Chapter Twelve
Cam stroked the smooth surface of her carbine, the vibrations of the Hawk rattling through her tense body. She tapped a boot on the floor. “We there yet?”
“You just asked that a minute ago,” Roth said. “Won’t be long.”
She stared at the gray metal walls of the Hawk, emotions threatening to choke her. Hemi. God, Hemi.
“They’ll be fine.” A hand pressed against her arm, and squeezed. She looked down at Sienna. “He’ll be fine.”
Cam nodded. “There’s no one tougher or luckier than Hemi Rahia.”
“That’s right. He managed to get you, so he’s pretty darn lucky.”
“I…” Cam’s voice cracked.
Sienna squeezed her arm again. “We’ll find them.”
Roth appeared on the other side of Cam. “The berserkers are hard to kill.”
She nodded, giving her friends a shaky smile. But inside, she knew that they were just men. Manu was back at base, missing a leg, because he was just a man.
“We’re approaching the target zone,” Finn called from the cockpit. “I can’t risk getting too close, so I’ll drop you at the eastern edge of the breeding ground. As close as possible to where the Hawk went down.”
Anger vibrated in the pilot’s voice. Cam knew the pilots were protective of the quadcopters. They didn’t have very many of them, and they were vital in the fight against the Gizzida.
But right now, she was more worried about flesh and blood, than steel.
“Can you see the downed Hawk?” she asked.
“No.” Finn’s tone was clipped. “No sign of it.”
Soon, they hovered a few meters above the ground. Roth swung his carbine off his shoulder. “Let’s bring them home.”
Cam wasted no time jumping out after Roth. Her squad moved in close, in tight formation, raising their carbines. She scanned their surroundings, drenched in deceptively-pretty morning light. The orange glow from the rough ground ahead was less intense, but it looked no less menacing. There were no signs of any creepers.
There was also no sign of a crashed Hawk.
She frowned, her hands clenching her carbine. Where was it? A quadcopter was hardly tiny.
“Fan out,” Roth ordered. “Stay sharp.”
Somewhere nearby, a creeper’s screech echoed through the air. She stared in the direction of the warren. They were down there. Ready and waiting.
Cam split off with Taylor. They reached the edge of the breeding ground and gingerly stepped onto it. All vegetation had withered and died. The ground was now burned black, dotted with tunnels leading into the ground. It looked like a giant rabbit had burrowed them out. She peered down one tunnel, at the brilliant orange light below.
“Come on,” Taylor murmured.
“Squad Nine.” Arden’s voice in their earpieces. “I can detect hundreds of alien life signs below the ground…but the readings are distorted. It could be more.”
More? Great. Cam moved across the barren ground, scanning for the Hawk.
“Arden,” Roth said. “I’m deploying the mini-drone now.”
“Acknowledged,” Arden said. “Lia is on standby to take control of it.”
Lia, Finn’s better half, ran the drone team. If anyone could get that drone through the tunnels safely, it was Lia.
Cam kept moving. She and Taylor moved across the dead ground, searching. The rest of her squad checked in. No one had found anything.
Nothing. Where was the Hawk? Where were the berserkers? Cam choked back the terrible heavy sensation in her chest. Where was Hemi?
“There’s something over there.” Taylor nodded off to the right.
They hurried over to the orange glow. Cam’s nose wrinkled. The smell was horrible. Both of them stopped at the edge of the pool of orange fluid.
“It’s a lake of goo.” Taylor’s tone matched the look on her face.
Nice. Cam crouched down, snatched up a rock, and tossed it in the fluid. There was no sizzling. She nudged the edge of it with her boot. “It’s the same stuff that’s in the creeper pods. It isn’t poisonous.”
That’s when Cam saw it. A rotor sticking out of the liquid, several meters away.
Her heart leaped. The Hawk was partly submerged, hidden by some rocks.
“There!” Cam broke into a run.
She and Taylor picked their way across the boggy ground, in some places sinking up to their knees in gunk. Cam could feel it seeping into her boots.
“Watch out for that hole!” Taylor called.
Cam spotted where the goo was bubbling up out of a tunnel entrance. She gave the opening a wide berth, her eye on the twisted metal of the quadcopter.
They got close, rounding some rocks. Cam jerked to a halt at the sight of the shattered cockpit.
The body of the pilot was half hanging out over the glass. Dammit. “Roth? Do you copy? We found the Hawk farther west, submerged in the breeding ground.” She reached up and pressed a hand to the pilot’s bloody neck. “Kaminski’s dead.”
“Acknowledged.” Roth’s breathing came over the line, and she knew he’d be moving in their direction. “Any sign of Tane and the others?”
She looked into the fluid-filled Hawk. God, please don’t let them have drowned in that stuff. “No.”
