Operation: Congo

- 18 -

The raptors came on cautiously. Davies had moved so that the five members of the WHO team were all behind him. He had his weapon raised, but if he took out one of the beasts, the other was ready to leap in. Hynd turned to Wilkins.

“The bodies. Throw the bodies over the wall. These bastards are after easy food, so let’s give them some.”

“We cannae do that, Sarge,” Wilkins said, but the doctor had already moved and was heaving the smaller of the guards, the youth Hynd had killed, over the wall. The body landed with a thud five yards to the right of Davies and the WHO team. The nearest raptor raised its head, looked at Hynd then at the body, and decided the food was worth the risk. It moved in with jaws already open in anticipation. The second raptor looked at Davies then at the body. It saw that its partner was getting the easy part of the deal and went to join it at the body.

“The doc and I can handle this, Wilko,” Hynd said. “If we can’t get the folks down there up on the winch, we’ll have to get them through the gate. Go and see if you can get it open.”

The next few minutes were among the grisliest of Hynd’s’ long career. They tossed the bodies over the side—he taking the legs, the doc the arms—swinging them over as if they were throwing a pal into the river as kids. But there was no soft landing for these poor sods, only the prospect of ending in the bellies of the beasts. The raptors fed with gusto and the bodies attracted interest from two more of their kind who came, seemingly without any fear or trepidation, to join the first pair. These two were smaller and more vocal, and Hynd wondered if these were the females. Either way, their gender wasn’t having any appreciable effect on their appetite or ferocity.

The raptors all ate ravenously.

Davies had the WHO team pressed up tight to the gate. Some of them couldn’t, or refused, to watch the grisly feast, but Hynd noted that Debs wasn’t flinching and was watching the raptors with grim determination although even from his position above he saw tears running down her cheeks and liked her all the better for it.

He turned to the doctor after they’d tossed the last body over the side.

“Shout if anything changes. I need to check on Wilko.”

The doc gave him a very serviceable salute as Hynd headed for the steps down into the town.

Wilkins was straining at a heavy wooden beam. It sat in a runner and stretched across the width of the structure holding the twin gate doors shut. It looked like it hadn’t been moved since the dawn of time and given the amount of effort the private was expending for no reward, it looked as if it was going to stay that way.

“Thank Christ,” he said as Hynd moved quickly to give him a hand. “I thought I was going to rupture something.”

“There’s time yet, lad.”

Both of them put their backs into it. The hunk of wood started to slide away to one side, painfully slowly, but they’d got it moving.

“Hurry,” the doctor shouted from above. Hynd looked up to see him pointing, not down into the crater but into the town. A raptor and rider appeared in the mouth of one of the alleys, saw Hynd and Wilkins at the gate, and immediately turned heels and fled into the shadows before Hynd could get his weapon raised and aimed.

“Bugger. The clock’s ticking. Get this gate open, Wilkins, and the next beer and curry night is on me.”

As if the thought of it spurred him on, Wilkins put extra effort into it. Hynd strained and pushed, felt the muscles of his back and shoulders tighten and complain, but the beam started to slide faster and within a minute had slid enough to one side that one half of the gate was exposed. Both men put their backs against the doorway and heaved. The door slid open an inch then creaked to a halt, but someone on the other side had taken note. Several pairs of hands grabbed around the rim and now Hynd and Wilkins were being helped in the task it went more easily.

The door creaked open.

Debs was the first face Hynd saw on the other side. She came to him and kissed him full on the lips, much to Wilkins’ amusement. Hynd returned the embrace for two seconds then held her away.

“Get your people out of there,” he said and shouted over her head. “Davies, the beasties still busy?”

“Aye, Sarge. But there are half a dozen of them now; two small ones just turned up. And I heard another roar in the jungle further in; there’s something bigger coming this way.”

“Whatever the fuck that is, I don’t want to meet it.”

They got the WHO team through the gate and into the cleared area between it and the town. Wilkins moved to get the door closed but Hynd stopped him.

“Leave it open, lad. If the beasties get curious and come through, they might give us a diversion that’ll buy us time to get out of here.”

With Debs’ and the doc’s help, they got the other four members of the WHO team moving. Hynd’s plan was still simple enough—get the rescued party out of the town, stash them somewhere safe, and come back to look for the captain and Wiggins. It looked like the plan was going to be scuppered at infancy when they entered an alley to head into town and found a raptor and rider blocking their way.

Unlike the earlier one, this one showed no signs of backing off. The rider raised his spear and let out a battle yell that was echoed by the creature he rode on.

Hynd had got as far as unslinging his rifle and getting ready to take aim when a series of answering barks came from the rear. He turned to see the six raptors, fed and ready for action, come through the open gate at a run.

He only had time to clear the mouth of the alley, splitting his people into two groups on either side, then the raptors were on them. The beasts ignored them completely and went directly for the rider who on seeing the odds tried to turn and flee. He never made it.

Six against one, the fight didn’t take long, but the rider lasted longer than his mount. His screams as the beasts fed on him echoed long and loud in the alley. Debs turned to Hynd with pleading in her eyes and he knew what was being asked. He nodded, took aim, and put a bullet in the man’s head.

The shot was answered almost immediately. Horns from somewhere deeper in the town in the direction where the drumming cheering had come from. The alarm had been raised.

The raptors looked up from their feeding at this new noise. They barked at each other then moved as one heading towards the source of the sound, deeper into town.

Something else responded to the noise, a roar louder than any they’d yet heard, the bellow of some giant thing that was still in the crater beyond the gate but was definitely getting closer.

“We go into the town,” Hynd said. “We can’t afford to get caught in the open. And the captain and Wiggins are around here somewhere. We’re not leaving them here with those buggering beasties running about.”