Blink: Leviathan (Book 2)

12

Amber stumbled up into the light, supporting Hekket over one shoulder as she went. Water tumbled off of them as they sloshed up the stairs and staggered to a halt in the safety of the new passage. She cast a fearful glance back over one shoulder, expecting the monster from the deep to come surging out after them. All she saw was Idas, half-swimming, half-scrambling his way out of the water. He slumped down into a sitting position beside them, leaning back on his hands, and for the first time since she'd met him she could see genuine fear in his eye.

She turned her attention back to Hekket, who was clutching his ribs with a grimace. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," he gasped. "Just...winded. That thing hits like a wrecking ball." He looked around until he spotted Niamh lying a few feet away with Darien kneeling by her side. Her face was tight with pain and Amber could see the indent of the creature's claw mark in the thigh plates of the other girl's armour. Niamh coughed once, and then spewed up a fountain of sea water.

Shrugging off her hand, Hekket tottered over to their injured comrade and knelt down to examine her injuries. Amber followed, and she found that her legs were shaking, partly with adrenaline and partly with residual fear. She tapped Idas on the shoulder as she passed.

"You okay?"

"That oversized crab broke my jackhammer," he said sourly, shaking his head as he continued to stare into the water. "I had that gun for two years."

Concluding that he was fine, Amber patted him on the shoulder and continued on, joining the others alongside Niamh. She was scraped and bruised from her ordeal, but she seemed to have survived the encounter with minimal injuries. Hekket felt up and down her leg, extracting a growl of pain and she flinched, almost kneeing him in the face.

"Doesn't look like anything's broken," Hekket declared, beginning to get his breath back. "And the armour's proved its worth. How do you feel?"

"Not...great," Niamh groaned back. "Still, I'm alive and I guess that's something."

"Hold still." Hekket examined her head next, gently turning it from side to side, searching for any sign of damage. Aside from some superficial grazes, however, he found nothing life threatening. "You were lucky. How does that feel?"

"It doesn't feel lucky, I'll tell you that much." She glared at him. "You done poking and prodding me?"

"Depends. Can you stand?"

"I think so."

With Darien and Hekket assisting her, Niamh managed to get unsteadily to her feet. She took a few steps, limping badly. Her face was tight with pain as she moved, but the tough operative gritted her teeth through it.

"This should help," Hekket said, sliding a tiny syringe from his med-kit. He stooped down to Niamh's injured thigh and stuck the needle in, extracting a sharp gasp.

"What...is that?" she hissed.

"A muscle fortifier – it'll help keep you mobile until we can get your leg under a proper scanner."

"Thanks." She looked to Darien who was standing watching proceedings with a black look on his face. "And...thanks."

"Don't mention it," he grated and his gaze shifted.

Amber had spent enough time around the operatives of Hammerhead Squad to recognise the shifts in atmosphere within the group. She could feel it now, an indefinable sense that something was about to lash out of control, bubbling beneath the surface. She followed Darien's iron stare and at the other end she saw Brannigan standing mute, her carbine hanging limply in both hands. The new girl had yet to move from her position several metres back from the water's edge. Amber felt a surge of anger roil through her at the realisation that Brannigan had simply abandoned them to fight the undersea behemoth alone.