gently. “Derek needs more time to finish patching everybody up and we all need to rest some after that attack. Besides, we can’t go charging around the jungle willy-nilly anymore. We’ll have to move much slower now that we know the hybrids are trying to ambush us.”
Ivy looked like she wanted to argue, but she didn’t. Even in the dark, the frustration on her face was clear as she nodded. “You’re right.” She fingered the wedding rings Angelo knew she wore on a necklace beneath her shirt as she looked at Landon, then turned to Clayne. “Get something to eat. I’ll cover the perimeter.”
Landon started to go after her, but thought better of it. Instead, he stood there and watched her disappear into the jungle.
“Should I go with her?” Tanner asked.
Landon shook his head, tossing him an MRE—meal ready to eat—from his pack. “No. I’ll head out in a little while. Right now, she needs some time to herself. She has a lot on her mind.”
Tanner frowned, but sat down beside Angelo and tore into the MRE. “Did I miss something while I was gone?”
Angelo dug in his own pack and pulled out some food. Unlike Landon, he didn’t have any complete MRE pouches—the things took up too much space. Instead, he’d raided an extra case of rations back at the base camp, taking only the best parts—the main entrées and the cheese—which in his opinion was the best thing the food nerds had ever invented. Angelo tore the corner of an entrée at random and squished the stuff into his mouth like toothpaste. Chicken and egg noodles…maybe.
“We’ve been hit a few times by hybrids since you took off to look for those locals,” Landon replied to Tanner’s question as he sat down on the ground opposite them. “Nothing like the ambush they just pulled on us, but bad enough to slow us down.”
“Is that why Ivy’s upset?” Tanner opened the MRE. “Because she feels like we aren’t getting any closer to her friend?”
“That’s some of it,” Landon admitted, digging out another MRE. “But I’m guessing she’s still freaked out by the three hybrids we stumbled across earlier today.”
Tanner looked up from the mystery goo he was spooning into his mouth, his eyes sharp. “Why? What happened?”
Angelo picked up the story so his former captain could eat. “It wasn’t anything that happened. It was how they acted. One was a lookout, while the other two crawled around on their hands and knees, sniffing the ground like a couple of freaking bloodhounds.”
Tanner’s brow furrowed. “That’s strange.”
“No shit,” Angelo agreed. “They were so intent on sniffing the ground, they didn’t even notice us until we were practically right in front of them. It wasn’t until we put them down that we noticed the two bloodhounds had been carrying ripped up pieces of Kendra’s clothing.”
“Oh, shit,” Tanner murmured.
“Yeah, it’s not good. But we’re all trying to stay positive.” Landon took a ration bar out of its wrapper and bit into it. “It wouldn’t make sense for the hybrids to use pieces of Kendra’s clothing to track her if she wasn’t still out here somewhere.”
“But Ivy still doesn’t like the idea of the hybrids being close enough to Kendra to get pieces of her clothing,” Angelo added. “And just because we think Kendra might still be out there, that doesn’t mean Declan is. They didn’t have any of his clothing.”
“So, Ivy is wondering if Declan might already be dead and Kendra is out there on her own,” Tanner finished.
Angelo nodded. Regardless of what Landon said about not thinking the worst, they were all worried about the same thing.
“Tanner, did Zarina tell you about what happened to Ivy out in Washington State?” Landon asked, opening his canteen and taking a swallow of water.
Tanner dug around in the bottom of his MRE pouch, came out with the small tan packet of cheese, and wordlessly passed it to Angelo. “She told me those doctors took DNA samples from Ivy and that Ivy is terrified they’ll use it to create a hybrid-shifter blend.” He frowned. “I hope it wasn’t wrong of Zarina to tell me that?”
Landon shook his head. “No. Ivy and I trust Zarina completely. If she felt it necessary for you to know about it, that’s good enough for us.”
Tanner relaxed. “I think she wanted me to understand how horrible the people behind the hybrid program are.” He snorted. “As if I needed a reminder. She forgets I’m living proof of what they’re willing to do.”