Read Online Recovery: V Plague Book 8 by Dirk Patton - Free Book Online Page B

asked the pilot who was busy checking the pistol that had been
holstered at his hip.
    “We wait,”
he said, holstering his weapon.  “My wingman made it, or at least I think he
did, but either way there’ll be a SAR flight along as soon as it can be
organized.  So we stay put and wait for rescue.”
    While he was
talking he led the way back to where he’d discarded his parachute.  A small,
cushioned pack was attached to a long tether and he picked it up and
disconnected the line holding it. 
    “What do you
have in there?”  Rachel asked.
    “First aid
kit, sunblock, water ration, a couple of MREs, a compass, waterproof matches,
flare gun and water purification tablets.”  He said, looking into the pouch as
he spoke.
    “No more
weapons?”  Rachel asked.  He just shook his head.
    As the day
wore on the wind grew stronger and the temperature continued to drop.  They
talked little, exchanging names and not much more.  Neither was in the mood to
socialize.
    Shortly
before the last of the daylight faded, Bill gathered fallen tree branches and
piled them in an area that was somewhat sheltered from the biting wind.  Rachel
stood and began helping.  Soon they had a respectable pile and he spent a few
minutes clearing pine needles until he had a large spot of bare earth exposed. 
Stacking twigs and smaller branches, a few of the open spots were filled in
with dry pine needles.  He was digging through his pack for a match when a
bone-chilling howl sounded on the wind.
    Both of them
leapt to their feet, looking around.  Bill already had the pistol in his hand. 
The howl sounded again, loud in the dark forest, sending gooseflesh creeping up
and down Rachel’s entire body.  She shifted position until her back was pressed
against Bill’s so that together they could watch in all directions.
    “Is that
what I think it is?”  Rachel hissed.
    “If you’re
thinking wolf, then that’s what I think too.”  He answered in a not so steady
voice.
    “Will they
attack humans?”  She asked.
    “They’ll
attack anything except maybe a bear,” he said.
    “I’m going
to get the fire going,” Rachel said.  “You keep an eye out.”
    He didn’t
say anything and a moment later she struck one of the fat matches and held it
to a tuft of pine needles.  They were dry and caught easily, Rachel hunching
over the small flame to shield it from the wind until the larger sticks and
branches began burning. 
    Once it was
crackling away, Rachel reached back into the pouch and pulled out the flare
gun.  She looked at it a moment to figure it out, then pressed the release
lever and broke it open.  She could see brass in the chamber and satisfied it
was loaded, snapped it closed.  Three more flares were in a small plastic case that
she stuffed it in her pocket.
    “What are
you going to do with that?”  Bill asked when she stood up and he saw it in her
hand.
    “Maybe I’m
wrong, but…” she was interrupted by another howl, this one sounding like it was
no farther away than the far side of the clearing.
    Rachel and
Bill both faced that direction with their weapon at arm’s length, pointed at
where the howl originated.  They stood that way for a minute, then Rachel began
to worry that while they were distracted they were being stalked from behind. 
Turning, she started to move so her back was against Bill’s but froze when she
saw a pair of yellow eyes watching her from the edge of the forest.
    “Oh, fuck,”
she breathed as the eyes began approaching.
    The fire
wasn’t large, what light it cast creating shadows in the forest that danced as
the wind fanned the flames.  But there was one large shadow that approached
slowly, not wavering.  The eyes were bright, reflecting the firelight and
Rachel didn’t think the animal was more than thirty feet away.  It was
considerably larger than Dog.
    Rachel was
shaking with fear, her heart pounding as she tried to steady the flare gun. 
The eyes were mesmerizing.