Subterranean (18 page)

Pushed toward the door, Jason stumbled ahead. “What's going on? Is my mom okay?”

The old man ignored him. “I need to get you somewhere safe. I should never have allowed you to come down here.”

The admiral stepped out into the hall. “If that is Jason Carter, leave him be. He is my responsibility now.”

“Go to fucking hell!” Blakely yelled, pushing Jason through the hallway door.

Half shoved, Jason tumbled into the reception area. Too frightened to think, focused on trying to keep one step ahead of the raving doctor, he bumped into the door.

Sandy, her mouth hanging open in surprise, stood up from her typing. “What's happening?”

No one gave her an answer. Jason was brushed through the door, Blakely's arm around his shoulder. By now, tears started to flow down Jason's cheek; he clutched his gym bag to his chest.

In the open air, Blakely seemed to be calming down. “I'm sorry, Jason. I didn't mean to scare you. But you should know—”

A siren blasted through the cavern, its scream so piercing that Jason cringed, covering his ears. “What is it?” he yelled.

“Periphery sensors. The base is under attack. Hurry.” Blakely yanked Jason's arm.

S
ILENCE NOW
. T
EN LONG HEARTBEATS HAD PASSED SINCE
the scream had blasted from the tunnel. The dark entrance was beginning to clear of smoke from Villanueva's assault. Was it killed? Swallowing hard, Ashley stared down the length of her pistol's barrel. From the corner of her eye, she could see Halloway's head; it still lay a yard from her toe, staring at her as if asking why she let this happen.

She risked a quick glance toward Ben on her right. He caught her look and shrugged. Maybe whatever killed the SEAL
was
dead. Maybe they had lucked—

With a bellow, it burst from the tunnel.

A flash of teeth, needle-sharp and serrated.

“Christ!” Ashley yelled. In shock, she stumbled backward, losing her shot.

Ben knocked her to the side, out of the way of the lunging jaws, then hauled her behind a jumble of boulders.

Somewhere far off she heard Linda screaming.

“What the hell—” Ashley began, but Ben silenced her with a hand over her mouth.

A foul carrion scent flooded their hiding place as a massive snouted head, reptilian, like a crocodile, swung over the lip of a boulder, weaving on a scaled neck; its nostrils, open wide, snorted the air, searching. Oily black skin stretched over skull and jaw. Then its snout swept toward them, rolling a lidless black eye, like a chunk of polished obsidian, in her direction.

Beside her, Ben struggled to free his rifle, to swing it around, but the narrow space behind the boulder was too small.

Ashley went to raise her pistol, but her hand was empty, the gun lost in the fall. Shit!

Villanueva stood his ground, silent, fearing movement would distract the beast and ruin his shot. He studied his target, searching for a weakness.

What the hell was it?

Villanueva squinted through his rifle sight. It stood ten feet tall, pitch-black, towering on two heavily muscled hind limbs, balanced with a thick tail. Its arms, spindly when compared to the muscled hind limbs, ended in articulated claws like some feral cat. He could see the claws, razor-edged, extending and retracting as it scrabbled at the boulder's surface.

Villanueva continued to watch as it stalked back and forth, its head out of sight behind the boulder. The hooked scimitars of its hind limbs gouged the cavern floor.

How to kill it? The creature was thick across the chest, layered in mud and scales that looked iron-hard. Could a rifle blast to the chest penetrate to the heart? Maybe. But it was risky. He would get only one shot. He swung his rifle sight forward. It would have to be the head.

The creature still probed behind the pile of boulders where Ben and Ashley had fled, keeping Villanueva's target out of sight. Suddenly its body tensed; its tail stopped twitching. It had discovered something behind that boulder . . . and he could guess what that was—either Ben or Ashley.

A loud hiss arose from it. Like a rabid dog raising a hackle, a ridge of spiked bristles sprouted in a crest along the back of its snaking neck, tracing down the length of its body.

Show me your head, you fuckin' monster, Villanueva thought. Gimme one clean shot.

He ground his molars. A nonfatal shot would just enrage the beast, making a second shot impossible. He tried to will it to move. Helpless, he watched the beast's muscles bunch up as it prepared to spring on its quarry.

