The Predator Hunters And Hunted 44

"Hancock, Burton, and Chambers were all alive and well when the sun went down. Before they settled for the night Fowler moved away from the group and laid out some Claymore mines. He made good and damned sure that everyone knew where to look and where to not go. They'd lost enough people to whoever was hunting them. Claymores were simple and direct. Fowler pointed them in the direction he wanted covered, laid out the tripwire, and whatever triggered the damned thing would get enough buckshot to shred a squadron of soldiers. Fowler had set them up the last two nights and never caught anything, but he remained persistent when
Elliott would have given up. The first explosion woke them up. "What the fuck was that?" Burton said, keeping his voice low."pg.155 chpt.16

""The Claymores," Fowler replied, a hint of victory in his voice. The second detonation saw them ready for whatever was coming their way. Except there was no way they could prepare for what they saw. The enemy crouched in the branches above. It looked to be at least seven feet in height, big and muscular, with a metal mask over its face and weird hair like dreadlocks. It wore armor on its shins, knees, and part of the thighs. There was some sort of contraption on its shoulder, and it was bleeding in a dozen or more places. The blood was green. It was bloodied, and it was pissed."pg.156 chpt.16

"Bloodied, perhaps even dying, the goddamned nightmare came for him again, screeching and warbling and eager to tear him apart. Managing somehow to stand, Elliott spotted the tripwire and moved over it carefully. He saw the Claymore, knew where it was pointed. He also knew that with just one step he could be out of the cone of effect. He took two, to be safe. As the thing came closer he leaned down and hit the tripwire with the butt end of his pistol. The explosion was so much more powerful than he'd expected. He knew there would be damage to the trees. He knew there would be noise. In that moment, however, it was greater even than the hellish thing that was reaching for him. The pellets locked inside the mine escaped at the speed of sound and blew through his assailant. Elliott saw the ripple of flesh, of the odd tentacle things on its head, as the body was shoved backward by the concussive force. Pain exploded in his calf."pg.160 chpt.16

"Looking around, he saw a spill of fluorescent blood that spread over a dozen feet in any direction. The damned thing had to be dead. It had to be. Two hours of searching proved him wrong. There was a long trail of the stuff that ran from the area and moved hard toward the north. Following it, he kept track of his path. He couldn't afford to get lost in the woods, and he surely couldn't afford to lose the bodies of his men. There was a strange sound, and he picked up the pace as best he could. The trail of blood led to a new wonder-an aircraft the likes of which he had never seen before. He had a cheap camera on his hip, and managed to snap a couple of pictures before the ship lifted straight into the air. The sound wasn't as loud as he expected it to be, though he had to protect his eyes from the debris it kicked up, and then it launched toward the sky.He watched it vanish and tried very hard to tell himself it was all a fever dream."pg.161 chpt.16