In the Land of Giants - Book 2 of the Acropolis series

Chapter 9

  The word passed with remarkable quiet down the line; into the trees, as slowly and carefully as possible. The key was not to panic and draw attention to themselves. Everett and most of the others managed to get into the trees without any trouble, but as the gunman on the back of the buggy crawled down, the big reptile's head swiveled, long snout focusing on the vehicle. It let out a short, horn-like roar, and then charged.

Everett's heart stopped as he crouched about thirty feet within the trees, watching the pair of Spalding's men dash toward the treeline. One of them tripped, falling beside the buggy while the other sprinted away from him. No, Everett thought, and he cursed his selfish mind as the idea ran through it, you're going to draw it to the rest of us!

The big lizard reached the buggy, stalking to it and leaning down with a deep roar. Its jaws clamped down hard onto the rooftop, crushing it as it the vehicle was lifted into the air. It was dropped again almost immediately, smashing to the ground with a loud crash of steel. There was movement on the ground, and Everett realized it was Spalding's man, the one who had tripped. He was trying to crawl away from the horrific scene, but the huge creature had spotted him. Its head tilted to the side for a moment before it lunged again and the man screamed. Everett turned away, his stomach rolling over inside of him.

He swallowed a dry lump in his throat and then looked back up from where he was crouched on one knee beside a tree. Nikki had stopped a few trees ahead of him, one hand laid delicately on the trunk as she peered around it at the scene in the valley. The big reptile had moved on from the man and the buggy, and was turning to face the killing field it had created. The mammals had scattered and run off quickly, but not before four of them had been felled by the immense lizard that was now stalking toward the nearest corpse, letting out a low clicking growl. It seemed disinterested in the other man from the buggy who crawled on his stomach through the grass, feet from entering the treeline.

"Stay alert." Said Sam's voice over Everett's radio quietly. "Watch the trees around you."

The hair on Everett's neck tingled, but he didn't want to take his eyes off the enormous reptile that began to lean down, opening its jaws to tear into the mammal corpse that laid in the grass. He turned away again, feeling the nausea rising up in his gut. His eyes searched for Sam or someone who knew what they should do.

It was Spalding that he eventually found, at the forefront of the second squad, his rifle in one hand as he stared out at the big reptile. He turned to look at Everett as he approached, a scowl painted across his face that melted almost immediately to reveal something more neutral.

"What are we doing?" Everett asked in a whisper, looking out himself to see the lizard's big head lowered over the carcass of one of the mammals.

Spalding shot him a strange sort of grin. "Why don't you ask your friend? He's the cabron in charge here, remember?"

Everett frowned, staring at the man with as neutral an expression as he could manage. He saw now where Spalding's difficulties were going to come. His first disagreement with Sam had only been a warning shot. However, Everett wasn't going to bring himself to engage the man. He sighed and shook his head, moving on without a word, looking for Sam.

He eventually found him, and the majority of first squad – the remaining people of Orson's Island – dangerously close to the edges of the forest. Sam himself was perched in a tree, crouched atop a branch some ten feet in the air. He called down when Everett approached.

"Well, what do we do?" Everett asked, as quietly as he could.

Sam shrugged. "It's not interested in us. We might as well just wait until it eats all of those things, and then it'll probably move on." He looked out toward the valley. "Spread the word."