Anton tossed her a key. “Alright, room number one for you. It’s at the far end. I’ll take number two...should Sage get her own room?”
Suzannah stepped up and plucked the key from Anton’s hand. “It might be safer if we double up in the rooms. Nowen and the little girl can share a room, and you and I can share the other.” She turned her pale green eyes on Nowen. “I mean, if that’s ok with you.”
“Of course. It makes sense.” Nowen headed out the door. The other two followed her. Anton drove the car down to their rooms, parking it so it faced outward toward the highway. Again they all climbed out, and Nowen joined Anton at the trunk. There were three green duffel bags stuffed into the small space. She hefted one; the weight pulled her arm down.
“What’s in here?”
The blonde man grinned. “Guns. A lot of them.”
She nudged another bag. “And in here?”
“More guns, and ammo.”
“Did you get anything we really need?”
“Of course!” His voice was outraged. “Look, the guns could come in handy if we need to protect ourselves or trade or something. But I’m not an idiot.” Roughly he unzipped the third bag. It was stuffed with water bottles, bags of beef jerky and snack chips, and three or four flashlights.
Nowen grabbed some of the food and water and stuffed a flashlight in her sweatshirt pocket. Anton did the same, and also pulled from under the bags the shotgun he’d used back in Cheyenne. Awkwardly he slammed the trunk, and then looked at Nowen.
“Uh, do you mind...I mean, does it bother you that Suzannah and I will be sharing a room?” he stammered.
She looked at him blankly, confused by the question. “No. Why would it?”
He blushed and looked away. “Nothing. Never mind. Forget I asked.”
“Ok.” Nowen walked toward her room. Suzannah stood near Sage. She was hunched over, talking in a low voice to the girl. Sage seemed uncomfortable, and when she saw Nowen she ran to join her. “I’m staying with you,” the girl said in her low voice. It didn’t sound like a question.
Nowen nodded and stepped up to the door to her room. She handed the food off to Sage and motioned for her to take a few steps back. Nowen pulled her knife free and tested the door. It was locked.
The tumblers clicked at the touch of the key and the door swung open on a small, dark, musty-smelling room. Nowen sniffed the air, and when she was sure it was safe she stepped aside and let Sage enter the room. Next door Anton and Suzannah were watching her. Anton lifted a hand. “If anything happens, bang on the wall and I’ll come running.”
Nowen nodded and closed the door. She examined the room. There were two beds, both made up in blankets, sheets, and pillows that matched the pale blue and yellow walls. The worn carpet had a vaguely tribal pattern, and soft watercolors of buffalo and Indians on horseback were hung on the walls. The air was heavy and still.
Nowen crossed to a small window on the side wall and threw back the sun-faded curtains. The glass slid up with only a little struggle. She looked out the screen, the chopped-off edges of her hair moving in the strengthening breeze.
Sage joined her, standing on a chair and looking out the window, too. Nowen glanced at her, taking in the dirty face and dirty hair. “It’s very quiet,” the girl said.
“Yes, it is.”
Sage traced her finger through the layer of dust on the windowsill. “We lived near a busy street. It was always noisy.”
“Oh? Where was that?”
“Texas. San Antonio.” Sage looked up. “Mama died. Grandma killed her. With her teeth.”
Nowen didn’t know what to say. Sage turned her gaze back to the windowsill, the gentle lilt in her voice making her litany of horrors into a weird sing-song chant. “Papa and me and Uncle Fernando and Aunt Izzy left the city. There were bad guys on the highway going from car to car and taking stuff. Uncle Fernando and Aunt Izzy died. Papa and me kept going.”
“Where was Papa going?”
The girl shook her head. “Anywhere safe.” She blew on the sill and dust flew up in a great cloud. “Anton lied.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“The car started fine. He drove real slow, watching you. When that big man knocked you down, he got the gun and shot the big man.”
Nowen stared at Sage as her thoughts raced. What the hell is Anton up to? And Suzannah...I don’t trust her either. Again the idea of just taking off by herself and heading north came to her, appealing in its simplicity. But Sage was looking at her, and she wasn’t sure she could leave the girl with people she didn’t trust.
