Woo! Chapter 3! It's been a while hasn't it guys? Well, I've got a break from school and guess what! That means I get to work on my stories! Yay me!
"Ducky, what killed these guys?" Gibbs questioned, bracing himself on his knees as the elderly ME worked.
"That's hard to say, Jethro," Ducky slid his gloved fingers along a series of deep wounds down a young man's chest. "These look like they were caused by a scythe or something of the sort."
"So we have Old Farmer Joe gone mad on the ship?" Tony raised an eyebrow and turned back to Tim typing on the computer. "Can you get a hold of Abby?"
"The signal's much weaker than what it should be," Tim answered and ran his fingers through his caramel brown hair. "But I think I can get her."
Ziva glanced at the computer screen as a box appeared with Abby's lab in it. The Goth was waving at the camera. The quality wasn't the best but it would do.
"Hey guys! What's going on?" Abby asked in her usual cheery tone.
"There was a mass murder on the ship," Tony answered. "We're sending what information we have to you right now."
"How many dead?" Abby turned her back to the camera so she could bring up her newly received information.
"Sixty seven," Gibbs stood behind Tony and Tim, leaning down to see the screen.
"Holy crap! Were they all killed at once?" Abby's eyes went wide as she turned back to the camera.
"That appears to be the case," Ziva replied. "No bullet wounds though."
"They all appear to have died from blood loss, broken necks and ribcages, or deep lacerations to their necks or chests." Ducky stood up slowly from the body on the floor. "It makes me wonder what killed all these poor fellows."
"Is anybody alive on the ship?" Abby scrunched up her eyebrows at the streams of data on her computer screens.
"There has to be." Tony rubbed his hand over his face. "We're going full force back to the states."
"And there's no way there was only sixty seven crew members," Tim added. "So, what do you make of the info?"
"You'll have to give me some time, Timmy," Abby said as she paced her lab. "Already some of the data doesn't make sense. But give me some time and I'll get back with you."
Gibbs sighed as the box disappeared. This doesn't feel right. This feels too hinky, he thought as he paced the small room they had decided to use for autopsy for now. They needed to find whoever was still alive on this ship. They would definitely know what was going on.
"McGee, Ziva, and I will see if we find anything else. DiNozzo, you keep an eye on Ducky," Gibbs directed as he disappeared out the door.
"This ship seemed smaller on the outside," Tim murmured as he and Ziva followed their boss through the seemingly never ending maze of corridors. By now he and Ziva would've gotten lost but Gibbs seemed to know exactly where they were going.
There was a tiny pitter patter of feet above their heads. Instantly Tim and Ziva looked up. A small rodent face looked down at them and continued on. Gibbs seemed to have known it was only a rat.
"C'mon guys, this ship ain't gonna search itself," Gibbs turned a corner, Ziva on his heels.
Tim followed suit, keeping both of his team member in sight. They stopped for a second, catching their breath. They'd been going over this ship for an hour, and still they'd found nothing.
"How does a crew of three hundred minus sixty seven just disappear?" Gibbs snarled more to himself than at his partners.
"The lifeboats are not missing," Ziva noted and started to pace the hall, thinking as well.
Tim thought as well and leaned back against the wall. His hand touched something wet and sticky. The sensation was not pleasant. That's just gross, Tim quickly pulled his hand away. His fingertips were stained dark red.
"Boss, there's blood," he stated and moved so he could look at the spot better.
There's was a bloody smear on the wall as if something or someone had brushed up against it with a bleeding wound. This was fresh, too. It wasn't over six hours old. Simultaneously all three agents looked down. Sure enough, there was a faint blood smear on the floor that lead off down the hall. Someone hadn't brushed up against the wall, they'd been drug. Tim took out a small light he kept with him and looked at the smear on the wall closer. There was a faint outline of a handprint that looked as if someone had tried to grab onto the wall for leverage.
"We should follow the trail, perhaps whatever's at the end will give us some answers," Ziva took the lead with her SIG at the ready.
"So Ducky, you got anything?" Tony asked as he sat on a pile of crates.
"You know what, I believe I do, my dear boy," Ducky signaled for the senior field agent to come over to him. "See here, this young woman's ribcage is totally crushed in."
Tony didn't dare look at the woman's head. Her face was completely devoid of flesh but still had a brown eye that stared out into nothingness.
"Yeah Ducky, I noticed that," Tony turned his head away.
"This woman died because something kicked her. One of her ribs punctured her left atrium." Ducky said, waiting for a reply. He was satisfied when Tony raised an eyebrow.
"Who could do that kind of damage with a kick?" Tony asked quietly.
"I'm thinking more along the lines of a what," the elderly M.E. corrected. "You see this faint outline where she was kicked? That would be a foot."
"To Goliath, maybe," Tony's eyes went wide. "So does that mean….?"
"Yes." Ducky nodded subtly. "There's something on this ship."
"There's no way this person is still alive," Tim whispered. "There's too much blood. He would've died of blood loss by now."
"Maybe the person dragging him is also injured," Ziva suggested.
Gibbs paused at a metal door that was barely cracked open. The blood smears lead through it. He thrust his arm in front of Tim before the younger agent pushed the door open.
"Shush," Gibbs warned as his team took up positions on either side of the door.
They listened, not hearing anything for about a minute. Gibbs leaned over a little, just enough to see through the crack into the cargo bay.
"Please…..don't hurt me!" came the quiet yet desperate cry.
Ziva gripped her SIG tighter, having heard the plea. She looked at her boss and said, "Gibbs, we have to help that man."
"Something's not right," Gibbs held her back with his arm, waiting for something else to happen.
The man screamed a bloodcurdling cry and it was met with a cry of something that shook the agents to their cores.
