Island 731 (26 page)

“Did you see anything else by the waterfall?” Hawkins asked, thinking the kid was damn lucky to have not been attacked by the croc.

“I didn’t really look around,” Bennett said. “The birds were on me pretty much the moment I stepped onto the bridge. Nearly knocked me into the water.”

“So,” Hawkins said, hoping the kid was ready to tell him the whole story. “What happened on the
Magellan
?”

Joliet spoke into the radio again. “
Magellan,
come in. This is Joliet. Come in,
Magell
—”

“You can stop calling them,” Bennett said, picking himself up off the floor. His face was grim. His lips quivered. “They’re dead. Blok. Jones and the Tweedles. All four. Dead.”

Joliet stumbled back, her legs suddenly weak. She held on to the window frame to support herself. “What?”

“It killed them.”

“You saw them die?” Hawkins asked.

Tears returned to Bennett’s eyes. “Jones. Didn’t need to see the rest. I heard them.” Bennett nearly began sobbing again, but held his emotions in check. “And I left them. I hid. And then I ran.”

“Sounds like you didn’t have a choice,” Hawkins said.

Bennett sniffed and wiped his arm across his nose. “I could have fought it. You would have. I could have—”

Joliet put her arm around Bennett’s shoulder and he fell into her embrace, despite being nearly a foot taller than her. With his head over her shoulder, he wept some more.

Hawkins turned away. He’d heard enough.

Bray entered, looking concerned. “What happened?”

“Says the crew is dead,” Hawkins replied.

“Holy shit,” Bray said, rubbing his hand over his head. “Holy shit. What are we going to do?”

Hawkins looked back at Joliet and Bennett, then back to Bray. “Plan stays the same. We stay the night here. Haul ass back to the
Magellan
. And then leave. Bennett can get us moving. We’ll do our best to help him steer us out of the lagoon and then we’ll head east until we hit land.”

“We can’t go back there,” Bennett said, stepping away from Joliet. “We can’t!”

“Phil,” Hawkins said as calmly as he could. “Listen. Whatever it is that killed the crew and took DeWinter, it’s nocturnal. The first time it came aboard was at night. When did it come aboard the ship?”

“I don’t know.” Bennett said. “Maybe an hour ago?”

“So dusk?” Hawkins asked.

Bennett hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah, the sun was below the horizon.”

“Dusk, then. Odds are it won’t come out during the day. So we stay here until morning, wait for the sun to be in the sky, and then head to the
Magellan.
We can be out of the lagoon before night.”

“There isn’t really another choice,” Joliet said. “We can’t stay here.”

Bennett was nodding now. “It could work.” He stepped away from Joliet, rubbing his head. “It could work. If we’re fast. If—”

“Do you guys smell that?” Joliet asked.

Bray sniffed the air. “Smell what?”

Hawkins took a deep breath through his nose. “Something sweet.”

“Like flowers,” Joliet said.

“But it’s faint,” Hawkins said. “Could be nighttime-blooming species on the island.”

“It’s really strong over here.” Joliet sniffed the air near the window.

Hawkins stepped up next to Joliet and sniffed. It was stronger by the window, but … Hawkins leaned in close to Joliet and smelled again. “It’s you.”

“Maybe she got something on her outside?” Bennett said. “In the jungle?”

Hawkins wandered the hall, sniffing like a dog. As he neared the stairs, the odor of formaldehyde tickled his nose.
Definitely not coming from up there
.

He turned around again. Bennett stood on the left side of the hall, near the room where Drake still lay. Bray wandered the far end of the dimly lit hall, sniffing the air. And Joliet remained by the glassless window, watching him. The last light of day was fading. They’d need to make a fire soon. It might attract predators, but there was also nothing better for keeping them at bay. Luckily they had a large supply of very dry pallets to burn. He was about to bring the subject up when an ear-splitting blare, deep and full of bass, rolled over the entire island like an audio tidal wave.

“What was that!” Bennett shouted, cringing.

“That was the same sound,” Bray said. “Before DeWinter was—”

Hawkins didn’t hear the rest of Bray’s sentence. Something moved outside the window behind Joliet.

