by Mark Tufo
Bees riddled the ground all around us, a couple even biting into Grumper as I turned slightly to make the man the only target available to Icely.
“You’re hitting him! You fucking idiot!” Diana shouted.
“What did you say?” Icely asked, stepping out from his car, his hatred burning brightly.
I saw a chance to escape, as he was fixated on the woman. I let Grumper’s face go. He smacked wetly to the ground as I bounded off into the night. A bee came dangerously close just as I ran down a small slope. It had to be Schools—he was the only one that was not in the escalating argument I heard raging behind me.
“I should just shoot your stupid asses!” Icely was shouting.
“He’s still alive.” Schools bent down over Grumper. I had slunk back up the small embankment to check for pursuit, none of which was coming.
“He’s too stupid to die.” Icely walked over, his heavy gun hanging down by his side. “Well I can fix that,” he said as he fired a bee at pointblank range into Grumper’s chest.
Diana sobbed.
“Let’s go.” Icely rubbed his nose and walked back towards his car.
“When is enough, enough?!” Ned shouted.
“When I say so!” Icely yelled back.
“How many of us have to die because of your wounded pride?” Ned asked.
“At least one more,” Icely answered, menace lacing his voice.
“Ned, get back in your car,” Schools said, trying to keep the scene from unfolding into anything worse than it already was.
“Fuck you, Schools. Grumper was my friend,” Ned yelled at Schools, but he was looking at Icely.
“Bitch, you’d better control your man or you’re going to have a pair of orphans,” Icely warned Diana, not taking his eyes off of Ned.
“Come on, Ned,” Diana said.
The two-leggers wanted to kill each other; I wished they’d just get it done. At least then Jess and the rest would be safe. That was another funny thing about the human animal, what they said and what they actually wanted to do where sometimes very different. Dogs had it right; there was no deception among us. We eat if we are hungry, we drink if we are thirsty, we fight if we are angry and we cuddle if we want comfort. Straightforward and honest…two-leggers could learn a lot from us.
“Ned, you think you can get your gun up before I can blow a hole in your chest?” Icely asked.
Ned stared at him a few seconds longer and got back into his car.
“That’s a good bitch.” Icely turned to get into his own ride.
“That was close,” Icely’s driver Dent said. He’d gotten the nickname because of his inability to keep a car free of damage.
“Shut the fuck up and drive.” Icely grabbed his mirror, and did a couple of quick rails. He leaned back after sucking them up, making sure none of the white lightning shot down his throat.
Schools got in and looked over to the driver who simply shrugged his shoulders.
“Where to?” Dent asked.
“You too? You stupid motherfucker. Same as it ever was!” Icely was yelling.
Schools noticed Icely’s pallor did not have a healthy hue. He thought that could be attributed to the coke, but maybe not.
“Colorado it is.” Dent put the car in drive, pulled out of the gas station and into the night.
Ned was sitting in the driver’s seat staring straight ahead, his body taut as a guitar string. He started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Diana asked nervously.
“We didn’t even get gas,” Ned said through his tears. He hitched a couple of more times—sometimes it was more of a cry, other times more of a laugh—and then he spoke, “You need to cover me.”
“You think that mutt is still out there?” she asked with trepidation.
“I’m positive that fucking mutt is watching us…waiting for an opportunity to rip our throats out. It’s a demon, Diana...no, no I take that back she’s a vengeful angel making us pay for our sins.”
“Don’t go getting all philosophical on me, let’s get the gas and get out of here.” She checked her gun.
“I’m filling this car, Diana, then I’m driving back to Vegas.”
“We can’t, Ned. He’ll kill us. He’ll probably kill the girls…or worse,” Diana pleaded.
“We’re getting the girls and we’re leaving. I’m thinking Montana…maybe we can get on with a militia group. Gotta be dozens of them survival groups up there.”
“How can we be sure they’ll be any better?”
