by Tia Wilson
Anne roared and fell down on all fours as her back buckled and bones snapped loudly like dry wood. She turned to Grace and looked at her with darkening eyes and growled. Anne turned and left the room leaving a trail of blood behind her. As soon as she stepped into the corridor gunshots were fired from the far end. Grace got up on shaking legs and peeked around the corner. A lone guard was down on one knee and firing his gun in short bursts. His hands were shaking and bullets punched into the plaster walls and ceiling. Anne was a blur of dark fur as she ran full speed at her attacker.
The man fired another burst and the shots went wide and hit the wall close to Graces cell. She ducked back into the cell rubbing plaster dust from her eyes and heard a painful scream. When she looked back out Anne had fully transformed into a bear and was on top of the man ripping his stomach open. The mans arms slapped at her weakly as the bear pulled him open. Blood was everywhere, streaking the floors and walls.
As Anne delivered the final fatal bite to the man another guard ran around the corner and fired his pistol at the bear. Three shots hit the bear in its side and it let out a might roar and turned to her new assailant. Grace was frozen to the spot and when he fired another shot that went wide it snapped her out of it. This is my only chance to escape she thought as she began to run, glancing back at the bear as she growled and lurched towards the attacking guard.
Grace ran the length of the dull grey corridor and slammed into the door at the end with her shoulder. She bounced back and fell hard on her ass. Get a grip she thought as she got up on her feet and pushed the bar to open the door. Sunlight streamed in and she covered her eyes. She glanced back and no one was on her tail just yet.
Outside Grace clung to the wall and looked across the open expanse of the cattle lot. Early morning sun glinted off massive windows from the building on the other side as she looked in its direction. Two more gun shots were fired from back in the building and without thinking she was off running across the lot. A sharp bark of automatic fire blasted out of the building and Grace stopped and looked around. They have me she thought and expecting to see an army of men pointing guns in her direction. No one was there. She heard the bear roar again, was it pain or triumph? Grace did not know. She turned and ran towards the gate, darting from side to side as she ran, waiting for the pain of the first bullet to sever her spine, or rip through her thigh sending her sprawling to the ground. Her feet tangled together and she went sprawling onto the hard packed dirt skinning her palms and hitting the ground hard with her shoulder. She turned over breathing heavily and her eyes bulged in fear. A guard was standing in the doorway and as she watched him as he dropped to one knee and aimed his gun in her direction. It’s over she thought waiting to her the explosion of gunfire. A huge paw with claws extended came out of the shadows of the doorway and pulled the man kicking and screaming back into the building. Grace got to her feet and began to run again. She focused on the gate up ahead and thought do not look back. She clenched her jaw as she ran expecting to feel the searing pain of a bullet to rip through her flesh.
The bullet never came and she made it to the gate unharmed. Her lungs burned with the effort as she climbed over a metal gate with the initial CW in the centre of it and painted a deep red. She hit the dirt hard on the other side and lay panting in the dusty earth looking towards the building she had just escaped from. Please Anne step through the door she thought as she stared at the dark doorway. She saw faint movement and for the briefest of moments she was sure it was Anne escaping. Two guards exited the building and began looking in her direction.
Grace flattened herself against the dirt and crawled to the side of the road. Once she thought she was out of view she ran hunched over until a bend in the road. As soon as she was fully out of view of the compound Grace began to sprint down the dirt road, her lungs felt like they were filled with red hot needles as she ran down the road. She ran until her legs could carry her no more and then she stiffly walked along the side of the road, ready to jump into the undergrowth at the first sign of someone following her.
After twenty minutes of walking the dirt road connected to a cracked asphalt road. On a whim she took the left turn and began to trudge along the side of the road all concern at being seen was fading as a warm blanket of exhaustion covered her and all she could do was mechanically put one foot in front of the other.. Could Anne have survived she thought, that can be the only reason why no one followed me, she must of killed all the guards. It was the only thing keeping her going if she clung to the idea that her friend had survived. Every part of her body hurt and Grace felt close to collapse. I’ve no idea where I am, she thought as she looked at the road snaking off up ahead and around the base of a distant mountain.
A low rumble echoed from the road up ahead and Grace squinted off into the distance. A cloud of dust was kicked up obscuring the approaching vehicle. I’m caught her panicked mind shouted in shrill voice. She looked around for somewhere to hide, the opposite side of the road gave way to a sharp drop and a rocky plain below. She looked at the dense and thorny bushes crowding her side of the road and her body involuntarily shivered at the thoughts of the thousands of tiny thorns ripping and pulling at her weakened body. She looked around for anything that might do as a weapon. A heavy looking beer bottle stuck out from a patch of grass ahead of her. She kicked it and it rolled rolled in a semi circle coming to a stop by a broken piece of fence. Grace stared ahead frozen to the spot and seemingly unable to decide if she should run or fight. Exhaustion was clouding her thoughts and the idea of running again didn’t seem like much of an option.
