Chapter eleven

Ghost stories around the campfire

The fire crackled lightly as Sullivan poked it liberally with a long stick. He glanced up at everyone huddled around the fire in a circle, all gazing at it thoughtfully. He couldn't suppress a grin. No one wants to start the conversation he mused.

Sully cracked open a bottle of water he pulled from his backpack and took a deep swig. It may have been night time, but the humidity was still strong and it drenched his clothes with sweat. He passed the drink to the burly marine he had just met, Hawkins. He complied and muttered thanks, before draining half the bottle to Sully's annoyance. The marine looked a little pale and feverish, and Sully decided looked like he had been through hell so probably deserved a fair share.

Sully stifled a yawn. He was so tired he felt as if his eyelids weighed a hundred pounds. He attributed this partly to the concussion Chloe had inflicted, but for the most part, it had been such a long day.

And he wasn't the only one. Elena, opposite him looked unusually unkempt, face streaked with dirt, her hair half out of her ponytail and that cut down her neck bleeding slowly, but ultimately exhausted. But Nate....

Nate was positively buzzing with energy. Sully watched his friend blinking erratically, a little too frequent than usual and his whole body moving, fidgeting and bristling with power.

Sully was the first to explain his story. Nate listened intently, leaning so close Sully was worried his shirt would catch alight over the fire.

"So we think that she had a private agenda for getting on the island" Elena said once Sully had finished. Sully was surprised she had been listening. Her eyes had been shut the whole time.
Nate shook his head. "Eddy and Chloe? There's no connection. They didn't know each other"

"You 100 percent sure of that Nate?" questioned Sully. "How well do you actually know this woman?"

Nate blushed slightly, which was unusual for him considering. The last week, his complexion had barely touched pink.

"Well. Let me sit on that mystery for a bit" He said. He chewed the inside of his cheeks thoughtfully.

"Elena? Did you want to start explaining what happened to you?" He asked somewhat cautiously. He looked a little nervously at her Desert 5 which she still held in her hand as a precaution.

She nodded.

"Me and Nate went to Hawkins' ship and were shown a marine who had suddenly been acting oddly" she said.

"Things went a bit awry" Elena hesitated, unsure how to go on. "I was dragged into the cage by him" she added quickly, subconsciously touching the long cut that ran down her neck. She smiled weakly for a second.
"I thought I was done for" she admitted.

Her eyes flickered to Nate "But then something pulled the man off me. It threw him into the steel wall so hard, the floor vibrated"

Sully's eyes grew wide. By the way Elena was looking at Nate as she said this, he could only guess who had been responsible for the feat of strength.

She sighed. "But...You didn't stop there Nate. You picked him up and threw him again, like a rag doll. Like it was nothing"

"I don't remember any of this" Nate sighed, running his hands through his hair.

"Then.." Elena pursed her lips. "Then you pulled his head off. Cleanly"

Sully couldn't help but gasp. Hawkins didn't react; he just stared into the fire.

"Then, well. Then I got out of there as quick as I could. I thought you were gonna go at me too"

Nate suddenly leaned forward towards Elena. She flinched instinctively as he reached his hand towards her. He took the gun out of her hand and put it on the ground beside them and embraced her into a hug.

"I'm sorry" Sully heard him whisper.

Elena clutched at his back, her eyes closed. A solitary tear fell down a cheek before disappearing completely. She pulled out of their embrace and cleared her throat.

"I'd like to hear your story Hawkins" said Elena, acknowledging the old man sitting next to him. He had been awfully quiet during Elena's story, seemingly preoccupied with cleaning the pistol he had on his lap. The knee it was resting on was jumping up and down, restless.

When Hawkins didn't start talking, Nate tried.
"Where do you suppose your men went Hawkins?" Nate prompted.

Hawkins shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

Elena exhaled angrily. "Well any time now would be grea---"

"They all started to look at their hands" Hawkins suddenly said. His voice was steady, but low. Sully had to lean in to catch exactly what he was saying.

He sighed. His knee began to bounce faster.

"They were all acting odd. Looking at their hands, speaking strangely, walking in circles. I didn't know what to do"

"It was spreading. And soon, the whole camp had stopped what they were doing and were acting..."

"Like Davidson did" Nate finished.

"They were becoming creatures?!" Elena asked horrified, her hand jumped up to her mouth.

Hawkins nodded. His left eye twitched in nervousness. His knee had calmed down, and he had taken to tapping his fingers against his thigh. He looked frightened out of his mind.

"So, I holed up on deck for about 10, 20 minutes just watching" he continued. "Then I saw Elena, in the distance running away from the ship. She must have run past at least half of them but they took no notice of her"
Elena nodded at this in confirmation.

"They were looking for me, you see" Hawkins said with a forced smile. His bright blue eyes, void of any true lightness bore into the flames, as though hypnotized.

"Eventually, I forced myself to understand that I was armed with only this pistol" he gestured to it sitting innocently on his knee. "- against my men. My men" he repeated. Sully watched as his fist clenched and flexed against his leg.