“Really, Diana? Worse than a drugged out psychopath? We’ve already made him mad. Do you think once this is over he’s going to let bygones be bygones? If he doesn’t kill us outright he’ll find a way to do it. We mean nothing to him—we’ve never meant anything.”
“Schools won’t let that happen,” Diana pleaded.
“Huh!” Ned snorted. “He’s just as concerned at saving his own skin as we are. He’s not going to go too far out of his way for us. You’d better believe that.”
“I’m scared, Ned.”
“Yeah, welcome to the club. I’m getting gas and heading back home as fast as I can. We grab the girls and we’re gone.”
“Okay,” Diana replied meekly.
Ned stepped out into the night to my deep bass growl. I was less than three feet away. My teeth were bared, saliva hanging in thick strings. My muzzle was pulled back and my body was tensed like a spring.
“Wha-what’s the matter?” Diana asked the rigid form of her mate.
“I’m a dead man,” was all he said back.
Diana quickly tried to get out of the car. I looked over her way.
“No, no, no!” Ned said to her and then turned to me. “I know what you are. I swear to you on my life and those of my family, I’m through. I’ve done a lot of things I’m not proud of, and it’s something I will have to live with for the rest of my life…which may or may not be that long by the looks of you. If you let me live, I promise I will try to do good, to raise my daughters, to do right by them.” Ned had his front paws raised above his head.
“Ned?” Diana asked tremulously.
“Hush, hon, I’m making a deal with God,” Ned said.
I barked savagely. “Two-leggers are stupid,” I told him. “I don’t know that two-legger…you, though…you I know, and if I ever see you again, I’ll tear your throat out.” I took a step closer so I could get a good clean scent off of him. He went rigid, closing his eyes and raising his face towards the sky. “I’ll remember you,” I barked and turned, melting back into the shadows and heading off in the direction Icely had gone.
Chapter 4 - NED
“What the fuck was that?” Diana asked, finally getting out when she saw her husband move.
“A second chance,” was what he told her as he furiously pumped gas into the car.
Chapter 5 - ICELY
“Where the fuck are dipshit and dipshittier?” Icely yelled, smacking the back of Dent’s seat.
“They still had to get gas, Icely,” Schools replied.
“They should have caught up by now.” Icely bent back down over his mirror. “Pull over. We’ll wait for them here.” Icely snorted again.
Schools got out of the car and started doing the math in his head. They’d driven about twelve miles and it would take somewhere in the neighborhood of ten minutes to refuel the car. “They should already be back on the road,” he said aloud. “Ten, fifteen minutes at the most.”
“What the fuck are you going on about out there?” Icely asked. “Is anyone else cold? Shit.”
Schools walked further away. He heard a door open and was relieved to find out it was Dent.
“The boss is asleep, I don’t know how though ‘cause he did enough coke to keep a sorority up for a week. What should we do?” Dent asked.
“I guess we wait.”
When the ten-minute mark came and went with no sign of Ned and Diana, Schools wasn’t overly concerned. At twenty minutes he was. He was fairly certain the devil dog had gone back to f
inish the job it had started.
“The odds that she was able to get both are slim, especially Diana.”
“You say something?” Dent ambled over. “Say…where are those two?” he asked as if he were just remembering what they had stopped for in the first place.
Schools thought it highly unlikely the two were dead. His cop instincts began to kick into overdrive. No, they left, he thought. They’re heading home for their kids and getting the hell gone. He was angry; not that they left, but rather that he was not afforded the same chance as them.
“Should we get the boss up?” Dent asked.
“Be my guest,” Schools said. “Nothing quite like waking up a pissed off coke hung-over man.”
“Yeah…maybe I should just let him sleep a little longer,” Dent said wisely.
And just maybe that will give Ned and Diana the time they need. They’d better be flying, though. If Icely wakes up and decides to pursue, it will be close. Dent was notorious for hitting shit with his cars, but only at slow speeds and generally when attempting to park. On the open roadway he was damn near a magician. Schools wasn’t sure exactly what Dent did in his previous life but that he wasn’t a racecar driver meant that he’d missed his true calling in life.
