Matt Archer: Monster Hunter (Matt Archer #1) (15 page)

Will snatched the goggles from me. “It’s...it’s a hiker,
man! Holy crap, I see a skull. A human skull!”

Any remorse I might have had about hunting a girl died in
that moment. That man-eating chick was going down.

I packed up the goggles and put the knife into my thigh
pocket. “So here’s the plan. Let’s get closer, then I’ll stake out a spot in
the trees along the trail. Are you up for flushing her out and leading her my
direction?”

“Yeah,” Will said, a grim smile on his face. “That’s better
than ‘get down, man, and stay there.’ I want in on this fight.”

“I learned my lesson on the last hunt.” I scanned the trees
for a good hiding place. “That flashlight trick saved my butt. C’mon, let’s go
get her.”

We sneaked closer until I found a spot between two pines
that twisted together at the top. There was a gap deep in the shadows, with
good access to the trail. I climbed into the gap and wedged myself in.

“All right, ready.”

Will shook his head. “You sure you can jump out of there
fast enough? I’m not interested in becoming breakfast if you miss.”

“I’m good. Let’s do this.” I got the knife out and it
buzzed. “Knife says go, too.”

“Fine,” Will muttered. “Be on the lookout. I’m not going to
stop once she gives chase.”

“Understood,” I said. “Guess all those wind sprints Coach
made you run are worth it now, huh?”

Will squared his shoulders and made his way down the trail.
This Bear was slighter in build than the males. She didn’t look more than seven
feet tall, but her claws were longer and her snout was more angular with
smaller tusks. Her dark, shiny coat even looked like it had been brushed. She
also didn’t bluster around like the others had. Instead, she prowled the edge
of the clearing before sitting down next to a neat pile of bones to finish
eating dinner. Her eyes scanned the tree-line before she took each bite. At
least there wasn’t enough left to recognize that her meal was hiker stew.

Even knowing she was eating a person, somehow I couldn’t
believe this was the “Bigfoot” the hikers had seen. She acted too cautious to
go out in daylight. There had to be more monsters actively roaming around here.
It looked like we had our full thirteen, just like the other locations did. Not
a cheery thought.

By now, Will was in position at the end of the trail. The
She-Bear sat up straighter, nose twitching, like she smelled him. After a
startled backward glance, he stepped into the clearing. The monster leapt to her
feet with a screech that sounded like rusty gate hinges. Will stood very still
for a breath, then turned and took off running up the trail. The She-Bear
chased after him, shrieking. Will flew by me, a blur wearing camo, with the
monster close behind.

I jumped from my hidey-hole, but snagged a toe on the roots
growing up between the twisted trees. I fell flat on my face, and the beast
tripped over me, sprawling out on the trail. I could hear Will’s footsteps
speeding away; he wasn’t going to look back. I rolled fast and grabbed a tree
branch to pull myself up. The monster sprang up with surprising grace, spinning
around with a blur of claws.

A searing pain slashed across my left arm. The knife flashed
an angry green. I stumbled back a few steps, holding my arm across my stomach.
She used the time to tackle me. I hit the ground with a thud, my knife arm
pinned underneath her body. Her weight crushed my chest until I couldn’t
breathe. I squirmed and gasped, trying to work free. With a snarl, she grabbed
my shoulders and shook me, banging my head against the trail floor. The knife
vibrated violently, but there was nothing I could do; it was trapped in my
right hand.

I couldn’t kill her.

Everything got dim. Was I dying? There wasn’t any air.
Nothing but heat and fur and weight pressing me into the ground. I closed my
eyes. My body screamed for oxygen, but even that feeling was getting far away.

I was finished.

“Aaaahhhh!” A scream rang out in the night. My eyes popped
open as a tree branch whacked the monster across the face. She rolled off of
me.

Once I could breathe, I got hit with endorphins and
everything focused bullet fast. I crawled out of the Bear’s way just as Will
swung the branch again, making contact with her paw. She caught the other end
and yanked it from his hands. Before I could jump in to help, Will rushed her
like she was a quarterback, wrapping her legs up. She teetered a moment, then
they crashed to the ground.

“Stab her before she gets back up!” he yelled.

I didn’t pause to think, just stabbed the She-Bear in the
neck. Giving the knife a hard wrench, I slit her throat. Warm, sticky blood
poured from the cut. She stopped struggling and the light in her eyes dulled
then went dark.

Will rolled over flat on his back, wheezing. “I haven’t run
that fast in years, dude.”

