Page 6 of North (Hunter Squad #2)

CHAPTER SIX

North

J ogging through the trees, dappled sunlight flickered over us through the branches overhead. I really wanted to believe the boys were still alive.

But the longer it took us to find them, the odds decreased.

Kai jerked to a stop and cursed.

“Kai?” Jameson said.

Kai looked up. “Blood.” He held up his gloved fingers; they were covered in red.

I stepped forward. The ground here was churned up, and as I scanned, I noticed several drops of blood on the dirt, splattering the dried leaves.

“It looks like one of the kids got free,” Kai said. “Maybe scuffled with their captor.”

“And got hurt.” My jaw tightened. I kept trying to tell myself that this wasn’t the same as Drew.

“The monster went that way…” Kai paused as he pointed, a groove in his brow. “It looks like it was following a set of smaller prints, but the blood doesn’t go that way.”

I looked around. “One boy was injured, and the other ran. The monster could only follow one of them.”

“Where did the injured boy go?” Jameson turned in a slow circle. “Everyone fan out.”

We spread out, searching for more blood or any sign of the boy.

Where are you?

Ahead of me, Jess stopped by a fallen tree. The large trunk was now hollowed out and overgrown with bushes and grass. She pushed some of the vegetation aside.

“Hey.” I grabbed her arm.

“What? This could be a perfect hiding spot.”

“I know that we’re usually more worried about monsters, but Australia is home to some of the deadliest snakes in the world. Taipans, brown snakes, red-bellied black snakes, death adders?—”

She held up a hand. “I got it. Lots of killer snakes.”

“I suggest you use a stick, not your hand.” I grabbed a stick off the ground and held it out to her.

She took it and her nose wrinkled. “I’m not fond of snakes.”

“And I’m not fond of treating painful snake bites.”

She started poking inside the fallen trunk. “Ugh, there are lots of spiderwebs.”

“Australia has lots of nasty spiders too.”

“Yes, I know all about Australia’s very large bug population.” Suddenly, she gasped and leaped back, practically throwing herself into my arms.

An angry brown snake hissed and slithered out of the tree.

“Oh God,” she whispered.

We watched as its long, thick, sinuous body slithered away.

“You okay?”

She scrambled away from me, patting her chest. Then she tightened her ponytail. “I’m fine.” She shuddered. “I really hate snakes.” Then she stilled. “North, look.”

I turned and saw a small, bloody handprint on the fallen trunk of the tree. I touched my ear. “Jameson, we found a handprint. He came this way.”

“Acknowledged,” Jameson replied.

I leaped over the fallen tree and scanned the ground on the other side. I spotted some footprints—one with a shoe, and one of a bare foot. The poor kid was only wearing one shoe.

“This way.”

Jess and I broke into a jog. We followed the prints until we reached another creek. The water rushed quickly past us, splashing over some rocks. The spot was almost idyllic.

“Do you see him?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Come on.” I moved down the bank and spotted more prints. “He swam across.” I waded into the water.

The creek was deeper than the other one we’d crossed, and soon, the water reached my hips. I held my carbine above my head.

Jess sloshed through the water beside me, holding her weapon up, as well.

On the other side of the river, the footprints disappeared.

If I were a frightened, hurt boy, where would I go? I looked up. I’d try to climb a tree. But the kid was injured, so climbing might be too hard. We walked on. As I scanned around, I noted one of the large trees—a blue gum—was hollowed out at the base. A flash of red caught my eye and my pulse spiked.

I waved at Jess and pointed. We circled the tree, and found a young boy, huddled in a ball in the rotted-out hollow.

“Hey there,” I said in a calm voice.

His head jerked up, his face dirty and tear stained.

“You’re not the monster?” the boy said in a thready voice.

“Nope.” I slung my carbine on my shoulder and crouched. “My name’s North, and this is Jess.”

“Hi.” She smiled and gave the boy a wave.

“We’re Hunter Squad.”

His face changed. “Hunter Squad. You’re here to save me and Hudson.”

That made him Joe. “Yep. Are you hurt, Joe?”

He nodded. “It scratched me. It hurts. Real bad.”

I held a hand out. “I’m a doctor. I can help.”

“You need to help Hudson.” Joe made a hiccupping sound. “The monster has him.”

“We’ll help him. But you first.”

He put his hand in mine.

“Good man.” I gently eased him out of the tree trunk.

Then he cried out and collapsed. I caught him and laid him flat on the ground. His leg was badly clawed. Jesus .

For a second, I was thrown back to trying to save another boy.

And failing.

“North?”

I met Jess’ steady, supportive gaze. I dragged in a deep breath, then slipped my backpack off my shoulder.

“I’m going to give you a shot, Joe. It’s gonna stop the germs and help with the pain.”

“Okay.” His voice was meek. “But you’ve got to save Hudson.” Tears filled his eyes. “He saved me. He told me to run, and he made the monster go after him.”

“He sounds like a good friend.” I dialed up the injector and pressed it to his neck.

Then I started cleaning his wounds. His sniffles just about killed me.

“Hey, Joe.” Jess ran a hand over his sandy hair. “I think I have something that belongs to you.” She held up a small robot. It was white with some red stripes.

He gasped. “That’s mine.” His fingers curled around it. “Hudson has one too. We like to make them battle.”

“You will again, buddy,” Jess said.

Joe clutched the toy as I worked on his injuries, and gave Jess a tentative smile.

Running footsteps sounded behind us and Joe gasped, fear filling his face.

“It’s okay,” I reassured him. “It’s just the rest of our squad.”

Jameson and the others appeared. Joe’s eyes went wide.

“Guys, this is Joe. He’s being very brave. He said the monster took his friend Hudson.”

