Page 20 of Lagoon

She made her way around the lagoon, picking her way through the rock outcroppings that surrounded it.

Halfway around, she came to a small path.

She stepped onto it and crept through the shadows of twilight until she rounded a bend and saw the lizardman for the first time.

There was a little clearing here. A cavelike shelter was open and the tall, spined, scaled thing stood in front of both Nancy and Riley Stine, who were cowering just next to the open mouth of the cave.

There was no sign, however, of Dr. Greyson.

Shoot it?

She could.

She had a clear shot here. She knew Greyson wanted it alive, though. It didn’t seem to be currently threatening the lives of Riley and Nancy. Nancy had been gone a long time, and she had all her limbs and didn’t even seem bruised, though she did look terrified.

Angela didn’t shoot.

Instead, carefully, she eased closer.

Nancy’s gaze shot to the movement. Her eyes widened. “Angela, help!” she shrieked.

At which point, the lizardman turned, saw Angela, let out some kind of mangled keening noise, and came for her.

Angela shot. She aimed for someplace that wasn’t lethal and her aim was true.

The creature jerked backwards, blood spurting out of its shoulder. It let out another noise, this one clearly pained.

Angela winced. She lowered her gun. “You two, up. Behind me. Now.”

Both Nancy and Riley were scrambling to their feet.

The lizardman was mad now. It sprang forward—man, it was fast—and it had her.

Angela and the lizardman went down. It landed hard on top of her. All the air went out of her lungs. She grunted.

The lizardman seized her wrist and squeezed.

She dropped the gun.

It skittered across the rocks and went off.

Boom.

Everyone cringed, the lizardman included.

Then, in the aftermath, it threw back its head, baring an impressive array of very sharp teeth and bellowed.

It was all Angela could do not to scream. Somehow, she knew that was exactly the wrong thing to do in this situation, thatscreaming only worked on things that would be empathetic and if this creature had any empathy, it was used up since she’d shot it.

The lizardman reared up, raising one hand, and Angela saw that it had these long, needly things sticking out of each one of its webbed fingers.

“No,” managed Angela. “No, no, please.”

It stabbed all of them into her belly, deep inside.

She did scream now. She couldn’t hold it in.

Angela didnotlike needles.

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