Instinct: A Chess Team Adventure - By Jeremy Robinson Page 0,66
dead bodies. “Those things have huge canines. They’re not the same. And the symbols. What if these creatures created them? What if the Chinese language originated from these creatures? We might be able to communicate with them.”
Rook sighed. He left Somi standing on her own and walked to the three dead bodies. He took the only one that still had a head by the wrist and dragged its body across the floor, laying it at Somi’s feet. “Okay, Mr. Wizard, you’ve got two minutes to tell me something new, other than that these things smell like ground beef in the sun. Then we’re finding a way out of here.”
Somi nodded and fell to her knees. “Your flashlight,” she said, raising a hand to Rook. He picked his flashlight up from where he’d dropped it and handed it to her. She started by looking at the creature’s eyes, shining the light in them. They were yellow and highly reflective, which graced the beast with amazing night vision. Otherwise they looked human. Facial features were a cross between human and ape. Short nose. Domed forehead. Thick cheekbones. But the canines—they looked more like a lion’s.
Reddish-orange, three-inch-long fur surrounded the face and coated much of the rest of the body. Stiff and coarse, the fur felt more like pine needles than anything else. A clearing in the thick body hair caught Somi’s attention and she moved toward it. She pushed away a tuft of hair from the creature’s chest, revealing a tan, smooth-skinned breast.
“It’s a woman,” Somi said.
“Female,” Rook corrected. “That’s no woman.”
Bishop hopped down from his perch. He inspected the other two bodies. “These are as well.”
Somi moved on, feeling the creature’s arms and inspecting its hands. The arms were full of thick muscle. The hands bore hard and sharp fingernails. Not exactly claws, but no doubt deadly. Then she moved on to the bones making up the nearby structure that looked like a small hut. The bones were longer and thinner than she imagined those of the dead females to be. If they were the same species, they’d changed a lot since the catacombs were built. Evolution on that scale took time, even in extreme conditions, which meant that this place was old . . . ancient . . . perhaps older than modern humanity. Making these things what? Our ancestors?
Somi’s thoughts were interrupted by Rook’s voice. “I think we’re going to have to cut your two minutes short. I know why they’re leaving us alone in here.” Rook stood at the small entrance to the structure next to the one Knight sat in. Somi and Bishop joined him.
The inside of the bone-built structure looked like a simple hut. A fire pit had been carved into the stone floor. The bone ceiling above lacked any green coloration, as it was coated in thick black soot. A long pile of leaves and forest debris lay to one side—a bed of sorts. On the other side lay a pile of fresh bones, rotting meat still clinging. Green uniforms littered the area. The remains of a VPA dinner.
“They live here,” Bishop said.
“Time to go,” Rook said.
“I’ll be staying,” Knight said. “For now.”
“Bullshit.”
“I’m not trying to be a martyr,” Knight said. “But I need to rest or I’m not going to make it far. You know me. You know that I can get out of here quicker, faster, and more quietly by myself than with you. No offense.”
Rook wanted to argue, but knew he couldn’t. He and Bishop were big, sometimes clumsy, and often loud. They would attract attention. Being apart from them may actually be safer. And he had no doubt Knight could get out on his own.
“Besides, this one doesn’t look lived in.” Knight scooted back into the building.
Rook looked at Somi. “You want to stay, too?”
She shook her head. “I’ll stay with the big men carrying fifty-calibers, thank you.” She grinned at Knight. “No offense.”
“You want one of the girls?” Rook said, offering Knight his handgun.
“Keep it,” Knight said. “You’ll need it.”
“See you on the outside, then.” Rook sighed, then quickly grabbed Somi and threw her lithe body over his shoulder. Holding his Desert Eagle in one hand and Somi with the other, Rook set out toward the opposite end of the catacombs. Bishop nodded to Knight and followed.
Knight slid inside the bone structure, crawled to the bed, and rolled up onto his back. He was asleep on the bed of femurs before Rook and Bishop were out of earshot.