“What’s the matter, kid? Missing your cushy desk chair already?” Malik asked.

  Jackson laughed. “Yeah, you’re out here with us real leathernecks now. Do what we do. Embrace the suck and enjoy the fact you’re still breathing.”

  “Alright, that’s enough chatter,” Alex broke in. “Stay alert. You never know what we might run into out here.”

  Though the oppressive heat was a physical weight bearing down on him with every step, his focus narrowed again to the task at hand. The need to put as much ground as possible between his team and their pursuers.

  A flicker of movement off to his right caught his eye, and he froze, raising a fist to signal the others to halt. They dropped into crouches, melting into the foliage. Alex stared hard at the spot where he had seen the motion, his finger resting lightly on the trigger of his rifle. The last thing he wanted to do was fire it. The report would bring the enemy running.

  For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, with a rustle of leaves, a small creature burst from the undergrowth, scurrying across the jungle floor in a flash of mottled fur. Alex let out a slow breath, lowering his rifle as he recognized one of the planet's ubiquitous rodents, harmless scavengers that populated the forest floor.

  He signaled for the others to move out, and they resumed their careful advance, eyes and ears straining for any hint of danger. Time seemed to lose all meaning in the endless green, minutes bleeding into hours as they pushed deeper into the jungle's heart.

  At last, as the light filtering through the canopy began to take on the golden hue of late afternoon, Alex called a halt. They had reached a small clearing, a rare break in the dense foliage that offered visibility and defensible space.

  "We'll rest here," he said, his voice low and rough with exhaustion. "Set up a perimeter, two-man watches. We'll rotate every four hours. Malik, Sarah, you’re excused. Jackson, you and Zoe will take first watch.”

  “Copy that, Gunny,” Jackson said.

  “I can stand watch,” Malik complained, touching the makeshift bandage on his head. “It’s not that bad.”

  “Just because we aren’t wearing armor doesn’t mean anything I say is up for debate,” Alex replied.

  “Sorry, Gunny,” Malik said, dropping the argument.

  “Alvarez…what’s your first name again?”

  “Diego, Sergeant.”

  “Diego, you and I are on water duty. We didn’t pass any streams or springs, but I noticed a few plants back the way we came that we can use.”

  “Gunny, are you telling me you read the handout on local flora and fauna?” Jackson said.

  “Are you telling me you didn’t?” Alex replied.

  Jackson smiled sheepishly. “Of course I did.”

  “You have a photographic memory, right? Which plant out here is the best to draw water from?”

  All eyes turned to Jackson. He stared back at Alex before lowering his head. “We have condenser-purifiers in our standard kit.”

  “Next time, there will be a quiz. Mal, you had a gun. How about a knife?”

  Malik grinned, reaching for his boot.

  “Seriously?” Jackson said.

  “Honestly, I can’t believe any of you go anywhere without something to defend yourselves with.” He recovered a simple switchblade and handed it to Alex.

  “We’re our own lethal self-defense,” Zoe said in defense.

  “A little armament goes a long way in a scenario like this.”Alex said, pocketing the blade and handing his rifle to Jackson.

  Once Jackson and Zoe took up watch positions on opposite sides of the clearing, Malik and Sarah moved to the center of the tall grass, stomping the ground cover to displace or kill any nasties hiding underneath.

  Sarah sat down in the shade to wait, and Malik went to stretch out behind her. “Uh-Uh, big guy,” she insisted. “You’ve got a head injury. You may have a concussion.”

  “Ah, hell.”

  “Get over here, back to back with me. We can at least rest.”

  As he moved to comply, Alex led Diego back the way they had come, silent and cautious while they moved through the brush. They stopped before a large plant with huge leaves, the edges curved into spines.

  “I could tell you the scientific name,” Alex said quietly, “but we just call it a mantrap.” He put his hand on it, quickly pulling it away as the leaves tried to fold over it.

  “Shit,” Diego replied in response to the action.

