Suicide Squad Read online

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Part One: The Search

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  Six

  Seven

  Eight

  Nine

  Ten

  Eleven

  Twelve

  Thirteen

  Fourteen

  Fifteen

  Sixteen

  Seventeen

  Eighteen

  Nineteen

  Twenty

  Twenty-One

  Twenty-Two

  Twenty-Three

  Twenty-Four

  Twenty-Five

  Part Two: The War

  Twenty-Six

  Twenty-Seven

  Twenty-Eight

  Twenty-Nine

  Thirty

  Thirty-One

  Thirty-Two

  Thirty-Three

  Thirty-Four

  Thirty-Five

  Thirty-Six

  Thirty-Seven

  Thirty-Eight

  Thirty-Nine

  Forty

  Forty-One

  Forty-Two

  Forty-Three

  Forty-Four

  Forty-Five

  Forty-Six

  Forty-Seven

  Forty-Eight

  Forty-Nine

  Fifty

  Fifty-One

  Fifty-Two

  Fifty-Three

  Part Three: The Gods

  Fifty-Four

  Fifty-Five

  Fifty-Six

  Fifty-Seven

  Fifty-Eight

  Fifty-Nine

  Sixty

  Sixty-One

  Sixty-Two

  Sixty-Three

  Sixty-Four

  Sixty-Five

  Sixty-Six

  Sixty-Seven

  Sixty-Eight

  Sixty-Nine

  Seventy

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  SUICIDE SQUAD

  Print edition ISBN: 9781785651670

  E-book edition ISBN: 9781785651687

  Published by Titan Books

  A division of Titan Publishing Group Ltd

  144 Southwark Street, London SE1 0UP

  First edition: August 2016

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Copyright © 2016 DC Comics.

  SUICIDE SQUAD and all related characters and elements © & TM DC

  Comics and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

  THE DC LOGO: TM & © DC Comics.

  WB SHIELD: TM & © WBEI. (s16)

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

  TO NOEL AND JESSICA

  ALWAYS

  PART ONE

  THE SEARCH

  ONE

  June believed with absolute certainty that unless she successfully completed her mission by midnight the next day, her dreams were going to kill her.

  Staring past the thick jungle, to the distant mountains shrouded in perpetual mist, shimmering in the blinding glow of dusk, she shivered at the thought that to reach its base they’d have to drive through the thick, often impassable vegetation, for another eight hours at least. Possibly much longer, and over a meandering, unmarked, and treacherous path.

  Then once they made it through and found the base, they’d still have to locate the cave entrance. Unless, as she feared, it had been long buried and lost beneath the tangled undergrowth. Which, of course, meant she would die.

  What could possibly go wrong?

  June had already accepted the sad fact that the nightly dreams that forced her to this desert, and to this one particular mountain, wouldn’t end until she found whatever was waiting for her inside.

  Yeah. Whatever is waiting.

  The woman who haunted her nights gave no clue as to why June was being compelled to leave her home and travel halfway around the world, all to search for some potentially nonexistent will-o’-the-wisp. Yet if she wanted to live—and she did—June had no choice but to do as she was told.

  Told by a voice in a dream.

  June thought she just might be going off the deep end.

  * * *

  By the time she pulled her Rover to a stop, the mountain was hidden in total darkness. Night had an annoying way of falling all too fast here in the furthest corner of nowhere, and without convenient GPS towers to help guide them, they would definitely lose their way. Best to start again at dawn.

  “Let’s call it a day,” she said. “Cover the equipment and pitch the tents.”

  Manuel and Luis, the two mountain guides she had worked with for the past several years, jumped from the open cargo bed. It was filled with all the necessities June needed for any manner of archeological digs, and they stretched a protective canvas over them. Rainstorms were all too common in this area, as June had sadly learned on more than one previous expedition.

  “Tomorrow’s gonna to be a helluva busy day,” she added in Spanish. “We have to find the cave before nightfall.”

  “We will reach the mountain by afternoon,” Luis said as he began to set up his tent, “but your maps do not show where the cave is hidden. It could take many days more.”

  “I don’t have several more days. Hell, Luis, I may not even have one full day. Tomorrow is do-or-literally-die day.”

  “But, senorita…” Manuel began. Before he could finish, June paused in setting up her own tent and turned toward the bulky man.

  “Manuel, please. You know I prefer just ‘June.’ Or ‘Doctor Moone,’ if you keep insisting on being so damned formal.”

  “I know. We both know. It is habit to comfort the less informed, who only know of this region from your movies. We apologize, but I was about to say, Luis and I will take you to the mountain as we promised. And to the cave. But as we told you, we cannot go beyond the opening rooms with you.”

  “I was hoping once we got there your curiosity would change your mind. I really need you. Both of you,” she added for emphasis.

