The building had housed various doctors’ and dentists’ offices, according to a directory just past the seating area. Dead plants dotted the passage that led away at a right angle and smaller signs pointed to the elevator and restrooms. Nowen walked down this hall, senses searching for any noise. All the doors that lined this passage were shut. She didn’t try any of them.
The corridor turned right and she followed it down to where it turned right again, heading back towards the front of the building. Here on the first floor with all the doors closed she moved in an inky darkness, relying on the wolf’s night vision to make her way. As she walked up the last hallway before the entrance she saw an open door halfway down the wall. She looked inside.
Anton and Suzannah sat at a small table inside what looked like a staff room. Cabinets lined two of the walls, a mini refrigerator hunched in one corner, and three vending machines sat unlit next to a counter with a sink and a microwave. The wan illumination from a flashlight stuck in a paper cup made their faces look gaunt and ill.
There was a faint smell of rotten food in the air. Nowen glanced at the fridge. Anton raised his hand. “Don’t even think about it. Suzannah opened it and the stink nearly knocked us out. Here,” and he passed her a soda can.
She sat at the table and opened the can. Taking a sip, she grimaced and set the can back down. Anton chuckled. “It tastes god-awful, doesn’t it? Sorry; it’s the only thing to drink we found so far.”
“Have you been upstairs?” Nowen asked.
“Not yet. We didn’t want to go too far away from you and Sage.” Anton replied.
Suzannah straightened in her chair. “Speaking of which, where is that little girl?”
Nowen nodded at the front of the building.
Suzannah gasped and placed one hand on her chest. “You mean to say you left her all alone?” The outrage in her voice struck Nowen as overblown. She nodded curtly, adding “She’s fine. She’s sleeping.”
The red-haired woman rose to her feet abruptly. “From what Anton has told me, that poor little thing has been through hell! She needs someone around to take care of her!” She whirled and stomped out of the room. Nowen watched her go with a kind of bemusement. What was that all about? Sage has been fine on her own without us.
There was a crinkling of plastic and she turned to see Anton holding an unwrapped candy out. She took it and popped it in her mouth; the tangy peppermint made her salivate and the dryness of her mouth eased some. She leaned back in her chair and looked at the blonde man. “Now what?” she asked.
He turned his soda can back and forth in his hands. “Well, we push on, obviously. It’s not that much further. Relatively speaking.”
“Of course. But how?”
“We find another car. Man, I’m gonna miss my Mercedes. Ha!” and here he gave a half-laugh. “Never could afford one before. There’s one good thing from the end of the world - I just walked right on the lot and drove off with what I wanted.” Something he said tickled the back of Nowen’s brain, but Anton continued talking and she lost the thought. “The problem would be that all the cars have been sitting out in all kinds of weather for a year. But if we find a car lot or garage, we could get something running again.”
Anton paused and looked at her. She nodded, and he continued. “Alternatively, we could get motorcycles. Those would probably be more maneuverable through the traffic. However, I don’t know how to ride a motorcycle. Do you?”
Nowen shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Oh. Right. I’ll bet anything Suzannah doesn’t know how to ride one either. She just doesn’t look like someone who hung around with bikers, you know? She seems kinda...delicate.”
Nowen stared at a flyer on the wall that advertised a ‘Christmas in July!’ party and kept her thoughts of Suzannah to herself. “What about biking, or walking?” she asked, after a few moments of silence had passed.
Anton shook his head. “It’s a hundred and fifty miles, Nowen. How long would that take us? A couple of days, at best? Probably longer - I doubt any of us could keep up a hard pace very long. So, maybe up to a week on the road? Nah. Let’s try for a car, first.”
Nowen nodded silently while her thoughts raged. How to explain to this human that the wolf and I are uneasy partners, and that the more time spent in close quarters made it harder to control the wild animal? Walking or riding, while making the journey longer, would give me the space I - we- need from humans and their problems.
She was jolted out of her reverie by a hand touching hers. Anton was looking steadily at her. “Don’t leave us. Please. We need you.” he said softly. But I don’t want to be needed. She sighed, and even though anyone could hear the reluctance in that noise Anton smiled in relief, because her acceptance of his plea was there, too.
“Ok! Let’s go get Suzannah and Sage, and then go find us a car!” he said, drumming his hands on the table. The sound seemed to resonate in the small room, but when he stopped Nowen could still hear a faint, deep thrum. She shushed Anton and concentrated. The noise grew louder, and then Anton’s eyes widened as he heard it too. “What is that?” he said, and then the sound became a rhythmic, steady beat. “Whoa. Is that...Metallica?”
Suzannah appeared in the door. “You gotta come see this!” she shouted.
