The wide mouth grew even wider as the thing seemed to grin, exposing two rows of jagged, deadly-looking teeth that would have been more at home in the mouth of a bat than that of anything remotely human. Again it began to issue that high pitched, whining growl as it suddenly squatted down against one of the fence posts and loudly regurgitated a black tar like substance that smelled of rotting flesh. The thing’s head moved quickly from side to side as it inhaled the contents of what it had just thrown up.
The creature returned to its semi-standing crouch position and looked in the direction of the Wyse ranch, its clawed fingers clicking against each other as the thing processed the signals being sent into it by the small electronic transmission device implanted around its brain stem. Thousands of miles away inside the genetic drone information annex of the New United Nations Military Response Center in Maryland, the scent and visual information being transmitted by the creature was already being reviewed by data operatives to determine the creature’s next response, while yet another set of eyes was watching from within the seeker’s vision as well.
Finally the thing began to run toward the Wyse home with an odd, sideways bent gait where its arms hung loosely in front of it while its legs carried it across the ground with surprising speed that would have proven difficult for even the fastest man to outrun.
As it sped down the long drive, the seeker’s sharp toothed smile and high pitched growl returned.
VII.
After ten minutes of the horses walking through the high grass fields behind the Wyse ranch, Cooper glanced back to see how the other four were acclimating to being in their respective saddles. Each one of them appeared more comfortable than they had been just moments before. Even Bear was no long perspiring heavily, his natural athleticism now moving him in rhythm to the walking of his horse.
“Ok, everyone, gonna pick up the pace just a bit now. An easy trot for the next fifteen minutes or so. Try not to bounce in your saddle, just move along with the horse. Here we go…”
Cooper Wyse gently nudged the flanks of his horse Licorice, who in turn began to trot across the field, doubling their speed. The other four horses did exactly the same in order to keep up with the lead horse. The ranch house was disappearing behind them as the large hills they were heading for now loomed ahead.
Dublin was grinning happily as she watched the ground pass more quickly below her. Reese, whose horse remained just slightly behind Dublin’s, was looking intently into the hills trying to figure out the path Cooper intended to take them through. Bear, trailing some ten yards behind Reese, was bouncing uncomfortably in his saddle, but otherwise appeared reasonably determined to continue the ride without further complaint.
With less than a half mile to go before the ground began to rise rapidly into the hills, Cooper brought his horse to a stop.
“Gonna let them gallop a bit now, okay? Just let your horse keep pace with mine. Again, just move with the horse, and try to remain as relaxed as possible. We won’t be going all out, just a nice easy pace. Bear, you’re doing great.”
Cooper Wyse turned his horse back toward the hills and let out a brief shout, this time kicking Licorice’s flanks with a bit more force than before. Licorice set off with a gentle gallop that was soon matched by the other four horses. Now it was Mac’s turn to smile as he closed his eyes for a brief moment and took in a deep breath as the wind whipped into his face.
Reese was startled to see Bear pulling up beside him and then passing both he and Dublin, his jaw set with determination as he lowered himself just over the back of Ben’s neck and let out his own shout of encouragement for his horse to increase its speed. Soon he was alongside Mac whose smile widened even further as he gave Bear a thumbs up.
Bear passed Mac and was soon just behind Cooper Wyse who glanced over to see Bear pulling up alongside him. With a tip of his hat, Cooper pressed the heels of his boots into Licorice’s flanks again while lowering his chest directly against the horse’s neck. The mare responded instantly, lengthening her stride to pull away from Bear. The speed at which Licorice galloped while Cooper Wyse remained atop her shocked the other four. Within seconds Cooper was nearly fifty yards ahead of the others before he slowed down and allowed them to catch up. Just a few minutes more and they reached the base of the hills where Cooper again pulled up to stop. The horses, though breathing somewhat heavily now, appeared quite capable and anxious for more travel.
Cooper pointed a hand toward a row of evergreens nearly a hundred yards to their left.
“We make our way to that line of trees, and a bit past them, we’ll come to the trail. It’s a bit narrow, so stay in line. I’ll have the horses going at a quick walk. Again, just have your horse follow my lead. We should reach the top in about thirty minutes. That should give us a good ten minutes to get deep into the trees on the other side before the surveillance drone is back this way again.”
Once past the row of evergreens a mass of boulders could be seen. Cooper headed directly for the big rocks, disappearing momentarily behind the largest of them. The other four followed and soon found Cooper and Licorice heading upward, following the trail Cooper had just spoken of. As described, the trail was narrow, and at times, uncomfortably steep. The horses appeared to know the way well though, as the four former residents of Dominatus made no attempt to steer them, but rather just sat in the saddle and allowed their horse to follow Cooper Wyse. Mac found himself glancing up into the sky, growing more concerned at the possibility of a New United Nations drone approaching them.
