Part Five

The phone was ringing for around the tenth time by the time Claudia actually found it. A quick search of the car had established that it wasn't in there and Abby had said she thought the noise was coming from somewhere on the embankment they had rolled down. The phone had been sitting in the cradle on the dash and it could have easily fallen through the broken windows before they'd come to a stop.

She'd scrambled up the embankment a short way, listening carefully for it to ring again. She'd had a feeling that it would – someone was obviously trying to find out where she was. She didn't know how long it had been since they'd been attacked but the Special Forces boys were efficient. Ryan no doubt had them on hourly check ins and she assumed that by now someone would have realised that things were amiss and would be out looking for them.

Just as she'd expected, the phone had rung yet again and she'd tried her best to follow the sound. It had taken her a while, what with the limited light and thick covering of leaves, nettles and ferns on the floor. She'd stung and scratched herself a dozen times but eventually her searching fingers found something cool and metallic and gratefully wrapped themselves around the buzzing phone.

It didn't appear to be in very good condition: bent slightly with the LCD screens on both the inside and out cracked and distorted, so much so that she couldn't see who was calling. Still, it was ringing which was a bonus.

"Hello?" she asked hopefully, not daring to expect a reply. Chances were that the innards were squashed too and there was no guarantee it could do anything but ring.

"Claudia!"

The relieved voice belonged to Nick of that she was sure. To be honest she was pretty relieved to hear him too.

"...God...worried. Where...you? ...hurt?"

She glanced at the screen but it was too distorted for her to see if it was simply appalling reception or the fact that the phone really was broken.

"Nick?" she asked, not knowing for certain if he could hear her any better than she could him, "Look, we're okay. Abby's with me. We're a few miles down the road at the bottom of the embankment. Something came through the anomaly. It pushed us down here."

She sighed. There was so much more she needed to ask. Where was he? Was he at the camp? Were there many injured? Had they found and contained the creature? But more questions would only waste precious time. For now at least she had to prioritise getting Abby safely back so she could get treated for her broken rib. Someone else could worry about the rest. Cut off from the others like this there was little else she could do.

"Did you get that?" she asked when there was nothing but hissing static from the phone for a few moments. Nick's voice returned suddenly, so loud in her ear that it almost made her jump.

"Can't...you properly," his broken voice said and she assumed the missing word was 'hear', "...stay put...find...Be careful."

The line went dead although whether he had hung up or the phone had simply given up the ghost she couldn't be sure. She pocketed it anyway just in case it was still working.

It was all very well him saying 'stay put' but he had no idea where they were. There was simply no guarantee that he'd heard her explanation at all. At least she knew the rough direction to head in to get back to camp and the idea of staying here with the creature still potentially close by made her nervous. They'd be far safer back with the men with the guns and since Abby insisted that she was well enough to walk then they should probably do just that. Besides, they'd be picked up much more quickly if they could meet their rescuers half way.

"You got it then," Abby noted as Claudia made her way back down the embankment to rejoin her.

"Yes, although I think it's broken. I don't know how much they heard."

"Well at least we know someone's looking for us," Abby said brightly, "Other than the big, nasty monster that is."

"Do you know what it was?" Claudia asked curiously. It was a point she'd brushed aside up until now but maybe the other woman knew something about the creature and, more importantly, how likely it was to continue to hunt them.

Abby shook her head, "Sorry. That's more Connor's field than mine. I mean, it's a predator obviously – you don't have those teeth and claws if you're only hunting salads."

"No," Claudia agreed, with a slight smile. She paused for a moment, trying to remember more from the time leading up to the attack. She had only caught fleeting glimpses of the animal in question but one thing had struck her.

"It looked like some kind of giant wolf," she said, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but the body was all wrong," Abby pondered, "It was more like a hyena. There's nothing like that alive today so I'd guess it's from an extinct family. I can't be more specific. Sorry."

"It doesn't matter," Claudia reassured her, untruthfully, "Whatever it is, you're right, I don't think we should stay here. We should try to get back to the camp, meet up with the others."

