Bronto's Revenge: 2 (Barbarian Lust) (10 page)

Bronto stiffened and sat her up between his legs. Just then
the sound of people running and hollering breached her ears. As Bronto started
to rise, a green arm shot through the doorframe and long, gnarly fingers
clutched around her ankle.

She screamed and tried to kick them off but they pulled on
her leg and she partially slid to the door. “Bronto!” she wailed, digging her
nails into his arm while trying to hang on. The strength the alien had was
beyond human and its claws dug into her skin. Bronto held on to her wrists,
struggling to hold her in place.

The fingers tightened and claws sank deeper. The pain was
unbearable but she couldn’t wedge the hand loose no matter how hard she gouged
it with her opposite foot.

“Give me your blade,” she hollered, reaching for his sheath.

Bronto wrapped his legs around her waist and let go of her
wrists briefly to unsheathe his knife. She grabbed it by the handle and sat up.

When he jumped to his feet she was dragged another foot
backward. She scraped her nails along the ground and her feet frantically
scuffed the dirt.

Bronto cuffed his hand around the alien’s arm, preventing it
from dragging her farther while she sat up and chopped it in half near its
wrist. Blood squirted into the air as the arm sprang backward and snapped
against his hand. He let go and watched it retract through the frame.

The fingers continued squeezing her ankle. Blood surfaced around
the claws and her foot was turning purple. “Oh gosh. Oh gosh,” she shrieked.
“It’s pinching me.”

She tried prying the fingers loose but they wouldn’t budge.
Bronto bent one completely backward, grabbed the blade and cut the finger off
then threw it into the fire but it didn’t weaken the alien’s grip.

Bronto severed two more and tossed them into the pit. They
wiggled away from the heat and tried to escape but melted against the rocks.
One at a time he cut off and burned the remaining four then he flung in what
was left of the species’ hand.

Ivy scrambled across the hut and tucked herself into the
corner as far away from the door as possible. She tightened her hand on the
blade as she stared at the entrance, sucking air into her chest.

Bronto dropped beside her and lifted her chin. “Breathe,
Ivy,” he said, stroking her bottom lip with his thumb. “Breathe.”

She exhaled and wrapped her hands around his wrist. “Go kill
it, Bronto,” she said, digging her nails into his flesh. “You have to kill it
or it’ll come back.”

“I will. Shhh,” he soothed. “I will.”

“Now. Before it gets away.”

“You’re coming with me.”

Her eyes rounded. “I’m not going out there.”

“You’re not staying in here alone. You don’t know what will
happen when I walk away from the hut.”

She hadn’t thought about that. “Then let’s go,” she said,
jumping to her feet.

When he stood she squeezed his hand and scooted as closely
as possible to his side. She was having a really bad day and she feared it was
about to get worse.

“Bronto!” Zypher shouted from outside. “Get out here. We’re
under attack!”

“Fuck,” Bronto grimaced.

Ivy dug her fingernails into the back side of his hand. “If
we’re under attack—”

“Don’t let the knife out of your sight.” He released her
then grabbed the rifle from the crate and dashed outside, shoving her behind
his back. For being under attack, it was awfully calm.

Zypher stood with his M16 aimed at a thick section of forest
near the horses, directly across from the huts. Tyran was squatted by the pen,
and Vulcan, Rocko and Trice covered the southern section. Grunt wasn’t in sight
but that wasn’t a bad thing. No way in hell would anyone hand him a firearm.
He’d likely shoot his own people, starting with Rocko. That left at least
thirty additional men spread throughout the inner trees and surrounding the
secondary camp. Considering the perimeter’s broad range, a lot of sections
remained uncovered. “Zypher, where are they?”

“They fled into the forest. The bastards seemed to fall from
the sky.”

“Where are the women?” Bronto asked. Hopefully he wouldn’t
say
underground
. Unless someone stood guard directly over the door, the
aliens could easily get inside the shelters.

