Will strapped on his backpack, fumbling with the clasps because his hands were shaking. “The thing did that. It tore a bobcat into hamburgers.”
I put a hand on his arm. “You knew this. You knew. Seeing it makes it tough, but nothing’s changed, okay? This is the same as it was the first time. Follow the plan…that’s it.”
“Follow the plan, right,” he said, with a jerky nod. “I can do this.”
Will’s panic made me feel stronger, like holding him together kept me from falling apart. I led him away from the ATV, examining the brush around the slaughtered bobcat. Holding the penlight in my teeth, I got down on my hands and knees to check for broken leaves or smudged moss. Paw-prints, larger than Will’s size thirteen boots from heel to claw, were distinct in the snow that had made it through the trees. The tracks led off to the east.
I stood and shrugged my pack onto my shoulders. “This way. Let’s go.”
The terrain was rough and the snow made things worse by hiding holes and rocks. Both of us fell down more than once even though I kept the pace slow. It took us thirty minutes to make the next mile, and we got slapped by wet, snow-covered branches as we headed off the trail into the deeper woods.
The further we went, the more concerned I became about Will. He jumped at every rustle we heard, always twisting around to see if something was behind us. We could get hurt if he got so scared he bolted at the wrong time. I stopped him. “Listen, we can do this.”
“But what’ll we do if we can’t?” Will’s teeth chattered. As warm as our coveralls were, I knew it wasn’t the cold.
“If something happens to me, stay hidden as long as you can, then run like heck,” I said, giving him a level stare. “The knife only works in my hands. You won’t be able to fight this thing by yourself. So if I go down, you run—understand?”
He nodded and I started along the trail again. The thing was close; the knife buzzed my pocket, almost like a warning. I motioned for Will to creep along behind me, but he didn’t follow.
“Did you hear that?” Will whipped his head around.
Twigs snapped, pine needles crunched–something big was plowing its way through the trees off to the right, bearing our direction.
“Get down, get down.” I shoved Will into a clump of bushes. “Lay flat on your belly. Don’t move, not one inch.”
Will huddled to the ground. I spotted a mature pine across the trail with branches low enough for me to climb. Sneak attack. If it was the monster, I could drop on it, stab it in the back before it knew I was there. I scaled the tree and made it halfway up before the monster came crashing through the bushes right in front of Will. He managed to stay quiet, but I don’t know how. I wanted to scream my head off.
Of course the moon picked that moment to shine a little light down on us, giving me a full view of the horror standing below. This Bear stood much taller than the first two, maybe nine feet. Its dark coat was glossy and thick, and it was more muscular than the others, with bulkier arms and legs, and a broader torso. Tusks jutted out of its mouth, curling upward to its nose, ending in cruel points. The tips of its long claws looked so sharp that I wondered if it had sharpened them on a rock or something.
Did the Bears know how to do that?
I shook in my tree, watching it lift a paw to its mouth, finishing a meal of what was probably bobcat sirloin. While it chewed, it sniffed the air. I worried it had already smelled us and was on the lookout for dessert. Fighting an urge to run, I got the knife out of my pocket, hardly daring to breathe. It buzzed softly, but intently, in my hand, like it knew we were in stealth mode. I tensed on the branch, ready to jump onto the beast’s back once it was under my tree. Closer, closer, closer.
Roller Coaster of Love, by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, started playing in the bushes, followed by a beep, beep, beep.
I muttered curses under my breath. Will didn’t turn his ringer off? We were so screwed.
The Bear’s head jerked in Will’s direction and its pointed ears twitched. The bushes trembled as he hurried to shut off his cell phone. The beast lumbered his way, swiping its claws along the brush. It snuffled at the ground with its squashed-looking nose, then froze, its body quivering like a hound pointing at prey. The Bear had found Will.
I didn’t have a choice now—it was too far away for me to jump on its back. So I leapt out of the tree, shouting, “What’s up, ugly?”
The thing straightened up and turned my way. Then it laughed.
The thing laughed at me.
Oh, man, I was a goner.
