by Mark Tufo
Patches was clawing at something in her side. I was convinced the metal bee had struck her. I could not imagine her small body being able to absorb such a shock. I’m ashamed to say this, but I was trying to figure out if I would miss her or not.
“Did the metal bee get you?” I asked her, panting from distress. Maybe that was my body’s way of telling me I would miss the fleabag.
“What gave it away?” she asked.
“Where?” I moved in closer. I didn’t see any blood.
“Right here.” She was pointing with her claw. She couldn’t turn her head enough to see it. “Oh, Riley, I’ll be with my ancestors soon.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, cat.”
“When you die you see all of your family members again, stupid dog.”
I turned to Zach. “Is that true?”
He nodded.
“I’ll see Santa again?” Ben-Ben whined from below.
He wasn’t technically family, but I saw no reason to make the little dog any sadder. “Sure, and he’ll have bacon.”
“That would be wonderful,” Ben-Ben said from under his paws.
I turned back to the cat. “Move your paw, let me see.”
“You touch me and I’ll stick this in your eye.”
“Move, Riley.” Jess pushed my head away. “Oh, you poor thing,” she said as she pulled a small piece of blood-coated viewer from Patches side. “All better?”
“Who’s the baby now?” Zach asked.
“That…that could have been deadly.” Patches stood back up.
Another bee struck the car as Icely had decided to hit us with something other than his own wheeler.
“There’s smoke coming up from his car,” Patches said, looking out the rear. She was careful to stay mostly hidden behind her seat.
“I-I think he screwed his radiator up,” Jess said triumphantly.
“He’s coming again.” Patches got down onto the seat.
Jess ducked down as Icely shot multiple bees. Near as I could tell, none of them were close. Then my side of the car dipped down and there was a loud flapping sound.
“Flat!” Jess yelled out. “Shit.”
“Flat?” I asked Patches.
“It’s like the car lost a shoe.”
“Is that important?” I asked back. I was really hoping it wasn’t. I’d seen all of the kids play around the yard without them on, even after they would occasionally step in Ben-Ben’s droppings. Alpha-female had a special secluded spot for us to go in the back of the yard. Ben-Ben didn’t care or couldn’t remember; he would go wherever and whenever the mood struck.
Patches nodded back to me in response. “He’s got worse problems, though. There’s heavy black smoke coming from his car.”
“That’s good right?” I asked.
“Yes, except we’ll all be walking soon.”
Icely could move faster than Jess, especially since she was going to have to carry Zach. Plus, he had a fire-arm. This was bad.
“He’s slowing down!” Jess said with excitement. “What was that?” she added as we all heard a loud sound come from the rear of the wheeler.
“Big piece of tire just came off,” Patches said.
A couple of more bees buzzed by the car and then…nothing. I stuck my head to look up, by the time I did, Icely was standing beside his car, melting away into the distance.
“We’re going to lose him,” Jess said happily. “Now I just need to change this flat.”
She was quiet for a moment before she spoke again. “I’ll just go a little further before I do though.”
As the smell of burning wheeler shoe got real strong within the car, Zach began to cough. I was concerned that he was not getting enough clean air. And then, luckily, the smell stopped. It was quickly replaced by a grating sound and a shower of fire behind the car.
“She’s driving on her rim,” Patches said.
How does she know all this stuff? I thought. As long as the wheeler was still moving I was okay with the loud sound and the small fires.
“That’s as far as I can go.” Jess pulled the wheeler over to the side of the hard path. “I hope they have a spare.”
“Spare what?” Ben-Ben asked. “Food packet? Because that would be nice. I get hungry when I’m nervous.”
“Who knew you were always nervous?” Patches asked. “And she means tire. Spare tire.”
“How far back is Icely?” I asked.
“Not far enough,” Patches replied.
Jess got out and opened the side door to get a better look at her brother. “Oh you poor thing.” She kissed his cheek. “I’m so sorry.”
“It wasn’t your fault, sis,” he gurgled.
Jess went to the rear of the car and opened it up, I followed. “I don’t even know what I’m looking for,” she said as she pulled stuff out. “Why didn’t I pay more attention when Dad tried to show me how to do this? Seemed like something I’d never have to worry about. Oh, Dad. I miss you and Mom…and even Daniel.”
Patches had come up beside me; she kept looking from Jess to back down the path we had just come.
“Uh-huh! The jack! Now what do I do with it?” Jess asked.
She placed the ‘jack’ under the car and did something to it that made the wheeler start to rise up into the air. I backed away as did Patches. Ben-Ben was staring at us from the rising doorway.
“This is fun!” he yipped.
“Okay, the car is in the air. Now what?” Jess asked.
No idea who she was asking, even the cat had a blank expression on her face.
“I’ve got to take the wheel off, that’s right.” Jess grabbed a heavy stick made from metal and went over to the flat. “Rightie-tightie, leftie-loosie.”
I shrugged my shoulders; it was funny because Patches did the same. Jess was grunting and groaning. The wheel began to turn, although from her tone I could tell that was not what she wanted it to do.