As Cooper said, it took nearly thirty minutes to reach the top of the large hill. At the bottom of the other side, no more than a few hundred yards away, was an expanse of trees that stretched off toward a massive, ice and snow covered mountain range to the northeast. Far to the south of them could be seen a number of rivers emptying into a much larger body of water that the locals still called Gastineau Channel.
Reese was attempting to figure out the actual location of the old border between Canada and Alaska.
“Cooper, you said these hills marked where we would be crossing over into the Canada, right?”
Cooper looked back and gave a short nod.
“Yeah, that’s right. The surveillance drones fly right over this point. Never goes inside of it on either side.”
Reese’s face communicated his confusion.
“I know Juneau was close to Canada, but not this close. The border should be another couple hundred miles east shouldn’t it?”
Cooper answered this time without bothering to look back.
“That was a different world Reese. The border is whatever the New United Nations makes it. So if the drones are flying over these hills to monitor anyone going back and forth from here, then this is what I’m calling the border. So let’s hurry up and get well into those trees before that next drone arrives.”
Without waiting to see if Reese had another question, Cooper Wyse nudged his horse downward toward the trees and the other four horses immediately began to follow. Less than halfway down the other side, Dublin pointed into the sky to the south of them and uttered a single word that chilled them all.
“Drone.”
Bear quickly added to Dublin’s brief description with an even more frightening assessment.
“Two of them. I can see at least two of them and they’re making their way to us. Fast.”
Without looking to confirm what Dublin and Bear were seeing, Cooper Wyse yelled out for all of them to keep up. Licorice began bounding down the narrow hillside trail as Cooper leaned as far back in his saddle as was possible to prevent himself from falling. The other four quickly copied Cooper’s example as their horses struggled to keep up.
Though it took no more than a few minutes for the horses to reach the bottom of the hill, it felt far longer for the five Alaskans who desperately pushed their horses to gallop as fast as possible toward the tree line. Cooper looked back toward the top of the hill and saw the two drones. One was noticeably larger than the othe
r – a type of drone he had never seen before. Mac noted Cooper’s stare and attempted to look back as well, though he almost fell from his saddle as he did so. The second time he managed to maintain his balance and saw the two drones for himself, including the larger one.
Mac knew then, they were all in very serious trouble.
“Go! Go!”
The horses responded to Mac’s shouts, managing to race toward the trees even faster than before as if they too sensed how serious the urgency now was. The trees were less than a hundred yards away.
Cooper looked back again to yell instructions at the other four.
“There’s a trail inside there – follow me. Stay low on your horse and don’t slow down!”
The large Evergreens now loomed in front of them as Cooper and his horse disappeared into a small opening, followed by Mac, Dublin, and Reese. Bear and his horse Ben were almost thirty yards behind Reese. Seconds before reaching the opening, Bear first felt and then heard the first explosion behind him. Ducking as low as he could, he entered the trees and simply allowed Ben to gallop along the trail as fast as he was able.
Bear glanced back in time to see the opening he had just ridden through become a massive fireball. The second explosion was close enough for him to feel the heat slam against his body. He could just make out the back of Reese turning a corner ahead of him.
The third explosion was just fifty yards to Bear’s right. The drones were getting closer and Bear’s instincts were now screaming that he may not survive the next missile.
“Shit.”
Bear’s horse Ben strained to increase his speed, wanting to catch up to the other four. The animal stumbled just enough to cause Bear to lose his grip on the saddle’s horn and tilt too far to the left. For a moment Bear thought he would be able to hang on, but that moment was gone as quickly as the big man fell from the saddle. He hit the ground hard, causing an excruciating flash of pain in his left shoulder and leaving him struggling to breathe. The horse continued to run ahead into the trees, leaving Bear alone and fighting to remain conscious. His mind kept telling himself to breathe. He needed to breathe. Just take a breath, stand back up – and run.
Then the world went dark.
VIII.
“He’s dead. Can’t believe they killed him like that. What the hell was an armed drone doing flying over this area for? And how did they know where we were? Can’t be just some accident an armed drone shows up like that, exactly when we are coming down off the hill. How’s that possible? Who would have told someone at the New United Nations what we were doing? I want answers, Mac. I volunteered to help on this thing. To get you across and into Canada and now one of my horses is dead and I want to know how in the hell it happened. I’ve been going across those hills for years, and not once has a drone come close to spotting me do it, let alone taking shots at me! The first time I bring you all along, and I get one of my horses blown to hell. So start talking, Mac. Tell me what the hell just happened here?”
Mac turned away from looking over Bear, who was still groggy from his high speed fall from the horse whose body had been ripped apart only seconds after Bear fell from the saddle. If not for that fall, Bear too would now be dead.
