Evolve Read online

  Just the thought made him realize that he didn’t have full conviction in those men yet. It would be a significant problem for them all if things went wonky and he second-guessed everything they did. Now, more than ever, he wished to have his old crew back. At first, he missed them for their friendship. Currently, he missed them for their abilities and, more importantly, their trust.

  Not that the blokes in Delta were slouches or anything.

  He worked with them a few times when in the SAS and quickly recognized that they knew what they were doing. They lived up to the reputation almost immediately. Like all military branches, you didn’t cut it in the Special Forces divisions unless you were more than capable—physically and mentally. Delta, like the SAS, had some of the smartest men in the military running operations.

  He shook off the moments of weariness and jumped, hearing the rope slide through his harness’ carabiner like a snake through dry leaves. At first, he couldn’t hear anything over the chop of Shango-1’s rotors. Then, once he was below the top layer of the canopy, the rope’s grinding sounded like a gunshot in an empty warehouse, echoing all over the damn place.

  It wasn’t until his boots hit the ground and he took in his surroundings, or lack thereof, that Logan got a sense of what was around them. While the brush was dense and the air horribly humid, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The calm before the storm? The absolute stillness sent his military paranoia into high gear, making the hair on his neck stand on end. And by the tension radiating from everyone else, he wasn’t the only one experiencing it.

  Another thirty seconds of the eerie peace finally broke Logan’s suspicion and he stood, giving the signal. “Okay,” he said quietly, “we’re clear. Zeus, you and your men form a perimeter and give us a minute to regroup.”

  Without needing to verbally acknowledge him, the half dozen jungle cammy-wearing Delta members did as they were instructed, forming a protective ring around the forty-foot-wide breach of empty rainforest. When each man found their posts, they knelt and faced outward, weapons hot and at the ready.

  Logan would be lying if he wasn’t happy to have six operators as guard dogs. He didn’t know a man in charge that wouldn’t. But still…he knew better. Even with the amount of firepower each man had and the skill they had at enforcing it, Logan still didn’t feel right.

  He didn’t continue the thought. Thinking that way wouldn’t help anyone. As the leader of this outfit, it was his responsibility to keep a level head and make the hard decisions.

  Sometimes getting started is the hardest one of all.

  “We need to head…” Kiani said, looking down at her GPS unit, “…northeast.” She pointed off to their right and then turned and faced that direction. “If we move quickly, we can make it there before our light completely disappears.”

  “We have these for a reason,” Fitz said, chuckling a little. He gestured to his night vision goggles currently positioned upwards, away from his face.

  She whirled on the man. “Do not patronize me.” She had a similar set positioned—another gift from the Delta men. “I have one as well but I don’t want to use it unless it’s absolutely necessary.” She turned to Logan and calmed some, her irritation for Fitz apparent. “I suggest camping at night for fear of alerting anyone or anything to our presence. If we have to move, it should be for emergency purposes only.”

  He knew she was right. The jungle was her wheelhouse, not theirs. Before agreeing with her, Logan glared at Fitz, seeing him shrug. While what he said wasn’t that big of a deal in retrospect, Logan could see that Kiani was on edge. She was doing exactly what he would have—what they hired her to do. She was super-focused and in no mood for anyone’s shit.

  “I agree,” Logan said, facing northeast. “Let’s move.”

  Kiani led the way with Logan and Fitz, one on each side. She watched as the barrels of their sound suppressed rifles calmly swayed back and forth, scanning the terrain for anything unfriendly. The group weaved in and out of the swampy marsh-like forest, moving as fast as they could without making a racket.

  Every so often they’d have to stop and hack their way through a thicket of leaves and branches. Logan watched Kiani’s machete slice through the foliage and was impressed with how she handled the oversized blade. It was razor-sharp—sharper than any of theirs. She obviously used it often and kept its blade in mint condition. He also noticed her toned arms and the way the humidity clung to her clothes and the sweat glistened off her smooth—

  Damnit, man. Logan really needed to concentrate and keep his eyes off of her. He didn’t want to, but he knew he needed to separate himself from her for everyone’s sake.

  “Zeus,” he spoke, as they started moving again, whispering into his headset, “switch with me.”

  They kept advancing until Logan heard someone coming up behind him. As soon as he verified it was the Delta leader, Logan quickly fell back and took up the man’s spot at the back of the pack, guarding their rears. Now, he had his entire team inbetween his eyes and Kiani’s ass.

  No more distractions.

  If they got out of this journey unscathed, then maybe he’d see if there was something else, but until then, he had a job to do.

  * * *

  Kiani turned and watched as Logan moved to the rear of the group. She was curious as to why. Was it something she said? Was she being too brash? Did he not like women who were used to leading—used to being in charge?

  “Don’t worry, mum,” a voice to her left whispered, “he’s just a little smitten with you is all.”

  While she already knew not to take anything from the other Aussie man as truth, she couldn’t help but think what he said was right. It was the first time a man went out of his way not to be around her. Most were like the German hunters, wanting a little extra for their money. She honestly didn’t know how to respond to what just transpired.

