--- Three years later ---
Kathy O’Reilly licked the salty spray of the Pacific from her lips. As she leaned forward in the tall swivel chair bolted to the deck, the fifty-foot sailboat rocked gently on the warm waters.
She glanced back at Brad, who was busily poring over a map. “Do you think we can outrun the storm?” She nodded toward a line of gray storm clouds spanning the horizon.
Brad shook his head. “I wouldn’t chance it. But there’s a small island not too far away, and it has a lagoon where we can shelter until this blows over.”
As if to emphasize the point, the wind grew stronger, pitching the boat wildly.
Kathy tapped on the touchscreen for the navigation console and yelled, “What are the coordinates? I’ll set the autopilot.”
“The lagoon is on the west side of the island. Let’s shoot for that. Put in 11 degrees, 25 minutes, 19.2 seconds south, and 151 degrees, 49 minutes, 22.7 seconds west.”
Kathy plugged in the coordinates and hit “go” on the boat’s navigation system. The sailboat tacked slightly to the left.
She gave Brad a wry smile. “‘Let’s go sailing,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been sailing since I was a boy,’ he said.” She playfully wagged her pointer finger at him. “If we get stuck on some godforsaken island because of your bright idea, I’m not going to let you live this down, you know.”
Brad’s blue eyes sparkled, reflecting the bright sun overhead as he laughed. He was nearly forty, but his boyish smile and adventurous attitude made the fifteen years that separated them inconsequential.
He turned his gaze toward her and ran his fingers through his pale-brown hair. “I seem to recall that we discussed these plans and you thought it was a great idea too. And besides,” he unclipped from his waistband a satellite phone, “at least we’ve got this, so even if we have trouble, we can always call the maritime cavalry.”
“Well, let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
A brilliant flash of lightning streaked from one cloud to another, and seconds later came the long, rolling thunder. Kathy felt a shiver as she glanced at the autopilot screen and then up at the advancing dark clouds.
For a brief moment, Kathy wished she were back home. She’d grown up as a cattle rancher’s daughter in Nevada, and never intended to go back, but as she felt a growing sense of foreboding about their surroundings, her thoughts briefly fled to the familiarity of home.
“Kathy,” Brad yelled over the wind and the echoing boom of thunder. “Let’s get down in the cabin.” He climbed below deck, motioning for her to follow him. “It’ll take us about two hours to get there, and though we should beat the storm, it’ll get pretty windy topside.”
Hopping off the captain’s chair, Kathy ducked into the cabin and gave Brad a quick kiss on the cheek. “No shipwrecks, you got that, Mr.?”
“Oh, I don’t know. A shipwreck would give me more time with you all to myself.”
Brad pinched her rear, and she shrieked with feigned outrage as she hopped toward the bow.
He grabbed a pillow from a cabinet and tossed it to her. “Why don’t you get some rest? I’ll keep watch over things.”
“Sounds good to me.”
As Brad sat in front of the controls of the in-cabin navigator’s station, Kathy climbed into the V-shaped bed in the front of the sailboat and tucked the pillow beneath her head. Brad was a captain for a professional fishing outfit, and she had full confidence in his ability to get them safely where they needed to go. So she lay back and enjoyed the rocking of the boat, and when her eyelids began to droop, she didn’t fight it. The next thing she knew, she was awakened by Brad’s shout from above. “Honey, can you get up here?”
Kathy shook off her mental cobwebs as she stumbled up to the deck and looked around. The sound of waves breaking on a shore caught her attention. With the sun hanging low on the horizon, Kathy squinted as she realized they’d arrived at the island but hadn’t yet entered the lagoon.
Brad was removing his shirt and kicking off his deck shoes. He unclipped the sat phone from his belt and held it out. “Hold on to that.”
She took it. “What are you doing?”
“There’s a line of coral blocking the entrance to the lagoon. It looks like someone dredged a path through it, but then they put a gate in the way. I guess someone owns this place. But considering we’ve got a storm chasing us… it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” He grinned and jutted his chin toward the captain’s chair. “I’ve furled the sails, so just use the thruster motor to coax the boat into the lagoon as soon as I open the gate.”
Kathy nodded, and Brad blew her a kiss and dove into the water without even the slightest hint of a splash.
She clipped the phone onto her waist and grabbed a pair of binoculars. She could clearly see the gate blocking the entrance to the lagoon; it was about thirty feet wide, with a sign on it that said Private Property. No Trespassing.
Brad swam to the gate and, like a monkey, climbed up the chain-link fencing to the locking mechanism. He seemed to struggle with it, pulling with both hands on the metal bar that kept the gate from swinging open.
Suddenly, the metal bar flew upward and Brad tumbled into the water.