  Luis hammered the final tent peg into the jungle floor, cleared his throat, and turned to his old friend.

  “She does not understand,” he said. “I do not believe she can.” He looked back to June, and drew a long breath.

  “Doctor Moone,” he continued, “you know Manuel and I are not just guides. Our people have lived in and cultivated these mountains for thousands of years, for they have always offered great spirituality. Since time began they were believed, and still are believed, to be portals to the Gods and especially to Inti, the Sun God, our Supreme God.

  “It is here, during times of war and famine, that our sacrificial Capacochas were offered to appease the Gods. There is simply no other more sacred place to honor our dead. To this day our people continue to make offerings here, lest evil spirits rise yet again.”

  June suppressed a momentary smile as she shook her head, but she said nothing.

  “Senorita… Doctor Moone,
I know your countrymen believe differently than we, and we respect your beliefs—but whether you understand ours or not, please accept their importance. These mountains you seek may not be Everest, the ‘Mother of the World,’ but they are sacred to us.”

  “It is not that we do not want to go inside with you,” Manuel said as he pulled the tent rope over to the peg and tied it in place. “We cannot.”

  He turned back to the tent and pulled at the cord. It was taut. He gave an accepting grunt. “But we will take you there tomorrow, wait for your return, and pray the spirits keep you safe.”

  Over the past few years Manuel and Luis had come to deeply respect the young archeologist and would do anything she asked of them.

  Not this, however.

  “Okay,” June relented. “You’re right, and you know I do accept your beliefs, but is it all right for me to say I hope you’re wrong?”

  “We hope so, too, Doctor. For your wellbeing, more than ours.”

  June unfurled her sleeping bag and crawled inside. It was a moonless night. She stared into the dark for what seemed to be forever, but in fact was only a few moments, then she closed her eyes and prayed to no god in particular that she would sleep in peace. Maybe proximity to the mountain would be enough to banish those relentless dreams.

  * * *

  It always started the same way. Ancient temples sprouted from jungle vines. Elaborately carved marble columns inlaid with jade, silver, and gold rose more than a hundred yards tall and glistened in Inti’s harsh sunlight. As always, she was surrounded by thousands of servants, bowing subserviently—which, embarrassingly, even in her dream, she greatly enjoyed. They were chanting words she could never understand.

  After staring at the temples, she suddenly noticed that she was standing in the middle of an immense koi pond. The ancient fish, large and meaty, swam about her feet as if guarding her from some underwater enemy. She saw herself reflected in the eerily calm waters, but she wasn’t seeing the face of Dr. June Moone, archeologist, painter, explorer. Instead, a lean, muscular woman with stark white skin and dark black eyes stared back at her.

  Outside of her dreams, June had never seen this woman who looked so similar to herself, but was obviously so different. Somehow, though, she always knew her name.

  Enchantress.

  Then the dream ended as it always did. The reflection reached out to touch her—or was she trying to drag June down?—and just as their fingers were about to touch…

  * * *

  Manuel leaned over her, pulling at her shoulder.

  “Dr. Moone. Dr. Moone,” he said urgently in Spanish. “You were shouting. You sounded in terrible pain. Are you all right?”

  June was still in her protective cocoon, shaking the sleep away. Luis was next to his friend, looking just as worried.

  “Did you see the mountain Gods?” he asked, his eyes intense. “Were they warning you to stay away? We did try to tell you. These mountains are for believers only.”

  June pulled herself out of the sleeping bag and struggled to stand. The dreams always seemed to leave her weak and thirsty. She grabbed a bottle of water and drank most of it in a single gulp.

  “It was the dream,” she admitted. “Same one as always—and no, Luis, I didn’t see any gods or demons. Just that strange woman where my reflection should have been.” She thought for a moment, remembering. “You would have liked her. This time she was wearing little more than leather and chains, and that same crescent moon-shaped headpiece she’d worn before.” June snorted a laugh. “Wonder what it says about me, that that’s how I see my reflection?”

  She rubbed her eyes and reached for another liter of water.

  “It’s almost dawn. I say we get started. Sooner we get there, the less stressed I’ll be.”

  * * *

  They drove through as much of the jungle as they could, then walked the rest of the way, reaching the mountain in just under seven hours. June felt the hairs on her left arm tingle as if electrified. The sensation vanished a moment later.

  “Let’s go this way,” she said, pointing left. They looked at her curiously, and she added, “Just a feeling.”

  * * *

  The cave entrance was an hour away. It was plainly visible, almost glowing under the intense sun. There was no way she could have missed it. She pulled the Rover to a stop and checked her watch.

  “Six hours to spare. This may turn out to be a good day after all.”

  Manuel and Luis followed her to the mouth of the cave.

  “Please. Come with me,” she insisted. Luis’s smile was filled with understanding but he still shook his head no.

