Dom Wars: Round 6 (8 page)

Her breaths finally returned to somewhat normal as I nipped softly and continuously at her mouth. “I love you,” I mouthed against her smile.

“I love you too,” she mouthed back.

I hugged her close to me and we went back to our spooning position from just before. I made myself think of good things in hopes of maybe getting a little sleep. The last thought I had was remembering the day I learned that Tara liked reading the obituaries as a mental security blanket. And how much I fucking loved her for that.

Chapter Nine

I woke the next morning to the stern look of Preacher next to me,
shhhh
ing me. I lifted my head slowly in the direction he pointed. My heart lurched when I spotted the giant mottled brown…animal a few dozen yards off. Shit.

“What the
hell
is that?”

Preacher shook his head. “Thinking it’s not indigenous to this island.”

I looked back at the strange thing with its low triangular head and rounded ears, massive shoulders and sloping haunches. “Then how…”

“Your buddy Jase must’ve had funds to go along with his job. And there it goes. Wake the ladies.” Preacher hurried and doused the fire.

I looked back to the tree and the animal was gone. Shit. I shook Tara awake then Becca as Preacher gathered supplies. “Don’t forget the flag,” I hissed.

“Why are we whispering?” Tara mumbled as she looked around half asleep.

“There’s some kind of animal nearby. We don’t know for sure what it is. Let’s go.”

Ten minutes later, with our melted flag fished from the shit pit, we were on the trail, me in the lead, and Preacher at the rear. We moved, no, more like ran, through the forest as fast as we could, fighting not to get dizzy from finding the best path while staying in the right direction. Each time I stopped to get my bearings, Tara ran into me regardless of my warning.

“More than two second warning please,” she huffed, out of breath. “Are we almost there? Feels like we’ve been running for three hours.”

I took off again. “Soon,” I lied.

“Soon? What is that in island from hell language? Like before I die?”

“Like maybe two more hours.”

“Two more hours!” she shrilled. “Oh my God you call that soon? And is that two more hours at this break neck speed? Can you please slow down?”

I stopped again and Tara ran into me.

“Oh geeze, really?”

“Well it’s hard to
think
with you bitching at my heels, did you forget that there is a strange animal possibly hunting us?” Shame bit at me, but I reasoned maybe if she were more scared she’d cooperate. I sure didn’t want to run into that thing. The more I thought of it, the more sure I became of the damn thing’s identity. And the thought of wondering around a small island unarmed while a fucking
hyena
also wondered around that same small island… Well, that thought just shouldn’t exist. Too bad it did.

“I’m sure it would have eaten us by now, we’ve gone at least ten miles from it.” She gasped the words as she hung onto my shoulders, letting me have all her weight.

I looked behind me and found Preacher watching our rear.

“We ready?”

“Very,” Preacher said above Tara’s shocked
What? Wait! We run ten miles and rest for ten seconds?

Again we pushed through the forest. Finding the best place to take my team was suddenly my favorite puzzle in the fucking world and my mind became a metal trap of sick obsessive calculating disorder.

“Bane!” I stopped and turned, seeing the team was like twenty feet behind me and Preacher holding his arms out at his side like he’d had quite enough of that bullshit. I headed back toward the exhausted women, noting Preacher was more annoyed than tired. No doubt he could have left me in the dust. Being forced to go slow may have been a blessing for that leg of his, but not for that Goliath ego.

“I think we should break now.”

“Oh?” Tara nodded at me, gasping for air. “You
think
? You can still do that psycho man plowing through the woods?”

I quickly found places for relaxing and soon we were all catching our wind. My buddy was in a second wind, or maybe third and I didn’t feel tired. I stood and looked all around then took out the map.

“Where are you getting this
energy?
Are you eating Becca’s magical berries behind our back? If so, you had better hand them over because I am
not
keeping that pace of yours for one more step.”

I wished we
could
find more of the berries Becca had found that first day. Those miraculous things would have given the extra kick we needed. “Well we would like to reach the next flag before dark for once. And according to the map, there should be a water source at this one? Remember?” The map showed a freshwater spring that I was particularly looking forward to.

“Oh, is it this one? Thank
God.
” Tara sighed as if she were already there.

“I also want to get there before dark and see if we can find out anything about the supplies they mentioned in that information on the pallet.”

