Terror In The Mist (The Island In The Mist Book 3) Page 20

  He’d just about decided to make his way back up the fourth floor so he could return to the room through the hole in the ceiling when he began to hear screaming. It was a woman—it was Charlie. Panicked, Victor ran toward the door that led into the recreation room. The screaming intensified and now he could hear Matt also.

  “What is going on?” Victor yelled. “Open the door!” he shouted, as he desperately tried to push his way into the room. The barricade they’d placed in front of the door was obviously a good one because he was unable to get it to budge at all.

  He could hear Charlie screaming for help and then he heard another sound—a more sinister sound. It sounded like a dog’s bark, but the sounds were strange and resembled words though he could not understand exactly what was being said. Desperation began to overcome him, and he shouted a warning for them to steer clear of the door. Without further hesitation, he squeezed the trigger on his rifle and again the barrel spat fire and lead that quickly weakened the heavy wooden door significantly. Once satisfied that he’d done enough damage, Victor then raised his heavy combat boot from the floor and pushed it with all his might against the door. As expected, it gave way, and he then quickly barged his way into the room, knocking chairs out of his way as he moved forward.

  “What happened?” he asked as the dust began to settle. It was then that he saw Matt lying on the floor. He was bleeding profusely from a gash on his leg.

  “She took her,” he rasped, wincing. “The evil bitch took her!”

  “Who took her?” Victor asked, kneeling beside him.

  “The Troodons came in here,” he replied, and he then reached for the gash on his leg. “Oh my God, am I going to die?”

  Victor again glanced at the wound and then snatched up the lab coat that Charlie had been using as a pillow. He took a knife from his belt and began cutting the coat into long strips. Then he took the strips and began tying the tightly around Matt’s wound. “You’ll live,” he said flatly. “Now tell me what happened.”

  Matt shook his head and licked his lips. “I’m not sure…I woke up, and they were in here,” he said, wide-eyed. “She was telling them to take Charlie,” he said. “I mean, I couldn’t understand them but—”

  “Wait,” Victor interrupted. “You keep saying she…who are you talking about?”

  “Mother…the big one,” Matt said. “She’s the leader, they do what she says.”

  Victor shook his head in disbelief. “You call her Mother?” he asked.

  Matt nodded. “Charlie named her that,” he replied. “…when she realized that she was the pack leader. She is the biggest, and I believe the most intelligent. And now she’s taken Charlie,” he said. “She pulled her straight up through that ceiling.”

  Victor glanced up at the gaping hole that he’d crawled through about a half-hour earlier. “Stay here,” he said, still looking up at the hole. “I’ll see if I can find her before it’s too late.”

  Without further hesitation, Victor charged back into the hallway and made his way to the staircase. He figured if the Troodon was making an escape with Charlie, it would have to come down the stairs. The only problem was that there were stairwells on both ends of the hallway and Victor was forced to choose one or the other. As he contemplated with direction he would go, he paused and again strained his ears to hear any sound. When he heard nothing, he decided on the stairwell to his left. Victor quickly shuffled down the stairs and did not stop until he reached the ground floor. He then stormed outside and began scanning his environment for any sign of the Troodons or Charlie. Suddenly, he saw what he was looking for.

  On the opposite end of the building, three Troodons were running toward the jungle. The one in the lead was much larger than the others, and cradled in that dinosaur’s arms was Charlie. She appeared to be unconscious. Victor raised his rifle toward the fleeing animals but thought better of it. The risk of hitting Charlie was too great. Defeated, he looked to the misty sky and was thankful to see the daylight again. He didn’t feel that the odds were very good for Charlie, but it was his mission to come here and get the survivors home. Until hope was all lost, that objective would remain the same.

  He snatched the radio from his belt and opened the mike. “Harley, are you out there? Over.”

  Seconds later, the radio crackled to life. “Victor, I’m here…everything alright? Over.”

  Victor sighed, took a deep breath, and prepared to give her the bad news.

