1394 Words, this chapter. Author's Note: Here I try to explain why the forest anomaly is weird. Also, I do not specify what species the early primate things are. I kind of like having some things that the team isn't sure about. Thank you for reading!
Chapter Seven, Transfer 3: Rio
They had traveled inside the forest quite a way when the portable ADD went off again. "You're joking," said Paula, still driving.
Jess read the device.
"Meu lovelies," began Pedro over their comms, "Bad news."
"We know," said Paula. "We have a second anomaly."
Just then the signal on the ADD died. "What?" cried both Pedro and Jess at the same time.
"What is it?" asked Paula in alarm.
"It…It disappeared," said Jess.
"Sim, here too."
Then there was another alarm. And another. "Meu Dues, uh, my God," said Pedro, speaking without energy or frivolity for once. "We have…multiple anomalies."
"He's right," said Jess, who had turned white. "All inside the Tijuca."
"Sim. The readings, Jess, they are strange, no?"
"No, I mean, yes, they are. They're fluctuating."
"Sim, I read that too: strong, weak, strong."
Jess nodded. "What is going on?" she wondered.
"I don't know," said Private Fuego. "Let's get back to the ARC."
They drove through the Tijuca. Jess' window was down. "Paula, stop." The private did. Jess listened. "It's…quiet."
"Silence," whispered Paula, "is an unfamiliar sound in the rainforest."
Jess nodded.
The women stayed still. They began to hear noise, but it was weird.
"It's like…something's moving," said Paula. Jess nodded.
Then a brown mass appeared over trees in the distance.
"What is that?" asked Jess.
Paula shook her head. "It doesn't look like a creature."
"No."
They listened quietly as the noises got louder. The mass moved closer.
"Oh…God! It's a bunch of creatures!" screamed Jess.
Before they could act, dozens of small lemur-like creatures descended on the truck, running wildly over it.
Jess screamed.
"Jess, hold on!"
Paula started the truck, scaring them off, but as the truck moved, the creatures jumped back on it. More and more descended.
"I can't see!"
Jess screamed as the primates shook the truck. "They're going to…"
Jess was cut off by the truck being rolled over. Her door was pulled open by the primates. They ran over her and Paula.
She heard Paula scream as they bit and tore at the women.
Jess kicked and punched. There were too many.
Paula managed to honk the horn. The ones inside scattered briefly.
"Get out, Jess! The truck…is…no good," said Paula, panting. Jess could see blood on her head and neck.
Jess looked out the door and saw waves of the furry brown creatures moving toward them.
"Oh, God! There are hundreds!"
Paula honked the horn again, making a big enough dent in the swarm of monkeys to give Jess a chance to run for it. As Jess ran, she looked back. She couldn't see Paula.
The she heard the horn honk again. Then it got weaker and stopped.
Jess chanced another look to the truck. Was Paula inside? Was she alive? Jess stumbled, the primates swarming over her. She screamed.
They bit into her flesh, pulled hair strands from her head, and tore at her flesh and clothes.
She screamed and screamed. She flailed with her arms and legs, but they did not get off.
She was going to die, eaten and torn apart by primitive monkeys.
Meanwhile.
"This is ARC London, how are we today?" asked Cherry.
"We are swarming!" cried Pedro. "We have multiple anomalies inside Tijuca National Park. Large birds have torn the nose off Jesus the Redeemer, piranha-like monsters terrorize the beaches, and we have lost several of our teams!"
Cherry gasped. "I understand," she said. "I am patching you through to Lester our director, our head scientist Connor Temple, and our primary field team leader Matt Anderson. Hold for a slight second."
Pedro took deep breaths. "I will. Obrigado. Thank you. I have our head scientist here as well."
"Doctor Lopez," said a pretty older woman of about forty. She had short black hair in a kind of bob, and wore a tan blazer over a banana yellow top.
"Hello? This is Connor. We got an anomaly hit around you, but it's not unusual. Send us your readings."
"We shall, Pedro?" asked the Lopez.
"Sim. It is coming now."
Becker ran into Ops. At the sight of the Captain, Pedro turned white.
Becker got an uneasy feeling. "Jess?"
Pedro looked away.