“I’m glad you did. I was about ten seconds away from white
clouds and harp music.” My voice sounded raw in my throat. I leaned against a
tree, shaking like crazy. Now that the fight was over, my ribs ached and my arm
burned. “She scratched me. Does it look bad?”

Will sat up and shined her flashlight on my forearm. Four
claw marks tore through the coveralls, my sweatshirt and finally my skin. The
wounds weren’t too deep but I was bleeding.

“Well, I think we can get the bleeding stopped if we wrap it
up, but you’ll need to clean the scratches out good later,” Will said.

After a clumsy patch job on my arm, we got to work on the
carcass. Once she was hidden in a clump of dead juniper bushes, I marked the
coordinates and we set out for the ATV, both of us ready to get home.

The trek back took forever. I didn’t crawl through the
window to the mudroom until after three a.m. Cold and filthy, I stripped off
everything but my underwear and threw it all into the washer with three capfuls
of detergent. Good thing Mom had gotten one of those super-quiet models and the
bedrooms were on the opposite side of the house, because I wanted to get the
blood out of my clothes before it stained. I put the knife on a pile of towels
on the dryer then set the water temperature to hot before hitting the switch.

I leaned against the washer for a minute, completely worn
out. My arm stung worse than before. All I wanted was to clean it up, take a
shower and go to bed.

Then the light turned on.

“It’s time you told me what’s going on,” Mamie said.

Mamie was wearing the pink, velvety robe Mom had gotten her
for Christmas. Her braids were frizzy—some of the hairs had popped loose in her
sleep. She crossed her arms. “Well? Why are you in the mudroom at three in the
morning?”

I grabbed a towel from on top of the dryer and flung it
around my waist. “Geez, Mamie, I’m in my skivvies. Have some manners.”

All she did was stand taller and tap her foot.

“I forgot I didn’t have any clean jeans for tomorrow. I just
threw some in the wash.” I pointed at the machine, which picked that moment to
thump like crazy and spit suds out the lid.

Mamie pushed me to one side and turned off the washer. She
peered inside. “How much soap did you use? And…wait…what is
this
?” She held up
my coveralls. They were covered with red and mustard-brown streaks.

She whipped her head around to stare at me. “There’s only
one pair of jeans in here, and I know the rest of yours are clean because Mom
asked me to hang up laundry today. Where did you get these?” Mamie shook the
wet coveralls. “This looks like blood, Matt.”

I tried to hide my arm, but I didn’t have enough towel to do
that and keep my underwear covered. Still, Mamie didn’t see the slash. She was
looking at the dryer.

“Where’d this knife come from?” She reached for the handle.

“No! Don’t touch it.” I leapt in front of her, not caring
about my underwear
or
my arm anymore. “You can’t touch it!”

I don’t know how my face looked, but Mamie went all pale.
“Okay. I won’t touch it.” She finally noticed I was bleeding. “What happened to
your arm?”

“Long story,” I said. “Can I get dressed first?”

She nodded slowly. “Go get cleaned up and I’ll take a look
at those scratches. Then we need to talk.”

Eyes huge, Mamie wobbled out of the mudroom. I slumped
against the dryer, thinking I’d had enough for one night.

* * *

Mamie sat on the side of my bed, staring into space. She
didn’t even look up when I sat down next to her. I was glad to be home and
warm, wearing clean sweats, but telling my sister monsters were real and in
Billings was going to be painful.

I handed her the box of first-aid stuff I kept in my storage
tub, a present from Uncle Sam, courtesy of the 10
^th
Airborne.
“There’s gauze, tape, antiseptic ointment, and anything else you need. I
appreciate the help; it’s hard for me to reach the cuts.”

Mamie snapped out of her daze. “Let me take a look.” She
turned on my bedside lamp and put it down on the bed next to us. After
examining my arm, she said, “Well, they’re not so wide that you need stitches,
but they’ll probably scar.”

I tried not to flinch like a wimp while she cleaned the
scratches with a washcloth then smeared them with the antiseptic gel. She
rooted around in the tub and came up with two big gauze pads, which she taped
tightly over the wound.

“That ought to do it, but I’ll need to change the bandages
in the morning,” she said. “Make sure you wear long sleeves for several days,
if you don’t want Mom to freak.”

I packed up the first aid kit. “Thanks.”

“Thanks, nothing. You owe me,” she snapped. Mamie’s wits
were back. “What the hay is going on? And don’t tell me you snuck out to
toilet-paper someone’s house and fell. It looks like an animal attacked you.”

“I think it’s time we called Uncle Mike,” I said.

Mamie leaned forward with her eyes narrowed. “What does he
have to do with you sneaking out and getting mauled by a coyote?”

