Jon Merz - Prey

Another scrape.

A brilliant beam of light appeared from the end of Mick’s rifle barrel.

The flashlight!

It cut a swath of yellow across the cave.

And instantly, Julia heard the shrieks. Just like she’d heard back in the greenhouse.

And then she saw it.

Them.

On the ceiling.

My god, how many of them are there?

“Aim high!”

Mick’s voice broke in over the shrieks and then he opened up.

And all hell broke loose.

Julia jerked the M16 up and at the roof of the cave. Her finger jerked and the gun bucked once sending a round ricocheting off the area above her.

She could see the muzzle flashes of the other guns shooting.

She heard the reports; they sounded like explosions in the darkness.

And all the action happened in a weird strobelike effect thanks to very little light being spread around the area.

Shouts now as team members directed their fire accordingly.

“Front!”

“One o’clock — get him!”

“I’m out, gotta change mags!”

It all seemed incredibly surreal. Julia felt herself shrink into a tight shell. Her vision narrowed and she kept searching for targets and squeezing the trigger. She lost count of how many times she thought she’d gotten one of them in her crosshairs. She fired again and again.

Until she squeezed the trigger one time and it fell forward with a dull click.

Out of bullets.

“I’m out!”

She dropped down under cover of her rock and felt for the magazine release. There! The empty mag dropped and clanged off the ground. Julia pawed for a fresh one and then jammed it up and into the housing, jerked the charging handle back and let it spring forward.

Something dropped down to the cave floor close to her.

She spun.

Brought her gun up.

A face appeared before her, no more than two feet away.

She screamed.

It shrieked.

She fired.

The gun bucked once. Julia kept squeezing the trigger. More bullet casings jumped out of the gun spinning in the strobed light to the cave floor.

Someone screamed.

The face in front of Julia’s disappeared.

Jon F. Merz

Prey

Had she killed it?

Sporadic gunfire erupted from around them now. Fewer shouts called out. Mick had kept his fire disciplined and tight. Squeezing off controlled bursts at his targets. Julia knew others had gone full auto.

She kept on her arc and thought about how miraculous it was none of her bullets had ricocheted back at her.

We could have been killed having a firefight in here, she decided.

“Cease fire!”

Mick’s voice again. And he still sounded as cool as ever. Just another trip out to the range for him. Julia frowned. I have to go to the bathroom.

“Cease fire!”

She felt Mick beside her. His voice stayed low this time. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I think so.”

He patted her on the back. “Nice job.”

“We need some light.”

Julia turned. “Someone get one of the survival lanterns cranked up.” She wondered what sort of a slaughterhouse they’d see materialize as the light blossomed in the cave.

She heard the fizz and poop of the lantern coming on. Dull yellow light spilled across the jagged promontories of rock. And Julia saw…

Nothing.

“What the fuck?”

Wilkins stood. “What the fuck is this shit? There are no bodies here.” He glanced around. “I know I got at least one of those bastards.”

Julia scoured the area. Spent brass casings littered the ground; she could see the impact points where bullets had apparently hit the rocks of the cave walls. But she couldn’t see any blood. And no creatures lying on the floor dead or dying.

Nothing.

She glanced at Mick but he was only staring down the tunnel toward where the light had originated. She came up beside him. “What the hell just happened here, Mick?”

She shrugged. “Wish I knew.” He lifted his rifle. “I shot a whole bunch of those things, whatever the hell they are. I saw them fall down dead. We all heard their shrieks. That didn’t sound like they hadn’t been injured to me.”

“They sounded like they were dying,” said Julia. “I know I shot at least two of them.”

“I’d bet we all shot a lot more than that,” said Kendall suddenly behind her. Julia turned and saw the serious look on his face. “But the fact remains there are no bodies here.”

“Any theories?”

Kendall shrugged. “I wish I had one. When we started firing, I could see them in the flashes of light from the muzzle blasts. They were all around us. Ready to pounce. I think they wanted a sense of surprise.”

“They knew we were here,” said Julia. “I got that impression, too.”

“But where are the damned bodies?” asked Wilkins.

Mick sighed. “This doesn’t make any sense. We had our targets, we found them, we should have bodies.”

“We’ve got another problem,” said Nung.

Julia turned. “What is it?”

Nung chewed his lip. “Havel’s gone.”

“What?”

Mick came over. “What did you say?”

“Havel’s gone. When the firefight started, it was all I could do to keep shooting at those damned things. I heard a scream-”

“I heard it, too,” said Julia.”

“— and just now when we got the lights on, I looked over. Havel’s gone. His rifle is still here. But he’s gone.”

Julia leaned against the cave wall. Another team member missing. And not one indication that their bullets and all that commotion had done one lick of good at warding off their attackers.

Mick let his rifle slide down to his side. “Dammit.”

Julia looked at him. “What the hell just happened here, Mick? Why didn’t our bullets work? What the hell are these things? I need some answers here. I’m missing another team member and I’m not at all happy about it.”

“I wish I had something to tell you,” said Mick. “Fact is, I’m as stumped as anyone else. Way I figured it, we had ourselves a slaughter going on. Even if they did know we were there, we still should have killed a bunch of them.”

“Why did you call a cease fire?”

“I could see them shrinking back the way they came.”

“Shrinking?”

Mick nodded. “Looked like they were retreating.”

Julia frowned. “What if-?”

“What?”

Julia shook her head. “Is it possible? What if it was some type of hologram?”

“You mean the entire attack was just an illusion?”

“Yeah.”

“It could happen I suppose,” he said.

Kendall nodded. “Sure, why not?”

“Seems like the only thing that makes sense,” said Darren. “I’m no Rambo, but I know I brought down some of those bastards.”

“Some hologram,” said Wilkins. “Had me fucking convinced, that’s for sure. I was scared shitless.”

“I think we all were,” said Julia. “I still have to go to the bathroom.”

“So they — whoever they are — do this hologram for what purpose? To make us waste ammo?” Mick frowned. “Strange tactic.”

“Not so strange,’ said Nung. “Actually kind of ingenious.”

“How do you figure?”

Nung sat down on a rock. “Figure they send up this hologram thing. We see it coming, complete with audio and figure it for the real attack. So, of course, we let loose and hose the place down.”

“Which reminds me,” said Julia. “Was I the only one concerned about ricochets?”

“I thought about it,” said Mick. “Not much choice, though.”

“While we’re hosing the place down, convinced as we were that they were all over us,” Nung grinned. “They slip in behind us and grab Havel.”

“So the attack was a feint,” said Kendall. “Smart bastards these things, huh?”