salute [james conrad] 1

Chapter 25

IN the midst of fire and the stench of gasoline, Charlotte finds herself shaking.

All at once, the exhaustion of running, staying up all night, of not eating and the constant stress of survival all dawn in on her, making her thoughts crash down all at once as the fatigue finally hits her, her hands falling limp besides her.

The beast standing in front of them was like something coming out of a nightmare.

It was nothing like what Charlotte had experienced.

"Fall back!" James yells as the beast lets out a loud cry into the air.

Charlotte grabs her gun from the floor and looks around, making sure that the remaining soldiers are going into the jungle and away from the danger.

"Go!" She shouts at the soliders as she stares at the creature.

She turns to look at Packard, who is staring at the creature as if he was in a trance, and then at James as she takes a step back.

"James" Charlotte says hurridley, trying to get him to retreat.

"Sir, go" James warns as he turns to look at Packard.

When Packard doesn't respond, James looks at the creature, who is letting out screams into the air, slowly walking towards them.

Charlotte struggles slightly, trying to get Kong to move, but then she watches the creature, as it starts walking towards them with thunderous steps.

And grabbing Charlotte's hand, James finally drags her away into the depths of the jungle.

Charlotte lets out a weak breath after a l, and then stops running, letting go of James and turning around to watch as Kong smashes Packard with his fist in a quick moment, making Charlotte flinch, and then he slowly stands up to look at the Skull Crawler behind him.

All at once, slight relief floods through Charlotte's system, making the panic rising on her throat dettlenn down.

And then she watches as the creature toppels over Kong with it's pure strength, holding him down with it's paw.

Charlotte doesn't move, her senses petrified still as she watches the sun rise over the creatures head.

Then a strong arm envelopes her and lifts her up from the ground, carrying her forward, making her crash into leaves and tree branches.

She let's out a yelp, and turns to look at James, who sets her down and grabs her hand, pulling her forward.

"Kong's down. We need to go" He mutters to her as they run through the jungle.

Charlotte lets go of his hand, and lets her instincts take over as she runs ahead of James and takes the lead, leading them to a jungle opening, where the edge of a lake awaits for them. 

Then she stops and takes a breath, panting as James and Mason halt to a stop besides her.

She takes a look at the rusted, sunken boat and then at the lake, turning to look at James.

"This is the edge of the island" She pants.

Then she turns to look at Mason.

"Mason, get up on those rocks. Fire a flare" She tells her as she points to a tall peak.

"It's likely Brooks will see it" James pitches in as he tries to gain his breath as well.

The three of them turn to look back at the jungle, where a loud scream is heard.

Then Charlotte looks at Mason, nodding.

"We'll buy you time" James says as he looks at Mason.