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Je
The plane sped toward it. Je
“What are you—?” Kowalski began, then finished with “Oh, shit!”
Like the barracks, a snowbank had blown against the windward side of the Jamesway hut, a frozen wave banking almost to the roof.
The Otter struck the icy slope, nose popping up. Je
The skids brushed against the corrugated roof of the building with a rasp of metal on metal — then they were away, airborne into the teeth of the storm.
For the next few stomach-rolling minutes, Je
Sighing, she checked her gauges: altitude, airspeed, compass. In these whiteout conditions, the instruments were all she had to go by. Beyond the windshield, there was no discernible way of telling sky from ice.
“You’re fucking awesome!” Kowalski said, wearing a shaggy grin.
Je
It was holding fine — if you could call a mere eighth of a tank fine.
“What’s wrong?” Tom asked.
“We’re almost out of fuel.”
“What?” Kowalski asked. “How?”
Je
Kowalski swore fiercely once she was done.
“How far can we get before we have to land?” Tom asked.
Je
“Great…” Kowalski groaned. “Just far enough to land in the middle of bumfuck nowhere.”
Je
“What can we do?” Tom asked.
No one answered.
Je
With no more tricks to play, Matt and Amanda had only one course left, the most basic means of defense. “Run!” Matt yelled, giving Amanda a rough push.
She let out a gasp, then leaped away like a startled doe.
Matt did his best to keep up with her, but barefoot, it was like ru
They fled up the tu
“I know…I know this place!” Amanda yelled. “We’re not far from the exit!”
Matt glanced over a shoulder.
The grendel flew down the tu
“Get down!” This new shout came from the tu
Matt swung around to see a bristle of weapons pointed his way.
The Navy team!
Amanda disappeared among them. Matt was too far behind. There was no way he could make it. He dove onto his belly, arms outstretched, ax held in both hands.
The passage erupted with gunfire. Bullets whistled over his head. Ice chipped from the walls and ceilings, pelting him from stray shots and ricochets.
Matt rolled to his back, staring back between his legs.
The grendel crouched only a yard away, head bulled down. It clawed toward him, determined to reach its prize. A bellow rumbled through its chest. Steam puffed from its buried nostrils. Blood spilled over its sleek features as flesh was macerated by bullets.
Matt backpedaled away, pushing with his bare feet.
Under fire from three automatic weapons, the beast still fought toward him. One claw lashed out and snatched Matt’s pant leg, pi
Matt read the fire in there.
The grendel’s lips snarled back. It might die, but it would take him with it.
Matt swung his ice ax — not at the beast but over his head, as far as his arm could reach. The pick end jammed into the ice. With his other hand, he unbuckled his pants and ripped loose the top button. Using the ax as an anchor, he hauled himself out of his pants and rolled from the beast.
Stripped to his thermals, he crawled away. The beast roared behind him, a haunted sound that crossed all spectrums, eerie and forlorn.
Matt reached the row of men.
Hands grabbed him, hauled him to his feet.
He looked back at the beast. It had also rolled around, half climbing the walls to turn. It fled away from the stinging attack and vanished around the far bend.
Matt joined Amanda, and together they approached the others: a cluster of scientists and a handful of Navy perso
Craig gaped at him. “I thought you were dead for sure.”
“We’re not out of this yet.”
Bratt organized his command: Greer, O’Do
Amanda stared hard at Bratt. “The Polar Sentinel left?”
“Captain Perry had no choice.”
Amanda seemed to shrink back, stu
Bratt answered, “We can’t stay down here. We’re ru
“Sir, I know a few places we could hide on Level Three,” the tall black lieutenant said. She nodded back up the tu
“Anywhere’s better than these fuckin’ tu
Bratt nodded. “We’ll have to be careful.”
Matt would be happy to be out of these ice passages himself. The nagging buzz was begi
He suddenly jolted.
Oh, God…
He swung around. His ears had been ringing from the close-quarter rifle fire. Only now that it had faded did he feel it.
The creature had been driven off — but the buzzing continued.
He saw the look of recognition in Amanda’s eyes.
“We’re not alone!” Matt yelled.
Flashlights suddenly shot up, poking down other tu
“They’re the thawed group from the caves!” Bratt called out, waving everyone back. “They finally got around that damned carcass.”
“The rifle fire must have drawn them!” the biologist yelled in terror, pulling back.
“Out!” Bratt yelled. “We don’t have the firepower to hold off this many!”
Together, they ran up the tu
The sudden movement drew the beasts, like cats after fleeing mice.
“This way!” Amanda screamed.
The double doors to the station appeared ahead.
In a mad rush, they hit the doors. Matt held the way open and waved the civilians through. “Move, move, move!”
The Navy perso
As the doors were slammed shut, a shot rang out ahead of them. Matt ducked from a ricochet off the metal wall.
It seemed their gunfire had drawn more than just grendels.
“Halt!” a soldier in a white parka barked at them in heavily accented English. He and four others had a post at the other end of the hall. Assault rifles were trained on them. “Drop weapons! Now!”