Gallo craned her head around for a better look at the fallen creature. From a distance, she could not make out any details, but even a glimpse was enough to reveal why the Cerberus goon had reacted so violently. The frog, or whatever it was, was huge. If not for the slick skin, she would have assumed that it was a small alligator.
The corpse suddenly came alive in a flurry of movement. Rohn leapt back, narrowly avoiding the swipe of a long black tentacle.
It’s a tail, Gallo thought.
The other man was not quite fast enough. The creature’s tail knocked his feet out from under him, and he crashed onto the shore in a heap. There was a sharp hissing noise, like a forceful exhalation, and then the beast splashed back into the water and vanished.
Rohn spat a disgusted oath at the unlucky man. “You can’t even kill a frog? Let’s hope we don’t face anything more dangerous than that.”
The fallen man raised a hand, as if reaching out for assistance, then his fingers curled into a claw. He collapsed back in the throes of a seizure. Rohn’s eyes widened in alarm, and he retreated several steps.
Kenner hastened forward but stopped at Rohn’s side. “Good god. What was that?”
The stricken man’s back arched, his limbs going rigid, and then his struggles ceased. He let out a tortured rasping breath, but did not draw another. Gallo pressed tighter against the rock face. She looked over at Dourado, who was similarly paralyzed by the horror they had just witnessed.
“Poison,” Rohn muttered, then turned away as if he had lost interest. He addressed the rest of the group. “Prepare the rafts.”
Kenner continued to stare at the dead man. “Some species of toad secrete deadly neurotoxins. But that was something else. A giant salamander, perhaps.”
He rounded on Gallo. “Salamanders can regrow lost limbs. An amphibious creature with extraordinary regenerative abilities and poisonous breath. Does that sound familiar to you, Augustina?”
Unfortunately, it did. Kenner had just described the Lernean Hydra. “A man just died, Liam.”
“That creature tells me the source of the mutagen is here. The Amazons must have been protecting it.” Kenner balled his fists. “We’re close. I can feel it.”
Gallo felt it, too. The Cerberus group, it seemed, was now the least of her worries.
36
Pierce stared toward the distant glow for nearly a full minute. No more shots were fired, but he was now acutely aware that the strange world at the bottom of the sinkhole was anything but silent. The air was filled with the noise of insects and a creaking sound that he hoped was just tree boughs rubbing together.
Lazarus finally broke the spell. He unzipped his thermal coveralls, revealing the tactical body-armor vest underneath, which was festooned with pouches for extra ammunition magazines, grenades and a variety of combat equipment. He discarded the jumpsuit into the water.
Carter gave Pierce what he took to be an encouraging nod. “It could mean anything,” she said. “I’m sure they’re fine.”
Pierce was not reassured, but staying where he was would not ease his concerns—or confirm his worst fears. He peeled off his wet jumpsuit and turned to Lazarus. “Oversized ex-Special Ops first. Lead the way, big guy.” Lazarus stepped into the swamp, followed by Carter and Pierce.
Pierce tried to picture the area as he had seen it during the last few seconds of the descent. He had noticed dozens of isolated stands of trees scattered across the submerged floor of the sinkhole. Getting around them would mean taking a circuitous, time consuming path, but less so than trying to blaze a trail through the densely clustered boughs. Lazarus kept close to the trees, venturing out across open water only when it was necessary to hopscotch to the next wooded patch.
As they progressed, Pierce realized that the sky was growing lighter. Dawn was approaching. Although the depths of the sinkhole would remain in shadow for most of the day, Lazarus called for a break and told them to remove their night vision goggles, not because it was bright enough to see, but because even that small amount of ambient light would overwhelm the extremely sensitive receptors in the PVS7s.
Pierce was stunned by the abrupt transition to near total darkness. “All I can see is a big red blob. Is that normal?”
“You’ve been staring into a green light for the last few hours,” Lazarus said. “Just give it a few minutes.”
Pierce stood motionless, eyes closed, trying to remember how the world had looked just before the lights went out. All he could see in his mind’s eye were trees and water. As Lazarus had promised, Pierce’s vision cleared by degrees, and soon he was able to make out the treetops and a few other details.