“He always made this look so easy,” she cried out.
I noticed that the wheeler was moving slightly forward every time she tried to do whatever ‘leftie-loosie’ meant.
“The jack is moving!” she cried in alarm.
“The jack isn’t moving, the car is,” Patches clarified.
The wheeler rode forward a little bit as the jack fell over; there was a crinkling of metal underneath the wheeler as it came down.
“Are you guys alright?” Jess asked, sticking her head into the back of the wheeler.
“That wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be,” Ben-Ben said, jumping out.
“Maybe that’s a good idea.” Jess pulled Zach’s seat with him in it out of the wheeler. She put him down a few feet away from the back end. I went over and gave him a kiss. He looked like he could use one.
“Oh…that makes sense. I should loosen the lug nuts before I jack the car up.”
Ben-Ben was in the middle of the road taking care of some business.
“What?” he asked when he saw Patches and me looking at him. “I have to go when I’m nervous.”
“What don’t you have to do when you’re nervous?” Patches asked.
Ben-Ben grunted out, “Sleep.”
“Too bad. I’d almost never have to deal with you if that were the case.” Patches started to walk away from us. “I’m going to keep a look out for Icely.”
“I got one loose!”
It was some time later when she announced that she had finally got the last one loose. She started to tug on what she called ‘the rim’.
“Sometimes, Jess, you really do let your blonde shine through.” She laughed. “NOW, I need to jack the car up.”
The wheeler went back up into the air. Jess once again started pulling on the rim. Nothing happened. She even feebly kicked it a couple of times.
“It won’t come off!” she screamed.
She smacked it a couple of times with the metal stick and still nothing. She went back into the back of the wheeler and came back with a heavy ended stick
.
“This ought to do the trick,” she said to herself.
The loud gonging sound had me concerned that Icely might be able to hear it and would come running. I could see Patches sitting far up the pathway and she had yet to turn our way. I figured she’d come running if he was.
The wheeler was swaying back and forth as Jess tugged, pushed, banged and kicked the rim. On her last kick she slipped and landed hard on her backside where she began to cry uncontrollably. I went over to her and licked one of the hands that were covering her face.
“Oh, Riley, I can’t even change a flat. How am I going to protect us?” she wailed.
“I thought you were protecting us?” Ben-Ben asked of me.
I shushed the small dog.
“We should go,” Patches said as she trotted up.
Chapter 12 - ICELY
“Piece of fucking shit!” Icely was screaming as he slammed his hands down on the dashboard and steering wheel. Black smoke billowed up from the hood and into the interior, a heavy knocking sound coming from the engine block.
“Can you fix a thrown rod?” Icely asked Schools. “Fine just sit there, you fucking lump, I’ll take care of it myself. What the fuck do I pay you for?” He stepped out of the non-functioning car. He popped the hood and was immediately surrounded by a cloud of acrid engine smoke. Oil was dripping down from the ceiling of the hood. He could hear what little water remained boiling in the bottom of the radiator.
“Well that can’t be good. Schools, man, come on out here and help me will you?” Icely reached out to touch the top of the manifold with a shaking hand. “Withdrawals? Well no reason for that.” He went back inside the vehicle and pulled out a small mirror. “Want a bump?” He offered a rail to Schools. “Maybe it will liven your dead ass up. You’re a horrible co-pilot.” After completing a gram, Icely grabbed his gun and headed onto the open road. “Fuck it, if I can’t drive, I’ll just fly.” He spread his arms out as he walked.
Icely stayed as close to the centerline as possible. He realized he would drift off the road if he didn’t pay enough attention. His lips were cracked and dry. His mouth felt like he had swallowed a tablespoon of sand. His eyes burned and his chest sometimes felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer. Throughout it all, a slow steady pulse of puss oozed from his neck wound.
“Screwed the pooch on this one,” he croaked. “Nope, nope, that’s wrong…the pooch screwed me.” He laughed, an arid sound coming from his throat. Heat shimmered off the roadway giving it a surreal, watery appearance. “Ain’t that the shit? Schools you seeing this? Looks like the Sahara, man.”
At one point, Icely found himself walking through some scrub brush. “How the fuck did that happen?” he asked, coming out of his fugue state. He quickly righted himself. “How long have we been walking?” Icely stopped and placed his hand up by his forehead to shield the sun. Off in the distance he saw something. “It can’t be.”
He was running forward even as he finished saying it.
Chapter 13 - RILEY
“The wheeler isn’t working yet,” I told the cat.
“And it never will. The rim is frozen on.” Patches started walking down the road.
“I don’t see any ice?” Ben-Ben said as he sniffed around the jack.
“What are you doing, cat?” I barked after her.
“He’s coming,” she responded without ever looking back.
The mysterious ‘he’ was not in doubt. However, how I was going to get Jess to abandon the wheeler was a different story. I lightly nipped at her shoulder and tried to pull her towards me.
“What are you doing, Riley?” She looked at me, water still flowing from her eyes.
I pulled harder.
“Stop, Riley!”
“Are we playing?” Ben-Ben asked as he grabbed her side and started tugging with me.
