Zoo II: A BookShot: A Zoo Story: 2 (BookShots) by James Patterson

Author:James Patterson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Thrillers & Suspense, Medical, Paranormal, Thriller & Suspense, Science Fiction, Suspense, Adventure, Military, Thrillers, Supernatural
Publisher: BookShots
Published: 2016-06-05T19:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

“Don’t shoot!” Freitas desperately implores, but it’s no use. He’s lost all control over our group. It’s every man for himself.

And it’s absolute bedlam.

Many team members have already run off, but a few guides and scared scientists stay behind. They use our elevated position to their advantage and let loose a torrent of gunfire at the feral humans in the valley below as they scatter in all directions.

I watch two of the humans get hit. But the other three don’t—and quickly disappear into the dense foliage, dashing back up the hillside in our direction.

“Come on!” I yell to Sarah and Freitas as I turn around to run back the way we came. I see Sarah is on board, but Freitas is pointing somewhere else.

“I think if we cut across the hill, we can probably make it back—”

“Sorry, doc. You’re on your own.”

I’m already on the run for my life. I’m not about to risk getting lost on top of that.

I start hauling ass back through the jungle. Branches scrape my arms and face as I whip past. All around me I hear gunshots ringing and screams echoing.

Sarah’s sprinting just to my left. But after I pass the bubbling creek I remember crawling past minutes earlier, she’s suddenly disappeared. I’ve lost her.

“Sarah?” I call, slowing down the tiniest bit.

She doesn’t respond. But I do hear another voice.

This one is deep and scratchy. With a South African accent. It comes from close by, but it somehow sounds distant. Haunting.

“We…are…human!”

Holy shit!

I do a quick 360-degree spin, searching for the source. My eyes dart everywhere, but I don’t see a soul.

“Hello?” I shout. “Where are you? Who are you?”

“Do not…be afraid! We…will not…hurt you. Please, listen…to me!”

I turn now toward the direction of the voice and aim my rifle at it—not easy to do with my adrenaline pumping and my hands trembling.

For the briefest moment, I wonder if maybe this feral human is being honest. The way they ate that antelope was savage, but how they killed it was almost reverent. Maybe they do have respect for human life. Maybe they aren’t vicious killers like the rest of the animal kingdom. Maybe we pre-judged them too quickly. Maybe—

“Arrrrrgh!”

One of the males lunges out of the tree line and charges at me, baring his teeth and brandishing a pickaxe.

I squeeze the trigger and pepper his chest with rounds. But he keeps coming, swinging his axe wildly.

At the last possible moment I crouch down and spear my bayonet up and into his chest—piercing him clean through the heart.

He releases his axe and flails. He gurgles blood. Finally he goes limp, and I shove him to the jungle floor.

“You…you sneaky son of a bitch!” I shout at his bloody corpse.

I’m livid. I can’t believe I doubted for even one millisecond that he wanted to kill me. These savages are worse than the animals. They have tools at their disposal. I don’t just mean guns and pickaxes. They have language. Cognition. Trickery.

I take off running again, equal parts furious and fearful.

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