He stared at her blankly. “Why would we be? Georgia had talked to them and we trusted her, what with her having been in the army and all. They stayed with us for a couple of days, and told us about Heaven.”
“What?”
“Oh, no, no, not like the bible Heaven, or anything. See, these people are a search party. They’re from a new place being reclaimed from the dead for us, the living. It’s up north. It’s called New Heaven, and they’ve got military there, and technicians, and doctors, and they’ve already got electricity back. And the leaders have sent out search teams to bring anybody back that wants to live there!” As the young man spoke his face grew brighter and brighter until it almost glowed. His eyes didn’t seem to see her but looked past her at a wonderful vision for his gaze only.
Nowen snorted. “And you believed them?”
“Yes, of course. Look, they could have killed us all, or forced us to go along, but they didn’t. They shared their food and water with us. They even gave us some of their medical supplies. This whole thing is on the up-and-up.”
Her momentary interest was waning. The young man’s story of a paradise for humans was wishful thinking at best, a horrible lie he’d been told at worst. Either way, it didn’t matter to her. “You haven’t told me how you know what I am.” she said.
“I heard it from someone.”
Her forehead wrinkled in consternation. “Heard it? From who?”
“A girl the New Heaven people had picked up a couple of days before they found us. Her name was Zoe.”
Nowen froze. The image of an angry young woman with purple-and-green streaked hair flashed through her mind. “Zoe.”
Anton nodded. The sun was falling toward the horizon and painting the rocks a soft reddish-orange, and with the approaching night the wind had sprung up. He shivered and hunched his shoulders, shoving his hands further into his pockets. Absently Nowen wondered why he didn’t just put on his jacket. “Yeah, Zoe. Evidently they found her sitting in a pick-up truck on the highway near Longmont. She seemed pretty out of it every time I saw her.”
“What did she say about me?”
“Well, the second night the New Heaven guys - New Heavenites? - were there our group and theirs were just sitting outside, sharing stories of what we’d seen since the Flux started. So this chick, Zoe, told about what had happened to her and these people she was with in some place called...Tile Sidie or something.”
“Tie Siding.” Nowen said.
“Yeah, that. Some of the stuff she was saying sounded like what other survivors rescued by the New Heavenites had said. Crazy guys kidnapping or killing people, destroying settlements; you know, scary shit. So we’re all nodding and listening and then...then she starts talking about a strange woman who’d joined their little group of prisoners. Tall, black hair, yellow eyes, looked like an Indian, mean and cold-blooded. Got some of these prisoners killed, too.”
Nowen closed her eyes for a moment as rapid-fire pictures flipped through her head. Standing in a junkyard as a slight man with pale, pale, ice-blue eyes told her to kneel and beg for a life to be spared. Not her life, but that of the young man with dark skin and dark hair that kneeled next to a dead man, the first victim of the maniac with the cold eyes.
Dropping to the dead grass and begging, never moving her gaze from that of the young man’s.
A crack of thunder and the warm blood splattering across her face as the young man’s body fell forward.
Anton was still speaking, and she dragged her eyes open and focused on his words.
“...and they ended up at an overrun refugee center, and that’s where Zoe saw this strange woman change into a wolf. When she told us that, we all just looked at her like she was crazy. She started screaming that it was true, all true, and that we couldn’t trust anyone. One of the New Heavenites took her away, to calm her down, I guess.”
The reality, the meaning, of Anton’s words finally sunk in, and Nowen struggled with the sensations of anger and despair that swept over her suddenly. She glared at him, her mouth twisting into a snarl. “And that’s how you know what I am?”
He stared at her, his eyes widening as he took in her anger. “Yes. I mean, I didn’t believe her, but she seemed so sure that -”
Brusquely Nowen cut him off, lunging forward and wrapping her hands around his shoulders. She pulled him close, lowering her face to his. His eyes were enormous ashen ponds, and she could smell the fear coming off him in waves. “And that’s all you know? You don’t know anything about who I am? You have nothing for me, nothing at all?!” As her anger grew her voice dropped lower, the words shaping into something akin to a growl. She felt stupid, thinking that this man, this human, could be the one to finally crack open the door to her identity. And then she felt foolish, for even caring about who she’d been. Isn’t that what I’ve been telling myself? That it’s better not knowing, not worrying? Or have I just been lying to myself all this time?
