The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) by Anthony J Melchiorri Read Free Book Online

time. A second later and he would’ve lost more than his NVGs.
    The relentless scratching on the other side of the metal door sent a shiver up his back.
    “Shit, man, we need to find another way out of here,” Jay whispered. He probed the dark corners with his flashlight beam and centered it on the grating leading to a ventilation shaft. “Think we can fit through that?”
    The door shuddered as one of the creatures slammed against it, and the door groaned.
    “I don’t think we have a choice,” Corey said. “We don’t have any extra mags, our radios are dust, and those things are everywhere.”
    Jay nodded. Whatever the creatures were, they’d been roused by the screams of the first monster. Jay and Corey had fired what seemed like a constant spray of bullets. But no matter how much lead they poured into the humanoid beings, the beasts charged forward with all the desperation of a pack of starving wolves. For all the years of professional training between them, they were not prepared for a situation anything like this.
    “We have to get back to that boat,” Corey said, his voice cracking.
    Jay pictured the black rubber Combat Raiding Rubber Craft, commonly known as a Zodiac, waiting for them at the docking post beneath the oil platform. That was only their first stop on the way back to dry land. “Hopefully Ryan’s staying on course out there,” Jay said. Ryan Zimmer, the third man on their team, was trawling in the yacht they’d commissioned for their travel across the Atlantic. The ship was too large to warrant an inconspicuous approach to the oil platform, so they’d used the low-profile Zodiac. If they reached the craft, they could be back aboard the yacht in an hour or so.
    Another beast slammed against the door. The metal groaned again but held. The pounding intensified, sounding like desperate sailors trapped and banging on the bulkhead of a sinking ship.
    “Shit,” Jay said.
    Corey scrambled toward the ventilation shaft and tore off the grating.
    The monsters screeched as though they knew Jay and Corey were trying to escape. Their screams and scratching echoed in the cramped cabin. Jay’s pulse pounded in his ears. He pushed Corey up into the shaft with sweaty palms. Jay took his flashlight in his teeth and jumped. His fingers grabbed the lip of the vent.
    Another shuddering bang.
    The sickening sound of something scraping across the metal deck and the cries of the creatures filled the room as the door burst open. One of the creatures, covered in skeletal plates, tumbled in. It reached out with a bony claw, swiping at Jay. Another three beasts piled in behind it.
    Two hands grabbed Jay’s wrists, pulling him into the shaft and out of the creature’s grasp.
    “Come on!” Corey yelled.
    The monsters’ howls filled the cramped space. Corey crawled ahead. Jay guided them roughly with the flashlight. His limbs shook. With its strap around his back, the rifle hung under his chest, clanging against the shaft’s walls. He strained his ears, listening for the sound of something scraping across the metal after them. But only the feverish bellows chased them farther, deeper into the maze of the ventilation.
    For now, anyway.
    Sweat poured across Jay’s brow. “We’re not going to make it,” he muttered.
    “Keep moving,” Corey said. He stopped at a four-way intersection and said, “Listen. You hear anything from this direction?” He tilted his head toward one of the passages.
    The distant cries of the beasts behind them sent goose pimples prickling across Jay’s skin. He strained his ears. “I don’t think so.”
    “Good. Let’s try it.” Corey crawled through. “There, shine your light ahead again.”
    Jay did as his partner requested. The beam shone on the slats of another grate. “Let’s check it out.”
    They began moving forward again. Another roar hurtled through the ventilation shaft. The ear-splitting sound of something hard scraping on metal resounded through the narrow