Prey

And as he said it, a sudden alarm filled the chamber.

Mick nodded. "So much for surprise."

Julia tried to grin. "I think the explosives might have ruined that for you."

"Let's get out of here!"

25

"Put this on." Mick tossed her his sweatshirt. He grinned. "Best I can do right now, sorry."

"I think my modesty went out the window lying on that gurney exposed for all the world to see," said Julia. "Cripes, I flashed aliens."

The door to the chamber hissed open. Mick gestured to Julia. "Get down behind the gurney." He swept the barrel of his M16 up and aimed.

One of the dinocreatures came rushing into the chamber with an awful shriek.

Mick's gun barked twice. Two holes blossomed in the creature's forehead.

It dropped dead.

"We can't stay here!" Mick had to shout over the wail of the alarm. "We have to leave!"

A bright bolt of laser came flashing into the room. Mick ducked as it caromed off the wall and exploded among bits of machinery. Julia looked back toward the doorway and saw two more dinocreatures aiming some type of weapons.

"Watch out!"

Mick swung back and opened fire on them. More shrieks filled the air. Bullet casings flipped out of the ejector port on Mick's M16 and tumbled to the ground, clanging off the floor.

Julia ran toward him, her feet cold suddenly.

Mick squeezed off another round at the doorway. "Wish I had another gun for you. I could use some help."

Julia pointed. "What about those laser guns they're using? Maybe we can get our hands on them."

Mick nodded. "Worth a shot."

"If we stay here they'll pin us down."

Mick looked at her. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

"I'll cover you. Run for the area next to the doorway and wait there."

"Okay."

Mick popped his head out and back. Another laser bolt zoomed over his head. "Get ready."

He poked the barrel back out and shot off three more rounds. "Go!"

Julia felt her feet slip on the floor but then she got purchase and scrambled for the side of the doorway. Mick's gunfire poured past her. She reached wall and stopped, turned and waited for Mick to join her.

She could hear them outside the door. Moving around. She could hear chirps. Were they coordinating their attack? Did they know how to get in there without risking death at Mick's hand?

A sudden barrage of laser bolts came through the door. Julia winced at their ferocity.

Mick had ducked back down and when the lasers stopped flying past the doorway, Julia saw him fire at the doorway again and then get up and run toward her, continuing to fire as he did so.

He reached the doorway and slammed into the wall next to her. His breathing seemed only slightly labored.

Julia shook her head. "Doesn't anything faze you?"

He smirked. "You without any clothes on."

She punched his arm. "What now?"

"First," said Mick. "I need more ammo." He dropped the spent magazine down into the cargo pocket of his pants and then slammed another one home into the M16. He jerked the charging handle and nodded.

"Okay. How many do you think are out there?"

"Maybe a dozen?"

He frowned. "That many?"

"I don't think they're too happy about you coming in unannounced."

More lasers shot past them, still aimed at the gurney. Mick smiled. "They still think I'm pinned down there. Good."

Julia watched him pull out a fist-sized ball from his other cargo pocket. "What is that?"

"Grenade."

"From the cache?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't see any of those there."

Mick nodded. "Yeah, well, sometimes, it's better to have a surprise or two, don't you think?"

"How many other surprises do you have?"

"We get out of this alive, I'll be happy to tell you about all of them. How's that sound?"

"Better than dying here. Throw that thing already."

Mick popped the pin and waited for a brief lull in the firing. He leaned past Julia and let the handle slip off the grenade and then tossed it out in the corridor beyond the door.

He leaned back and hugged Julia close. She could smell the perspiration soaking through his shirt. It smelled wonderful.

The explosion rocked the room. More shrieks filled the air.

Then silence.

No more lasers cut through the air. No more chirps beyond the door.

Mick looked at Julia and held up his hand. He pushed off from the wall, brought his gun up into his shoulder and then eased around the doorway.

After a moment, he motioned for Julia to come out and follow him.

Blood streaked the hallway. The smell of charred flesh filled the air and Julia felt like puking again when she saw the mass of entrails and torn limbs decorating the corridor. Scattered bit of dinocreature littered the expanse of the place.

Mick bent low and picked up what looked like some type of space age gun. He handed it back to Julia. "Watch where you point that thing."

The gun felt remarkably light in her hands. She brought the butt into her shoulder and she and Mick kept moving down the hall, Mick against the left side of the corridor and Julia hugging the right.

A dinocreature ran across their field of fire and Mick picked him off cleanly with a headshot. The creature dropped.