Shaw said, “I never thought to ask. Have you ever ridden a horse before?”
“No, but how hard can it be?”
Shaw thought it better not to enlighten her. Two men on horseback appeared around a bend in the road, each saddle holding a rope, tethered at the bridles of two more spare horses. One of them dismounted and fastened his reins to Frank’s picket fence. He ambled over, chewing straw in the corner of his mouth.
“Sheriff. I’m Al, Frank’s buddy.
The second guy dismounted and unfastened the ropes from the butt of the saddles, then fastened them to the fence.
“These mounts are for the ladies. We’ll go on ahead and scout.”
“Frank and Jim didn’t say anyone else was involved.”
“Don’t worry none, Sheriff. You won’t see us again unless you need help. Just make sure you’re tuned in on the radio,” he said, and spat out the straw.
He walked over to his horse, put his foot in the stirrup, mounted, and with a yank of the reins, the horse turned his head and they set off through an opening to a field.
“Who was that?”
“You don’t wanna know. Hell, I don’t even know. Let’s say they’re unofficial deputies.”
“Ah, the fox hunters,” Cox said, and sent Shaw a wry smile, cocking her head to one side.
Shaw blushed.
He climbed out of his seat. Cox followed, carrying her backpack, rifle, and scanner. She slipped the straps of her backpack over her shoulders, together with her rifle and scanner straps. Shaw watched as she walked over to the horses. She honed in on the large chestnut, holding out her hand.
“Nice, horsey.”
The horse nodded his head, blew through its nostrils, then showed his teeth and neighed. Cox took a step back.
“I think we’d better wait for Frank,” Shaw said.
“You could be right.”
Shaw surveyed the surroundings. All around Frank’s homestead the terrain was flat, surrounded with fields. The fields spread out in front away from his home for half a mile to the start of the woods, which rolled on to the base of the Pine Mountains. The scene was a far cry from the concrete skyscraper jungle of LA city center that he longed for. Instead of the hum of an AC unit to keep him cool, and the familiar sounds of car horns honking, he basked in the blistering heat, and hearing birds chirping in the branches of the cherry tree behind him. There was no getting away from the notion that it was picture-postcard nature at its best. He shook his head, then sighed that the order of his adopted territory was being tainted with the sickness, and the shadow of Amy’s kidnap.
Frank’s vehicle appeared around the bend, turned into his driveway and stopped. Carla climbed out and walked over to Cox.
“Follow me,” said Frank, “and we’ll park behind the barn. The girls can stay here while we get our mounts.”
“Is your missus here?”
“Yeah, but there’s no need to bother her none. She’s with her cronies in the house. Last I saw, they were all praying for deliverance from the sickness.”
Shaw eased onto his seat and followed Frank. Around the back of the barn, their mounts were already saddled. He counted six heavily armed men, all mounted on horseback, and wearing camouflage uniforms. He scowled, when he noticed one of the men had a rocket-propelled launcher strapped to his back. Shaw snatched at his door handle, climbed off his seat, slammed the door closed, then marched over to Frank.
“What the hell is all this?”
“Well, see, it’s your posse.”
“What do you mean by, my posse?”
“Climb down, they’re only a contingency.”
“Contingency, for what?”
Frank looked down at the ground, then lifted his head and set a devilish smile.
“For if they start shooting on us at the boundary. We’ll need backup, or a diversion.”
Shaw’s cheeks flamed, then he stamped his foot.
“Damn it. No one is going to shoot at us, because we’ll stop if challenged and turn back. And we sure don’t need no backup militia army, ya hear me?”
Frank looked at the ground and scraped the toe of his boot on the gravel.
“Yeah, I hear.”
Frank turned, walked over to the men and talked to them. They pulled on their reins and set of away from the barn.
“Okay, I told them. Let’s mount up and get this over with.”
Seething inside, Shaw walked over to his horse, put his foot in the stirrup and mounted. He followed Frank along the driveway. Cox and Carla were already mounted.
“You managed it then?” Shaw said, and winked at Cox.
Cox scrunched her nose.
