“I’ll break your neck, Jarvis, if you keep talking. Do you have any idea how far sound carries at night?” Simon demanded.
“Jarvis is right,” a voice came from about a hundred yards from Jonas. “This sucks.”
Jonas had smelled the sweat on the third man. He oozed a burnt-smelling venom. If he continued his course, he might just jog right over the top of Kyle. Jonas wouldn’t allow that to happen.
He won’t stay on that course, Camellia said with total confidence. He will have to move around too many stumps and boulders. No dragons though, Jeff, I’m sorry. Not this time. I’ll create those for you when I can get away with it.
Again, there was that little bit of laughter in her mind that she shared with the others, turning an otherwise tense situation into one they could find amusing.
“Stop being a whiner, Craig,” Simon said, but he slowed down just as Craig tripped over a large rock.
Craig caught the front of his shin and stopped. “Simon, is anyone around us? Can you see them? Smell them? Because if no one’s around, we would make much better time if all of us ran on the trail. When we get closer to the compound, we can spread out again.”
“It makes sense,” Jarvis agreed.
“Shaker won’t like it,” Simon said. “He gave very strict orders.”
“Yeah, well, Shaker isn’t here, is he?” Craig demanded. “Who’s going to tell him? No one’s here but the three of us.”
“Parker’s coming up behind us,” Simon warned.
“True, but he can’t read tracks in this pea soup. He won’t be able to see his own hand in front of his face.”
Already, without Simon’s consent, the other two scouts were doing their best to make their way through the dense fog to the main trail. Camellia didn’t make it easy on them, and the underground network aided her, continually throwing up obstacles for the two men to run into or trip over to make the threats in the fog seem very real. Once the advanced scouts were back on the main trail and running behind Simon, she left them to it.
Jonas and the others waited for the fourth man, Parker, the backup scout. Shaker had learned his lesson after losing his first scouting team. He wasn’t taking chances with the others. Shaker was used to being enhanced and working with soldiers who were enhanced. They always had the advantage. The mercenaries Abrams had hired might be considered the best by many, but Shaker wouldn’t think so. He needed information in order to feel safe bringing what he considered ordinary men against two teams of enhanced soldiers. He wanted to know how many he was up against. Jonas could understand that.
Parker came along at a fast run five minutes later, proving that, like Simon, he could see through the fog, although he didn’t search his surroundings the way Simon had. He kept his gaze fixed on the trail.
He has more trouble seeing than Simon did, Jeff guessed.
He’s looking for tracks, Jonas countered. He’s not worried about anyone waiting to jump him. He figures if that was going to happen, it would have happened to the others. He’s looking to see who else has been here. Jonas was suddenly very grateful for Red and the mycelium for covering their tracks so thoroughly. Let Antonio and Trace know that in my opinion, Parker is the most lethal of the lot, Camellia.
Don’t anyone move yet, Camellia warned. Parker is out of sight, but he’s slowing his pace. I think he’s going to backtrack.
Jonas stiffened. Why would he do that?
There’s no possible way he found any tracks, Jonas. He can’t smell us or see us. Any of us, she assured. It’s most likely the way he operates.
Jonas knew all about being careful. He often backtracked and then did it a second and third time, especially if he was uneasy. Parker was enhanced. He didn’t need to smell or see an enemy. Sometimes it was a gut reaction telling them they were in trouble. Parker emerged through the fog, walking slow, this time looking left and then right. Up into the trees and then down along the ground. He stopped several times, his fist around his gun, clearly listening.
He nearly walked right up on Gray, who suddenly flapped his wings and glided off, startling Parker more than he appeared to have startled the owl. Eventually, the man turned and jogged down the trail again. They waited in silence.
Camellia reached out to Antonio and Trace, giving them what little information they had on the four scouts and the approximate time they would be passing their location.
Will you be able to maneuver adequately in the fog? she asked them.
Yes, no problem, they replied.
Just let Red monitor them, and if they need help, she can let you know, Jonas decided. We need to get on with our task and take out Abrams’s private army.