compound. 'This better be good,' he said.
'Why don't you simply leave us?' Trout said. 'The experiment has been completed.'
'Nice try. We leave, and the next day some bloke comes along and finds you waving your undershirts on the beach. Things have a way of catching up with you in my business. Now drive and keep your mouth shut.'
Trout did as he was told. When they arrived at the compound, the Aussie ordered Trout to stop. He yanked the keys from the ignition and got out to look around. The other guards jumped down from the truck and stared into the darkness with their weapons at ready.
The Aussie inspected the wreckage of the gate and the overturned gatehouse. There was an eerie quiet about the place. No night bird cries or insects humming. There was no sign of the carnage Trout had witnessed. He thought back to the rat-eating feast Strega had orchestrated and decided he didn't want to know what happened to the bodies.
The Aussie got back into the Mercedes. 'What the hell is going on here?' he said.
'Did you know what we were working on in the labs?'
'Yeah. Germ warfare. Something to do with the stuff the sub was bringing in off the bottom of the sea. They never let us into the compound. Said we might catch something.'
Trout laughed.
'What's so funny?' There was a dangerous tone to the Aussie's voice.
'They were lying,' Trout said. 'We were doing enzyme research.'
'What are you talking about?'
'You ever heard of the Philosopher's Stone?'
The gun barrel jabbed Trout in the ribs. 'This is my philosophy.'
Trout winced, but stayed calm. 'It was a secret formula supposed to change other material into gold.'
'No such thing.'
'You think the people who hired you would go through all this trouble if there were no such thing?'
Pause. 'Okay, mate, show us this gold.'
'I'll take you to the storehouse where they keep it. Maybe you'll rethink my suggestion about leaving us. '
The Aussie smiled. 'I'll do that,' he said.
Trout knew that he and his fellow scientists would be doomed, even if he were able to produce all the gold in Fort Knox. No other reason would have persuaded him to return to the Zoo. He drove up and parked in front of the wide-open front door.
'Here we are,' he said.
They got out of the Mercedes and the Aussie took the ignition key and ordered his men out of the truck, leaving one behind, who was instructed to shoot anyone who got out of order. Then he told Trout to lead the way.
'Jeezus, what's that stink?' the guard said.
'That's the smell of gold,' the Aussie said with a laugh.
Trout headed for the door as if he were in a trance. He knew he was taking a calculated risk, but he reasoned that the creatures who'd once been imprisoned in the building would return to the place that had been their home. He knew he had guessed right when he stepped into the fetid darkness, heard the sickening sound of bones being crunched and saw pairs of red eyes burning in the darkness. He ran his hand along the wall and flicked the light on.
The creatures were back in their cages with the doors open. They had been busy feasting on the remnants of Colonel Strega and his minions. As the light came on, they retreated to the back of their cages. There was a yell of revulsion and surprise from the Aussie guard.
The Aussie grabbed Trout and pushed him against the wall. 'You and your friends are going to die for this.'
Trout grabbed the barrel of the gun and tried to twist it out of the
Aussie's hands, but his adversary had the advantage of being on the trigger end. He let off a shot that went wild, taking a chip out of the wall a few inches from Trout's neck. As they wrestled for the gun, the creatures came to the front of their cages. The sight of guard uniforms triggered a ferocious attack. The creatures leaped into the room in a howling mass of teeth and claws.
The guard got off a few rounds before being mowed down by the snarling onslaught. Two creatures jumped on the Aussie's back, pushing him to the floor. Another creature lunged toward Trout, but stopped halfway and stared. In that brief instant, Trout could swear that he saw a glimpse of humanity in the thing's face. When he saw Trout wasn't wearing a uniform, he pounced instead on the Aussie.
Trout bolted for the door and bowled over the man who'd been guarding the prisoners. One of the creatures who'd followed Trout out the door saw the fallen guard and made short work of him.
Trout yelled at Gamay to drive the truck. He slid behind the steering wheel of the Mercedes and reached for the ignition key. Gone. He remembered that the Aussie had taken it with him. Gamay called out that the truck key was missing as well. Trout jumped out of the car, grabbed Gamay and told everyone to run for their lives.
From the sudden quietness from the Zoo, Trout guessed that the creatures were enjoying having the guards over for dinner. He didn't want to be around at dessert time.
AUSTIN AND Zavala were about a mile from the compound when they heard feet pounding along the road in the darkness ahead. They scuttled off the gravel road and threw themselves belly-down in the tall grass.
As the footfalls approached, they were intermingled with the low murmur of voices and a wheezing that suggested that some of the people coming toward them were not in the best of physical condition. Then he heard a familiar voice pleading. 'Please move it along, folks. We'll have plenty of time to rest later.'
Trout stopped short as two figures materialized from the darkness.
'You're a long way from Lost City,' Austin said.
'Kurt and Joe?' Trout said with relief. 'Damn. This is like old home week.'
Gamay threw her arms around her NUMA colleagues.
'These are my friends, Mac and Sandy,' Trout said. 'I'll introduce the others later. Do you have a boat?'
Austin said, 'I'm afraid we burned our bridges behind us. We saw a patrol boat out on the water earlier. Do you know where they keep it tied up?'
'I know where it might be.' Trout cocked his ear and he frowned. 'We've got to get out of here.'
Austin had heard the noise, like the distant howling of the wind. 'What's that?' He listened again. 'Sounds like a pack of wolves chasing a deer.' .
'I wish it were,' Trout said. 'Are you armed?'
'We've got handguns.'
The howling was getting louder. Trout glanced back along the road again.
'Shoot anything that moves, especially if it's got red eyes,' he said without further explanation. Austin and Zavala recalled the red-eyed furies from the video and didn't need any persuasion.
Trout took Gamay by the arm and called out to the others to get moving again. Austin and Zavala took up the rear.
The group walked in silence for fifteen minutes, urged on by the growing volume of the howling, until they could see the lights in the windows of the patrol boat barracks. Their pursuers were so close now that individual howls could be heard.
The noise must have penetrated the barracks walls because a couple of guards burst out of the building into the night as the fugitives were making their way around the blockhouse on their way to the dock.
The guards saw the faces reflected in the light coming from the door and yelled at the group to halt or be killed. One guard called into the building, and seconds later two more men emerged. One was half-dressed and the other, a big bearded man, must have been asleep because he was in his underwear. He grinned and said, 'Looks like we caught ourselves a bonus from Strega.'
His comrades roared with laughter, but their mirth was cut short, quickly turning to fear, as they heard the howling. The terrifying noise seemed to be coming from every direction. They huddled together, their guns facing outward, staring at the eyes that glowed like coals in the darkness.
The guard with the black beard sprayed the darkness with bullets. Cries of pain indicated that some bullets had hit a target. The gunfire triggered an onslaught. The creatures attacked from every direction, going after