  “He sees you as a distraction,” the American who took Logan’s spot said, “I know how Logan thinks. It’s nothing personal.”

  “Or is it?” Fitz said, smiling a little.

  “Oh,” Kiani said, not sure if she should be hurt or not.

  “Don’t look at it as a bad thing,” CJ said from behind. “Think of it as—”

  “Quiet.” As Fitz spoke, his closed fist went up, getting everyone to stop on a dime. Weapons went up from their low-ready positions, aiming forward like ten cobras ready to strike. Everyone looked for something to shoot, but instead, they found nothing except the green surrounding them.

  “What is it?” Logan asked quietly, whispering into their headsets. “What did you hear?”

  “Not hear,” Fitz said, sniffing the air.

  “Shit,” Zeus said, smelling it too.

  “What is it?” CJ asked, likewise aiming an automatic rifle. It was smaller than the others, less bulky, but still plenty powerful.

  “You don’t want to know,” Ares replied from behind her, an angry look on his face.

  Kiani inhaled deeply but quickly gagged. She knew what that smell was. “It’s them,” she said, shouldering her shotgun deeper into position. Her eyes widened. “It’s the Ru’kan. I can’t believe it.”

  “How do you know?” Logan asked.

  “You don’t smell it?” Fitz asked.

  As everyone continued their search of the wilderness, a set of footsteps crunched atop the overgrowth, announcing the captain’s arrival. Logan took one quick inhalation and cursed under his breath, gripping his FN SCAR assault rifle harder as a result.

  “What is it, Logan?” CJ asked, her voice sounding even more worried than just a few seconds ago. Seeing her normally stoic brother react the way he did had her frightened and on edge. The only other time she’d seen him in full battle mode was when a lot of people died.

  He answered her inquiry with one of his own but didn’t turn to face her as he spoke. “The tribe is cannibalistic, right?”

  She didn’t verbally answer, but Logan knew she understood the meaning of the question. Seeing nothin
g, he chanced a glance back. “What you’re smelling…is burning flesh.”

  Ares likewise stepped forward, stopping next to Zeus, and spat on the ground, looking like he was about to vomit. “It’s a damned barbecue.”

  * * *

  She watched them from a distance, her impeccable eyesight giving her the ability to stay far from them but not miss anything. This group wasn’t like the others she’d encountered over the years. They seemed less threatening, less bloodthirsty.

  They feel like a search party, she thought, analyzing the way they moved. Some were soldiers, for sure, but not all. The two women that accompanied them were capable from what she could tell, but they didn’t move like the men did.

  They’d be the first to die…

  She wasn’t one to attack anything that got too close for comfort, though. She would, however, defend their people’s territory if it came to it. The last few military groups that visited them didn’t stand a chance against the hunters.

  Neither will this group if they show themselves.

  Leaping from tree to tree, she followed the newcomers, keeping a trunk between their line of sight and hers. She could sense them, though, even smell them, from a great distance. They didn’t smell like the rest of the jungle.

  They smelled new—fresh.

  She missed that smell.

  She’d ventured out of the jungle in the past, seeing the modern world for what it was…dangerous. That was years ago—decades ago, however. She was the only one that she knew of that had. After what was called the “Second World War,” she decided to stay put, advising her people to do the same for fear of discovery. As the eldest member of her tribe, she had the power to mandate such a thing.

  No one, not even the fiercest of them all, would cross her. It was one of the only things her people demanded from one another. Even across tribal borders, they were to respect their elders at all times. But in her heart, she knew such teachings wouldn’t work forever. The younger generation within her culture was getting itchy to see the things beyond the trees. They felt caged in and tended to act out on occasion because of it. Those were the dangerous members of her people—the hunters.

  News didn’t travel fast in the Congo region—or at all. The only wars ever experienced there was between quarreling tribes or in the most developed sections of the continent, feuding governmental regimes.

  I wasn’t even aware of a ‘first’ world war…

  The people below her had pleasant voices too. They never raised them when speaking to one another. They always spoke so civilly. A few of them even laughed and joked. She especially liked the one leading the pack. He was a touch shorter than the other men but he had a long, rugged beard flowing from his chin. She thought it made him look handsome but also a bit daring.

  The men of her bloodline had no such ability to grow facial hair. She’d, of course, seen it in the past, but that was from other outsiders and like always, from afar. She refrained from killing any of them for some time, fearing additional intruders coming to look for those that disappeared. Better they come and go in peace and not know any better. She would even go out of her way to make sure the hunters let them be. It’s why she shadowed the foreigners now. The others would be able to sense her presence and respectfully back off.

  Hopefully.

  As long as the people below didn’t stumble upon any of the altar sites they would be fine. The hunters thought of them as their holy grounds and once upon a time, so did she. But with age came understanding—understanding that not everything different needed to die.

  7

  “It’s just up here,” Fitz said, scratching his chin, leading the way once again. “I think there’s another clearing.” He peered ahead, following what might be a game trail. Unless you knew what to look for, it would have easily gone unnoticed but Saami and Pandu had taught him well—Logan too.

