Chapter 20 #2
A large marker was on the upper edge of the mask. Larger than any she’d seen so far.
Macy tilted her head back, and the air fled her lungs. The massive, highlighted creature flowing through the water overhead was an image from her nightmares.
A razorback. And it was turning toward Macy.
She swam forward, putting herself between the monster and the child.
“Go!” she screamed, and waved back toward the Facility.
Macy turned toward the razorback and waved her arms. It seemed to fixate on her; she moved away from Melaina, away from the Facility, and the beast followed.
She kicked her legs and used her hands to pull herself along the rocks on the bottom, much like Jax had done.
“Irregular vital signs detected. Do you require assistance?”
“What kind of assistance?” she asked, panting, arms already burning from exertion.
“Would you like me to send a distress signal?”
“That doesn’t do me any good now, Sam.” Macy looked behind her and her eyes widened. The razorback was gaining. “Can you track that thing’s movement?”
“Are you referring to the eighteen-meter-long sea creature behind you?”
“Yes!”
The large arrow that marked the razorback changed to bright green, and a number appeared below it — 13.6M. Within the space of a heartbeat, it dropped to 11.1M.
Macy searched the rocks ahead, but the shadows and irregularities made it difficult to determine whether any openings were large enough for her to squeeze into.
“Sam, I need a spot to hide!”
“There is a crevice straight ahead, in eight-point-five meters.” The spot was suddenly highlighted in yellow.
Gritting her teeth, she pushed onward, driven by the deafening pounding of her heart. The distance between Macy and the crevice shrank rapidly; her lead on the razorback dwindled faster.
Please! Please!
The crevice was just within reach when the water behind her shifted. Grasping the edges, she dove into the shelter.
Something powerful clamped down on her leg, and her momentum halted. Macy screamed as the pressure increased and searing pain lanced through her calf.
“PDS exterior compromised. Energy field unstable,” Sam said far too calmly. “Redirecting power to compensate.”
Macy clawed at the rock around her. For a moment, she held herself in place. When the razorback tugged, it felt as though her arms and leg would be torn from their sockets. She clenched her jaw to hold in her scream as a fresh wave of agony blasted through her.
Her hold slipped, and the razorback dragged Macy out of the crevice. Water rushed around her. The beast snapped its head to the side, swinging her, shredding the muscles of her calf.
Information and alerts appeared on the inside of the mask, and Sam was talking, but she couldn’t focus on any of it.
She reached down to take hold of her wounded leg, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure, when her fingers brushed over the knife. Clenching her thigh, she stared at the razorback through the blood misting the water. The way it was moving, she’d never reach its head with the knife.
The gun!
She drew her other leg up, knee to her chest, and struggled to get a hold of the gun. When she finally pulled it from the holster, the razorback changed the direction of its swing.
Screaming through clenched teeth, she slammed her free foot into its snout repeatedly. Her heel connected with its eye and the beast released her abruptly and swam away, snapping its head from side to side. It wheeled around.
She didn’t waste a moment; she aimed and squeezed the trigger several times in quick succession as she sank toward the bottom. The sound of the gun firing was strangely muted in the water — she felt its power, more than heard it.
The razorback twisted and thrashed as its blood clouded the water. It reared back, opening its jaws.
Macy fired until the gun was empty. Her feet touched the rocky seafloor; it was strangely comforting to have solid ground beneath her, despite the flaring pain in her leg.
As the razorback charged again, Macy released the gun and drew her knife. The beast’s movements were slower now, but seemed no less powerful.
Just before the razorback reached her, she pushed off the bottom.
The razorback’s snout missed her by centimeters.
Macy used her momentum to spin, swinging her arm around and slamming the knife into the beast’s eye.
She held on as it flipped and tumbled through the water, grabbing hold of one of its spines with her other hand.
The beast twisted its head to the side and snapped his jaws over her injured leg and swam forward.
Macy screamed, but she didn’t let go. Tightening her grip on the knife, she tore it free and slammed it into the razorback’s head again and again. She looked over her shoulder to see the large rock just before the razorback slammed her into it.