The car honked its horn as it turned a bend and the driver saw Grace standing at the side of the road and struggling to stand up straight. The driver waved at Grace as he got closer and began to slow his car. I’m safe, I can’t believe I’m safe she thought as the car pulled to a stop across from her. A man in his sixties dressed in a thick flannel jacket and wearing a dark baseball cap pushed back at an extreme angle smiled warmly towards her. His slate grey eyes emanated a warm friendliness as he looked towards Grace.
“Are you ok Miss?” he asked with real concern in his voice, “If you are looking to get into town its back that way,” he said hitching his thumb in the direction he came from.
“I’m fine,” Grace said trying to hide the shake in her voice, “I got turned around. I think I’m lost. Is it far into town?”
“Walking it will take you all day and the temperatures can drop real low up at the mountain pass. I could drive you there myself if you like,” the man said.
Every fibre in Graces body told her she should get in the car and get off the road as quick as possible, but she couldn’t will her legs to move. She couldn’t trust anyone after what she had been through. “If you don’t mind I think I’ll walk,” Grace said and turned in the direction of town.
“Suit yourself,” the old man said reaching for his keys to start the engine.
The rumble of engines coming from the direction Grace had come made her spin around. It sounded like two or three large vehicles approaching. This could be them she thought as she waved across to the man. “Do you mind if I take you up on your offer?” She said crossing the road to his side.
“Hop in,” he said opening the passenger door for her.
“I’m Bud,” he said offering her his hand.
“Grace,” she said shaking his warm soft hand.
He nodded and smiled and then tilted his cap back further and started the engine. Grace looked in the rear view mirror waiting for the moment when Tulimak and his men turned the corner armed to the teeth and ready to recapture her.
As the car pulled back into the road Bud nodded at Grace and said, “Seatbelt.”
She obliged him and said, “I hope I’m not taking you out of the way?”
Bud clicked his tongue and shook his head, “I was only out for a drive and maybe go for a walk in some of the trails back there. That can all wait. If I’m being honest I would have been worrying all day about you
walking the distance into town. Walking can wait for another day, helping another person can’t and shouldn't.”
“I wish more people thought like that,” Grace said. No vehicles were visible in the rear view mirror and the further on they drove Grace could feel a weight lifting off her.
“I know it’s none of my business but what where you doing all the way out there alone?” Bud asked.
“I had a fight with a friend. I told her I couldn’t stand to be around her anymore. So she dumped me on the side of the road and bailed on me,” Grace said looking straight ahead as she lied.
“She doesn’t sound like the kind of friend anyone needs,” Bud said oping the glovebox and taking out his phone.
Grace looked as he dialled a number on the faded keypad. He’s calling Tulimak she thought as she looked on at the slow unfolding terror. Her whole body felt like it was drenched in a cold slimy sweat and Grace put her hand on the door latch and looked out at the steep incline on her side. When he slows at the upcoming corner maybe I can jump out and escape into the woods before he has a chance to chase me. He’s an old man he wont be able to keep up she thought as she tensed every muscle in her body and prepared herself to jump.
Bud looked over at her and winked and said, “I’m calling the wife, let her know I’ll be back early and under her feet,” and he smiled at her.
Grace felt all flight leave her body and she slumped back in the chair. He’s just and old man she thought as she held her shaking hands in her lap.
“It’s me honey. I’m on my way home,” he said and paused, “no, theres no problem. I picked up a hitchhiker and I’m bringing her into town.” He paused and listened and smiled over at Grace and then spoke into the phone, “I should be back in town within the hour. I love you too.” Bud put the phone back in the glovebox and nodded at the road ahead. “My wife, she gets worried about me sometimes when I go off on walks on my own. I think she thinks I’m going to be eaten by a bear,” Bud said slapping his thigh and laughing. “Pretty far fetched don’t you think?” he asked Grace.
If only he knew what was really out there Grace thought to herself and said, “It’s good that she worries, shows that she loves you.”
Bud cracked a smile as he drove and said, “We’ve been together thirty years now, we wouldn’t stay with each other if it wasn’t for love. Do you mind me asking, do you have someone special in your life?”
Grace looked at her reflection in the side window and allowed herself a brief smile and said, “Yes there’s someone in my life. It’s all so new at the moment and,” she paused for a second and then said, “work commitments have kept us apart lately. I hope he’s back by the time I get back home.”
Bud gave her a warm smile and said, “The beginnings are always special that’s were the fire comes to power the rest of the relationship. Where do you and your special someone call home?”
“It’s a small town up north. This is going to sound a little strange, but where are we exactly?” Grace asked.
“Canada. 100 miles or so from the border. The town we are heading to is a place called Blaketon. Do you know it?” Bud asked.
Grace shook her head.
“It’s a beautiful place full of friendly people. Do you plan on sticking around or will you be heading north?” Bud asked.
Grace looked at her tired looking reflection and thought this guy asks so many questions, I know he’s just being friendly but I wish he would let me sit in silence. “I don’t think I’ll be hanging around for long. I want to get back home as soon as possible.”
