Page 61 of North

“We’ll manage until then. We’ll wait?—”

There was a loud screech. It came from the warehouse.

“Help! God, someone help us.” A faint voice. “Please.” Then it turned into a wail of terror.

“Oh, God.” Goosebumps formed on my skin.

“Scratch that,” Jameson said. “We’re going in.”

“Jameson, wait,” Sasha said. “There are multiple heat signatures. You’ll be severely outnumbered.”

“Someone needs help now. If we wait, they’re dead.” He looked at us. “Who’s with me?”

Zeke snorted. “Dumb question.”

“Hell, yeah,” Marc said.

Kai nodded, then North.

I lifted my chin. “Let’s do this.”

We stayed in a tight group, moving toward the building. We all had our weapons up.

The large sliding door on the side of the warehouse was open. An old, rusted tractor sat outside.

The inside of the building was stygian darkness.

Jameson cursed. “We can’t see a thing.” He released a breath. “Flashlights on.”

We all clicked on our lights. The beams barely penetrated the dark.

We moved inside.

My heartbeat thudded heavily in my ears. Then I saw…something.

I walked closer, gasped. “Guys.”

I reached out and touched the sticky weblike substance that we’d seen in the cave where we’d rescued Hudson. It was everywhere, crisscrossing the space, covering boxes, running up the walls.

Marc stepped on some, then kicked it off. “It’s sticky as hell.”

“Help! Is someone there?Please.”

The male voice echoed from deeper in the building. We cautiously moved forward. We couldn’t risk calling out. There were monsters here.

“Oh, fuck,” Jameson breathed.

He was in front, and his flashlight illuminated cocoons. Lots of them. My gut curdled.

“This looks like a really bad horror movie,” Marc whispered.

They couldn’t all have humans in them? Surely.

A cocoon closest to us started moving, the sticky substance stretching.

Jameson pulled out his combat knife and sliced it open.

A dog fell out. Its fur was matted and it started barking wildly. It got to its feet, then shot off like a bullet.