The Book of Bones- a Bones Bonebrake Adventure

by David Wood

  “What are you doing?”

  “I’m not wasting good Mexican food!” Bones zigzagged out of the way of two angry drivers and took the first available turn. He kept going, making turns at random, but the Jaguar stayed in their rear-view mirror.

  “We’re not going to lose them, are we?”

  “Don’t say that. We can...”

  The truck began to lose speed. Bones pumped the pedal, but nothing happened. He looked down and immediately spotted the problem.

  “Why are we stopping?” Jessie asked, looking around for the Jag.

  “Um.” He couldn’t look her in the eye as he spoke. “We’re out of gas.”

  Chapter 11

  Bones yanked the wheel, steered the truck over to the side of the road, and brought it to a skidding halt on a patch of hard-packed dirt beneath the shade of an old oak tree. To their left, a high chain link fence topped with razor wire ran as far as the eye could see in both directions. To their right, on the other side of the street, lay a mobile home park.

  Jessie moved to cross the street, but Bones grabbed her by the arm. “No. That’s where they’ll expect us to go, and there’s no cover.”

  “Where else is there?”

  “Follow me.” He clambered up into the bed of the pickup truck, then up onto the top of the cab. Directly above them hung a fat tree limb, which extended beyond the fence. “Can you make it?” he asked.

  “I was a gymnast in high school. I think I can handle it.”

  “That’s what I’m talking about.” He cupped his hands and gave her a boost.

  Jessie swung up onto the limb with a strength and grace Bones could not help but admire. She quickly scrambled along the length of the limb, well past the coils of razor wire, until the limb began to sag beneath her weight.

  “Aren’t you coming?” she called back.

  “As soon as you’re down. I’m afraid it won’t hold both of us.”

  Jessie didn’t argue. She swung down, dangled in midair for a moment, and then dropped to the ground. As soon as she let go, Bones followed. He had just crossed the fence when Jessie called out a warning.

  “Here they come!”

  He didn’t’ need to look back. The screech of tires and hum of the engine told him all he needed to know. There was no time to climb a safe distance. He dropped down as soon as he cleared the fence line. The impact sent sharp pain lancing up his legs and along his spine. He forced himself to his feet, knees screaming in protest, and took Jessie’s hand.

  “Where to?”

  “Down the hill. There are some trees and bushes that will give us some cover.” He took her hand and led the way.

  They scrambled and skidded their way down the steep embankment. Up above, their pursuers screeched to a stop. Car doors slammed, and voices rang out.

  “Which way did they go?”

  “Try that way.”

  Bones hoped “that way” meant the trailer park. That would hopefully buy them some time.

  At the bottom of the slope, they hit a thick stand of brush and trees. Bones forced his way through and let out a cry of surprise when he stepped out into open space.

  “Crap!” He snagged the nearest bush, a scraggly juniper, and steadied himself. He stood at the edge of a concrete moat a good fifteen feet across and twenty feet deep. “What the hell?”

  He didn’t have time to inspect his surroundings any farther because Jessie banged into his back, knocking him forward.

  “Hold on, chick!” he said, steadying himself again as he teetered on the edge of the precipice.

  “Uh oh.” Jessie’s head peeked out under his outstretched arm. “End of the line. What is this place?”

  “Some kind of drainage ditch, I guess. It doesn’t matter what it is. We have to find a way across.” Bones’ eyes searched the gray, concrete channel. On the other side lay another stand of greenery. More cover if they could only find a way over.

  The voices from the street rose again, closer this time.

  “Do you think they went over the fence?”

  “Damn!” Bones took Jessie’s hand and inched along the edge of the channel. A few agonizing feet along, he stumbled.

  “Hey, don’t take me down with you,” Jessie said.

  “I tripped.” He looked down and smiled. An old, aluminum extension ladder peeked out from the thick undergrowth. “But I think we’ve found our way across.” He took hold of the ladder and heaved, and it tore free with a sound of ripping vegetation that was too loud for his liking.

