Page 12 of North (Hunter Squad #2)

CHAPTER TWELVE

North

T hese monsters were big, and, by the sound of their snarls, very aggressive. One’s gaze locked on me, burning hot. Oh, yes, it wanted to tear me to pieces and feed.

I stepped away from Gus. I didn’t want him trampled.

Two of the creatures ran at me, and the other one at Jess. I heard her carbine fire.

I ran, then dodged around an overturned car.

One of the monsters crashed into the vehicle, knocking it aside, metal screeching on the ground.

Shit . They hit like a bulldozer. I fired behind me, aiming for the red glow of its eyes. Its skin was too dense to pierce. The damn things were covered in armor plating.

The second creature barreled toward me. It jumped, then swung its tail at me.

I dropped and rolled under it. The tail slammed into the car with a crunch of metal.

That tail was powerful. One hit, and I’d be a mess of broken bones.

I jumped onto one of the cars, firing down at the pair of monsters. Snarls and growls filled the air. I yanked a grenade off my belt, then tossed it as I leaped off the car.

Boom .

I looked over my shoulder. One monster was down, moving weakly.

The other swiveled and ran straight at me.

Shit .

There was another car in front of me. A van. Its side door was open.

I dove inside, and scrambled through the back of the vehicle.

Bang .

The monster hit the van like a bomb blast and the side crumpled in. I slid out the back door.

The monster rounded the van and roared at me.

I yanked my knife out of the sheath on my thigh, and jammed it into the monster’s eye. It howled.

Where was Jess? Dodging the snarling creature while it was preoccupied, I sprinted into the street. I spotted her, still firing on her monster.

I ran over, then heard noises behind me. In the distance, my creature was shaking its head, my knife still stuck in its eye.

I reached Jess and we pressed our backs together.

“One down,” I told her. “And one very unhappy.”

“Their skin is too hard,” she fired again. “But their underbelly is soft.”

Great . I didn’t really want to get under one of these.

“Distract my monster,” she said.

Right . I ran to the side, and waved my arms. Jess’ monster turned to face me, its red eyes locking on me.

That’s it . I had no idea what she was planning, but I trusted her.

The monster stalked toward me, its powerful body creeping closer. I raised my carbine and opened fire. Laser hit the armor plating with no effect. It still kept coming.

I backed up.

A snarl came from behind me and I looked over my shoulder. My monster was perched on a car, watching me with a hungry gaze from its uninjured eye.

My heart kicked. “Whatever you have planned, Jess, now’s the time.”

The first monster leaped into the air at me.

At that moment, Jess sprinted in from the side, sliding feet first on the ground like a baseball player into home base.

She fired up at the monster.

I had a clear view of the softer, yellow underbelly. The laser fire ripped into it.

The monster went down like a ton of bricks.

Jess just managed to roll away and get to her feet. She snatched a grenade off her belt and swiveled.

The monster behind me roared, it’s fang-filled mouth open. It was two meters away, powerful body getting ready to pounce.

Without missing a beat, Jess tossed the grenade—right into the beast’s mouth.

As it jumped, I backed up, firing at its belly.

Boom .

It jerked, and I ducked. Gore splattered the side of my armor.

Looking up, I grinned at Jess.

She grinned back.

Then I heard a low groan.

Gus .

My smile fled as I raced over to the injured man.

“Cover me,” I said.

Jess nodded.

I dropped down beside Gus and pulled my backpack closer. “How are you doing, Gus?”

“Better. Doesn’t hurt now. Whatever you gave me did the trick.”

My heart squeezed. His legs were mangled, and the shot I’d given him wouldn’t dull all of the pain. The fact that he wasn’t feeling anything wasn’t a good sign.

“Hang in there.” I got busy applying tourniquets to his thighs and touched my ear. “Jameson, I have an injured man in his late fifties. He needs an emergency evac once the area is clear.”