Zypher nudged his head over his shoulder. “Vulcan’s hut.”

Bronto walked backward, sheltering Ivy until they reached
Vulcan’s dwelling. He kissed her desperately but briefly then opened the door.
Pearl, Ruby, Wisteria and Jade sat huddled around the fire, holding hands.
Birmon lay tucked under his wings on Wisteria’s lap.

“Ivy!” Wisteria yelped as she set the creature aside, jumped
up and pulled Ivy into her arms.

Bronto assessed the inside of the hut, making sure the walls
were properly secured to the ground. “Ladies, don’t sit in front of the
doorway. Move into a corner.”

Ivy broke away from her sister. “He’s right. An alien
reached inside his hut and grabbed my leg. It tried pulling me out the door.”

Jade scurried to her feet. “Bronto, is that true?”

Why would she question it? Had she hoped Ivy was
overexaggerating? “Yes.” He glanced at the blood on Ivy’s leg and nodded,
instructing Jade to look at the claw marks. “Will you help her clean up?”

Jade observed Ivy’s ankle. She then looked at the stream of
water trickling along the inside rock wall and then at the small waterhole. “We
will,” she replied, moving toward Ivy.

“Ladies, stay close together. There is safety in numbers. Is
anyone armed besides Ivy?”

“I have my weaving knife,” Jade replied while reaching into
her pocket.

He nodded in approval then glanced longingly into Ivy’s
eyes. She blew him a kiss right before he stepped outside and closed the door.

He’d dreaded when this day would come. They were as prepared
as they could be but he suddenly felt as if it wasn’t enough. It would never be
enough. Caging the baby dinosaurs as bait to pluck the aliens from the forest
one at a time was a great idea but it seemed too easy. The damn species were
too smart to fall for that plan.

Running a hand through his hair, he parked his ass near
Zypher and visually searched the trees. “How many are we talking? Any idea?”

Zypher shook his head. “At least ten so far.”

“One took an interest in Ivy. Do you know where it went? It’s
missing a hand.”

“Yeah,” Zypher replied, his gaze focused straight ahead.
“I’m looking at it.”

Bronto raised his M21 and glanced through the scope. The
green SOB stood partially hidden behind a pine tree, holding its injured arm
against its chest. Blood dripped from the severed stub and ran along its
forearm. A long, red, split tongue hissed in and out of its mouth like a snake.
“He’s mine,” Bronto said as he took aim at its heart and disengaged the
trigger. The kickback from the blast knocked Bronto’s shoulder but the bullet
hit the target and the alien dropped.

Suddenly rapid gunfire exploded as the species charged from
all directions, racing into the camp. The women screamed, obviously frightened
by the blasts and commotion. He couldn’t blame them. He at least had a ringside
view of what the hell was going on.

An alien darted between the tree branches as it raced toward
the horses. Its arm sprang into the yard and it clamped on to Zypher’s legs. It
yanked, pulling his feet out from under him, and Zypher’s back slammed the
dirt.

Bronto plugged a bullet between its eyes. It fell near
Vulcan’s black stallion. The horse reared on its hind legs then landed,
crushing the alien’s skull.

The women’s screams surpassed a hysterical level. Bronto
swung around and assessed the leather walls for stray bullet holes. There
weren’t any he could see from his angle, nor was it possible for the species to
sneak behind him and Zypher to breach the doorway.

“Bronto!” a female shrieked. “Bronto! Vulcan!”

Another alien crawled from between the huts, its gnarly
fingers dragging its body across the ground as if it had no use of its legs.
Zypher rolled over in that instant and discharged the rifle, blowing the
creature’s head off. Blood and brain particles burst into the air, sounding
like rain when they splattered the soil.

Little by little the gunfire tapered to a stop but the women
continued screaming and Birmon squawked in a frenzy. Bronto lunged at the door
and flung it open. Four of the ladies were huddled in the southwest corner,
hugging and squeezing each other and crying. He stepped inside and his heart
lunged to his throat. “Where’s Ivy?”