"No!" the man inside the cargo bay jumped at the door frame, gripping it with two bloody hands. "Please…...somebody…."
His cry was cut short as a massive force yanked him back. The three agents held their breaths as there were the crunching and cracking sounds of bones being broken.
Gibbs looked over at Tim, seeing how wide his eyes were and how shaky his breath was. He glanced next to him. He could feel Ziva shaking.
Through the cracked open door their ears picked up the noises of something breathing. The breaths were interrupted with a snort and a rough grumble of some type of creature.
"We have to go, now!" Ziva whispered, her voice quaking with the rest of her body.
All three agents froze solid as the breathing suddenly became much closer to the door. There was a low bird-like sound followed by a sharp clicking of something sharp against metal.
"Run, now!" Gibbs took off like a bullet, followed closely by his two agents.
Ducky and Tony jolted as they heard a shrill yet gravelly eagle-like screech. It was followed by a series of shots fired from the three agents' SIGs.
"Oh my God," Tony whispered and cocked his gun, ready to kill if necessary.
The thing that was chasing them was no more than a shadow. It'd dart down one corridor only to appear in another one a little too late. The ferocious snaps, snarls, and growls put the agents' nerves on end as they were chased.
"Wait! Hold it, I think we lost it," Ziva shouted, coming to a halt.
The two males halted as well and rejoined their teammate. Tim looked pretty frazzled and Gibbs looked no better.
"What is that thing?" Gibbs demanded, not necessarily asking his team but no one in particular.
"I have no idea," Ziva shrugged, huffing as she caught her breath.
"It's a friggin big bird," Tim sighed and leaned on the wall.
Ziva looked around at their surroundings. They had gone down two flights of stairs and taken so many turns she'd lost count.
"Where are we?" Ziva asked, her voice evening out.
"The stern of the ship," Gibbs answered quietly. "We have to get back to Ducky and DiNozzo."
There was a crackling as the radio clipped on the older man's waist came to life. He plucked it off and held down the button.
"We're here Duck," he said.
"Jethro, we've been trying to get a hold of you," Ducky sounded deeply worried. "We heard the shots and the creature. That's what killed all of our sailors."
"We're heading back up to autopsy. Keep your door locked 'til we get there," Gibbs reattached the radio back to his belt and started to navigate forward, his two team members attached to him like Velcro.
Three humans walked down the corridors of the ship. The creature's golden, green flecked eyes flicked back and forth, watching them intently. Silently it followed, its claws clicking softly on the metal grating that made the floor.
"Stop," Gibbs signaled for his agents to stop walking and listen.
The soft clicking of something sharp on metal was following them.
There was a soft growl before the thing lunged forward, the claws on its primal arms slashing out. The corridors may have been poorly lit, but you could definitely tell this creature was not to be messed with.
It stood a little taller than six feet though it had to be at least sixteen feet long. The creature was bipedal, standing on two sturdy yet elegant feet with three toes and a dewclaw on each foot.
"Run!" Ziva shouted as the beast lunged again, raking its claws through the air, barely missing the Israeli.
The chase was on again. All the agents feared, though, that the creature had the advantage this time. It was fast, terrifyingly fast. As it bumped into the walls as they turned sharp corners it snapped at whatever agent had fallen behind.
Gibbs turned a sharp corner with his agents following suite. He stopped when he realized he'd run underneath a door that could slide down and seal off the corridors.
"McGee, help me!" Gibbs ordered as the young agent helped push on the lever. The two let out a satisfied sigh as the door slammed shut.
There was a violent thud as the beast slammed into the door. They heard what must've been the creature's own curses, sounding like irritated bird clicks and chirps.
"We have to get back up to Tony and Ducky," Ziva panted.
"Come on, let's go," Gibbs started to lead the way when something reached his ears that should have never happened.
There was a rustling in the ceiling of the corridor. Metal was being bent and moved, sounding like quiet claps of thunder.
"Aw crap," Gibbs growled and got ready to shoot his SIG.
A part of the ceiling fell as did the creature. It stood up and shook dust from its fur-like feathers. Without wasting a moment it lunged at the woman of the three.
Tim didn't waste a moment either. He shoved Ziva out of the way, putting himself in the direct line of the creature's attack. A shot rang out and blood splattered against the wall as the bullet Gibbs had just fired hit its mark.
The beast swung its head, blood splattering from the deep score beneath its right eye. It missed Tim just barely with its scythe-like claw on its foot. Instead it slashed out blindly, snarling when the claws on its arms met flesh.
"McGee!" Ziva screamed when her partner's pained cry reached her ears. She aimed her SIG at the beast's chest and fired. The bullet hit it with a dull thud.
It glanced at the two still standing humans. The creature leapt over the one laying on the floor and dashed between the other two, disappearing down the long corridor.
"McGee, speak to me!" Gibbs kneeled down by the younger man.
The young agent released his hand that was clutching his right forearm. Three deep cuts ran across it, dripping blood which was pooling onto the floor.
"Tim…" Ziva whispered and sat behind the agent, supporting him in an upright position.
"What…is that thing?" Tim asked and clenched his teeth as his boss made a make shift tourniquet out of a piece of his jacket.
"I was just about to ask you the same thing," Gibbs wrapped Tim's good arm around his shoulders and lifted him up. "You good to walk?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Tim started following his the silver haired man as he lead them back through the twisting and winding corridors.
"McGee, you are not looking well," Ziva noted her partner's pale face and sunken eyes.
"Well, I did just kind of save you in effect almost getting myself killed," Tim replied with a small smile. "Plus, I think I'm getting seasick again."
Don't forget to R&R! It makes me want to write more! Thanks for reading! :)