Colony by Benjamin Cross (ready player one ebook .TXT) 📗

into the inside of the prow. A sabre-like claw arced down and punctured deep into the timber, then the leg retracted and whipped over the gunwale a second time. The heel crashed down in between their heads. Callum watched as the calf tendon contracted and fired the toe claw down into the timber once again. This time it did not retract but remained lodged only inches from his face. He fumbled for what remained of the oar and speared it into the foot muscle. There was a loud screech and the leg disappeared once more.

Callum and Darya lay still.

“What the hell is that thing?” Callum whispered, barely daring to make a sound.

“I do not know, but it does not want us here.”

“You can say that again.”

Callum began climbing to his feet.

She grasped at his elbow. “What are you doing?”

“I’ve got to try and start the engine. We’re sitting ducks.”

“Yes, but be careful!”

On his knees, Callum cast a glance around the canoe. The water was calm. Nothing stared up at him from below the surface. He got to his feet and approached the motor. His face was soaked in sweat. At any moment that thing could reappear, burst up out of the water and into the canoe.

He reached out and grasped the pull-cord toggle. “Please, for the love of God, please work,” he whispered to himself. Then he yanked at the cord. The engine spluttered. He tried it again, then again. “Come on, you rusty piece of shit!”

Finally, the splutter deepened into a roar as the engine fired up.

“Now get us out of here!” Darya shouted.

Callum turned the craft around and steered it south towards the Albanov.

“Here, let me,” she said, taking the rudder control back from him.

As the canoe accelerated, Callum scanned the shoreline. The little creatures were still there. They were no longer still. Instead they appeared to be jumping up and down in agitation. As he looked on, something else, much closer, caught his eye.

“Oh, shit!”

“What is it?”

He pointed behind her. Below the surface of the water, two dark shadows were following in the wake of the canoe.

“Can this thing go any faster?”

The two shadows coursed through the water. Propelled by their muscular tails, they burst forward, criss-crossing each other’s paths and easily outpacing the canoe.

“They’re closing!” Callum shouted.

“We are going top speed!” Darya yelled back. “It is not meant to be racing boat!”

Searching desperately around, he grabbed her survival rucksack and spilt the contents out onto the deck. “There must be something…” He kicked her emergency tent out of the way and scooped up the bolt gun and a handful of bolts, before noticing the emergency flares. He stuffed the bolt gun into his pocket and snatched up a flare from the bundle. He held it at arm’s length, removed the safety guard and smashed his palm up into the base. It fizzed and spewed out a gust of smoke, but the charge failed to ignite.

There was a sudden shriek as one of the creatures burst out of the water, launching itself at the side of the canoe. It landed half-in half-out, causing it to tilt perilously. As it scrabbled for a hold, Callum ignited another flare, reached forward and stabbed it at the creature’s face.

With a shower of sparks, the flare went off, thumping into its jaws. It screamed, choking as coloured smoke poured from between its teeth. Then it released the side of the canoe and crashed back into the water, clawing at its snout.

Callum’s gaze searched out the other creature. Using its partner as a distraction, it had drawn level with the side of the canoe. It was keeping pace with Darya as she fought to control the vessel, its head turned, water slicing underneath its eye as it watched her.

“It’s stalking you!” he shouted.

“What?”

Before he could speak again, the creature had dived out of sight.

“Get down!”

He lunged forward and wrenched her out of her seat just as the creature exploded up out of the water and smashed into the stern. The outboard’s wooden mount shattered with the force of the impact, and with nobody at the rudder the canoe was thrown into a spin.

The creature clung to the rear of the spiralling vessel as the centrifugal force pinned Callum and Darya into the prow. They could only watch as it battled for grip, clawing at the timber with all four limbs before being flung back into the whirlpool.

The relief that Callum felt was short-lived. Next second the canoe bucked, the prow dug down into the waves and he was catapulted out into darkness.

4

Callum resurfaced, gasping for air as the cold beat it from his lungs, punch after freezing punch. What was left of the canoe was scattered around him, and the air was sour with the smell of fuel. Splinters of wood swirled past. The outboard propeller floated upside down on the buoyancy of its half-empty tank, the blades still churning into the air.

There was a sudden rush as Darya resurfaced next to him. He swam towards her and brushed the clumps of hair from her face. “Are you hurt?”

“Not badly,” she replied, gasping for air. “But if we do not get out of this w-water quickly…”

“How long do we have?”

“When the water is this cold, n-not long.”

“It’s okay,” he replied on instinct, “somebody must’ve seen that flare. They’ll be on their way to rescue us.”

Darya’s eyes widened. “Der’mo!”

He sculled around. A short distance away, the two creatures were side by side, watching them. Only the tops of their heads were visible, their eyes focussed, their snouts protruding out in front of them. Their plumage now appeared the same grey-blue as the water.

Slowly, they started forward.

“Come on!” Callum raced over towards the propeller. Heart pounding, he took a hold of the residual wood attached to the rudder and turned back towards the island.

“Get behind me!” he yelled. “If these things want a meal, they’re gonna h-have to work for it.” He watched as the two creatures advanced, Darya’s hands clinging to the back