“Yeah, Carla helped. She was born and raised around horses. Just don’t go trotting off until I’ve gotten used to the saddle at walking pace.”
Cox shook the reins. “Giddy-up, horsey.” The chestnut balked, refusing to move. “Ye-up.” She kicked at the horse’s flank with her feet in the stirrups. The chestnut reared and set off at a gallop. Frank kicked off and followed her in a cloud of dust, grabbing her reins, and brought her to a halt.
Carla and Shaw snickered, then set off at a trot. Catching up with them, Frank went ahead, and they followed in line at a leisurely pace. Following the bridleway, they reached the woods. Shaw pulled on the reins and stopped, signaling for Cox and Carla to do the same. Ahead, through the tree line, Shaw could see Frank jawing with one of the two guys they’d met at his driveway. The guy set off along the trail, then Frank trotted back to Shaw. Frank took of his hat and wiped his shirt sleeve across his brow. He dismounted and pulled his map from his pocket.
“We’ve got a problem ahead,” Frank said.
Chapter 47
FRANK opened up his map and sucked air through his teeth in a drawn out hiss. Carla and Cox trotted up alongside on their mounts.
“Al says that two Deuce-and-a-half troop carriers loaded with soldiers have pulled up over at their Claymore Junction checkpoint. Says that they’re spreading out in a line either side along the boundary, one hundred yards apart.”
“Maybe we should abort,” Shaw said.
Cox threw him a sideways glance. “Risk and reward, remember?”
“We can still make it if we hurry,” said Frank. He pointed to his map. “Al said that if we head for this gulley and tether the horses, we can get through on foot. The guys will keep us informed on where the guard’s positions are.”
Shaw covered his mouth with his hand, stroking his cheek with his thumb. Going to the sanctuary was a long shot at best of discovering anything, save for the DNA and test results on the water samples. If any of them were developing the sickness, he thought they’d deserve to be shot. He wondered if it was maybe not worth the effort to put lives at risk. Working with a team, he knew wasn’t his style. On this mission, he was a passenger, unsure who was driving the bus, yet compelled to see the journey through. They were all looking at him. It was clear they saw him as the driver. If they had caught the bug, Shaw decided it wasn’t as though they were carrying the sickness on a walk through crowded streets. He took a deep breath.
“Okay, we’ll do that. You lead on, Frank. Carla, you keep your eyes to the left.” He turned to Cox. “You keep your eyes right, and I’ll take our flank and watch our backs. Listen, if we’re spotted, no heroics.”
They continued on until they reached the gulley and dismounted. Al greeted Frank and they exchanged words.
Frank took his rope from his saddle, fastening it between two trees.
“We’ll tether the horses here. Al is going to stay here with Greg when he returns. They’ll look after our horses until we return. Turn off your radios and talk in whispers.”
The woods were thick either side of the gully. The gully itself had a bank either side of around twenty feet. The pine trees gave way to thorn bushes along the gulley sides and base. Al stepped forward.
“There are two guards dug in one hundred yards from here, both around fifty yards either side of the gulley. Bre
ak a twig and they could hear you. Greg is waiting along the gulley in a position between the two guards at the boundary. As soon as you see him, he’ll return. They haven’t ventured out on patrol yet, but I reckon they will, because they’re blind with the tree cover to scan the boundary. Good luck.”
“Space out, ten yards apart. Keep alert and listen for any movement,” Shaw said.
Frank entered the gulley and Shaw followed. Movement was hard going with the thorns snagging his clothing. Fifty yards in and Frank had stopped. Frank waved him onward.
“Why stop.” Shaw whispered.
Frank pointed two fingers to his eyes and then at the ground. Underfoot it was boggy. Even Shaw could see that something had been dragged through the wet patch with what looked like a good number of mountain lion paw marks on either side.
“There must be a spring trickling around here. See there, that looks like blood in the pool of water that’s settled in that paw track.”
The direction they were heading was toward the sanctuary. Shaw wondered if they could be leopard tracks. If they were the leopards from the sanctuary, then Cleo had lied about them not going outside the perimeter. If she had lied about that, he wondered what else she could have lied about.
