Page 52 of A Monster’s Future

Tatertot was quiet now, huddled at the bottom of the pouch. Something was wrong. The forest had gone quiet. Too quiet. The eerie, unnatural stillness made my skin crawl. I reached for the phone in my pocket, my pulse hammering in my throat.

Then I heard it: a snap of a branch.

I whipped around.

Victor appeared from behind a large tree; his wife, Hannah, stepped out next, a gun trained on me.

“What—”

“I’m sorry, Julie.” Victor looked genuinely distraught. “We don’t want to do this, but Dr. Kim has our kid.”

Dr. Kim? The name sounded familiar. Dana had faced off with Dr. Noble. Wasn’t Dr. Kim the final missing scientist who had worked on the Utopia Project?

“Shut up, Victor. If you go soft on me and fuck this up I’ll never forgive you.” Hannah’s look was determined, single-minded, a mother protecting her child, and no amount of appealing would work to make her change her mind.

There were more footsteps, and I turned to see three men I recognized but didn’t remember their names. They’d joined the settlement a few months ago. Suddenly, one of them moved, grabbing me and holding me in front of him. He held a gun to my head.

“Stop right there, Kadrixan, and put your hands in the air, or your mate gets it,” the man shouted, turning as he did.

Grtirr stood with his hands splayed by his shoulders. He was too far to reach me, but in range of these traitors’ weapons. Every gun and blaster, except for the one pointed at me, was pointed at him.

“Why the fuck are these two here anyway? It’s supposed to be just us,” whispered one of the men, his voice hoarse.

“The hell do I know?” answered another.

“Shut up, everyone.” It was Hannah again. “If we fuck this up, we’ll never see our kids again. You know the doctor’s watching. He always is. So let’s do whatever the fuck we have to.”

She fired at Grtirr. Grtirr lunged out of the way. The others, seeing that she’d already started the shooting, followed suit. They began shooting at Grtirr as he dodged and ducked with inhuman speed.

I screamed as some of the bullets hit him. But he managed to disappear behind a tree.

I tried to struggle, but the cold muzzle against my temple and the arm around my neck reminded me to behave. But I had to get away somehow. Grtirr could take these guys, even injured; I knew it. He wasn’t attacking because of me. I was his liability.

“Where the fuck is he?” Victor’s voice sounded strange in the echo of the shots.

Suddenly, Tatertot leaped up, teeth first from the pouch, latching onto the hand holding the weapon to my head. The man released me, swearing, his gun dropped to the ground as he tried in vain to shake a very angry cooki off his hand.

“The fucking rat,” the man howled.

I dove out of the way, rolled to my feet, and ran. I looked back just in time to see Tatertot be flung off the man’s hand. She landed a few yards away, but luckily, the leaf litter was deep, and it broke her fall. She got out immediately and scrambled up a tree to safety. It must be great to be such a great climber. I wish I could climb to safety now too.

“Good girl, Tatertot,” I whispered, unsure if she could hear me.

I ducked back behind the tree I was using for cover. I didn’t think they knew where I was, but if I shouted to Grtirr, they’d know. But I also wanted to let Grtirr know I wasn’t directly in harm’s way anymore.

I made a split-second decision.

“Get them, Grtirr. I’m safe.”

I had to believe that they’d have their hands so full of angry Kadrixan that they wouldn’t be able to come look for me at all. Sure enough, Grtirr burst out from the trees, a red blur of kickass, and all their attention turned to him.

I scrambled to get my phone out of my pocket and dialed for Chris. I didn’t wait when I heard him pick up.

“We’re being attacked. Grtirr’s been shot, but he’s still fighting. There are five of them. Hannah and Victor, and three others.”

“We’re already sending people to the location Grtirr called from last. Are you still there?”

“We’re in the woods close to there. Please get them to hurry. I don’t know how many times he was hit, and I can’t tell if he’s bleeding.”