The Red Phoenix 12: Strength Comes in Numbers (50 page)

Chris looked on through the crisscrossing branches, boulders and hanging vines that seemed endless. His vision became blurry. He began to feel dizzy as time went on. His face turned pale and he began to stagger. The pain on his upper thigh where he was cut was becoming more bothersome but he was determined to ignore it.

“Chris?” Kerry asked.

He didn’t respond but plopped down on a rock, looking up at her with droopy eyes, breathing heavily.

“Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

“We’re dehydrating,” Siddoway replied in a raspy voice, sitting near Chris then collapsing on his back. “It’s a hundred degrees out here at least.”

“You should lie down and remove your body armor,” said Kerry. “You don’t want to get any more heat exhaustion.”

“Someone bring their canteen for Siddoway,” stated Kirk One, handing Chris his water bottle.

Chris drank the last three ounces of water, crushing the plastic bottle in his hand.

“I think I feel a fever coming on,” he said, his hands shaking.

“You need to rest,” Kerry replied.

“I feel sick,” Chris stated, lying on his back.

Kerry noticed his thigh and ripped open his pant leg. His injury had green, black and blue streaks spreading from a red gash that had puss forming.

“Your leg, Chris,” said Kerry.

“Is it bad?” he asked.

“The tooth must have released some sort of venom after it cut you,” Kerry replied.

“Others were cut too,” said Chris. “Are they okay?”

“Who else was cut?” asked Kerry.

“I’m okay,” Kirk One answered.

“Me too,” Eight added.

“I’m fine,” Ten stated.

“We don’t seem to suffer the same pains as a normal human,” said Kerry in a compassionate voice, sitting next to him.

“It’s almost like you’re—”

“—What?” asked Kerry.

“I don’t want to say it,” Chris answered.

“Go ahead, tell me,” Kerry stated.

“Immortal,” Chris responded, placing his hand on her cheek. “More perfect.”

Kerry put her hand on his cheek in a caring manner, gazing into his eyes. Kirk One stood on top of some boulders, elevating himself.

“Numbers Three through Six, get your weapons, you’re coming with me,” said One. “The rest of you stay here and guard.”

“Where are we going?” asked Five.

“Hunting,” One answered. “We’ll camp here, while the six of us search for water and food. Father and Siddoway won’t last another two days at this pace.”

“Where do you intend on finding water out there?” asked Siddoway. “It’s the Arizona desert.”

“We’ll figure something out,” One answered.

“Thank you, guys,” said Chris in a calm tone, lying on his back, watching One take charge with a smile.

“Be careful,” said Kerry.

Kirk One smiled at her as he led the pack into the trees, locking and loading their weapons.

***

It was around six o’ clock pm. Braddock sat alone in his tent at North Base, sharpening his combat knife. The thoughts of being tricked by Siddoway and Michaels and losing his platoon tortured him. His deep set eyes glared as he raised his blade, twisting it in his palm.
Osborne and my men will not die in vain. Siddoway and Michaels will feel my wrath tomorrow because I’m going to carve every single one of their names into their chests
, he thought, clenching his knife in a firm grip.

Bauer entered his tent, folding his arms.

“Are you going to get any sleep?” he asked.

“I doubt it,” Braddock replied.

“The reinforcements are here,” Bauer stated.

“All two hundred of them?” asked Braddock.

“Just as you requested,” Bauer responded.

“We deploy at the crack of dawn,” Braddock stated, standing, sheathing his combat knife on his thigh.

***

Kirk One led a group of clones into the jungle in an area thick with hanging vines and leafy plants that ranged in height from three feet to twelve feet high. They watched a row of red and green creatures the size of a squirrel with flat bodies and antennas creep their way up a tree then onto a neighboring branch.

“Sure are a lot of strange animals around here,” said Six, watching the last creature crawl away under leaves of the branch.

“Looks like take-out dinner to me,” One replied.

“You serious about eating this stuff?” asked Six.

“Got any better ideas? Father is in bad shape,” One responded. “He needs nourishment.”

“You’re right,” Six stated. “Hey guys, we might as well spread out and try to catch anything that moves, crawls or squats.”

The clones scattered, searching through the leafy and thorny branches, checking for anything climbing up the trees, swinging on the vines or crawling on the ground.

