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Greer

No.

My heart was beating so hard it hurt.

The monster had taken Lisa.

And Jameson had just dove in after her.

Oh, my God.

I raced down the stairs. Kai, North, Zeke, and Marc were all firing on the creature. The tentacle came up, Lisa still wrapped in it and soaking wet. She was screaming.

The monster screeched.

Where was Jameson?

I searched the water frantically. I couldn’t lose him. I’d just finally gotten him to see me.

I had feelings for him and I knew there was the possibility of so much more. He wasmine. I knew it. Hell, somewhere inside me, I’d known it for a long time.

The monster screeched so loudly I stopped and clapped my hands over my ears.

“There he is,” Kai yelled.

I lowered my hands and saw Jameson pulling himself up on a tentacle. He started stabbing at it with his knife. It was the tentacle holding Lisa.

He sawed his blade into the flesh. I saw black, sludge-like blood dripping into the water.

The tentacle waved violently, and Lisa went flying. She hit the water with a splash.

“I’ve got her.” Kai shoved his carbine at me. “Greer, keep firing.”

I nodded.

As Kai dove into the water, all my worry for Lisa and Jameson solidified. I raced to the edge of the dam wall and lifted the weapon. My father was a sniper, and I’d been shooting since I was a little girl. A gun felt all too familiar in my hands. I was my father’s daughter, after all.

I saw Jameson leap off the tentacle. He started cutting through the water, heading back to the wall.

The monster was thrashing. Black blood filled the water, floating like an oil slick. Then the creature turned and its gaze locked on Jameson.

It started swimming toward him, accelerating quickly.

No.

I aimed and fired.

North appeared beside me, concentrating his fire in the same location as mine.

“Jameson, swim faster,” North said into his earpiece.

God, the monster was gaining on him. I switched, aiming for one of the creature’s red eyes.

Direct hit.

The monster stopped, thrashing wildly.

“North, aim for the eyes.”