“Acknowledged. Colbie is on standby.” I heard the sound of carbine fire both in the distance, and across the comm line.

“I’m ready whenever it’s safe to land,” Colbie said. “I can do a hot evac if required.”

“Gus, we need to get you stabilized, then get you out of here.”

The older man gripped my arm. “The monsters took the others. Carried them off.”

“We’ll find them.”

“Please. They’re good people.” Blood splattered on his lips.

No . “Just stay calm.”

“Those people are my family. Lost my wife and kids in the invasion. All these people kept me together, gave me a reason to go on. Promise me you’ll find them.” His voice was getting fainter.

I took his hand. “I promise you.” I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t let this man down. “Hunter Squad never leaves anyone behind. We’ll bring them home.”

“Thanks.” He relaxed, a smile on his face.

Dammit, I gave him another injection. My chest was so tight I could barely breathe. I put more pressure on his wounds. “Stay with me, Gus.”

He looked up, his face free of stress and pain. “I can see my Clair. And my boys. Missed them so much.”

“Gus—”

He squeezed my hand. “Thanks, North. I didn’t want to be alone in the dark.”

I squeezed back and felt him take his last breath.

Be at peace, Gus. A mix of emotions rioted through me.

I couldn’t save him, but I was glad that he’d found peace. The old memories reared up, threatening to choke me.

Then a hand touched my shoulder.

“You’re not alone in the dark either,” Jess murmured. “Good job giving him what he needed.”

I managed a nod, then touched my ear. “Colbie, cancel the evac.”

“Sorry, North,” the pilot murmured.

A moment later, Jameson and the others appeared. Jameson looked at Gus and his jaw tightened.

“I’ll help you bag his body,” Kai said.

“Then we continue on.” I rose. “The others were carried away and could still be alive.”

And I had promised Gus that I’d bring them home.

Jess

We reached the edge of the orchard.

Apple trees stretched away into the darkness, as far as we could see. The neatly planted rows cast deep shadows, offering perfect places to hide.

In the distance, lay the dark bulk of a large warehouse building. It was where they’d made the cider. Sasha said that it had once had a restaurant and cellar.

It was easy to imagine families escaping from the city on the weekend, eating at the restaurant and sipping cider, while their kids ran through the trees.

Before. Before the aliens and before the monsters.

I glanced at North beside me.

He’d been quiet since we’d loaded Gus’ body onto the Talon.

God, how hard was it to treat people and still lose them? Just being there had been tough for me, and I knew it was worse for North because he felt it was his job to save his patients.

And I knew he’d be thinking of Drew.

I nudged him. “Okay?”

He looked down at me. “Yeah. Gus was badly hurt. He would’ve lost his legs and… I was glad we were there.”

“He was too.”

North straightened. “Now, let’s find his friends and bring them home.”

“We will.”

Jameson waved a hand and we crept quietly through the orchard, nerves tight and everyone on full alert.

“There are no heat signatures showing in the trees,” Sasha said. “But there are several in the shed.”

I knew that some monsters ran cooler and didn’t always show up on scans. I eyed the dark trees around us. I stepped forward, my boot hitting some old, rotting apples on the ground. I kicked one aside.

“Everyone stay sharp,” Jameson murmured. “I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Clutching my carbine, I moved closer toward the warehouse. It looked like it had been constructed out of sheet metal, and was still in pretty good condition. There was damage at one end, and a tree was growing out of the roof, but the rest of it looked intact.

A squawking sound punctured the silence. All of us whipped our weapons up.

“What was that?” Marc whispered.

Another squawk.

Above us.

A dark shadow sprang from an apple tree and hit me. It knocked me to the ground.

Flapping wings beat at my face and chest, and a beak stabbed into my armor. Hell .

North appeared and kicked the monster off me. He reached down and hauled me up.

I spun and saw the creature hopping on the ground. It was sort of bird-like, with black, ragged wings, and it was the size of a small dog. It had a long, sharp beak, and red eyes.

