Ziva clenched her teeth when she and the rest of the team came upon Sergeant Thiessen. At least, she assumed it to be Thiessen. A bloody pile of flesh and bones lay before them. About a foot from the remains was an M-4 rifle. A boot also rested near the carcass, covered in blood. In the blaze of Gibbs' and Tony's flashlights, she could she strips of camouflage fatigues hanging from the bones. Both the boot and fatigues, what remained of them, were standard Marine issue.
Someone sighed harshly nearby. She turned and saw Colonel Walling staring at the bloody remains. Ziva frowned, sympathy building inside her. She sensed how much Thiessen's death affected the base security chief, as it would any good commander.
Walling clutched his shoulder radio tightly. "Home Plate, this is Bronze Six."
"Bronze Six, Home Plate. Go."
"I want all patrols doubled immediately. And put me in touch with General Ripley." He referred to the commanding officer of Camp Lejeune. "We need to get a couple rifle platoons out here, along with some Humvees and some helicopters."
"Roger, Bronze Six."
"Excuse me, Colonel." A round man with a thin beard stepped up to the Marine. Ziva recognized him. Kevin Gage, the man in charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife contingent. "If you have all those men and vehicles stomping and rolling around, that could likely scare off whatever animal did this. We need to keep this low key if we're going to find it."
"Low key?" Walling glared at the man. "I just lost one of my men, and I'll be damned if that thing is going to kill another. If I have to, I'll get every damn Devil Dog on this base to hunt down that son-of-a-bitch and blow it to hell!"
"You're making this personal, Colonel."
"Look at my Marine!" He stabbed a hand at the carcass. "You're damn right I'm making this personal."
"It's an animal. It didn't kill your man because he was a Marine. It killed him because it saw him as food."
"Guys!" Gibbs barked. "Let's have the pissing contest later. We've got a scene to process." He looked around at her, Tony and McGee. "Well?"
They went into action. McGee snapped pictures of devoured corpse. Gibbs interviewed the Marine and Fish and Wildlife officer who initially found Thiessen's remains.
"We were in the next grid over," stated the Marine. "Started over to Sergeant Thiessen's grid right after his last transmission. Finally found him, I don't know, a half-hour later, maybe?"
Ziva put on latex gloves and picked up Thiessen's M-4. She removed the magazine and checked it.
"A full clip." She shook her head. "Sergeant Thiessen never got off a single shot."
Tony photographed a Remington hunting rifle on the ground, then picked it up and examined it. "Looks like the same with Officer Garber. This rifle's got a full load."
"Whatever it was must have attacked fast." Ziva headed over to him.
"Must have. Now for the million dollar question." Tony swung back and forth. "Where on Earth is Officer Garber?"
Ziva took out her flashlight and swept it over the darkened woods. She found no sign of a second corpse.
Maybe he got away. If he had, wouldn't he try to contact the operations center?
Unless he was hurt.
Or unless . . .
She aimed her flashlight to the ground. The light revealed a couple patches of blood. Then she spotted flattened weeds, most of them smeared with blood. She tilted her flashlight up. The blood-stained, flattened weeds continued on and on.
"I've got a blood trail."
Tony came up next to her. "Maybe whatever it was dragged him back home. Stash him away for later."
"Track it down." Gibbs looked to Walling. "Colonel. Can you spare a couple of your MPs to back up my people?"
"Absolutely." Walling turned to the four MPs he'd brought with him. "Stephens. DeJesus. Go with 'em."
"Yes, Sir." A beefy young black man and a short but fit tan-skinned man jogged over to them.
"Keep your guns drawn at all times," Gibbs ordered.
"You don't have to tell me twice, Boss." Tony drew his Glock. "I'll be damned if I'm gonna wind up like Wayne Knight."
"What?" Ziva scrunched her face in bewilderment.
"Wayne Knight. You know, from Jurassic Park. He tried to get away with some dinosaur DNA to give it to another corporation, but he ran into some dinosaurs and got eaten."
Ziva rolled her eyes. Did everything in life remind Tony of a movie?
She moved her left arm, the one with the flashlight, in front of her, and rested her gun arm on top of it, ready to fire the moment she spotted a threat. Tony did the same. The two Marines clicked on the flashlights attached under the barrels of their M-4.
The blood trail continued. She ducked under a tree branch, her eyes flickering from the blood to in front of her. How far had this thing dragged Garber? Could he still be alive? She wanted to fan that faint hope. Reality would not let her.
