“So, are you and the big blue guy a thing or what?”
Rose picked up a small carving of an elephant that was sitting on the ground near Brody’s furs. “Are you and Doc a thing?”
Brody grinned. “Nah, we’re just banging every night.”
She jumped up from his furs and gave them a suspicious look. “You could have warned me before I sat on your bed. And having sex every night is probably a thing.”
“Is it?”
Rose ran her finger over the elephant’s smooth back. “I think so. Where did you get this?”
“Scott made it for me.”
“Scott?”
“Doc. His real name is Scott.”
She smiled at him. “You have sex every night, he told you his real name and he’s giving you gifts. Forget thing, you two are a couple.”
“Maybe we are.” Brody stared at the wooden elephant in her hand.
“Good. I’m happy for you, Brody.”
“Weird to think that I had to be sucked into an orb and stranded on an island in the middle of fucking nowhere to finally find a decent guy, huh?”
She laughed and placed the elephant on Brody’s pillow. “Love happens in the strangest of places.”
“You in love with the blue guy?”
“His name is Vida.”
“Sorry, are you in love with Vida?”
“I barely know him.” Rose crossed her arms over her torso. “You can’t fall in love with someone you’ve only known for a few days.”
“Fair enough. So, it’s just boning then?”
She didn’t answer, and Brody touched her arm. “Hey, Rosie, look at me.”
She stared up at him and he squeezed her shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Vida and I aren’t a couple.”
“You sure he knows that? He acts like you belong to him. He won’t let anyone else get near you, and I heard him telling you not to let Solomon touch you.”
She shrugged. “He’s just, um, overprotective.”
“I think it’s more than that.”
“It’s not. We’re not even having sex.”
“Seriously?” Brody blinked at her. “Why not? Is it Solomon? Because fuck that guy, Rose. He doesn’t deserve you. You’re into Vida, I can tell, and he’s definitely into you.”
“We’ve done some stuff,” she admitted before pacing back and forth in Brody’s hut. “But, um, Vida’s a big guy which means he has a…”
“Big dick?” Brody said with a grin.
Now it was her turn to blush. “Yeah.”
“Nice.” He held up his fist. “Don’t leave me hanging. Bump it, girl.”
She fist bumped him before resuming her pacing.
“If Vida’s got such a big one, why do you look like a woman who’s dating a small-dicked man?”
She laughed. “God, you’re so crude, Brody.”
He just grinned at her. “Spill it, Rosie.”
She picked at a small scab on her forearm. “Vida says I’m too small to take his, you know…”
“So what, you tried and it didn’t fit?”
“He won’t even try.” She gave him a look of frustration. “He says he’ll hurt me if he tries.”
“He knows women push babies out of their vajayjay, right? Wait… do his women even have muffs like human women?”
“They do. They look like us, he says, only with horns and fangs and purple skin. But, they’re bigger and they’re warriors who can fight. Basically, everything I’m not.”
“He still seems attracted to you.”
“He is, and he says he wants to have sex with me, but he won’t risk hurting me. He won’t allow us to,” she paused, “mate as he calls it. It’s frustrating as hell.”
“You need to change his mind.”
“I’ve tried. It doesn’t work. And it’s not like I can pin him down and have sex with him when we’re, uh, making out. He’s got more muscles in his baby finger than I do in my whole damn body.”
“Middle-of-the-night sex.”
“I’m sorry?” She stopped pacing and stared at Brody.
“You need to do middle-of-the-night sex. Listen, you know how you sometimes half wake up in the middle of the night to find your man’s dick hard against your ass? Maybe he’s sleeping, or maybe he’s only half awake too, but next thing you know, you’re having a round of sex when you’re both only sort of with it. That’s what you do to Vida. Get his dick into your happy place before he’s even fully awake.”
“Do you really think that would work?”
Brody nodded. “Yes.”
“It’s worth a try,” Rose said thoughtfully. “Maybe he’ll realize that -”
“Hey, babe? Did I leave my shirt in…oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were still talking with Rose.” Doc stopped in the doorway of the hut. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You didn’t,” Rose said. “I was just leaving to find Vida.”