  “We’re going to climb down and back up again?” A note of doubt hung in Jessie’s voice.

  “Too slow. We’re going to make a bridge out of this baby.” Carefully, he stretched the ladder out to its full length. He could see now that it was a sixteen-footer. It might make it across. Might.

  Carefully, he extended the ladder across the precipice. It clanged down on the concrete lip at the far side of the moat with six inches or so to spare on either side. He heard the rattle of the chain link fence at the top of the hill. The idiots who were chasing them hadn’t figured out to use the tree to get across. At least, not yet.

  “Okay,” he said to Jessie, “go for it. You’re a gymnast so just pretend it’s a balance beam, and you’ll be okay.”

  “Why am I going first?” She eyed the ladder with suspicion.

  “I weigh over two hundred pounds. If that thing breaks while I’m on it, I’m down in the pit with a broken leg, and you’re stuck on the same side of the pit as those assclowns.” He inclined his head in the direction from which they had come.

  “Makes sense, but if this thing doesn’t hold me, I swear I will haunt you ’til your dying day.”

  “If the ladder doesn’t hold, my dying day will be here in a few minutes. Go!”

  Jessie squeezed past him and stepped a tentative foot out onto the ladder. It gave an inch and then held. She let out a breath he hadn’t known she’d been holding, extended her arms to either side and stepped out with her other foot.

  “Don’t look down,” he cautioned.

  “Shut up. You’re distracting me.” He grinned despite the dire circumstances and watched with admiration as she made her way across.

  “Hey, we can climb up on the truck and climb over on that tree limb,” a voice shouted. Oh well. They had to figure it out soon or later.

  As soon as Jessie stepped off the ladder, Bones mounted it. It creaked under his weight, but he didn’t hesitate. He made it across, or he died. He took another step and then another. The ladder sagged, and he felt it collapsing beneath him. He took a big step and then leaped forward. His makeshift bridge gave all at once and dropped with a noisy clang to the floor of the moat.

  “Somebody’s down there!” one of the men at the top of the hill called. A bullet pinged the wall of the ditch and ricocheted wildly as the report of a pistol reached their ears.

  “I really wish I had my Glock,” Bones muttered. “Come on.”

  He turned and forced his bulk into the dense stand of foliage and they found themselves at the top of a ten-foot wall. Down below lay an open, grassy area interspersed with a few dirt patches and boulders.

  “A park,” Jessie said, peeking around his shoulder. “We need to get across before they catch up with us.”

  “I don’t think this is...whoa!” He was cut short when Jessie gave him a hard, unexpected shove in the small of the back and he found himself flying through the air. For the second time, he hit the ground hard, every joint screaming in pain. He was going to break something if he kept this up.

  He turned to see Jessie dangling from the lip of the wall. He tried to call out a warning, but she dropped to the ground before he could form the words. She grinned down at him.

  “Get off your butt and let’s move before those guys find a way across the...” Her words died on her lips as the blood drained from her face.

  “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Bones said. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two large, tawny shapes padding t
oward them.

  “This isn’t a park. It’s a zoo.”

  Chapter 12

  Bones spread his arms and backed slowly toward Jessie, his eyes flitting between the lion and lioness that were moving toward them. He’d had some experience with wild animals, even predators, but he had a feeling what worked on a bear wouldn’t work on these apex predators from the savanna.

  “Oh my God,” Jessie whimpered. “What are we going to do?”

  “No sudden moves,” he said. “And try not to show any fear.”

  “It’s all I can do not to faint. How am I supposed to show no fear?”

  “Just do your best. Remember, zoo employees work with these animals all the time, so it’s not like we’re encountering them in the wild.” That was technically true, but Bones knew it to be a flimsy hope. Nothing would change the fact that these were wild animals at heart.

