Matt Archer: Monster Summer (4 page)

We followed him into the trees. Schmitz took point, creeping
through the grass without making a sound. Will and I copied his movements,
trying to improve our “stealth mode.” It worked; everything around us was dead
quiet.

We were a quarter-mile away from the checkpoint when a
crawly sensation tugged at my chest. In response, the knife vibrated in my
thigh pocket. I unsnapped the guard holding it in place and drew it slowly.
Schmitz saw me and held up a fist, telling everyone to stop.

I turned in a circle, using the weird tug as a gauge. It
strengthened as I veered slightly off-course to the left. Pointing that
direction, I started forward and the tug grew stronger with each step until my
arms started shaking. Rustles in the dry grass stopped me cold.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two shadows dart out from
behind the trees.

“Go!” I shouted. “Out into the open!”

We all took off running to our right, at an angle that
allowed us to burst out of the tree-line ahead of the Dingoes in pursuit. When
we broke free, though, everyone skidded to a halt. Two more Dingoes waited for
us, each holding a member of the advance team. The other two stayed behind,
pacing back and forth on all fours, tensed and ready to spring.

It’d been a trap all right. And blue team was nowhere to be
found.

The largest Dingo of the pack was one I’d never seen before,
a red-brown nightmare with a fresh slash mark across one cheek. When we
approached, it took a step forward, dragging its prisoner along. Julie had a
black eye, blood crusted in her hair and a long scratch down her left thigh.
The Dingo held her tight, mashing her back against its chest, pinning her arms
to her sides with its paws.

Mike let out a growl. I held out my hand, hoping he wouldn’t
forget all his training and do something stupid. Usually he was the one holding
me
back, but I’d think about the irony later.

The other members of the advance team weren’t in much better
shape than Julie. One guy was barely conscious; his guard dog held him upright
with its meaty paws under his arms, but his head lolled to one side. The other
wasn’t conscious at all, lying in a jumble off to one side. I couldn’t tell if
he was dead or just knocked out.

 I raised the knife, aiming it at one of the Dingoes
behind me. “You make a move, and I’ll put down two of your guys before you get
me.”

“Aw, ain’t that a pisser?” their leader said. “But would you
be able to do it before I squeeze the life out of your bitch here?”

“Don’t you call her bitch,” Mike said, his voice a mix of
iron and ice.

Alpha-Dingo looked confused. “Well, what do
you
call
her?”

Mike lunged; luckily Will and Schmitz caught him. I held up
a hand to Uncle Mike, telling him to dial back the rage before things blew up.

“Simple misunderstanding, sir. They’re dogs—that’s what
they’d call her.” I turned to the Dingo. “We call her a woman, and if you hurt
her, I’ll show you what your insides look like before I kill you.”

The knife liked the sound of that. It made approving noises
in my head before hitting me with a power rush so intense I could practically
feel my reflexes improving. I bent my knees, calculating the distance to the
Alpha and determining where I could hit it without hurting Julie. Maybe if I
did in the leader, like last time, I could confuse the others enough to take
them out one by one.

My knife’s handle glowed green, signaling it was ready to
attack, and I tightened my grip. Time to rush them.

To my surprise, Julie’s eyes narrowed and she gave me the
tiniest of smiles. Mike drew in a breath, shook his head….

Julie kicked both feet off the ground, twisting in the air,
and caught the Dingo holding her other team member in the temple. In the same
motion, she jerked her head back and butted the Alpha square in the nose. The
other guy snapped upright; he’d been faking being unconscious. Before I had
time to admire the trick-play, he pushed backward hard enough to throw his
captor off balance, and they landed in the dirt, soldier on top.

Snarling, Alpha-Dingo dropped Julie and drew its foot back
to kick her.

I threw the knife with all my might. It buried itself in the
Alpha’s eye and the beast toppled over, dead. Julie rolled out of the way and
popped into a crouch. As I ran to retrieve my knife, she went after the other
Dingo. She wasn’t even armed, but that didn’t seem to matter. She looked
pissed
,
stalking at the monster with her fists clenched. I tugged my knife free and
followed her. The Dingo threw the not-really-concussed guy to the ground and
swiped a paw at Julie’s head. She ducked it easily. It swung again and she
danced out of the way, calling, “Matt? A little help?”