“He’s gone.”
Rose’s heart dropped into her stomach with a hard, heavy, hollow thud. “He’s gone?”
Doc nodded, and she swallowed down the bile before staring mutely at Brody.
“It’s okay, Rosie.” Brody gave Doc a look of alarm and the blond man joined them.
“Rose? Do you feel faint?” He pressed his fingers against the pulse in her wrist. “Your pulse is racing. You should sit down.”
“I’m fine.”
She wasn’t fine.
Vida had left her.
Vida had left her without even saying goodbye.
“Did he tell you to say goodbye to me?” She croaked. Her throat was dusty-dry.
Doc gave her a strange look. “He’s just gone hunting with Teagan, Wallace and Duncan. They’ll be back in a few hours.”
Relief rushed through her. It was enough to make her knees wobble and both Doc and Brody grabbed an arm to steady her.
“Maybe you should sit down.” Doc felt her forehead.
“No, I’m okay. I just thought…it doesn’t matter. I’m fine.”
“Vida did give me a message to give to you. He said he didn’t want to interrupt you while you were talking to your friend.”
“What did he say?”
Doc glanced at Brody. “To remember that the other males in the camp were not to touch you.”
“Uh oh,” Brody grinned, “we’re gonna get the big blue guy beating the hell out of us.”
“Oh, he made sure to mention that we were allowed to touch her as we were laying with each other, and had no interest in his small flower’s vagina,” Doc said with a cheeky grin.
Brody burst into laughter as Rose turned bright red. “Oh my God. Oh my God, I’m so sorry. Vida didn’t mean… that is, he’s very blunt and not socially…”
“It’s fine,” Doc said as he released her arm. “He’s not wrong. Listen, I’ll let you and Brody finish your discussion.”
“No, we’re done. Thanks, Doc. I’ll give you guys your privacy.” Rose moved past them, her stupid legs still felt a little trembly, and out into the humid air of the jungle. She breathed deep and sat down on one of the logs around the campfire. She stared at the burning coals, her heart still thumping away in her chest like a frightened rabbit.
Her reaction to thinking Vida had left her was alarming, but she hadn’t been able to control it. She rubbed at her forehead. Shit, what was happening to her?
* * *
“Why do you want to go with us?” Peter frowned at her before picking at the acne on his face.
Rose ignored him and smiled at Brian. “Do you mind, Brian? I feel like it’s a good idea for me to better understand how the traps work.”
Brian shrugged and picked up a second spear from the pile leaning against an empty hut. He handed it to her. “Fine with me. Let’s go.”
“She’ll just slow us down,” Peter said. “Let her stay in the camp and do the woman stuff.”
Before Rose could reply, Davis made a loud snort from where he was hanging wet clothing on the clothesline. “Are you fucking serious? You’re gonna pull that macho, chest-beating, women stay in the camp bullshit? If Rose wants to learn the traps, then she can fucking learn the traps. Everyone on this fucking sandtrap works together.”
“Thanks, Davis.”
“Don’t mention it, Rosie.” He gave her a quick salute before returning to hanging wet clothes.
Peter gave her a sullen look. ‘We wouldn’t even be in this fucking mess if it wasn’t for you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Rose said wearily. “It’s all my fault. Do me a favour and give it a rest just for an hour or so, would you, Peter?”
“Whatever.” He followed Brian into the jungle and Rose followed him. She readjusted the wreath of flowers around her throat and gripped the spear in her right hand. Not that she had any real confidence in using it. Before she’d nearly died in the jungle and been rescued by Vida, both Brian and Duncan had given her some lessons with the spears, but she would be the first to admit that she wasn’t very good at it.
She peered around as she followed Brian and Peter. She wouldn’t admit this, but she was only going into the jungle in the hopes of finding Vida and the others. They’d been gone much longer than their usual hunting expeditions, and her stomach was churning with worry. What if the pinkies had found them? What if they’d stumbled onto a blowcat with babies? What if – her stomach heaved – it was a trap set by Teagan, Wallace and Duncan and they had killed Vida?