Three hours is what they need. Enough time to sustain their lead, grab their kids and get the fuck out. Schools looked over to Icely. His head was thrown back against the seat, white powder coating the base of his nose and upper lip. One errant lick, Schools thought, and Icely will put enough coke back into his system to wake up.
“They’re not coming,” Dent said after a few hours. Both men were sitting on the guardrail. The sun was just beginning to make its presence known
“Who’s not coming?” Icely asked, sitting up groggily.
“Ned and Diana haven’t shown.” Schools got up.
“It’s only been a couple of minutes,” Icely said, wiping his nose. “When did you get so anxious? Sometimes you’re just like a tittering little hen.”
“Boss, it’s been more than two hours, probably closer to three,” Dent said, standing next to Schools.
Icely’s eyes went wide as he extracted himself from the car. “Two fucking hours and nobody thought waking me up was a good idea?”
“What difference does it make?” Schools asked. “We can only pursue one objective, them or the girl.”
“Listen, you little twat,” Icely said, standing directly in front of Schools, “I decide who is worth pursuing, not your little piss ant self. You hear me?”
“I hear you loud and clear,” Schools told him.
“I’m going to skin them alive when we get back, always wanted to try that,” Icely said as he drifted off.
“You still think they’ll be there?” Dent asked Icely.
“Oh, they’ll be there.” Icely snarled. “They’re too stupid to make it on their own…they’re all too stupid, present company included. Especially present company. You smell that?”
Schools wondered how the man could smell anything with the constant flow of drugs up his nasal canal.
“Stupid smells?” Dent asked.
Chapter 6 - RILEY
I’d been moving at a trot—faster than a walk, slower than a run—a pace I felt I could keep up for as long as I needed. Following the wheeler was easy; the wheels left a burnt smell on the hard packed ground that was simple to follow. The small sliver of Wolf Light was falling behind a distant hill when I got the first hint I was not alone. I began to hear twigs snap in the underbrush on the side of the road. At first it was distant and singular and then it grew in volume and numbers. By the time I chanced a look behind me, more than seven zombies were on the roadway coming after me. It was too much to hope that they were tracking the same two-leggers that I was.
I started running faster. I could do this for a while, but I got the impression they could do it forever. I was looking off to my side, deciding which avenue of escape would be best. To my right was heavy underbrush. I’d be able to move fairly quickly through it while they would get stuck. On my left was a small metal barricade and on the other side of that a somewhat steep drop-off. It looked like I could easily traverse it; the clumsy two-leggers, though, well…they’d be falling all over themselves and that sounded like some decent entertainment. I decided to go the way of the hill. I’d drawn up alongside the metal barricade and was just about to jump over when I spotted a wheeler not too far up. The burning-disc was just beginning to glint off the viewers. Three men were around it, and one of them was Icely.
Then I had a better idea, a much better one. The stupid cat would be so proud of me. Not that it mattered. I was going to lead the zombies right to them. I was getting tired, but hatred burns its own fuel, and I had enough of that to go around. It was Icely that finally turned in my direction. I was close enough to hear them.
“What the fuck?” he asked.
Schools turned when Icely spoke. “It’s the fucking Pied Piper.”
I didn’t know what piper meant, but I sure did like pie.
“Kill that fucking mutt!” Icely screamed.
“I think the zombies following it might be more of a concern,” Schools said, bringing up his bee shooter.
“Fuck them, kill the dog!” Icely demanded, his bee shooter waving around wildly.
I’d done my job. The zombies had seen the two-leggers and they were like Ben-Ben’s bacon to them. I was the cardboard-like dog food in comparison. I could probably stop running and be safe now—at least from the zombies, not the metal bees, though. I hopped over the barricade. I thought about hanging around but thought better of it. No matter who won, the victors would come looking for me afterwards and I needed to get some water, food and rest. In that order.
