Untitled (26 page)

       Harrison led the group, everyone moving in the same tight formation they had since leaving the cordoned off search area. Megan stayed closed behind him, her head darting from left to right, watching the undergrowth for any sign of movement.

       Peter, still gripping his tree branch weapon walked alongside Kaci and they were tailed by Hewitt who held the deadly looking hunting knife as if she'd been born with it in her hand.

       "If she'd been a boy I bet they would have called her John," Peter whispered to Kaci.

       "What?" Kaci just frowned.

       "John... you know as in Rambo," Peter tried to explain. "Don't push me and all that." He cocked his head towards Hewitt but realised he was wasting his time. "Just forget about it."

       Megan stepped up her pace, moving from behind Harrison to walk at his side. He glanced at her and smiled.

       "I'm starting to agree with you," Harrison stated. "Its just too fucking quiet."

"What did you expect?" Megan asked. "Jungle drums?" The weak joke made neither of them laugh.

       "You were right about those things." Harrison looked at her. "Why'd they let us go?"

       "I can't help you on that one." Megan shook her head. "I've studied animals in the wild but these aren't animals."

       "They sure acted like animals."

       "Far from it," Megan disagreed. "They showed clear signs of human

intellect."

       "You can't think of them as human."

       "Why not?" she snapped. "That's what they were."

       "No, that's what they used to be," retorted Harrison. "Whatever human part they once had is gone. You saw what happened. Those things killed them and then they got back up."

       "What are you saying, Detective?" Megan pushed. "That you believe in zombies?"

       "Zombies? Don't be ridiculous." Harrison glared at her. "But I know dead when I see dead and those people were fucking dead."

       "Then what?"

       "Could it be a parasite?" Harrison considered showing her the journal but decided against it. "Or a virus?"

"Impossible. A parasite resides inside a living host. They don't feed on dead flesh." Megan thought aloud.

       "None of this changes the fact that those things just sat there and let us walk away." Harrison brought the conversation back on track.

       "They didn't," Hewitt said from the rear of the group.

       Harrison stopped in his tracks and turned to face Hewitt. "What does that mean?" he snapped.

       "They didn't just let us leave," Hewitt replied calmly. "They've been following us ever since we stepped outside the cordon.

       "And when were you planning on sharing this information with the rest of us?" Harrison asked, unable to hide the annoyance in his voice.

       "I didn't see the point in panicking anyone," Hewitt explained. "I've kept my eye on them and they've made no attempt to attack."

       "Where?" Megan stepped towards Hewitt. "I've seen nothing."

       "You've been looking in the wrong place." Hewitt rolled her eyes upwards and everyone followed her gaze.

       "Fucking hell," Peter gasped, seeing the treetops and what they held.

       "What are they waiting for?" Kaci stammered.

       "I don't plan on asking them," replied Hewitt. "My truck and the chopper are just around the next bend. I suggest we keep moving and hope for the best."

       "Yes, keep moving." The hissed reply came from the trees. "He is

expecting you."

* * *

       "Just keep the pace steady," Hewitt advised as the front end of the truck came into view. "No need to antagonise them."

       The creatures growled from behind and above, still shadowing the group from the trees. Some of them were still feeding, carrying half chewed limbs in their claw like hands.

       "What's the plan?" Peter asked.

       "Who said I had a plan?" Hewitt answered with another question. "That's his department." She pointed at Harrison.

       "Hadn't thought that far ahead," Harrison said with a raise of his eyebrows. "Let's take it a step at a time," he suggested. "We get to the truck and call this in and then head for the chopper and get the fuck out of here."

       "Better than nothing." Hewitt nodded.

       Harrison turned and fixed his stare on the truck. That was his goal and he wasn't deviating. He had to get the others to safety. It was his fault they were in this mess. If he hadn't been so obsessed with the scribbling of a madman they wouldn't have been here.

       
Not so mad, though, was he?

       Harrison found no ease from his guilt in the truth. The contents of the journal no longer mattered. Fact or fiction was irrelevant. Harrison may have come face to face with the creatures responsible for the death of his wife and children but, in doing so, he'd placed the lives of others at risk. He still had a score to settle and he intended to do just that but first he'd get the others on board that chopper.

Hewitt walked backwards, her eyes fixed on a different target. If the

creatures made any attempt to rush them she wanted to be the first to know about. This woodland was her territory and she'd protect those in it to the best of her ability. It was her duty... it was her job.

       "Nearly there," Harrison said in a raised whisper.

       "You'll need these." Hewitt fished a hand in her pocket and pulled out the keys. She didn't look back as she threw them over her shoulder in the general direction of Harrison.

       "Thanks." he caught the keys with one hand and flicked through them until he found what he hoped was the right one.

       "Phone's on the back seat."

       Harrison reached the truck and slid the key into the lock and turned. The internal locking system snapped open with a click and a snap that raised a new wave of hissing from the trees.

       "Shit," Peter almost whimpered.

       Harrison pulled the door open as quietly as he could and leaned into the truck, searching the back seat for the phone Hewitt had promised would be there.

       "It's not here," he barked.

       "Check the foot well," Hewitt snapped. "It's there somewhere."

Harrison began rummaging through the paperwork littering the foot well, sighing with relief as his fingers found the allusive phone. He pushed himself out of the truck and stood upright, flicking open the mobile and waiting.

       "It's locked," he said. "What's the code?"

       "Give it here." Hewitt turned to face him.

       Harrison tossed her the phone and she caught it, wasting no time in entering the four digit code to unlock it. She waited a few seconds and then depressed one more key, raising the phone to her ear.

       "Mike, it's Hewitt..." the introduction was cut short as the first of the creatures fell from the trees, an outstretched claw ripping Hewitt open from neck to navel.

       The phone hit the ground, a second later buried under a wet pile of Hewitt's internal organs. She tried to scream, but the sound that came from her savaged throat was nothing more than a weak, wet fart.

       The creature held her upright, reaching out and forcing a finger into her left eye. As it did so it turned towards Harrison and the others.

       "Help is not to be found," it stated. "That is not what he wants." The creature turned away again, going to work on the other eye.

       "Run!" Harrison ordered.

       None of them needed telling twice.

Chappell sat and watched the scene unfold from a hundred different angles at the same time. He saw, up close, the one called Hewitt empty her innards on the forest flow. He experienced the sensation of fingers delving inside her brain, fingering the soft tissue through the entrance of her eye sockets. It was like a drug and he wanted more.

       "Run!" He heard the one named Harrison shout and watched as the others followed the order.