“It’s a long story,” Keoni answered. “I’ll tell you later, when there’s time. Come on. We need to pick up the pace.”
“I agree.” Susan nodded.
Jennifer assumed that Susan had gotten over her fear. For the first few minutes as they traveled down the tunnels, she’d glared at Jennifer with a smoldering gaze, which Jennifer ignored. Jennifer didn’t have time for that nonsense. Bitch would’ve had them all killed if she’d kept hollering. Jennifer did what she had to do to survive. Wade seemed to have chilled out on his anger over Jennifer’s handling of the situation, too. Within a few minutes, both of them had fallen into line with the rest as they followed Keoni down the tunnel.
“This tribe is a secretive one, aren’t they?” Wade asked.
“They are,” Keoni replied. “People from the surround-ing islands avoid them. I know people in my family, from my father’s side, they never wanted to have anything to do with Naranu.”
“Your father’s Samoan?” Susan asked.
Keoni nodded. Despite his insistence that they increase their speed, he stopped in the middle of the tunnel and looked back at them. The rest of the group halted as well, and Jennifer tried to listen for any sounds of pursuit. The more distance they put between themselves and the command center, the less destruction they heard. Keoni had been right; the Clickers and Dark Ones had not found the basement. All they’d heard so far was the sound of the creatures rampaging through the building’s first floor and that had faded as they drew farther away.
“My father was a tribal chief,” Keoni explained. “Many years ago, before others came to colonize the Polynesian islands, my ancestors had two skirmishes with the natives of Naranu. My ancestors came from a long line of warlords. They conquered many islands and many people. But not Naranu. Something about their people made my ancestors uneasy. Even today, when I ask my father and his uncles about it, they won’t talk much. They only say that Naranu people are to be left alone. The thing is, Naranuan people aren’t very plentiful. They could have easily been conquered by my people, by the Tongans or Fijians many years ago, but they never were. Instead, they’ve seemed to somehow deflect whatever invasions on their island very quickly and those invaders, for whatever reason, never tried again.”
Susan was standing next to Keoni. “I have to concur. My specialty is human anthropology among the Australian and Pacific Island indigenous people. My only exposure to the Naranuan people has been through what I’ve read on them in books. I was excited to come here to learn more about them, to observe them first hand. When I heard of the archeological findings, I thought it would help greatly with my research. I thought Naranu’s natives were peaceful. Secretive, but peaceful.”
“Our presence here sure has changed that,” Wade said.
Jennifer frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean it doesn’t matter anymore if they were peaceful or warlike. Either way, they’re dead. Just like the rest of us. Those crab-things and those lizard-people don’t give a shit. We all taste the same to them.”
They stood in silence for a moment, catching their breath. Then Susan cleared her throat.
“Do you guys think anyone else is alive?”
“Probably not,” Jennifer said. “The Clickers aren’t the sort to take prisoners. They’re basically eating machines. And the Dark Ones—well, you saw how angry they were when they first emerged from the water.”
“I’ve been wondering about that,” Susan said. She sighed. She no longer appeared angry with Jennifer. “Their attack was sort of surprising, don’t you think?”
“Not really,” Jennifer said, confused. “It seems to go along with the behavior they’ve always exhibited in the past.”
“Yes.” Susan nodded. “But it intrigued me, nevertheless. I’m sure the rest of you noticed their immediate hostility toward us when we arrived. We know, of course, that they have a grudge against humanity, but they seemed genuinely surprised and full of loathing. Almost repulsed by our presence, as if our very existence here in this place was somehow abhorrent to them.”
“They believe they’re protecting some god or something,” Ed said. “Don’t forget, there’s evidence that this is some sort of holy site for them—a place of great religious significance. The statues and the carvings seem to bear that out.”
“Could it be that the island’s natives and the Dark Ones worship the same deity?” Susan turned to Keoni. “Do you know the name of their god?”