SNAFU: Hunters

“Something like, ‘demon fish’. A myth of Vietnam. Ngu’Tinh is a giant creature with hundreds of legs. It is said to eat fishermen.” Hiro continued rambling while Bao translated. “He says Ngu’Tinh’s daughters live here. Demon-spawn. The river is their feeding ground.”

“Think I found out why he’s so nervous.” Kyle lifted a small vial of rosy-brown liquid from Hiro’s bag in the sampan. “Heroin. He’s got loads of it. Needles and powder, too.”

“Drug runner for the VC?” Bentley guessed.

Nathan shrugged.

Kyle shone the flashlight on Hiro’s face, revealing red blemishes all across his skin. “He’s an addict.”

There was a sudden flash of movement from the overhanging trees — a cracking, thwipping sound. Something large snapped down from the canopy and back up again; just a blur of motion, and Bentley was gone.

“Jesus,” Simon shouted.

The SEALs scanned the motionless canopy, listened to the sudden silence of the forest.

“Bentley?” Nathan called into the trees.

A gurgling sound above.

Bentley fell back down. One piece at a time. Parts plopped into the water – three successive splashes. One landed in the sampan with a hollow, wooden thud.

“Fuck,” Kyle yelled, stepping back from the severed arm. “Jesus, fuck!”

“God damn! Bentley!”

“The hell was that?”

“Anyone see it?”

The men trained their weapons on the canopy. Leaves rustled above. Something was moving fast, sliding through the branches.

“Squad, rapid!” Nathan ordered, and the forest erupted with gunfire. Nathan sprayed the canopy with his CAR-15, and his ears rang as his squadmates unloaded into the foliage.

“Ceasefire!”

The gunfire stopped. Silence, except for the creaking of broken tree limbs, a few branches falling and dropping into the water, some landing on the forest floor.

“Did we get it?” Buck asked.

“I don’t see a body,” Nathan said, “whatever it was.”

“You don’t think he was telling the truth do you?” Kyle motioned to Hiro. “About the demons.”

The men glanced at the Professor.

“Of course not,” he said. “Demons don’t exist.”

“I don’t know about demons.” Nathan kept his eyes on the canopy. “But I’ve never seen anything move that fast.”

“There’s a hundred-and-forty types of snakes in Nam,” the Professor said, “and some of ‘em are twenty-feet long.”

“Just keep your eyes open.”

The men scanned the trees.

Something heavy dropped into the water, splashing down an arm’s length from the sampan. Nathan swung his weapon at the monstrous shape, just a silhouette against the stars. It was ten-feet tall, hunched, a four-limbed thing with a tiny head. The creature had serrated arms that ended in points, like a giant praying mantis.

Nathan fired off a few rounds just as the creature snapped forward, pulled Kyle screaming from the Sampan, and dragged him under the water.

“Jesus!”

“Fuck!”

They scanned the water, weapons ready. Bubbles rose to the surface. Then pieces of Kyle floated up: arms, legs, torso… then his head. His dead face stared upwards, bobbing gently in the water.

“God! It got Kyle.”

“Shit. Shit. Shit.”

“What was that thing?”

“Wasn’t a fucking snake.”

“There it is,” Leon shouted. A large ripple moved across the surface, darting left and right, retreating into the distance.

Nathan popped a high explosive canister into the 40mm attachment and levelled the barrel. He trained the weapon on the retreating ripple then fired. THUNK. The round struck the surface and exploded violently. BOOM. The blast sent a splash thirty feet in the air and lit the river like daylight. The shock-wave hit like a wall of wind, then a sheet of water fell across the men, and a wave surged over their feet.

Simon stared at the water. “You got it, right?”

“Maybe,” Nathan said. “But we’re not sticking around to find out.”

“We’re leaving?” Donaldson shouted. “We just found the enemy and you’re gonna run?”

“I don’t know what that thing was, but there could be more of ‘em around. And right now we’re engaging on their terms.” Nathan glanced around. “Into the boat,” he ordered. “Let’s go.”

Leon, Simon, the Professor, and Deacon moved into the Zodiac.

“What do we do about him?” Buck pointed at Hiro; the addict, motionless in the sampan.

“We’ll take him,” Nathan said. “He might know something.”

Buck grabbed Hiro’s arms to pull him from the sampan but the man struggled, shouting in Vietnamese.

“He says leave him here,” Bao translated.

“I got that part.”

“We’ll take his stash,” Nathan said. “I’m sure he’ll be happy to come along then.”

Buck grabbed Hiro’s bag and tossed it to Nathan. Hiro screamed, and his head tracked the motion of the bag through the air into Nathan’s waiting hand.

“Come and get it.” Nathan dangled the bag at arm’s length. Hiro leapt from the sampan into knee-deep water. He splashed forwards, lunging through the river to the prize of heroin.

For an instant, a terrifying sensation gripped Nathan. A penetrating tingle in the base of his skull. Primal instinct, subconscious awareness.