They wouldn’t. You know they wouldn’t. They’re good men.
Yeah, they were. But they also followed Patrick’s rules.
Patrick isn’t going to kill Vida. He needs his help.
He did, but Patrick also was clearly off his rocker.
Worry gnawing at her stomach, she gripped her spear a little tighter and followed Brian and Peter deeper into the jungle.
* * *
“Shit.” Brian bent and studied the broken trap. It was made from sturdy but flexible tree branches and he swiped his finger across the jagged edge of one broken branch. It came away red and Rose took a nervous look around.
“Is that blood?” Peter asked.
“Yeah. Something’s been breaking our traps and grabbing the animals in them.” Brian stood and pushed at the trap with his foot as Peter moved to the second trap that was at the base of a large clump of bushes that were almost twenty feet high. “We think it’s the bears.”
“They have bears on this island?” Rose said.
“Not quite. I mean, they kind of look like a cross between a bear and a rhino,” Brian said.
“Wait, are they the things that Wallace calls brinos?” Rose asked.
Brian nodded. “Yeah, not very original, I know. We really gotta stop letting him name stuff.”
“What are you talking about?” Peter dropped the second trap. “This one is broken all to shit too.”
“Brinos,” Rose said. “Wallace told us about them the second or third night we were on the island. They look like bears, but they have skin like a rhino and a big horn sticking out of their chest with a smaller one above it. Right?” She glanced at Brian for confirmation.
“Yeah. They usually don’t bother much with us. We thought they ate mostly fish, we’ve seen them wade into the ocean and catch them. Although Duncan saw one take on a blowcat and win, and he said the thing feasted on the blowcat’s guts afterwards.”
“Maybe with the sharkgators so close to the shores for breeding, they don’t want to go into the ocean,” Rose said.
Brian thought that over for a minute. “It’s a good theory. But if they keep breaking our traps, we’ll have to take them out. These traps aren’t easy to make, and Duncan is still the only one with any real skill at making them. Shit, the stuff that guy knows about trapping and surviving in the wilderness is impressive. We’d have been dead a long time ago if it wasn’t for him.”
“Yeah, well, I’m starting to think you guys might be bullshitting us with your blowcats and brinos.” Peter kicked at the trap again. “We haven’t seen anything like that and we’ve been on the island for almost three weeks.”
“I saw a blowcat this morning,” Rose said. “Vida and I saw it and her babies on our way to the falls.”
Brian just rolled his eyes. “Whatever, dude. What possible reason could we have for making this shit up?”
Peter shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know you, do I? For all I know, this whole sucked into an orb thing could be a hoax, and we’re on some island in the middle of our own world as some sort of fucked up social science experiment.”
“Are you serious?” Rose said. “Peter, you worked at the lab for two years. You saw how the orb worked, you saw -”
“Maybe we saw what they wanted us to see,” Peter said.
“How do you explain Vida, then? Or the other creatures you saw come out of the orb? Or the fucking pink thing that ate John’s face off?”
“Maybe they’re drugging us. Maybe they’re pumping us full of shit that makes us all mass hallucinate.”
“You’re talking crazy, Peter,” Rose said.
“Yeah, right. Because tigers that blow acid from their foreheads and bears that have horns like rhinos is so fucking sane. Just think about it for a minute, Rose. If people really -”
“Peter? What’s wrong?” Rose took a step toward him as his face paled.
“Rose,” he whispered. Blood dripped out of his mouth and Brian’s hard hand wrapped around her arm, preventing her from moving forward.
“Help me,” Peter whispered. “Please…”
There was a loud cracking noise and blood gushed from his mouth like a waterfall. A horn tore through his chest, the end of it covered in flesh and blood. Peter made a strangled noise of pain as paws, their skin a scaly grey colour and tipped with long, black, razor-sharp claws, gripped his arms.
