Page 9 of Lagoon

Then, Jonathan regretted nearly hurting Bub. He needed the tranquilizer gun. Well, he probably needed Nick. Nick was a much better shot than he was.

He got to his feet and raced for the lab.

The guards were all better shots than he was, too, but he didn’t trust the guards. They were here only because Anderson Scott didn’t want to get implicated in wrongful death lawsuits. The guards didn’t get it, though. They didn’t understand why Bub was special, and that meant they might hurt him.

Jonathan fumbled at the door with the intercom. “I took off my shirt and I don’t have my key card, Nick! Let me in.”

“What’s wrong?” came Nick’s concerned voice.

“No, don’t let me in. Just get the dart gun and come right now. I need you.”

“What’s happened?” said Nick.

“Get it,” said Jonathan. “And come to the river. He might already have taken her again.” He dashed away from the lab, huffing as he scrambled up over the rocky path to the lagoon. Then he hung a left and went down to the riverbank.

Bub was in the water, swimming back for Dr. Stine, who was perched in the middle of the river on a rock.

“Should I try to swim?” she called to him.

“To get away from Bub? He’ll catch you,” he called back.

She bit down on her bottom lip.

“Help is coming,” he said, feeling stupid and idiotic just standing here on the bank while she was in danger.

Just then, Nick crested over the hill holding up the tranq gun. He skidded to a stop next to Jonathan, took aim, and shot Bub.

The dart burrowed right in the back of the creature, just behind Bub’s shoulder blades.

Bub cried out, reaching back to dig out the dart with his webbed hands.

Then the creature went still and the current dragged him downstream.

RILEY HAD BUB’Sfeet, struggling against the current. They were trying to get him up onto land.

“Stop it, Dr. Stine. Get out of the water,” said Dr. Greyson, who had Bub by the shoulders. “Let myself and Dr. White handle this. You’ve been through quite enough.”

“No, you can’t do it alone,” she wheezed. “I’m all right.” She was still shot through with quite a bit of adrenaline, she thought. She couldn’t sit still, not yet.

“Let’s all work together,” said Dr. White, grabbing one of the creature’s arms. “On three, we’re heading for shore, yes? One. Two.Three.”

Riley strained and yanked.

And together, the three of them half-dragged, half-rolled Bub’s lifeless body into the riverbank.

Then, all out of breath, they backed away and surveyed him there. Riley was still fascinated by the creature, regardless of how terrifying it had been to be captured by him.

“He’s got to go in the tank,” said Dr. Greyson, straightening, running a hand through his hair.

“What happened?” said Dr. White.

“He came right for her,” said Dr. Greyson. “Took her away, swam right off with her. And then he pierced her. He has protrusions in his fingers that I didn’t even know about. Claws in a way?”

“Claws?” said Dr. White. He went to Riley. “Are you hurt?”

Riley tugged up her shirt, but the little wounds where she’d been penetrated were very small, and they weren’t even bleeding anymore. She shook her head. “It was like needles. Very thin, very sharp.”

Dr. White looked her stomach over, shaking his head. He turned back to Dr. Greyson. “This doesn’t make any sense. He’s never behaved that way.”

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