Cherry gasped. "No!"
"Is she…"
"Beck-er, I do not know. I am sorry. She is one of many I have lost contact with."
Connor gulped. "Doesn't mean she's gone, Mate."
Becker nodded.
"I have Mr. Anderson on another screen," said Cherry. "I emailed the Rio readings to him."
"He is not at Britain?" asked Pedro.
"He was transferred to Mexico City two days ago," said Lester, walking in. "Temporarily, of course. What's the trouble?"
Connor swore.
"That bad?"
"Yes," said the doctor. "It is the worst activity we've seen."
"And we didn't pick it up?" asked Lester.
"We did," said Cherry. "It flashed for a bit and faded."
"Hmm, yeah, but the readings they just sent show stronger anomalies, barely," said Connor.
"Yes, they get strong, then faint, then strong again," said Dr. Lopez.
"All in the same area," Matt commented.
"Many, many anomalies," said Pedro.
"I…don't think so," said Connor. "They aren't strong enough or last long enough to be a full blown anomaly."
"Then what are they?" asked the Rio doctor.
"They remind me of fissures in rock," said Matt.
"I think that's what they are," said Connor, "cracks from one anomaly. It forms, creating the strong readings, then it cracks…"
"Causing the smaller anomalies," said Matt.
"Like splinters," said Lopez.
"Yeah, exactly."
"That is what happened over Corcovado Mountain!" cried Pedro. "Your Jess and her team encounter one large anomaly with one creature out of it. It was killed and the anomaly faded."
"It fractured," said Matt, "making it look like the anomaly was gone."
"Sim, and then we had several weak readings there, but no giant birds. Then a new large anomaly and more birds."
"That seems to confirm your theory," said Dr. Lopez to Connor.
"Seems to," he said.
"What do we do?" asked Lester.
Becker was pacing. "I know there are others in danger, and we do need to figure out the anomalies, but…"
"You want to know where Jess is," said Connor.
"What? Is she missing?" asked Lester.
"Sim, yes. She is one of many we have lost."
Lester looked at Becker. "She'll be fine," said the Captain stoically. Lester nodded.
"Connor, is this another natural occurrence, like convergence?"
"I don't think so, Lester, but I do have an idea."
"Hit it with anomaly energy?" asked Matt.
"Yeah, I think that should strengthen it enough for it to form in one spot long enough to close it."
"How do we get anomaly energy?" asked Dr. Lopez.
Connor looked at Lester. He sighed and nodded and then Connor spoke. "I have a prototype…um, it's…an anomaly generator."
"It produces anomalies?"
Connor nodded.
"Dr. Lopez, I think this goes without saying, but I shall say it anyway," began Lester. "The anomaly creating device is top-secret. In fact, once this crisis is over it shall go back to nonexistence."
"I see," said Lopez. "That is a powerful thing to have."
"Yes," said Matt, "and dangerous."
"Then I am alarmed that you alone have it."
"Wake up Lady!" screamed Becker. "People are dying and missing! Now isn't the time to worry about…."
"Intrigue," said Lester.
Becker nodded. "We need to close this thing and find our people."
Dr Lopez sighed. "You are right, of course. I shall however, be curious about this device and inquire about it later."
"Inquire away," said Lester. "Good luck finding something that doesn't exist."
Connor and Matt laughed. Becker looked desperate. "Lester…"
"Yes, Captain," he said. "Connor, send them the device."
"Yep."
"How long until we can receive it?" asked Pedro.
"ASAP, but at least a couple of hours," said Cherry.
Becker sighed, closing his eyes. "Hours that Jess is in danger, wherever she is."
"I will find her," said Pedro.
Cherry glanced back at Lester. "I can help."
Lester nodded. "Doctor, with the Rio ARC's permission, we'd like to assist."
Dr. Lopez shook her head. "Those are secure channels. I'd need the director's approval."
"Then get him!" yelled Becker.
"He is in Argentina."
Becker howled.
"I'm in charge, however," said Lopez, smiling at Becker. "Pedro, open everything to London."
"SIm!" cried Pedro. "We shall find her, yes, lovely red hair?"
Cherry laughed. "Yes, we will."
End of Chapter Seven