The creature stepped out of the bushes, the horn on its chest protruding further out of Peter’s chest as it yanked the man back against its giant body. Another glut of blood poured from Peter’s mouth and he took one last gurgling breath before dying. His head lolled back and the creature bit into his face with a loud crunch, tearing off Peter’s nose and chewing it down happily.
Rose’s gorge rose, and she barely felt Brian’s hand on her arm as another brino stepped out of the bushes. It tried to tear Peter’s arm off, and the first brino snarled at it before dragging Peter’s body into the bushes.
“Brian,” Rose whispered through numb lips as the second brino studied them with it’s beady eyes. “What do we do?”
Brian lifted his spear and threw it with a hard whistling grunt at the brino. It struck the creature in the stomach just below its horn. Despite the speed of Brian’s throw and the sharpness of the spear, the tip barely penetrated the brino’s skin.
“Fuck,” Brian said when the creature plucked the spear from his stomach before dropping it. It sniffed the air as Brian grabbed Rose’s spear from her ice-cold hand. The brino took two lumbering steps forward. Rose could see bugs crawling across its leathery skin as it sniffed the air again.
“Rose?”
“Yeah?”
“Run.”
Brian’s hand gripped hers and they turned and ran. She could hear the brino behind them, hear its harsh pants and grunts, and made a terrified squeal when she felt its hot breath on her back.
“Faster!” Brian bellowed.
They put on a burst of speed and sprinted across the jungle. Brian dragged her over a fallen log and hauled her to her feet when she stumbled and fell. “Keep moving!”
They raced through the jungle. The grunts of the brino were quieting, but Rose didn’t dare look behind her. She’d fall for sure if she did. When Brian made a sharp left and yanked her into a large clump of bushes, she threw her hand over her mouth, trying to quiet her rapid panting as Brian wiped the sweat from his face.
He put his finger to his lips and she nodded and tried to catch her breath as Brian gripped her spear tightly and cocked his head. They listened intently for almost five minutes before Brian relaxed a little.
“I think we lost it,” he said.
She took a deep, trembling breath. “Peter’s dead.”
“Yeah,” he said. “You okay?”
She nodded. “I think so. You?”
“Yeah. A little freaked out but -”
A paw appeared, and the long black claws sunk into Brian’s shoulder. He gave Rose a weary look of resignation. “Fuck me sidew-”
He was yanked out of the bushes, her spear falling from his hand. Rose screamed and scooped up the spear before pushing her way free of the clinging branches. She stopped, staring in horror at the brino as it lifted Brian off the ground and drove its horn deep into his belly.
“Brian!” Rose screamed and darted forward, thrusting the spear into the creature’s side. It roared with anger and pain and she stumbled back. It dropped Brian to the ground, and Rose made a moaning cry when she saw the intestines hanging out of the wound in his stomach. The brino yanked the spear from its flesh before snarling viciously at her.
“Rose.”
Her terrified gaze flickered back to Brian.
“Run.” He reached out with one hand and grabbed the creature’s leg when it started to move toward her.
“Brian, no, I won’t leave you,” Rose moaned.
“Run,” Brian wheezed. He sank his nails in the creature’s hide. The creature stared down at him and Brian gave him a blood-coated grin. “C’mon, motherfucker. Finish the job.”
The creature dragged him to his feet, sniffing at the blood pouring from Brian’s mouth.
“Go, Rose. Now,” Brian groaned. The creature bent his head and tore Brian’s throat out with a sharp jerk of his mouth.
Rose turned and fled.
* * *
She was going to die. If the brino didn’t get her, if the blowcats or the pinkies didn’t kill her, then the fucking plants would. She was a dead woman walking and it didn’t matter how positive she tried to be, she had just watched two men die in front of her. She didn’t stand a chance and she’d might as well just find the nearest killer plant and let it strangle her to death. It would be faster and –
Rose, stop! Just fucking stop.
The coldness of her inner voice drew her frantic stumbling race through the jungle up short. Panting and gasping, she checked the tree next to her for vines before leaning against it. She strained to hear past the sound of her own labored breathing and pounding heartbeat. The jungle was alive with noise and for all she knew, one of them could be the brino lumbering its way toward her.
