Chapter 10! I can't believe it! I'm celebrating with a cupcake and a coke. Nothing says "go me!" like an obscene amount of sugar.
The fast moving predators jabbered and warbled, moving from branch to branch, effortlessly making their way down from the tree tops to circle their prey. They were about the same size as varrens but these creatures moved like hunting spiders, making sudden dashes and jumps. Their shiny eyes never leaving the group of people standing in close formation in the centre of the clearing.
With lightning speed, one of the creatures dropped down onto the ground and attacked. its mouth-flaps peeled back and the fleshy organ darted out. The black fang on the end of it nearly reached Shepard. She flinched, her mouth twisting in disgust. She pulled the trigger and the spider like thing exploded.
Then another of the beasts attacked. Kaidan threw a bolt of biotic energy at it, throwing the hissing creature back. He followed up with his gun, killing it instantly. But a second creature had already taken its place and a third were lowering itself down towards them using one of the webs. More of the spider-like predators milled down, crawling down tree trunks and webs or simply dropping down from the branches.
The high-pitched warble and the chatter increased in strength as the predators pressed in on them from all sides.
Shepard pulled the trigger and the heavy recoil sent the Viper's butt against her already sore shoulder. There was no need to use the scope with the beasts so close. She simply aimed and fired, killing yet another of the nasty creatures poised on one of the branches above them just as it prepared to pounce. Blood spurted from the red mass that seconds ago had been its head and it fell to the ground with a sickening thud.
"We can't keep this up forever", she said in between shots as more and more of the creatures welled down the trees and attacked them. "There's just too many of them."
Garrus nodded. "We'll have to cut a path through them and make a run for it."
"We're running away?" James asked, surprise colouring his voice.
"Call it a tactical retreat if it makes you feel better." Garrus reloaded his rifle. "I've got three clips left and I would prefer to not waste them just so you can die with your pride intact, Vega."
James grinned. "You just don't want me to become a bigger hero than you." He aimed a kick at one of the creatures coming too close to him, it skipped away only to attack again. The fang shot out. He tried to block it but it was like trying to block a striking cobra. The fang buried itself in his thigh. Instinctively, James grabbed the organ, yanking out the fang, but not before it injected him. Poison! It burned like acid and he gritted his teeth in pain.
The creature screeched and hissed, struggling against his grip, the limb writhed and twisted. With disgust written all over his face, James lifted the shotgun. He fired and the bullets ripped the beast apart. "Okay", he said, taking deep breaths, trying to ignore the burning pain spreading through his leg. "I see your point. Let's get the hell out of here." There was no time to worry about the poison. More and more creatures dropped down to attack them.
"Kaidan!" Shepard had to shout to make herself heard over the combined noise of gunfire and creatures screeching and hissing. "Can you create a biotic barrier to covers us?"
"I think so", he replied after using his gun on one of the spider-creatures. "You have to stay close though." He raised his hands and focused. The L-2 implant burned under his skin as he drew more power from it, feeding it into the barrier making it grow until it enveloped the others gathered around him.
"What are you planning?" Garrus asked, glancing at Shepard. She was breathing hard, sweat beading on her forehead. He didn't have to use the visor to tell that she was running a fever again. She had dark circles under her eyes but the gaze that met his was steady. She was in her element.
"If we use incendiary shots to set fire to as many of the webs as we can it might make them back off, or at least it should distract them long enough to give us a chance to get away. And Kaidan's barrier should keep us safe from the fire."
Garrus tilted his head in the turian version of arching a brow. "That's a lot of should's, Shepard."
"Do you have a better idea?"
"Point taken." He took the incendiary clip James handed him and loaded his rifle. "Remember the derelict Collector ship?"
"How could I forget", Shepard drawled, loading the sniper rifle with a incendiary shot. "Wave after wave of collectors and husks. Fun times."
Garrus' mandibles twitched in a smile. "This will be a walk in the park in comparison."
"I'm glad you're so optimistic", she retorted.
"If we could get moving before my implant melts I'd appreciate it", Kaidan interrupted them.
