The biodegradable can I designed landed in front of my face. The trigger released a thick mist of peppermint oil directly into my eyes.
My eyes watered from the fumes, and I scrambled to my feet to get out of the direct mist. My foot hit a root, tripping me. I coughed as I stumbled back to my feet and out of the clouds of smoke.
“What are you doing?” Shannon hissed.
“I don’t know.” I took in deep, greedy breaths, but took the other side of Drew. I didn’t have time to break down and cry about some imaginary emotion drawing me closer to a monster.
We went nowhere fast, and we were lucky he retreated farther away this time. Probably because he took it directly to the face, like I did.
But he’d be back, I was sure of that. We could only hope this bought an hour max, and I wasn’t convinced we’d get that.
Reflexive tears poured down my face and blurred my vision, making it impossible to see. This time when I fell, I took all of us with me.
I tried to scan the area to see if he was getting closer, but it was impossible for me to tell. Somehow, I managed to get back on my feet, and Drew too.
“We should leave him behind,” I told her. Survival 101: don’t take on any unnecessary weight. That was how people died.
“You’re right,” she agreed.
But instead of putting him down and running for our lives, we both continued to drag Drew along with us.
Maybe I was the one that should have been left behind.
Something told me that I would drag everyone down.
Chapter 10:
WedraggedDrewintothe camp, and the rest of his team was already there. It would have been hilarious to hear so many men squawking about a monster, if I didn’t feel the very real threat staring at me from the water.
He’d been behind us the entire time, stalking us. Me.
But every time I searched the water, there was no one there. Yet, every time I looked forward, his gaze seared down my back, as if he was angrily studying every inch of me.
Shannon and I tossed Drew onto the medical cot. He started seizing, and we rolled him onto his side. “He must have a history. The stress probably overloaded him.”
“The shock is going to kill him,” I concluded at the same time she did. I remembered last night. “Do you have any more of that cocktail from last night?”
She frowned. “Doubt he can drink it.”
“Everyone calm down,” Professor Gale said in a tone meant to calm the hysteria. “What you are experiencing is delirium. We told you to be careful about the native wildlife.”
My eyes went to the blood coating Shannon’s hands as she stitched the ripped mess on Drew’s thigh. Flashes of stark white managed to make it through all the red. The creature had gone all the way to the bone.
Yeah, it was all delirium.
“My girls are well versed in emergency first aid. They will get your friend taken care of.” In times like this it was easy to see him as the voice of reason. Calm, cool, and ready to tackle problems head on.
“The med kit should have emergency morphine,” Shannon told me.
“Got it.” I dug in the medical supplies, trying to find anything that would ease his pain. Outside of the med tent, the softest splash of water ripped my attention. I froze, waiting for the monster to burst through the weak canvas.
“It’s not him. Move it, Talia.” Shannon meant to be sharp and authoritative, but I heard the quiver in her voice. She was scared, too.
I found something for the pain, prepping the IV. I missed Drew’s vein, when a much louder splash on Talia’s side of the tent snatched my attention.
Shannon braced herself for an attack, and after a few seconds, we both wearily rushed back to work. She sniffled and took a deep breath. “He’s playing with his food.”
“Yep.” I finally slid the IV into his arm and got the drip going. Now maybe he had a chance of making it.