Preacher gave me a cold look. “I suspect if those supplies ever did exist, our favorite sadist has either taken them or sabotaged them.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. Better to think about that nice cool spring water.”

Tara agreed with a moan. “And then there’s the ocean next.” She let her head fall back and closed her eyes, holding her legs to her chest. “I cannot wait to see that ocean again. And that boat. Do you think we’ll make it first?”

Preacher snorted lightly. “That would be a huge ass shock.”

Becca slapped a mosquito off his neck then gave Tara a courageous stare. “We have a perfectly good chance of making it first.”

“Oh good!” Tara sighed the words like the woman had prophesied an event.

It didn’t matter to me, really, just so we made it out alive. And for the past few hours, the dread in my gut told me those odds were far too low for my liking. What the fuck was Jase Duff doing and planning? A disgusting apprehension mixed with the dire need to act was what had me practically running to the next fucking flag. I needed to get to that answer one way or another and deal with it, the dread was too much. The threat had my guts in knots, the instinct to crush it before it had the chance to hurt Tara.

And Preacher’s limp pronounced the pain he was in.

Becca suddenly shot up and began unloading the bags.

“What are you doing baby?” Preacher’s words were guarded yet soft.

“We were supposed to check for a device to make emergency contact. You need a doctor.”

Tara immediately leapt into action with her. “There has to be something here.”

“I’m fine,” Preacher grumbled.

“You are
not
fine,” Becca snapped in fury, rummaging at warp speed. “Do not fight about such a foolish thing, male. If you get an infection…” She shook the bag viciously. “Surely there is some sort of emergency device!”

Becca’s desperation brought me to join them in the search. “Okay, let’s look at our watches closer.”

They all removed their watches except Preacher. He simply reclined like he was sunbathing at the Bahamas, eyes closed. But my guess, he was anything but at peace.

I looked at the back of the watch and caught sight of the embossed plastic microscopic words.

“Mine says something!” Tara hurried to me, watch out.

I squinted at the microscopic words, then glanced around for the brightest ray of filtered sunlight.

“The emergency beacon is activated when you remove the battery from the phone,” Preacher said. We all jerked to find him still with his eyes closed. “I asked before we left.”

“Let’s do yours,” I told Tara.

She clawed a fingernail on the back of the watch, seeking for a crevice. “Shit I think this is it, my nail is too weak. Find me something to pry it open.”

I pulled my knife out and she handed the watch over. “Right there.” She reached her with a finger and pointed at the location just as the blade slipped.

“Sweetheart! Really, go stand over there before I cut your fucking hand off by some insane accident!”

She did as I said, looking torn between being pissed and sorry. Not as sorry as I was for yelling at her, but fuck, who puts their finger on location where a giant knife is?

Tara. That’s who. My sweet fucking Tara.

I finally managed to pop the back off and then removed the flat button type battery and put it in my pocket. I looked at the watch for any indication that an alarm had been sounded. When it just sat there like a watch without a battery, I looked at Preacher.

He shrugged. “That’s what he said.”

“Great. So, we’ll just have to hope the beacon emergency actually worked.”

Preacher worked his way to standing, grunting and letting Becca help. The fact that he did, said he was in a lot of pain. But then again, he was definitely secure in his masculinity and didn’t need to prove a fucking thing to her or anybody else. Reminded me of how much I’d grown to like him. Maybe even a little admiration there. Maybe.

I got the last piece of beef jerky out and split it between all of us and we ate in silence then drank exactly six swigs of water from the last of the water supply. I sure as hell hoped that water was there. We fucking needed it in more ways than one. At least we were doing good time. I could try my hand at fishing the way preacher had and cook us all a decent meal.

I suddenly froze and Tara ran into my back.

“Shit, Lucian!”

“Shh-shh.” I slowly walked in reverse.

“What’s wrong?” She whispered, following suit.

“Preacher? Hyena, twelve o’clock, fifty yards.”

“Roger that, Bane.” Preacher was at my back now, a vicious hold on my backpack, guiding me in slow reverse. “No sudden moves, very slowly, don’t look in his eyes.”

“Too late man.” And I knew once that happened, the last thing you did was look away.

“Then don’t break eye contact. Just keep backing away.”

“He’s feeling challenged dude, he’s coming.”