“The both of you just stop it!” She attempted to push us away.
I growled loudly and ferociously as she did so.
“That doesn’t sound like playing.” Ben-Ben let Jess’ side go.
“Get up!” I barked savagely at her.
“Riley, you’re scaring her and me,” Zach said as he began to cry.
“Icely’s coming, Zach, your sister needs to get moving now! Cry louder,” I told the baby.
Jess stood up, partly to get away from me, but mostly to get to her brother.
“I’ve got an idea,” Zach said as he kept crying.
“Icely’s coming?” Ben-Ben asked as he ran over to the side of the roadway.
“Didn’t you just go?” I asked.
“I’m nervous!”
“Zach, are you okay?” Jess asked as she picked him up.
The baby kept crying as she took him out of his seat. She placed him on her hip and hopped him up and down a little, something which generally made him giggle uncontrollably. This time, however, he just kept crying. She placed him up higher so his face was next to hers. Deep-throated cries came from him. I was impressed something so small had so much volume.
Jess began to walk towards the back of the car and somehow Zach found another level. His face reddened with the exertion of getting that volume level. The funny thing was, when Jess started to walk towards the front of the car, he stopped completely. At first I had no idea what he was doing, but whenever Jess did anything but walk straight down the roadway following the cat, he bellowed. She took longer than me to figure it out, but then again, I knew why. As soon as I did know, I joined him. When he cried I would bark and then get in her way if she was not following the desired course. Ben-Ben almost messed it up when he once again thought we were playing and would get in her way no matter which direction she was going.
“What’s going on?” she asked, pulling Zach away to look into his face and then down at me. Maybe it was the cat that finally got her. “Where’s she going?”
“Thanks for waiting,” I said sarcastically to the cat as we finally caught up.
“Took you long enough.”
Chapter 14 - ICELY
“You think this is a trap, Schools?” Icely asked as he came over a rise to see Jess’ car in the middle of the roadway. Then his concern quickly became glee. “Naw, no reason for a trap, the bitch could have just easily left me behind. Looks like her car is out of commission!” His steps, which had been faltering, picked up again.
Chapter 15 - JESS
Hesitation still reigned supreme within Jess. We were headed in the right direction, but she kept looking back. “We have no supplies…no food or water or anything for Zach.”
“We have our lives,” I told her, but I knew without the food and water the time span on even that was limited.
“My feet hurt, Riley,” Ben-Ben moaned.
I was not sure how far we had walked, but I was hurting as well. Patches was stoic even though she would stop from time to time to lick her paws. Jess was getting tired and her footfalls began getting shorter in distance.
“We need to rest, find some shelter,” I said.
Jess went to the side and sat on the heavy metal barrier.
“I’m going to look for water,” I told the group. I crawled under the barrier and away.
Jess said nothing as I left. I could smell flowing water but it was far off and getting Jess to follow me would be difficult. My ears perked when I heard shouting in the distance.
“I see you, bitch!”
Icely, I thought. All thoughts of water were forgotten. I was heading back up to the group when I got a better idea.
“Riley, we have to leave!” Jess cried. Ben-Ben was barking incessantly in warning. I could hear them as they started heading away.
“He’ll catch up or he won’t,” Patches said, as she led them.
There’s the cat I know and loathe, I thought as I stayed off the road and went back towards Icely.
“Don’t run! I want to get this over with!” Icely was laughing. “How far do you really think you’re going to get? How far did you really think I was going to let you
get? Stupid bitch, I would have treated you like a queen! A queen of whores!” And then he started coughing.
I got low, almost crawling as our paths came closer and closer.
“I saw your car! You shouldn’t have driven on your rim, that’s real bad for the suspension!”
“Stop following us!” Jess shouted back.
Icely started laughing anew. “Like that’s going to happen. That baby must be getting heavy. Don’t worry, I’ll lighten your load soon enough. I’m not even going to bury you guys when I’m through…I’ll let the birds feast on your eyes!”
“I hate birds,” I said to him as I crawled back out from behind the metal and onto the roadway. Icely’s back was to me.
He turned; he looked horrible—not as bad as the zombies, but not a whole lot better either. His color was ashen and I could almost feel the fever heat radiating off him from my present location. His red-lined eyes flew open momentarily in fear as he turned to see me.
“You’re still alive? That’s not possible. Now I’m seeing ghosts, first Schools and now you.”
“Oh, I’m alive.” I bared my teeth and got low.
He pointed his fire-arm at me with a wavering arm. He closed an eye as he tried to take aim at me. In my anger I had forgotten to take into account the bee slinger. I heard metal on metal as he pulled the trigger. No loud explosion and certainly no bee. He pulled the trigger again and again.
“Seems I’m out of bullets, mutt. So now what?” he asked.
“Now you die,” I told him as I advanced slowly.
“This is the way it should be don’t you think? Mano-to-dog-o,” he said as he laughed again. “I will not lose my fucking empire to a damned dog. I worked too damn hard to let it go now.” He turned his fire-arm and swung his arm out, I guess to test the weight of it to be used as a club.