The Bear glanced in Will’s direction then turned back to me, as if it was weighing its options. I took a step toward it, jaw clenched, and growled through my teeth, “Come and get me. Or are you scared?”
The thing gave me an indignant look, and screeched, throwing its head forward and leaning my direction, mouth wide and teeth bared. The noise cut through me like a saw blade. Then it laughed again. “Huh, huh, huh.” It sounded like a hoarse dog barking, assuming the dog was a pissed-off Rottweiler.
I backed away, willing it to follow. The Bear sauntered along, looking smug, staying with me. Behind it, I saw Will stick his head up then drop back down. The bushes rustled as he crawled off to a new position.
Pushing my way through a cluster of evergreens, I came out into a little clearing about ten feet across. In a moment of terrified absurdity, I thought the space looked the same size and shape as a boxing ring. Maybe it was a good place to make a stand.
The Bear entered the clearing, and when it saw me, it pulled a pine branch about the diameter of my arm off the nearest tree. With a grunting chuckle, the monster snapped the branch in half like a twig. The world swam before my eyes, but a bluish glow in my hand yanked me out of my panic. The knife was ready to rumble, and an unnatural calm washed over me.
“So that’s how you want it to be?” I called. “You don’t know what you’re dealing with here.”
It stopped and stared at me, neither of us moving. We were like runners waiting for the starter pistol. My heart thundered in my chest; adrenaline was a scary thing.
Then the monster raised the stakes.
“Mun. Et Mun.” It licked its lips. “Et Mun.”
Holy…oh my…freakin’ A! Oh, it talked. Oh, holy zombie apocalypse…it talked! It wanted to eat me!
The knife buzzed so hard it made my whole hand shake. Again, waves of calm washed over me, locking down my nerves. I gripped the handle, treating the blade like it was an extension of my arm.
“Yeah, well, I don’t taste so good. I bet you’d make a nice rug, though.”
“Huh, huh, huh.” The Bear crouched, its mouth spread wide in what must’ve been a smile.
Then it sprang.
I rolled out of its way as it flung itself forward. With a speed I didn’t know I had, I spun around and jumped on its back, digging my fingers into its thick, shaggy fur.
The Bear stood and jerked wildly, trying to shake me off. I had to use both hands to hang on, trapping the knife in between the palm of my hand and the creature’s coat. When I didn’t let go, the monster rushed backward, heading for the trees at the edge of the clearing. Did I let go and get trampled? Or hang on and get smushed?
Out of ideas and headed for broken ribs or worse, I decided I’d have to chance letting go. Before I could, though, a piercing blue-white light stung my eyes. The beast stopped mid-move and lifted an arm to block out the beam.
Just enough time.
I let go with my knife hand and stabbed it in the back. The Bear reached around with its long arms, howling in pain, to grope for the knife. I released my hold on its coat, grabbing the handle with both hands. My weight, combined with the power of the blade, sliced a wide-open seam down the thing’s torso as I slid down its back.
Once my feet hit the ground, I jumped clear. Still clutched in my right hand, the knife flashed green then went dark. The blade, my chest and my arms were covered in thick blood and dark, sticky fur.
With a surprised gasp, th
e monster reeled and fell sideways. A few twitches later, it was dead.
Will stepped out of the trees, pale and shaking, holding an LED flashlight. “You got it.”
My breath came in great heaves and I sank to my knees. “No, man, we got it.”
* * *
“Sir, they understand us! They talk, they laugh. Holy shit, sir!” Now that the danger was over, and the Bear’s body safely stowed behind a rotted, fallen tree, I was freaking out, big time.
“Matt, slow down.” Colonel Black’s voice was even, measured. “First things first. Are you and Will safe?”
I took a long, ragged breath. “Yes, sir. We’re fine. A little bruised and stuff, but nothing serious.”
“Good to hear, soldier. Where are you? Have you made it back to Cruessan’s house?”
“Yes, sir.”
Will’s bedroom was the size of my living room and lit up brighter than a baseball field at a night game because neither of us wanted to be in the dark. I turned to check on him. He sat in the middle of his king-sized bed with a blanket pulled up around his ears. All I could see were his eyes. They looked like mine—he’d seen too much.