Nowen couldn’t handle everything that she was feeling and thinking. Her mind whirled around like a mad animal trapped in a cage, and she took her confusion and hate out on the man standing before her. She tightened her grip and heard his collarbones creak under her assault. When she spoke this time her voice cut the air like claws through fragile skin. “I should just kill you where you stand. I don’t know what game you think you’re playing, goading the wolf in her den, but you are messing with something you know nothing about.” It took a great effort to release him, to drop her claws hands and step away. “Leave, now, and never return. Or I will kill you.”
Anton’s harsh breathing drummed in her ears as she turned her back on him. The sun was sitting on the horizon, and the sky overhead was streaked with gold and orange clouds. Nowen drew in a breath of clean, pine-flavored air and starting walking down the path, her bare feet leaving no mark.
“Wait!” the anxious cry came from behind her. She didn’t stop. The night was fast approaching and even as she walked she could feel the bones in her body straining to change. Ribbons of black fur began to spiral up her legs.
“I need your help!” Anton cried.
“I don’t care!” Nowen spit out through a mouthful of sharp teeth.
“Please!” The crunch of footsteps on twigs came to her. The fool is following me. Fine. I’ve had enough of humans. Let’s show him what happens when you poke a wild animal. The fine bones in her hands popped and cracked as they began to lengthen. More teeth sprouted from her gums as her face began to change, her nose and mouth stretching forward as her skull shrank.
“Please! I need your help!” The human’s voice was all desperation and despair. The sound of footsteps paused. For a single moment there was nothing but silence. Then he spoke.
“You’re not the only one.”
Chapter Three
“Tell me everything.”
“Again?”
“Again.”
Anton sighed and looked down at the chili can in his hand. He ran a finger around the metal edge, collecting a few bits of meat that he sucked down. He dropped the can carelessly next to the fire pit and leaned back.
The night wind soughed through the tree tops, sending the flames dancing and casting crazy shadows around the clearing. The yipping of a coyote, several miles away, made the wolf anxious to run, to hunt, and Nowen pushed those desires down with difficulty. She placed her own can of chili on the ground next to her. She had only picked at the food, finding the taste of the meat and beans oily and unpleasant. The same could not be said for the man seated across the fire pit from her. She watched as he took a pull from a water bottle before he finally looked at her again.
“Ok. The leader of the group of New Heavenites who came to our neighborhood was called Isaac. He’s the one that told us of the settlement and invited us to come live there. He had a pet, a dog that was with him always. It was a gorgeous dog, big German Shepherd-looking thing, with pure white fur. The dog had weird eyes, though - one blue, one green.”
Nowen closed her own e
yes as Anton spoke, visualizing the scene as he described it.
“The night that Zoe talked about the werewolf, my group smiled and laughed, ‘cause it all sounded completely insane. Isaac’s gang, though, didn’t. I was sitting next to him, and when Zoe mentioned you, he straightened up and tensed like he’d been stabbed with a fork. The rest of his people all looked very intense, too. Hell, even the dog looked interested!” Anton paused and took another drink of water.
“And then?” Nowen said when she felt the pause had gone on long enough.
“Well, not long after that out little party broke up. The New Heaven guys were moving out first thing in the morning. I’d had a little too much to drink, so I just stayed in my lawn chair and dozed off. Sometime later I woke up. I heard people talking quietly, nearby. I was still really drunk, so I just sat there and watched. Isaac and Zoe came from around one of the Humvees. Isaac was talking to her, asking her about the wolf-woman. He looked really interested. His dog was with him.” Another pause and Nowen opened her eyes and looked at Anton. He was staring into the fire, and when he started speaking again his words were strong but his voice was distant.