“Thank you for telling me that, Sage. Let’s keep it a secret, ok?” The girl nodded. “Let’s have something to eat. And let’s see if there are any washcloths; you and I could use a wipe-down.”
A couple of hours later Nowen lay on one of the beds and listened to the light snoring coming from the other bed. She and Sage had split a bottle of water on a quick wash, and while the girl could stand a full bath, at least her face and hair were cleaner. A dinner of jerky and corn chips was eaten in silence. Sage seemed to have exhausted her desire to speak, although she had smiled when Nowen had given her the clean t-shirt. Once stripped of their dusty covers the beds were fairly clean, and Sage had fallen asleep before Nowen had even turned off the flashlight.
The sounds of night birds and insects came through the window. The breeze had remained steady and refreshing, and if Nowen closed her eyes and concentrated she could believe she was back in her mountains. It was on this thought that she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Nine
Nowen awoke abruptly. Something was wrong.
She lay on the bed in the absolute darkness of the room, and listened. Something had woken her from a dream memory of the months she had spent in Colorado walking down the hospital hallway towards the body in the chair and now it was with some difficulty that she reoriented herself.
Sage wasn’t snoring anymore but, with concentration, Nowen could hear the girl’s calm, even breathing. She turned her head towards the open window and the bottomless silence of the night.
A noise. Stealthy. Silent. Almost silent. It came again, and now she recognized it - a footstep. Not a Rev. Human. Trying to...sneak up on us?
Nowen rose from her bed and crossed to the window, the wolf’s grace helping her move softer than snowfall. She leaned her head against the screen and listened.
Two sets of footsteps, lightly displacing pebbles and gravel as they came from the highway. The steps halted, and she strained to hear any voices. There were none, but the night wind brought the scent of strangers to her. The faintest touches of gasoline and metal were intermingled with the unknown smells.
Gently Nowen pried the screen loose and eased it down the outside wall. She followed the screen, sinking to her haunches in the high grass. There was no moon out, but she drew on the wolf’s vision and as she crept toward the corner of the building the world opened around her in a wash of diluted colors.
She looked across the parking lot. Two men stood near the office. Each of them cradled a long gun in their arms as they motioned toward the rooms. One of them held a small light that flicked on and off a couple of times. They’re waiting for something. What, though? The breeze died off for a handful of seconds, and finally she could make out a few words. One of the strangers, slightly taller than the other, said “...for the signal. Take out the man first. Don’t shoot the women...” and then the breeze stole their voices away from her. They’re bad guys. Good. Nowen pulled her t-shirt over her head, letting it fall in a careless heap beneath the window. She relaxed her control, and let the wolf out.
The night called to the wolf. A thousand different scents filled her nose, a thousand different sounds filled her ears. The near-silent flight of an owl, and the squeak of a mouse caught in its talons. The rustle of a hare through the grass nearby, and the small thunder of deer in a copse of trees further away. The night would enfold her, would conceal her, would nourish her. No. But the oth
er, the human who was her partner and her captor, wouldn’t let her go. With a muted snarl the wolf turned away from the dark.
She flew down the back of the long row of motel rooms, reaching the opposite corner in seconds. Three seconds after that the wolf lay on her belly in the wild grass at the edge of the office and watched her prey. The two humans still stood in the same spot. One of them flashed his light again. The wolf tilted her head and caught an answering flash from the room next to her human’s room. The strange males started quietly across the pavement.
The wolf ran. In the space of a heartbeat she was behind the strangers. She sank her teeth into the calf of one of them and planted her paws on the pavement. The male fell forward, hard, and the wolf smelled blood as his face smashed into the ground. He had time only for a startled gasp and then she was on him, claws digging into his back, sharp teeth clamping onto his neck. She bit, and her jaws met through the male’s flesh and bone. With a jerk of her head his body went limp. The pungent tang of his bladder letting go filled her nose as she opened her jaws and jumped free of the dead human.
