'Well, what else did it look like?'
'What do you mean?'
Julia sighed. 'You said part of it looked like a dinosaur. What did the other part look like?'
Mick frowned and glanced at Wilkins. 'Uh…'
'I don't know, boss. Had really long arms and legs though. Those seemed almost human.'
'You think it was a half-human half-dinosaur you just saw?' She almost grinned in spite of herself.
'I know it sounds weird,' said Mick.
'Sounds more than weird,' said Julia. 'The only thing that keeps me believing you two is the fact that I saw something in the tunnel. And while the light wasn't good, I did see a tail. We all did. So against my better judgment — which seems to have gone out the window — I will believe you.'
Wilkins heaved a sigh of relief. 'Thanks.'
'So, where'd it go?'
'It left,' said Mick. 'Walked off down the path.'
'Still keeping on the same route we are?'
'Yeah.'
'And you want to follow it?'
Mick shrugged. 'Well, we don't have much of a choice, do we? It might lead us to our people.'
Julia nodded. 'All right. Pass the word to the others. We'll follow this…thing and see where it takes us.'
'We'll have to be damned quiet,' said Mick. 'No stopping, no conversation. If it gets wind of us, hell will break loose.'
'Make sure everyone understand that,' said Julia. 'I don't want any cock-ups on this.'
Mick smiled. 'You're starting to talk like a boss now, you know that?'
'Am I?' Julia grinned. 'I'm relieved.'
Mick frowned. 'It was supposed to be a compliment.'
Julia nodded. 'Save them for after this is all through. Then you can tell me how much you like my hair and my legs and anything else that you think will help your cause. For right now, let's just get this done and then get the hell out of here.'
Mick looked at her a few seconds longer and then nodded. 'Yeah. All right.'
The team got up and moved. Julia trailed behind Wilkins again.
They got about ten meters when someone tapped her on the shoulder. She wheeled around, her rifle already coming up, ready to shoot.
Darren held up his hands. 'Wait!'
Julia sighed and lowered the gun. 'What the hell is wrong?'
'Sorry,' said Darren. 'But Nung just did the same thing to me.'
Nung nodded. 'Just thought you should know.'
'Know what?'
'Kendall's gone.'
18
'Where the hell did he go?'
Mick's voice behind Julia spoke the same words she'd been about to. Kendall. Dammit!
Nung shrugged. 'I didn't hear any commotion behind us. I don't think there were any creatures there.'
Wilkins cleared his throat. 'You don't suppose…'
'What?'
He sighed. 'You think he might have just walked off?'
'On his own?' Julia found it tough to believe Kendall would simply abandon them. 'I don't know.'
'He's felt from the start this should have been his mission anyway,' said Wilkins. 'Maybe he thinks the time has come for him to prove it, if only to himself.'
'How? What's he going to do on his own that we can't do as a team?'
'I don't know.'
Mick frowned. 'We have to keep moving.'
Julia shook her head. Her team was growing smaller with every hour. And the thought of facing some type of strange dinosaur half-breed didn't thrill her. It would have been tough enough with eight team members. Now they were down to five.
Not good odds.
She turned to Mick. 'We need to figure out what the hell is going on here and soon. If we lose any more people, we'll be committing suicide.'
He nodded. 'Let's go.'
They followed the path for another twenty minutes. In the distance, Julia thought she could hear the faint hum of machinery. Machines? In the mountain? Things were getting weirder by the minute.
Mick kept them moving slowly and stealthily toward the end of the path. It forked again twice, but Julia let Mick lead them as best his instinct could. He took them left once and then right.
They heard the low growl a split second before all hell broke loose.
Nung actually fired first, but the dinosaur had come at him through the palm shrubs. The M16 sounded like a continuous explosion as Nung's rounds ripped through the air and into the green shrub.
The half-breed beaklike face snapped at Nung. Nung staggered back and loosed another volley from his gun.
Another shout and Wilkins began firing at another one of the creatures who had come streaking at them for the left. Wilkins' bullets found their mark and splanged into the scaly chest of the dinosaur. Bright red blood exploded and the creature dropped.
More growls.
More shouts.
More gunfire.
Mick was firing one shot at a time at two more creatures charging them from the front. Julia saw that Nung had managed to bring down his attacker.
Darren had shot one of the creatures that had attempted to come at them from behind.
Julia hadn't fired a single shot.
'Look out!'
She wheeled and saw the needle-sharp teeth snap at her neck. She leaned back and brought the barrel of the gun up. Her finger squeezed the trigger and the gun kicked. The sudden noise made her wince.
The dinosaur leaned back avoiding the bullets.
Two more shots exploded close by and the rounds tore through the leaves close to Julia. She spun and saw Mick aiming at the creature that had just attacked her.
Then it was over.
Nung sat down, clutching his right arm. It was bright red with his own blood. His face had contorted in pain. Wilkins rushed to him and examined the wound.
Mick prodded one of the dead dinosaur half-breeds with his gun. He looked at Julia. 'What the hell?'
She came over. The corpse resembled part of a dinosaur. So, it was true. But the arms and legs looked… humanoid. And the eyes. Julia shook her head. So pitch black. Big, dilated pupils with hardly any lids.
The back of the head was elongated and almost flattened.
Darren came over. 'Looks like a Camptosaurus.'
'A what?'
'Type of dinosaur. Plant eater, though. I can't imagine them being interested in eating us.'
'Says you,' Nung grunted. Wilkins was busy slapping a pressure dressing on the wound. Nung frowned. 'Damn thing tried to rip my arm clean off.'
'You're lucky you were able to get those rounds off,' said Wilkins.