"Okay," Abby agreed, "I never was one for the whole 'damsel in distress' thing anyway."

Claudia went to her side, helping her to her feet, watching with a frown as Abby's pronounced limp became obvious once more. Claudia glanced at the long embankment; it was very steep and the ground was littered and uneven. You'd need a firm footing to get up there safely.

"Yeah," Abby agreed, catching Claudia's eyes, "I don't think I'm going to make that either."

"Then we'll just follow it from down here," Claudia reasoned simply, "This embankment ran all the way along the road, right? So it should lead us straight back to the camp."

In truth she didn't really know for certain but neither did she see an alternative. She herself could probably make it up the slope but that would mean leaving Abby behind and coming back with help. That was something that she just couldn't do. She would rather take the slow route and know the other woman was safe than take the fast one but have to abandon her and hope for the best. They stood a better chance if they stayed together. Besides, so late on such a dark night she really didn't fancy wandering through the woods on her own.

Connor stopped the Mini with a skid, throwing up clouds of loose dirt, thankful that he'd come to a halt just short of bumping its nose against a tree. His life wouldn't be worth living if he damaged her car. He'd only borrowed it from Abby for the evening, reasoning that she didn't need it to sit in the woods and saying that he didn't really fancy catching the bus back from the library so late at night. She'd sighed wearily but had eventually relented, handing over the keys and demanding that he pick her up the next morning and telling him that he'd better bring breakfast with him.

He smiled briefly at the memory before the reality of the circumstances hit him again and his face fell into a frown.

Getting out of the car, he looked around at the hub of activity, feeling lost. He all but walked straight into Ryan as he turned to watch two men with medical packs hurrying past, wondering who was hurt and how badly.

He opened his mouth to talk but Ryan beat him to it, looking mildly put out by the younger man's presence.

"Cutter's over there," he said, nodding towards the familiar truck parked on the other side of the camp. Connor had a feeling that Ryan was trying to brush him off but in the circumstances he wasn't really bothered. He'd rather talk to the professor anyway.

He hurried over to the truck to find Cutter and Stephen there, searching through the equipment on the back.

"Connor," Nick said as he noticed him, a brief greeting. Stephen didn't acknowledge him however, choosing to continue his conversation with Cutter instead.

"Did she say for certain that she was with her?"

His voice was tight and worried and it made Connor frown, wondering what he was talking about.

"I don't know," Nick admitted, sounding like he wished he didn't have to, "She said her name at least which means she could be."

"Are you talking about Abby?" Connor butted in, seeing his opportunity.

Again, Stephen ignored him.

"Or she might just have been trying to ask you where she was," he pointed out, not a pessimist as such but more a realist. From what Nick had told him of Claudia's half heard message there could be no guarantees. She could have been trying to ask rather than tell them anything about Abby. The brief words Cutter had heard were not necessarily 'it's okay, she's safe' and that worried him greatly.

"Maybe," Nick agreed, almost brushing the matter aside as if not wanting to believe anything else was possible. He preferred the hope of them both being together and both safe. It was certainly preferable to earlier when he had no idea if either of them were alive.

"But it's not like we have any other leads," he added.

Stephen sighed, not disputing that fact but not liking it either.

"Yeah..." he agreed softly. For a moment it seemed as if he would leave it at that but apparently he couldn't help but voice his fears, feeling as if he was somehow letting her down if he didn't.

"I just don't like the idea that we might be getting this wrong and Abby's still out there needing help and we don't send anyone."

He'd been in situations like this before – out on an expedition and someone hadn't come back to camp when they should. It was something he was trained to deal with and he knew the best course of action was to check the most likely scenario first. He just couldn't seem to quieten the little voice in his head that was wondering if she was lying injured and trapped somewhere and that every moment they wasted following incorrect leads decreased her chances of being found in time. The voice angered him, it made him irritable at himself, but he couldn't silence it.

"I know," Nick replied, his tone understanding, trying to make him see that they were doing their best, "Ryan's getting a dog unit up here. We'll head off down the road and ask him to send the dogs in other directions. We'll cover as much area as we can."