Kathy hopped to her feet and yelled, “Brad!”
Seconds later he surfaced, gave a thumbs-up signal, and motioned for her to approach. Before she even started the motor, he dove below the surface and the gate began to grudgingly swing open.
Sitting back on the captain’s swivel chair, Kathy started the outboard motor and slowly pushed the throttle lever forward. The sailboat inched forward just as sheets of rain began to fall.
###
In the light of morning, Kathy stared across fifty feet of water at the mangled remains of the gate, now hanging precariously from its metal post.
The previous night had been the most frightening night of her life. The winds had howled while the typhoon raged overhead. Their boat was far from tiny, but even with the protection of the lagoon, it had rocked like a child’s toy. And when dawn had finally broken, the skies were clear, but they’d encountered a new problem. The mangled gate was blocking their exit. To make matters worse, it had acted as a net, capturing all manner of seaweed, driftwood, and vegetation.
Brad was now hacking at the vegetation with a small fire axe, but didn’t seem to be making any headway.
Kathy yelled over the sound of his chopping, “Do you want me to help you?”
He glanced up at her and shook his head.
Kathy felt heat rise up her neck and into her cheeks as she realized he was using the only tool they had. What am I thinking? The only other cutting tools we have are steak knives.
She felt helpless as she watched Brad struggle with the mess. After another ten minutes, he roared with frustration, jumped back into the water, and swam back to the boat.
Seconds later, Kathy helped Brad as he struggled to lift himself back into the boat.
With a final heave, Brad clambered over the transom and collapsed onto the deck. “Sorry, babe. There’s just too much crap tangled up in there. And I think the weight of it all drove part of the gate into the silt. I don’t think we’ll be able to move it without heavy equipment. I know you didn’t want it to come to this, but I think we have to call for help.”
As he climbed to his feet, he winced, and Kathy noticed his right ankle looked bruised and had begun to swell.
“What’s wrong with your ankle?”
“It’s just a sprain.” Brad waved dismissively and grabbed the sat phone.
###
“I know this is private property, but it was the only shelter from the typhoon we could find. Can you just help us get the path clear so we can sail out? That’s all I’m asking. We don’t need to be airlifted or anything. Our boat’s fine.”
Brad held the phone away from his ear and gave Kathy a look that said the conversation wasn’t going as well as he’d hoped. The first call, to the local maritime authorities, had gone all right, but then they’d routed him to whatever company owned the island, and that’s when the conversation went south.
“No, we won’t be taking anything from your damned island. We just want to get as far from it as we can.” Brad ran his hand roughly through his hair, exuding a sense of frustration. “Thirty-six hours? Nothing quicker than that?” He sighed. “Okay, fine. No, we’ll be on the boat waiting for you.”
Brad stared at the phone, shook his head, and clipped it to his waist.
“So,” said Kathy. “A day and a half hanging out here.”
“Yup. Evidently there’s some company that has a long-term lease on this island. They got real pissy about ‘trespassing’ when I gave them my location, but seems like they’ll get us out. Though they made a point to tell me that they’ll be charging us for the inconvenience.”
“And you’re surprised by that?”
“No, I suppose not.” A sly expression crossed Brad’s face, and he hitched his thumb toward the island. “You know, as long as they’re pissed with us for trespassing…”
Kathy smiled. “We shouldn’t.”
“Why not? I saw some giant crabs on the beach as we approached, and that forest is nothing but coconut palms. What do you say to a crab feast? And we can drink fresh coconut water, straight from the nut.”
He had a point—fresh-cooked crab was infinitely better than anything they had in the galley.
Kathy wrapped her arms around him. “Let me get this straight. You think a fancy crab dinner will make a girl forget that you stranded us on some deserted island?”
He grinned. “Well…”
“Oh, bite your tongue.” Kathy smacked him playfully on his chest. “I’ll grab a pot and a fire starter for the crab boil. You grab the axe for the coconuts.”
###
Kathy propped herself up on her elbows as she lay on the sandy beach and inhaled the scent of the ocean. Next to her, Brad was busy trying to build a fire, but so far had only managed to envelop himself in a large cloud of white smoke.
She was about to crack a joke when suddenly the orange licks of flames burst forth from the pile of wood. Brad leaned back from the growing fire with a satisfied expression. As the blaze grew ever larger, he hopped to his feet—and winced.
“Brad, are you sure you’re okay? Your ankle is really swollen.”
“I’m fine. Just sit back and relax. I’ll get the water boiling and we’ll have some crab in no time.”
While Brad set the water to boiling, Kathy panned her gaze across the beach. It was dotted with No Trespassing signs, written in several languages, but she was more concerned with the woven mess of broken branches, seaweed, and other debris covering the shoreline. Though he’d tried to hide it, Brad had limped a bit on the walk here, and now his ankle was getting worse.