I’d been so impressed with her evasion skills, I’d kind of
forgotten she was providing me a distraction. I took a running leap and landed
on the thing’s back, plunging the knife in with my full weight. The Dingo
arched, trying to get away from the sting of the blade, but I twisted it, then
slashed. It tumbled with a howl and I landed on my knees next to it.

While we’d been tussling, the two Dingoes who’d been
guarding us had closed in on the rest of the team. Schmitz turned and fired
several rifle shots at one; Perkins fired at the other while Jeffers assembled
the machine gun. The bullets probably hurt the monsters less than BB pellets,
but it did slow them down a little.

Uncle Mike ran to take care of the wounded man still lying
unconscious in the dirt, and Will was on the sat-phone, yelling directions to
blue team.

Melee averted, I stalked toward the closest Dingo. My BDUs
were streaked with bright-orange blood; so were my hands. I was sure I looked
like a reject from a horror flick but everyone was too busy to take a second
glance. Schmitz kept circling, firing warning shots at the monster as I
approached. I’d almost closed the distance before the Dingo grabbed Schmitz by
the front of his jacket and flung him like a ragdoll. Schmitz bounced twice
before coming to rest; he didn’t move after landing.

The Dingo focused back on me, so I couldn’t help Schmitz. I
had to hope one of the others could. The monster growled and I crouched low,
expecting it to spring.

“Look out!” Will shouted behind me.

I turned in time to see Perkins catch a paw across the chest
before he had time to reload his rifle. The Dingo ripped open his ribcage with
one swipe. Perkins’ mouth formed a perfect O, but no sound came out as he
crashed to the ground. The beast whirled around on Jeffers, who didn’t bring
his weapon up in time, and went for his throat. Knowing the other Dingo was
right on my heels, I threw the knife at the monster. The blade punched into its
back, and it fell on top of Jeffers.

The other Dingo and I reached the body at the same time. I
got a hand on the knife’s handle before the monster shoved me so hard I flew
backward five paces and slammed into the dirt. All the wind rushed out of my
lungs and I couldn’t draw a breath to save my butt. Gasping, I rolled to my
knees. Black spots danced in my eyes, so I missed seeing Will run past until
he’d jumped on the last monster’s back. Uncle Mike rammed into the creature’s
mid-section with his shoulder, and together they toppled it over. Aunt Julie
was there, too, already dragging a bloody Jeffers away from the scene.

I sucked in as much air as I could and staggered over. The
Dingo rolled, shaking off Will, and pushed itself up. Mike tried to block it
again, but ended up head-first in the dirt for his trouble. Holding the knife
steady, I stared the thing down.

“You’re the last one left,” I said. Dang it, my voice
sounded weak from the lack of air. I cleared my throat and tried again. “This
is the end of the road for you guys.”

“One is still free to complete our task,” it said. “And
that’s enough.”

The sound of grinding gears made us both turn. Blue team
pulled in, a dead Dingo strapped to the hood of their Humvee. Somewhere they’d
picked up Major Ramirez, the other wielder, and they’d caught the last one. I
totally forgave them for being late in that case, and a weird rush of glee
raced through me—coming from the knife.

I’d have to sort out all this blended-emotion crap with the
knife at some point, but for now, I let the satisfaction rush through my bones.
Giving it a cold smile, I said, “Now you really are the last one left.”

Ramirez jumped out of the Humvee before it stopped rolling
and ran our direction. The Dingo turned to me and said quietly, “This isn’t the
end, you know.”

Then it dropped to its knees. Ramirez gave me a quizzical
look, but came up behind it and slit its throat. The Dingo’s eyes never left
mine until they dimmed and went dark.

I shuddered. No, it wasn’t the end. On that, we could agree.

When the Dingo slid into a heap on the ground, everyone let
out a collective sigh and started cleaning up the scene. Schmitz had a giant
knot on his head and a cracked rib. Jeffers was still alive despite a bite to
the throat, but he’d lost a lot of blood. Uncle Mike and Julie had stabilized
him enough to be rushed back to camp with blue team. One of their guys was a
medic, and another was O-positive. Between the two of them, they were sure they
could keep Jeffers going. Perkins…well, we’d just have to make sure his body arrived
home safely for his family. It made me sick, knowing I hadn’t gotten there in
time to save him. The only thing that kept me from losing it was the fact that
we’d finished the job. The Dingoes were gone.