  Chapter 24

  Harley felt her mouth drop open when Victor told her what all had transpired during the night. She looked over at Jonathon and saw a similar response.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she said, as she slowly pulled the radio away from her mouth. She looked to Mr. Cold. “I don’t have any idea what to do now.”

  It was the first time Jonathon had seen her look vulnerable and it scared him. For the first time ever, he’d been able to share some of the leadership with someone else on the island and it had made things significantly less stressful than his prior trips. The look on Harley’s face now suggested that the full burden was once again on his shoulders. He knew full well what they should do but the challenge would be convincing Mr. Cold.

  “Getting Charlie back is our first priority,” he said, determined.

  “I agree,” Cold said. “But she could already be dead…you have to know that.”

  Jonathon shook his head. “No, if the Troodons wanted her dead, she’d be no different than Cliff,” he argued. “They took her for a reason.”

  “What reason?” Harley asked, dumbfounded.

  “They want a fight,” Glenn Hardcastle said suddenly.

  They all looked over at him and was surprised to find that he’d been awake and paying attention to their conversation.

  “Glenn, are you alright?” Mr. Cold asked.

  He nodded, and slowly sat up. He used his remaining hand to rub his forehead. “I feel more alert than yesterday,” he rasped. “But the pain is significantly worse.”

  “That’s good,” Harley said. “That’s a good sign. Once we get back to the mainland, we’ll get you the medical attention you need and you’ll be back on your feet in no time.”

  “What do you mean they want a fight?” Jonathon asked. It seemed he was the only one in the room that remembered what Hardcastle had said.

  He sighed and looked over at Jonathon. “Charlie and Matt have been poking and prodding those animals for two years now,” he said. “I don’t have to tell you that those Troodons are smart, but I don’t think I’d be wrong if I told you that they’re much smarter than you probably ever imagined.”

  “Yes, I’m starting to see that,” Jonathon muttered in response.

  “They know we’re on the island, and they want us gone,” Hardcastle said. “People have been here since you and Angus Wedgeworth stumbled across this island almost ten years ago. My guess is that they want that to stop now. We go after Charlie, they’ll kill us all.”

  “All of us won’t be going after her,” Harley said. “We don’t even know where she was taken.”

  Cold stepped forward. “Oh, I think we know exactly where they took her, right, Jonathon?”

  Jonathon nodded slowly. “The Troodons have always lived in and around the cave with the fountain,” he said.

  “Fountain?” Glenn looked at each of them for some sort of explanation.

  “Long story,” Mr. Cold said. “We’ll tell it to you later.”

  “So now I guess we have an additional reason to go to the cave,” Harley said. “We’re not going just for the water anymore.”

  Jonathon closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. “Our time is very short here,” he said, and he looked over to Cold. “You said this island is going to basically self-destruct at any moment now.”

  “Right,” Cold replied. “So, we’d better get moving.”

  “What are you going to fight them with?” Hardcastle asked.

  “She’s heavily armed,” Cold replied, pointing to Harley. “A
nd I’ve got this,” he added, holding up the handgun he’d taken from Hank.

  Hardcastle began to laugh and it quickly evolved into an awful cough. When he regained his composure he said, “That’s not going to be enough. You’re severely underestimating them.”

  “Well, it’s all we’ve got,” Cold replied.

  Hardcastle shook his head. “No, it’s not,” he said. “There is an armory on the first floor of the office building at the compound.”

  “The first floor was recently underwater,” Harley reminded him.

  “Yes,” Hardcastle acknowledged. “But some of the weaponry we have is locked away in waterproof cases. We’ll be able to find something in there that we can use to fight them, I’m sure.”

  “Well then that settles it,” Jonathon said as he approached the doorway that led into the underground tunnel. “Hardcastle and Cold can stay here while Harley and I use the tunnel to get to the compound. We’ll get Victor and the other survivor, find weapons at the armory, and then we’ll come back here.”

