Day of the Predator - Alex Scarrow [107]
The sound of the others moving through the jungle was all but gone now. He couldn’t afford to remain like this much longer. He needed a kill pretty soon, and for the rest of those things to hopefully bolt like rabbits.
‘Come on,’ he said quietly, ‘just you and me. Man versus ugly lizard thing.’
Its jaw snapped open and a dark tongue curled like a serpent inside. ‘… Lizz … arrrrd … ting …’ A surprisingly close approximation of his own voice.
‘So you do impressions, huh?’
The creature cocked its head thoughtfully, and it was then, as the creature was distracted, working out how to replicate what he’d just said, that he decided to make his move. He took a quick step and a short leap forward and thrust the spear hard. It caught something soft and the creature flapped and flailed on the end of the bamboo, howling with a voice that reminded him of the awful noise a dog can make if you step on its tail.
‘YES!’ he snarled.
First blood. He pulled the spear back out, leaving a large puncture wound in the creature’s belly, out of which thick dark blood began to sputter as it flailed in screeching agony on the jungle floor.
He was about to stab the thing again, but he felt the spear yanked roughly out of his hands.
‘Whuh?’
He turned to see a larger hominid, standing fully erect, maybe a foot taller than him. It snarled angrily, a rattling croak in the depth of its throat. He saw others behind it, then became aware of yellow eyes all around him.
The creature held his spear in both of its clawed hands, closely inspecting the long thick shaft, and then finally the sharpened tip, wet with dark blood. It looked at the tip, cocked its head and then looked down at Kelly, who now no longer felt so much like a commando. His knees buckled beneath him and he found himself in a helpless squat on the jungle floor.
Oh God, oh God …
‘Run,’ he whimpered. ‘Why aren’t you r-running? W-why aren’t you running?’ That was what was meant to happen. If this was a film, that’s what would happen, right? The weedy office guy finally finds his inner hero and saves the day?
‘I k-killed one … so why … w-why aren’t you r-running?’
The creature holding the spear took a step forward and once more inspected the bloodied tip of the bamboo before turning it round so that it pointed towards Kelly.
‘Oh … no …’ he found himself whimpering. ‘P-please …’
The normal everyday sounds of a Cretaceous jungle, the distant lowing of large ambling leviathans on the far-off plain, the chatter and squeak of small foraging creatures going about their business, were punctuated by a peculiar sound: the protracted, rattling scream of a human being. It echoed up through the jungle and out through the tops of the canopy trees, startling flocks of small anurognathus from their branches and into the air.
CHAPTER 59
2001, New York
‘I’m not saying another thing to you!’ snapped Sal.
Cartwright shrugged. ‘Well, OK. But then I guess I’m not going to show you what I’ve got.’
It was silent in the small interrogation room, except for the soft hum of an air-conditioner. It was warm and stuffy. He casually loosened his tie.
Sal’s narrowed eyes softened, piqued with curiosity. ‘What? What have you got?’
He smiled. ‘Hmm … now there was me thinking we weren’t going to be talking to each other.’
‘Oh shadd-yah! Please. Just tell me!’
He pursed his lips, giving it some thought. ‘And are you going to tell me the things I want to know?’
She clamped her mouth shut, said nothing.
‘You know? I suspect you probably will,’ Cartwright relented. ‘After all, you, me and Maddy all want the same thing: to bring your friend back home safely.’
‘He’s alive? Liam’s alive?’
‘I believe so.’ He nodded and reached into his breast pocket. ‘He decided to write home.’ He passed her the folded sheet of paper and she quickly began to scan the handwriting.
‘Your colleague Maddy and I were discussing it just a few minutes ago. She’s really rather keen to bring him home too. And you know I’m prepared to help you girls do that. Whatever you want, whatever you need. But …’
She looked up.