  “An actual man can push his way out of it before the acid it releases can burn him too badly. Smaller animals aren’t so lucky.” Alex pulled the switchblade out of his pocket and flipped it open, cutting the thick leaf off at its base. “Here’s the coolest part about the mantrap.” He put his hand on the edge. It didn’t close. He moved it to the center and pressed all his fingertips together into a point, and it curled around his hand, seeming to swallow it whole. “No more toxin when the leaf is cut. It makes a great water jug.”

  “I’m impressed, Gunny,” Diego said.

  “If it were raining, we could leave these out under some canopy runoff and let them fill. But right now, it’s probably better that it isn’t raining.” He carried the leaf with him, leading Diego further into the jungle.

  “Aren’t you worried about the local wildlife?” Diego asked as they slipped through the brush.

  “Yes,” Alex admitted. “I won’t lie. There are things out here that can kill us before we know what’s happening. But we can only control what we can control.”

  Diego’s eyes scanned the surrounding green more warily. “Right.”

  They stopped in front of another plant. “This one’s like a barrel cactus.” It had two stems as thick as a man’s wrist that grew well into the canopy, where its big orange flowers bloomed. “We call this one lifegiver. Watch this.” He put the mantrap leaf next to one of the masses of shoots sprouting thickly up around the base of the stems and cut through the outer shell. A stream of water began pouring out into the leaf.

  It took a few minutes and cutting a couple more shoots for the leaf to fill. Once it had, there was over a gallon of water. Alex carefully rested the full leaf against the base of the lifegiver and cut one more shoot, using it to wash off his hands. Diego did the same. Then Alex picked up the leaf and held it toward Diego. “You need to make sure you support the bottom, and don’t spill it.”

  “Copy that,” he replied. He held the mantrap carefully as they headed back to their meager camp.

  Sarah and Malik were still sitting against one another when they got back, Malik with his head bowed. Sarah cradled her injured arm, her face pale and drawn with pain. The makeshift tourniquet was stained a dull, rust-red.

  Alex squinted at Malik. “You’re not sleeping, are you, Mal?”

  His head jerked up. “Nope, just meditating.”

  “Right.” Alex closely scrutinized Sarah. He felt bad for her. He knew how much a wound like hers had to hurt. Out here in the humid, bacteria-rich environment of the jungle, odds were good it would become infected, too, and unfortunately, there were no medicinal plants out here with antibiotic properties.

  “We’ve got water,” Diego announced softly.

  “I’m so thirsty,” Sarah said.

  Diego carefully placed the mantrap on the ground, shifting it a few times to ensure stability. Alex cupped his hands and dipped some water into them, bringing it to Sarah and helping her drink.

  “Thank you, Gunny,” she said.

  “You bet. Want some more?” he asked. When she nodded, he repeated the process several more times. He shifted to Malik. “How about you, Mal? Thirsty?”

  “Yeah, but I can get it myself,” he said.

  “Not with those grubby hands, you can’t,” Alex replied, dipping and helping him drink the same way he had Sarah.

  “Thanks, boss,” Malik said after drinking his fill.

  "We need a plan," Zoe said from her watchful position, her voice tight with urgency. "We can't just wander around out here and hope for the best."

  Alex nodded. "You're right. I’ve been working on it.”

  “And?” Sarah asked.

  “We need to go back to Fort Brix.”

  “What?” Jackson snapped quietly. “Boss-man, that’s not a good plan.”

  “Maybe not, but we don’t have much of a choice. Sarah and Malik’s wounds are bound to get infected out here. We need antibiotics and fresh bandages at a minimum. We also need to find out what's happening, who these bastards are and what their game plan is.”

  "And how do we do that?" Diego asked. "We're cut off. No comms, no backup. We're flying blind here."

  “Fortunately for you, Corporal Air Traffic Controller, you’ve fallen in with the Scorpions,” Malik said. “This is kind of what we do.”

  “We’re just usually a lot more prepared,” Jackson added. “And, well, everything we’ve done so far has been inside a simulator. Sucks to admit, but it’s true.”

  “We need medical gear, and we need intel,” Alex said. “Anything else we get is gravy.”

