Always Surprise Me ~ James Conrad

Chapter 11

James, Packard, and I were leading the group of boys. I finally had my gun out, holding it at my side. I felt a little bare since I lost the gun that I usually have on my arm, but at least I still have my one.

We get to an area that doesn't smell very good and has huge bones sticking up everywhere. I was still in awe and kept looking at them all. I was curious at what all the animals that these bones came from.

We get to a trench that smelt even worse. My eyes widen and my mouth drops open. I could make out skeletons that look like giant gorillas.

"Yeah, you smell that?" Marlow asks. I nod slightly and grip my gun tighter. "That's death."
"What the hell is this place?" Slivko asks.

"This is what's left of Kong's parents."

"I've taken enough photos of mass graves to recognize one." Mason says.

"I don't like this place." I say. James grabs my hands and squeezes it.

"The crash site's just on the other side of this valley. We'll cross through and make it to the highest point west." I look over at Packard, eyes widen. Marlow shakes his head.

"This place is a real no-no sir." Marlow says.

"We should head back to the boat and head to the north end of the island." I say, really getting a bad vibe from this place.

"And you are more than welcome to, Hale, all by yourself. I'm not leaving Jack out there. Now, who's with me?" I glare at him and start walking toward him. James pulls me back, trying to calm me down.

"We can make it." James says. I sigh and nod my head.

"You're might right, we can make it." I take a deep breath and head into the trench. I keep my gun in front of me and take tentative steps. This place has me on edge and I don't like it.

A big explosion goes off, making me jump and quickly turn toward it, gun at the ready. I released the breath I didn't realize I was holding, when I realized a couple of our guys. I start walking toward James, feeling a little safer when I'm near him.

While we were walking through, a screech was heard that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I couldn't find the source of the sound but I instantly start backing up.

"Run!" Marlow shouts, which causes us all to scatter. I follow James as he finds a place to hide. He grabs my arm and pulls me back to him. I am leaning against him, with Mason beside us. I look over and see Marlow and Slivko across from us.

I can hear the creature getting closer to us. I am trying to calm my breathing down. I can see the creature and my eyes widen. I will have nightmares about that thing. It starts heaving, emptying its stomach. A skull comes out, with dog tags attached to it. I look closer at the dogs tags, my eyes widen seeing Jack Chapman's name on them.

The creature walks away. I quietly move and grab the dog tags, slipping them into my pocket. I look back at James, who noticed it as well. I quickly stand up and walk out from hiding. James and Mason follow me as we look around.

I hear a clicking sound behind me. I look back and see Randa with camera, the flash was shorting out. My eyes widen as I start to back up, hearing the creature again.

"Oh, shit." Randa mumbles. The creature appears behind me and grabs him, eating him in two bites. I aim my gun as I watch the creature. I study it as someone starts firing at it. You could still see the flashing in the creatures stomach. It disappears into the fog.

I quickly back up, toward James, my gun at the ready. It was quiet but you could see the flashing every now and then. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest.

The creature finally appears near Marlow. I feel a hand grab my arm pulling me away. James and I take off running, from the creature. While James goes to get Slivko, who was knocked out, I stand in front of Marlow, firing at those stupid birds that attacked me earlier.

I was a pretty good shot, all instant kill shots. I ran out of bullets and quickly reloaded. When I looked back, I noticed the creature advancing on James and Slivko.

"James!" I run toward them, pulling out my lighter. I turn it on and throw it into one of the craters, the one right below the creature. It explodes, sending us to the ground, killing the creature. I quickly sit up and look over at James. "James, are you ok?" He looks at me and nods.

"I'm ok giving the circumstances." I chuckle as I lean down and kiss him, glad he is ok.

"Good, let's get out of here." He nods as we both stand up. We all quickly get out of the ditch.