  “They are beautiful,” Jessie managed. “If I wasn’t about to die from fear and shock, I might want to give one a hug.”

  “Same here,” Bones lied. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to get away. He stole a glance over his shoulder and saw that they were about twenty meters from an access door. It would be locked, but hopefully, someone would see them here, and an employee would let them out. “Follow me.” Keeping his eyes on the big cats and Jessie between himself and the wall, he began inching to his left, toward the door.

  “I wonder what the tourists are thinking,” Jessie said.

  Bones glanced toward the front of the exhibit and realized they were screened from view by a huge boulder and the corner of a wall. No one knew they were here. “I don’t know.”

  The big male paused, sniffed the air, and gave a great shake of his mane. The female crept a few paces closer before also pausing and giving an audible sniff.

  “What are they doing?”

  “I don’t know,” Bones said. “Just keep moving.”

  The door seemed to be no closer as they made their slow way through the lion habitat, but the lions made no move to follow them, and a flicker of hope sparked inside him. Maybe they could make it.

  Just then, the male let out a low rumble, every muscle in its body tensed.

  Holy crap, he thought. So close.

  “If either of them makes a move for us, I want you to run for the door,” he said.

  “But what about you?”

  There was no time to answer. Voices rang out from the direction of the road. Someone shouted, “There they are!”

  Bones looked up to see the two men who’d been pursuing them standing on the wall at the back of the habitat. The red haired man raised his pistol and took aim.

  “Run!” Bones gave Jessie a shove and then sprang to the side as the man squeezed the trigger. The bullet pinged off the wall behind him, a foot from his head. The lions broke and ran at the sound of the shot, heading for safety behind the boulder that dominated the small space. Bones zigged and zagged as he ran for the door, suddenly wishing he were a runt like his friend Maddock, and not a six foot five behemoth. Another shot rang out and then another. Both missed.

  Jessie was tugging at the doorknob, but they were locked in.

  “Move!” Bones thundered. He leaped, twisted in the air, and drove both feet into the door in a devastating flying side kick. The door didn’t budge, and he found himself lying on the ground, pain coursing through his legs.

  The door flew open, and a young man in the khaki garb of a zoo employee poked his head out.

  “What is going on out here?” He cried out in shock as a bullet punched through the door inches from his nose. Bones shouldered him aside and hauled Jessie through the doorway. They dashed away, his cries chasing them down the dimly-lit concrete passageway.

  They ran blindly through the building, winding through the corridors until at last they found an EXIT door and emerged in the middle of a surprised-looking group of zoo workers.

  “What are you two doing in there?” a sturdy woman of middle years demanded.

  “Got lost,” Bones said. He took Jessie by the elbow and steered her around the confused group.

  “Hold on a minute. How did you even...” The woman moved to block their path, but Bones froze her with what he liked to call his “Lethal Weapon eyes,” modeled after the crazed expressions of Mel Gibson’s character. The man was a douche in real life, but he pulled off the borderline lunatic role with ease. As the lady gave way, she mumbled to her companions, “Call security.”

  Bones and Jessie quickened their pace and wove through the crowd until they were out of sight of the employees. None had dared follow them.

  “Head for the front gate?” Jessie asked.

  Bones shook his head. “That’s where security is likely to wait for us. And I’ll bet one of our friends with the guns back there is waiting for us there while the other watches the truck. We need another way out.”

  “Such as?”

  He scanned the area and quickly spotted what he was looking for. “Over there, behind the concession stand.” He pointed to a delivery truck idling behind the concession area, just in front of a locked gate that opened onto an access road. The snow-capped peak of the Rocky Mountains was painted on the sign with the word “Coors” emblazoned across them in red. It wasn’t Dos Equis, but it would do.

  “A beer truck?” Jessie asked. “Is this really the time?”

  “Just follow my lead.” They hurried over to the concession stand and stopped a few paces from the truck. Bones watched as the deliveryman unloaded a few cases, stowed his hand truck, and then headed inside the concession stand, clipboard in hand.