Just shut the fuck up and stop panicking like a pussy for one goddamn minute.
Her inner voice was pissed.
She shut the fuck up and took breath after breath, drawing the humid air deep into her lungs before releasing it. After a few minutes both her panic and her heartbeat subsided to a more manageable beat and she studied the jungle around her.
She was lost again. Understandable, considering she’d been running for her damn life, but not helpful. She’d always had a poor sense of direction and being surrounded by trees and killer plants and giant creatures that were a hellish mix of bear and rhino wasn’t exactly helping her get her bearings. She’d never find her way back to camp.
Find the river.
She blinked and stared up at the glimpses of bright blue sky. Sweat trickled down her neck and into the collar of her t-shirt. Small insects buzzed in her ears and she slapped absentmindedly at her arm.
Why the river?
Her inner voice made a sound that was a cross between irritation and laughter.
Follow the river to the waterfall, idiot.
Her eyes widened. Of course. The river flowed into the waterfall. If she found the waterfall, she could find her way back to the camp from there. Only one small problem, she needed to find the river.
Close your eyes and listen.
She closed her eyes and held her breath, straining to hear. There was nothing but the heavy buzz of insects. Disappointment trickled through her. Did she really think she’d hear the river? It could be anywhere and –
Just shut up and listen.
She listened.
After a few moments, she opened her eyes before turning to her right. She thought she’d detected the faint sound of water coming from her right. She barked harsh laughter that made the birds in the trees above her squawk in alarm before taking off in unified flight. She sucked in some air and picked her way through the trees. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe the river wasn’t in this direction, but she couldn’t just stand around and wait for a brino or a blowcat or a pinkie to show up. She needed to keep moving and hope she found Vida and the others, or the river.
She’d only been walking for about fifteen minutes when the shrill cry made her freeze. Goosebumps popped up on her arms and the hair on the back of her neck stood up.
“What was that?” She whispered.
There was another cry – it was full of heartbreaking fear – and she cringed before quickly making her way toward the noise.
“You’re being an idiot, Rose,” she muttered to herself.
Yeah, she was, but as another piercing cry echoed through the jungle, she broke into a jog. The fearful cry was tugging at every goddamn heartstring in her body. She couldn’t –
Oh God.
She had almost jogged right into the dead body of the blowcat. As it was, she was standing on some of the intestines that were ripped out of its body and lying near it’s back legs. Her stomach churned, and she clapped her hand over her mouth as she gagged. She stepped back, wiping the bottom of her shoe on the ground and trying not to barf. The blowcat had been torn open from chest to groin and she could see that most of its internal organs were missing. She had no idea what had killed it and she really didn’t want to know.
Flies buzzed around the blowcat’s dead body and its milky eyes stared accusingly at her as she stepped around it. There was another wailing cry and she pushed past a bush, her breath catching in her throat.
The baby blowcat was crying continuously now, it’s small fuzzy body wrapped in vines that were dragging it relentlessly backwards. It cried pitifully and dug its nails into the jungle floor as the vines tightened around its body. Without thinking, she lunged forward and began to tear at the vines. These ones were smaller and thinner than the vines that nearly killed her and she tore them in two easily. She worked swiftly, constantly jerking her legs back and forth to tear apart the vines that were wrapping insidiously around her legs.
When the baby was free, she picked it up and stepped away from the vines swaying blindly in the air around them. She carried it a safe distance away from the vines and petted the top of its head as the baby stared unblinkingly at her.
“It’s okay, baby,” Rose crooned. “You’re safe now.”
She petted it again, avoiding the hole in its forehead. A smile of delight crossed her face when it broke into a raspy purr.
“That’s right. You’re a good baby. I’m sorry about your mama, but don’t you worry, I’m going to take good care of…”
The vine, this one thicker and larger than the others, wrapped around her waist. Her eyes widened, and she yanked at it with one hand before trying to run. The vine tightened immediately as more vines came slithering out from the bush to her left.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” She shouted as the vines wrapped around her waist and hips and thighs and pulled her forward. A vine wrapped around the baby blowcat’s back leg and tried to yank it from her grip. The baby howled, and Rose screamed when it dug its sharp claws into her shoulder in a frantic bid to cling to her.