Suddenly, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She lifted her carbine.
A tattooed arm was reaching up through the fluid beside the Hawk.
“Taylor! Here!”
Cam ran, and skidded to her knees beside the arm. She wrapped her arms around it and started pulling. Taylor arrived a second later, and together they tugged and grunted.
Finally, a big body broke free of the goo, and Ash fell onto dry ground.
He groaned, swiping a hand across his wet face to clear his eyes. His chest was heaving as he sucked in air.
He coughed. “Thanks. The others?”
Cam shook her head. “You’re the first we’ve found. Kaminski didn’t make it.”
“Fuck.” Ash pushed to his feet and pulled his carbine off his shoulder. He swiped his hand over his weapon, sloughing off as much of the goo as he could. “Creepers attacked as soon as we hit. We started fighting.”
“Let’s find them,” Cam said grimly.
Something scary and intense hit Ash’s blue eyes. She knew he was considered the prettiest and most charming of the berserkers, and it was sometimes very easy to forget he was just as deadly as the others.
Together, the three of them moved around the downed Hawk. Where are you, Hemi? She prayed they hadn’t all ended up in the bellies of creepers. God, she wanted to hear his voice, wanted to explain, apologize. She’d pushed him away, claimed she was doing it for him.
But the truth was like a heavy rock in her gut. She’d pushed him away to protect herself. She was so damned terrified of letting a man turn her into what her mother had become.
Her gaze sharpened on a large rock nearby.
She stiffened. No, not a rock. A big body, facedown on the ground. “Found someone!”
They raced over, and as they got closer, she saw long hair brushing the man’s shoulders. Levi. He wasn’t moving.
“Levi!” Ash dropped down beside his friend, carefully rolling the man over.
Cam watched Ash check the man over with practiced, experienced hands. Her gaze narrowed. They all had combat first responder training, but this looked like more than that.
“There’s a contusion on the back of his head.” Ash’s face was grim.
“Cam, look.” Taylor nodded her head.
Footprints, made by combat boots not aliens, lead off across the goop, away from the crash site.
“Ash,” Cam said. “Roth and the others are inbound. Stay here with Levi, and then get him to the Hawk. We’ll keep looking for the others.”
Ash nodded, his blue eyes darkening. “Find them.”
“Count on it,” Cam answered.
She and Taylor fell into a jog, following the tracks. In places, they were crisscrossed with what could only be creeper prints. She scanned the ground ahead, hoping for any kind of clue or sign.
All of a sudden, a scraping noise reached her ears. She caught Taylor’s gaze and they spun.
Out of a large hole in the ground, a creeper emerged, one scaly leg at a time.
“Did you invite this guy to the party?” Cam raised her carbine.
Taylor did the same. “No, I can’t say I did.”
“Let’s show him how we deal with gatecrashers.”
They both opened fire. The alien reared up and screeched.
“Aim for the belly or the mouth,” Cam shouted.
The creeper lunged at them, and the women dived and rolled. Cam came up on one knee, still firing. She saw the creeper skittering closer, bringing that sucker mouth far too close for comfort.
“Not today, you ugly bastard.” Cam yanked a small frag grenade off her belt. She armed it, then tossed it right at the creeper’s mouth.
It sailed right through the jaws.
“Taylor! Take cover.” Cam sprinted and dived.
Behind her, she heard a muffled explosion, and then chunks of creeper rained down around her.
“Oh, ew, Cam.” Taylor rolled to her feet.
“Gross but effective.” She had to admit, she was pretty keen to try that strategy again.
Boots stepped into view and Cam looked up. Roth towered over them. Mac, Sienna, and Theron stood nearby, weapons up.
“Any sign of the rest of Squad Three?” Roth asked.
She shook her head and took his outstretched hand. “Only Ash and Levi. You?”
Her leader shook his head. “Nothing. The mini-drone is mapping the tunnels.” He held up his wrist to show her the small screen strapped to it. “So far, no sign of them down there.”
“You think they went into the tunnels?” Taylor asked with a grimace.
Cam hoped to hell they hadn’t gone into the warren. Her heart felt like a ball of lead in her chest as she scanned their surroundings again.
No one mentioned the possibility that Hemi, Tane, Griff, and Dom were currently ensconced in creeper bellies, but Cam knew that they were all thinking it. The ball in her chest tightened further.
Then she heard something. “What was that?”
Roth frowned. “I didn’t hear anything.”
Cam hurried over to the tunnel the creeper had emerged from. She cocked her head. Then, the sound came again. It was faint, but discernable. She moved closer. She knew that sound.
She spun. “Carbine fire!”
“Shit.” Roth stared into the dark tunnel delving deep into the ground.
Cam kept listening. This time, she heard the unmistakable sound of Hemi’s wild laughter.
