Jon Merz - Prey

The lid slid back.

Julia peered inside.

She saw more long cases like the ones Mick had pulled out the first time for rifles. Julia pulled one out. She could see other cases clearly marked as ammunition and grenades. She took those out as well.

But it was the dull gray briefcase-sized object that drew her attention.

Some type of fancy script ran down one side of it. What language was that in?

She pulled it out.

In the bright sunshine, it seemed innocuous enough.

But the fact that it was in the weapons cache concerned her. She remembered what Wilkins had told her about. Small nuclear devices.

Was this one of them?

She’d take it with her. Maybe Mick would know how to work it.

She stopped.

Did she really want to set off a nuclear weapon on the continent? Did she really want to ruin this last piece of unspoiled real estate in the entire world?

She frowned. Did she really want to let the aliens live? The nuclear weapon could kill them all and their creatures. Wasn’t that worth a little radiation here?

She looked around. The whiteness of this place seemed so virgin. So proper. So natural.

To ruin that so she could kill the aliens…

No.

She slid it back into the cache and shut the door again. If she was going to kill them, she’d have to do it with the guns and grenades. She felt certain Mick could rig some type of improvised explosive device using the grenades that could take their ship apart piece by piece.

Better that than a nuke unchecked.

Julia had already made some bad decisions on this trip. She didn’t want to be the person who had nuked Antarctica. That would have finished her off for good.

She stood and pulled the long crates back to the Snowcat first. Once there, she broke the crate open and pulled out four of the rifles and checked them over the way Mick had shown them earlier.

There was no time to zero them properly. But Julia didn’t feel too worried about that. It was going to be close fighting. A few inches off at four hundred yards wouldn’t mean squat in the close confines of the spaceship.

She checked the grenades over. There were several different types. Julia brought all of them, tucked in behind the driver’s seat of the Snowcat.

She glanced back at the weapons cache.

An idea slipped into her mind.

She walked back and reopened the cache, peering inside for a longer time now. After a few minutes searching, she came up with four survival kits filled with food and water.

She broke these open and gorged herself until she felt like she couldn’t eat anything else. Somewhat restored, she threw the litter back into the cache, took a few fresh survival kits and headed back to the Snowcat.

She climbed back in and restarted the engine.

It turned over easily.

The sun still shone brightly overhead.

It was time, she decided.

Time to go back to the tunnel.

Back to the jungle.

To the spaceship.

Get Mick out alive.

And to finally dispense some serious justice to the aliens who had killed off her team.

Julia wheeled the Snowcat around, burped once, and trundled off back in the direction of the mountains.

By the time Julia got back to the tunnel entrance, the sun had disappeared behind a huge swath of bloated gray and white clouds moving in from the east. The first flakes fell on her as she climbed back up to the ledge and squeezed herself and all the supplies inside.

She took a moment to swig some more water before shrugging off her winter weather gear and hoisting the rifles, grenades and ammunition on her back while she dragged the survival kits to the proximity of the jungle entrance.

Doing so exhausted her even more, but Julia wouldn’t let herself quit until she had Mick back safe and sound.

If he wasn’t dead yet.

The thought had hit her several times during the course of her journey. A huge part of her urged her to simply forget about Mick and get the hell back to the research station. At least there she could radio for help. Raise the alarm.

And if the aliens came for her there, she could probably hold them off.

Probably.

So why risk her life by coming back to this place? Why risk another impregnation attempt by the aliens? Why risk running into Kendall again?

For Mick.

She sighed. Her life had been devoid of anything she could remotely classify as romantic for so long that the prospect of enjoying some quality nuzzle time with Mick had pretty much driven her common sense right out of her.

Did love ever make sense anyway?

She didn’t think so.

What about Mick? Would he take to her the way she had to him? There was no guarantee he’d be enthralled with Julia when this was all over.

She shook her head. Either way, she had to try. And she didn’t much think that anyone deserved to die the kinds of deaths her people had suffered at the hands of Kendall and his alien pals.

There needed to be some payback.

Big time.

At the entrance to the jungle, Julia paused again and sucked down more water. She was worried about dehydrating with all the exertion she’d been putting herself through today. Combined with the multi-climactic settings she’d been walking through and she’d have to be careful she didn’t pass out at some point.

It was time.

She nudged her way through the entrance and paused there.

Waiting.

Part of her suspected they might have set some type of trap. Waiting for her to come back.

But she saw nothing that would indicate such a thing.

What she did see was the body of the dinosaur with Nung’s head embedded in its chest still laying where she’d left it.

Dead.

Nung’s eyes were closed.

Like he was sleeping.

But he wouldn’t be waking up from this one.

She moved further into the jungle and sniffed the air cautiously. But again, there seemed to be nothing to alarm her. The air seemed clear. She took a deep breath, watched for any unusual side effects and could find none.

Maybe Kendall thought she’d run back to the research station without caring about what happened to Mick.

Good.

She paused by the dinosaur, knelt down and touched Nung’s face. She whispered a silent prayer of the kind she hadn’t said in so many years. She hoped he’d find a way to forgive her.

She hoped she’d find a way to forgive herself, too.

The rifles clanked against each other as she walked further down the trail. She followed the curves now more confidently than she had before. She knew where she was going.

And while she kept an ear peeled for possible dinocreatures and other nastiness, something told her she didn’t have much to worry about. She hastened along.

When she finally saw the metallic door leading into the spaceship, she paused. This was it.

She tucked two of the M16s underneath a nearby shrub, along with some grenades and ammunition. Chances were good that she and Mick would need them when they came running out.

She slid her own M16 off her back and held it at ready. She kept the other diagonal across her back for Mick. She prayed he’d be safe until she could get to him.

But where was he?

She pressed the door release on the side of the door and it slid open suddenly with a sharp hiss. Julia took one last glance around and stepped inside.

The door slid shut behind her.

Silence dropped.

Julia stood not moving for a minute, taking in everything around her and letting the ambient noises settle in her ears. If anything changed, subconsciously, she’d notice it.

She could see blast marks on the walls still, evidence of the lasers shot at her and Mick during their escape attempt. She could see smaller scars from the bullets they’d fired as well.