“For fuck’s sake!” Rose shouted as she tore at the vines with one hand and clutched the baby blowcat with the other. She could feel blood soaking into her t-shirt as the razor-sharp claws of the blowcat sunk deeper into her flesh. She glanced up and the pain in her shoulder became meaningless.
She stared in silent horror at the monstrosity in front of her. The bushes had parted to reveal the head of the plant and she shrieked before tearing at the vines with strength brought on by pure panic.
“It’s a fucking Venus fly trap!” She shouted before struggling to back away. The vines tightened around her legs and she was knocked to her back on the ground. The baby blowcat clung to her, screaming into her ear as the vine around it’s back leg tightened until she could see the baby’s flesh bulging under its fur.
She was dragged forward, shrieking and writhing, to the plant’s mouth. She wasn’t wrong about the plant looking like a Venus fly trap. If Venus fly traps were seven feet tall and had long waving tentacles covered in thousands of small black spiders sticking out of their mouths. The plant’s teeth glistened with saliva as the spiders scuttled and scurried up and down the swaying tentacles jutting from the plant’s mouth.
“Fuck!” Rose screamed as the plant dragged her closer. Her shoulder bumped against an exposed root and as she was dragged by it, she reached out with her free hand and grabbed it. She was brought up short, the muscles in her arms straining as the vines around her waist and legs yanked viciously.
The blowcat wailed and howled in her ear, it’s warm breath washing over her neck as her fingers began to loosen from the root.
“No! Goddammit no!” Rose shouted.
It was no use, she could feel her grip slipping and she screamed again in fear and rage as her fingers lost their tenuous grip on the root. A hard hand caught her wrist and Wallace grinned down at her.
“Hey, Rosie-girl.”
“Wallace!”
“Hold on, Rose.” Duncan and Teagan ran past her and they hacked through the vines with Duncan’s sword and Teagan’s machete. The vines pulled harder in response and she gave Wallace a panicked look when she was dragged forward. He dug his heels in, vines were already starting to wrap around his legs, and wrapped his other hand around her upper arm.
He held on grimly as Rose’s body lifted a few inches off the ground. She cried out, feeling the stretch in her spine and her legs as she was pulled in two different directions.
“Fuck, kill it before she gets torn in goddamn two,” Wallace roared at Duncan and Teagan.
Duncan darted past the vines and thrust his sword deep into the plant’s gaping mouth. All of the vines relaxed at once and Rose fell to the ground with a hard thump, banging her head.
She sucked in a deep breath, wincing when the baby blowcat retracted its claws before resting its head on her shoulder. It meowed softly, and she petted it with one shaking hand as Wallace collapsed on his ass next to her and wiped away the sweat from his forehead.
“Fuck, I hate those goddamn plants.”
“You okay, Rose?” Teagan helped her to her feet, eyeing the baby blowcat she held in her arms. “Where did you find that?”
“Its mother is dead behind those bushes,” Rose replied. “It was being strangled by the vines so I…”
“So you rescued it?” Teagan raised his eyebrow at her.
“It’s just a baby,” she said defensively.
“You almost died trying to save it.”
She flushed and held the baby a little closer before repeating, “It’s just a baby.”
Duncan had moved behind her and he studied the back of her shoulder. “She’s bleeding.”
Rose winced when he touched her back as Teagan said, “Why are you in the jungle alone again?”
“I wasn’t. I was with Peter and Brian. We were attacked by two of those brino things.”
Teagan stiffened. “Where’s Brian?”
“I’m sorry. He – he didn’t make it. Peter was killed first, and Brian and I ran and hid but the second one found us, and it-it killed Brian. I tried to help him, but he told me to run.” She touched Teagan’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Teagan.”
