Then the echoes were answered by other cries. Behind him, a chorus of howls and screeches erupted from the nests.
“Oh, shit!”
Javier moved faster, not running—he didn’t want his footfalls to give his exact location away—but jogging back toward the door. He slid it open, hurried back into the cavern, and then shut the door behind him, muffling the onrushing creatures’ frantic cries. The sounds still carried, though, echoing down the corridor behind the door. Javier plunged into the darkness, arms outstretched in front of him, wondering once more how the hell he was going to find the girls and Brett under such conditions. How large was the network of basements, caverns and tunnels? How deep into the earth did they go? How far did they travel? Was it possible that he could run far enough to wind up under his home back in East Petersburg without ever surfacing?
“Shit, shit, shit …”
Tight bands of fear cinched around his chest and for a brief moment, Javier thought he might be having a heart attack. He stopped, bent over, and took deep breaths until the feeling had passed. Then he straightened up again and quickly took stock of his environment. Even though it was dark, he knew which direction he’d come from and where he could go, at least to a limited extent. He knew there were probably more hidden passages out there. There could be any number of camouflaged entrances to other tunnels and other nightmares. Each step in a new direction increased his chances of stumbling across one and encountering whatever lurked inside. But if he was going to succeed in finding Heather, Kerri, and Brett, then he had to risk it. They weren’t in any of the places he’d already checked.
And there were things in here with him. Maybe human, maybe not. He wasn’t sure anymore. But they ate humans, whatever they were.
For a brief moment, he considered just forgetting about Heather and the others, and getting out while he still could. The thought shamed him.
He heard the door creak open from somewhere behind him, followed by the soft, whispered patter of feet as his pursuers poured into the cave. He wondered how many there were. It was impossible to tell by sound. None of them spoke. Their cries had ceased the moment they entered the darkness.
Holding his breath, Javier tiptoed forward. He thought about his mother. He thought about Heather. About Kerri. About Brett and Tyler and all their other friends. He thought of his teachers and the girl he’d kissed in summer camp when he was eleven and the guy he’d punched in the nose during fourth grade. He thought of everyone he’d ever known, everyone who had ever impacted his life for good or for bad. Everyone who mattered, convincing himself once again that as long as he remembered them, he wouldn’t die, because then their memories would die with him. When that didn’t work anymore, his thoughts returned to Heather. He focused on her. Summoned her in his mind, saw her face, her smile, the scattering of freckles across her nose, and felt his resolve return. He needed to find her, keep her safe. He used the goal to protect himself from the panic and fear that chewed on his mind and heart.
Javier took four more paces and then heard them coming, spreading out all around him. It sounded like there were a lot of them. He heard claws on stone, the rustle of hair, snorted grunts and whispered sighs. Something panted nearby, close enough that he could feel its breath on his back. He stopped in midstride and held completely still. He knew that if he remained standing there, his chances of being discovered were almost absolute. One of the things would bump into him in the dark or smell him. Hear his breathing. Sneaking forward wouldn’t work, either. They’d hear his furtive footsteps, or he’d stumble on something in the darkness and they’d fall on him before he could recover.
Steeling himself, and hoping to momentarily startle and confuse his pursuers, Javier let loose with a bellow so loud that it hurt his vocal cords, and ran straight into the blackness as fast as he could. He pushed his fears aside, shoved away visions of crashing headlong into some unseen obstruction or tumbling into some hidden hole, and charged ahead. The darkness exploded all around him with cries and howls of furious alarm. Footsteps echoed around the cavern, sounding like thunder or gunshots. Javier hoped that in all the confusion, they’d be unable to tell his sounds from their own.
A shape leapt in front of him—a human-sized black spot against the darkness. It lunged for him, and Javier slammed his elbow into its throat as he ran by. The figure grunted and fell to the ground. Javier did not pause to see if it recovered. Instead, he ran even harder. He bit down on his swollen lip, bringing a fresh flare of pain. It spurred him on. Blood filled his mouth. His pulse raced. A stitch cut into his side, twisting and searing under his ribs. He tried to ignore the pain, and focused only on fleeing and breathing. The grunting and chattering increased, but sounded like it was behind him now. He summoned his strength and put on another burst of speed.
In that moment, Javier again considered backtracking—sneaking around behind them and heading back into the sewers. Then he could follow the river and hopefully find the exit. He was ashamed once more at the thought, aghast that even for a second, he’d consider leaving the others behind.
He heard something loping along beside him. Javier dodged to the right. He saw the shadowed outlines of a curved wall in front of him, but he didn’t compensate fast enough. His left shoulder scraped painfully along the rough, pitted surface and he felt his shirt tear. His skin followed suit. Javier felt a hot flare of pain, and a moment later, a warm trickle ran down his arm. He shrugged it off and plunged back into the gloom. There was no way to know how deep the scrape was or how much damage he’d done to himself, but the pain made him forget all about his plight for a second. His pursuers cried out again to remind him.
Were they closer? He couldn’t tell for sure. They sounded closer, but the darkness and the cavern’s structure had bizarre effects on sound. Either way, this had to end soon. He couldn’t keep going on the way he was. It was either fight, hide, or die, and Javier was no longer certain he could hide without the monsters spotting him.
That only left him two choices, and one of those choices was simply unacceptable.
Javier looked over his shoulder and saw the shadowy forms behind him. They were, indeed, much closer.
He spun around and charged straight at them.
“Come on, motherfuckers!”
He couldn’t tell how many he faced. Some ran, perhaps startled by his sudden attack. Others held their ground, waiting for him to come to them. A third group ran to meet him head-on, and Javier laughed aloud as they crashed into each other. He punched and kicked, knowing full well that the slightest pause or error would lead to his death. Despite the knowledge, he felt a certain peace of mind from the simple desire to hurt as many of them as he could before he went down.