He had to distract it!

Villanueva's knuckles whitened as he gripped his rifle.

Retreat, thought Michaelson. Linda and Khalid were his responsibility.

He huddled behind the sheltering boulder. He hated to abandon the others, but he was in no real position to offer any help. He glanced over at Linda, who still shook in Khalid's arms. They needed to retreat to a more defensible position.

He pushed off the boulder and scrambled next to them. “Grab your packs. We're heading out.”

Linda raised a white face from Khalid's shoulder. “But the others?”

“Now!” he said hoarsely, shoving her pack toward her.

Khalid tossed his pack over a shoulder and helped Linda pull hers on. “He's right. We can't help them.”

Michaelson, with his rifle in hand, herded his two wards forward. As they passed around the first boulder, a panoramic view of the bowl-shaped cavern opened up before them. Here at the lip, Michaelson had a view of the sloping valley they had crossed just an hour ago.

“Shit!” he said, stopping.

Khalid stood at his elbow. “What is it?”

“Over there. Just past the next ridge of rock.”

Khalid looked where he pointed, then said something foul in his native tongue. Linda crushed her face into his shoulder.

Michaelson studied the view. Four reptilian heads swayed above the boulder-strewn floor, long necks stretched upward, looking in their direction. Like malignant prairie dogs. As he watched, one of the heads lowered out of sight.

There was no telling how many of them were out there, but one thing was sure: An attempt to cross would be suicide. Their retreat was cut off. Jaw tight, he wound his hand tighter into the rifle's strap.

A sudden motion caught the corner of his eye.

He swung his light to the left. Ten yards away stood a stocky stalagmite, like thousands they had passed to get here. Nothing moved there now. He clenched his jaws, tightening his grip on his rifle. Was there something behind it? Suddenly the stalagmite sprouted a snaking tail and a snouted head, perfectly camouflaged against the oily rock. Even lit up, it was hard to say where the rock began and beast ended.

The black eyes swung in his direction. Its mouth opened, revealing row after row of teeth.

Ashley cringed as the snout turned in her direction. It hissed, its breath reeking of carnage. Reaching blindly for any weapon, her hand fell upon the flashlight attached to her belt. Maybe she could club it away. Grabbing the thick handle, she swung the flashlight forward.

Ben stopped his struggle to dislodge his rifle. “Turn it on!” he yelled. “High beam!”

Reacting spontaneously to his command, she clicked the lever all the way up. A spear of light lanced out of their hiding place, stabbing the beast squarely in the eye.

Roaring, the creature snapped its head away.

As it retreated beyond the ridge of the boulder, an explosion of rifle fire erupted. Villanueva, she thought. He's still out there. She pushed onto her knees. A second round of rifle fire, this time from behind them. Ashley turned a questioning eye on Ben.

“Go!” he yelled.

She sprang to her feet, jumping a few steps away, clearing room for Ben, just as another blast of rifle fire exploded from ahead.

A scream of hissing rage echoed through the cavern, followed by a loud crash into the boulders.

“Watch out!” Ben shoved her from behind.

Falling forward, she rolled onto her side and saw the cascade of boulders tumble between her and Ben, filling the space where she just stood. “Ben!”

From behind the wall of rock: “I'm okay! . . . But I don't see a way to get to you!”

“Then try for Michaelson!”

“Bloody hell, I'm not leaving you!”

“Go!”

Not waiting any longer, fearing for Villanueva, she cautiously crept to the front of the boulders and peeked beyond its edge.

Her eyes widened in terror.

Villanueva's shot went sour, missing the head and glancing harmlessly off the beast's neck, but it was enough to draw its attention.

It struck at him, like a riled snake.

The mouth snapped at where the SEAL had been standing, but he had already hopped several yards back. It opened its mouth and bellowed, its eyes reflected red. He backed up another faltering step. The beast's head lowered closer to the ground, its body bunched close behind, taut with quivering muscles.

It was going to lunge.

Aiming from the waist, Villanueva pulled the rifle's trigger as the beast burst toward him. The shot hit home, striking the beast in the shoulder, a spout of blood flying.

Unfazed, it barreled forward.

He dodged to the right.

This time he was too slow.

