the bunks to keep himself from falling over as the plane fishtailed. Like a roller coaster, the plane fell several feet down as the wave passed by. Charlie rushed toward his computers.

  The screen displayed a vast blue layer, representative of the ocean. Overtop it was a green windmill shape, slowly rotating as it moved southwest. The storm had upgraded into a tropical storm, and was continuing to strengthen.

  “Oh, shit,” he said. He wouldn’t be able to wait much longer, and he hadn’t heard anything from the team. He reached for his radio headset, switching off the music.

  The speakers went silent, replaced by a deafening blast of thunder. The wind clawed at the hull and passed over the wings, generating a loud screeching whine. The sunlight had now been completely overtaken by the enormous clouds.

  As Charlie sat at the cockpit, several raindrops began splattering on the windshield. Heavy rain was soon to follow. It would not be long before the weather struck the island.

  “Eagle Nest to Hatchling. What’s your status?”

  ********

  The team quickened their pace, feeling the weight of the approaching storm. The jungle came alive around them. Plants of different shapes and sizes danced in the wind. The sunny glow along the upper forest darkened. With visibility decreasing, the team shortened their distance between one another.

  “We’re doubling back to the bunker,” Seymour said. He cupped his hands around his radio to block out the wind. “We won’t be long. The agent will download her data, and we’ll be ready for extraction.”

  “Glad to hear that, because the storm’s moving in fast. I can’t wait here any longer.”

  “Move the plane toward the harbor,” Seymour said. “We’ll double-time it there, once we have the package.”

  “No,” Hawk yelled, swiftly turning toward Seymour.

  “Agent, we don’t have a lot of time,” Seymour yelled over the wind. “If we don’t leave soon, he’ll have to fly the plane out into clearer conditions and wait out the storm. We’ll be stuck here all night!”

  The team quickly ganged up on the two.

  “Don’t know what your deal is, Agent, but I’m not fond of staying here,” Rex said.

  “I know what this is,” Sutton said. “We’re loose ends. We’ve seen the creature and the lab. They don’t want us getting out of here.”

  “Stop!” Hawk shouted. “You remember those choppers, back at the harbor?!”

  “Yeah, they were shot down,” Seymour said. He remembered how they were shot down. The impact craters from fifty cal. Machine guns, as well as the other damage. “They were shot down by the soldiers…”

  “You realize why? The thing was trying to get off the island! If Charlie flies to the harbor early, and that thing gets to him before we do…”

  A loud electrical buzzing sound reverberated, as a blinding flash of light lit the surrounding jungle. A ball of energy, the size of a beachball, zipped from the darkness, striking a nearby tree. It erupted into a fiery explosion, as another ball of energy shot out the jungle, hitting the ground several feet away from the group.

  The team scattered as the second explosion roared. Seymour raised his weapon to provide cover fire. He discharged several shots in the direction of the blasts.

  Two more balls of energy exploded, zipping from the left. The explosion threw Seymour to the ground, and forced the team to disperse.

  “Where the hell is it?!” Ivan yelled. Rex stood up and blasted his M60 wildly into the jungle.

  Several more blasts exploded around them. Huge balls of fire spurted into the trees, the force of the blasts driving the mercenaries further apart. Ivan and Rex jumped as one of the blasts exploded nearby, followed immediately by a second blast.

  The world spun as Terrie struggled to her feet. Thrown by one of the explosions, she had been slammed into a tree, nearly knocked unconscious. Through her blurry vision, she saw blurry streaks of light from the raging fire and oncoming energy bursts.

  She pushed herself upright, slumping back against the tree. Her head throbbed as she fought to stay awake. Looking forward, she saw the huge fire. Shouts of her team members echoed throughout the area as they scattered. A series of thumping sounds reverberated off the ground. Like soft drum beats, they quickly grew louder.

  Looking up, she saw a tall figure rapidly approaching. She gasped, and reached for her rifle. It had fallen from her grip, landing several feet to her right. With no time, she reached for her machine pistol.

  “Whoa! WHOA!” Ivan said, grabbing her hand before it clutched the weapon. “Girl! It’s me!” He picked her up off the ground, putting her arm around his shoulders, while Rex picked up her weapon.

  A blast of energy surged towards them, exploding on the tree. The trunk burst open, forcing the mercenaries to scurry away. The tree leaned, slowly tilting on the unsupported trunk.

  Sutton saw the flash as he struggled to his feet. Completely disoriented, he was unsure which direction was which. Pointing his rifle, he turned to-and-fro, looking for any of his teammates.

  Shouts rang from the nearest explosion. “Doc! We need ya!” It was Ivan’s voice. He sprinted toward the recent explosion and stopped for a better look. Through the plants, he could see Ivan and Rex carrying Terrie from the burning tree. His radio headset had nearly come off when he hit the ground. He adjusted it, brushing the dirt from the headphones.

