They climbed out of the ditch. Dean started to pull the litter out, but Gina said, “Leave it. There’s no way we can make it into town unannounced if you’re dragging me around on that thing.”
Dean nodded again, and he certainly didn’t like this, either. But it made sense: they would be slower, but they could hide much easier. Gina hoped that they would avoid detection altogether. If they didn’t, they would be in serious trouble.
In the distance, they heard gunshots ringing out through the quiet air. Gina shivered, and started walking. The going was slow, but her ankle was better and allowing her to support a little bit of her weight on it. Between her walking stick and Dean, they were making okay time.
When they reached the outskirts of town, Gina got a sense of just how bad North Williamstown was. Burnt out ashes from buildings blew across the streets in slow circles. Destroyed cars lined the streets. Glass crunched underfoot at nearly every step. The town was completely silent now, like a tomb. The feeling was eerie.
They reached the first line of houses without incident. Most of them appeared to be intact. Every other house had broken windows or a shattered doorframe, but other than that, they appeared undamaged.
“Looks like it hasn’t been touched,” Dean said, heading towards one of the houses along the street. He went to the window and peered in. “I can’t see much inside, though. Their curtains are up.”
“Let’s check it out,” Gina offered, hobbling up the sidewalk to the house.
Dean was leaning his weight against the door, testing it. It held for a while, but then there was the noise of wood splintering, and Dean pushed the door open.
“I’ll go in first,” he said, dropping the bag out front. Gina nodded and followed close. She couldn’t see much in the darkness, but she suspected Dean would be able to see without any hindrance. He paused inside, using his golden eyes to see through the darkness, and smelling for others, she suspected. After a few moments, he turned back to her and motioned her into the house.
Petey stood guard outside, but Gina didn’t feel he was safe there. “Come on, Petey,” she told him, and he obediently followed her inside.
“Can you see much?” she asked Dean.
“It looks to be in pretty good shape. Nothing looted, yet. We’re in the living room. I can see the kitchen up ahead. Looks like there might be some food over there. Open some blinds and take a load off while I check the place out.”
Gina stumbled around in the dark. Almost instinctively she reached out and grabbed Dean’s hand. He led her to a couch, where she sat, accidentally also pulling down the entire curtain rod, flooding the living room with sunlight.
“DON’T MOVE!”
Gina instantly froze. Next to her, Dean did the same, but she could tell he was ready to shift at a moment’s notice. Petey growled at her feet, but didn’t move.
“We’re not here to hurt anyone,” Gina said. She started to get up from the couch, but Dean motioned her back. She sat back down, waiting.
“Get on the ground!” the voice ordered. Gina sat dead still, and Dean stood tall. “Get on the ground, I’m not going to ask again, son!” Dean dropped to his knees. Petey ran back and forth, a low growl still in his throat.
Two people came forward out of the kitchen, each with a rifle trained on Dean and Gina. They were an older couple – in their 60s, as least. Probably the owners of the house, Gina thought.
“What are you doing in here?” the man asked. The only menacing thing about him was the gun aimed directly at Dean’s chest. The woman’s gun was aimed in Gina’s general direction, but not pointed directly at her.
“We’re sorry. We just needed food. We thought this place would be abandoned. Please, just let us leave. We’ll leave without a fight.”
“Now anyone can just bust right in,” the man said. He glanced over at the doorframe. “What the hell are we gonna do about that?”
“Let’s just let them go, Ernie,” the woman said.
“We’ll go, we promise. We’ll leave, won’t we Dean?”
“No,” Dean growled. “We need food to survive.”
“Dean,” Gina warned. Let me do the talking. That was what they had agreed on, so many days ago. She hoped that Dean remembered that talk, but right now, it didn’t seem as if he had. Or if he cared.
“We need food, Gina. And look, they have plenty to spare,” Dean said, pointing past the couple into the kitchen. Gina followed his finger and saw that he was right. There were stacks upon stacks of cans lining the walls. This couple was prepared.
“I don’t think you’re in any position to argue,” the old woman said. “We don’t want to hurt anyone, but we will.”
“Okay, we’ll leave. Right, Dean?”
Dean looked conflicted, but then he nodded. Thank you, she said to herself.
“Okay, we’re leaving,” Gina said, trying to soothe the two as much as she could. She got to her feet, wincing in pain. Dean got to his feet, as well. Petey was behind them both, growling at the couple, but not attacking.