All this had taken less than five seconds. The human’s warm blood was still coursing down her throat as the wolf whirled to face the other one. Suddenly there was a bright flash and a roar like a winter storm coming over the mountains. Fire streaked down the wolf’s body and instinctively she leapt aside. The gun discharged again. Run! The wolf turned and darted back into the dark grass.
The door to one of the rooms swung open, and the wolf heard the voice of the male with light fur calling out. The strange male hesitated, and then he turned and ran off into the night. The wolf followed.
The human ran down the dark highway, led by his light. He slowed as he approached a metal box car it’s a car you know that and slumped against its side. The human looked back in the direction he had come from, but the wolf was whispering through the grassy verge, invisible. She swung wide and approached the human from behind.
As with the other one she grabbed the male by the leg and dragged him down. His screams flooded her ears, and somehow he managed to twist around and hit the wolf on her head. Startled, her grip loosened and the human rose to his knees. The wolf snarled and lunged. She sank her teeth into the flesh of his back and yanked. The human’s body fell toward her. She heard the sharp crack of bone as his legs broke.
The wolf watched as the male screamed and thrashed. Enough. Death in the wild was as quick and painless as she could make it. Enough. She killed to eat, and so there was no purpose served in making the prey linger in pain and helplessness. Enough! But this human had hurt her, had threatened her, and she felt a strange and rare desire to keep him in agony - ENOUGH! End it! The wolf angrily shook her head but did as the other commanded.
She ran back to the motel as fast as the pain blazing along her side would let her. The body of the other human lay in the parking lot. The male with the light-colored fur Anton stood over it, his flashlight a yellow beacon in the dark. He’s alone. The wolf trotted across the pavement to the dead human. The male shone the light at her and took a startled step back. “Nowen?” he whispered.
The wolf gave him one spare amber glance. She latched onto the pant leg of the dead human and began to drag the body across the parking lot. Behind the male the door to his room opened, and the female with fur like aspen leaves called out. By the time Anton had looked over his shoulder and then back again to the wolf, she had dragged the body into the tall grass behind the office.
The wolf left the dead human and paced slowly back to the far end of the motel. She stopped below the open window and gave the night a last, longing look. Then the other was forcing her back into the cage and grudgingly the wolf went.
Nowen pulled her shirt back on, running a hand down her side as she did. The wound from the gunshot was healed. She heaved herself onto the windowsill and then paused, examining the interior of the room. Sage, somehow, seemed to have slept through everything. Nowen climbed into the room and replaced the window screen.
She had no more than hit the mattress when there came a banging on the door. Wearily she rose and crossed to the door, opening it just a sliver to reveal Anton’s worried face. “Yes?’ she said.
“Uh, is everything ok?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?”
Suzannah appeared behind his shoulder. Even without the wolf’s senses Nowen could tell that the redheaded woman was upset. Very upset. I wonder why.
“I heard - or thought I heard - gunshots.” Anton’s ash-grey eyes were asking her a question.
“I didn’t hear anything. But noises carry...if they were gunshots, they might have come from miles away.” She lowered her voice. “I don’t think there’s anything else to worry about tonight.”
Anton hesitated, and then nodded. “Ok. I’ll talk to you in the morning, then.”
She closed the door as he walked away.
Nowen leaned against the motel wall and waited. She kept one eye on Sage; the girl was standing where the parking lot met the highway, staring back in the direction they had come from. Inside the room next to Nowen she could hear Anton and Suzannah moving around. She looked at the sky; the sun had been up for an hour, and she was ready to hit the road.
Finally the door opened and Anton stepped out. He held a shotgun in one hand and only glanced at Nowen, not meeting her eyes. “Ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes. Suzannah?”
Anton looked resolutely at everything except Nowen. “Another couple of minutes. She had trouble falling asleep after the...excitement of last night.”
Nowen laid a hand on Anton’s muscled arm. She could feel his skin twitching under her touch. “I’ll go help Suzannah. Would you mind checking the office? They have some souvenirs, and maybe Sage would like something to take her mind off everything.”
