RECOVERY
4 - Not Alone
Tires screeched on impacting the pavement of the runway as the aircraft jolted in response. Costa Rica quickly panned through the aircraft windows allowing Muldoon able to see them at some remote airstrip appearing privately owned. They weren't far from the coast, given how the ocean came into brief view during the aircraft's banking to land. After a few minutes, the plane taxied to where a crew chief signaled it to park.
The props spun down, and the tires were chocked as the back cargo hatch lowered. The aircraft's passengers unfastened themselves from their respective seats and collected their bags of gear. A stocky Costa Rican man wearing a bright red reflective vest approached the six men newly arrived from Africa.
He cheerfully spoke behind an ear to ear smile. "Welcome to Costa Rica, gentlemen! My name is Gabriel!"
"Again..." Muldoon grumbled. He drove his arms through his duffle bag's shoulder straps and adjusted it until comfortable against his back.
"You must be Robert Muldoon. Mr. Hammond told me you and your team would be arriving sometime this evening." Gabriel gestured for the men to follow him. "There is a boat ready to take your team to the island when everyone is ready."
Amadi looked around the surrounding terrain and frowned. Standing next to a dust-covered black truck was a suspicious appearing man hiding behind a pair of aviator shades and plaid button-down shirt. Something about the man seemed a bit off, especially seeing how he was talking on the phone and looking directly at them. Amadi could see the rest of the team start to walk away and followed, making sure to keep a watch on the strange man.
Gabriel led them past the phone chatting man and to three just as dusty trucks parked next to a Cessna's hangar. The team loaded up into the truck beds in pairs and left the airstrip via a washed-out access road running behind the hangar line.
Meanwhile, the suspicious man spoke into the phone, "Hey boss...expect company. Muldoon and a few men just arrived on a C-130, and I'm damn near certain they're not here for the margaritas..."
Virgil's thin lips curled upwards in a reflection of the malicious thoughts playing out in his head. "Copy that. I appreciate the heads up." He hung up the satellite phone and slid it back into his shoulder bag. His gaze turned to an oblivious Derek taking a drink of water. "Word gets around fast, Derek."
"Hmm?" The bounty hunter capped his half-full bottle of water, curious what the other man was talking about.
"I was just informed your uncle is in Costa Rica with his own team. Coincidence?" Virgil arched a brow in curiosity. His smile broadened and became darker in appearance. "I'd hate to know there's a mole in my team."
Three of Virgil's men stood up, weapons in their hands as they approached the man in question. Derek scoffed. "Hate all you want."
The last two of the eight of Virgil's' team returned from their reconnaissance mission. "Mr. Reynolds, I think you might like to see this..." The forward of the two men motioned in a direction with his head, the alpha following. They arrived at a set of tracks leading away from a tree and Virgil knelt down to study them. "She was just here by the looks of it."
"So, it seems." He visually followed the tracks into the jungle until they could no longer be seen. "Tonight, I want three men posted in a triangular position around the camp with night vision goggles. Anything that moves...I don't care what...kill it." Virgil turned to glare at Derek. "And you...should I find out you're in cahoots with her or the other group, I'll shoot you myself."
"As I said," Derek began defensively. "It's not me you have to worry about. That old man means nothing to me, just as my father didn't when I took care of business with him. Like I told Stevens... I wake up, I do my job, I get paid, I go home. I don't give a shit who it is. Their ass means payday for me."
Virgil scoffed a skeptical laugh. "We'll see." He harshly pushed past the younger man in his going back to the camp.
A faint silhouette of mountains stretching along the ocean's horizon blacked out the stars, letting Muldoon and his team know they were getting close. He never thought he'd back to this hell hole and feared the worst. Here, there was nothing to keep the animals at bay. The island was quite large, and he knew Pet could be anywhere. Then came the worry of there being the other team sent in from InGen. He remembered what his nephew had told him and was curious to know if they'd arrived at the island, yet, or not. Only one way to find out, and he greatly feared how that one way would turn out. Virgil Reynolds was well known to be vindictive even to his own men. Somehow, Muldoon could see the adversary being one to hunt down his team. The troubled man studied each man's face at his side and saw a mix of different emotions. Some appeared scared, some determined and some looking as though they were questioning why they were there.
Gabriel stood on the bow of his boat with binoculars in hand and smiled. "Land ho, gentlemen!" He turned his gaze over to the men seated on the deck and approached their leader. "Might want to get your stuff together. We should be making landfall in roughly fifteen minutes. I can't bring my boat to shore, so everyone is going to have to take turns in the dingy."
Muldoon glanced towards the aft of the boat where the much smaller dingy had been tied up in tow. The thing looked more like something belonging in a salvage yard versus in use on the water and frowned. It was either that or swim to shore.
The ex-game warden stood up. "Get your bags ready, gentlemen. Amadi, you take the first group to shore and scout out the area. I don't want to end up next to something's nest. Paul," he looked to the dirty blond-haired Britain he addressed earlier as McCroy, "you and one other take the second boat with the equipment. I'll stay behind to make sure nothing gets left behind and join you on land." The addressed men nodded their heads as everyone started securing their belongings and preparing to board the small boat.
Once as close to shore as Gabriel was going to get, he set anchor and watched the first group of men row to shore. He watched through the binoculars before passing them to Muldoon. Within minutes, the first team was onshore and Gabriel's deckhand was returning with the dingy. The second group loaded up and proceeded to shore. Soon, the entire group was together again and awaiting their leader's orders.