The boulder-strewn western edge of the island was made nearly impassable with all of the storm’s detritus pockmarking the beach. Kathy worried about how Brad’s ankle would handle the walk back to the boat.
She sighed as Brad tossed a handful of spices into the now-steaming water and knew he’d never admit when he was in pain.
As Kathy breathed in the scent of the Old Bay seasoning coming up from the boiling water, something didn’t seem quite right about their surroundings. The ocean was calm, and the breeze had become almost nonexistent, yet something felt… off.
The sounds.
It dawned on her that she hadn’t heard the cry of a seagull, or of any other kind of bird, since arriving at the island. Not one.
A shroud of silence wrapped tightly around them as she sat up and stared at the nearby forest of palms. “Honey, where do you think all the birds are?”
“Birds? I don’t know. In Dutch Harbor, the gulls tend to get out of town ahead of any incoming squalls. I suppose the gulls around here do the same.” He withdrew a set of metal tongs from his backpack and clacked them in her direction. “Fifteen minutes and we’ll be eating.”
Still wondering about the birds, Kathy scanned the trees. And then she spotted it—a rainbow-plumed bird staring down at them from its twenty-foot-high perch in a nearby coconut palm. She couldn’t imagine how she’d missed it at first; its bright plumage stood out against the brown and green of the trees.
“Hey, look, Brad. It seems like not all of the birds flew away.”
“Oh, wow. It’s beautiful. I wonder what kind of bird that is?”
With one hand shading the sun from his eyes, Brad approached the palm tree. Suddenly the bird dropped off its perch and dove directly at him. Brad ducked, and the bird careened off his arm and flew back into the trees.
“What the hell!”
Kathy hopped up on the balls of her feet and called out, “Get away from the tree. It probably has a nest that it’s defending.”
Brad blotted his white shirt against his arm, producing a bloody stain. “That bag of feathers took a chunk out of me!”
Kathy pulled the first-aid kit from Brad’s backpack. “You don’t want that getting infected.”
Brad shook his head. “I swear that thing came right at my face. If I didn’t already have my arm up…”
Kathy ripped open an alcohol swab and smiled. “Come here, you big baby. Let me clean you up.”
She wiped the blood away, revealing that a pencil-thick chunk of flesh had been gouged from his forearm. “Damn, it really did take a bite out of you. You’re lucky it didn’t get you in the eye.”
Brad scowled toward the coconut palm. “I’ve never seen a bird launch itself—”
He ripped his arm from Kathy’s grasp and swung it viciously at her head. She gasped as his hand flew just past her right ear. Kathy staggered, nearly losing her balance.
“Got you!” he cried.
Stunned, Kathy followed Brad’s gaze. On the ground behind her lay the broken body of the rainbow-plumed bird.
“That thing was pissed,” Brad said. “It was like a dart going right for the side of your face.”
A series of staccato chirps sounded from the palm trees. Kathy wondered if those were hatchlings calling for their mother, and she felt heartsick.
But then at least a dozen more of the rainbow-plumed birds emerged from within the palm fronds.
“Brad,” she said, an icy chill washing over her, “let’s get out of here. There are more of those birds.”
In unison, as if by some unheard silent command, all of the birds dropped from their perches and dove right at them.
With her heartbeat booming in her head, Kathy watched the scene unfold as if in slow motion. Brad winced as several of the colorfully plumed animals bounced off him.
Brad grabbed the backpack and charged toward them, swinging it at the attackers, the bag’s contents flying everywhere. “Get the hell away from us!”
He managed to knock two of the birds to the ground. Bloodstains bloomed all across his shirt.
Without giving a second thought to the fire and the rest of their stuff, she yelled, “Brad, forget it! Let’s get out of here!”
Brad nodded. “I’m right behind you!”
Kathy sprinted across the beach, barely controlling a welling sense of panic as something slammed into her back. She kept her focus on the uneven terrain, racing as fast as she could go. She didn’t slow as something else slammed into her back and she felt a burning sensation. She assumed that a bird had taken a chunk out of her.
Behind her, Brad cried out in pain. She turned and the world seemed to freeze as she saw Brad climbing back up to his feet. Rivulets of blood poured down his face. There was so much blood on his shirt that there was hardly any white left. And for the first time ever, she saw fear on his face.
“Damn it, Kathy, don’t worry about me! Keep going!”
She looked up and saw the birds circling around for another attack. And suddenly she felt frozen in place. Her legs refused to move.
Brad sprinted toward her, grabbed her arm, and yanked her toward the tree line. “Run through the woods. There’s probably less shit to trip over in there, and they can’t attack us as easily.”