Stephen nodded, seeing the logic in that plan. It was better than nothing at least.

"She definitely said the road, right?"

"I couldn't hear everything," Nick admitted, "But she said something about a few miles down the road. I assume she was trying to tell us where they are. And it would explain why her car isn't here."

"If she's with her car then why hasn't she driven back?"

Nick look slightly perturbed, frustrated by Stephen's continued questioning and doubts. He was trying to remain positive and Stephen's attitude was making that difficult.

"Maybe it's damaged," he snapped, "Maybe it's just broken down. Maybe the creature has them cornered..."

Stephen nodded grimly, getting Nick's point. They should be 'doing' not 'asking'.

"But whatever, we should get out there right?"

"Right," Nick agreed.

Stephen smiled a little. "Don't suppose she gave you a direction?"

Nick smiled wanly too. That was wishful thinking of course. "No."

"Well at least we don't have too far to check," Stephen pointed out, purposefully trying to think more positively now, knowing he was more use that way, "There's only one road through here. And once we get out of the camp a bit we can have a look round for signs of the creature. If it doesn't look like it headed that way we try the other."

"Right."

Connor had tried to interrupt a dozen times at least, barely following a conversation that meant little to him when he was so out of the loop. What he could gather was that Claudia and Abby were missing and there was some hope that they could be found and that made him more demanding than perhaps he would be normally.

"Would someone please tell me what the bloody hell is going on!" he blurted out taking advantage of the break in the conversation, a tinge of anger in his voice. This wasn't fair. He was worried too. Would it kill them to treat him like a useful member of the team and not some kid?

Nick turned to look at him apologetically. In truth, just for a moment, he'd totally forgotten the student was there.

"Connor," he said with a nod, realising that he really should explain what was going on to the younger man, "Right, I'm sorry. Something came through the anomaly and attacked the camp. We've found five of the soldiers but two are still missing."

"Along with Abby and Claudia," Connor surmised a little calmer now that someone was bothering to talk to him.

"Yes."

"But you've heard from them?" he guessed, the bits of conversation making more sense now.

"Claudia, yes."

"And Abby's with her?"

"Possibly."

He raised an eyebrow, not liking that word at all.

"Possibly?"

Nick clearly didn't want to get into that discussion again and quickly made his excuses.

"Look, I've got to go and talk to Ryan. It'll be okay," he said, adding the reassurance in hope of keeping Connor quiet.

He walked off before Connor could say any more.

"Okay," Connor said as he turned to Stephen instead, "What can I do to help?

Stephen was leaning into the back of the truck again, pulling out a couple of torches, searching through the boxes of equipment for whatever else he thought they needed.

"See that guy over there by the ambulance?" he asked, glancing up momentarily at the man in question, "He's got a mild concussion but he's more lucid than the rest of them and he got a good look at what came through the anomaly. Talk to him, see if you can figure out what it was. There's also some foot prints near the tents. They might help too. We think it's one of the mesonychia but it'd be good to know for sure."

Connor looked immediately affronted. That wasn't exactly what he had in mind. If Abby was out there and lost he wanted to help look for her, not be doing pointless research work. What did it matter what had attacked them? It was obviously big and nasty and needed shooting. They didn't need any research to tell them that. The scientific stuff could wait until later – they needed to find their friends first.

"What?" he protested, "No! I mean I want to come with you. I want to help properly."

"This is helping Connor," Stephen pointed out simply, "We need to know what we're facing out there."

But Connor wasn't buying that and couldn't help but wonder why Stephen wouldn't want him helping Abby. Then a thought struck him. One that had crossed his mind more than once in the past.

"Oh I get it," he said crossly, "You want to be the one rushing in there on your white horse, don't you? You know for someone who spends a lot of his time playing with her, you like being the hero to Abby."

"I'm not playing with her," Stephen said tightly, trying now to ignore the other man, accepting that in moments of worry people said silly things and getting into an argument with him would be counterproductive.

But Connor wouldn't let it lie.

