Dr. Alex Nolan's Arc

Chapter 10 of 14

Nolan stopped moving when he heard the voice. It came from somewhere to his left, thin and strained, calling out words he couldn't quite make out through the dense undergrowth. Human. Definitely human. The sound cut through the endless silence of the bog like a knife. He pressed forward through a wall of tangled branches and vines. The growth was so thick he had to turn sideways to slip between trunks, his pack catching on every third step. The voice called again, closer now, desperate. Someone was lost. Someone needed help. But answering meant sound—his location, his presence, everything he'd been keeping quiet since the cavern. The jungle grew still around him, as if every living thing had stopped to listen. The thicket ahead formed a natural tunnel, branches woven so tight overhead they blocked out most of the light. He couldn't see ten feet in any direction. Nolan opened his mouth to call back, then stopped. The voice came again, but this time he heard it clearly. It was calling his name. Not help, not a general cry—his name, over and over, the syllables stretched and wrong. No one else was supposed to be out here. No one knew where he'd gone. His hand moved to his forearm where the brand lay cold and dead. The voice shifted direction, now behind him, still calling. Then to his right. Then ahead again, the same voice in three places at once. He turned and ran the opposite way, crashing through undergrowth without caring about the noise. The voice followed for maybe twenty yards, calling his name in that twisted echo, then stopped completely. The jungle stayed silent for a long minute before the insects started up again. Nolan kept moving until he found open ground—a slight rise where the trees thinned and he could see the sky. He sat with his back against a trunk and waited for his breathing to slow. He'd learned something definite: he wasn't alone out here, and whatever was with him knew exactly who he was. The brand might be dead, but something else was still watching. He'd have to move quietly now, and he'd have to move without answering anything that called to him, no matter how human it sounded.