Jax swam higher above the bottom than he normally would, granting him a wider view of the area. Melaina wasn’t likely to have gone far, but if she’d changed her skin to hide, it would be incredibly difficult to spot her.
He led his party in a wide arc around the front of the Facility, slowly expanding their search area; despite the danger of attracting predators, the kraken kept their skin glowing, creating a beacon for the youngling to swim toward.
Movement to the right caught his attention. He halted and turned toward it, altering his grip on his harpoon gun, and his party fell in around him. Something was fast approaching them. Jax tensed, preparing to defend himself.
As the creature neared, its features grew clear — it was a kraken, skin pulsing with warning flashes.
Melaina!
Jax slung the harpoon over his shoulder and rushed forward to meet her. The youngling nearly collided with him. Her eyes were wide, and her skin flashed frantically. She hastily signed, but her movements were difficult to understand, made imprecise by her fear. He signaled for her to slow down.
Danger. Go help. Need help.
He scanned the water for any signs of danger, for a razorback or a sandseeker, but saw nothing.
Melaina grabbed his hand and tugged, waving for him to follow. Before he could react, she swam off, back in the direction from which she’d come.
Despite his confusion, Jax set off after her; the rush of water behind meant his party had done the same. He caught up to Melaina and sped alongside her, gaze darting between the youngling and the seafloor ahead.
His hearts skipped when he saw it; there, where distance made everything murky, loomed the shape of a huge razorback. The water surrounding it was clouded with blood.
Jax increased his pace, surpassing Melaina, and swung the harpoon gun into his hands. There was something wrong with the scene ahead; the razorback was moving, but only barely, its long tail and fins swaying gently. He’d never seen one so still.
The other kraken spread out, weapons in hand, and encircled the beast. But Jax knew there’d be no need for weapons as he came around the razorback’s front.
Its head was a mangled mess. One eyeball protruded from its socket, and the other was missing entirely.
The handle of a knife jutted from its ruined skull.
The spines protruding from the creature’s head had snagged on the rocks below, anchoring it in place, and its body — twisted at an odd angle — moved in with the current.
The kraken remained cautious as they closed their circle, until one of the others flashed his light and gestured toward the bottom.
The alarm on the other kraken’s face urged Jax forward. His veins filled with ice as his position afforded him a clearer view; pinned beneath the razorback’s shoulder was a figure in a black suit.
Macy turned her head toward Jax when he arrived. Her skin was pale and beaded with sweat in the glow of her mask, her features strained. She mouthed his name.
For a moment, terror froze him in place.
In all their time together, through all her bouts of illness, he’d never seen her look so worn, so pained…
so close to death. He shook it off and signed to the party.
They rushed to the razorback, and — moving quickly but carefully — broke the spines that held it in place.
Macy squeezed her eyes shut, bared her teeth, and arched her back as the kraken shifted the creature.
Jax dropped to Macy’s side the instant the beast was free. He swept his eyes over her; they were drawn immediately to the wisps of blood flowing from her leg where her suit — and her calf beneath — had been torn to shreds.
He leaned forward and gathered her in his arms. She clung to him with surprising, desperate strength. Their eyes met; he pressed his forehead against her mask and held her gaze as he wound a tentacle around her leg to stop her bleeding.
Her scream was loud enough that he felt its vibration against the glass.
Leaving the others to tend to the razorback, Jax lifted her off the bottom. Melaina looked from Macy to Jax, her features drawn with worry and fear. The youngling swam beside him as he raced toward the Facility.
Though they hadn’t been far away, it was the longest, most difficult swim of his life; he pushed as fast as he could without jarring her, without putting any more strain on her wounded leg, without allowing more of her blood to flow.
The water in the entry chamber had never drained so slowly.
He wished, for a fleeting moment, that the Computer had a physical form he could rake his claws across after it spouted a cheery welcome.
“Will she be okay?” Melaina asked once the water was shallow enough to speak.
“Yes,” he said with a confidence he did not feel.
When the interior door opened, he rushed through.
“What do you need, Macy? Where do you want me to take you?”
“The infirmary,” Macy said through the mask.
“I don’t know that word. Describe the room.”
“White. Lots of tables. Beds. Red sign—” she sucked in a sharp breath through her teeth “—with two crossed lines.”