the frame a second later by a large feline shape.
'Hasseldorf, Krieger,' the sergeant named Dietrich said harply. 'Dismantle the western log-bridge.' Two of the Ger man soldiers immediately broke out of the circle.
Dietrich turned to face his young radio operator. 'Have you been able to get through to anyone up there?'
'I'm getting through, sir, but no-one's answering,' the radio man said.
“Keep trying.'
Through the rainspattered windows of the Humvee, Race was watching Dietrich and the German commandos assem bled around their monitor when suddenly he heard a shout.
He snapped around instantly.
And saw one of the German commandos from the tower top come charging out from the riverside path.
The commando was waving his arms wildly, yelling, 'Schnell, zum Flugzeug! Schnell, zum Flugzeug! She kommen!”
He was shouting: “Get to the plane! Get to the plane! They're coming!”
Just then a flare of lightning illuminated the path behind the running man and Race caught a glimpse of something bounding along the path behind him.
'Oh, my God…“
It was one of the giant cat-like creatures—just like the one he had seen stepping out of the temple only minutes earlier.
But the image he had seen on the Humvee's tiny television screen hadn't done the creature justice at all.
It was absolutely terrifying.
It ran with its head held low and its pointed ears pinned back, its powerful muscular shoulders driving it forward after its fleeing human prey.
It moved beautifully, with fluid feline grace—that striking combination of balance, power and speed common to cats the world oven
The German commando was running hard but there was no way he was going to outrun the massive animal behind him. He tried to swerve as he ran, to dodge in behind some trees next to the path. ,But the cat was too agile. It looked like a cheetah in full flight—its powerful legs adjusting perfectly as it ran, copying the movements of its prey, ducking to the left, veering to the right, keeping its centre of gravity low, never once losing its footing.
It loomed above the hapless German, got closer and closer, and then, when it was near enough, the great cat leapt forward and—
Abruptly, the lightning flash vanished and the path was plunged into complete darkness.
Darkness.
Silence.
And Race heard a scream.
Then suddenly another flash of lightning lit up the riverbank, and as he registered the image before him, Race felt his blood run completely cold.
The immense black cat was standing astride the body of the commando, its massive head bent over the fallen man's neck area. Abruptly, the cat jerked its jaws upward and with a sickening ripping sound, wrenched the dead commando's throat clear from his body.
And in another glaring flash of lightning, the giant black cat roared in triumph.
For a whole minute, no-one in the Humvee said anything.
Walter Chambers broke the silence. 'We are in so much trouble.'
And he was right. For at that moment, at that terrible moment, all of the other black cats burst out from the foliage near the riverbank and attacked every living thing in sight.
The cats stormed the village from every side, catching Dietrich and his men—gathered foolishly around the monitor in the centre of the town-completely by surprise.
The cats bounded into the main street like bats out of hell—-crash-tackling the German commandos where they stood, bowling them off their feet before they could grab their guns, slamming them to the ground, biting into their throats.
Race wasn't sure how many of the cats there were. At first he counted ten, then twelve, then fifteen.
Jesus.
Then suddenly he heard gunfire and he snapped around to see the two German soldiers Dietrich had sent to raise the western log-bridge Hasseldorf and Krieger—firing desperately at the onslaught of charging cats.
The two commandos managed to hit a couple of the fearsome animals they pitched wildly forward, crashed down into the mud—before the other cats simply leapt over their bodies and overwhelmed the two humans with their numbers.
One cat leapt onto Hasseldorf's back and immediately ripped out his spine. Another just clamped its massive jaws around Krieger's throat, breaking his neck with a nauseating crrrrunch!
The rest of the village looked like a riot zone, with Ger man soldiers running in every direction—toward the two Apache helicopters, toward the huts, toward the river—in a desperate bid to escape the rampaging cats.