“Do you know where we can find some food, or medical supplies?” Gina asked as they made their way to the door.
“There’s a supply warehouse downtown,” the old man offered. “Next to the old post office. It’s unmarked, most people wouldn’t have a need to go in there.”
“Thank you,” Gina said. “Thank you so much.”
“How do you know?” Dean growled. Gina could tell that he was worried it was a trap. She didn’t blame him, but for some reason, she trusted this couple. They could have shot them and asked questions later, but they gave them the chance to walk away unharmed.
“Used to work there, son,” the man said. “Now, don’t be coming back here. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
They reached the door and Dean started growling. “Get down!” he whispered.
Gina immediately complied. The older woman backed off and the man came up to the side of the door, peering out. Dean crouched in front of the door, looking out.
“Well, shit,” the older man said. Gina lifted her head up just enough to see what they were talking about. Outside, the truck from before had pulled up. In the front seat were the two men, with the three in the bed. They were yelling and cheering as they climbed out. Their prisoner was nowhere to be seen.
They were coming right for the house. Gina had forgotten to shut the door. She mentally cursed herself.
“What do we do?” Gina whispered.
“Get back in the kitchen,” Dean ordered. “Take her to safety!”
The older woman grabbed her by her wrist, hauling her towards the back of the house. Gina wanted to fight back, but what good would it do? What could she do? She didn’t have a weapon besides her walking stick and she would do nothing but get in the way. As she was being pulled away, she saw that Dean was pulling off his clothes.
“What the hell are you doing, son?” the homeowner asked. Dean looked at him, his golden eyes glinting in the light.
“I want you to take a shot at one of those men. Kill one, then get back into the kitchen. I’ll handle the rest. Just be sure not to shoot me.”
*
The man, Ernie, looked like he wanted to ask what Dean meant, but he kept his mouth shut and obeyed Dean. He posted up to the left of the door, his rifle aiming outward. Dean was on the other side of the door, now completely naked.
“Get ready,” he said. Then he started to shift. The homeowner’s eyes went wide, but he must have realized what was happening, and instead of running or panicking, he held his ground. When Dean was completely shifted, the man looked at him and nodded.
“Here goes,” he said, aiming.
*
From the kitchen, Gina heard the gunshot go off, deafening her in the house. Already? That wasn’t good. She and the older woman were around the corner, the woman’s hands still as she held the rifle. She looked like she knew what she was doing.
Gina risked peeking her head around the corner. She heard screams from outside from a m
an that had been shot; obviously Ernie hadn’t killed him. And then there was a barrage of gunfire on the house. Gina heard the bullets impacting the walls, the windows shattering. One of the bowls of sugar in the kitchen was hit by a ricochet and was suddenlyed an explosion of white.
Still, Gina couldn’t look away. Dean was on the inside of the wall and he swiped at one of the men who came barreling in, unworried about his safety. Dean’s claws caught him squarely. The man screamed in pain, then his screams turned to gurgles as Dean tore into his throat.
“There’s one coming around back, honey!” the old man yelled. Just a moment later, the back door that led into the kitchen exploded inward, splinters of wood flying across the room. The old woman screamed and aimed her rifle, pulling the trigger as a man tried coming in. He fired, his bullet wildly flying through the air and hitting her in the leg. The woman went down, the rifle sliding across the floor towards Gina.
The man was coming in now, thinking that he had got his quarry. Gina jumped forward, grabbing the rifle, and aimed it up.
Could she do this? Kill a man? She would have to, or she would die. Dean would die. Petey would die. This old couple who had done nothing wrong would die.
The man aimed his rifle at the woman on the floor, who had her hands up pleading, and Gina pulled the trigger. He had never even seen her. The bullet took him in the side of his head. He was dead before he hit the ground.
The older woman looked at her with awe and relief. Gina dropped to her knees in front of the woman, tearing at her pants and checking her wound. It was just a slight graze.
“We have a medical kit in the bag outside,” she told the woman. “It was just a graze. We’ll get you patched up and you’ll be fine.”
The woman nodded, gasping in pain. Gina got up, careful of her ankle, and looked towards the living room. Dean was nowhere to be seen, but the old man was at the door, rifle aimed but not taking any shots.
“What’s going on?” Gina asked, limping up to him, hardly noticing the dead body at her feet.