Muldoon removed a folded up map from his pocket and motioned with a finger to one of his men with a flashlight. He pointed to a southeastern spot on the map. "We should be here, given how there are only three real stretches of beach on this island. The rest of it is cliffs and unforgiving ones, at that." He squinted his eyes against the darkness. "I don't know what all is out there and if there's anyone else here besides us. Either way, don't wander too far from the group and take a wingman with you wherever you go. I don't care if it's just to go take a piss... always stick to the buddy system." Everyone nodded and followed the man into the unknown darkness of the jungle.
Just as Virgil had ordered, three appointed men did as told and patrolled a triangular perimeter around the camp roughly thirty feet out. This was going to make things a bit difficult for the hybrid. She'd have to keep her distance, for now, until she could come up with a way to take out each of the men. She had an idea but wasn't too for sure on how effective it would be. She would have to lead the team further inland in hopes of them not realizing what she was doing.
Slowly and being mindful of where she stepped, Pet backed away from her current hiding spot and ducked back into the woods. Gunfire broke the calm silence of the air, sending Pet to the ground and scurrying for cover. She could hear the man shooting at her yell out, "Virgil! She's here!"
Not good. She couldn't stay where she was and knew if she ran, she would most likely get shot. Panic took over and she bolted, trying to stay low while she wove between trees for cover. Bullets ricocheted off trees close by and at one point, was pelted in the face by splintering bark. Their shots were awfully close for her comfort! Still, she kept running with her pursuer following.
Virgil bust out of his tent with a tactical Franchi Spas 12 shotgun draped over one shoulder and his much favored 30-06 rifle readied in his hands. "Where is she?" He roared out.
Another shot whizzed past Pet, her feeling it go through her hair. She leaped over a fifteen-foot-deep ravine and crashed into the opposite ledge. Had she ran at a faster speed, would've cleared it. She dug every claw she had into the ledge in a desperate attempt to climb over it. The ground was too soft, and it made it hard for her to keep a hold of the ground. Coming up behind her was the man that had been shooting at her.
He raised his rifle and aimed. "I got you now, bi-" and fired. The moment he heard the shot go off, he watched his target fall off the ledge. "Bingo. Payday, baby." The man cheered to himself and went over to the ledge to peer over it. He loved these night vision goggles as he could see the crumpled form of the experimental creature lying at the bottom of the ravine. "Not so bad ass now, are you?"
He looked around for an easy way down and saw the best he was going to get not too far away. It just required sliding down a fallen over tree. He shouldered his rifle and took to the tree, pausing when he felt it start to give beneath him. It was rotted. He should've known better and fell to the hard, unwelcoming ground beneath him. The air was knocked out of his lungs, and he left momentarily dazed.
"Damn it." He sat up and quickly realized the night time goggles had fallen off and his gun no longer on his shoulder.
They had to be around there somewhere. He felt around in the dark and sighed in relief after discovering them not but a few inches shy of him. Smiling triumphantly to himself, the man slid them back over his eyes and turned them on. Next to him and leaning against the remnants of the tree trunk was his rifle. His smile was shattered, however, when he saw his fallen target gone. Nothing was there. Thinking maybe he was looking at a bad angle or had the location all wrong, he stumbled over to the area he thought he had seen the hybrid. There was no mistaking it. She wasn't there.
A low growl behind him raised the hairs on the back of his neck. He knew not to turn around and didn't. He couldn't, anyway. It was as though his feet were anchored to the ground. The man whimpered and tightened his grip around his rifle's stock. He had to act or become the prey. Yelling out in a mix of fear and rage, he broke from his motionless stance and spun around to frantically shoot anything behind him. This was customarily called a spray and pray as it made sense to the man. In his spraying bullets in a cone before him, he could only pray he hit something.
A voice behind him growled, "Missed me," before he felt it.
A sharp, breath-stealing pain stemming from his neck tore through every inch of his body. His screams echoed the air which let Virgil, Derek, and three accompanying men know his location. The screams didn't last long, however, which left the men in the dark.
Virgil ripped the goggles off the man leading the group through the woods and put them on. "Get out of my way," he stated in a low, acidic voice and pushed ahead. Within a matter of minutes, they had arrived at the ravine. The man curled his upper lip in disgust and anger.
"Well," Derek questioned. "What is it?"
Virgil clicked off the goggles in exchange for shining a flashlight down on the scene below. There, laying in a pool of their blood was their lifeless team member. "Two men go down there and retrieve whatever you can off the body. Waste not, want not." Derek was going to go down with one of the men, but Virgil stopped him by harshly grabbing his upper arm. "You stay here with me," he ordered. Another man went instead.
Derek held a flashlight on the men carefully descending into the ravine while Virgil kept his on the body. The searching men starting going over the body, one calling up to their leader, "There's nothing here, boss. His vest, rifle, ammo magazines...even the night vision goggles... gone."
"Mother fucker," growled the team alpha.
Derek rolled his gaze from the men down below and to the very much angered hunter. "Now what? Not only can she see in the dark, but she's armed." Virgil glared at the younger man. "A swing and a miss on your part, hmm? Tell me, do the animals you hunt in Australia do that?"
"Fuck you," he spat and stormed away.
"I'm telling you, she's not like anything else you've hunted." Derek saw Virgil continue through the woods. "If you want to catch her that bad, I suggest you start listening to me. I know how to hunt people."
Tucked away in the nook of a tree's root system was Pet. Hearing Derek speak was painful. She felt betrayed. A part of her had hoped he wasn't a bad guy, but as it seemed, he was.