  “Come on,” Bones said. They hurried over to the truck, double-checked to make sure the coast was clear, and then clambered into the back of the vehicle. The cold air of the refrigerated truck gave him the chills, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to get away safely and then figure out their next move. He hastily rearranged some crates, and he and Jessie hunkered down behind them.

  “It’s freezing in here.” She scooted over and pressed her body against his. He put an arm around her and pulled her close, trying not to let his thoughts drift to her trim, athletic figure and her soft hair.

  “You’re not going to make a move on me, are you?”

  “What? Oh, no. At least, not until we get away.”

  “Fair enough. We’ll put a pin in that discussion and circle back to it later.”

  Bones grinned. He liked this girl.

  Behind them, the truck door clanged shut, and their surroundings went black. Moments later, the engine roared to life, and the truck lurched forward.

  “So, how do we get Manny’s truck back?” Jessie asked.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe give it a day and then call a tow truck. They won’t stand guard there forever.” He paused and scratched his chin. “One thing I can’t figure. They clearly wanted our research, so why did they come after us once we abandoned the truck? You’d think they’d look inside.”

  “They won’t find the research there. I stuffed it all inside my shirt when we took off. Feel the small of my back.”

  Bones slid his hand around and, sure enough, felt the thick sheaf of papers there.

  “Way to think on your feet. I’m impressed.”

  Just then the truck took a sharp turn, throwing Jessie hard against Bones.

  “Not the smoothest ride,” she said.

  “No, but we’re safe.”

  “How can you be so calm? We’ve been chased, shot at, almost eaten by lions, and you’re so...chill, and I don’t mean because it’s cold in here.”

  Bones laughed. “Chick, you wouldn’t believe the things I’ve been through.”

  Chapter 13

  As luck would have it, the driver’s next stop was Giovanni’s Pizzeria, Jessie’s restaurant of choice. She and Bones slipped out unseen and worked their way around to the front lot. Located in a rundown strip mall, the savory aromas wafting from the restaurant were, in Bones’ opinion, the only things to recommend the location. He scanned the area
, just to make sure their pursuers hadn’t somehow figured out their means of escape and followed them, but all he saw were a few people begging for change, and an obvious drug deal going down in the corner of the parking lot.

  Inside, they settled into a booth adorned with a red and white checked tablecloth and ordered up two Dos Equis and a pepperoni and green chile pizza. While they waited for their food, Bones kept an eye on the parking lot while Jessie quietly gave him an overview of her research.

  “The hollow earth legend has been around for a long time,” she began. “Basically, there are two competing theories: one is that humans or a species very much like humans live beneath the earth. The other is that aliens live, or once lived, there; maybe observing us, maybe interbreeding with humans to form the modern human race.” She rolled her eyes.

  Bones wondered how she would react if he told her about some of the thing he had seen and experience in that regard.

  “Come on.” She reached across the table and poked his arm. “No mocking comments?”

  “For the sake of argument, let’s say we’re considering all possibilities.”

  “All right.” Jessie smirked and returned to her papers. “The Nazis were particularly invested in this theory. They considered several places as likely locations for the entrance to the world beneath, including Tibet, the North Pole, and Antarctica.” She frowned. “This is interesting. They sent large expeditions to Antarctica, tons of scientists, and none of them were ever heard from again.”

  “I’m not trying to rush you or anything,” Bones said, “but I’ve heard this before, and it doesn’t really help me with Halcón Rock.”

  “In that case, I won’t bother covering any of this.” Jessie thumbed through her papers and slid about half of them to the side.

  “Sorry, I promise I’ll read them later. What else have you got?”

  “Have you heard of the Ant People?”

  Bones shook his head. “Just the dude from the movie.”

  “Good. Then don’t interrupt this time.” She gave him a sly wink. “Hopi legend tells of two cataclysms: fire and ice.”