  “Stay where you are, I’m coming!” he shouted into his microphone. Sutton dashed toward them, running as hard as he could. He brushed past a bamboo plant, then hooked around a large tree.

  He just made his way to the other side when it sprang in front of him. He saw the fangs protruding as the creature hissed. He instantly shrieked and raised his weapon, as its jutting barb pierced his chest plate. A world of pain hit his whole body like a bolt of lightning. He tried to squeeze the trigger, but his muscles would not respond. He wheezed as he fought for control. He felt a combination of saliva and other fluid building in his mouth, spilling over his gums. His jaw clenched, and all sense of balance and control left him. He toppled over backward, completely frozen.

  The creature felt the vibration of running footsteps. It turned its head toward th
e sound. Two muzzle flares flashed as Seymour and Nagamine opened fire on the creatures. It hissed and dove into the jungle, disappearing into the darkness. Seymour continued firing, sending several bullets along the creature’s path.

  Hearing the sound of running footsteps, Seymour quickly turned, ready to fire. Agent Hawk emerged from the darkness.

  “Hey-hey! It’s me,” she said. Her eyes went down to the fallen medic.

  “Get him up!” Seymour yelled. Nagamine and Hawk knelt down and grabbed the Doc. There was nearly no mobility as they pulled on his arms. His body was nearly stiff as concrete as they brought him to his feet.

  “Ivan, hold position. We’re regrouping,” Seymour said. He placed his night vision goggles over his eyes, constantly looking around for the creature. A sudden crack, like that of thunder, burst from the fire. Seymour turned, seeing the tree succumbing to its own weight.

  “Shit!” Ivan said, looking high up at the towering tree as it leaned heavily. Bits of wood crackled as branches snapped. A flood of adrenaline dulled Terrie’s pain, and brought her mind to focus. She planted her feet on the ground, pulling away from Ivan.

  “GO! Let’s go!” she yelled. She snatched her rifle from Rex and sprinted. The two gunners followed. Ivan pointed ahead toward where he had seen the muzzle flashes.

  “That way!” he yelled. The tree crashed, tearing up much of the terrain on its way down. Gusts of wind caused the fire to flare, instantly getting pushed backward by the colliding storm winds.

  Through his night vision, Seymour watched the tree collapse. The fire generated bursts of light in his goggles, forcing him to squint. Three human figures were running in their direction.

  “Come this way,” he said. He lifted a flare and broke the top, releasing a flash of sizzling sparks.

  The three mercenaries ran toward the burst of light.

  “Don’t shoot, it’s us!” Rex called as they neared. They arrived, and instantly saw their comrade paralyzed on the ground.

  “Oh, my God…DOC!” Terrie yelled.

  “Everybody form a perimeter!” Seymour shouted, his commanding voice getting control of the group. The team created a five-star perimeter, each of the five remaining mercenaries acting as a point on the star, with Hawk and Sutton in the middle. “Nagamine, you know which way we’re headed.”

  “Follow my lead,” Nagamine said, his voice calm and relaxed. Seymour glanced back to the agent.

  “Alright, Hawk, can you carry…”

  Another series of energy blasts exploded near the group, driving them back. Hawk fell to the ground with Sutton, while the mercenaries rushed into a firing formation. All at once, they fired their weapons toward the direction of the blast. Bullets shredded trees and brush, nearly creating a hole in the jungle. All at once, they ceased fire.

  “You think we got it?” Rex asked.

  Seymour shook his head. “No.” The team backed away, forming a human shield around Sutton. Several empty magazines hit the ground as the team reloaded.

  “How the hell are we gonna get out of here?” Terrie said. “I can’t see a damned thing.”

  Ivan strung another chain of ammo into his M60. “Let’s just go for it. Have you seen the way it shoots?!” He pointed toward all the fire. “This thing can’t hit squat!”

  “I don’t know, dude,” Rex said. “It almost looks like it’s missing on purpose.” Consistently looking down his sights, watching the jungle, Seymour planned a course of action.

  A realization came to mind. He looked down at the paralyzed medic.

  “Rex…you’re right. It ambushed us…forced us to disperse,” he said. “It wants to take us alive, and it can only get close enough when we’re scattered.”

  “Alright…so we stay together,” Ivan said. “Let’s keep moving, not allow ourselves to be separated.”

  “No…” Seymour said. “It’s not gonna work that way. It’s not going to let up.” He lowered his weapon and knelt down to Sutton. Hawk moved out of the way as Seymour opened the medic’s vest. Seymour removed his four blocks of C-4 and Sutton’s remote trigger.

  “What are you doing?” Terrie said, watching Seymour strap the explosives to his vest.

  “When I go, you guys hightail it toward the bunker,” he said. “Hold position there, then get your asses to the harbor. Whatever you do, don’t separate.”

  “Wait…what?” Rex said.

  “Victor!” Terrie protested, realizing what Seymour’s plan was.