***
“Son of a bitch,” Schools said.
“Where’d the fucking dog go?” Icely asked. Shots were now ringing out.
“We need to get back in the car.”
“Screw that, I want the dog!” Icely shouted. “Did the zombies get her?”
“She jumped the guardrail,” Schools said as he started pushing Icely back towards the car. “Dent, let’s go.”
Dent was unloading his magazine into the oncoming horde. “Got to be dozens of them,” he said in alarm as he fumbled quickly with a jam.
“Come on, man, we have to go!” Schools said to the both of them. He was still trying to wrestle an unbelieving Icely into the car. “We don’t have the weapons or the position to fight that many!”
Schools finally got Icely into the back and Dent wasn’t too far behind. The zombies were within ten to fifteen feet when Dent’s door slammed shut.
“The fucking mutt led them right to us!” Icely yelled.
“It would appear that way,” Schools said with no small amount of admiration.
“My bitch of a grandmother had a dog, thing used to shit on its own damn bed it was so stupid. Not this dog though…no, we come across a fucking dog that’s read the Art of fucking War. What is this shit?” Icely asked, his question laced with doubt. For the first time since he left Vegas he began doubting his reasons for being there. “Just the crash from the drugs, that’s all.” He tried to prop himself back up.
“You say something, boss?” Dent asked. Schools noticed the man was fumbling around with his pockets. The car began to rock as zombies smacked into it from all sides.
“Yeah, I said get us the fuck out of here.” Icely did his best to keep the rising fear and dread from his voice.
“What’s the matter?” Schools asked Dent. The man’s face had paled considerably in the last few seconds. In truth he was starting to resemble the countenances of those that had completely enshrouded the car.
“I lost the keys,” Dent whispered.
“Fucking find them!” Icely screamed. Dent flinched.
“They’re on the other side of the street,” Dent said, pointing weakly to a guardrail they could no longer see. “I put them on top of my pack of smokes. That way I knew I wouldn’t forget them.”
“Hey, dipshit, maybe you could have just left them in the car. Ever think about that? Fucking moron. Well…go get them,” Icely said as if he was telling the man to get a loaf of bread at the corner store.
“Icely—” Dent started and stopped as the barrel of Icely’s gun pressed up against the side of his head.
“You’ll go get the keys or I’ll kill you. It’s amazing how simple things can be.”
“Icely, he can’t get over there now,” Schools said, trying to alleviate the mounting scene.
“You want to take his place?” Icely asked, waving the gun towards Schools.
Schools shook his head.
“Icely, please, man, I don’t want to get eaten,” Dent pleaded.
“I always told you cigarettes were going to kill your ass,” Icely laughed.
“If he opens that door, the zombies are going to get in.” Schools tried another tactic.
“You sure are sticking your nose deep into my business,” Icely said icily.
“Fuck you, Icely.” Schools squeezed the trigger of the gun he had pushed up to the back of his seat. Acrid smoke rose up from the burning material. A stain of spreading blood formed on the left side of Icely.
Icely was staring at Schools, seemingly in shock that his second-in-command had sworn at him or, for that matter, shot him, Schools was uncertain which. Schools angled his pistol to get another shot, but Icely was too fast bringing his own gun around. He fired, hitting Schools in the side of the head. Skull fragments struck the windshield as the deflected bullet broke through the heavy safety glass. Spider-web cracks radiated out from the strike.
“I’m-I’m…d-d-dying,” Schools stuttered involuntarily.
“Was it your brains leaking out that gave it away?” Icely asked. “Stupid fuck.”
Schools’ mind began to race through images of earlier and better times; anything it could grasp on to keep the reality of the unfolding event from panicking him. “The water is so warm,” he said with a faraway gaze.
“Stupid fuck,” Icely repeated as he drilled Schools in the forehead with another shot. Dent was staring in shock. “You haven’t got the keys yet?” Icely said, swinging his gun back around.