“More than you might think.” I stared at the floor. “Before
we call Mike, I have to check in with someone else first.”

“Check in with someone? At four in the morning?” Mamie
asked.

“You’ll need to be quiet, sis,” I said, dialing Colonel
Black.

She huffed and sat on my bed with her legs tightly crossed.
Since Mom’s room was downstairs and Brent wouldn’t wake up for a nuclear blast,
calling from my room would be safest, especially since I was about to let Mamie
in on everything.

“Colonel Black here.” He sounded surprisingly alert for the
time.

“Yes, sir. It’s Archer.”

A sigh of relief on his end. “How’d it go? Did you get one?”

“Yes, sir. I’m sending you the coordinates from the GPS now.
This one was female, sir. The scientists might find the body interesting.”

“Coordinates? Body?” Mamie whispered, her voice incredulous.
“Matt!”

I put my finger to my lips. She stood and paced with a
really freaked out look on her face.

“Well done, well done,” the colonel said. “You and Cruessan
okay?”

“I got a little banged up, but nothing serious, sir.” I
couldn’t let him know that my knees were still shaking from my brush with
death. “See, told you having Will as my partner would work.”

“So far,” he said, sounding torn. “We’ll test this out for
another month. As long as you continue to be careful, got it?”

“Yes, sir,” I said. “Thank you.”

“Okay, then. The team will be up in two days to pick up the
body. Want to ride along?” he asked.

“Unless you have trouble finding her, I’d just as soon not
go, if that’s okay,” I said. The less I saw of the She-Bear, the better. “I’ll
send you an encrypted email with the full report tomorrow. I need some rest,
sir.”

The colonel’s voice softened. “That’s fine, son. I
understand. Good work tonight.”

I hit the end button on my phone. “Now we try to reach
Mike.”

“Matt, what have you gotten yourself into?” Mamie asked.
“You’re only fourteen.”

I glared at her. “Fifteen in a month, and there’s more to me
than you know.”

“Mike better have a good explanation, or I’m going straight
to Mom.” She started pacing again, while chewing on her fingernails.

I went to the computer and pulled up Twitter. I signed in
with my code name, “camo424.” Mike’s was “desertflower424.” We were supposed to
be a married couple, which was really idiotic, but he told me one of the
Military Intelligence people he knew had come up with it, saying it wouldn’t
draw attention to us.

Funny that this was the best way to get him. But with
innocent messages like “the cat puked” or “I bought new sunglasses,” Mike would
know what was going on. He’d also get the messages right away, because his
phone texted him when I posted something. I typed in, “Missing my sweetheart.
Wish we could chat.”

“What in the world are you doing?” Mamie asked, looking over
my shoulder. “Missing my
sweetheart?
”

“Just give it time. I’ll explain everything soon.”

We both stared at the screen, and I refreshed it every
thirty seconds. After only five minutes, Mamie got anxious again. “Maybe he’s
sleeping,” she said, “or on patrol or something.”

I shook my head. “He just got there, and he’s working at HQ
for the next few weeks, planning operations. Plus, it’s the middle of the day
in Afghanistan.”

The screen flashed, and DesertFlower424 wrote, “I’ll phone
soon, honey.”

My PC had a camera. Before Mike left the country, one of
Colonel Black’s computer gurus had sent me a software application so I could
send and receive encrypted video. I ran the video program and went through the
three-step password process. A blue square about half the size of my
twenty-inch monitor popped up in the middle of the screen.

“We’re in. Now we wait for Mike to sign on,” I said.

Mamie stood over my left shoulder. “How long –”

“What’s up, Chief? Everything all right?” Mike adjusted the
camera on his end and the picture zoomed in and out.

“Major, do you mind? You’re making us seasick.”

“Us? Cruessan there?” He leaned close to the screen and all
we saw was the top of his head. But we didn’t miss the groan. “Matt, you have
some explaining to do.”

Mamie had the stubborn look on her face again. “No, Uncle
Mike,
you
have
some explaining to do. Why is my little brother sneaking out of the house in
the dead of night and then calling someone to tell them were the ‘bodies’ are?”

“Matt…” Mike sounded exasperated with me. “Didn’t we talk
about covering your trail a little better?”

“Don’t you dare blame him! He
was
being careful. I just knew something
was up, and I’ve been watching him close,” Mamie barked, with her face in the
camera. “So, let’s hear the excuse.”

“Mamie, if you’ll calm down a second, I’ll explain
everything,” Mike said. “It’s a matter of national security.”

