PREDATOR ISLAND (Sea Lab Book 2)

CHAPTER 51

Under the pale light of a waning crescent moon, Jake strode up to Tony and placed the shotgun in his hands. What he was about to say didn't need to be said. He could have left it unspoken. Many a times he and his friend had communicated without words. They understood what needed to be done in serious situations. But a little voice in Jake's head wouldn't allow him to remain silent. As he looked Tony in the eye, he shook the weapon to get his friend's attention. "Listen to me," he said. "No matter what happens to me, make sure that thing dies."

"Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure, now go," Jake said. "Everyone, take your positions."

At the sound of his voice, the group dispersed.

As everyone found their assigned positions, Jake considered the reasons why they were willing to follow his lead in this final showdown. Maybe the Sea Lab team listened to him because he was their field supervisor? They had been with him in the trenches before, not that long ago. But there was only one reason Jake could think of that made Dylan and Savannah listen to him. It had to be the fact he'd faced off with the big cat in the cave and came out of that encounter alive. He'd wounded the dreadful creature. Now that he was willing to risk his life again to save them all, he hoped everyone would come through and do their part. It had to go down that way, or they all might die.

Jake didn't know if they'd have time to get everything ready for the plan to work. The cat could have surprised them in the middle of their preparations, but fortunately, it didn't show up unexpected as before.

Earlier, Tony and Dylan set about chopping down several saplings that were long enough to lean against each other at the top to make a tepee. On the right side of the waterfall, they positioned the cone-shaped structure twenty feet from the pool in order to create a natural path in which to funnel the big cat through, hoping it would pass between the tepee and the bank. With the machetes, they cut off enough thin branches with an abundance of leaves to blanket the leaning sticks. The leaves provided cover for Tony to hide inside with the shotgun. Since he was a few inches shorter than Jake, it made more sense for him to be the one in the flimsy fort. Inside, he had room to turn in a 360 degree circle. He had eight shells, and he had to make them count.

Jake didn't know a lot about the different species of big cats throughout the world, but he knew a few things about them. He suspected the black feline traced one of its roots back to the African lion. He believed this because Dr. Graham had all but confessed to creating the creature. And the doctor had been the one who doused himself with gasoline in the tool shed at the first ranger station. Lions had a keen sense of smell. Their noses were well developed. That's why Graham poured the gas all over himself. However, Jake also knew that the big cat's left eye, left nostril, and left ear had been severely damaged from when he shot it earlier. Since the predator had fled northwest up the steep mountainside to the right, which led back behind the waterfall, the plan was to lure it out of hiding back to the bank of the pool that faced the clearing and the rocky coastline to the east. With Tony's tepee not far from the pool, he'd be in perfect position to fire on the cat's blindside.

Dylan made himself three shorter versions of a tepee to use for cover. Each one was wide enough to hide behind and setup with maneuverability in mind.

Finally, Jake was the bait, and as such he carried Dr. Graham's snub-nosed revolver as his only protection. He would stand at the end of the path, egging the predator on as all three of them unloaded on it. Hopefully by the time the cat made it to him, it wouldn't be moving...at all.

Rachel and Savannah fled to the rocky coastline to hide with one of the machetes. There was no need for everyone to risk their lives, and besides, they didn't have anymore guns. Sarah took the other machete and hid in a thin patch of jungle that bordered the ocean on the other side of the pool and waterfall, opposite of where the big cat was supposed come from. She refused to go wait it out with Rachel and Savannah. She wanted to be there if Jake needed her, so her spot among the trees was the best place they could agree on. She was directly behind him, and his plan was for her to stay hidden, out of the way...safe.

With everyone is place, Jake stood out in the open, the only one visible, expecting and hoping the cat would make its move soon and come creeping out of the jungle, straight into their trap.

As he waited, he rethought the way it should unfold. To begin with he considered taking the shotgun shells and emptying their contents to make a bomb. He imagined using a piece of Graham's body as bait and shooting the improvised explosive device from a distance. But he didn't think they had enough gun powder and pellets to create a large enough explosion, one big enough to kill the animal or at least put it out of commission for a kill shot to end its misery.

In the end Jake decided live bait would work best. He didn't think he'd have any volunteers, especially not Sarah. When she raised her hand, that settled it in his mind who would make themselves available to the animal.

Jake paced back and forth with the little revolver stuffed in his waistline behind his back. As time passed, there was no sign of the cat. He decided to make some noise, so he waved his arms and shouted at the top of his lungs. After thirty seconds of hollering, he started jumping up and down and shouting some more. Still...nothing but a quiet jungle night.

In the minutes that followed, he reconsidered the plan. Questioned its viability. But in the end, he couldn't think of another way to make it happen.

He wondered if the cat had went off somewhere and died from its gunshot wounds. It was possible, but Jake had to assume it was still alive. They couldn't let their guard down for one second with it dark outside.

He scanned the top of the mountain where the waterfall originated. Then his eyes traced the ridge as it went all the way to the southern coast. That was why he felt comfortable with Sarah in the tree line behind him. The only way the cat could reach her would be by jumping several hundred feet to the jungle floor. Jake doubted it could make such a jump and survive. The only way the predator could access the clearing was by the steep slope that led to their trap.

Of course, it could leap from the mountain into the pool again. With that thought, Jake whipped his gaze up to the top of the waterfall. He breathed a sigh of relief. There was nothing on top of the rocky crest.

Jake began to consider the possibility of making it through the night without an encounter with the predator. That would mean a trek back across the island, knowing they had to make Chatham Bay before sundown. Actually, he preferred that possibility.

But that was a fortune he believed too good to be true.

Soon, he knew, they would discover their fate.