“What happened was you never said nothing about a fucking armed drone in this area. That’s what happened. That drone was sent here to kill us. Period. The how and why of it, I don’t much care about that right now. What I do care about is that Bear is ok, and that we keep moving on to that cabin of yours. How much further is it?”
Cooper Wyse appeared less than satisfied at Mac’s response.
“Well, I AM interested in the how and why of it, Mac. If you know something, I want to hear it - NOW.”
Mac was in no mood for the rancher’s questions, taking two quick strides toward Cooper, he stopped directly in front of him, his eyes flashing an anger Cooper knew would pose a challenge despite Mac’s advanced years. After a moment of staring at Cooper, Mac hissed a response.
“We need to get to that cabin now. After we are there and settled, we can talk about whatever the hell you want to talk about, Coop. We might have company heading this way to confirm a kill, so I suggest we get moving out of here sooner than later. Anything short of that and you’re gonna piss me off – and you don’t want to piss me off.”
If Cooper Wyse was intimidated by Mac, he didn’t show it.
“Cabin is about a mile northwest of here. When we get there, I’m gonna take you up on giving me some answers, Mac. Don’t disappoint me.”
Mac gave the rancher a thin smile.
“Fine, now let’s get moving.”
As Bear attempted to sit up he let out a cry of pain, his right hand resting on his left shoulder.
“Need someone to pop this thing back into place. It’s dislocated.”
Mac returned to Bear’s side and leaned over him.
“Your shoulder? It’s dislocated?”
Bear nodded.
“Yeah, had it happen a few times when I played football. After I lay down I just need you to grab my wrist and pull.”
Bear lay down again and slowly extended his left arm toward Mac, who in turn looked up at Reese and Dublin.
“Bear – I don’t know. I haven’t done that kind of thing in a long time. Don’t want to mess you up more than you already are…”
Bear cut off Mac’s hesitation.
“For God’s sake, Mac, just grab my wrist and pull out. It’ll pop right back into place.”
Mac hesitated again, and found himself being pushed to the side by Dublin. The granddaughter of the billionaire founder of Dominatus grabbed Bear’s large wrist with both hands and did as he asked and pulled - hard.
Bear gave no indication of pain. He simply took a deep breath and then smiled.
“Thank you Dublin. That feels so much better.”
Bear then rose to his feet and moved his left arm in short circular motions.
“Not a hundred percent, but good enough for now. I’m ready.”
Reese, as he looked toward Cooper Wyse who was holding onto the four surviving horses, posed a question that had just come to him.
“Cooper, you bring that laser gun? The one you said could shoot down a drone?”
Cooper looked back at Reese and nodded.
“Yeah, got it strapped to the side of my horse.”
The other three Dominatus survivors were looking at Cooper Wyse with the same intensity as Reese was. Reese followed up with the question the four of them were all thinking.
“So…why didn’t you use it to shoot that thing down, Cooper?”
Cooper Wyse simply shrugged.
“Didn’t have time. I would have had to jump down from the horse, unstrapped the weapon, taken aim…we all could have been blown to bits by then.”
Mac stepped toward Cooper.
“You mean to tell me you couldn’t have shot that thing from your horse? As good a rider as you are, I find that hard to believe Coop. Real hard to believe.”
Cooper Wyse’s eyes glowered back at Mac from under the brim of his cowboy hat as his right hand lowered itself slowly until it rested just above the holstered gun that hung from his right hip.
“Don’t care for the accusation, Mac.”
Mac took another step toward Cooper.
“Why didn’t you fire that weapon at those drones, Coop? You didn’t even try.”
The rancher’s right hand twitched slightly. He was prepared to shoot.
“It happened too fast, Mac. Suppose you can say I panicked a bit. Hell, you didn’t think of using it either until Reese just mentioned it. You’re the soldier here, not me. If you want to keep talking like this, implicating me in something, then go on and do it and we’ll have that discussion right here and now. Otherwise, you can shut the hell up about it. I’m the one who lost a horse. I’m the one who left my ranch to help you all out.”
Mac continued to stare into Cooper’s eyes, trying to determine if the man was being truthful or not. After several seconds pas
sed, he relaxed his posture and held up both of his hands.
“You are right on that, Coop, I should have been more ready. Guess I’ve grown rusty since we left Dominatus. Too much city life. That said, let’s make sure that laser gun of yours is ready to go in case we get visited by another one of those drones.”
Cooper Wyse nodded his head in agreement.
“Absolutely.”
The rancher then proceeded to lead the four horses deeper into the trees, calling back to the other four as he did so.
“Let’s go, then. The trees get real thick for a while, but we don’t have much further to the cabin.”
Mac kept himself between Cooper and the other three. Reese noted the former Navy SEAL had quietly removed his handgun from its shoulder holster and was carrying it in his right hand.
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