  “Then we’ll go get the water and Charlie,” Cold said. “Yes, I think that’s a good plan, Jonathon.”

  Jonathon noticed that Cold had placed getting the water before Charlie in his phrasing but decided to ignore it. “He is not in any condition to join us,” he said, pointing to Hardcastle.

  “Don’t worry, I won’t be. I would just slow you down,” Hardcastle said. “How exactly will we be getting off this island?”

  Harley looked at her watch. “There is a boat coming for us in four hours.”

  “That’s not going to be enough time,” Jonathon said. He pulled his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair as he thought. “Someone is going to have to meet the boat and get them to wait on us.”

  “Let me handle that,” Hardcastle said.

  Cold and Jonathon immediately looked at each other as if each of them wanted the other to say what they were all thinking.

  “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Harley said, doing the dirty work for them.

  “No, it’s not the best idea,” Hardcastle agreed. “But it’s all we’ve got. You’ll need all the numbers you can get if you’re going to go into the Troodon den. I’ll get to the beach…don’t worry about that.”

  Suddenly, Harley’s radio crackled on. “So, what is the plan?” Victor asked. Harley slapped her head as she realized she’d forgotten all about him. She pulled the radio from her belt and said, “Victor, get to that door and get ready…we’re coming your way.”

  “Alright, so now we’ve got a plan,” Cold said. “We just need to execute it.”

  “And hope the island holds out,” Jonathon added. He glanced over at Hardcastle. “We should be back in an hour. Don’t leave here until we get back. I’m going to get you something to protect yourself with while we’re in the armory.”

  Hardcastle nodded, and held out his hand. “Good luck,” he said, as Jonathon shook it.

  Jonathon then took a deep breath, and opened the door that led into the tunnel. Harley tossed him the flashlight and he took a peek inside.

  “Do you see any obstructions?” Hardcastle asked.

  Jonathon shook his head. “No…but I can see water a good way down there…probably ankle deep.”

  “Alright, well let’s get moving because a little water will be the least of our worries if another earthquake happens,” Harley said.

  Jonathon took a deep breath and stepped inside. He didn’t know exactly what he was afraid of, but there was an unmistakable feeling of dread that overcame him as he walked. There would be no dinosaurs in there, but still the ominous feeling loomed. Though his stomach was in knots, Jonathon said nothing, he just kept walking. He’d estimated they were roughly halfway through when he noticed a large crack in the ceiling of the tunnel. Dirt had poured through and it was clearly a weak spot that was probably caused by the earthquake.

  “One more shake and it’ll collapse right there,” Harley said, a slight tremble in her voice.

  “Try not to think about it,” Cold said. “We have to keep moving.”

  ***

  Once Victor had gotten the order, he was more than eager to throw Matt over his shoulder if need be and get to the tunnel. He’d had all he could take of the relentless attacks they’d endured from the Troodons. He ran up the stairs and into the recreation room where Matt was still lying on the floor.

  “I don’t suppose there is any chance at all that you can walk?” he asked.

  Matt winced as he sat up. “I can try, but I don’t know how fast I can move.”

  Victor rolled his eyes as the answer he got was exactly the answer he expected. Without discussing the matter further, he knelt, pulled Matt over his shoulder, and then stood to leave. As he stood, he heard a voice from somewhere behind him.

  “Walk? Walk?”

  “Who the hell was that?” Victor said, as he quickly looked behind him.

  “I don’t know, but it sounded just like you,” Matt replied with a stammer.

  Victor saw no one behind him, but as he was about to turn back, a dangling piece of sheetrock fell from the hole in the ceiling. As his eyes drifted up, it was then that he saw it. There were two Troodons standing in the veterinary ward above and they were peering down at them.

  “Did that thing say that?” Victor asked. He felt a chill run up his spine as he realized there could be no other explanation.

  “It…it mimicked you,” Matt said, awestruck. “I’ve never heard one do that before.”