  “We will walk with you through the outer tunnel, but when we reach the cave of teeth we must leave you to your own fortunes. But we do so praying for your safe return.”

  “I know better than to try to argue with you, Luis,” she said, “and I thank you for all your help.”

  “That is easy for us to do, Dr. Moone. You showed great courage coming here to confront your nightmares. Few would have, or could have.”

  “Considering my dreams, I don’t think there was anything else I could do.”

  “We want to remind you, Doctor,” Manuel said, “the teeth of the cave look fierce, but they are not. They exist to lead man to truths we cannot see on our own. But on your journey, should you continue past them, you will be beyond their power to protect.”

  “Like I said, I don’t have much of a choice.”

  TWO

  The outer limestone tunnel was a natural jewel box, a brightly glowing rainbow of colors caught in the moving beams of their helmet lights.

  They crouched to crawl under a curtain of low-hanging limestone soda straws, then wiggled through an obstacle course of stalagmite and stalactite columns that had slowly grown, then finally merged over the past million years or more.

  The tunnel opened to a small cavern, tall enough, nevertheless, to let them stand. They stretched, ignored the loud sound of cracking bones, and shone their lights on the far wall.

  As one, they let out a gasp.

  The cave of teeth, staggering in their immensity, filled the cavern, as if waiting for the three of them to step between the yard-long fangs so the jaws could snap shut and grind their bones to meal.

  Of course she knew the fangs were just stalagmites and stalactites, growing up from the ground and down from the ceiling, and still millennia away from merging and being rechristened as columns. Yet now, under their lights, the limestone drippings looked like the hungry fangs of some demon vampire, momentarily frightening, even to those who knew better.

  “We must leave you now,” Manuel said, his voice barely above a whisper, but still echoing through the tunnels. “Or better, you can come back with us,” he suggested.

  June gave him a warm hug.

  “I can’t,” she said. “I can’t live with those dreams, and I sure as hell don’t want to die because of them.”

  “But they are just dreams. I have not known you to fear phantoms.”

  “Yet they feel like so much more, and I have to find out why. I know it’s irrational, but I feel a compulsion that’s both unavoidable and inescapable.”

  “Then be careful, Dr. Moone.”

  “Hey, like you said—just a dream. All goes well, I’ll see you in a few hours.”

  Luis nodded and returned her smile. “We will be waiting. And we will pray for you, June Moone.”

  They sat down with their backs to the limestone walls and watched as their friend and employer disappeared into the distance.

  * * *

  For the next mile or so the cave floor was relatively easy for a professional caver to navigate. Low-hanging stalactites forced June to crawl for several hundred feet or more, but the tunnel eventually opened to a new, larger chamber.

  She wanted to stop and just stare at each subsequent room. All of them were crowded with unimaginable natural wonders unseen for millennia, if ever. She walked past stunning grottos unlike any she had ever explored, a
live with pristine formations untouched by man.

  She glanced at her watch. It was after three in the afternoon, and she had no clue how much further her ultimate destination was, or even if she’d recognize it when she got there.

  She continued on, promising herself to take more time for sightseeing on her return trek. After she found whatever she was supposed to find so she could save her life.

  June had never been superstitious—not even during her teenage years, when she was the most liable to give in to irrational fears. So why was she so consumed by threats made to her by some slutted-up dream Enchantress?

  Sadly, all she could come up with was that these dreams felt… different.

  * * *

  The tunnel ended just over two miles further along. Without warning, she found herself facing a blank wall, with no side tunnels that would allow her to continue.

  Is this the wrong cave? she wondered, feeling the beginning of panic. Have I wasted all this time? June quickly took control of her fears. It’s not even four yet. I can get back to Manuel and Luis in less than an hour, then find another tunnel. That still gives me eight hours.

  This is doable.

  This has got to be doable. Nothing can stop me now. Nothing will stop me.

  As she started to turn back, the ground gave way beneath her. She scrambled, trying to grab a rock or anything for support, but instead she found herself falling into a widening shaft.

  June stopped falling with a jolt when her chest reached the top of the hole. The chute was too narrow for all of her to slip through. She was stuck.

  Better than falling God knows how far, she thought. But now what?

  She couldn’t see into the hole, with her own body blocking the view, but she dangled her feet, trying to find the ground below. There was nothing. The ground might be a foot away or a mile.

  She didn’t want to squirm, for fear it would open up the hole.

  Falling to my death isn’t a good idea, she thought—then, again, What now? She wasn’t going to fail when she was this close to… Whatever the hell is waiting for me.

  Both her arms were still free. She slowly dug one hand into the chest-level ground, seeking support. Very carefully she drilled her other hand as close as possible to her hip and legs, then into the hole. Her rope was looped around her belt. If she could reach it, she might be able to tie it to some nearby formation, and pull herself free.