three days // j. conrad

eleven.

So they trekked west.
Soon enough they found themselves overlooking a valley littered with the bones of Kong's ancestors. The same valley that Wren had made the mistake of entering when she first arrived all those years ago.
James noticed her tense up beside him as they all looked out over it and took her hand on his, squeezing it lightly but reassuringly.
"Smell that?" Marlow said grimly. "That's death."
"What the hell is this place?" Slivko wondered aloud.
"This is what's left of Kong's parents."
"I've taken enough photos of mass graves to recognize one," Mason told them, grimacing.
"The crash site's just on the other side of this valley," Packard directed. "We'll cross through and make it to the highest point west."
Again, Marlow tried to deter Packard from this path, but again, he didn't listen and led them in.
"I've only been here 28 years," Marlow mumbled bitterly, "what do I know."
Everyone's guard was up as they moved quietly through the massive graveyard.
Cole lit a cigarette, which another soldier quickly told him to put out. Cole flicked the cigarette onto the ground, setting off an explosion that Wren had no doubt would attract a skull crawler to their location.
A predatory growl sounded from somewhere in the distance, its origin covered by the orange haze. The hairs on the of Wren's neck stood on end as she recalled her previous encounters with those creatures in this very valley.
"Run!" Marlow yelled.
Wren followed James as he dove behind a slab of bone stood up on it's side, his gun held at the ready.
The creature came far too close to their hiding spot for Wren's liking and began retching, spewing up bones and green liquid. One of the bones, a human skull, rolled right up near James' foot.
It had a silver chain caught around it: dog tags that read 'Jack Chapman'.
"Rally up!" Packard called when he thought that the skull crawler was gone. "Somebody cover the civilians' six, let's move!"
They all moved forward slowly and carefully, but Randa was fiddling with his camera in the back. The fumes were probably messing with its functions.
There was a low snarl, the sound of snapping jaws, and then he was gone.
It was just like Wren's first encounter all over again.
Immediately, everyone with a gun began firing at the creature, Randa's camera going off continuously inside it.
As it retreated into the orange mist, Wren's heart sped up.
The only indication of the monster's location was the occasional flash of Randa's camera.
Wren heard Marlow mutter something in Japanese before the skull crawler showed itself again.
It got its tongue wrapped around a soldier before it began chasing Wren and Mason who were running in the same direction. The soldiers continued to fire mercilessly, but the crawler paid them no mind. Both girls dove under a ribcage, but it stuck it's head at them from above and snapped it's jaws.
Someone fired a flamethrower at it, distracting it enough for both girls to escape out of the ribcage.
It smacked the wielder away with it's tail, and an explosion went off when he hit the ground, rolling canisters of toxic gas onto the ground.
"GAS!" James warned before they exploded too, which sent a group of leafwings into a frenzy as they also attacked the group.
Wren watched as James grabbed a gas mask and Marlow's sword before making his way through the cloud of green gas, slicing through assailants as he went.
The crawler had recovered and began moving quickly towards James who was supporting a mostly-conscious Slivko.
Wren looked to Mason, who had just arrived beside her and was holding up James' dad's lighter.
If she lit if and threw it, the gas in the air would ignite and cause an explosion that could possibly kill the skull crawler.
Wren nodded and yelled, "get down!" to James.
Mason lit it and tossed it straight in front of the skull crawler, setting off a large explosion that finally took it down, along with throwing the four back. Wren curled into a ball as she fell, but lifted her head to see the creature give one final screech before falling dead.
James rolled over to Wren, a genuinely worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" He asked, searching her visually for any signs of injury before meeting her eyes once again.
Wren nodded. "Are you?"
"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Now look Colonel," Marlow said. "You may outrank me, but I've been here a hell of a lot longer. And I'm telling you, that thing that just shredded up was only the first."
"We're not leaving Chapman out there," Colonel Packard shot back.
James stepped forwards and brandished the dog tags. "I'm sorry Colonel, but Chapman is dead."
Packard was silent for a moment. "Doesn't change a thing. We're still going to that crash site."
"What's at that crash site that you want so badly?"
"Weapons!" He cried, as if it were obvious. "Enough to kill that thing."
"Kong didn't kill Chapman," Wren argued.
"But he did kill these men, my men." The Colonel held ip a fistful of dog tags.
"You can't kill Kong," Marlow interjected. "Kong's god on this island. He's the only thing keeping them lizard things in the ground."
"He saved my life!" Wren agreed.
"They're right," Brooks agreed. "We can't kill him. But that other creature? That's the threat. And there's more of them. If you take away the species' natural competition, they'll proliferate out of control!"
"Then we'll end them too! After we bring this thing down."
"I can't let you do that, Colonel," Marlow said, drawing his sword. The other soldiers lifted their guns at him. Packard smacked the sword out of his hands and hit him to the ground.
"This is one war we are not going to lose!" Packard protested.
Wren fixed him in a cold stare. He was out of his mind!
"This is nuts!" Marlow shouted from the ground.
"You need to listen to us, please!" San contributed.
"You're not at war, Colonel, you're making a mistake," Brooks added.
"Your lies got my men killed!" Packard trained his gun on Brooks and San.
Wren stepped forward. "And you're going to get us all killed. Calm down."
Packard swung his gun around to point it at Wren.
"Not our fight," James told her softly, pulling her away from Packard and behind himself. "Your Sea Stallion is three klicks up that ridge. I'm going to take the civilians back to the boat, and we'll wait for you here. Alright?"
James kept his hands up, but Packard kept his gun trained on both him and Wren.
Then he lowered his gun. "Saddle up!" He called. "Steve! You runnin' with the big dogs or staying on the porch?"
"I don't wanna be on the porch," Steve said, repositioning the gun he held.
As all the soldiers followed Packard away, Marlow stood.
"We need to stop him," he insisted.
"You wanna talk with him about it again?" Weaver asked. "He seemed to really go for it the first time."
"He's losing his grip," James remarked. "Now, follow me and we'll get off this rock alive."