  Victor didn’t wait to see if the animal did it again, he turned and began to jog toward the door. “Keep an eye on our six,” he said as he stepped into the hallway. “If those things start to chase after us, you better speak up!”

  He began to make his way down the stairwell when he heard a loud crash that originated from the recreation room. It sounded as if more of the ceiling had collapsed and in his mind’s eye, he could see both Troodons jumping down on the third floor and giving chase after them.

  “Do you see anything?” he asked, frantic.

  “No…nothing yet,” Matt replied.

  As they reached the ground floor and rounded the corner that led to the door of the tunnel, Matt began to hear the unmistakable sound of the dinosaur’s large three-toed feet padding down the stairs. It seemed to echo loudly down the hallway. Victor heard it too and he immediately turned, pointed his rifle in the direction of the sound, and opened fire. The gunfire was loud, and echoed so loudly that both men’s ears rang. However, the pursuing Troodons seemed to have stopped.

  “They’d better hurry up,” Victor grumbled as he released the locks on their side of the door.

  ***

  “I see the door!” Jonathon said with obvious relief.

  As soon as they reached it, he frantically released the locks and turned the lever to open the door. As soon as it swung open, Victor and Matt charged in.

  “Victor!” Harley said excitedly. “I never thought I’d be so glad to see you!”

  Victor, rather carelessly, dropped Matt to the floor and then leaned his body against the wall. He was out of breath and clearly exhausted. “I could say the same about you, Cash,” he replied. “There are two dinosaurs out there,” he added, pointing toward the open hallway.

  Jonathon pulled the door closed slightly and looked at Matt. “What are they?” he asked.

  “Troodons,” Matt answered, as he rubbed the shoulder he’d landed on when Victor dropped him. “They’re in the stairwell right now, but they’re clearly stalking us.”

  Jonathon closed his eyes and shook his head. He wasn’t counting on having to deal with any dinosaurs in the building. “We’ve got to get to the armory,” he said to Matt. “How far away from us is it?”

  Matt closed his own eyes as he seemed to be mapping out the first floor in his head. “It’s only three doors down on the right,” he said confidently. “The room is unlocked…you’ll need to be quick.”

  Jonathon nodded, then looked to Victor. “Can you cov
er us while we go and get what we need?”

  Victor checked his rifle. “Yeah, I’ve got a little bit of ammunition left. Just hurry up…I want to get out of here.”

  “We all do,” Harley said, patting the large man’s shoulder.

  “What should I do?” Cold asked.

  “Stay here with Victor in case he needs some assistance,” Jonathon said. “Me and Harley will be back in five minutes tops.”

  “Alright,” Victor said, determined. “Let’s get on with it.” He barged through the door and immediately opened fire.

  Jonathon and Harley didn’t wait to see if there were any dinosaurs on the receiving end of his rifle. They just ran for the armory. It was just as Matt has said, three doors down on the right. Jonathon pushed the door open with his shoulder without stopping. Once inside, they immediately began to grab cases of guns, ignoring any weapons that had been left in the open and once submerged in water.

  “Here, use this,” Harley said, finding a flat, blue cart in the corner of the room.

  She wheeled it over and they began piling cases on it, not really taking the time to see what they were grabbing. The gunfire in the hallway had ceased and with the cart full, they hurried back to the tunnel entrance where the others were waiting.

  “Any sign of the Troodons?” Jonathon asked as they rushed through the door.

  “They were standing at the end of the hallway when I started shooting,” Victor answered. “Not sure if I hit them or not, but they retreated back into the stairwell and I haven’t seen them since.” He eyed the cart and immediately reached for a small case on top. “I’ll take these,” he said, opening the case and pulling two grenades from inside.

  “Grenades?” Mr. Cold said in amazement. “Why are there grenades?” he asked, looking at Matt.

  Matt shrugged. “That’s Glenn Hardcastle’s department,” he said. “You’ll have to ask him. But for what it’s worth, we’ve always stressed to him that we want non-lethal weapons used whenever possible.”