Instinct: A Chess Team Adventure - By Jeremy Robinson Page 0,57

Let Trung think her dead. Vengeance would be easier that way. For now, Rook and Bishop were her allies. She watched from her spot on the wall as Rook rejoined Bishop over their half-dead comrade.

“Can you hear me, Knight?” Bishop said, his voice nearly a whisper. “Knight . . .”

Knight’s eyes blinked and then opened.

“Bish . . . Rook . . .” Knight reached out and took Rook’s arm. Knight’s words were slurred and wet as he spoke with tired lips. He glanced around the cave. “So much for pearly gates.”

“You little death-cheating bastard,” Rook said with a grin. “What, it’s not enough to cheat at Go Fish? You have to cheat death, too?”

Knight chuckled, then winced. “Broken ribs. Sprained ankle, too. Maybe broken. Concussion for sure. Got something to drink?”

Bishop and Rook helped Knight sit up. He took painkillers from his pocket, popped them in his mouth, and drank from Rook’s canteen. “I caught a few glimpses of the caves,” he said between drinks. “They’re huge. Tunnels everywhere.”

Bishop leaned in close. “Knight. What are they?”

Knight closed his eyes.

“Knight?”

“I’m . . . thinking,” Knight said. His eyes opened. “They’re not . . . human.”

“Apes?” Rook said.

Knight shook his head, almost imperceptibly. “Too intelligent. Cunning. But they’re apelike in some ways.”

Knight winced as pain throbbed in his chest. He fought past it and continued. “Fur like orangutans. Muscles like silverback gorillas. They’re not apes, but they’re not human. They’re something else. Something . . . ancient. You can see it in their eyes.”

Knight coughed, spit a blood-red glob from his mouth, and sighed. He rolled his head toward Rook. “We need to get out of here.” He nodded toward the cave tunnel where they’d watched the creature exit. “That way.”

“We can’t fight them,” Somi said.

“Not a chance,” Knight said. “But the tunnels are wide and I saw daylight a few times. We can make it.”

Rook nodded. “We can’t stay here and wait for someone to get hungry for Korean.” He turned his flashlight to the wall covered in upside-down cadavers. “Any ideas?”

“Yeah,” said Somi. She reached up with her good arm and grabbed hold of one of the body’s pant legs. She jumped up with a quick pull, placed her foot on the body’s crotch, and pushed off. She landed on her uninjured side in front of the tunnel where Knight had been lowered from. She grunted and then looked at the three surprised Delta operators. “We do what he said. We get out. Now.”

TWENTY-SIX

THE BACKYARD HELD green grass and four flower gardens. Yet in dire contrast to this lush beauty stood two warriors. Each held a bow and arrow, notched, aimed, and drawn. Both let fly. The first, belonging to the girl, struck the target dead center. The second flew off to the side, ricocheting off a stone and striking the wooden fence that enclosed the yard. “Nice shot, Siggy.”

“Kiss my ass, Jules,” the young man countered.

At sixteen Jack Sigler spent more time on a skateboard than anything else. School had long since become unimportant, and family . . . well, they were family. But when his sister asked if he’d like to shoot some arrows in the backyard, he couldn’t pass it up, even if it meant spending time with his dork of a sister.

A bookworm to the core, Julie had a secret side she let out only when their parents were away. Bows and arrows, throwing knives, library books on the military. He figured she was working on some kind of paper, but she’d been doing it for a while. Not that he cared enough to figure out what she was up to. He just wanted to shoot some arrows. He knew their parents would put the kibosh on the activity if they ever found out, so he kept his mouth shut. In fact, he guessed the invitation to shoot with Julie was more of a bribe than an attempt at brother-sister bonding.

“Just keep your left arm straight and look down the shaft.”

Jack took aim again and let the arrow fly. This time Julie just watched. The arrow skimmed off the top of the target and buried into the fence.

“Hold your breath before you shoot again.”

“You got it, Master Yoda.”

“I don’t care if you’re a crappy shot,” Julie said with a smile. “I just don’t want Dad to find the fence chewed to shreds.”

Jack took aim again. He found the target with his eyes and be-grudgingly held his breath. Adjusting slightly, he felt a sense of peace for