"My men had revolted. It was a mutiny"

There was silence for a moment between the group as they all came to terms with what Hawkins was saying.

"That's it. I just waited until they had left, then I went down and got you Nate"

Nate nodded in accordance. "Ok.. Ok seems to check out"

"Wait wait wait. You're saying..." Sully started. "That there are at least what 70, 80 big bulky marines out there, completely off their nut, probably still armed with god knows what guns Uncle Sam fishes out?"

"They're not marines any more Sully" Nate said. "They are the creatures. Somehow, they become the creatures"

"Where did they run to?" Elena asked Hawkins.
Hawkins shrugged. "I dunno, but they were pointing in that direction" he directed with his finger vaguely in the east side of the jungle.

Nate stood slowly, squinting in the distance. "Is that where we were this afternoon?"

Elena bit her lip. "Maybe"

Sully didn't like this. He stood up, walking towards Nate. "You think it's getting our scent Nate?"

Nate turned to him. "I think we should move"

"I disagree"

Before Sully could even turn in the direction of the voice, he felt the cool metallic barrel of a pistol at his temple. Elena muffled a scream.

Chloe's head popped out from behind his shoulder.

"Nice to see you Drake." she purred. "Gun, if you please" she gestured towards Elena's desert 5 she had been trying to conceal behind her back.

"And who do I owe the pleasure?" Nate asked her as Elena placed her gun on the ground in front of Chloe who kicked it behind her. He inched causally towards Elena so they were now standing side by side.

Chloe cocked her head to the side quizzically.
"Whatever do you mean?" she asked with a mischievous grin.

"You're not Chloe" Nate stated. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the more it suddenly became clearer.

Chloe frowned. "Is it so hard to believe that I would betray you Drake?" she asked, still holding the gun. Her other hand snaked up Sully's neck, pulling him closer.
"Yes" he said honestly.

Chloe faltered for a moment. Her eyes widened with surprise.

"But you have betrayed me before Eddy" he said with a smile.

Now her eyes quickly narrowed. She tapped the barrel absentmindedly against Sully's head. Her attention turned to Hawkins, who hadn't moved from his spot around the campfire. She seemed to smile slightly.....

Nate took advantage of this distraction and jumped at her. In one swift movement, he pushed her gun into the air and it fired into the sky as she pulled the trigger. Sully dived out of the way, falling against their backpacks and supplies.

Nate wrestled with the gun from Chloe, but found her fingers too tightly constricted around the handle. With one quick jab, he got her cleanly in the stomach before she retaliated with a kick to his knee. It buckled under him and they both fell to the ground.

Chloe clutched her stomach, clearly winded, but still in possession of the gun. She raised it from the ground at Nate and got ready to pull the trigger...

"Not so fast bitch!"

Elena had hurled herself on Chloe and now they tumbled along the ground, entwined in each other's limbs. Chloe's legs kicked out, eventually making contact with Elena's shins which caused her to roar in pain. Nate jumped in, throwing his fist back and forward at a speed that is only possible to reach when pumping with adrenaline. His fist cracked against Chloe's cheek and she flew back from the impact, coming to a complete stop, lying on the ground.

Nate cautiously walked towards her seemingly unconscious body, wanting to find her gun, wanting to disarm her when suddenly her leg flew sideways, catching his own and tripping him. Nate stumbled, his hands outstretched falling right in the campfire.

He screamed as he constricted his shoulders, trying instinctively to avoid it but it was too late. The flames leapt upon his shirt, catching it alight as they seemingly danced across his chest. In one swift movement he rolled on the ground, ripping his shirt off as he tried desperately to smother the flames that raked across his chest.

Sully was now standing over Chloe, pulling her up to her feet, his eyes blazing. He grabbed both her arms, and forced them away.

He twisted the arm that held so tightly onto the gun until finally, Chloe gave out with a scream. Her fingers relaxed and the gun fell to the ground. Sully grabbed it and pointed it directly at Chloe, cocking it.

"Put.. That... down"

The voice came from behind him, Sully turned around slowly.

Hawkins was holding a gun directly at Nate's head. Nate was staring directly at Hawkins' barrel which was touching his top lip. His eyes were wide, his clothes, singed and black from the fire, breathing heavily.

It took a moment for Sully to fully understand the situation. He automatically lowered his gun and raised his hands. Elena did the same. Chloe laughed.

Suddenly a series of inhumane cries filled the air. Everyone looked in different directions, trying to pinpoint the location.

"Looks like you guys are gonna have some company" said Chloe, clapping her hands together.
She wiped her bottom lip which was bloody from a head butt Elena had managed to sneak in.

"What do you say Navarro?" Chloe asked Hawkins "Should we leave these guys to their guests?"

Hawkins grinned. "That would be the most logical thing you have ever said to me

The screams and cries of the creatures drew nearer as Hawkins and Chloe left a dumbstruck Nate, Elena and Sully lying in the dirt.


LONNNNNNNNNNNGGG Chapter I know!!!!