The six that sprung from the hills were more difficult to deal with. They’d had the advantage of being in an elevated position. Wilder had fired as he dropped to the ground and rolled closer to the hill to get out of range. He’d looked over to see that Kane had taken out the Taliban in the cave and was positioned to get a fix on the ones on the hill. Wilder had signaled to Kane to hold his position. When he’d looked around for the others in his squad, he’d seen Mickey was down. His instincts had told him to get him out of harm’s way, but then he saw the back of Mickey’s head lying five feet away from his body.
That’d pissed Wilder off.
His men saw the look in his eyes and knew what was about to happen. Wilder didn’t get like that often, but when he did, there was no way to stop whatever he was about to do. You could almost see the human part of him disappear as a more feral and animalistic nature gripped him. He’d become a warrior, a killing machine, and nothing would stop him until he was done. Laning dubbed that his “warrior mode,” and had seen it in South America, where Wilder took two bullets in the shoulder and didn’t even flinch.
Wilder had slung his rifle over his shoulder and grabbed two fragmentation grenades. He rolled out from where he was and threw the grenades onto the hilltop. Before they even exploded, he’d had his assault rifle in his hands, shooting at the targets. He’d taken out four Taliban before the others were able to jump in. It hadn’t lasted long, but Laning was glad The Warrior showed up that day.
A bump in the road brings Wilder back to his current mission. He continues to drive in silence.
4
Why do they keep referring to me as ‘cargo?’
’
Jim wonders , but if he’s spoken out loud, the others don’t acknowledge him at all. He feels all the eyes in the vehicle focus on him. Part of him is scared, but another distant place inside him is getting angry. That is a new feeling for Jim, as very rarely did he get angry. His old man would tell him,
If you don’t start getting angry and standing up for yourself, people are gonna walk all over you your entire life.
I guess he was right
, thinks Jim.
He can feel his blood pressure rising as a million thoughts run through his head. Some are basic thoughts about survival and how he can get out of this situation. Other have him imagining tearing out of this plastic bag and ripping the throats out of the guys around him. He smiles as an image of how that would go down filled his head.
God, I’m so hungry
.
Jim realized he didn’t hear any noise coming from the heart monitor.
That’s weird, isn’t it
? He also realized he wasn’t panicking. Jim's been a worrier all his life. A headache is always a brain tumor and a scrapped knee is always going to get infected and lead to an amputation. Here he is lying in this moving vehicle, strapped down on a gurney inside a biohazard containment bag, and is surrounded by a group of soldiers. Despite this, is oddly calm.
Calm and hungry.
Very
hungry.
The soldier’s eyes and silence are broken by a loud voice over the intercom. “We’re here.” He feels the vehicle come to a stop. He still isn’t panicking, but his heart is racing a mile a minute. There is still no sound coming from the monitors.
“The cargo is fully awake, Sir,” the man closest to him reports.
“Are those fucking things on?” one man asks.
“They’re hooked up and the battery is juiced. I don’t know why they aren’t working, Sir.”
The side panel of the van slides open. Jim tries to turn his head, but the leather strap is firmly in place. Out his peripheral, he can see that there were at least eight to twelve other people waiting outside. Jim immediately notices that they are all dressed in those biological hazmat suits. The kind you might see in a movie about the outbreak of a virus or some other kind of disease.
Jim gives in and begins to panic. Without even thinking, he bolts upright and tears through the leather straps on his head and arms. Everyone around him scrambles and runs toward him and the van. The soldiers riding with him all have their pistols aimed at him with their fingers on the triggers. Someone in the back, also dressed in the containment suit, shouts, “Stand down, Rangers.”
Jim feels something uncontrollable rising inside him. His hunger is turning into an urge that is quickly becoming a blood lust. He wants to leap out of the van and kill everyone around him. His fists are balled and he feels a kind of energy and strength he has never experienced before. He also feels the urge to sink his teeth into everyone in his way. He wants to taste flesh and blood. His mind is crystal clear and his reflexes are ready. He is a tightly wound-up spring ready to uncoil. The soldiers around him see his fists and someone comes running forward with a rifle. Without hesitating, the soldier shoots Jim in the chest with two rounds.
Stunned at first, Jim realizes they weren’t bullets, but tranquilizers.