“She’s gone,” Jade blurted.

“What do you mean, gone? Where is she?”

Wisteria clung to Pearl and was sobbing so hard she didn’t
appear to be breathing. “Where!” he shouted.

Jade flinched as she pointed to the roof.

Sucking air, he raised his eyes to the ventilation hole. The
leather was torn and the opening twice its original size.
Dear God.

“They took her, Bronto,” Pearl wailed. “They reached in and
took her.”

The color drained from his face and he dug his feet in the
ground to prevent himself from swooning. His heart thundered in panic and he
refused to let them see the fear that soared through his guts like a raging
fire. Pain racked his body. The worst pain he’d ever felt in his life. In his
moment of dread he barged outside, removing himself from the women’s view.

No sooner had he reached the corner of the hut than he
dragged mouthful after mouthful of air into his lungs.

He’d failed Ivy. He’d miserably failed to protect her. Oh
dear God, the fear she endured. The aliens were desperate. It would only be a
matter of time before they strapped her down and turned her into an experiment.

Fuck. Fuck!

“Zypher, they have Ivy,” he shouted.

“Who?” Zypher spun around and looked at the hut.

“The species. They pulled her through the ventilation hole.”

“Then what the fuck are you doing standing here? Let’s go,”
Zypher hollered then whistled to garner Vulcan’s attention. “They’ve captured
Ivy,” he shouted. “We’d better find her before they turn her into a fucking
mutant.”

“Go,” Vulcan shouted. “I’ll secure the women then catch up
to you guys.”

Bronto felt as if Zypher bashed him in the head with a rock.
A mutant?
Jesus, he hadn’t given that a thought. His guts were busting
apart with worry that they’d drain her blood.

His jugular twitched and his heart pounded so fiercely it
reached his ears. “They were able to avoid us so they must have fled east,” he
said, peering eastward above the huts. “Let’s hope the tribe guarding the area
stopped them.”

Bronto tore into the woods but didn’t see a soul mixed
within the trees. He halted to look and listen. Nothing. It was eerily quiet.
Not even the sound of leaves rustled.

He followed smashed ferns, not knowing if the tracks were
fresh or left over from their feet when they’d chopped down trees.

“Bronto?” Vulcan shouted, halting him in his tracks. “Wait.”

He turned.

“Let’s mount the horses and ride out. We’ll waste too much
time on foot,” Vulcan instructed.

“Caw. Caw.”

Bronto glanced overhead. Birmon’s mom circled the treetops,
her massive wings swooping air. She flew toward the mountains, hovered over an
area for a moment then returned, gliding above the trees.

“Caw. Caw.”

Vulcan stepped beside Bronto, keeping his eyes on the sky as
she again headed toward the mountains. “It’s unusual for her to appear for no
reason,” Vulcan said. “Let’s ride over there. Zypher, untether the horses.”

Bronto shot past him and mounted his horse. He didn’t wait
for Vulcan or Zypher and he raced toward the foothills where the
thirty-foot-long bird treaded air.

Suddenly she changed direction, flying straight ahead to a
clearing, and swooped up and down within a large area. Bronto halted and gazed
at the open meadow. There wasn’t a damn thing in sight. No footprints in the
dirt. No footprints in the grass. No fucking evidence at all.

He tried silencing his raspy breath to focus on unusual
noises but the only things audible besides air rushing in and out of his lungs
were horse hooves beating to a stop behind him.

“Caw. Caw.”

“What the fuck,” he shouted, rubbing sweat off his forehead
with the back of his arm. “We’re wasting time. There’s nothing here.”

Again the creature took flight and changed direction,
gliding to the southeast.

Where the fuck was she going? Bronto kicked his mount into a
run. For all he knew the bird could be leading them to their deaths. She’d
shred them to pieces as she’d done to that bastard Sledge. The SOB deserved it.