  “Not if what we get is dead,” Diego said.

  “That’s why we’ll start slow. Get close enough to observe. We need to know what their numbers are, what kind of equipment they're packing. If there are any holes in their defenses. All the good stuff. Besides, there’s no way to know how safe we are out here. These bastards might decide to raze the whole jungle to get to us. I’d rather stay in control of our situation.”

  “Control what we can control, right?” Diego said.

  “Exactly.”

  There was a moment of silence as the others digested his words, each Marine weighing the risks and the rewards in their own mind. At last, Zoe nodded, her expression resolute. "Alright," she said, speaking for all of them. "We're with you, Gunny. Whatever it takes."

  “Oorah,” the others said quietly.

  "Get some rest," Alex said. “We move out at first light."

  CHAPTER 23

  “Jackson,” Alex said, gently shaking the Private’s shoulder. “Time to go.”

  Jackson’s eyes snapped open, fully awake and alert. “Copy that,” he replied.

  With Diego having been with him on last watch, he was already awake. Alex shifted to Zoe to wake her, then Sarah. He placed a hand on her forehead. Her skin was hot to the touch, and she shivered despite the oppressive heat of the jungle. Fever, just as he had feared. They needed to get her medical attention, and soon.

  “Sarah, it’s time to go,” he said, needing more effort to rouse her from her fevered slumber. Her eyes finally fluttered open, and she looked up at him with confused eyes.

  “Gunny? Where are we?”

  “Jungle,” he answered. “In the jungle. Don’t you remember?”

  She blinked a few times. “It hurts.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. But we need to move.”

  She nodded, swallowing the pain and letting him help her to her feet.

  “Mal, how are you feeling?” Alex asked. He noticed Malik had removed the bandage. The gash on his head had clotted, and while he still looked a little off-center, probably from a slight concussion, he was up and alert without prompting.

  “I’ll be okay,” he replied. “Probably have a nice scar. I’ve always wanted a scar.” He grinned, helping lighten the somber mood a little.

  "Alright, Scorpions," Alex said, his voice low and rough. "Stay sharp, stay quiet. We've got a lot of ground to cover."

  They set off through the jungle, Alex once more taking point. He chose a circuitous route, weaving through the densest parts of the undergrowth to throw off any potential pursuers. The going was slow, each step an effort in the increasing heat and humidity, their eyes and ears constantly strained for any sign of the invaders.

  And then it began to rain.

  They heard it before they felt it, the precipitation gathering in the upper reaches of the canopy before overflowing and running down. On one hand, the precipitation was light, the cool moisture making the thickness of the air a little more bearable. But on the other, it drowned out more potentially dangerous noises, and in no time, they were soaked through, their clothes clinging to them like second skins.

  An hour into their trek, the sound of running water reached Alex's ears. He signaled for a halt, and the squad gathered around him, their faces drawn and weary. Sarah, especially, looked whipped.

  "Stream up ahead," he said. "We'll take a break, refill our water supply. And Sarah, we need to clean your wound."

  Sarah nodded, her jaw clenched tight against the pain. They moved forward cautiously, emerging from the foliage onto the bank of a swift-moving stream.

  While Zoe and Jackson stood watch, Alex and Diego helped Sarah to the water's edge. Carefully, they unwrapped the bandage from her arm, revealing the swollen, angry red wound beneath. Sarah hissed in pain as they began to wash it. The cold water equally soothed and stung.

  As they worked, a sudden rustling in the undergrowth set Alex's nerves on edge. He spun toward the opposite bank, his hand reaching for his rifle as a massive shape emerged from the foliage. Having read the dossier on Jungle, he knew immediately what it was.

  Anthropologists called it a gekotis, because it looked like a cross between a gecko and a praying mantis. Standing on six segmented legs, its body was covered in iridescent scales, and its wedge shaped head was filled with razor-sharp teeth. A pair of compound eyes fixed on the Scorpions, glittered with predatory intelligence.