Kirk Six listened to a soft revving, throbbing sound behind a thick patch of four foot tall leafy plants with buds at the tips that looked like orangish-red eyeballs. The slim plants moved in a slow waving rhythm together as the eyeball-like tip opened and closed under the leaves. Six drew closer, moving the waving plants out of his way, gripping his weapon. He came through the other side, seeing a greenish-black, amphibian-like creature with horns all over its back, the size of a raccoon, making the gentle throbbing sound, sitting still.

“I don’t know what you are, but you’re ugly,” Six stated.

Six noticed a stack of black and gray, scaly, coiled logs with a faint diamond-like shape, running along the sides of it.

“What the—” he mumbled, going in for a closer look, running his fingers along the scales.

“What do you got over there, Six?” asked Seven.

“Strange texture on this,” Six answered. “They’ve got to be eight feet around.”

The other clones grouped behind him.

“What is it?” asked Four.

“I don’t know but it seems to be coiled up and the rest of it goes over there under the tall, leafy plants,” Six replied.

The coils moved at a slow pace.

“Did you see that? It just moved,” said Six, worried.

Kirk One walked along the side of the scaly, log-like body until he reached its end, forty feet away. He moved another tall leafed plant out of his way, staring at a black, triangular shaped head the same size as a great white shark’s snout with horns off the tip of its nose.

“Oh, good hell,” One whispered, backing away.

“Did you find something?” asked Ten.

“Shhh,” One replied. “It’s sleeping,” he added, moving towards them with a brisk walk.

“What’s sleeping?” asked Eight.

“A serpent of some kind,” One answered, heading into the trees. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen. It was almost demonic-looking.”

“Maybe we can kill it and take part of it back with us,” said Six.

“No, no, not this one,” One responded, picking up speed. “That thing could swallow one of us whole.”

There was a creepy rattle noise in the background. The clones stopped, listening to its peculiar sound.

“What was that?” asked Six, scared.

“C’mon, let’s just keep moving this way,” One answered.

The clones headed further into the jungle.

Back at the serpent’s lair, the coils moved again, slithering across the jungle floor. The snake opened its dilated yellow, red and orange eyes then they constricted.

The greenish-red creature sat still, making its soft throbbing sound like it had no intention of going anywhere. The snake’s head approached in the background, moving closer to the raccoon-sized animal, slithering towards it, gaining speed as the rest of its body uncoiled. The snake moved right upon the creature then opened its mouth that was full of sharp teeth.

***

Kirk One and the clones paced across a thorny branch large enough to hold all six of them twelve feet above the ground. One was quiet as he moved a mossy hanging vine out of his way, holding his weapon in his other hand as they stalked a flock of eight mutated insects that were crawling around the ground beneath them like they were feeding off the grass.

The insects were seven feet long, crawled on six legs, had round, skinny midsections, slender bellies and stood four-feet above the dirt. They were mostly green with black spots on them. Their heads were triangular with round eyes on the sides with constricted pupils.

The clones continued to watch them as one of the insects opened its wings, flew over the others, landed on the opposite side and fed off another section of grass.

“What’s the plan, One?” whispered Kirk Four.

“Aim for the head,” he replied in a soft tone, raising his weapon, squinting his left eye.

The others aimed their guns.

“Fire,” said One, shooting one of them on the side of its head, taking off one of its antennas.

The other clones fired, causing all of them but one to fall. The last one opened its wings, flew upwards, facing the clones, and hissed at Kirk One, showing its sharp teeth like it was angry. Kirk One fired a shot in its head, making it drop on top of the dead insect pile below.

“What do you think these were before?” asked Five as they slung their weapons over their shoulders.

Kirk One leaped off the thorny branch, catching onto a hanging vine and slid down a short ways until he dropped to the ground.

“I’m not educated yet on the insects of the human world,” he answered, pulling out his combat knife.

“These have very strange walking appendages,” said Three, lifting up the dead insect’s five foot long, serrated tibial spine with walking hairs.

“If I had to guess I’d say they were once praying mantises,” One stated, looking at one of them up close.

“The only meat on these things is what is inside these folding arms and down their backs,” said Six. “The bellies are slim and the head is useless.”

“At least there are eight of them,” One replied, slashing down at one of the dead insects.

***

The clones dragged the eight carcasses of the mantises through the jungle over plants and around bushes. Kirk One cut leaves the size of elephant ears and some vines out of their way.

Kirk Five looked up, noticing three plump, worm-like creatures crawling along a branch ten-feet above them. They were three-feet long with flat faces and had two rows of hard feet that were like tiny thorns, making soft, rapid tapping sounds as they scuttled.

“Hey look,” said Kirk Five. “Up there.”