  Buggers tried to cover their tracks, he thought, seeing the telltale sign of a side-to-side sweeping motion. It was like someone had taken a broom to the trail and then laid a layer of leafy detritus on top of it, concealing it further.

  He tried his best to backseat the memory of the twin brothers dying at the hands of the demon poachers. They were the first of their team to lose their lives that night, eventually turning into monsters themselves. Logan ultimately dispatched Saami via a knife through the soft tissue on the underside of his jaw. Thankfully, Fitz wasn’t there to help. Yes, in the end, they were already technically dead, but pulling the trigger when your buddy was on the other end of the sights… That was something too agonizingly difficult to ponder. Pandu had met that fate. Doing it to a friend was one thing, but doing it to someone you loved like CJ did to Jan… That was something else altogether.

  The stench of cooking flesh wafted through the trail, constantly smacking them in the face, getting picked up by whatever breeze there was. It wasn’t even that it smelled rotten or even nauseating, no, it was the fact that it was undoubtedly human meat that made the scent unbearable. Regardless of who was actually responsible for the atrocity, Ru’kan or not, Fitz was intent on making the “Grill Master” pay for his choice of entrée. If it was any other situation and the demon brood not involved, he may have been willing to let nature take its course. However, he knew deep down that whatever happened wasn’t just one organism feeding on another to survive. This was something birthed from pure evil. It was a maliciousness he needed to personally eradicate.

  The path widened enough for Logan to step up next to him as they continued their silent march forward, side-by-side. The only audible sound was the buzzing of insects and the crunching of the earth beneath their boots. All wildlife either went into hiding or as CJ believed, the animals knew better and purposely steered clear of the area.

  The direction wasn’t exactly on course either, maybe another fifteen minutes out of the way at their steady, even pace, but they all decided that checking it out was something they had to do. Gathering information on the Ru’kan was why they were there after all. If they were the ones filleting man meat, then it was their job to recon and report.

  And if it comes to it…shoot the bastards.

  The only people that didn’t agree on taking a look were CJ and Kiani. CJ was sick to her stomach and scared shitless, reminding everyone that she wasn’t actually a soldier. It was the chief reason why Logan was initially against her coming along. Kiani had quickly answered, “No,” which confused Fitz some. But then he remembered that she grew up around these legends. The fear of them was programmed into her blood—indoctrinated at a young age. It was exactly how hate groups around the world “trained” their next wave of fighters. Teach them young so they didn’t know any better.

  While Kiani was as strong and vigilant as ever, her paranoia over the subject was digging in even deeper now. Countering Fitz, she suggested that they leave it be and continue on towards their destination. She already warned them about being out at night but sighed as soon as the words left her lips when she felt the night vision apparatus shift on her forehead. Between their firepower and their technological upgrades, Kiani knew they’d be able to handle themselves—day or night. Her natural reaction to the Ru’kan had taken over in the heated moment. Fear could do that to even the strongest willed people sometimes, which she considered herself.

  The trees began to thin and Zeus immediately took the first available spot to Logan’s left. Ares did the same to Fitz’s right. If anything did come at them, whatever it was would have some serious hell to pay.

  “Holy fuck,” Ares said, stopping at the clearing’s opening. He quickly held a hand in front of his stubble-covered face, doing his best to hold back his vomit.

  Bodies were everywhere, some fresh, some not so much. As the team skillfully cleared the thirty-foot-wide opening for threats, Fitz took a moment to take in the surrounding area, happy to look away from the carnage before him.

  The trees had been masterfully cut and cleared with the canopy above still very much intact, making visibility nil
from the air. It was the most ingenious form of natural camouflage he’d ever seen, allowing in enough light to see by but also keeping out unwanted eyes. The ingenuity on display even rivaled the SS bunker lid/fake koppie combo back home. This was like a large living room had been installed right into the middle of the otherwise unmolested jungle.

  How many more of these clearings could there be?” Fitz thought, grimacing as he took his eyes off the trees. It can’t be the only one. Then he recalled the first clearing they dropped into… Was it like one of these at some point, maybe in the not too distant past? Would they have found bodies beneath the layers of soil and natural rot if they dug deep enough?

  He blinked hard and refocused.

  There were easily a dozen bodies on display, tied upright against the tree trunks encompassing the dome-like space around them. While some were fresh, others looked to be in more advanced stages of decomposition. He turned his attention to the oldest of them all and saw that the man’s arms and legs had been broken and secured around the back of a tree with rope made from thick vines. There were no supports holding the victims up either. Just the vines and the coarse tree bark kept the bodies in place six feet off the ground.

  Looks like a bloody trophy case.

  Next was the core of the body or lack thereof. This poor sap, like all the rest, had been eviscerated, alive most likely, causing Fitz to groan. The amount of dried blood confirmed that the victim’s heart was, indeed, still pumping when he was butchered. All the guts were gone too, leaving the corpse an emptied husk. It was impossible to tell whether it was an animal that came by and finished cleaning up too. He figured it was the tribe, though, remembering the lack of wildlife in the area. He checked the ground for tracks, just in case, but only found more blood.