Big mistake
, he thinks. He jumps out of the van, ripping the bio-bag from his legs, and runs toward the closest person. He has never felt so alive. His senses are sharp and his speed and agility could rival any athlete. He grabs the soldier closest to him and tries to sink his teeth into him, but the thickness of the bag still over his head prevented him from penetrating the soft neck of the soldier.
He pushes the soldier away and begins tearing at the bio-bag around his head and upper body like a trapped animal. He sees the soldier with the tranquilizer gun aim and fire off another four rounds into his chest and stomach. Almost immediately, he feels its effects. He drops to his knees. He looks around and feels as though he is in some crazy movie.
A twisted smile comes over his face.
A movie
, he thinks.
That’s where I know the other symbol from
. He remembers staying up late the other night watching a movie about some foreign government creating a biological weapon to use against the U.S. The foreign military base had a symbol all over the lab where the weapon was being manufactured. It was the same symbol on the outside of his containment bag.
The symbol designates him a bio-chemical weapon.
Jim is losing consciousness quickly, but he still smiles. He knows he is going to be kept alive, and when he regains consciousness, he will finish what he started. He is still hungry, and nothing will prevent him from satisfying his hunger.
Jim smiles as he sinks into darkness.
Chapter Six
1
In the hills around the Austin Zoo
Everyone seems to grasp the weight of the situation fully. We’re stranded in Hill Country after living through a train wreck with an unknown number of animals hunting us down. I still have to remind myself this is actually happening. Whenever I reach down and feel Fi hugging my leg, I realize just how real this is.
Everyone calms down after the last attack as best we could. Trying to take our minds off of what we just saw, we all go around and introduce ourselves. Besides Cassie, there is another solo mom, Susan, with her two kids, Karen and Tom. Next the dad who kind of lost it for a little bit introduces himself as Kyle, Then his son, Kevin, and his father, Willie. That just left Jessica, and her son, Bill Jr, whose father was slaughtered in front of us all.
We all try to console Jessica, but she seems unusually relaxed and calm. There’s no telling when or if she will lose it. I make a mental note to keep my eye on her. I don’t know why, but I feel as though it is up to me to lead this group. I’ve already stepped up. There’s no way I’m going to put me and my daughter’s fates in the hands of someone else. The only plan I have is to survive and get Fi out of this fucking mess. My mind keeps wandering back to that day when I was ten years old. There’s no way I’m going to stand around frozen in fear and watch some rabid animal tear apart my little girl. No fucking way.
The girl whom I’d initially identified by her floppy hat stands and brings me back to earth. Before she says anything, Julie walks over and hands me my K-Bar combat knife that I lost when Fi and I jumped off the train.
“Where did you find this? How did you know it’s mine?” I ask.
“I saw you putting something under your shirt right before you two jumped,” she responds. “It flew off you before you even hit the ground. I saw it bounce under a bush.”
“Thanks,” I say reluctantly. “You really didn’t have to do that.” I can read her enough to tell she knows more about what is going on here than anyone else. I wonder why she would risk finding my knife instead of seeking safety. I ask her that exact question.
“When I saw what it was you dropped,” she answers, “I assumed you were some kind of military guy or something.”
I look at her inquisitively.
“You know, you had a combat knife, so I thought you might be some kind of trained soldier who could help us out.” I can see the look of hope in her and now everyone’s eyes.
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not a soldier. I was never even a Boy Scout.” Many of the hopeful eyes fade into defeated looks. “I’m a chef, out here like all of you to enjoy a day at the zoo with my kid.”
“Why are you carrying around that knife?” the woman named Susan asks.
“I collect knives and I was getting this one sharpened at work. I left it in the back of my car by accident.” Everyone looks let down. “Look everyone: we’re out here alone and need to stick together. I may not have Special Forces training, but I’m going to make damn sure my little girl stays safe.” That perks most of the people up.
“We don’t even know what the hell we’re up against,” says Kyle.
“Well,” I say as I look back over at Julie, “I think she can fill us in.”
2
“Look,” Julie starts, an edge of unease in her voice, “I’m gonna tell you right off the bat that I don’t know everything that’s happening here. I can only fill you in on what I know.”
