Jon Merz - Prey

When she got close, he put his mouth to her ear. “Tracks.” And then he pointed at the ground.

Julia glanced down and frowned. They weren’t human footprints. But there seemed to be two apparently separate sets of tracks leading down the path. But what had made them. Both sets only contained two indentations, meaning the thing that had created them must have walked up right.

But what?

And where were Havel’s tracks?

Julia frowned. Maybe he’d been carried.

Maybe he was already dead.

She heard the other team members come into the opening and spread out, still facing behind them. But she saw the incredulous look in their eyes. A jungle inside a mountain in Antarctica of all the crazy things.

She almost couldn’t believe it herself.

But here it was.

Mick brushed the closest giant leaf and shook his head. “This doesn’t exactly look like the latest generation of this species.”

Julia grinned. “You an expert at horticulture?”

“No.”

She turned and waved Darren up. “Fortunately, we’ve got one of the best.” She pointed at Darren and then at the leaf. “What do you make of that?”

Darren knelt down and examined the leaf closely. He turned it over and seemed particularly interested in the stem running back toward the trunk of the shrub. After two minutes he shook his head and looked at Julia.

“Damnedest thing, boss.”

“What?”

“This plant hasn’t existed on earth for about sixty-five million years.”

She looked at him. Mick turned slightly.

“Excuse me?”

Darren nodded. “It’s a subspecies of the palm genus. The kind that used to litter the planet way back in the late Cretaceous period. Sixty-five million years ago. They evolved into what we commonly refer to as palm trees now, but back then, these plants were a food source for a whole lot of animals.”

Mick cleared his throat. “What kind of animals?”

Darren’s face clouded. “Well, there were the early mammals around back then. Some birds just starting to show up on the scene.”

Mick’s jaw grew firm again. “Anything else?”

“Yeah,” said Darren. “Some species of dinosaurs liked this plant, too.”

Julia heard Kendall sniff derisively. “Dinosaurs? Give me a break.”

Wilkins shot him a look. “Keep your damned eyes peeled, Kendall. I don’t want anything coming at us from behind because you were too busy spouting off your bullshit.”

Kendall frowned but turned back to watch the opening.

Mick chewed his lip. “Well, I don’t think we were attacked by dinosaurs in the tunnel back there. And I have a hard time believing that a dinosaur could be intelligent enough to come through the roof of the greenhouse and carry of Vikorsky.”

Julia looked at him. “Still.”

“What?”

“We all saw the creatures back there in the cave.”

“It was dark, Julia.”

“Not dark enough. I saw a tail at least once.”

“Doesn’t mean it was a dinosaur.”

She nodded. “I think we’d better keep our minds open to any possibility, however.”

Mick nodded. “Absolutely. I just don’t anyone running around with visions of Jurassic Park in their heads is all. It’ll distract us from finding the real source of our problem.”

“You mean rescuing Vikorsky and Havel,” said Julia.

“Yes,” said Mick. “If that’s even possible.”

He turned back to the ground. “These tracks aren’t all that old. Maybe a few hours. We should follow them and see where they go.”

Julia’s throat went dry. Somehow the idea of tracking down the…creatures did not appeal to her much. A wave of fear broke over her confidence and dragged her resolution out into a sea of worry.

Mick must have seen it on her face because he took her hand. “It’ll be okay. Just stick close to me.”

She grinned. “I’ve got no intention of being anywhere else.”

Darren cleared his throat. “It’s damned hot in here.”

Mick nodded. “Seems like some kind of controlled environment, doesn’t it?” He pointed at the ceiling. “It’s still the mountain, near as I can tell, but the roof is almost a hundred feet over our heads.”

“Why would this cavern be so large?” asked Julia.

Mick shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Julia heard a zipper coming down. She turned and saw Wilkins shrugging off his jacket. He smiled at her. “Way too hot in here to keep our gear on.”

She nodded and undid her own jacket. Mick waited until she was done shucking her winter clothes and then did the same. Julia watched his jacket come off and reveal the massive size of his arms. Sweat still coated his skin, making him resemble some type of oiled bodybuilder.

And Julia didn’t mind one bit.

He hefted his rifle and when everyone had stowed their gear under the largest palm shrub nearby, where it hopefully couldn’t be easily spotted, Mick pointed to the path.

Time to follow it and see how far it went.

Julia took a final glimpse back at the cave opening and then turned and followed Mick into the jungle.

The trail sloped gently downward, winding as it went, leading them further into heavy undergrowth. A steady breeze swept through the leaves and branches of various shrubs and small trees. Julia marveled at how such an ecosystem could even exist in the middle of a mountain.

Mick never stopped eyeing the path as it led them deeper into the jungle. Julia could feel the tension coming off his body in waves. He was primed, she thought. Ready to explode into action if needed.

They had to keep stopping for Darren who would break ranks and examine every new plant he saw, exclaiming about how rare it was.

“Darren!” Julia said it for what felt like the millionth time. “We have to keep moving.”

Wilkins whispered something in Darren’s ear, which made the young man’s face go pale. He stood, grabbed his rifle and hurried back into the line.

Julia grabbed Wilkins. “What did you say to him?”

Wilkins’ face was stone. “I told him that if he brought down any heat on us from those creatures, I’d kill him myself.”

He turned and continued walking. Julia watched him go and wondered what was happening to her team.

Mick called a halt a few minutes later and they formed up. Mick kept his voice low and soft, but audible at the same time.

“The path forks up ahead.”

Worried expressions bloomed on the faces of the team. Nung cleared his throat. “Please tell me you aren’t going to suggest we split up.”

Mick shrugged. “It’d save a lot of time if we did. We could cover more ground and possibly locate our missing people even faster.”

“And we could blunder into an ambush and get killed off a lot easier if there are less of us to fight,” said Darren. “No thanks.”

Mick glanced at Julia. “It’s your decision.”

Julia looked at her team. She could feel their stares. She could tell they were scared. And she knew that she’d have to go against Mick on this on.

“We stay together,” she said finally.

Mick nodded. “Fair enough. Left or right?”

“Sorry?”

“Which way do you want to go? The path goes in one of two directions.”

Julia shrugged. “How about left?”

“Sounds good.” Mick stood and grabbed his rifle If he was upset that Julia had overruled his motion to split the team, he didn’t show it.

Nung wandered past. “Thanks, boss.”

“Forget it.”

She trailed behind, wondering what they’d managed to get themselves into.

Mick led them left and they walked another couple of hundred yards when his fist shot into the sky and they all crouched low and off the main trail. Mick got down on his hands and knees and slow-crawled ahead.