  “That’s an order, Terrie!” Seymour said. “Now GO!” He turned and dashed into the jungle.

  Through the blinding forest, Seymour ran. After distancing himself from the team, he fired off several rounds from his rifle into the forest to put the creature’s attention on him, wherever it was.

  “Come on! Come get me, you son of a bitch,” he growled. Looking around, he saw nothing but writhing jungle. He continued running, brushing past an endless barrage of plants and vines. He stopped again, scanning the area with his rifle. Pointing the barrel up, he fired off another couple of rounds.

  Clutching the detonator, he waited for the creature to emerge. He carefully watched all the movement around him, waiting for the humanoid shape to emerge.

  A streak of lightning flashed throughout the sky. For a brief instant, the jungle was lit in a bright bluish luminosity. A loud crack of thunder followed, and the ground reverberated.

  Following the thunder, another sound filled Seymour’s eardrums. A sound he wasn’t familiar with. A wet, sticky sound like that of a peeling onion. Another flash of lightning lit the jungle as Seymour turned toward the sound. Through the waving plants, he noticed something. A vast opening with no plants, in the same direction in which the sound emerged.

  He made another mad dash, tearing through leaves. Bursting through a final wall of plants, the terrain suddenly disappeared. Now, he was in an open area. Even in the darkness, he knew the area was black and dead. The ground was squishy, but not from rain, as the precipitation hadn’t yet begun. It was rotten.

  The smell was the next thing he noticed. As a SEAL, he had been exposed to so many bitter odors and tastes, as he was trained to eat anything to maintain survival. Even the worst of smells hardly bothered him. But this was different. The stench—such a horrible smell, it was a struggle not to gag.

  Yet, it seemed familiar. A repugnant, rotten stench…like what he had experienced that morning.

  Letting his rifle hang from its strap, Seymour snatched another flare from his vest. It ignited with a large flash, casting a bright red glow onto the surrounding area. Seymour looked around, seeing the many corpses that surrounded him.

  As he suspected, he had wandered into another gravesite. The human bodies were extremely shriveled, their identities completely erased, reduced to a mass of rotten flesh inside dark uniforms. Like a miniature forest, several pods grew from each corpse. Seymour stepped further into the gravesite, observing the bodies, wondering if Easley was among them.

  The pods were like fungus, growing from the bodies they fed off. Many of them were as tall as Seymour. In their surface, he saw veiny lines moving up the structure.

  Is this like terraforming, or something? Seymour thought to himself.

  In his peripheral vision, he caught movement from the tree line. Just then, the flare burnt out, covering him in complete darkness. He snatched his last remaining flare and quickly broke the seal. Red sparks flashed as the flare ignited. Red light reflected off the body armor, maximizing the glow over its face. Though it had no eyes, it appeared able to see, and it was gazing directly at Seymour.

  With its fangs protruding with a threatening hiss, the beast advanced into the light. Its hand opened up, and its stinger protruded from the folded flesh.

  Seymour dropped the flare and snatched the detonator. He moved his thumb over the trigger.

  The creature came to a sudden halt. It hissed again, this time at a lower pitch. Seymour kept his thumb over the button. Seymour silently cursed.

  “Just a
little closer,” he whispered. Considering the creature’s armor and ability to regenerate, he wanted it as close as possible to absorb the entire force of the blast. “Come on, you coward,” he said louder.

  The creature watched him, remaining in a forward posture. The tips of the metal pincer rapidly clicked together, as though the creature was determined to move on him.

  It straightened its stance. Its stinger retracted into its palm, and the beast slowly took a step back. Every movement contained caution. Its gauntlet illuminated with a dim pulsing light.

  Seymour raised the detonator again, putting minor pressure on the trigger. “I dare you. Go ahead, blast me. See if you can do it before I blow you, and your precious garden away. I have nothing to lose.”

  Taunting the creature, he stepped toward it. The creature leaned forward, releasing a loud threatening hiss. Seymour briefly halted, then continued. He held the detonator outward, taunting the alien.

  A loud bang echoed through the jungle. The creature screeched as orange blood burst from its neck. It turned and fled into the jungle, while several more bursts rang out. Bullets struck its back plate of armor as it disappeared into the darkness.

  Seymour crouched in a ready position, switching glances between the direction of the gunshots and the creature’s path. Running footsteps drew his attention behind him.

  Terrie stepped out of the jungle.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Seymour said.

  “Nice try, but no way am I letting you blow yourself up,” she said. Seymour looked back to the woods, angered by the missed opportunity to kill the creature. “Boss, we don’t have time. We need to get out of here.”

  Seymour exhaled sharply, realizing she was correct. The storm was worsening. The wind grew stronger, and rain had started pouring down. They would never track the creature down in this darkness and weather.

  Seymour switched off the trigger, and tucked it away. He turned and ran, brushing against one of the large fungus pods as he followed Terrie into the jungle.