Page 36 of Explorer’s Revenge

“How would it even do that?” he mutters, but he looks worried as well.

“I don’t know, but something with the strength to spin a truck?” I mutter as I turn my head to look out of the window, only to freeze. The rain has eased slightly, just a small sheet, but under the shelter of the trees I see glowing eyes staring back at me.

Way, who’s in the front, must see it at the same time I do. “Holy fuck!” he yells. “Yeah, it definitely found us.”

I pull the gun out as it stares at us. “What do we do?”

“Stay in the truck,” Wilder commands. “It’s hitting it for a reason. It knows we are here, but it can’t get to us.”

At that moment, it rams us again, as if sensing what we are talking about. The truck spins from the force, and when it finally stops, Logan is gagging, and Rick is on his knees. “I’m a tasty snack, but stop, okay? The only one who gets to eat me is Carter.”

I blink incredulously at him despite the situation.

“Are you sure the engine won’t start?” Wilder asks, never taking his eyes off the creature, which is now circling us, no doubt looking for a way in.

“Nah, it’s fucked,” Aiy replies. “We are sitting ducks.”

“If we go out there, we will be worse off,” Logan says. “We just need to stay where we are and pretend that thing isn’t acting like we are Happy Meals trapped behind bars. This is some Jurassic Park shit right here, and I always made fun of them in that scene.”

“Me too, but I like to think I’d be more of a Big Mac,” I remark, and he reaches over and high-fives me before we fall silent. The darkness outside makes it hard to see the croc, and we are all turning and craning our necks to keep it in view.

“Does anyone see it?” Way murmurs.

“Not back here,” I respond, eyes straining as I press closer to the window just as it smacks into it. Yelping, I tumble back into Wilder’s side as the glass splinters like a spiderweb, but luckily it doesn’t shatter.

“I think it wants in,” I mutter. “Why do I suddenly feel like a tin of sardines ready to be popped open and eaten?”

“I’ll eat you,” Rick retorts, but I ignore him as the creature hits the other door, right at Wilder’s side.

We all whirl around as it rams the truck again and then again, when suddenly, huge teeth spear through the metal door.

Rick yells and scrambles back into Logan, his arm and leg bleeding from where he was grazed.

The teeth yank out of the metal, and we stare in wide-eyed horror as it chomps through again, yanking until the door is torn off. The cold, rainy air hits us as the creature appears in the gap, its eyes locked on us, and then it lunges inside.

Wilder shouts, dragging Rick back and slamming his booted feet into the creature’s snout. He must hit something because it hisses and slides away.

“We need to get away from this thing. It will come back,” I warn.

As if summoned by my words, it appears in the gap again, so I reach back, open my door, and tumble out. The others follow as I stumble to my feet, pain flaring through my body as Wilder slams the door in its face as it dives across the back seat.

“Run into the trees!” Wilder roars. “We’ll try to lose it!”

Just as he says that, it bursts from the truck and lands in front of us.

We clamber backward as it hisses and tries to keep us in view.

I don’t look where I’m going, not wanting to take my eyes off that thing.

I simply back up, but my foot catches on a rock, and I almost fall, letting out a pained yell, and its head snaps to me.

My eyes widen, and I throw myself to the side just as it lunges. I narrowly avoid being eaten as the guys shout my name. I crawl backward before getting to my feet as it turns to them, hissing and snapping as they move back, the distance between us growing.

“Carter!” Wilder snaps, and I look at him over the creature. “Run now!”

Déjà vu fills me for a moment.

“Get out of there!” I tell him as it snaps at them again, moving closer as I pick up a bag that fell from the truck and sling it on. A flare falls and hits the ground, and I groan as I bend to pick it up, only to freeze when I hear them yell.

My head jerks up, and I meet the creature’s eyes as it turns.

“Not again, motherfucker,” I mutter. Grabbing the flare, I light it up, drawing it to me once more. “Run, we’ll meet in the trees or at the beach!” I turn and sprint as fast as I can into the jungle.

I hear it behind me. It smacks into trees, the only thing slowing it down as it races after me. I stumble over roots but keep running, only glancing back to see it catching up. It’s fast, moving quickly on all fours, wrapping its teeth around anything that gets in its way.

The guys’ yells are far off as I almost fall, focusing on running.

I feel blood trickling down my leg, but I ignore it, lurching forward as it suddenly latches onto my bag and drags me back.

My scream fills the air as I’m tossed like a rag doll.

I’m airborne for a moment before I come down hard, rolling to a stop against a tree.

The flare burns brightly between us as I blink and lift my head to see the croc coming toward me.

Pulling the gun out, I climb to my knee, my bad leg extended so I don’t put weight on it as I take a deep breath.

I blow it out as I turn off the safety with my thumb, then I squeeze the trigger, remembering my dad’s training.

The sound it makes as it hits the croc’s flesh is audible, but it doesn’t even make it pause as it moves closer.

I fire again . . . and then again.

Shells fly back and hit my cheek as my arms shake. The bullets are hitting it, but it doesn’t stop.

I keep firing, needing to kill this bastard.

My eyes widen as I hit one of its eyes, but all that does is enrage it, and I have to roll out of the way at the last moment when it lunges for me again, snapping in the space I just was.

I aim once more, but the chamber is empty, and when its head turns, I know I’m toast. I can’t outrun or kill it.

I’m dead fucking meat, but that doesn’t mean I’m going down without a fight. As it jumps at me, I roll forward, grabbing the flare, then I slam it into its other eye before rolling away, keeping hold of the light as it roars.

“Why won’t you fuck off?” I snap at it. “Just fuck off and go back to eating . . .” My words trail off as I recall the body I found.

All the skeletons.

Did this thing eat them?

What the fuck?

“I’m not fucking dying here, you hear me?” I scream at it. “Fuck you and fuck this island!”

A blur shoots past me, and I fall back on my ass as there’s a roar and a hiss. Clambering to my feet, I see a black blur ripping at the creature’s neck as the croc tosses its head, trying to dislodge it.

The jaguar.

It’s attacking the creature, and I swear for a moment those glowing eyes meet mine and tell me to run.

I turn and take off, leaving them behind, the stick and gun still in my hands.

The rain seems to increase, blinding me as I pant and try to move faster despite the pain in my leg, and I don’t see the slope of the hill until I tumble over the edge of it.

A scream erupts from my mouth as my back hits the ground.

The rainfall has turned it into a mudslide, so I flip and roll all the way down, scrambling to grab anything.

I try my best to keep hold of the gun and light, but when I hit something hard at the bottom, my hands spasm and my vision goes dark.

The very last thing I see is the flare dying out and plunging me into darkness once more.