His mind screamed
snake!
, but as he opened his mouth to shout a warning he noticed the slender intruder was jointed. It had knuckles—
a finger
—with a sharp claw at the end! “Joliet!” Hawkins shouted, but his warning came too late.

The long, slender finger slid beneath Joliet’s arm, wrapped around her shoulder, and lifted her off the ground.

Joliet screamed. She pounded the large digit with her fists, but her effort had no effect. Hawkins and Bray charged forward simultaneously. Bray had the ax ready to swing, but the finger pulled Joliet halfway out the window.

“Mark!” Joliet screamed.

He dove for her legs as she continued to rise out of the window, but her feet slipped outside before he arrived. He collided with the wall and fell to the floor, but wasted no time springing back to his feet. He thrust himself halfway out the window and looked up. Framed by the nearly black sky, he saw Joliet being pulled up the side of the concrete building. Above her loomed a massive shadow he recognized from the
Magellan
.

It’s the same thing that took DeWinter!

“Joliet!” he screamed. “Avril!”

And then they were gone, up and over, onto the roof.

Hawkins flung himself back into the hallway. He snatched up the rifle as he ran for the exit. Bray followed on his heels and together they made short work of the pallet barricade. Hawkins ripped open the door and charged into the darkness.

The night’s cool air felt like a cold winter day, causing goose bumps to rise on his skin. He ran out into the field. His sudden appearance and rapid approach sent goats fleeing. Their bleats and jangling bells blocked out all other noises.

Hawkins spun with the rifle, looking for a target.

Where did you go?
he thought.
Where did you go!

He found his answer when he looked up.

So far from civilization, the stars were already out in force. Every constellation imaginable filled the night sky. The Milky Way cut across the center of it. But a portion of the sky was blacked out.

It was above him!

The blacked-out portion of sky grew quickly larger.

“Bray, look out!” Hawkins shouted and shoved his friend clear before diving out of the way.

The ground shook from an impact. An inhuman roar ripped through the air—one part lion, one part crow. The creature had arrived.

33.

Hawkins jumped to his feet and spun to face the thing, but it was already moving toward him. His eyes had adjusted to the half-moon light and he saw just bits and pieces of the thing before it reached him. It hunched forward as it charged, but still stood at least eight feet tall. And the proportions were all wrong. The chest and shoulders looked far too vast for the tiny waist to support and one arm was larger than the other. In fact, he wasn’t sure if one of the arms was even an arm.
No way this thing is human
, he thought, and then it was upon him. He pulled the rifle’s trigger at the last moment, but the shot was wild and if it struck the creature, it showed no sign. It just attacked.

The blow was blunt, but concussive. It struck his sternum, which flexed with the strike and saved him from internal injuries, but it knocked the wind out of him and sent him sprawling into the grass. The rifle flew from his grasp, falling into the darkness somewhere out of reach.

Clutching grass in his hands, Hawkins fought to push himself up. The thing had proven itself to be the far more aggressive predator and would no doubt finish him off quickly. When his vision tunneled from lack of air, he thought his time on Earth had come to an end.

But the creature didn’t attack.

Why not?
he wondered between gasps.

“Hawkins!” Bray shouted. “I have her!”

Hawkins’s vision cleared just in time for him to see Bray walking backward toward the defunct laboratory. He held Joliet under her arms and dragged her as quickly as he could. But not fast enough to escape the creature. Even at a sprint, Bray wouldn’t have stood a chance.

The thing proved that by taking two quick steps in Bray’s direction and then leaping clear over the man. Bray shouted and spun around, but the creature batted him to the side. He tumbled and rolled over the grass before disappearing from view.

For a moment, Hawkins couldn’t figure out where his friend had gone. Then he heard a splash.

Bray is in the river!

Hawkins took a long breath, steadied himself, and stood. His head spun for a moment, but quickly cleared with a spike of adrenaline. The creature was heading for Joliet’s still form, lying in the grass.

Hawkins unclipped his knife.

Be aggressive
, he told himself, but knew it wouldn’t make a difference. The most aggressive wasp in the world could never kill a human being. The best it could hope for was to deliver a painful sting. Hawkins charged, knife raised, hoping he could sting the creature.
Even people run from a wasp’s sting
, he told himself.

