“You serious about wanting to kick their ass?”
“Sure.”
Tony grinned. “Hear that Onyx? When this shit’s over, you better watch your ass.”
“There will be nothing of the sort,” Diamond said. He and Amethyst regarded Clark and Tony with disapproval. “You are one of The Seven. Once this is over, more will be revealed. Until then—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tony said, waving a dismissive hand at Diamond. “I’m special, I’m one of the seven most important people of the world and Mr. Arroyo here is the luckiest fuck on the planet. But you gotta understand, he and I are a team now. When this shit’s over, he and I are to be flown to a nice exotic location for some chill out time. After that, we go our separate ways and you will ensure Mr. Arroyo stays alive and healthy from here on out. Capice? And you don’t have to do one of those Jedi mind tricks to know that I mean it.”
“We’ll deal with that when the time comes,” Amethyst said. “For now, we must move forward so we can prevent Dagon’s entry into our world.”
“And save Jennifer,” Tony added.
“Yes,” Amethyst agreed, “of course.”
They resumed forward, moving through the lush foliage. Ruby and Onyx took the lead. Clark and Tony followed them, while Amethyst and Diamond brought up the rear. The humidity was stifling. Sweat ran down their faces and necks in streams. Birds flew overhead, unseen in the darkness but squawking in fear. There was a rustle in the brush as something small—a rodent perhaps—scurried past them. Clark gripped his M16. His muscles tensed. Beside him, Tony held his weapon, ready to shoot.
“There’s an entrance two hundred yards away to the left,” Ruby said, pointing.
“There is?” Clark risked a glance back. “I thought we had another mile to go.”
“Another mile to reach Mount Rigiri,” Ruby said. “But there are entrances to the catacombs scattered all over the island. The quicker we reach the tunnels, the better off we’ll be.” She indicated a flurry of approaching activity. “We’re about to have company.”
Clark and Tony whirled toward the direction Ruby indicated. Off in the distance, Clark could hear the sound he’d come to dread: crashing trees and other debris and that loud sound he’d heard back in Washington DC that had started this nightmare.
CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK! CLICK-CLICK!
“Fuck,” Clark muttered. “That sounds like a lot of them.”
“They’re approaching too fast,” Tony said. “Form a circle. Watch each other’s backs.”
“If we move fast, we might make it,” Ruby urged. “Let’s go!”
They ran. Heading away from the approaching carnage, they ran through the jungle, leaping over fallen logs and branches. Insects flew about their faces and Clark ran on, paying them no heed. The hot sun beat down between the thick overhang of trees that shadowed the jungle floor, keeping the island hot and moist. Clark could see the mountain in the distance; it really wasn’t that far off, and it wasn’t very big. From this distance, Clark judged it to be about three thousand feet, fairly small for a mountain. But if something lived beneath it…
The crashing and clicking grew closer but it was also moving away from them, heading toward the shore. They were moving at a diagonal direction and would barely miss them. But if one of the Dark Ones or Clickers managed to stray out of their path, things would turn ugly very quickly.
“We’re almost there,” Ruby panted.
“How will we know we’re there?” Tony asked.
“I’ll know!” Ruby called out.
Tony seemed unsatisfied with her answer. “What the fuck are we looking for?”
“Leave that to me.”
“Women,” Tony said. “Can’t live with them, and you can’t kill them when you want to.”
“On the contrary, Mr. Genova,” Ruby said. “You’ve killed fourteen women over the course of your career and you’ve managed to maintain live-in relationships with six women.”
“Will you please stop reading my fucking mind?”
Clark’s senses were on full alert as he ran through the jungle. He felt a raspy taste of smoke in the back of his throat and looked to his right in the direction of the approaching Clickers and Dark Ones. Plumes of black smoke rose from a few miles farther back. Probably from the fires they’d flown over on their descent. His heart raced as they drew closer to Mount Rigiri. Something didn’t feel right. Something—
“Snakes,” Tony yelled.
The ex-hitman stopped abruptly. Clark almost ran into him. He moved his finger away from the M16’s trigger. Onyx and Ruby slid to a halt in front of them and turned around.