That night, back in camp, Uncle Mike came over to my tent
for a visit, Julie limping behind him. When I saw them coming, I stood and
saluted. Uncle Mike returned the salute, but I didn’t stand at ease. No, I
waited until Julie saluted in return. She’d earned it.

I nodded at Mike. “You were right when you said you needed
to keep an eye on her. She’s crazy.”

Julie laughed. “You have no idea.”

No, I probably didn’t. Any woman willing to head-butt a
monster deserved my respect, though.

“She’s definitely crazy, but she’d have to be to marry me,”
Mike said, giving Julie a sappy smile before turning back to me. “So…I know
this is a weird time to ask, but how would you feel about being my best man?”

A smile spread across my face. After everything that had
happened the last few days, I needed a little good news. And the wedding was
good news; I knew that now. I could hate the fact that Mike would be moving,
but it didn’t mean I couldn’t still be glad he was marrying Julie.

“Yeah, man. I’m in. I’ll even wear a tie.”

Epilogue:  Four Weeks Later

I tugged at my tie, already sweating and wishing I hadn’t
promised to wear one. The tuxedos Mom had insisted that my brother and I wear
were wool—and it was August. I’d doubled up on deodorant because no one likes a
stinky best man and I didn’t want to offend the wedding party. Especially since
the bride could field strip a Beretta in less than four seconds.

Mike, in full dress uniform, paced back and forth in the
tiny Sunday school room assigned as “guy parking.” Every time he finished his
route, he checked his watch, wiped his forehead, then started the whole process
again. Little puffs of dust rose with each step, settling on his shined shoes.
If he noticed that, he’d come unglued; I had to calm him down before he gave
himself heat stroke. I was also starting to envy my broth
er
for drawing usher duty instead of having to babysit our stressed-out uncle.

“Uncle Mike,” I said, “if you don’t stop pacing, you’re
gonna wear a hole in the carpet.”

He nodded so quickly he resembled my Brett Favre bobble
head. “Yeah, okay.”

I smothered a laugh. “Dude, I’ve
never
seen you this
worked up. Chill.”

“I guess I
am
wound pretty tight.” Mike sat on the
edge of a plastic chair sized for a pre-schooler. His knees nearly bumped his
chin. “I’m so nervous, I can’t even remember my vows.”

A knock sounded against the door and Uncle Mike jumped to
his feet. “Yes?”

My older sister, Mamie, opened the door a crack. She was
serving as “wedding coordinator” and, being Mamie, she had everyone on a very
precise schedule.

“It’s time,” she said, opening the door wider and beckoning
for us to get moving.

We stepped into the hall, and Mamie looked us up and down.
She immediately went to work straightening my tie, then tsked and bent to wipe
the dust off Uncle Mike’s shoes. After we passed muster, she nodded briskly.
“Perfect. Head to the vestibule and find the minister.”

Before she could turn to go, Uncle Mike reached out and
tugged on one of her pigtails. “Thanks, Daisy May.”

“You’re very welcome.” Mamie’s pleased smile morphed into
her best steely glare. “Now go. Clock’s ticking and we’re on a timetable,
people!”

She scurried away, and I led my uncle to the little room
behind the church’s chancel. Right before we went in, I grinned at Mike. “You
survived a monster brawl. What’s a little wedding after that?”

His shoulders relaxed. “Right. Let’s do this.”

I followed him inside, still smiling and happy it was
finally time to make the title “Badass Aunt Julie” official.

—end—

Want to know how Matt became a knife-wielder? Read on for
an excerpt from
Matt Archer: Monster Hunter
, book one in the Matt Archer
series.

Matt Archer: Monster Hunter  (Excerpt)

Chapter One

When I was fourteen years old, I was forced to make my first
kill. Now I’m fifteen and I bagged two more just last week.

My name is Matt Archer. And I hunt monsters.

*****