Jameson’s mouth flattened. “Marc and Zeke, I need you to take Joe back to town. We’re going to get your friend back, Joe.”

I finished tying off the bandage on Joe’s leg. Then I lifted the boy and handed him to Zeke.

“North.” The kid grabbed my arm. “Please. Please save Hudson.”

I nodded, my heart squeezing. I didn’t want to let him down…or make a promise I couldn’t keep.

Jess

“Okay, we need to track this monster and find Hudson,” Jameson said.

Zeke, Marc, and Joe had left, heading back toward St. Albans. Everyone’s nerves were at a fever pitch. We all knew the missing boy didn’t have much time.

Kai circled around, searching for tracks.

“The tracks are muddied up. Like the monster wasn’t sure what to do. It’s agitated.”

“We’ll split up,” Jameson said. “Kai and I will head upstream, North and Jess, you two go downstream.”

I turned my head and looked at North. He nodded.

We set off. The creek was almost peaceful, but I knew what could be lurking close by.

“You were good with Joe, kept him calm.” I admired North’s skills. He could calm a panicked injured person so easily—adult or child.

“I just hope we can bring his friend home.” There was a dark edge to his voice.

I paused. “We will.”

His jaw tightened, and there was such an emptiness in his eyes before he looked away. “I failed once before, and a boy died.”

“That’s not your fault, North. The monsters are to blame.”

“I was young and cocky. I was so sure I could save everyone.”

And now, he was a diligent and dedicated squad medic. Who still wanted to save everyone.

“Why did you want to become a doctor?” I asked.

“My dad. He was the medic for the berserkers.”

Ash Connors. I’d seen a picture of the man, and North looked a lot like him.

“He dreamed of being a doctor, but life made that too difficult. I guess I wanted to fulfill his dream.”

“He must be proud of you.”

“Yeah. He and mom are great. What about your parents?”

I looked away, staring blindly at the trees. “My mom died when I was young. She’d been injured during the invasion. She’d sustained shrapnel wounds and lost a kidney. She never really got her health back after that, and in those early days, medical help wasn’t always available. Having me didn’t help.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” I smiled. “Luckily, I had an awesome dad, and a big, extended family. Dad was in the military.”

“So he must be proud of you.”

“He was. He passed away last year. He’d be so excited I’m here, a part of Hunter Squad.”

North looked at me, his gaze intense. Then he jerked, his gaze dropping. “Jess, look.”

A perfect monster footprint, embedded in the mud at the water’s edge. It was a match to the one that had taken the boys.

“It came this way.” I scanned the water. The creek was wider and deeper here.

I froze. The woods were eerily quiet. No birds chirping. No chittering of small animals. Not even the buzz of insects. I gripped my carbine harder. “I think?—”

Something burst out of the water and grabbed my ankle. Before I could react, I was yanked off my feet. The carbine flew out of my hands.

“Jess!”

I was dragged down the bank and into the water. It wasn’t too deep, and I tried to grab on to rocks, anything. I kicked back and hit something solid.

Whatever it was, it tried to pull me deeper into the water.

Hell no, asshole. I kicked and thrashed. The monster released its hold on my ankle, and I splashed forward toward the shore.

A carbine fired, and I saw North at the edge of the river shooting at?—

I rolled and gasped for air. My gut locked.

A humanoid monster stood in the center of the creek, waist-deep in the water. It was beyond ugly. It looked like it was made of wood, with striated, bumpy, brown skin. It had bone-like plates on its face, and its eyes were barely visible, but I saw its mouth. Full of razor-sharp teeth. Instead of hands, it had wicked claws. It was big, well over six feet tall.

North fired again, but the laser seemed to bounce off the hybrid.

“Jess!”

“I’m okay.” I scrambled back to the riverbank.

“It’s a river wraith. We’ve come across them before.” He kept firing, but the monster stepped closer, fighting off the impact of the laser. “The bone plating protects them from carbine fire.”

“How do we kill it?” I crouched, fighting off a huge rush of adrenaline.

“A knife between the plating. Preferably in the middle of the chest.”

Lovely.

Suddenly, the monster lunged for me again. I kicked at it and leaped to the side. I yanked my combat knife off my belt.

It made no sound. No growls or grunts, nothing. It was eerie. I felt it staring at me, fixated on hunting me.

I attacked, slicing my blade across the bone plating. It whirled, moving faster than I guessed it could. A claw scraped the back of my armor.

It dug in and dragged me back toward the water again. I heard North cursing.

Water closed over my head. It was dragging me along through the creek. My head broke the surface and I gasped for air. Then it tossed me, and I landed on the far bank.

I looked up, coughing. North was slicing through the water toward us. The monster was focused on me. I gripped the knife hilt. Come on, asshole. A little closer.

It opened its mouth. Yes, what big teeth you have.

The knife was ready. I saw the spot on its chest with the gap in the armor plating.

Just as I leaped up to attack, North tackled it from the side.

Dammit . They wrestled in the shallow water, and I splashed toward them. The wraith lifted North and tossed him into the center of the river.

“North!” I snatched my blaster off my belt and aimed. I fired to keep the monster distracted.

“I’m all right.” North sloshed back to my side, water sluicing off him.

I shoved the blaster away. “I’m going to attack with?—”

It lunged at us.

I lifted my knife. “I’ve got this.” I took a step forward. This damn wraith was going down.

North suddenly shoved me aside and ran at it.

I hit the ground on my side. Dammit . I scowled and straightened, watching him ram his own knife between the creature’s armor plating.

It fell back, black blood running down its abdomen. It still made no sound.

It slumped into the river, and the current washed the body away.

North glanced back at me. I glared back at him.