Nasty Little F___ers-Kindle Read Free Page A

extra clips into his belt and slinging the rifle over his shoulder. Upon exiting, he pointed at Edison, Allen, and the last member of the team – and only woman – Janice. “You three start packing up the camp, this expedition is officially over. Bock, Harper, Steinman, and Moretz, you’re with me. We’re gonna see if we can find the rest of Jared.”
    “Fuck you. I’m not going out there.”
    It was Moretz. Colby looked at his unusually pale face and thought the poor bastard might faint any minute. He considered his options, then realized Moretz probably wouldn’t be much help anyway. Short and painfully slight, Moretz would have trouble lugging the supplies he’d need on a hike, let alone battling a man-eating whatever. Colby looked at the olive skinned man and nodded.
    “Ok, Moretz,” Colby said. “You stay here and help pack up the camp. Anyone else want to stay?”
    Steinman raised his hand as though he were in a classroom. He didn’t look much better than Moretz, but he was big and burly, with arms almost as big around as Colby’s. Colby hated to lose him, but he couldn’t exactly put the .45 to the guy’s head and force him to come along.
    “Fine. You stay, too. How about you Harper? Bock? You guys coming?”
    Both nodded, and Colby breathed a sigh of relief. He really didn’t want to go out there by himself, and was especially glad to have Bock along. Bock was tough, strong, and he could keep his head in a crisis. Colby wasn’t sure what Bock did for a living, but for a scientist he was surprisingly sturdy, and would look more at home in an MMA fight than behind a computer screen. Harper was okay, too, but for the most part he was just an extra body. Strength in numbers, and all that.
    They were ready to leave by 3pm. All of them carried enough food and water for two days, sleeping bags, spare clothes, and matches. Bock even brought one of the tents along.
    “It’s the bugs,” he said. “I can’t stand the little bastards.”
    Colby didn’t argue. Besides, he was right, the woods in high summer are usually swamped with millions of biting, crawling, and stinging insects. Who wanted to get eaten alive by mosquitoes? Especially when there was something bigger out there to do it.
    “Fine,” Colby said. “You guys ready?”
    Bock and Harper both nodded.
    “OK then. Let’s go find Jared.”
    “Watch out for bears,” Allen called out.
    Colby grunted and turned his back on the camp.
    “If you find any bear feces, bring some back, would you?”
    Colby ignored him and stepped into the woods, Bock and Harper trailing behind him. In all the excitement, Colby forgot to grab the radios. Anzer had given them eight Motorola two-way radios so the team could talk to each other in case they got separated. The small devices were light, portable, and tough, designed to withstand the rigors of a hike. Up until that morning, they’d had no reason to use them, and he forgot they were there. So when Colby, Bock, and Harper left camp that day, they went without having any means of communicating back to the others, or vice-versa.
    ***
    “What do you see in that guy?” Edison asked Janice after the search party left.
    “He’s not you,” Janice replied. “That’s good enough for me.”
    Edison frowned, his ample cheeks quivering. “Did you see how he practically ordered you to stay behind and clean up the campsite?”
    Janice snorted and turned away. Often, Edison’s jealousy was more amusing than annoying, but he could have picked a better time. Jared was most likely dead, after all.
    “Listen here, little lady,” Edison said in his best Colby impression. “It’s dangerous out there and you’re just a woman. So stay behind and do some woman’s work until I get back. I’ll be smelly and dirty by then, so what do you say I grab you by the hair and drag you back to my tent?”
    As Janice stifled a giggle, Edison grunted behind her back like a gorilla. She couldn’t see him, but he was probably