Trying to calm her down, I reply, “Anything, and I mean anything you can tell us about what is going on here, will be more info than what we have right now.” I can see her relax a little. “We’re all in this together.”
“Are these animals rabid?” asks the grandfather, Willie, before Julie can start. “I’ve seen some rabid animals in my day, but never like this.”
“I don’t know if they’re rabid …” Julie’s eyes become distant. “All I can tell you, and you’ve seen it with your own eyes, is that these animals are very aggressive.”
“Okay, hold on,” I interrupt. “I feel like we are skipping ahead. Let’s start from the beginning; at least the beginning of the story for you.” I look around to see many different expressions. Some look pissed off, as if this is all Julie’s fault. The last thing we need is people in the group attacking each other. Others look at Julie as if she is going to reveal everything about what is happening and how we can get out of this.
Julie takes a deep breath and a swig from her water bottle before beginning her story. She tells us about the animal shelter she runs in Hyde Park and what happened there earlier this morning. She describes how the animals seemed almost catatonic one moment and then how they became extremely violent and aggressive the next.
“And then there was Jim.” Julie’s voice trails off. “Jim was with me from the beginning. He helped me with everything, from fixing the old house up to helping care for the animals every day.” Tears start to form in her eyes.
“What happened to Jim?” I ask softly.
“He… he was attacked by the animals. He was opening the cages to feed the cats. They were just lying around. They looked dead, but as soon as he opened the cage they just attacked him. I never saw anything like it before and I’ve been around animals my entire life.”
She takes a long pause. It seems as though she is trying to get the image out of her head. Before she can start again, I ask, “When you say ‘attacked,’ what exactly do you mean?” I feel everyone’s eyes on me. They know what I am asking.
“Well,” she continues. “They didn’t just nibble on his hand. They…” She means to continue, but sees all the kids listening to her every word. She looks at me as if asking if it was is right to continue. I nod. We are in the shits. Everyone knows it including the kids. We need to hear her story.
“Those cats were tearing hunks of Jim’s flesh away. I’ve never seen such a look in any animal’s eyes. It was as if they weren’t animals anymore. They had this look in their eyes, this… this hunger. They were completely focused on Jim’s hand and they were feeding on him. Feeding!”
“What are you saying?” Kyle interrupts. “That those cats were possessed by something? That’s freaking ridiculous.”
“No, they weren’t possessed, you idiot.” I can’t help but smile at Julie’s response. “This isn’t some B-movie we’re in. All I’m saying is that those cats, who moments ago looked dead, suddenly jolted up and attacked Jim with a ferocity I have never seen before.”
I have to ask the next question, fearing I already know the answer. “What happened to Jim?”
Julie then proceeds to tell us about her call to animal control and how the operator was useless until she mentioned that her friend was bitten. “Then this very no-nonsense man got on the line. I could hear the line switch over like I was transferred. I think his name was George. I could swear he was military.” She must have seen all the looks on our faces. “My ex was in the military and he just had this manner about him, very rigid and focused all the time. That’s the vibe I got from this guy.”
She goes on to tell us about the conversation with George.
“He sure didn’t sound like he was from animal control,” Jessica chimes in. I was hoping she’d been listening. I was afraid she was in shock from just losing her husband.
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Julie throws back. “But it gets weirder.” That definitely grabs our attention. “Not ten minutes later, five soldiers in full combat gear showed up, burst into my house, and torched the entire place. They put Jim in some kind of bag… it looked like a containment bag.”
“They burned your house down?” asks Willie.
“They were burning the animals in the cages and the house was in the way,” Julie replies bitterly.
“Where did they take Jim?” I ask.
“I have no idea. The only reason I’m not with Jim is because I escaped through a trap door in the house.”
We are all stunned, all trying to process the information Julie has just told us. There seems to be some connection, but judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, no one can make it.
Kyle breaks the silence. “So what the hell does that have to do with these animals attacking and killing us here? Are you saying those animals survived and followed you on some kind of odd vendetta?”
My eyebrows furrow as Kyle asks that question. My eyebrows are telling him, ‘That’s the stupidest question I’ve ever heard.’ To everyone I say, “I don’t know what it is, but there has to be some kind of connection between Hyde Park and here. There’s no way there could be two separate instances of highly aggressive animals that far apart.” Then, turning to Julie, I ask, “So what brought you to the Austin Zoo?”
