David Golemon - Legend

The creature was suddenly there. It had exploded out of the water like a shot from a cannon. The first two of Mendez's mercenaries never knew they were being attacked. Being the closest to the grotto, they were taken unawares backward into the roiling waters, as everyone present saw just a spray of water and a fine mist of red swirling where the two men had been only moments before.

Farbeaux didn't hesitate as the mercenaries were snatched from the land of the living in a microsecond. He made a dash for the opening in the far wall that Sarah had discovered earlier. Too late, Mendez saw what Farbeaux was attempting. His slow reaction time seemed even slower in sharp contrast to the quick and violent death of two of his men. He fired wildly at the retreating Frenchman. Three nine-millimeter bullets hit to the right of the opening, missing Farbeaux by mere inches as he disappeared up the steep steps.

Just then, the beast came from the grotto again. A sudden swath of water accompanied the creature as it cleared the grotto wall by six feet, landing inside the circle of gunmen, who began firing. Sarah ignored the noise and gunfire as she seized this opportunity to grab for the Ingram of the man to her left. But just as she thought she would succeed at catching him by surprise, the Colombian sensed her movement and turned toward her.

Jenks tried desperately to maneuver his bad leg. The pain was so intense that he knew he only had a moment to react and help the diminutive army officer. As gunfire erupted only feet away from Mendez and his men as they defended themselves against the maniacal creature in their midst, Master Chief Jenks grabbed his shattered leg with both hands and with a howl lashed out in a sideways kicking motion that caught the armed man beside Sarah by both of his ankles. Jolted by the unexpected blow, the man fired his Ingram, sending rounds into the stone ceiling.

Sarah reacted almost as quickly, slamming her fist into the man's upturned face as he was knocked off balance. He hit the floor right in front of the small cave opening, and Sarah let her forward momentum carry her down on top of him. Jenks was still screaming in pain as the two rolled into him.

As Mendez watched in horror, the beast before him swiped with long powerful arms at his men. Seven-inch claws ripped into their flesh and bone, and the heated air was instantly corrupted with blood and sinew. In shock at what he was witnessing, he blindly turned his Beretta on the bloody scene. He fired twice, hitting one of his men in the back. Then he panicked and ran for the doorway that he had just watched the Frenchman disappear into a moment before. Three of his men quickly followed their boss into the far wall.

Sarah had managed to gain control of the Ingram but the Colombian, merely stunned, was quick to recover from the blow of landing on the stone. As Sarah raised the weapon and tried to gain some semblance of aim from where she lay, another scream and a unlaced boot heel came crashing down into the mercenary's face. Jenks started shaking badly after he had smashed his broken leg once again into the man. He passed out from the pain as Sarah screamed a shout of triumph and rolled free of the unconscious Colombian.

Robby, Kelly, and Virginia were trying their best to get the rest of the students out of harm's way as bullets started flying in every direction from the firing of panicked men. Several rounds found their mark as the beast screamed and roared in pain. But that didn't stop the huge creature as it reached out and grabbed the closest man still standing in its midst. It easily raised him above its head and tossed him like a stuffed doll into four others.

From her position on the ground, Sarah saw one of the men near her had expended his magazine and drawn a large, very lethal-looking machete from a long scabbard and raised it above his head. As it came down, Sarah pulled the trigger. Later she would be grateful for the three-round burst-of-fire setting on the Ingram because in her haste she depressed and held the trigger down. Two of the three rounds caught the man in the back as his machete came crashing down into the chest of the animal. The blade sank deep as the man's forward momentum carried him into the enraged creature. Blood spewed out of the animal as it grabbed for the man that had hurt it so, and jumped with him into the grotto.

Sarah quickly sighted on the next man, concerned that her slowness might have killed the creature that had suddenly come to their rescue. As she was about to depress the trigger again a large boot slammed down on the short barrel of the weapon, knocking it onto the wet stone floor. She looked up; another of the remaining mercenaries was standing over her with his own smoking weapon pointed right at her head. Now that the animal appeared to be disposed of, the man clearly relished the power of holding the struggling Sarah beneath his boot.

Robby saw what was about to happen and came at the two. Another of the surviving men quickly swiped at Robby and sent him sprawling to the floor. Several of the panicked girls screamed as he skidded along the stone.

Sarah knew the master chief wasn't likely to throw this man off his feet. But instead of being scared at her imminent death, she became angry as her attacker brought his hot gun barrel up to her face. Suddenly he jerked as a look of consternation crossed his face. His body quickly jerked again and then he fell forward, slamming face first into the cave opening and rolling dead onto the floor. Sarah felt the fine spray of his blood as it misted down her face. But her horror turned to amazement when two figures rose from the grotto. They were dressed in black wetsuits and advanced with two XM-8 light machine guns at an aiming position.

Now 5.56-millimeter rounds started to slam into the remaining men. Five of them went down without ever knowing they were hit, bullets neatly parting their foreheads. Three others besides the one that had almost dispatched Sarah managed to at least turn toward their sudden executioners. Going from a frightening animal attack to this new threat overwhelmed them; more XM-8 rounds easily found their mark. One man withdrew a hand grenade from his belt, pulled the pin, and was in the act of throwing it toward the new, human demons to attack them when he was also hit, the round glancing off his skull that sent him sprawling. The grenade hit the slick flooring and Virginia, thinking quickly, picked it up and threw it toward the canal opening to the outside. It hit the floor and bounded into the arched opening, where it detonated next to the right-side arch. The shrapnel burrowed into the soft, water-soaked stone.

Sarah, thirty feet from Virginia and the others, realized what was happening. They had been saved! The two figures rising from the water were close to being the best marksmen in the world. Jack Collins and Carl Everett were methodical as they went from man to man, dispatching all with neat shots to the head. Sarah knew they would take no chances in the environment around them and with the students in such close proximity, even while they would be ruthless in dealing with the remaining threat. Jack and Carl would never allow an enemy to survive to harm people again, especially where kids were concerned. The four remaining men who tried to run for the wall opening only knew the sudden slug of impact on the back of their heads as their bodies came crashing down to the ground.

"Clear!" the smaller of the two men shouted in the echoing and sudden silence.

"Clear!" the taller answered.

Jack and Carl moved their silenced weapons from side to side as they visually covered the interior of the cave around them. Everywhere their eyes went, the barrel followed. Several of the girls of the Zachary expedition screamed as one of the smoking barrels slowly pointed at them and then moved on.