Shaw waved Frank on. Fifty yards further along the gulley and Shaw stopped when he saw Frank give him a signal to lie low. He turned and signaled Carla to stop. Carla ignored his command.
“I think I’ve seen a cat stalking us,” Carla said, as she came up alongside of him.
“What kind?”
“It was like a shadow. I only caught a glimpse. Maybe a mountain lion?”
He rolled his eyes at the thought of the tracks. If it wasn’t for the tracks, he would have suggested it could be her imagination.
“Hurry back to Cox. Stay together and keep your eyes open for the cat.”
He watched as she crawled back to join Cox. Shaw’s heartbeat raced, when he heard branches snagging and saw a figure sliding down the banking. Whoever it was, talked to Frank in hushed tones. Frank swayed his hand for Shaw to join them. Relief washed over him as he recognized Al’s buddy, Greg.
“Sorry about the noise. I slipped. Listen, the guard to the left is static. I can smell cigarette smoke, so don’t worry about him. But over on the right I spotted the guard taking a leak through my binoculars. He’s thirty yards from here and heading in this direction. Lie low, I’m going back to meet with Al.”
“Pass the word to the ladies on your way back. Tell them to stay hidden in the bushes, and you watch out for a mountain lion. One of them thinks she saw a large cat.”
He watched as Greg disappeared into the undergrowth. They both knelt, hidden in the bushes. No more than ten minutes had passed, when he heard twigs trodden underfoot at the top of the gulley, followed by the static from a radio.
“Tango Twenty to, Tango Forty, all clear to the gulley, over.”
“Tango Forty, Rodger that. You head back and I’ll check this side, over and out.”
Through a gap in the bushes, he could see the soldier at the top of the gulley. He removed his bio-mask, pulled out a cigarette packet, and taking out a cigarette he lit it, then leaned against a tree trunk.
Shaw glanced down. His pants were sodden at the knees, and his hands were scratched and bloody from snagging on the thorns. He looked up through the gap in the bushes. The soldier stubbed out his cigarette and walked out of sight. Shaw looked at his wristwatch. Two minutes since his radio call. He reckoned that could put Tango Forty at around thirty yards to his right. He thought that if they were to regularly alternate walks, they could be playing the dance all day.
“You go ahead, Frank. I’ll get the ladies.”
Keeping his head down, he worked his way back to Cox. Carla was with her.
“Any sign of the cat?”
“No.”
“Good. Stay low, but move fast. We’re at the boundary, but we need to put at least one hundred yards between us and the guards.”
Every sound they made along the gulley amplified as if it were enough to wake the dead. Sweat poured from his brow, stinging in his eyes. His lungs were burning form the effort of walking on the uneven ground and stooping. He saw Frank sitting on a boulder ahead and grinning.
“What kept ya’ll.”
Shaw dropped his backside next to Frank, unable to answer and blowing hard. Cox and Carla squatted at the side of them on their haunches. Neither of them seemed to have broken a sweat.
“How far now,” said Carla.
“Another half-mile hump through the woods and we’ll be at the entrance,” said Frank.
Shaw turned to Frank.
“Will your legs hold up?”
“Not even a twinge. It’s you I worry about. You look like someone who spends too much time sat on their ass in the office.”
He glanced over at Cox. She wasn’t looking at him, but she was smirking. He guessed she’d taken in what Frank had said. He dug deep, and standing, he said, “Come on then, no time for sitting around.”
The onward journey seemed less of a danger now they were outside the boundary. Exiting the tree line near the entrance to the sanctuary at a leisurely pace, a sudden burst of gunfire rang out. Shaw dropped to the ground.
“Shit, dive for cover,” he said.
Chapter 48
A second blast of rounds from automatic gunfire erupted. This time Shaw got a fix on the direction. He glanced at Frank who was lying beside him, spitting dirt from his lips. Looking either side, Cox and Carla were positioned behind tree trunks, assuming a kneeling position on one knee, their automatic rifles shouldered.
