Free The Tide (Tide Series Book 1) by Anthony J Melchiorri Page A

torn to pieces. Its limbs were scattered and its bones cracked open. A dark pool of blood encircled the corpse like a shadow. Dom knelt by the remains and examined what appeared to be half a femur. Most of the flesh and organs were simply gone. The remnants of flesh that did remain were starting to decay.
    Dom peered inside the broken femur. Its marrow had been sucked dry. Fragments of the ribcage lay next to a SCAR. This must have been one of the mercs Meredith had sent before requesting the Hunters.
    Miguel stepped forward and took a long eyeful of the remains. “Please tell me you don’t want us to take that back as evidence.”
    ***
    R enee planted her boots, shouldered her rifle, and scanned the shadows. In her mind’s eye, she saw Brett falling off the rig again and again. She wished she had acted sooner and intercepted the wailing beast. But regret wouldn’t keep her alive, and she forced the lingering thoughts from her mind. She knew she’d have to deal with the psychological repercussions later. Right now, she was in charge of three other lives, and she needed to be ready if Dom called for help.
    “Which way?” Andris asked in a whisper.
    A four-way intersection beckoned for her to make a choice and gamble on what may lay in wait for them. She nodded toward the left. “Let’s take this deck counterclockwise.”
    With no doors leading off the passage, they sprinted along it. They were careful to keep their footsteps light and avoid unwarranted attention. A steel door greeted them at the end. Renee twisted the door handle and spilled inside. She played her rifle across the boxes and crates towering above her, but nothing jumped out. No terrible wails or howls echoed against the walls.
    Terrence Connor, a decorated Ranger, pried off the lid of one of the crates. “Canned goods.” He pulled one out. “Green beans.” He tossed it to the floor.
    “Check them all just in case,” Renee commanded. The group tore through the contents of the cargo. Nothing.
    They strode out into the hall and ran toward the intersection again. Renee led her team to another heavy steel door and leaned onto its handle. It didn’t budge. She pressed all her weight down on it, her muscles straining, each fiber exerting all the force she’d trained through her years of gymnastic conditioning and weight lifting. It didn’t give.
    She waved to Terrence, and he understood immediately. She hated asking the man do the heavy lifting, but his weight might provide more leverage and get the damn door open. Terrence threw all his bulk into the door handle and shoved in with his shoulder. The door stood solid and unmoving. A small wave of relief washed through her when he couldn’t break through either. Her pride had been saved.
    “My turn.” Andris Jansons stepped forward. He didn’t wait for an answer before molding a small plastic explosive around the lip of the door near the handle.
    “Keep it small as possible,” Renee said.
    “Just enough to open the door. No more, no less.” Andris finished placing the explosive and signaled for them to back up. “I learned explosives in Latvia, long before I became a Legionnaire with the French. They don’t know explosives like I do. You can trust me.” He held up three fingers then counted down. Three, two, one.
    The charge detonated with a low bang. A trail of smoke and dust poured from the edge of the door, and it swung open. An iron rod fell out and clanked on the floor.
    Renee waved her hand to clear the smoke from her vision and crept forward, her gun shouldered. As the smoke dissipated, something became visible to her. A huddled shape wearing a set of blue coveralls lay across the floor past the metal toilets, showerheads, and sinks. She kept her gun trained on it, but it wasn’t moving. She crept closer and realized the shape had a shaggy head of dark hair. It was a body—a human body.
    Renee raced forward.
    “Careful!” Andris called.
    There was no sign of bony protuberances on