Jon Merz - Prey

“Why?” asked Julia. “Because it comes at night?”

“Yeah.”

“I think this whole thing is a stretch,” said Kendall. “I’m going to bed.”

“Sit down.”

The tone in which Mick uttered the simple command made everyone freeze in the room. Julia looked at him and saw something else there. Something brewing under the surface of his calm demeanor. Some kind of intensity unlike any she’d ever witnessed before. When he said it, there was no refuting it.

And Kendall sat back down.

Mick looked at them all. “Going anywhere alone right now is not a safe thing to do. We don’t know what we’re dealing with…yet. We move around here in pairs. Stay in contact by radio. We post two guards every two hours tonight while the rest of us sleep.” He looked at Kendall. “You’re right, this isn’t a military facility, but if you’re dealing with something unknown that appears to be taking people, then I’d suggest we adopt a bit more of a soldierly outlook toward dealing with it. Okay?”

Everyone nodded.

Mick suddenly seemed to remember something and the blazing intensity vanished. He held up a hand. “I mean, that is if Julia thinks we should do this.”

She raised her eyebrows. What was she going to do, contradict him? Not a chance. Especially since his ideas seemed sound.

“It’s fine with me.”

Nung nodded. “You mentioned bright lights.”

Mick took a long drag on his mug. “We’ve got some of those special high-powered numbers don’t we?”

“Yeah.”

“Can you rig them for use in here?”

“You have an idea?”

“We’ll position them in the greenhouse. By where the opening was.”

“Do you really think whatever took Vikorsky will be foolish enough to come back in through that way again?” Kendall sat there with a smug look of satisfaction on his face. He seemed pleased to have rained on Mick’s parade a little bit.

Julia hated him for it.

“We don’t even know if we’re dealing with anything yet,” said Mick. “All I’m trying to do is cover any bases we might have. Close up any gaps in our personal security. If there is something out there with an eye toward taking us, then I think it’s best that we do everything we can to protect ourselves.”

Wilkins nodded. “I find it difficult to swallow that Vikorsky chose to wander out of the facility during the night by climbing twenty feet and going on to the roof. It seems absurd.”

“I agree,” said Havel. “I believe we are being hunted.”

Julia felt the pit in her stomach suddenly grow larger. Her first command and it was going to hell.

“Everyone had dinner already?” It was the best thing she could come up with.

They all nodded. She turned to Mick. “Any suggestions on the watch postings? I don’t have any experience with that sort of thing.”

“We did it in the service all the time,” said Mick.

“What branch?”

Mick looked at Kendall. “Excuse me?”

“I asked you what branch were you in?”

Mick peered at Kendall for another minute. “Air Force.”

“A pilot?”

“No.”

“What then?”

“We don’t have time for twenty questions, Kendall,” said Wilkins. “We’ve got stuff to do.”

“Just trying to get acquainted with our newest comrade is all.”

“The meet-and-greet was last night after you went to bed. Sorry you missed the fun.” Wilkins turned to Nung. “Can you and Darren take care of getting the lights ready?”

Nung nodded. “Sure thing.”

“Okay,” said Mick. “Here’s how we’ll do it: I’ll grab the first watch with Wilkins. That’s nine to eleven. Nung and Darren are eleven to one. Havel and Kendall get one to three. Wilkins and I will come back on at three and go until dawn.”

Julia eyed him. “Excuse me.”

He looked at her. “Yes?”

“My name wasn’t on that list.”

Mick chewed his lip. “Uh…yeah. Well, it’s just that if anything happens, I’m not so sure-”

“That a woman can handle herself?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“It just so happens that I can hold my own against anyone here. Don’t exclude me from the watch just because you might think otherwise.”

Mick looked like he was about to say something but then thought better of it. He sighed instead. “Fine. You and I will take the three until dawn shift. That okay with you?”

“Yes.” Julia quelled the rising heat in her face and pretended to concentrate on the floorplan diagram on the table. It showed the layout of the facility. “Where are the lights going?”

Mick came over and pointed. “Corridors. Here. And here. By the greenhouse door. I want a pair of them aiming up at the ceiling.” He looked up at Nung and Darren. “I’ll go down with you and show you how I want them aimed.”

Wilkins peered over his shoulder. “Seems like a plan.”

“Best one we can come up with right,” said Mick. “Barring a sudden windfall of weapons and reinforcements.”

“You talk like a soldier.”

Mick turned. Kendall faced him again. Mick’s face got hard again, but then a small grin played across it. “Aren’t you tired?”

“You’re evasive as hell, too.”

“What I am,” said Mick, “is annoyed. Stop treating me like a suspect. I’m one of you.”

Kendall grinned. “That I doubt very much. But whatever. Havel and I have an early night. I’m off to bed.”

“We sleep two to a room tonight,” said Julia. “Like Mick said, it’s not safe going anywhere alone.”

“And if I have to take a dump will Havel wipe my ass for me, too?”

“That’s up to Havel. But I don’t think you’re his type.” Julia smiled.

Kendall frowned. “Ridiculous. We should have gone home yesterday when we had the chance. And now we’re here playing soldiers with something we have no clue about. We could all die here.”

No one said anything. Kendall seemed satisfied with the effects of his words and turned. “Good night everyone.” He looked at Havel. “Coming?”

Havel looked at the rest of them and grimaced. Then he left the room.

Everyone sighed at once. Julia kept her head down. Wilkins filled his coffee mug. “That guy is the biggest pain in the ass I’ve ever known.”

“Seemed pretty gung-ho on you Mick,” said Darren.

“Maybe he’s a pacifist,” offered Nung.

“Maybe he’s just an asshole,” said Julia. Everyone laughed. Except for Mick. They looked at him but he was in mid-sip. When he finally set his mug down, his face was grim.

“Maybe Kendall had better hope that whatever took Vikorsky doesn’t figure out a new way in. And grab him.”

“Yeah, that’d be a shame,” said Wilkins.

But they all knew it was true.

In the early pre-dawn hours, the entire facility felt as still as a morgue. The air hung heavy with the vague smell of moist lead. Julia shivered slightly from her vantagepoint at the end of the long hallway.

Across from her, Mick’s eyes never left the doorway to the greenhouse.

She watched him, aware that there seemed no ebb in the intensity of his gaze. Despite the fact that he’d had the least amount of sleep tonight, he seemed primed.

Ready.

“Mick?”

He never took his eyes off the doorway. “Yeah?”

“What do you think we’re dealing with?”

He waited a long few seconds before answering. “I don’t know.”

She frowned. Was he telling the truth? Part of her suspected that maybe he knew something more than he was willing to acknowledge. Part of him seemed deeply troubled by the events, but another part seemed comfortable with the idea — the notion — that something was hunting them.

But why?

“What kind of an animal could survive down here? How could they live in this environment?”