Shepard gave him a small grin. "All right. Let's do this." It felt good to be in the heat of battle again, to have to focus on the here and now. Her heart was pumping and every breath felt sweet and rich like wine. Adrenaline fuelled her and drove away the fatigue, the trembling. Her hands were steady as she reloaded the rifle. To be alive so intensely was a joy in itself. She took aim on one of the webs spanning the area between two trees to her left and fired. The web burst into flames, and so did the predators sitting in it. They screamed as the intense heat caused their bodies to shrivel up. The stench of burning flesh spread in the clearing as more of the creatures caught fire.
Garrus and James followed her example, firing at the sheets of cobweb, setting them and the creatures in them aflame. The burning predators emitted shrill screams. Most of them started to flee, the panic spreading as more and more of them burst into flame. Only a few was still focused on their would be prey.
Smoke billowed as flames scorched the foliage, setting fire to the dry leaves. One of James' flash bangs detonated in the middle of the milling beasts, adding to the chaos. Blood and gore made the ground slippery and treacherous.
Kaidan's barrier sheltered them from the worst of the heat. Shepard and Garrus set fire to the webs, one after the other, while James focused on taking out the predators that came too close.
They were almost at the end of the clearing when James leg gave up under him and he stumbled.
"James!" Shepard grabbed him and managed to hold him upright,struggling under his weight. "Are you wounded?"
"One of the critters managed to sting me." He was fighting a loosing battle against the pain. The last steps had been sheer agony. He focused, aiming and firing from the hip, hitting one of the burning creatures coming towards them.
"You should have said something", Shepard scolded him.
James managed a grin despite the pain. "Aww you know me, Lola. I love to play the tough macho soldier."
She could only shake her head at that. They reached the end of the killing ground. Garrus fired his last incendiary shot at the web barring their way. It went up in flames. Not waiting for the fire to die down, they pushed through it. The heat was intense, the fire licking along the edge of the barrier.
Kaidan set his jaw, drawing more biotic energy from the implant to strengthen the barrier, keeping the fire from harming them. His temples were throbbing with the first signs of a migraine.
Beside him Garrus took over supporting James, giving Shepard a much needed respite. She was drained but willpower and sheer stubbornness made her continue to fight.
A whirring sound made Kaidan look up just in time to see a surveillance drone hover above the clearing. "Dammit! We've been spotted! We need to loose the drone and get as far away as possible before the mercs get here."
Shepard lifted her sniper rifle. The scope offered a close up of the hovering mech, of the red logo above its spindly tripod. A red eye...
She had seen that symbol before. The camera drone that had filmed while she was being tortured, raped, had had the same symbol.
The Dealer... He is watching us.
The thought made her cold. She felt the taste of metal and salt in her mouth and realised she had bitten her lower lip bloody. She pulled the trigger and the drone exploded into pieces of metal and plastic.
Then the jungle swallowed them, hiding them. She let go of the breath she had been holding. No red eye could spy on them as long as they stayed under the protective roof of entangled branches and vines.
But the fact that he had found them. That he had watched them, had watched her, scared her more than she wanted to admit.
They pushed on, wanting to get as much distance between themselves and the mayhem as they could before they were forced to stop for a rest. Kaidan had given James a dose of medi-gel and after a couple of minutes the pain subsided enough that marine was able to walk on his own.
An animal-path, a cleared trail used by the local hoofed herbivores, enabled them to move more quickly. It was a relief to be able to walk without having to constantly keep watch for low hanging branches and vines. It wasn't long until the hysterical screeching noises and the stench of burning fur and flesh faded and disappeared completely.
They were once again enveloped in hundreds of nuances of green. They kept walking in a close formation as they made their through the jungle towards the ERV. It wasn't long until it started to live up to its name as rainforest.
They sky opened itself on them, hosing them down completely until they were all soaked to the skin.
Kaidan found he had a hard time keeping his eyes off Shepard, and he couldn't help to notice that both Garrus and James were struggling not to stare at her as well; the T-shirt she wore was sticking to her like a second skin revealing the curves of her breasts, her narrow waist and the feminine curve of her hips. He forced himself to look away. She had been through enough and the last thing she needed was them staring at her like some horny teenagers.
But despite his best efforts Kaidan found his gaze straying to her again and again. Even now, smudged with soot and with her hair hanging in wet ringlets around her face, with shadows under her eyes and bruises and bug bites all over her arms, she took his breath away.
He watched as Garrus briefly touched her hand and whispered something to her. The now familiar pang of grief and jealousy was an almost physical pain. It felt like someone had stabbed a knife through his heart.