Her pulse leaped. “They’re down in the goddamn warren.”
***
Hemi lunged forward with his combat knife, fighting the creeper looming over him.
He’d lost his carbine somewhere, but Tane was with him. They fought back to back, his brother firing his carbine.
After the crash, they’d been chased by some creepers, and ended up falling down into one of the mess of tunnels.
The underground warren was a mass of hollowed-out caverns and tunnels. Orange pods covered the walls and floors, tentacles stretching out in all directions. At least the glow of them meant they could see what they were doing.
Nearby, Dom was fighting with his twin knives, fast and deadly. Griff was across the cavern, firing his carbine.
They’d lost Ash and Levi, and Hemi hoped like hell that his mates were okay.
The creeper attacking them let out a deafening screech, its front legs slamming down on either side of Hemi. He jumped up and jammed his knife into the creature’s glowing belly. He used his weight to drag the knife down through the skin until it split open, orange fluid splashing over Hemi and the ground.
He rolled through the legs, ignoring the stickiness clinging to him and the shrill cries of the dying creeper.
“Hemi!”
Tane’s warning shout had him spinning.
Just in time, he spotted two smaller creepers rushing at him. Damn, they were fast. He dodged, but felt the sharp tip of a leg scrape across his side, tearing a piece of his armor off. It raked his skin and an explosion of pain traveled through him.
The other creeper leaped into the air, aiming for him. These two had to be juveniles, because of their smaller size and lack of bellies. There was only the faintest flush of orange on their abdomens, and they didn’t look big enough to swallow him.
But as the creeper descended, Hemi figured it was still going to try. He stabbed up with his knife.
The creeper screeched, its legs curling in as it slammed into the ground beside him. He yanked his knife out.
Then, his leg was pulled out from underneath him and he lost his balance. Fuck. The first creeper still had its leg embedded in his armor and skin. It was scrabbling along the tunnel, dragging Hemi along with it.
Damn. If this thing brought him to a larger creeper, he’d be laid out like a feast. And if he got eaten again, Cam would be pissed.
He rolled, the pain turning to agony. He had to get that leg free of him. He hacked at it with his knife but its skin was too fucking hard.
The creeper moved again and his back bumped over the ground. He saw another creeper step into view. A full-sized one, with its sucker mouth opening and closing, its red gaze on Hemi.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
The large creeper moved toward him.
Carbine fire ripped into the creeper. It screeched, skittering backward. The smaller creeper pinning him, jerked under the laser hitting it. Hemi heard shouts and more carbine fire.
He turned his head and watched Cam’s lean figure step into view. Her carbine was up, and she was focused on the creeper pinning him.
She was the most beautiful fucking thing he’d ever seen.
The creeper flopped down dead, partially on top of him. Its weight drove the air out of his lungs. Shit.
Cam hurried over. She shoved the creeper off him with a grunt. Then she eyed the leg stuck into his side, raised her weapon, and fired. “Hang on.” She gripped the remains of the leg and tore it out of him.
Hemi grimaced. She held out a gloved hand and he gripped it. She helped him to his feet.
Her gaze ran over him. “You okay?”
“I am now.”
Then she pulled her arm back and landed a hard punch to his gut. He doubled over.
“Do not scare me like this again,” she said.
He lifted his head and grinned. “Hey, I’m injured. I was just about to thank you for rescuing me. I thought I did a pretty good damsel impression.”
This time, she shook her head, pulled him forward and kissed him.
“That’s better,” he murmured against her lips. The taste of Cam was enough to wash all the pain, filth, and sweat away.
Squad Nine surrounded them, scaring off the remaining creepers lurking at the far end of the cavern.
“Save that for later,” Mac called out.
“Let’s get out of here.” Cam raised a brow. “Unless you’re enjoying playing with the creepers, and want to stay a little longer?”
Hemi pulled her close. “I can think of other things I’d prefer to play with more.”
A loud screech echoed out of a side tunnel. A chorus of howls answered it.
Hemi’s shoulders tensed. That sounded like a hell of a lot of those damn monsters.
“Let’s go, people,” Roth called out.
They moved in closer, and headed toward the tunnel Squad Nine had used to get down there. Hemi was eager to get back to the Enclave. He wanted a hot shower, a cold beer, and Cam. Not necessarily in that order.
Suddenly, he felt the floor bow beneath his weight. He stopped.
“Hemi?” From two steps ahead of him, Cam turned and frowned.
He stared down suspiciously at the gooey orange surface beneath his boots. A second later, the ground gave way.
Hemi dropped, falling into a pool of orange fluid with a splash. He looked up…just in time to see a grate slide closed across the opening, just above his head. Trapping him.
“Aw, fuck.”