“No bullets are headed our way,” Shaw said. “The sound is coming from the direction of the sanctuary.”
Cox darted past him to the hedgerow at the side of the road. Carla followed and set a position, ten yards to her right.
“I think the girls are telling us something.”
One, two three, Shaw counted, pulling his revolver from its holster, and in a stoop, he scrambled to the hedge alongside Cox.
“Keep behind me,” said Cox.
He glanced over at Carla. Frank had joined her.
Cox signaled Carla with finger signs. Carla nodded. Shaw followed Cox through a gap in the hedgerow and across the road, then along to the side of the entrance road. Carla and Frank came up behind. Cox edged toward a tree at the corner of the entrance, took a quick glance and ducked back to the sound of more gunfire.
“There’s a gate open and a tanker truck parked. Some guys are firing from behind the cab.”
She pointed across the entrance road, then darted across, taking up a position behind a bush. She kept her eyes trained down the road and signaled him to join her. Shaw gulped, took a deep breath, then ran for all he was worth to join her. He looked across in time to see Carla grab Frank by his shirt as he was about to join them. Cox signaled across to Carla.
“Never mind them, follow me, eyes forward,” Cox said.”
Using the cover of bushes and tree trunks, they worked their way to near the gate. Cat and Kitten were behind the security hut, alternately exchanging fire with the guys behind the truck. Shaw felt something brush his leg. His jaw dropped, when he saw five black leopards charging down the road toward the back of the truck. His body leapt, when from behind, another leopard brushed his pants as it charged toward the gate. Carla had been right about a cat stalking them. Now he knew it was six of them. He exchanged glances with Cox. She shrugged her shoulders. Shaw looked back toward the truck in time to see the leopards leap at the guys, dropping them both, with two of them ragging at the guys necks. Cat and Kitten stepped out and gestured at the leopards. They slinked away through the second gate into the sanctuary. Shaw grabbed Cox by the arm.
“What the—” Shaw’s eyes popped in their sockets. The leopards transformed to a walking upright position on their hind legs. He stared in disbelief as their black coats changed to skin, and their naked bodies took on human form. “Tell me I haven’t just seen that!”
Cat and Kitten covered the bodies of the two guys with their rifles. Fuller appeared from the security hut, holding his pistol at arm’s length at his side. He walked over to the bodies. Shaw flinched, as Fuller put a slug in each of guy’s heads. Cox stepped out into the road.
“FBI, drop your weapons.”
Carla joined her in the center of the road, both creeping toward the scene. Shaw covered them aiming his line of sight down the barrel of his gun, his trigger finger at the ready. Cat and Kitten dropped their rifles. Fuller was less forthcoming.
“Homeland Security. I’ve got this. The girls are on our side.”
“Yeah, right, drop your weapon,” said Cox. She stopped, firming her stance, the rifle tight to her shoulder, and caressed the trigger. “Last call, now drop the freakin’ weapon,” she screamed at him top note.
Fuller huffed, then dropped his pistol, kicking it toward Cox.
“We need to dispose of the bodies... quickly, before they turn,” Fuller said.
“What’s that mean?” Frank asked, as he stepped behind Fuller, drawing his cuffs from his belt and snapping them on his wrists. Cox tossed a set of cuffs to Carla.
“Cuff the girls.”
“Wait,” said Shaw, as he looked over the bodies. “These are the guys from the silver mine. This is their water truck. What were they doing here? And just what the hell was that we saw with the leopards?”
“The leopards I’ll explain later. These guys were delivering contaminated water,” said Cat. “Fuller is right, if you don’t let us dispose of the bodies before they transform, all hell is going to let loose.”
Shaw tapped Cox on the shoulder.
“Have you seen the sign on the door of the truck? There was no sign on the one at the silver mine, but it’s the same water truck.”
Cox glanced at the truck.
“That’s one of Grimes’ businesses.”
A vision of the driver emptying the water cooler bottles from the back of his truck at the store in town flashed through Shaw’s mind.
“How do you know it’s contaminated?” Shaw asked. “Just what’s going on here?”
The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles Page 30