Preacher stopped and raised the hatchet toward the animal and roared like a beast.

“Shit dude, I think you’re pissing it off.”

“Get your bowie ready,” he whispered, sounding excited. “Raise it.” Now he walked me
forward
with another roar. “Two voices are better than one Bane!” He roared again, waving his ax. I roared with him waving my bowie.

“He’s fucking coming!” I yelled.

Preacher ran out from behind me and charged at the sprinting beast with a roar. The creature launched into the air and slammed Preacher, knocking him onto his back with ferocious snarls. The thing growled like a tornado atop Preacher and I jumped on its back and jabbed the knife into his neck.

The creature yelped and three seconds later went limp. I shot up and stared, every part of my body trembling as preacher rolled the beast off him and struggled to stand. I leaned and helped pull him up, looking around for more hyenas. There could be more. A pack even. I prayed not, but hope was bleak.

I afforded a quick glance at Preacher, looking for life threatening wounds. “You okay man? Where’s your hatchet?”

“In his chest.”

I turned and looked at the dead thing and sure enough, there it was, embedded not far below where I’d stuck him. “Holy shit. Good shot.”

“You too.” He chuckled and looked back at the women. “You ladies see Bane?” he bragged. “Fucking attacked him from behind. Shhwoop.” Preacher swung his arm, apparently imitating what he saw.

Becca came forward now and checked Preacher over then smacked him in the upper shoulder. Then hugged him.

I finally looked at Tara and my stomach knotted at seeing the “crazy” look on her face. It said she was holding on to her sanity with one nail. A broken, jagged nail. I stumbled over and pulled her rigid body in my arms, rubbing out the trauma with my hands and soft coos.

“We need to move,” Preacher said. “In case there’s more.”

Tara made a muffled squeal of terror in my chest.

“Well I am bringing this one with us.” Becca grabbed the thing by the hind legs. “We can feast on it later.”

Preacher gave a chuckle. “Amen, momma.”

Despite the creature’s oddity, a hunger-lust hit my stomach like the thing was prime steak. The sudden insanity to set up camp and make a bonfire sizzled in my brain.

“Eww, geeze,” Tara said. “I’m not eating that thing. It was going to eat us.”

The comment brought back reality and the dangers we faced. “We need to hurry, it’ll slow us down. We can fish at the next stop.” I looked at Preacher and his tight mouth said that was a negative. “Right? We can fish?”

“We can try.”

I nodded, ignoring the doubt in his tone. I didn’t want to bring the animal with us. “Good. The thing could be tagged or something.”

Preacher looked down at it. “Yeah. Could be.”

Even though Preacher sounded sincere, something lingered in his tone. I’d be glad to stop so I could ask him questions. I had new ones since we woke up. Like, how bad did he think the situation really was? Did he feel the same dread and fear as I did? What were his exact interpretations of what was going on?

Chapter Ten

We set off again and thirty minutes later, the terrain changed to downhill. I stopped to look at the map. “We’re getting close. I think the water source might be a stream or something since we’re going downhill.”

“Well,” Tara huffed, “with this decline, I’m inclined to think it may be another waterfall.”

Wouldn’t that be nice?

“If we would be so blessed that it was,” Preacher looked up into the canopy of trees overhead then back at us. “Then there would be a lagoon attached to it.”

We had a good bit of sunlight left. Fuck that would be heaven. They could bathe, drink, eat, and actually rest before dark. “Let’s go then.”

Tara moaned lightly but the desperate need to reach our destination came through loud and clear.

You would think downgrade, the traveling would be faster but it was so steep we had to slow down. And the forest floor was insanely slippery from centuries of vegetation that came and went. Tumbling headlong the rest of the way became increasingly tempting, especially when the roar of water hit our ears finally. We had to be close, but the trees became denser, making it difficult to see beyond ten feet. It was like climbing down the side of a giant porcupine, the skinny trees the spines. Their small size indicated a desperate fight for sunlight that ended in mass starvation. At the same time, thank fuck for them, because the trek down damn near required a rope. It was like rock climbing down feet first and the trees were footholds to guide our way down. If we fell, it’d look a lot like that game on the Price Is Right where you dropped a disc at the top of the wall of pegs and it bounced its way down, from one peg to the next.