The white-blonde head dipped slightly. “Good idea.” He headed toward the office, calling the girl over to him. Nowen waited until the two of them were well away, and then she slipped into the room.
The room looked much like the one she and Sage had shared, except only one of the beds was disturbed. A noise came from the bathroom. Nowen closed the door gently behind her and followed the noise. At the bathroom entrance she paused.
Suzannah stood in front of the small mirror, brushing her hair. She seemed lost in thought. Nowen took advantage of her distraction and stepped behind her. Suzannah saw the movement and, gasping, whirled around, the hairbrush raised like a weapon.
“Oh, it’s just you.” The redhead relaxed. “You startled me! I thought-” Whatever she was going to say was cut off by Nowen’s hand clamping around her throat.
Nowen moved in close. She lowered her voice to just a few shades above the wolf’s growl as she said “Who were those men?”
Suzannah’s already milk-white face drained completely of color. She wrapped her hands around the wiry arm that held her, tugging ineffectually as she choked out a denial.
Nowen shook her head slowly. “Don’t lie to me. I don’t like it. You knew those men; I saw someone from this room signal them last night, and I’m very confident it wasn’t Anton.”
The woman’s pale green eyes swam with tears. “I didn’t have a choice! They made me!”
“Explain.”
“I-I-I met them, about a month ago. The soldier was dead and I thought I was next, the CZs were everywhere. And then, then Willie and Mac found me. They rescued me!” Her eyes pleaded for understanding. “We’d heard about the New Heaven place and we talked about going there. But they didn’t want to join any group and end up as the shit-hole diggers.” Suzannah paused and swallowed; Nowen could feel the muscles of her throat work.
“So they started picking off people going up I-25. They were going to start their own place, but they needed food, guns, drugs, shit like that to get other people to join them.”
Nowen frowned. “All of that is available in any town.”
Suzannah still had her hands on Nowen’s arm but everything else about her had relaxe
d as she told her story. “Yeah, but the fucking CZs are everywhere! It was just easier to sit here and let people bring the stuff to us. The roads are so empty now you can see anything coming for miles. We’d sit up on the roof of this old garage with some binoculars and just wait. If it was people on foot, they would stop them right then and there. If it was people in cars, they’d scope them out, see how dangerous they were.”
“What part did you play?”
“Almost everybody stops for a pretty girl. I’d get a ride, and the guys would follow. Then, when we’d stop for the night or a break the guys would just take whatever we needed.”
“So we weren’t the first.”
Suzannah shook her head silently.
Anger strummed Nowen’s nerves. She tightened her grip, her fingernails lengthening and sharpening as they began to change into claws. The redhead’s eyes widened until they seemed to take up half of her face. The flesh of her neck dimpled around the points of the claws as Nowen dragged her up the bathroom wall. “Your friends were going to kill Anton last night. So why shouldn’t I just kill you right now?” Nowen snarled.
Suzannah’s limp arms fell to her sides but her heels drummed the wall. Like a rabbit in the shadow of a hawk, the closeness of her death was evident in her eyes. She spoke in a pleading whisper. “I didn’t kill anyone. I had nowhere else to go, and they took care of me. I just worked with them. I never hurt anyone. I swear. I swear. And, if Willie and Mac killed anyone, I never knew about it.” Her voice trailed off
“How could you not know?”
“When Willie and Mac showed up, I would go back to the car and wait for them. They’d bring the supplies over and I’d drive us back to our place.” Tears overflowed the pale green eyes and tracked down the woman’s colorless face.”They told me that they let the people go. I believed them.”
Nowen snarled and let the other woman go. Suzannah raised a trembling hand to her neck, and Nowen stepped back and pierced her with an amber gaze. “You were either woefully or purposefully ignorant. Killing you is more trouble than you’re worth. I won’t stop you from coming with us. But I have a goal, and if you do one more thing to keep me from that goal, I will make you regret it.” She turned away from the other woman and crossed to the door. Her hand was on the doorknob when Suzannah called out.
Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) Page 6
