-15-
Dom’s muscles surged with newfound power and energy, and he ignored the small Skulls trying to tear into him. He slammed into Meredith’s attacker and carried it off her, pounding through the roots grasping at his feet.
Dom crushed the Skull’s head between him and the tree trunk. The impact shattered the armor of the smaller monster clinging to his chest, and Dom’s teeth chattered. But he didn’t let up. The Imp on his chest, its dazed eyes gazing about, loosened its grip for a second. Dom grabbed it by its thorny ankles and swung it headfirst into the tree. Its head burst open, sending flecks of bone and brain spraying across the broad leaves. Dom smashed his boot into another Imp attacking Meredith. He slammed its chest against the rough bark until blood seeped out of its busted ribs and the corners of its mouth.
With an Imp still on his shoulders relentlessly attacking his helmet, he reached up and grabbed the spikes poking from the monster’s spine. Yanking it off him with one hand, he pulled away the creature hugging his leg with the other. He smashed the two monsters together, slamming their heads into each other until their eyes rolled back.
After discarding the Skulls’ limp bodies, Dom rushed to Meredith.
“You okay?” he asked between gasping breaths.
“I’m—What the hell happened to you?” she asked with wide eyes. “You need help.”
Dom scanned her flesh and was relieved to see he couldn’t find any gaping wounds. Her neck was still fully intact. “Let’s help the others first.”
He pulled out his sidearm as Meredith shouldered her rifle. A wail sounded from overhead, and he spun in time to see an Imp launch itself at him from a tree branch. But before Dom could readjust his aim, the little monster disappeared in a spray of red mist.
“Got your back, boss,” Renee said, her rifle pressed against her shoulder. She joined Meredith and Dom, and they fired salvos that cut into the leaves and tree trunks, annihilating several of the Imps bounding at Glenn.
Glenn nodded his thanks. He sprinted to where Dom had lost his rifle and tossed the weapon to him. Dom caught it with one hand and stowed his pistol.
“Hunters, on my position,” Dom called over the comm link. Terrence and Jenna were still engaged in hand-to-hand combat with two Skulls, but Miguel raced to meet them, blood already drying across his face. Andris came next.
“You see the tails on these fuckers?” Renee asked, peering down her sights.
“Yeah,” Dom said. “Glad to know I’m not crazy. Been thinking of them as Imps.”
“Sounds about right.” Renee took a shot at another. Its head exploded, and its body crumpled into a pile of leaves.
As more of the Skulls snuck through the foliage, the Hunters picked them off with clean shots. But there would be no easy way to shoot the monsters without risking hitting Jenna or Terrence. Strapping his rifle across his back, Dom ran at them.
“Cover me,” he commanded over his shoulder. Bullets punched through the trees around him, finding their homes in other Imps stalking the Hunters. Dom ignored them and set his sights on the two embattled crew members.
He joined the fray by ripping his knife into an Imp attacking Jenna. The blade pierced the soft flesh under the Imp’s chin, spilling blood over its chest plates, and Dom used the carcass to batter at a diminutive Skull still fastening its claws around Terrence’s arm. The Imp looked around, apparently annoyed at being interrupted, and Terrence used its momentary confusion to pound the monster with his pistol. Once the creature fell from his arm, Terrence fired three shots into the monster’s face.
Dom’s chest heaved as the waning effects of adrenaline were purged from his body. He shouldered his rifle again, scanning the darkness, waiting to hear the rumble of the ground as the large creatures that had passed them by earlier responded to the sounds of battle. But instead, all he heard was a single chirp from a bird hidden high in the canopy. Others soon joined in its chorus as if they were singing the praises of the Hunters for a battle well fought. The buzz of insects resumed in a relentless wave, almost as overwhelming as the humidity Dom sucked down with each breath.
His nerves still sparked with electricity, prepared to fight again at a moment’s notice. But as the noise of the jungle returned, so too did the pain from the wounds he’d suffered. He winced as he limped beside Terrence and Jenna, joining the others.
“Chief, let me take a look at that,” Miguel said, eyeing his cheek.
“No time,” Dom said, brushing away the Hunters’ hands. “We’ve got to get to that ferry. I don’t want you to worry about me until everyone’s safe on that damned river.”