“I can’t get a shot!” the man yelled. Gina looked past him and saw what he was talking about. Outside, Dean was in his bear form, standing on two legs, roaring. He was swiping at two men, who each held long knives in their hands. They were spinning around Dean, darting in and out, quicker than he could attack back. A third man lay in the yard, screaming in pain, his hands a red mess at his stomach.
One of the men darted in, scoring a good hit on Dean. He turned and swiped, scratching the man’s arm, but not disabling him. The man behind Dean launched, his knife outstretched, and Dean never saw him coming. Gina opened her mouth to scream a warning, but then she saw a brown blur at the man’s feet.
The man screamed at the same time Gina yelled, “Petey! No!”
But it was enough time for Dean to turn towards the man. He swiped a paw out, catching the man squarely in the chest. There was a spray of blood and the man was dead. The last man started to back up, trying to sprint away towards the truck, but it was pointless. Dean growled, and then Ernie aimed his rifle and put a round squarely through the runner’s back. Then he turned towards the wounded man on the ground, who was pleading, and shot him, too.
Gina watched as Dean shifted back, crouching down in the yard. She limped out, carrying his clothes with her.
“Dean! Are you okay?”
“Fine, fine,” he told her, giving her a tired smile. “Just worn out. They didn’t get me good.”
Gina ran her hands over Dean’s body. He was right. He was cut shallowly in a few places, but there was no serious damage done. This time. She handed Dean his clothes and he took them and started to dress.
Petey was at her feet, barking and wagging his tail. “Good job, Petey. But don’t do that again!”
Gina made her way back towards their duffel bag and grabbed the medical kit. She went inside, taking care to take it easy on her ankle, and then dropped down at the woman’s side. She cleaned the wound, stitched it up, and then bandaged it up as best she could. As she did, Dean came in and lifted the dead body, taking it outside.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Gina told the woman. “We had no idea you were still inside. We were desperate.”
“It’s okay,” the woman said, wincing as she got to her feet.
Together, they limped towards the front yard, where Dean and the man were loading up the bodies into the back of the truck.
“We need to leave, soon,” Dean told her. Gina nodded.
“They’ll come looking for these guys when they don’t check back in,” the old man said. “You guys need to be long gone before they start looking.”
“How many men are there?” Dean asked.
The older man shrugged. “Don’t know. A lot. They’re like some sort of gang. They come roaring up and down this road at all hours of the day and night.”
“I’m sorry we brought them to you,” Gina said.
The man shrugged again. “It was only a matter of time. But if you get out of here soon, then we might have some more time.”
Dean nodded and they firmly shook hands. “Good luck.”
The man nodded back and handed him a rifle. Gina and Petey made their way towards the truck and climbed in. Dean grabbed the duffel bag and followed.
“What now?” Gina asked when Dean climbed in and started the truck. “We’re going to be a target in this truck.”
“I know,” Dean said, as they started driving away. “But we owe it to that couple to get the bodies and truck out of their neighborhood. We’ll stash it somewhere out of the way and make our way towards the center of town on foot. With any luck, we’ll stay hidden.”
“I hope you’re right,” Gina said. Dean sounded confident when he said that, but Gina didn’t feel the same confidence that he did. They had barely been in North Williamstown for 30 minutes before they’d had a gunfight with some despicable people.
That gang. She shuddered. All things considered, the fight had gone as well as it could have. But how long would their luck last? Gina didn’t think their next encounter with these men would go as smoothly as this one had.
They had one gun, no knives, no food, and no idea where they were really going. She was injured, though her ankle wasn’t giving her as many problems as it had. And now, they were driving a truck through a dangerous city, loaded down with the men who had tried to kill them, and who undoubtedly had friends who would start looking for them.
They drove for a couple of minutes through the neighborhood, making their way towards the town proper. Dean turned down a side street and came to a screeching halt. Gina felt herself flung forward in the seat and Petey yelped in surprise as he landed on the floor mat.
“Dean?” Gina asked, looking over at him. “What’s wrong?”
Then she turned and looked towards the front of the truck. Things had just gotten even worse.
“Gina, get down,” Dean growled. She didn’t obey. Looking in front of her, Gina saw a scene of carnage. Bodies were strewn across the street, four in all, and above them, stood two men and a woman.
“Hold on,” Dean ordered her.
“Wait!” the woman screamed. She sprinted towards the truck, arms up, tears streaming down her face. “Please, you have to help us!”
Dean started to inch forward, but Gina yelled, “Stop!”
Kenny (Shifter Football League Book 2) Page 88