The thing scooped Joliet from the ground and flung her over its shoulder. It didn’t even glance in Hawkins’s direction.

Hawkins ran in silence, focusing on the creature’s chest. If he was lucky, the blade might find its heart. Believing surprise was his only chance, he stayed silent even as he dove forward and swung the blade.

But Hawkins quickly learned the creature’s indifference to his approach had nothing to do with not being aware of him. He was simply too insignificant to pay any attention to. The blade found its target at the center of the creature’s chest. The blow perfectly mirrored the attack that slew the bear so many years ago, but the outcome this time was far different.

There was a loud
tink
as the knife struck a rock hard surface and skipped to the side. His fist struck the hard surface next. Pain radiated from his hand and up his arm. The blade fell to the ground.

Hawkins stumbled back, clutching his hand.
What the hell is this thing?

The creature turned away from him, but then paused a moment. Its ragged breathing drowned out the sound of the now distant goat bleats. While most of the giant body was still cloaked in shadow, moonlight lit the creature’s face as it glanced back at him.

His body tensed when its eyes found his.

It had the face … of a woman.

And the eyes of a goat.

A smile revealed the teeth of a tiger.

This chimera, like the panther-child, was part human. But there were
three
distinct species just in its face! Hawkins didn’t want to know what species formed the rest of the creature, but he couldn’t let it leave with Joliet. Not without a fight.

He stepped for the knife, but the blade was snatched from the ground. He saw the blade glint in the moonlight, held in the grasp of one of the creature’s hands—if it had hands; its digits blended into the night.

Ping!
The blade snapped free from the hilt and spun to the ground.

Hawkins just stared, too stunned to take action. The thing had just snapped the knife’s blade like it was little more than a dry twig.

What could he do against that?

Before he had a chance to answer the question, the thing leapt. It landed on the other side of the river. Hawkins saw it jump twice more, clearing the razor-wire fence with little effort. When branches and leaves crunched beneath the creature’s weight, Hawkins was snapped from his confusion.

The creature took Joliet!

He ran toward the river. “Bray!” he shouted. “Bray! Where are you?” But there was no reply. Bray was either dead, unconscious on the bank, or had already been swept over the falls. Hawkins ran along the river, trying to spot his friend, but there was no sign of the man. When he reached the wooden bridge spanning the river, he vaulted across and headed for the gate he’d spotted earlier.

The chain-link fence, tucked into the jungle and concealed in darkness, was impossible to see. Hawkins reached it faster than he thought he would and crashed into it with a loud jangle. His chest and arms pitched over the curls of razor wire. Rusty blades sliced into his flesh, drawing blood. He winced as he pulled back, but did not cry out. He was beyond acknowledging the pain.

Fumbling in the darkness, Hawkins found the latch, pulled it up, and swung the gate open. He felt the smooth surface of a well-worn path beneath his feet, but after just a few steps was wading through ferns. He adjusted back toward the path, found it again, and tried his best to stay on it. He slowed, despite his panic, and soon realized pursuit was hopeless.

The goat-eyed creature could see in the dark.

He couldn’t.

It was far stronger and faster.

It knew the island.

And even if he somehow caught up to the creature, what could he do? His knife—the blade that had saved him from a grizzly bear, great white shark, and a tentacle-tongued crocodile, not to mention a draco-snake—had been snapped in two. The knife had become a symbol of his mastery of nature and a reminder of a time when he’d lost respect for the power of nature. Its casual destruction had taken his confidence.

He was out of his element. There was nothing natural about this creature, or anything on this island, save for maybe the rats.

Hawkins stopped. He cursed through grinding teeth.

He tried to focus, to clear his thoughts. He’d have to find a way back up the path. Go to the laboratory. Check on Bennett. And Drake. Search for Bray. But he probably wouldn’t find the man in the dark, so he’d have to search again in the morning. And then?

Plans had changed. He wouldn’t leave without Joliet even if it meant dying here. Bennett, Bray, and Drake could leave, but he would scour the island until he found her. Dead or alive.