“Good chance you’re infected, though,” Glenn said, giving Dom a stern look. “We’ve got to treat you.”
“That can wait,” Dom said. “I’m not holding us back. Let’s move first, treat later.”
Meredith was already rummaging through her pack, ignoring his command. “Dom, do it for our benefit then.”
Dom let out a breath, his nostrils flaring. But Meredith’s logic burned through the fog of his anger. She was right. The chelation worked to kill the nanobacteria in the Oni Agent only if the infection was caught early on. If he delayed the chelation therapy, there’d be no stopping the Oni Agent from ravaging his body. Instead of offering an apology, he rolled up his sleeve and bared his arm to Meredith. “Fine. One dose of chelation treatment, but that’s it for now.”
“You’re the fussiest patient I’ve ever seen.” Meredith shook her head, withdrawing a prepared syringe from a plastic wrapper. She pushed the cold needle into his skin and depressed the plunger. “Done. Didn’t take that long, did it?”
“Thanks,” Dom managed through teeth still gritted in waning fury. He was about ready to command the team to get moving again before he remembered the human cries of pain he’d heard before. “Who else needs the treatment?”
The group looked at each other, sharing sullen looks. No one rolled up their sleeve for a dose of the preventative therapy.
“This is serious,” Dom said. “The clock is ticking. I don’t want one of you turning.”
Still, no Hunters volunteered themselves.
“I heard someone scream,” he said, his eyes narrowing, glaring at each of them in turn.
Glenn shrugged his huge shoulders. “Wasn’t me.”
“Same,” Miguel said, holding up his prosthetic arm. Some of the silicone flesh hung off it in a ragged chunk. “This was the only thing that got bitten, and the last I heard, the Oni Agent isn’t transmissible through an artificial arm.”
“Renee? Terrence? Jenna? Andris?” Dom asked.
Renee shrugged. “Nothing.”
“You got to me right in time,” Jenna said.
“Same,” Terrence said. “I mean, damn, I’d tell you if I got scratched or something.”
“No problems here,” Andris said.
Dom locked eyes with Meredith.
“Don’t look at me,” she said.
Dom couldn’t understand why none were volunteering. Maybe he was losing it. Maybe he was going crazy. “Did anyone else hear those screams?”
No one responded until Renee gave him a noncommittal look. “I mean, I might’ve heard something, but I’m not sure.”
“Yeah, Chief,” Miguel said. “I was a little focused on the Skulls...which, can we talk about those things for a second? They were all like four feet tall or under. What the hell was up with that? And the tails?”
“Imps,” Renee said. “Dom already named ’em. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say they were goddamn monkeys.”
“We can save that talk for once we’re on the ferry,” Dom said. “I want everyone to do a thorough inspection of themselves, make sure you didn’t get any cuts that might’ve gone forgotten in the heat of the battle. Got it?”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” the crew responded.
Questions hovered over Dom’s mind like gulls around the Huntress as they pushed through the jungle toward the river. Miguel was right. There was something off about th
e Skulls that had attacked them, but they didn’t have time to investigate that mystery. And most disconcerting, Dom still was certain he’d heard a person cry out during the attacks. Why would the Hunters hide an injury from him? He might’ve been insistent on moving to get his people out of danger rather than treating his injuries right away, but he hadn’t hidden anything from them.
He shoved those questions to the back of his mind as they broke through the trees and made it to the edge of the river. The dual-hull prow of the car ferry rose above them, silent and formidable. For now, there was only one question that needed to be answered: Could they get this ship running?
“Captain!” Renee shouted. She appeared like a flash before he could react, intercepting the attack meant for him, and a full-sized Skull rammed into her. Her head thumped against a tree trunk with a sickening crack. Helmet or not, the momentum alone would’ve been enough to send her brain bouncing around inside her skull.
Wild anger exploded in Dom. She had blocked an attack meant for him, and as the Skull stood over her unconscious body, he charged it with a yell to rival the monsters’ battle cry.
His hands found the Skull’s bony cheeks, and he twisted its head, cracking bone and vertebrae. Everything before him seemed to turn red. His muscles quaked as he threw the Skull’s head against the trunk over and over until it was a pulpy mess.