As he tried to turn away, his arm was yanked back, toppling him onto the hard rock. Suddenly his whole body was jerked into the air and dangled by an arm from the jaws of the beast. Searing pain threatened to swallow him into darkness.

Clenching his teeth, he struggled for his rifle, the leather strap still wrapped around his forearm. But it dangled just out of reach. He pulled it up to his chest, trying to grip it one-handed.

Just as his fingers slipped in place, the beast shook him like dog with a rag doll. His shoulder popped from its socket.

A bone snapped.

A tidal wave of blackness washed over him, drowning him.

The rifle slipped from his limp fingers.

Michaelson shoved Linda behind him. “Get back.” He dodged behind yet another boulder, his rifle raised to cover their retreat. It was stalking them, backing them toward the wall. From the sound of gunfire, they were being forced in the direction of the group battling the other monster.

A clever move, he thought. It was trying to corral him back into the jaws of the other beast. “Khalid, get your butt up front here,” he yelled. “I want your gun on this trail. I need to reload.”

No answer.

“Khalid!”

He glanced over his shoulder.

No Khalid. No Linda. Where were they?

He turned forward to face the trail again. Two yards away, a head the size of a bull's snaked around a boulder. Small nostril flaps, spread like Chinese fans, tested the air as it hunted. It shied from his light, then stepped into view. It walked upright on two thickly muscled legs. Its mouth gaped open, almost like it was grinning. It lowered its head close to the rock floor, searching for scent. With its back bent, Michaelson noted the ridge of raised quills running down its back.

Fuckin' monster. He raised his rifle and zeroed his sights on its butt-ugly face. Smiling grimly, he pulled the trigger.

—
snick
—

The firing pin snapped on an empty chamber.

Ashley crawled forward. Please . . . still be alive.

Villanueva hung limp in the jaws of the beast. The creature jerked the SEAL's body back and forth a final time, then dropped him to the rocky floor.

Cringing, Ashley held her breath. Blood soaked his entire torso. Shit! He wasn't moving.

The beast cocked its head from side to side, studying its catch, like a bird with a worm. Focused on its prey, it was unaware of her.

Careful, she thought. Don't draw its attention. She crouched and placed each step cautiously. Her pistol was three yards away. She swallowed and took another step forward.

Almost there.

Clenching her teeth, she slipped to the gun.

The beast still toyed with Villanueva. Using a daggered claw, it flipped the SEAL's sprawled body over. She could hear it sniffing at his blood.

Ashley reached for her pistol. As her fingers wrapped around the gun, she froze.

Voices rose behind her.

“It's just over here.” She recognized Khalid's thick accent.

“Are you sure?” Linda's strained voice.

The beast whipped its head around, right toward Ashley. She froze, afraid to move, praying the creature's vision was poor.

“We'll be safe in the wormhole. Too narrow for them to get to us.” The voices were approaching her location. “We'll make a dash for it.”

The beast's neck strained forward, head cocked. Still as stone, it listened to the voices and sounds of movement approaching. Perhaps . . .

She raised her gun, moving with agonizing slowness. No sudden motions to distract it.

Focusing down the barrel, she tried to target its obsidian eye, but a huge bridge of bone protected it. She didn't have a shot, unless it tilted its head just slightly.

From behind her, Linda cried, “It's Ashley!”

Shut up, she silently willed the woman. Linda obviously hadn't rounded the boulder far enough to see what else was out here.

Ashley heard Linda's boot heel scrape loose shale. “Khalid, Ashley must have had the same idea as—Oh! God!”

The beast twitched its head in Linda's direction, an eye rolling into view. Ignoring Linda's scream, Ashley pulled the trigger twice in rapid succession, the recoil dumping her backward.

Unsure if she had hit her mark, she struggled back up into a crouched position, expecting to see a maw of teeth snapping down on her.

She cringed as the beast's head, which had been thrown back by the impact of the bullets, swung once again in her direction, one eye now a cratered ruin.

It took a step toward her, hissing a piercing note. Ashley scrambled backward, tumbling into Linda.

“Get back!” Ashley screamed, fumbling to raise her gun again. Before she could take aim, it lunged at her. Ashley dodged to the side.