"Really?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, "Because one minute you're asking her to dinner, the next you've got a girlfriend. One minute you're flirting with her, next you're brushing her off."

"Look," Stephen snapped, not needing a reminder that his conduct towards Abby had been less than stellar at times, "We don't have time for this. Contact me when you know what it is."

He shoved a radio into the palm of the other man's hand and stalked off, leaving Connor fuming. For his part, the student stormed back to the car to get his laptop. The quicker he found out what this creature was, the quicker Stephen no longer had an excuse to leave him behind.

No matter how nervous she felt, Claudia was determined to keep a calm and controlled exterior. Even though every little sound in the forest was putting her nerves on edge she tried to make sure that in spite of her stomach turning knots inside, on the outside she looked confident and self assured. The last thing Abby needed to see was her panicking over every little thing. Nor did she need to know that Claudia was deathly afraid that should the creature find them again then Abby, with her injuries, would have little hope of escape as they fled.

She supposed some might say it was noble that she thought of the other woman's welfare even before her own but there was a tinge of selfishness in there too. Yes, of course, there was absolutely no way she wanted anything to happen to Abby, but there was also the matter of the repercussions should the worst come to pass. How could she ever go back to the others and tell them that she'd lost their friend and colleague? How could they ever forgive her?

She glanced sideways again, wondering if the fact that Abby's limp looked worse was because it was actually getting worse or if it was simply due to her own paranoia. She had offered her support, an arm around the other woman to help take some of the weight off and give her something to lean on, but Abby had brushed her off, saying she'd be okay. She didn't know if that was stubbornness on her part or if she just wasn't that comfortable with Claudia. They were colleagues and she liked Abby but they couldn't exactly be called friends. They hardly knew each other. Even in work related matters most of her interaction was with Nick, not the other members of his team. It was an issue, Claudia realised, that she really should do something about. She really ought to get to know the others better or risk being only one step up from Lester.

"How far from the camp do you think we are?" she asked, partly wondering if they should be keeping as quiet as possible but liking the apprehensive silence even less than she liked the occasional noise the forest seemed to throw at them only to scare her.

"Dunno," Abby said, and Claudia got the feeling that she was grateful to have something to distract her from the anticipation of an attack too, "A couple of miles? I got pretty turned about when I left. Can't believe I actually found you like that."

She paused for a moment before speaking again.

"Thanks, by the way. You probably saved my life."

"After I nearly killed you with the car first," Claudia pointed out with a wry smile.

Abby smiled slightly too, "Yeah, sorry about that. Oddly enough when I'm being chased by vicious animals the Green Cross Code goes right out of my brain."

"Well no harm done," Claudia said, knowing it wasn't necessary but wanting to keep the conversation going, "Apart from my near heart attack that is."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth she nearly had another.

She knew that they couldn't have both been oblivious enough to not hear it approaching them and so she surmised later that it must have been waiting, having seen them drawing near and had readied an ambush. She would have deemed it a lot smarter than she'd first thought if a mistake on its part hadn't saved both of their lives.

Her first instinct was to dive out of the way when a snarl and snap of teeth burst at her from the embankment on the right, a cry of surprise flying from her lips. She was so committed to simply avoiding it that she just leapt aside, forgetting Abby's injuries and pushing them both to the floor. Had it been free to move they wouldn't have stood a chance, certainly not having time to get up again before it pounced on them, pinning its helpless prey to the floor. As it was, in its eagerness to secure a meal, it lurched forward, obviously not watching precisely what it was doing, and got stopped by the group of tightly packed trees it had been using as cover. Seemingly surprised, it tried again, howling in frustration but finding that brute force wasn't enough to move the sturdy trunks.

Claudia just stared at it, a vicious super monster of the sort that usually only nightmares could bring, until Abby tugged her hard.

"Come on!" she insisted, scrambling to her feet.

They began to run, Abby going as fast as she was able and Claudia keeping pace with her, unwilling to leave her behind even though she knew it was hopeless. She didn't dare turn around but she could already feel the impact of the creature bounding towards them, having navigated its way out of the trees far too quickly.

In moments they would be dead.