“They finished talking, and Zoe headed back to the vehicles. And then...ok, there was a little light from the fire, and the moon was out too, and I wasn’t that drunk...Isaac looked at the dog, and then the dog...changed. One second there was a dog, and then the next second there was a woman.” He looked at Nowen, his confusion evident on his face.
“What did she look like?”
He shrugged awkwardly, tilting his head to the side. “She was naked, and she had long white hair. She and Isaac talked quietly for a few minutes, and I couldn’t hear a thing. Once she glanced over at me, and I did my best to sit as still as a Fluxer. The light hit her face just right, and I could see that one eye was green, and one was blue. Then she and Isaac walked off down the street. I figured I’d either had too much to drink or not enough. I grabbed another beer, just in case, and went inside my house.”
Nowen caught his gaze with her own. The young man stared back guilelessly. If he’s lying, he’s doing an incredible job. “And you couldn’t hear any of what they were talking about?”
He shook his head slowly.
Anxious energy swarmed over her. She rose to her feet quickly and Anton flinched away. She ignored him and walked a few feet from the fire pit. If he’s telling the truth, then I’m not the only one. And if there’s someone out there like me, maybe...maybe they know who I am.
“Where is this place?” she asked without looking back. When there was no answer she glanced over her shoulder at Anton. He was hunched forward, the firelight turning his hair to red-gold.
“Where is this place?” she asked again, placing each word precisely. She turned to look at him.
Anton wouldn’t meet her gaze. He spoke directly to the fire. “I can show you the way.”
“Or you can just tell me.”
“No.”
Nowen crossed back to the fire and squatted next to the young man. Her voice was quiet but her words were colored with her growing anger. “Tell me where this place is.”
Anton looked at her. Rank fear rolled off him in tactile waves, but when he spoke his words were shaky but firm. “No. I’ll show you. I want you to help me get there.”
Nowen blinked, surprised. “Why?”
“Because I doubt I’ll make it there by myself. See,” and he looked earnestly at her, “I have no illusions about my survival skills. I was lucky to survive the initial outbreak because of where I was living. The trip up here...I was terrified the entire time. I ate in my car, I slept in my car, hell - I would have shit in my car if I didn’t think it would have grossed me out. Finding you? Pure luck. Three weeks ago I had just made it to Laramie. I was parked at that big Wal-Mart, trying to decide if I was brave enough to go inside and scrounge for food, when I saw you.”
Less than a month ago? Was that the last time I was human? And I forgot so much of myself in that short span of time? “What do you mean, you saw me?”
“I saw a big black dog - or what I thought was a dog - go into the store. And then I saw a tall, black-haired woman come out. I’d been there for an hour or so, and never saw the woman go in. And suddenly that crazy story told by that crazy chick made sense.”
Nowen sank from her crouch to sit on the ground. She held her hands out to the warm glow of the fire as she asked, “And how did you find me?”
Anton gave a half-laugh. “I got a pair of binoculars, and I headed in the direction I saw you - the human you- go, and I searched. It was actually easier on my nerves, being up here in the mountains. No Fluxers.” He shrugged. “And then, like most of the good things in my life, happy coincidence. I saw the wolf, and tracked you back here.”
Anton fell silent. Nowen tilted her head back and looked up. A handful of stars were visible, and as she watched one lone streak of light arced across the black sky. She closed her eyes and looked inward. The wolf was awake, amber eyes gleaming like the fire. For once, the wolf looked interested in what the humans had been saying. Do we go? Do we find others like ourselves?
“You want to travel with me, for protection. How do you know you can trust me?” Nowen opened her eyes and looked at Anton.
He returned her gaze, openness written on his broad face. “No matter how else Zoe felt about you, you saved her life. I don’t think you’re a bad person. And, honestly, I don’t see what you would gain by killing me.”
She stared at him for a few moments, a spare handful of seconds that stretched on into infinity. Finally she sighed. “Fine. We go together.”