“Oh, please. Matt’s fourteen…”

“Almost fifteen,” I muttered.

Mamie talked over me. “What could he possibly be involved in
that’s a matter of national security? I need to know why I shouldn’t march
downstairs right now and tell Mom.”

She had her teeth in this one. But there was one way to get
through to her—and we both knew what it was. Mike leaned back in his seat,
saying, “Matt?”

Of course he’d leave the dirty work to me. “Because people
will get killed.” I squeezed Mamie’s arm. “And in a really horrible way. They’d
suffer before the end.”

Mamie’s own personal kryptonite—she couldn’t stand to see a
run-over animal, or a hurt baby bird, or a little kid with a broken arm. Her
eyes got round. “Suffer?”

I nodded. We were so mean. “Yes. So before you rat me out to
Mom, listen to Mike first, then decide if you’re with us or not.”

Mamie sank to her knees next to my chair, her eyes filling
with tears. “Matt…what is all this? Why…?”

“It’s a long story,” Mike said, his voice gentle. “Daisy
May…Matt’s right. Give me a few minutes and I’ll explain.”

It took Mike half an hour to tell Mamie everything because
she interrupted with a gazillion questions. To my surprise, she didn’t freak.
Instead she did a typical Mamie. She started planning.

“If the knives are bringing these creatures, how are we
going to get rid of them so Matt doesn’t have to hunt anymore? It sounds like a
never-ending problem” Mamie said. “Maybe I should start researching occult
religions.”

Mike laughed. “Daisy May, I appreciate the gung-ho attitude,
but we have Military Intelligence and the NSA working on it.”

“There has to be something I can do to help,” Mamie said,
giving Mike the crossed-armed stare, the same one I’d gotten in the laundry
room. “The sooner we figure this out, the better. I don’t like the idea of Matt
and Will roaming the countryside killing off walking nightmares, armed only
with a magic knife.”

“Mamie, give it a rest—enough with the mother-hen stuff,” I
growled. “I’m barely sixteen months younger than you, and I’m a whole lot
tougher. I know what I’m doing.” She was giving me a headache and I really
wanted to go to bed.

She turned on me. “Oh, yeah? Then why did you get mauled by
a bobcat?”

Mike gave me a sharp look. “You got hurt?”

Crap. “Just a scratch, Major. Don’t worry about me. Please.”

“Matt…” he said.

“Don’t. Worry. About. Me.” My voice was as firm as I could
make it.

Mamie looked horrified. She opened her mouth to argue, but I
stepped on her toes. She took the hint and shut up.

Mike sat quiet, watching us through his monitor. Finally, he
said, “Be more careful. I’ll check in soon. I’m sending a ‘family email’ home
tomorrow…but give Dani and Brent an extra hug for me.”

“Will do, sir,” I said.

We heard a loud knock on Mike’s end. He half stood, and we
got an unnecessary zoom of the name patch on the pocket of his BDUs. A woman
said something to him and he chuckled, then said, “Wouldn’t miss it.”

I’d heard that tone of voice before. There was a babe in the
vicinity. Here we were trying to keep America safe from monsters and he was
taking time out to flirt. I sighed loudly to get his attention.

Mike sat back down, looking mischievous. But his smile
turned into a worried frown. “Gotta go, kids. Mamie–you wanted a job? Well, I
have one for you. You’re my inside man now; clear the path for Matt. Make sure
Dani doesn’t catch him. Can you do that?”

Mamie swallowed hard. I could tell how difficult this was
for her. She was the most honest person I knew.

“Yeah, Uncle Mike,” she said. “I’ll do it.”

He blew her a kiss. “Matt, I haven’t had the chance to talk
about your knife with the other wielders. Is it still acting strange?”

“Yeah. It, um, talks to me…gives me directions a little
bit.”

His jaw dropped. “Talks? How?”

“Buzzes and stuff. Lets me know when it’s ready to fight.
That kind of thing.”

Now Mamie was staring at me, too. I fidgeted some as the
room filled with a bloated silence.

“I’ll see if I can get in touch with one of them,” Mike
said. “We’ll figure it out. Maybe the other knives are doing the same thing.”
He sighed. “I have to run. Love you, guys. Hang in there.”

The screen went blank.

“The knife can
talk?”
Mamie asked. After all the news, she took the
monsters in stride, but a talking knife freaked her out. Sometimes I wondered
what made my sister tick.

“Yep.” I stood and looked Mamie in the eye, astonished I
could. In fact, I was taller than she was. When had that happened? Too tired to
think much about it, I said, “Welcome to the team, sis. Now let me go to bed.”