Mega 4: Behemoth Island Read Free

grass and cling to his clothes, his skin, trapped in his blood that never stopped flowing.
    Never stopped flowing. Shit.
    Dr. Chen realized that the grass must have developed some type of anti-coagulating properties. Even with the immense amount of perspiration seeping from his pores, some of the blood should have started to thicken. But it didn’t. His mind did the calculations and he knew he had perhaps five minutes, maybe ten, before grass or flowers or even the giant thing behind him were the least of his problems. He’d bleed to death well before any of that took him down.
    Then he saw it, darkness at the end of the meadow. He shoved through the last row of grass and slid to a stop, his eyes trying to pierce the darkness of the jungle ahead of him. He couldn’t tell if anything lay in wait, ready to make a snack of him before his eyes could adjust to the gloom.
    He counted to three then took off into the jungle. But he stopped only a few feet in as the creature’s roar grabbed his attention. It sounded different. Sounded like it was high up and not on the other side of the meadow. Dr. Chen spun about and watched in horror as a massive shadow darkened the middle of the meadow. The shadow raced towards him and he couldn’t figure out what it was. Then he looked up and saw the monster soaring over the grasses and wildflowers. It was in mid-leap, clearing any danger the meadow may have presented with one push of its powerful hind legs.
    “You can’t do that,” Dr. Chen muttered, realizing the stupidity of his words before he even finished saying them.
    Apparently it could do that.
    The creature’s eyes were locked on where he stood just inside the jungle’s tree line and Dr. Chen felt trapped. Trapped by the gaze from those black, black eyes. Trapped by the knowledge that everything he thought he knew, everything they all thought they knew, was complete and utter bullshit. The rules did not apply anymore. Despite the fact that they had invented the rules.
    A scream lodged in his throat, Dr. Chen turned and ran as fast as he could. He ignored the continual blood loss. He ignored the fatigue and cramps that started to set in. He ignored the creature that had broken all the rules. All he thought about was getting another ten yards, another twenty, thirty, fifty.
    If he could get through that part of the jungle then he would have a chance. A small chance, but still a chance.
     
    ***
     
    “I’ll give you one more chance, Mr. DeBruhl,” Jowarski said. “Just play along with me and answer my questions and you could get yourself out of this room alive.”
    “That’s one damn empty promise,” Popeye said. “What happens when I get out of this room alive? You kill me out there?”
    “I do not want you dead, Mr. DeBruhl,” Jowarski sighed. “I want you alive and cooperative. But those work hand in hand. Cooperate and stay alive.”
    Popeye studied Jowarski for a few seconds then nodded. “Fine. I became a sailor because it was a way to escape without running away. I had a future, if I worked hard enough. And I’m a damned hard worker. You don’t become boatswain without busting your ass over and over again.”
    “Do you like the sea?” Jowarski asked.
    “I love it,” Popeye said. “More than anything else. Besides my own hide.”
    “Is that so? I would think after the first encounter with the giant sharks that you would have considered a new line of work,” Jowarski said. “To save that hide. Signing on permanently with Ballantine was not exactly the best move towards self-preservation.”
    “I didn’t sign on with Ballantine,” Popeye said. “I signed on with Darren, with Marty, with Cougher and the rest of the crew.”
    “Gunnar? Dr. Peterson? Was he part of that as well?” Jowarski asked.
    “Gun was there, yeah, but he was more like the ship’s mascot,” Popeye said.
    “Really?” Jowarski laughed. “I had you pegged for that role.” He glanced down at Popeye’s stump. “No pun