“We’re at Will’s and settled,” I said. “I’ve got coordinates for you. This one was a lot bigger and smarter than the last Bear. Colonel, it laughed at me and it told me it was going to eat me. It talked!”
There was a very long pause. “Remember what I said at Fort Carson, about them getting smarter at an accelerated pace?”
“Yes, sir.”
“All of them are, not just your Bears. Ramirez called in to say that the South American Gators are pack hunting, making it very difficult to attack them with only one knife. Parker said the Pandas are doing ‘snatch and grab’ jobs, stealing people from their homes under cover of night, just like the Gators. Parker’s worried, because they’ve started migrating to more populated areas.”
A shiver ran down my body from the crown of my head to the ends of my toes. “So it’s true, then. All of them are getting smarter.”
“It appears so,” the colonel said. “Keep your eyes open. On the next hunt, we need all the details, however small.”
“Well, we only saw one Bear tonight. And it wasn’t very stealthy. Maybe they aren’t developing as fast as the others.”
“Let’s hope,” he said. “The coordinates just came through. I’ll let you know when we’ve made the recovery.”
“Do you need me to come along?” I half-hoped he wouldn’t, but I didn’t know how to say that without sounding like a chicken.
“Maybe next time. For now, I think you need a little distance.” The colonel’s voice held a firm calmness that settled my nerves much like the knife had. “In the meantime, be ready for action. Looks like we’re in for a heavy campaign.”
“Yes, sir.” I hung up with the colonel. “Will, if you want to quit now, I understand. If you’d let me use the ATV that would be a big help.”
Will dropped his blanket and scowled at me. “Are you kidding? There’s no way I’m letting you go out there by yourself. You’d get killed! Besides, I’ve figured something out.”
“What?” I asked, not wanting any more surprises. Mutant, evolving monsters and my decrepit love life were enough to go on for the moment.
“The knife. It does something to you.”
“What are you talking about?” I rubbed my eyes with my fists, ready to get what little sleep I could before we had to get up for school.
For the fortieth time, Will crawled off his bed to make sure Millicent wasn’t listening at the door. “You change. Stronger, faster, scarier. Dude, I watched you and the Bear facing off, crouched on the ground. You were completely steady—so calm you could’ve performed brain surgery. When it ran at you, you rolled out of the way and leapt onto its back as if you did it every day.” Will shuddered. “You scared the crap out of me.”
“It was just an endorphin rush,” I said. “It happens in tense situations. Besides, you know I’m fast, right? All that crap about being wiry a few months ago.”
Will crossed his arms and stood up taller. “No, this was different. Tell me something, have you noticed how quick you’re packing on muscle these days? Or that thing with Carter—when you stared him down like he was a cockroach annoying you? This isn’t the training. There’s more to it than that. Something’s giving you extra power.”
My backpack was parked next to the futon I used when I slept over. Right after Will said the bit about “extra power,” the front pocket flashed with a blue glow. I jumped in surprise. The knife hadn’t ever reacted when I wasn’t touching it.
Maybe Davis had been right. Maybe there was more to the knife than we thought.
Chapter Fifteen
Will and I staggered into algebra the next morning on too little sleep and too much of everything else. I’d barely had the energy to wrestle myself into a pair of track pants and an old long-sleeved t-shirt I’d inherited from Brent. The Ponytail Gang, dressed in the exact same style of jeans and variations on scoop-neck t-shirts, made some really rude remarks about my attire as I walked to my desk. After killing an nine-foot tall monster, I felt pretty secure in my manhood and didn’t feel compelled to respond.
That confidence died as soon as I saw Ella. Her cheeks were flushed and she stared at her math book, not meeting my eyes.
Gathering what courage I had left, I whispered, “Hey, sorry I had to leave yesterday. A little emergency came up.”
Ella glanced at me over her shoulder. “I understand. It wasn’t all that important, what I wanted to say. Just…thanks. For trashing Jenna.”