“Fuck,” Teagan muttered. Sweat was dripping off his forehead and he wiped it away before glancing at Wallace. “You okay, man?”
Rose knew Brian and Wallace had been close. The cheerful look on Wallace’s face had dropped like a stone and he looked pale and sick to his stomach.
“Motherfuck,” Wallace said. “Brian saved my life in Mosul.”
“I know.” Teagan squeezed his arm.
“He didn’t deserve to die on this motherfucking rock in the middle of goddamn nowhere.” Wallace’s voice was rising. “He sure as shit didn’t deserve to die because of some bullshit half bear half rhino motherfucker.”
“He didn’t, but you gotta keep your shit together, man,” Teagan said. “We need to get back to camp.”
“Where’s Vida?” Rose asked suddenly. “Brian said he was with you guys.”
“He -”
“Oh fuck me up the ass with a motherfucking dildo,” Wallace snarled.
“What – shit!” Teagan shoved Rose behind him.
She peeked around his broad body, holding the now-sleeping blowcat in her arms. Panic infused her entire body when the pinkie stepped out from behind the tree. The creature stared unblinkingly at them as Duncan and Wallace moved to stand next to Teagan.
“Rose, move back slowly into the trees,” Teagan said in a mutter.
“I’m not leaving you guys,” Rose said.
“We’ll be right behind you, Rosie-girl,” Wallace replied. “Go.”
“No, I won’t -”
“Go now.” The tone of Teagan’s voice made her start to back away immediately. She took a quick look behind her and stumbled to a stop as fresh panic wormed its way into her chest.
“Keep moving, Rose,” Teagan said as he studied the pinkie in front of them.
“I can’t. There’s another one behind us.”
“Well, we’re fucking dead,” Wallace said. “Nice knowing you all, ya assholes.”
“Use your guns.” Rose turned and backed up until her back was pressed against Teagan’s. She stared at the pinkie who had cocked his head and was studying the flowers around her throat. She shuddered all over. “They can’t survive bullets, can they?”
“We ran out of bullets a week after we fucking got here,” Wallace said. “Teag, we gotta try and make a run for it.”
“We can’t outrun them, they’re too fast,” Duncan said. “The flowers will keep us safe.”
Like Rose, they were all wearing wreaths of the yellow flowers. Wallace pulled out a long and wickedly sharp dagger from his belt.
“So, what? We all just stand here until the end of fucking time?” He asked.
“Just shut up and let me think,” Teagan replied.
Duncan and Wallace stepped in front of Rose. Duncan had a knife tucked into the back of his belt and Rose plucked it out and held it tightly. Duncan glanced at her and she gave him a short nod and placed the baby blowcat at her feet. It blinked sleepily at her before curling into a ball and tucking its face into its body.
The three humans and the two creatures stood in silence for nearly five minutes. Sweat dripped down Rose’s back and she swatted away an insect buzzing near her mouth. Her throat went dry when the pinkies stared at each other over their small group and then walked forward
“Hey, Duncan? The flowers aren’t fucking working,” Wallace said as the pinkies moved toward them simultaneously, their mouths opening and their jaws distending as their mottled green teeth protruded. “You go for its guts, I’ll go for – holy shitballs!”
There was a familiar low growl and Rose pushed past Duncan and Wallace, her heart galloping into high gear.
“Vida!” She gasped.
The big blue man was standing behind the pinkie. It was fast, but Vida was faster. He wrapped one big hand around the pink creature’s forehead and the other around its lower jaw. It made a high-pitched squeal that made Rosie’s teeth ache. Vida, his face serene, twisted the pinkie’s head to the left. Its neck broke with a quiet snap and the creature fell to the ground. Vida stepped over it without a second look and walked toward them.
“Holy shit. I mean...holy…shit,” Wallace said.
Vida walked by their small group. He was headed toward the second pinkie and Rose’s eyes widened when the creature suddenly turned and fled into the jungle.
“Son of a motherfucking biscuit,” Wallace said. “The giant fucking Smurf just killed a pinkie and scared the other one off.”