Kathy felt a surge of adrenaline and raced for the shelter of the coconut grove. As she weaved through the dense vegetation, several more times she felt the sting of a bird attack. Her breath was soon coming in desperate gulps, and she could no longer see Brad, though she could hear him crashing through the brush somewhere to her right.
“Brad! Are you okay?”
She got no response.
She could only hope she was still moving toward the boat. The dozens of burning gouges all over her body were a painful testament that this fight had become life-and-death. And she was losing.
And then a ray of hope. She spied the end of the coconut grove ahead.
Imagining herself making a mad dash for the lagoon and the safety of the sailboat’s cabin, she raced past the trees—and came to a lurching halt.
She stood in a clearing. In front of her was a concrete building, and to its side, not more than fifty feet away, was a tall aviary, filled with the rainbow-plumed birds. They should have been contained, but a coconut palm had fallen through the steel mesh of its enclosure, opening a large tear.
Her heart pounding in her ears, Kathy ran for the door of the building. At the same moment, a massive flock of the birds flew from their enclosure toward her.
Please don’t be locked.
She yanked on the metal door—and it opened. Stumbling inside, she kicked the door shut and collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath.
Climbing onto all fours, Kathy trembled as she watched drops of her blood splash onto the concrete floor. She had no idea how many wounds she’d taken from the bird attacks, but it was a lot. Her arms were covered in slick red as if she’d been bathing in her own blood.
Something vibrated on her waist. The satellite phone. It was ringing.
She ripped it from her belt. “Brad, thank God! Did you make it to the boat?”
“Miss, we have a launch crew being sent now—”
“Holy shit, send a helicopter! We’ll pay whatever it takes. We’re being attacked by a crazy flock of birds and need medical help!” Kathy swallowed a lump of fear and started to cry. “My boyfriend is heading toward our boat, and he’s injured. I’m stuck in some building. I’m bleeding and Lord knows what—”
“Ma’am, calm down. Did you say you are on the island and—”
“Yes! Get me some goddamn help! It’s an emergency.”
“Ma’am…”
The voice seemed to fade, and Kathy felt fatigue wash over her.
Have I lost that much blood?
She lay on her back. The room began to spin. The sun peeking through the intact windows of the odd building faded as darkness closed in on her.
###
The boom of a distant explosion woke her.
Kathy sat up and shook her head.
Another explosion. It sent rumbles through the ground. And this one sounded… closer.
Shrugging off the pain, Kathy staggered to her feet.
When she’d stumbled in here earlier, she was too panicked to even notice her surroundings. Now she looked around. This place was clearly some kind of lab. Incubators were lined up on lab benches. Some contained piles of grape-sized white eggs; others held blind, featherless chicks. Leaning closer, she stared at the blind newborn chicks and noticed the beginnings of red pin feathers.
Holy crap. Someone’s raising these things?
Her chest tightened as she thought of Brad. She hoped he’d made it safely back to the boat. Feeling woozy, she nearly collapsed against one of the nearby lab benches.
On its work surface was a stack of notebooks with a logo emblazoned on them. AgriMed. The computer next to the incubator had a flash drive plugged into one of its USB slots; a sticker on the drive read AgriMed Confidential.
On impulse, she took it.
Another boom shook the building, and Kathy ran to the window.
Her heart raced as six men emerged from the trees, all armed, all dressed in military camouflage. One of them aimed a bulky-looking rifle at the aviary, and a stream of orange flame burst forth.
Another soldier ran to the building and burst through the door. “Miss, I’m here to escort you off the island.”
Kathy staggered toward him, her body still burning with pain. The soldier grabbed her upper arm and helped her through the door.
She felt the heat from the flames immediately. The soldiers were burning not just the aviary but much of the surrounding forest. The heat from the flames was almost unbearable as Kathy tried to keep up with the soldiers leading her away from the building. The billowing smoke from the burning trees stung her eyes, blinding her with tears.
Pausing for a second to wipe her eyes free of soot, Kathy gasped as a soldier threw her over his shoulder and moved forward, the others joining him. Kathy heard a whoosh and felt the heat of a flamethrower as it incinerated something up ahead. She could barely breathe through the smoke.
And then she was being placed in the open bay of a helicopter. Its blades were already beginning to turn.
Kathy coughed. Her chest ached from smoke. Panic rose in her chest, and she grabbed the arm of the soldier who had carried her. “Brad is out there still! You can’t leave him behind!” The engine of the helicopter whined ever louder.
The soldier’s face was covered with soot; it looked as if it had been carved from a block of stone. He frowned and shook his head. “Not man on island.” His voice was heavy with a German accent.
Another man placed an oxygen mask over her mouth and nose. “Breathe.”
She inhaled, and the world turned black.