Page 21 of Jameson

Greer rose. “I’m coming too.”

I wanted to argue, but the stubborn look on her face warned me not to bother.

I strode down one of the tunnels, my squad behind me. Greer stayed at my side.

Clang.

We couldn’t wait for the storm to clear. “We need to get a drone up and see what we’re dealing with. North, Kai?”

The men nodded.

“On it,” Kai said.

“You have a drone with you?” Greer asked.

I nodded. “Colbie dropped off some of our gear when she flew us in. The guys retrieved it earlier.” We never went anywhere without extra weapons and ammunition.

A groove appeared in Greer’s brow. “Isn’t it too wet and windy for a drone to operate?”

“Calmer conditions would be better, but the drone’s designed to work in bad weather. It’s not ideal, but we’ll see what we can see.”

Kai and North reappeared, carrying a medium-size case from our gear. Kai flipped open the box and pulled out the high-tech quadcopter drone. Our tech guru, Maxim, liked to invent gadgets. He kept our armor enhanced, the Talon kitted out, and was always upgrading our weapons.

Kai and North headed for the exterior door. I heard a creak, followed by the howl of the wind.

I headed back to the long table where we’d eaten. Some of the engineers were still sitting there, looking worried.

I opened the tablet that controlled the drone. It was set in a rugged, tough casing. Marc and Zeke leaned against the wall, watching.

The screen flickered to life.

The drone flew up and I had a view of the dam wall. I spotted Kai and North, battered by the wind and rain, but staying close to the base door.

The drone moved over the dam, and the image was shaky. The wind was damn strong.

“It’s too dark,” Zeke said. “Visibility is shit.”

I tapped my finger on the desk.Where are you?

There was a flash of movement in the water.

Greer leaned forward. “There.”

Three tentacles burst out of the water.

“Fuck,” Marc muttered.

I saw a glimpse of a large sucker mouth. Then the creature disappeared back into the water.

“We’re going to die,” one of the engineers whispered.

“No one’s going to die,” I growled. “Hunter Squad is going to do what we do best.”

Marc nodded and folded his arms over his chest. “Turn that monster into mush.”

“Okay, everyone, get to bed,” Greer said. “It’s been a rough night. The storm should clear by the morning, and we have work to do. It’s what Travis and Sam would want. We won’t let them have died in vain.”

With nods, her team left and headed into the tunnels.

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