Bud nodded his head and seemed to be satisfied with her answer. They drove on for a few minutes in silence and Grace stared out the window feeling her self relax with every mile they got further from the compound.
20
Tulimak
Tulimak stood in front of the third floor window that looked over the compound. In the past this building had housed important members of the white bear clan who had been given the privilege to run the cattle farm and abattoir. It was a centre of business for the clan and the cross roads where shifter and human commerce where formed. The running of the compound was only ever awarded by Tulimak's father Tannis to his most trusted of generals. This was all before the assassination of the shifter who had ran the compound for ten years. A rebel faction of white bear clan members had formed believing they had a better way for the clans system of power distribution to be handled. For a whole year they brought terror and uncertainty to the clan as they waged a campaign of war against the senior members. It all culminated in the death of Grayson Kline, a shifter who had been part of Tannis’s inner circle for over a hundred years. Once Tannis rooted out the upstart group his punishment was swift and brutal. The culprits where disposed of in public executions until Tannis felt that the clan had its fill of blood soaked retribution. The last surviving members of the splinter group where never seen again by any other clan members. Since the rebel faction was found and destroyed the once bustling compound now sat idle, used only when Tulimak needed a place away from the prying eyes of the clan.
He stood with his hands behind his back as he looked across the compound. Directly below the window where the empty pens that used to hold thousands of heads of cattle waiting to be processed. The wind licked up eddies of red dust as it blew across the wide open enclosures. At the far side of the cattle pen was a gate leading to a long building painted a deep dark red. The cattle were lead into this building and moved along its length until they turned a corner and passed through a heavy plastic partition. Lying ahead for the cow was death and the processing of its carcass. Tulimak looked across at the building that had once housed the killing floor and the abattoir. The building was the size of an aircraft hanger and at peak efficiency thousands of heads of cattle passed through the front door and then left through the back door packaged and ready for distribution. On the second floor the building housed basic accommodation for the hundreds of migrant workers the compound employed. Men who had come to America for a better life and the hopes of a better future. The men toiled away for low pay and only the unluckiest ones ever stumbled onto the fact that they where working for shifters.
Once the compound had stopped being used as a working cattle ranch and abattoir Tulimak had gained control of the place. He had the inside of the main building stripped down and had built several sound proof rooms where he could continue to conduct his experiments. The end of world war two had also brought an end to easy access to subjects for him and for a couple of decades he had stopped exploring the outer reaches of some of his wilder theories. When the failed coup happened Tulimak say the opportunity to acquire the compound and all its land. It was the perfect location for him to start up experimenting again as it was so remote. More importantly no one in the clan wanted it anymore, what had once been seen as one of the greatest of honours when guardianship of it was granted by Tannis, had quickly become a place that most of the clans generals were not interested in having ties to anymore.
Shifters could be a superstitious bunch sometime and Tulimak knew this, thats what made getting the compound and making it his all the more useful. Once it was in his hands he was able to think about restarting some of his programs that the unfortunate end of the war had brought on. Tulimak thought of the compound and its huge swatch of land as his own oasis away from the eyes of the old guard clan members, the men who had stood with his father side by side for generations. These same members now watched Tulimak take his fathers place as head of the clan,while barely disguising their hostility towards the regime change.
A time will come when I no longer need any of them Tulimak thought as he stared fixedly at the building across from him. He could feel the change coming like the inevitable changing of the seasons. His father had been in control for too long growing complacent with the clans position in the human controlled world. To Tulimak it looked like his father had lost the drive that had brought the white bear clan to such heights as they secretly accrued power hundreds of years ago
in both the new and old world. Then something happened to Tannis and his son noticed a change creep over him. No longer did his father speak about conquering the humans, much to Tulimak's disgust his father began to talk about a time in the future when maybe shifters and humans could live side by side. Gone was the talk of subjugating the humans and it was replaced with an idea of harmony, and living side by side with the lesser creatures. Tulimak had been kept out of all discussions between the old guard and his father when a less aggressive stance was first suggested. I could never live side by side with a stinking and grovelling human Tulimak thought, how could I ever treat a base creature on anything like equal footing. Shifter and human kind where never meant to live together, I would rather bring the world to war before I ever allow the great white bear clan to try to integrate with a human run world.
A door on the ground floor of the opposite building opened. Tulimak picked up a pair of binoculars on the sill beside him and focused on the slowly opening door. A face peered out from the gloom and then a woman took a shaky step outside. Her legs seemed to nearly give way beneath her and she leaned back against the wall breathing hard. Tulimak refocused the binoculars and the womans image came into such sharp focus that it looked like she was standing right before him. The womans clothes where streaked in blood and her eyes where wide with fear. “Grace my dark skinned beauty,” Tulimak said in a whisper as he watched her, “your life of horror is only beginning “
The door opened behind Tulimak and he didn’t turn around, he was transfixed as he watched Grace lean against the corner of the building as she looked around for a path to escape. Slattery joined him by the window and looked out across the empty cattle lot.