More of the creatures poured out of the trees. Laser fire lit up the orchard.

North and I fired on the monsters.

Another monster leaped on my back, pulling at my hair. I spun and knocked it away.

There was rustling in the tree, and I aimed up.

A huge bird monster took flight. I felt sharp claws grip my armor at the back of my neck, and then I was lifted off my feet.

“North!” I fired at the monster, kicking my feet. The creature jerked, still flapping its wings furiously.

Hands gripped my boots and yanked me down.

The monster let me go and I fell back against North.

“Are you okay, Jess? Are you hurt?”

My pulse was racing, but otherwise I was fine. “I’m all right.”

Suddenly, all the creatures stopped attacking us. Some landed on branches, and a few settled on the ground. They froze. The one right in front of us cocked its head like… It was listening to something. Then they all took flight. I glanced up and watched the black shadows flapping into the night sky. They disappeared from view into the inky darkness.

“What the fuck?” Marc scowled. “Where did they go?”

“Just be glad they’re gone,” Jameson said.

“We’ve lost the element of surprise,” Kai murmured, glancing at the warehouse.

I frowned, then clicked on the light on my shoulder. “Guys, I’ve got prints on the ground. Human and monster.”

“Our missing guards?” Jameson asked.

“I hope so.”

“Doesn’t matter if the monsters know we’re coming, we’re not leaving those people.” He touched his ear. “Sasha, we need backup.”

“On it. I’m not sure who’s available, or what their ETA will be.”

“We’ll manage until then. We’ll wait?—”

There was a loud screech. It came from the warehouse.

“Help! God, someone help us.” A faint voice. “ Please .” Then it turned into a wail of terror.

“Oh, God.” Goosebumps formed on my skin.

“Scratch that,” Jameson said. “We’re going in.”

“Jameson, wait,” Sasha said. “There are multiple heat signatures. You’ll be severely outnumbered.”

“Someone needs help now. If we wait, they’re dead.” He looked at us. “Who’s with me?”

Zeke snorted. “Dumb question.”

“Hell, yeah,” Marc said.

Kai nodded, then North.

I lifted my chin. “Let’s do this.”

We stayed in a tight group, moving toward the building. We all had our weapons up.

The large sliding door on the side of the warehouse was open. An old, rusted tractor sat outside.

The inside of the building was stygian darkness.

Jameson cursed. “We can’t see a thing.” He released a breath. “Flashlights on.”

We all clicked on our lights. The beams barely penetrated the dark.

We moved inside.

My heartbeat thudded heavily in my ears. Then I saw…something.

I walked closer, gasped. “Guys.”

I reached out and touched the sticky weblike substance that we’d seen in the cave where we’d rescued Hudson. It was everywhere, crisscrossing the space, covering boxes, running up the walls.

Marc stepped on some, then kicked it off. “It’s sticky as hell.”

“Help! Is someone there? Please .”

The male voice echoed from deeper in the building. We cautiously moved forward. We couldn’t risk calling out. There were monsters here.

“Oh, fuck,” Jameson breathed.

He was in front, and his flashlight illuminated cocoons. Lots of them. My gut curdled.

“This looks like a really bad horror movie,” Marc whispered.

They couldn’t all have humans in them? Surely.

A cocoon closest to us started moving, the sticky substance stretching.

Jameson pulled out his combat knife and sliced it open.

A dog fell out. Its fur was matted and it started barking wildly. It got to its feet, then shot off like a bullet.

“Fuck me,” Marc said.

Another cocoon started moving. We walked closer. My heartbeat echoed in my ears.

There was a sound behind me, and I turned. “North?”

I frowned. He wasn’t there. He’d been standing right behind me.

“North?”

Where did he go?

“Hunter Squad.” Sasha’s tense voice. “Heat signatures are lighting up all around you. Get out!”

What? My gut contracted.

Then a long, deafening roar echoed through the building.