the real difference between us and the Feds. They always act like that. We're not creatures of habit. We can tailor our behavior for the situation. If we need to be quiet, we can be quiet. If we need to be fast, we can be fast. But have you noticed the biggest difference between us and them?'
'They're jerk-offs?'
'Besides that.'
I thought about it for a moment. I watched as one of the Feds scurried behind a patch of stunted trees. He scanned around him nervously, the barrel of his stubby F2000 poking around quickly as he heard the splash of a small swamp animal. Relieved, he quickly moved on.
'Some of them are terrified,' I answered.
'Bingo. They're quiet. But that means they can't talk to their team. That means that their minds are totally on their surroundings. And if you ain't noticed, we're strolling through one of the most evil places in the world. A place like this gnaws at your mind. You start to see things out the corner of your eye. Pretty soon you're seeing ghosts, and I ain't talking about the friendly kind like you've got riding around in your head. I mean the bad kind that are jealous of the living, and want you to be just as miserable as they are. While those Feds are getting nervous and jumpy, their minds playing tricks on them, when it comes time to throw down, we're going to be just fine. That's why you see my team shooting the bull.'
'It keeps their minds off of all this.' I gestured at the drizzly blackness. As I concentrated on the swamp, I could feel the chill, the cold, the eons of hate, and the ancient evil that lay under the murky water. I looked away and turned back to my team. 'I'm with you.'
We continued on, drenched by the splashing mud and the drizzling rain. It was summer, but it was probably only forty degrees inside Natchy Bottom. I was shivering beneath my heavy armor. I did not envy the smaller Hunters who lacked my insulating body fat. Who's laughing now, skinny people?
The deeper we got into the swamp, the darker and more sinister it grew. After an hour of walking, the radio finally crackled. We had previously tuned into the Feds' secure frequency. 'This is Alpha team. We have a contact. There are some huts on a little island. One hundred yards south of us. They appear to be inhabited. Huts have some sort of light source, and there are some cooking fires. Over.' Our team halted, waiting for more information. I used the opportunity to spray more bug repellant onto my exposed skin.
'This is Delta,' replied Myers. 'Investigate. Proceed with caution. Over.'
Harbinger scowled and his nostrils flared as he sniffed the air. Our leader looked uneasy as he studied the surrounding swamp. He looked to Skippy and Edward. The orcs studied the air. Skippy shook his head in the negative. Harbinger got on the radio.
'Belay that order, Alpha team. Do not make contact.'
'MHI, get off my radio net,' Myers snapped.
'What color are the lights in those shacks?' Harbinger asked. 'I bet they're green.'
'Uh… This is Alpha. The lights are green. I repeat green. Over.'
'Fall back, Alpha. Fall back unless you want to get the marrow sucked out of your bones.'
'This is Delta. Alpha, ignore that order and check out those structures. Over.'
'Myers, you dumb ass. Pull your men back or you're going to lose a whole team. And then we're going to have to waste a day messing with the things on that island, and they don't have anything to do with what we're after. Alpha team, listen up. If you step foot on that island, you're dead men. By the time we get over there, they'll have skinned you and eaten your eyeballs right out of your heads.' He let go of the mike, and then thought better of it. 'Over,' he added.
'What are they, Earl?' Julie asked with some concern. He just held up a hand and waited for Myers' response. A minute passed.
'This is Alpha. What should we do, sir? Over.'
Finally Myers responded. 'Fall back, Alpha. Ignore the structures for now. Mark them on your GPS for future investigation. Over.'
'It's your funeral,' Harbinger said into the radio.
'What are they?' Trip asked nervously.
'Humboldt Folk,' he explained. Most of the Hunters looked at each other in confusion. Only the senior Hunters nodded in understanding. 'They just want to be left alone is all. Alpha team is lucky they didn't set foot on that island. The Folk don't let trespassers leave. Ever.'
'No, Earl. You forget something. We're real lucky our team isn't the one that happened across it,' Julie corrected him. 'They wouldn't leave their circle to attack Alpha. They're all male. For us they might have made an exception.'
'What do you mean?' Trip asked quietly.
'The Folk tend to run real short on fertile females,' Julie answered. She quickly checked her weapons. 'Holly, if you get attacked by some strange-looking people with a green glow about them… save your last bullet for yourself.' She was not joking.
'What are they?' Holly asked. She held her. 308 Vepr and scanned the surrounding trees.
'What were they is a better question,' Harbinger responded, 'and that's a story that I'm going to save for when we're standing in a warm sunshiny place. Come on, team, we're wasting daylight.'
Somewhere in the distance strange animals cried.
Chapter 22
Hours passed as we trudged deeper into the heart of the evil swamp, yet we had not gone very far. The going was slow in Natchy Bottom. It was afternoon, and the rain had not let up. The water level had risen, and walkable land was becoming scarcer. All too often we were forced to wade through the murk, unseen things grasping at our boots, mud sucking us down. At this point we were all so coated in filth that it was becoming difficult to tell who was who.
The shorter Hunters had it particularly bad, often having to wade through water that came up over their chests, and being forced to hold their weapons above their heads. At one point Lee slipped and disappeared beneath the water, and did not come up immediately. Sam dived under and retrieved him, bringing the other Hunter up sputtering and choking. Lee swore that the roots had not wanted to let him go.
I noticed that the mood of the group had become darker and more somber. The further we went into Natchy Bottom, the more it seemed to suck at a person's happiness and will to live. It really was a bad place. I could feel that something was watching us. Unknown insects crawled or slithered inside my clothing.
'Stop,' Harbinger ordered. The team complied, weapons at the ready. 'This is it.'
I looked around. It looked just like every other patch of gray-and-black muck and mutant trees that I had been looking at all morning. I would certainly hate to get lost in here.
'Yes. Everybody stay quiet. No sudden moves. Don't point your weapons at the Wendigo.' He got on the radio. 'Franks. Call a halt. This is the place. I'm going to make contact.'
'This is Delta. I want my men there with you. Over.' Myers' voice was distorted, and hard to hear through the static.
'Alpha, Bravo, set up a perimeter. Charlie with me. Hold up, MHI. Over,' Franks stated over the radio.
'All right. My favorite person in the whole world,' I muttered. 'My good buddy Agent Franks gets to hang out with us.' My tongue unconsciously probed the gaps in my gums from where he had smashed out my teeth.
'He ain't so bad for a bureaucratic killing machine,' Trip said.
'I heard he once burned a bus load of nuns 'cause he thought there was a zombie on board,' Sam added.
'No, those were orphans,' Milo corrected.
'He's actually kind of cute in a psychopathic way,' Holly said.
'Eww,' I responded. 'That's sick.'
'Hey, some girls go for that side-of-beef thug look.' She winked at Julie. I could tell our sharpshooter's cheeks turned red beneath the coating of grime. Personally, besides the muscles, I did not think that I looked like Franks at all. I was, after all, much better looking. Well, in my opinion at least.