Further into the woods they went. Ziva took slow, measured breaths, calming herself, fighting down her fears. She had to remain in control. If she let emotions rule her . . .
Was that a grunt?
She withdrew her left arm from under her right and held up her hand. She sensed everyone stop behind her.
"Did you hear that?" she whispered.
Another distant grunt carried through the night.
"I heard that," Tony replied in a hushed voice.
Ziva stood still, concentrating.
Seconds later she heard another grunt, followed by some rustling.
She waved the others forward. This time she kept her eyes up, scanning left to right with her flashlight.
The ground dropped off in front of her. The grunting grew louder. So did another sound. Was that . . . crunching?
A shiver went up her spine. She had a bad idea what was happening to Officer Garber.
She halted at the edge of a shrub-covered ravine. Holding her breath, she lowered her flashlight.
What the hell?
Her eyes widened. The beam illuminated a squat, furry animal bent over a bloody carcass. At first, Ziva thought it was a bear. But no. The head looked wrong. Plus its fur was white. It remained her of some weird albino gorilla.
It whipped its head toward her. She stifled a gasp when she saw the sharp teeth protruding from its blood-covered mouth. And the eyes. Evil, blazing yellow.
Just like the eyes in that picture on Corporal Conti's computer.
The beast roared and charged up the ravine.
Ziva squeezed the trigger of her Glock. An instant later the roar of weapons fire surrounded her. The beast howled and twitched.
But it still kept coming.
Ziva fired until her pistol clicked empty. She reached for a fresh clip in her belt.
"Look out!"
The world flashed by. Ziva hit the ground. Pain stabbed her shoulder. Something heavy lay on top of her. Panic swelled within her. Was it the beast?
An instant later she realized it was Tony.
A scream went up. Ziva slid out from under her partner. The beast knelt over DeJesus, its mouth buried in the Marine's neck. Stephens fired his M-4 until it ran dry. He then grabbed barrel, let out a war cry and rushed over to the beast. Stephens raised his rifle and brought it down on the animal's back.
It twisted around and roared.
Stephens took another swing and nailed the beast in the head. It barely phased it. The beast drew back its arm and lashed out at Stephens. The Marine flew across the ground . . .
. . . and slammed into Tony!
Ziva watched an object fly out of his hand. It looked like his Glock. Tony lay on his back, groaning, trying to right himself.
A roar made Ziva snap her head around.
The beast glared at her with its yellow eyes.
She swallowed, then reached for another clip.
The beast charged at her on all fours. She knew she'd never reload her Glock in time. Terror surged through her, threatening to paralyze her.
Fight! Fight!
She flipped around her pistol and held it by the barrel, ready to use it as a little club. Of course, Stephens used his M-4 as a club and that didn't work.
Maybe if I hit it in the eye.
Ziva raised her pistol.
The beast was almost on top of her.
A flash of light exploded in the darkness. The beast roared and skidded to a halt.
What? She glanced to her right.
Tony was up on one knee, holding up his camera. He took another shot. Another. The strobe flashed over the beast's face. It roared, jerking its body and waving a clawed hand over its face. Tony kept taking pictures. The beast became more enraged. Or frightened?
With a final roar, it turned away, hurried back down the ravine, and out of sight.
"Tony." She slid over to him. "Are you all right?"
He was breathing hard and rubbing his chest. She wondered if the camera had jammed into his chest when Stephens hit him. "Yeah. Couldn't be better. You?"
"Fine. Thanks." She gave him a little smile.
Tony shrugged. "Hey. I couldn't let that things eat you. The world can't have enough beautiful-yet-psychotic women." He grinned wide.
Ziva slapped him upside the head. Why couldn't he just say, "You're welcome," like a normal human being?
Because then it wouldn't be Tony.
"DiNozzo! Ziva!"
She turned and saw Gibbs running toward them, weapon drawn. McGee and Colonel Walling were right behind him.
"We're fine, Gibbs. But the Marines are hurt."
Walling bent over DeJesus and pressed a hand on the young man's throat. He withdrew his hand and lowered his head.
McGee knelt beside Stephens, who groaned and clutched his mid-section. Ziva guessed the Marine had broken ribs, but at least he was alive.
"I got it, Boss." Tony patted his camera. "Thing was going after Ziva, and I had my gun knocked out of my hand. Thought I'd use the camera flash to distract it. Instead the damn thing freaked out and ran off."
"So what was it?" Gibbs asked.
Ziva looked down the ravine where the beast had fled. "I have no idea."
TO BE CONTINUED