“Dom, it’s dead!” Meredith said, yanking on his shoulder.
Chest heaving, Dom let the beast go. Its spike-covered body slid to the forest floor, and it came to rest at Renee’s feet. He vaguely felt the monster’s blood dripping down his skin as he knelt next to Renee. He touched the side of her face, leaving bloody prints.
“Terrence, Glenn! Can you help carry her?” Meredith yelled.
“Come on, Renee. Come on, stay with me,” Dom said. Terrence and Glenn rushed to put together a makeshift stretcher out of two large branches and a tarp in a matter of seconds.
“Careful,” Meredith said, “she might have a neck injury.”
Or worse, Dom thought but didn’t say. The other Hunters crowded around him, ready to carefully load Renee onto the stretcher. His fingers pressed against her wrist, searching for a pulse.
-16-
Meredith already felt safer knowing they were out of the jungle. Even if they couldn’t get the hell out of here in the ferry itself, maybe there were working vehicles aboard it. Worst-case scenario, she recalled the lifeboats hanging off the side of the ship. Any vehicle was better than traveling through that hellhole of a jungle by foot.
As they clambered up to the deck, Renee was still unconscious and unmoving. There was no telling what kind of internal damage she’d taken to save Dom from that surprise attack. Meredith also made a mental note to keep a close eye on Dom. She’d served with him on enough missions to sense when something was up. He’d rarely lost his cool, and what she’d seen moments ago frightened her almost as much as the Skulls. Was the pressure causing him to crack? The crew had started this mission unflinchingly following his orders, but she wasn’t sure how long that would last if this worrisome behavior continued. Dom didn’t see or hear things that weren’t real, and he never flew around in a blind rage.
Blood still streamed down Dom’s cheek as the Hunters reached the first deck of the ferry. He ignored his injuries as the others fanned out around them, with Glenn and Terrence lugging Renee on her stretcher. A warm wind blew over Meredith, carrying with it the smell of rain. She looked up and saw the stars had disappeared, blanketed by a layer of clouds.
Meredith directed her gaze to the deck of the ferry. The Hunters stood amid a jumble of vehicles. Cars of models Meredith didn’t recognize sat between mud-covered trucks and rust-pocked vans. A few large military-like transports towered above the other vehicles like rocks jutting from frothing breakers, while motorcycles and scooters had been fit in every available space.
The vehicles near the bow had been crammed together. Several motorcycles lay on their sides or under the tires of SUVs and vans. Many of the smaller cars had been crushed like accordions. Evidently when the ferry had beached itself, the landing had been violent.
“To the pilothouse,” Dom said, surveying the wreckage with his rifle. “Huntress, this is Dom. We made it to the ferry. Chao, we might need your assistance getting this thing moving.”
“Copy that,” Chao replied over the comm link. “We’re on it.”
“One more thing.” Dom’s timbre changed as he continued, “We have a casualty. Renee’s unconscious. Keep Lauren on standby.”
Still on point, Miguel weaved between the vehicles toward an open hatch that led to another set of ladders. They traversed to the next deck. Tarps and canvas sheets were strung up like lean-tos all along the walkways. Meredith saw black singe marks on the deck from what looked like bonfires. Large cast-iron pots were suspended above charred logs. She also spotted several propane tanks attached to camping grills.
“Is this recent? Was someone living on here?” Meredith asked.
The tarps flapped in the wind, smacking against the deck and bulkhead.
“Maybe,” Glenn said. “But those pots and fires were probably here long before the outbreak.”
“People were cooking on a boat?” Jenna asked.
Glenn nodded. “Yep. It’s not uncommon—or at least it wasn’t—for people to travel all the way down the Congo on these ferries. It sometimes took weeks to go from one end to the other, stopping at every little town on the way. People who couldn’t afford to rent a cabin inside were forced to live, cook, and eat out here.”
“Let me guess,” Miguel said. “You read that in one of your books.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Glenn said, sounding wounded.
Meredith didn’t doubt the Hunter for a moment. The former Green Beret could always be found with a book in hand between missions.
