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Sleeping snuggled up against Chance's chest was one of my favorite places to be but, in this case, it had the added advantage of making it really easy for me to check on his temperature. I made sure he was drinking plenty of water. If we used up our supply of water, it would just be another reason to meet up with the others sooner than planned.
I checked on him several times during the night. He seemed to be resting comfortably, but the fever still wasn't coming down. I didn't think it was getting any worse, but it definitely wasn't getting any better.
"Chance, this is Jared," the radio blared. I looked at my watch. It was 3:20 in the morning. I picked up the radio. "Hi, Jared. It's Everly. What's up?"
"We've been tracking the dingonek. It's very fast and very aggressive. We could use your help. I don't think we're too far away. I'll give you the coordinates so you can head this way."
"OK."
"Check in every hour, and we'll adjust your route to intersect with ours. You guys OK?"
"We're OK. We took down some kind of saber-toothed cat. Not sure what it was, but we sent it back to the lab."
"Great. Team two got the thunderbird. We'll see you in a bit."
It worried me that Chance hadn't stirred even though I was having this conversation literally right under his nose. I moved away and pulled out the first aid kit. I checked his temperature. It had dropped by a degree but was still too high. I ran my hand down his cheek. "Chance, you need to wake up."
"What's the rush?" he asked.
"Jared called. They want us to meet up with them. They need help with the dingonek."
"OK. Give me a minute." He pushed himself up and used one of the alcohol wipes out of his pack to clean his face. He drank some more water, then stood up. "Ready when you are."
We donned our packs and headed off toward the coordinates Jared gave me. It wasn't easy walking through the forest at night. We weren't following any trail, so we had to pay close attention so we didn't walk into brush or trip over logs and roots. If Chance was suffering, he didn't show it. Maybe the draw of the rare dingonek was enough to override his exhaustion.
By the time the curtain of night began to lift from the forest, we were getting close to the rest of our team. After Chance's last check-in, Jared sent Loren to meet us.
"Hi, Loren," I said. "How are you guys doing?"
"OK. This dingonek is one tough customer," he said.
"Jared, wants us to surround the creature. For an animal not native to this environment, he seems awfully good at using the trees and rocks for cover. Cassie got one shot into him, but he didn't seem to feel it. Maybe the hide is too thick."
We talked strategy for a while, then followed Loren through the trees. A loud growl let us know we were getting close. I could see movement through the trees. The creature was big. Jared keyed his radio to let Jared know we were in place. We followed the animal through the woods for a while, hoping to tire it out. I felt sure the hunters would tire before the hunted. I was anxious to get this creature down. I wasn't sure how long Chance could keep going, and I knew he wouldn't stop until we had captured the dingonek now that it was in our sights.
I only caught glimpses of the creature as it moved through the trees. It was big, scaly, and reddish. I'm not sure what it was about the creature, but it definitely looked out of place in the Idaho forest. I suspect is was just luck, but the dingonek ran into a bowl which trapped it with its back against a rock wall. We spread out to cover the arc of forest in front of it. It was using what cover it had, but that was limited.
I'm not sure how smart this thing was, but it was a predator. I got the sense that it realized we were closing in. It kept looking at the rock wall. Maybe it was trying to decide if it was worth the risk of turning its back on us to try to climb up the wall and disappear into the forest. Jared was on one end of the chain, and I was on the end opposite him.
As Jared raised his hand in a visual count down, the dingonek lunged at him, catching Jared's arm with its tusk. The creature pushed forward, knocking Jared to the ground and moving through our cordon. Chance yelled fire, and we all fired our weapons. Some of us hit the dingonek. It continued a few steps and then keeled over.
"I'll dose it," Cassie said as she went to give the creature more drugs to ensure it stayed down. "Everly, can you check on Jared?"
I dropped my pack, pulled out the first aid kit, and knelt at Jared's side. His arm was bleeding badly. I concentrated my efforts on getting the bleeding stopped. My focus was on Jared, but I heard Chance's voice close by. He was calling for transport for the creature and medical evac for Jared. When I'd done what I could to stabilize Jared, I walked over to Chance. "When that med evac gets here you're going too."
"I'm doing OK."
I put the back of my hand against his forehead again. He was still running a high fever.
"Loren and Rene are watching the beast," Cassie said. "Did I hear you say Chance needs to go in the medevac with Jared?"
"Yes. He got swiped by one of the chupas we took down. He's been running a high fever since. I started him on antibiotics but they don't seem to be helping."
"Infection was a big problem after my run in with the chupas. She laid her hand on Chance's forehead as I had done. "He definitely needs to get to a hospital."
"How are you doing?" I asked. When Cassie was treated for her injuries after she and I were kidnapped by a terrorist named Randerran, they found out she was pregnant. She wanted to take part in this hunt before she was too far along.
"I'm doing OK. Honestly, it's worse seeing Jared hurt than when I'm the one injured."
I nodded, understanding how she felt.