“Do not call me Smurf,” Vida said.
“Sorry, big guy.” Wallace glanced at Teagan who was studying Vida. “Did you see him just crack that fucker’s neck like it was a fucking egg? Shit, he’s fucking faster than the pinkies.”
Teagan nodded. Duncan slid his sword into the sheath around his waist and took the knife from Rose’s hand. Rose took a few hesitant steps toward Vida. He smiled at her and held out his hand. “Come to me, small flower.”
She ran forward, ignoring the pain in her back, and wrapped her arms around Vida’s waist. He hugged her and she tried not to wince, but he immediately pulled back and turned her around.
“You are bleeding.” There was alarm in his voice. “Why are you bleeding?”
“The baby blowcat – I tried to save it from a plant and it dug its claws into me, but I’m okay and I – are you okay?”
“Why would I not be?” He cocked his head at her.
“You just – you killed a pinkie,” she whispered.
“It was threatening my sweet flower,” he replied. “You should not be wandering in the jungle alone.”
“I wasn’t. I was with Brian and Peter, but we were attacked, and they died.” Her voice broke and Vida bent and pressed a kiss against her mouth. She took a deep breath and studied the guns tucked into Teagan and Wallace’s waistbands. “Are you seriously out of bullets?”
Wallace nodded. “Yeah. Doc was the only one carrying his kit when we got sucked into the orb and his kit had med supplies. The rest of us just had our Glocks.”
“Why wear the guns then?” Rose asked.
“Habit.” Teagan turned to Vida. “Did you find it?”
“I followed the trail of the wounded beast and put it out of its misery. I hung it in a tree, but we should return to it before other animals go after it.”
“Wounded beast? Did you kill a brino?” Rose asked.
Duncan shook his head. “No. It’s one of the creatures of the forest that eats the plants. It has antlers and is similar to deer on my world.”
“Our world too,” Wallace said. “We were lucky to find one. There aren’t many of them on the island. I think the pinkies go after them when they can’t get humans. The blue guy’s right, we need to go back and grab it before some fucking blowcat yanks it out of the tree. Speaking of which…”
He studied the sleeping baby at his feet and Rose hurried over and picked it up. She held it against her chest as Wallace glanced at Teagan. “We can’t take it with us, Rosie-girl.”
“It’ll die if we abandon it,” Rose said. “I’m not leaving it.”
“Teag?” Wallace turned to the big man.
Teagan studied Rose for a moment. “She’s right. She can bring it with us.”
“Oh great,” Wallace said with a grimace, “now we’re raising blowcats. Awesome. Fan-fucking-tastic. Patrick isn’t going to shit the bed over this at all.”
“Leave Patrick to me,” Teagan said. “It might be handy to have a trained blowcat in camp. They’re -”
“Something is coming.” Vida crossed to Rose and pulled her against him.
“More pinkies?” Teagan asked.
Vida shook his head as the bushes in front of them shivered. A man, he was wearing a loincloth and a wreath of flowers around his neck and nothing else, stepped out. He held a spear in one hand and a dagger in the other. His thick black hair was short, his skin tanned from the sun, and his eyes were dark brown. He studied them without fear.
“Shit,” Teagan said as more of the islanders stepped out of the bushes. They were completely surrounded by over a dozen of them and Wallace glanced at Teagan.
“Do we fight?”
“No.”
The leader stepped forward and prodded at the dead pinkie with his bare foot before turning to stare at Vida. He said something in his native language and another of the islanders moved toward Rose. Vida growled at him and the man hesitated before speaking rapidly to the leader.
The leader nodded and pointed at the sleeping blowcat. Rose held it a little tighter as three of the locals gathered around the leader. They spoke quietly for a few minutes before the leader nodded again. He pointed at their group then pointed into the jungle and made a ‘come’ motion with his hand.
“They want us to go with them,” Duncan said.
“Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious,” Wallace replied. “Teag, do we go?”
Teagan stared at the locals behind them. They were moving forward slowly, their spears pointed at them. “I don’t think we have much choice.”