“Yeah,” says Kyle. “Did you just want a relaxing day at the zoo after almost being fried?” Willie whacks Kyle on the back of his head.
“Have some goddamn respect, son. This woman just lost her friend and home.” Kyle is beet-red with a combination of anger and embarrassment. “It’s a valid question,” Willie continues. “What did bring you to the zoo?”
“Right before I ran off into the woods, I heard one of the soldiers say something about the Austin Zoo. I only heard one side of the conversation, so I have no idea what they were talking about.” She pauses. “He said something about a subject at the zoo being neutralized.”
“‘Neutralized’,” says Kyle. “What the hell does that mean?”
“That’s what I wanted to find out,” says Julie. “I wanted to see if there was an animal, or animals, at the zoo behaving aggressively.”
Staring down at Fi, caressing her hair, I say, “They weren’t talking about an animal.” All eyes focus on me. “Jesus Christ. They were talking about a man.”
3
“Story time’s over,” says Kyle. Julie is staring at me. I know she wants to hear my story that connects her to this mess. “It’s time to get the fuck out of here.” Willie again whacks Kyle upside his head. “What?” Kyle almost whines.
“There’re kids around. Watch your language. I raised you better than that.” I am starting to really like Willie. “You need to keep it together for Kevin and everyone else here. We’re all scared, but the only difference is you’re acting like a p-u-s-s-y,” Willie snaps.
Kyle immediately turns bright red again and looks down at the ground.
“What do you think our next move should be, John?” Willie asks?.
Great
, I think.
They
are
looking to me as the leader
.
“I think it’s obvious that we need to get some help out here,” Cassie answers. “I can’t believe no one has come out here for us yet.”
“They may not even know we had an accident,” I add.
“Hold on!” Julie almost yells, then says, “You know another piece of this puzzle. I wanna know what’s going on.”
“You will, Julie,” I reply. “But right now, I think Kyle’s right.” Kyle’s eyes shoot in my direction. “We need to get some kind of plan together.” Kyle nods in agreement. I am hoping that by agreeing with Kyle, I will give his ego a much needed boost, and make him feel he has a voice in the group. I need to get him into a group mentality because there’s no room for cowboys going off on their own.
“First thing we need to do,” Kyle says in a renewed, authoritative voice, “is to get some help out here.” He kind of gives me a look as if he was waiting to see if I agree with his move. I nod my approval and Kyle takes out his cell phone.
“Wait a minute!” Amber yells. She finally looks like she is coming out of her haze. She lapsed a little after I helped her mom, Cassie, regain consciousness, but am glad to see her coming around.
Everyone’s eyes dart in Amber’s direction. “Don’t use that!,” she yells to Kyle, pointing at his cell phone.
“What are you talking about?” Kyle questions. “We need to get help out here, sweetie.” I don’t know if he intended it, but he stressed the word
sweetie
to the point that it sounded condescending. “We’re all gonna be okay, you’ll see. Help will be here in a couple of minutes after I call.”
Kyle opens his phone and starts dialing 9-1-1. “Stop it!” screams Amber. “You’re gonna get us all killed!” Amber is shaking violently as Kyle waits for a voice on the other end of the line. He puts his hand over the phone and loudly whispers, “Everything’s gonna be alright, sweetie.” No sarcasm on
sweetie
this time.
Amber turns chalk-white. She is looking over Kyle’s shoulder. I see the bushes shaking about twenty feet behind Kyle. Everyone sees the same thing.
“Kyle,” I say in a very level and calm voice. “Hang up the phone and put it down.” He furrows his brow at me, not understanding.
“Hello… yes, I’m here!” Kyle almost screams on the phone. “We’re at the zoo and there’s been a horrible accident.” The bushes are shaking violently now.
“Kyle,” I say again, but this time he ignores me, focusing his attention to the person on the other end of the line.
“… the train derailed and there’s something out here hunting us down. No this isn’t a joke. Does it sound like I’m fucking joking? People are dead out here.” Kyle is practically shouting into the phone. Then I hear it: a low, guttural growl that went goes through my bones.