If
he went down.
His left fist caught one of his enemies—a female—in the side of the neck. Her breasts swayed in the darkness, brushing against him. The woman coughed violently, clutching at the spot where he’d struck. Javier barely noticed. She was merely a blur to him, a target that, once struck, was no longer important. The rest of them closed in, grasping and pushing. He shoved them away, shifted his weight and jumped high, trusting that the maneuver would throw them off guard. It did. As the creatures scattered and cried out in alarm, Javier’s heel struck bone and flesh. Something broke under his shoe. His grin grew wider. The target—male or female he could not tell—slammed into three of its fellow mutants. All four fell down, sprawling.
Javier’s landing was not elegant, but he kept his feet and smashed his forearm into the face of the next in line, before reversing his hips and using his leverage to drive the opposite arm’s elbow into the same target. The thing did not fall, but instead grabbed Javier’s arm and bit down on the exposed flesh. Javier screamed and pulled hard, yanking his arm back and leaving a wedge of flesh in the creature’s mouth. He punched again, catching the cannibal’s nose, which snapped under the impact. Javier’s stomach churned. The pain was making him nauseous.
His next swing missed as the shadow ducked below his fist, and then shoved forward. Male, and big, apparently, as he lifted Javier from the ground and rammed him into the cave wall. Javier’s body was pinned. He gritted his teeth, hissing as his opponent raked its clawed fingers across his chest and ribs, scratching and slicing with the same savagery as a rabid cat. Javier drove his knee up hard into the thing’s balls, and then kneed it again as it fell backward. Javier kicked the bruiser again as he hit the ground.
Suddenly, Javier realized that the others around him had fallen back, grunting and hooting as their larger companion rolled around on the ground. Javier’s eyes narrowed. He glanced down at his opponent. He wasn’t as big as Noigel, but his size was still ominous. As he watched, the creature staggered and then began to right itself.
Javier paused a moment, considering the situation. His enemy was bigger, older, and much stronger. He was also influential. There was no mistaking what was occurring here. The rest of the—what? tribe? pack? whatever—were stepping back and letting the big guy take care of business. They were deferring to their leader, or at least their champion. Javier wondered where this new arrival ranked in the pecking order. Obviously, Scug was a leader of sorts. Noigel seemed feared. Who was this one, and how would the others react if he was defeated?
In the darkness, a lantern flared. Javier squinted, shielding his eyes. His opponent chuckled. Javier dropped his hand and glared. He noticed now that his opponent was naked. The beast’s looks were apish, his eyes sunken into a doughy, pockmarked face beneath a thick brow.
His nose was barely discernible as anything more than nostrils, and his yellowed teeth were bared in an angry leer. Javier had bested him—hurt him—and he was very obviously pissed off about it. His intent was clear. He meant to kill.
Javier had different ideas.
He spat blood on the ground and let the big guy come to him, steeling himself, trying to prepare himself mentally. The mutant charged. Despite the gloom, Javier saw that his head was low and his arms were out at his sides. This thing wasn’t used to prey that fought back. It had exposed itself, made itself vulnerable in an effort to look even larger than it already was.
Javier dropped back and darted to the side, letting his opponent have the space he’d occupied a moment before. Adrenaline surged through Javier’s veins, boosting another wave of strength into him. The freak spun fast, roaring, and swung his arm in a wild arc. This time Javier did not dodge, but deflected the blow, slapping it aside and pushing the thing’s hand away from his body. Exposed and overbalanced, the creature stared down at his hand as if it had deliberately betrayed him. Javier grabbed his attacker’s wrist and pulled him further off balance. Then he drove his foot into the mutant’s chest as hard as he could. He felt the ribs break under the blow and grunted his satisfaction. The brute let out a yelp and stumbled. Javier twisted his hand until the bruiser had two choices, follow the direction Javier forced on him or risk a broken wrist. The thing yelped and moved the way Javier wanted. Javier turned him around.
“Fuck you,” he spat. “Think you’re king of the fucking cave cannibals?”
Javier drove his knee into the man’s kidney as soon as his back was exposed. The thing’s muscles were hard, and Javier felt the reverberation run through his heel. The fighter yelped and Javier struck again, taking no chances. This time, his opponent wailed and dropped to his knees. Using both his hands, Javier pulled the mutant’s arm high over his head and twisted.
The brutal face went down, slamming into the rocks. Javier landed on his foe’s back, knees first, driving them as deep as he could. The creature howled and thrashed. Javier had to struggle to maintain his grip on the muscled arm. He twisted again, stopping only when he’d separated the killer’s shoulder from its socket—ending the fight. Moaning, the creature shuddered once and then lay still, unconscious.
Javier seized the thing’s neck. The rest of the cannibals stepped back, hooting with cautious tones. While they watched, Javier twisted his enemy’s head, snapping his neck. Then he let the corpse fall and stood up slowly. The warped faces around him stared first at the dead man and then at Javier.
“Who’s next?” Javier’s voice was a broken croak. “Who wants it?”
He could tell that they were momentarily stunned—surprised by the unforeseen turn of events, the hunted becoming the hunter.
“Come on,” he taunted. “Who wants a piece of this?”
The pack shifted nervously. One of the creatures growled, low and menacing. Javier knew that their hesitation wouldn’t last much longer. He could sense them working themselves back up into a frenzy. The air felt charged. Electric. He had to take advantage of their confusion while he still could. The lantern light seemed to flare brighter.
Javier backed away slowly. He’d gone four steps when one of the females dropped down and grabbed the corpse. Her thick fingernails hooked into his skin and ripped long, bloody lines across his abdomen. Another of the creatures knelt and did the same, rooting between his legs.