“My pleasure.” Ugh, that was smooth. My pleasure? Dork.
She smiled, though. I spent part of homeroom devising a plan to walk Ella to her next class, using the rest of the hour to thoroughly observe how hot she looked in her tight, blue sweater. But when the bell rang, Ella gave me another small smile, swept her books from her desk, and left before I could say a word.
“Dude, everything okay?” Will asked.
“Don’t guess so.” My gut clenched at the thought the whole meet-after-school thing had been just to say thanks.
“Give her some time. See you at lunch.” He lumbered off for second period.
The morning dragged. I was so dang tired, I could barely keep my head off my desk, let alone diagram sentences in English class. Science was even worse.
“So, you see, Galileo discovered….”
My science teacher, Mr. Todd, would drone on in a monotone for three hours if the bell didn’t stop him. He was worse than Specialist Davis. I wiggled in my seat, trying to stay awake. Only ten more minutes, then lunch.
“…stood on the nugget of solid matter at Jupiter’s core, you would be flatter than a pancake….”
Seven more minutes.
“…Obey gravity—it’s the law….”
This guy was a total bore. My eyes got really heavy.
Wandering through a jungle. Mist and the call of birds. Can’t find my way out. Footsteps to my right. A man, speaking: “Hurry. The armies approach.”
My head jerked up. Several students giggled, having caught me napping. Face burning, I glanced at Mr. Todd. He lectured on, with no clue that I’d fallen asleep. Luckily the bell rang, and I headed for the cafeteria. The voice in the dream belonged to no one—it had come out of some fog in my brain. That didn’t make it any less freaky, though.
“Hey, you look like death warmed over,” Will said, joining me in the cafeteria line.
He didn’t look much better, sporting big, purple bags under his eyes. “We’ve got to figure out how to survive the day after a hunt.” I yawned until my jaw popped. “I fell asleep in science, dude. Being this tired is making me crack.”
I told him about the voice in my dream and Will said, “That’s not as weird as the dream I had in history just now…lots of bikini-wearing cheerleaders were throwing confetti at me.”
“Were you naked?” I asked, grinning.
Will pondered that. “Yeah, a
ctually, I think I was…”
We got our food and sat at our usual table by the wall. I watched Ella find a seat with some girls at the far side of the lunchroom. She pulled a sandwich out of her pink, flower-print lunch bag, but after she unwrapped it, she didn’t eat. Even from here, I could see her face was pale. Her friends were gathered around her, talking. All of them wore somber expressions more like what you’d see in a funeral home than a high school cafeteria. Was she still upset because of Carter, or was it about me this time?
Will caught me gawking. “Just a thank you? That was all she wanted to say?”
“Yeah. It’s weird. I feel like I missed out on something crucial, and I have no clue what it was.” I stabbed at my chicken patty. “I don’t know what to do next.”
“You wait.” When I looked at him with my eyebrows raised, Will went on, “You missed ‘the moment.’”
I leaned back in my chair, wondering why my best friend sounded like a Lifetime movie all of a sudden. “’The moment?’ Will, what the heck are you talking about?”
“Remember last year, when I was all hot for Kelsey?”
“How could I forget?” I snickered. “You were worse about her than I am about Ella.”
“Don’t think that’s even possible, but whatever. You have any idea how long it took me to ask her to go to the movies with me?” he asked.
I stared at him. This wasn’t something we’d discussed before. “No. I just remember you followed her around like a puppy, then all of a sudden you were holding hands and walking her to every class.”
Being a third wheel for two months had sucked, but at least he’d been happy. Well, until she’d dumped him for her older brother’s best friend.
“It took me four weeks. Once I decided to ask her, I never found a good time. Her friends were around, or I was running late for football practice, or…well, something always got in the way. Finally, I caught her at her locker after school and I just knew it was the right time.” He pointed at me with a french-fry. “Be patient.”
I glanced across the room. Ella turned and our eyes locked. She blinked first, looking away with a torn look on her face. Will was right.
I could wait.
Matt Archer: Monster Hunter Page 12