  The gekotis took skittering steps into the water, stopping to shift its gaze from one human to the next and back, sizing them up. The thing was a definite carnivore, and while not the planet’s apex predator, it was near the top. Alex could almost sense it weighing the pros and cons of going after one of them for its next meal.

  Alex's finger tightened on the trigger of his rifle as their eyes met, and he stared down the beast. For a long, tense moment, neither he nor the creature moved, each testing the other in a silent battle of wills. Then, with a snort of hot breath, the creature turned and vanished back into the jungle, apparently deciding that the armed Marines weren't worth the risk. Alex let out a slow breath, adrenaline still pumping through his veins.

  Breathing a sigh of relief, Diego finished cleaning Sarah’s wound. Then he pulled the tail of his undershirt from his pants and tore a strip off it to re-bandage her wound. It wasn’t even close to sterile, but it was cleaner than her old bandage.

  Afterward, they continued along the stream for a short distance before angling back into the brush. They hadn’t gone far when more nearby rustling brought them to a stop. Alex turned his rifle towards the sound, watching the larger foliage shift aside as something passed through it. Not the invaders, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t dangerous.

  He tracked the displaced vegetation until a far different creature swung through the canopy above. As big as an Earthian ape, Diego screamed as it slammed into him. He disappeared beneath the monkey-like reptilian’s shimmering blue-green scales.

  Without hesitation, Alex brought his rifle to bear and fired, the shot impossibly loud in the dampening confines of the thick trees and vines. The creature jerked and spasmed as the round tore through its exoskeleton, green blood splattering the foliage.

  Alex immediately swung back toward the initial movement, triggering another round as a second reptile launched itself at him. The bullet split the creature’s gator-like face wide open. It fell from the vine it clutched in both clawed hands and crashed through the thick undergrowth, dead before it hit the ground with a heavy thud.

  "Move!" Alex cried. There was no doubt in his mind that the enemy had heard the shots and would send reconnaissance to check it out. “Back to the stream, now!"

  Jackson was already pulling Diego to his feet, the Corporal’s utilities ripped by the first creature’s claws, but otherwise he looked unharmed. They joined the rest of the squad, crashing through the undergrowth the way they had just come. Hitting the stream at a dead run, they splashed through the shallow water, Sarah immediately stumbling to her knees. Malik was there instantly, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her up. He almost carried her as they remained in the river to cover their tracks, the open shallows allowing them to clear the area faster than they could have through the dense vegetation.

  Silently counting down an estimate of the time it would take drones to arrive, he finally ordered everyone to take cover in the jungle, his estimate better than he would have liked. They had just ducked into the concealing growth when the hum of the expected drones reached his ears. His head snapped up, scanning the sky through gaps in the canopy. There. The first one appeared, following the stream before veering off toward the scene of the attack. A second drone moved in from the opposite direction, followed by a third. All three vanished beyond the immediate thickness of the canopy.

  Diego started to stand to get a better look at the drones, but Alex put a hand on his shoulder, keeping him down. He had a hunch about how the search would progress.

  They waited, hardly daring to breathe as the drones eventually returned, spiraling overhead, the machines methodically searching the jungle around the stream. It was a pattern Alex knew well, standard operating procedure for FUP Marine recon drones.

  An hour crawled by with agonizing slowness before the last drone finally moved off, the hum of its motor and rotors fading into the distance. Alex let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, his muscles aching from the tension of remaining motionless for so long.

  He turned to the others, meeting each of their gazes in turn. "They'll know which direction we're moving now," he said, his voice tight with frustration. "They might even suspect we're heading back to the base."

  "So what do we do?" Diego asked.

  "We keep moving," Alex replied. "But we take an even more indirect route and fire a couple more shots to draw them in a new direction. Anything to throw them off."

  He glanced at Sarah, leaning against Malik’s side. He noted with growing concern the sheen of sweat on her brow and the glassy look in her eyes. Her fever was worsening, sapping her strength with each passing hour.

  “But we can’t screw around for too long," he said, the urgency in his voice unmistakable. "We need to get to the base before Sarah gets any weaker. We'll move as fast as we can, but carefully. Hopefully Mother Nature will give us a break.”