Page 101 of Blue Arrow Island
“I’m trying. Not having much success so far, though.”
“Tell me about the owner of?—”
“Fuck!” Marcus stops and bends to grab his calf, where bright-red blood seeps from a fresh slash.
I don’t even take time to think. I swipe his machete and jump in front of him, slicing the head off a massive praying mantis. At least, that’s what it looks like, but it’s the size of a full-grown golden retriever, Marcus’s blood staining one of its razor-sharp forelegs. It’s covered with a brown, leathery skin.
“What the fuck is that?” I yell.
“Genetically engineered mantis,” he mutters. “They’re mean fuckers.”
I gape at him. “Who thought that was a good idea? They have compound eyes and they can see in 3D. And those legs are like razors.”
He grimaces. “Let’s talk about it later. We have to get back.”
“Let’s see your leg.”
“It’s fine.”
This asshole. I’m in no mood for his heroics. I can’t carry him back to camp.
“Move your hand!”
He does, and I groan when I see blood gushing from the four-inch gash in his calf. “Get out the first-aid stuff.”
“Briar—”
I turn in a circle, my thumb poised over the activation pad on the stun stick. If any other mutant creatures are coming our way, I’m going to zap the shit out of them.
“Stop wasting time and get it,” I snap. “You know it needs bandaged.”
I hear him riffling around in his pack. I give him about fifteen seconds, and when I look back at him, he’s wrapped the wound with an entire roll of gauze and he’s getting to his knees to stand.
“Let’s go,” he says, his voice strained.
“No more running.”
He scowls at me. “I missed the part where I put you in charge.”
“Get over yourself. And radio Nova and tell her to have someone meet us to help get you back.”
“I can’t.”
“Pretty sure you can.”
He narrows his eyes at me, putting more weight on his uninjured right leg. “We don’t give that kind of information over the radio.”
My instinct is to argue, but it makes sense, so I don’t. Instead, I put my arm around his back and force him to put an arm around my shoulders.
“You said you liked me back in the cave, but this really isn’t the time,” he quips.
“Oh, you’ve got jokes? Right after a dog-sized mantis attacked you and I cut its head off?”
“I told you this jungle isn’t safe.”
I scoff, his back hard and warm beneath my palm. “You could’ve been a little more specific.”
“What fun would that be?”