Anton grinned widely. “Great! Thanks!”
Nowen rose to her feet and walked away. “Get some sleep. I’ll want to get an early start.”
“Where are you going?” he called after her, as she disappeared into the dark.
“To get something to eat.”
Chapter Four
Nowen and Anton walked down the shaded path that led from the clearing toward where Anton had left his car. She had spent most of the night as the wolf, scavenging off a dead mule deer she’d found the day before, and napping out under the stars. Returning to her den just before dawn, Nowen had changed and dressed, then sat down and waited for Anton to wake.
They reached the tiny parking lot, about a mile from where they had started, and Anton, who had been as silent as Nowen during the walk, grinned and pointed. “There it is! Nice ride, huh? It’s a Cabriolet. Mercedes. I wanted the Roadster but Mom said she didn’t want to spend that much money on something I’d probably wreck in a month.”
Nowen turned her attention on the car. It was a bright metallic silver with a red top. Low-slung, close to the ground, and fragile-looking. Mud was splashed along the sides but the vehicle looked to be in good shape. She walked around it as she asked “How far did you come in this thing?”
Her back was to Anton, but she could hear the slight hitch in his voice as he answered. “About a hundred, hundred-and-fifty miles.”
She ran a finger over the smooth slope of the hood. “Did you run into a lot of Revs?”
“What?”
Nowen glanced at the young man. His cheeks were flushed.”Revs. Uh, the dead.”
His face lightened in comprehension. “Oh! Fluxers. You call them Revs?” At her quick nod he smiled. “I like that better than Fluxers. Or what the Kaminski brothers called them: motherfuckin’ goddamned sons-of-bitches. Well, I started off on the back roads, thinking that would be safer. But at one little farmhouse, where I stopped to siphon some gas from a tractor, a whole family of Revs came staggering out of a barn after me. So, after that I got on the highway. There at least I could see the damned things coming after me if I had to stop.”
Something seemed off to Nowen, something that Anton had said. “How long did it take you to get here?”
“Two days.”
She looked at him fully. “To go a little over one hundred miles.”
Anton slid his hands into his
jean pockets. The jacket was tied around his waist again. “Well, yeah. I kept running into road blocks and traffic jams. Once, the highway was completely blocked for half a mile with wrecked and burned cars. I had to backtrack.”
Nowen leaned back against the car and crossed her arms. She fixed him with a steely glare, letting a little of the wolf show through. “Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t like to be lied to or manipulated. You’re already doing one of those; don’t push your luck by lying to me also.”
Anton sighed. “Believe it or not, there are worse things out there than Fluxers - I mean, Revs. Worse things even than women who can change into wolves. And I spent two whole days in Ft. Collins hiding in my car from them.”
“Hiding from whom?”
Anger and something else - she thought it was shame - laced his words when he answered. “People. Bad people. Riding around with guns and doing...things. I don’t want to talk about it.”
Some deeply-hidden part of her wanted to needle the young man. “Well, if there are bad people out there, I’m not sure I want to take this trip.”
Anton looked at her with startled eyes. “You can’t back out now! I won’t let you!” He pulled his right hand out of his jeans and plunged it into a pocket of the jacket tied around his waist. When he drew his hand out again he held a big black gun. He pointed it at Nowen. “You’re going to help me get to this New Heaven!”
With an effort Nowen kept her outside demeanor calm. Inside, however, her nerves thrummed like harp strings. Anton held the gun steadily on her although she could see the slight tremors that ran through his hand. She looked at him, really looked at him for the first time, and saw something that made her uncomfortable with the memories it brought. Anton was a person that, for all his good-natured behavior, was stretched to the breaking point, and in that he resembled a woman she had known very briefly a few months ago. That woman, too, was barely hanging on, driven to the edge of insanity by the harsh and unforgiving new reality. She had wanted something from Nowen that Nowen didn’t have to give. It had ended badly for the woman, and Nowen was a little surprised to find that she didn’t want to have it happen again.
Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) Page 2