“We’ll need to check these decks carefully later,” Dom said. “But for now, let’s set up shop upstairs.”
The trickling of blood along the captain’s cheeks hadn’t slowed. A knot of worry tightened in Meredith’s gut. Yes, they definitely needed to hurry—if not for the mission’s sake, then for Dom and Renee. They continued winding up the steps to another door that led to the pilothouse. The glass canopy surrounding the bridge appeared covered in dust.
Miguel tried the hatch leading inside. “It’s locked,” he said.
Andris perked up. “I’m happy to open it.”
“Miguel tries first,” Dom said. “Quiet as possible.”
Miguel tried picking the lock, but the tools jangled uselessly in the keyhole. “No luck.”
Dom glanced at Renee. “Fine, then. Andris, you’re up.”
Andris stuck in a crumb of plastic explosive into the keyhole. “Very quiet, I promise,” he said, setting the detonator. He motioned for the team to take cover, then set off the explosive.
Meredith braced herself for a hollow boom to echo from the hatch, but instead she was met only with a low thump. Smoke drifted from the keyhole, and the door slowly groaned open on its own. Miguel and Andris burst into the room, and Meredith followed. A rotten stench threatened to make her gag. She scanned the chart table and the chairs strewn about. Her heart climbed into her throat when she spotted a human shape in the corner, and she darted toward it, her gun barrel never straying from its aim at the person’s chest.
But as she drew near, she saw it wasn’t a Skull. Rather, it was the decomposed remains of a normal human still wearing a soiled jacket and trousers. The body had been left untouched by Skulls, and flies swarmed the carcass’s skinny limbs and gaunt face.
“Must’ve locked himself in here,” Meredith said when Andris joined her.
Andris turned away, retching. Once he recovered, he called over the comm link. “Clear. No contacts. Just a body.”
The others filtered in. Terrence and Glenn cleared off the chart table and put Renee down atop it.
“Bury that guy at sea,” Dom said, “and make it quick.”
>
“Aye, aye, Captain,” Glenn said. He and Miguel took the corpse out of the pilothouse. A moment later, Meredith heard a distant splash, and then the two returned.
“Huntress, this is Dom, do you read?”
“Loud and clear,” Chao reported back.
“Got info on ferries operating in the Congo?”
“I have a whole list of different classes. Any idea what the name of the boat you’re on is?”
Meredith scanned the pilothouse for a clue. Several documents lay scattered across the deck where Glenn and Terrence had tossed them when setting Renee down. She found a logbook, picked it up, and brushed the dust off its cover.
“It’s the Soleka,” she reported over the comm link, spelling the name out for good measure.
“Copy,” Chao said. Silence hung over the link for several seconds. “We got a hit. Okay, pulling up the specs on this baby now...and we’re good to go.”
Dom took over the controls at the pilothouse. Chao walked him through starting the massive diesel engines. Meredith wished Dom would let someone else take care of dealing with the engines while she tended to his wounds, but he seemed determined to get his crew on the open river before he looked after himself.
The engines gurgled, and the bulkheads rumbled. Meredith pumped a fist in the air. They’d done it. They were finally free of this damn jungle. But that small victory disappeared as a soul-crushing grinding reverberated through the ferry. The grinding was followed by a sound coming from the engine room Meredith found even more disheartening: silence.
“Damn it!” Dom slammed his fist on the controls near the throttle. He clasped both hands on his helmet and cursed again under his breath. Turning to the Hunters, he seemed to compose himself again. “Huntress, Dom. Engine is a no-go.”
Chao’s voice broke over the comm link. “Probably going to need to do things manually then. There’s no telling how long that engine’s been neglected.”
“Okay, okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” Dom surveyed the members of the team who were still on their feet. “Terrence, you’re staying up here with me. You get to patch me up so the rest of you don’t have to worry about me keeling over. We’ll keep watch over Renee and any Skulls looking to board. Meredith, you’re in charge of Bravo. The rest of you will follow her. Get to the engine room, find out what the hell is going on, and get that thing online. If you can’t figure it out in half an hour, we’re taking the lifeboats.”
The Tide: Iron Wind (Tide Series Book 5) Page 10