Bronto had had enough of that asshole’s shitty antics. The
day Bronto met Ivy, Wisteria was, for the second time, at the mercy of the
whip-happy prick. He’d used Ivy as bait to barge his sneaky ass into the
Barbarians’ camp and take Wisteria hostage. While he’d held an ax to Wisteria’s
throat, Ivy sat bound to a tree. Bronto deserved a medal for the amount of
restraint he’d utilized to maintain control. If Vulcan hadn’t commanded him to
halt, Bronto would’ve plugged an arrow right between the abducting lug’s eyes.
One wrong move would’ve earned him a third eye socket.

Bronto pulled on the reins and guided the horse left when
the creature flew around a bend. In the backdrop he spotted what appeared to be
a dark haze but he knew it was a distant forest wall. The trees appeared no
bigger than an inch tall. It would take them fucking forever to get there and
breach the border. Precious time they couldn’t afford to lose.

The creature swooped low then gained height then swooped
again. Trying to keep an eye on it while looking from side to side for Ivy was
more difficult than he’d anticipated. They traveled so fast she would’ve been
easy to miss had the aliens stalled within the surrounding trees.

And then the bird landed on her talons in a thick patch of
knee-high brush. She didn’t move as Bronto barreled ass to reach her. As he
narrowed the distance he slowed to a trot, positioning his finger on the rifle
trigger in case she showed any signs of aggression. A short distance behind her
through the trees a purple haze glowed. And then he heard a waterfall. The damn
bird had guided him the long route to the exact place he and Ivy encountered
when they’d fled from the cave lion.

He steadied his mount, which sidestepped as if spooked, and
he listened for voices or, God forbid, screams.

“What the hell is that?” Zypher asked as he and Vulcan
settled on either side of him.

“This is where Ivy and I found the baby dinosaurs.” He
pointed toward the purple background. “In there.”

“Caw.” Birmon’s mom waddled to the wall of trees then took
flight.

Without a second thought, Bronto galloped to the forest
border and dismounted. He tied his horse to a conifer and entered the small
stretch of pines and evergreens. On the opposite side he saw the waterfall, the
pond and the stones where Ivy sat to watch the fish.

His eyes burned and his breath caught but he contained the
sick feeling bleeding through his veins and trudged forward until he reached
the plush grass.

He thought he heard whimpers and he stiffened in alarm but
it was hard to focus with Vulcan’s and Zypher’s footsteps shuffling through the
dense bed of ferns.

Then he heard them again. He whipped around and held up his
hand. “Shhh.”

Swoosh-swoosh
.

The sound of the bird’s wings broke the silence as she
landed on top of the opening of a golden cave, her talons gripping the edge.

Muffled screams echoed from the belly of the rock tunnel.
Bronto wanted to rush inside and shoot everything that moved but he controlled
the urge and backed up until he disappeared inside the line of trees near the
men.

Zypher’s eyes flared and his mouth dropped as if he wanted
to speak but he snapped it shut and peered at the cave.

As quietly as possible they made their way to the entrance. They
didn’t need to venture deep inside to see bright lighting reflected at the end
of a narrow rock tunnel. They crept along the wall, spurring each other on,
stopping periodically inside deep crevices to listen. The closer they got to
the dead end, the louder the whimpers and screams tore through the enclosure.

One was very distinctive and Bronto rested his head against
the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. Suddenly the pained cries stopped. Dread
hung in the air.

“Go,” Zypher whispered while giving his shoulder a nudge.
“We can’t stop now.”

Sucking air through his nose and steeling his nerves, Bronto
inched forward. He kicked a rock that skidded across the stone floor, making
enough noise to sound an alarm. He veered off the path to a dark section carved
in the wall. It was big enough for two men at most and only a second passed
before Zypher was standing beside him.

A gut-curdling scream pierced Bronto’s ears. He clamped his
teeth and clenched his fist around his rifle.