Page 50 of Captured
“You’re nothing.” I say the words between gritted teeth. “You’re just a coward running for your life. Rakir will come for you and when he does, you’ll wish you died on that shore with your men.”
I’m not going down like that. I’d rather die here and now.
That is the last clear thought that comes to my mind as I spit in his face. Henrick blinks as the sputum slowly drips down his left cheek, then makes a swerve at the corner of his lips.
I can see the end of my life in his eyes as he wipes his face clean. I clench my jaw and give everything I have not to flinch.
“You’re going to die, sweetheart.” His voice is deadly soft and his eyes turn all black. “Key to the data frame or not, you’re going to die.”
I’m still on the ground, the cold of the stones seeping through me. I know I’m going to die soon, but I don’t care anymore.
“I don’t even have the key, asshole.” I laugh, the sound high-pitched and insane in the confines of the caves, reverberating back at me a thousand fold. “I was just buying Rakir some time. You stupid, blind gun-monkey. I never had it in the first place.”
Henrick’s face falls in a comical, graphic kind of way and I laugh some more.
“Shut up!” he shouts. He shoves me like touching my skin burns him and I fall on all fours, still laughing. His entire frame shivers with wrath as he bends over me. His intent of kicking me is as plain as the hatred on his face. Good. This way I’ll die quicker.
“I told you to shut up!” Henrick shouts again, his body bending slightly backward as he braces for the kick.
Only the kick doesn’t come. What comes is a sound made of pure fury, slithering through the evening night like a song from the Underworld.
The sound comes again from the cave’s opening and Henrick turns his head slowly as I’m still laughing. It’s a low hiss, something full of wrath and violence. A primal terror slithers across my skin and I struggle to look through the tremors that have taken over my limbs.
Behind us stand three of the apex predators, their collars deployed, long fangs out in a wrathful outrage. This is their territory we’re invading and they’re not going to lose it without a fight.
“What the fuck is that?” Henrick cries out, his voice suddenly shrill. He swivels around, forgetting all about his plan of beating me to death.
“That’s an enemy who won’t be swayed by your threats.”
Henrick glances at me like I’m crazy, and I must assume he’s right, because I’m only laughing more and more as the apex approach. They move like a single minded individual, the one in the middle clearly the alpha. As he moves, I notice a slight limp, and wonder if it’s the same apex that Rakir faced only a few days before.
It would be some kind of poetic justice if it was the same animal that killed Henrick.
The notion wipes my hilarity away and cold, clear thoughts wash over me all at once. I remain on the ground, knowing instinctively that my only chance of survival is to make myself forgotten.
Who am I kidding? I have no chance of survival. But life is a stubborn little thing and I still hold on to it.
Henrick forgot all about me. He’s facing the apex predators head on, a heavy stone in his hand. He screams mindlessly, the stone raised high, then throws it at the alpha. The stone hits its target with a wet thud and the alpha shakes his head, momentarily stopping his progression.
“Yeah, you don’t like that, do you? Well, stay away.” Henrick hoots and picks up another rock.
I know what he’s doing, but I still marvel at the stupidity of it. He wants to prove to this huge beast, this apex predator armed with claws and fangs that he is the strongest. He wants to intimidate it out of its own cave.
The alpha’s eyes stay cold and calculating as he watches Henrick. On each side of him, the other two move, flanking Henrick with slow, unhurried movements. I can see the easy pattern of the predators to distract their prey, but remain silent.
“You want some more?” Henrick shouts, turning to throw his rock at the apex on his left.
It’s a mistake, of course. The alpha emits a small chirping sound and the world devolves into a landscape of blood and gore. I look away as claws and fangs meet warm flesh, but no matter how much I try, I still hear his cries.
I push on my heels until my back touches the stone wall as the predators rip into the formless lump of flesh that was Henrick. The opening of the cave is a mere twenty feet away, but it could as well be a thousand miles. Three apex predators are in a feeding frenzy between me and the open forest.
Three creatures who would not hesitate one second to rip me to shreds. My only chance is to slip outside unseen.
As I inch toward the cave’s opening, hope surges inside me. I’m getting closer and closer, the air fresh and cold on my face. The sun has almost set and a blaze of orange and red paints the sky beyond.
A reflection catches on a small square on the ground, nestled between two rocks. I stare, blinking, my mind suddenly quiet.
The data frame. The List. Henrick must have dropped it during his fight with the apex predator.