Nowen shot to her feet. Anton did the same, and they ran after Suzannah toward the front of the building. As they got closer Nowen could hear loud music barely covering the rumble of big engines. Woven through was the chatter of gunfire. Sage and Suzannah stood against the glass windows and Nowen joined them. She felt Anton squeezing in next to her, but all her attention was focused on the slice of highway she could see.
Moving slowly down the road was a strange procession of vehicles. A massive, dirty, yellow dump truck was first in line, slicing through the Revs with the aid of an inverted metal ‘V’ attached to the front of the truck. Next was an equally filthy truck cab towing a flatbed trailer. The flatbed had walls of corrugated metal on its perimeter; Nowen could see people armed with guns firing on the massed Revs from the safety of the walls.
The last vehicle in line was the strangest. A gleaming pickup truck painted in garish shades of red and yellow rode on enormous wheels. ‘Screaming Devil’ was written on the side in jagged letters, and loud music came from the open windows. The Revs were drawn to the music and the engine noise, and trailed behind the convoy where they were easy pickings for the armed people in the back of the truck.
Flying from the antennas or structure of each truck was a white flag with a symbol on it: a gold circle topped with a blue flame.
Anton gasped. “New Heaven! They’re from New Heaven! We gotta stop them!” He darted to the chairs and grabbed both of the duffel bags, then turned and ran for the exit door. “Come on!” he shouted.
“What the fuck, man!” Suzannah shouted back, but she ran after Anton. Nowen looked at Sage. The girl met her gaze calmly. Nowen took Sage’s hand and followed the other two.
Anton and Suzannah had already plunged through the door. Doesn’t anyone think of checking first? Nowen laid a hand on Sage’s thin shoulder and held the girl back as she opened the door and peered out. The passageway formed by the vans was empty of both Revs and people. From the highway she could hear Anton shouting. “Careful.” she murmured to Sage. Together they jogged toward the road.
The Screaming Devil was circling back from the procession. Anton and Suzannah stood in the middle of the road, Anton firing on the few Revs that remained with his shotgun. The Devil stopped next to him. A couple of ropes were thrown over the side of the pickup. Suzannah pushed past him and climbed up one of the ropes.
Nowen and Sage ran across the road to the truck. With Anton’s help she got the girl up and into the safety of the truck, and then she and the blonde man followed. With a roar from the engine the Screaming Devil swung around and sped up the highway to re-join the convoy.
Once the trucks cleared the highway junction outside Billings their travelling speed increased. Th
ere were three other people in the back of the Devil; an elderly white couple and their grand-daughter, who looked to be about the same age as Sage. Conversation was limited due to the wind whipped up by their speed, and after a few minutes of shouting names at each other the seven of them huddled together and stayed out of the way of the armed people. There were four of them, two men and two women, dressed in identical outfits of jeans and black t-shirts. They each cradled long, wicked-looking guns and their concentration was completely focused on the passing landscape.
Nowen watched the New Heaven people for awhile, then tilted her head back and watched the sky. It was a high, clear blue with just a few thin clouds. She guessed it was late in the afternoon; the sunlight was taking on a faint golden hue. A growing excitement hummed along the wires of her nerves, and the wolf surged deep inside in response. Soon. Soon we’ll find out if there are more like us out there.
There was a tugging on her shirt sleeve. She looked to see Sage beckoning her closer. She leaned over as far as she could go, and the girl brought her mouth close to Nowen’s ear.
“Once we get there, can I stay with you?” The soft words were almost lost in the wind. Nowen gazed at the girl, who returned her look steadfastly.
“Do you really want to?” she asked.
Sage nodded.
“Uh, ok. Sure.” Nowen said. The girl smiled slightly, a tiny curve of her lips that could be missed if you weren’t looking for it, and then turned her attention back to the snow globe in her hands. Why did I agree to that? If New Heaven doesn’t give me any of the answers I’m looking for, I’m not staying. The armed people tensed around her, turning to look toward the front of the procession. Nowen rose and looked, too.
The trucks were slowing down. Ahead of them the highway ran off into the distance, where low hills and mountains poked up at the sky. The convoy made a careful turn off the main road and started down a narrower side road. They drove through a forest, the pines and maples and oaks growing thicker as they went. The incline gradually increased until they made one final turn and the trees opened up around them.
Nowen could honestly say she had never seen so many people in her life. An enormous clearing had been cut out of the woods. The distant sound of chainsaws indicated that more forest was being destroyed to make room for the slice of humanity fighting to survive here. Construction seemed to be going on everywhere, and a couple of hundred people moved around New Heaven with intent and purpose.
Campers and RVs seemed to be the lodgings, although Nowen could see the frameworks of small houses further from the entrance to the cleared space. As the trucks trundled in and turned to the right, most of the inhabitants cheered and waved at the new arrivals. The trucks parked near a fleet of other vehicles and the armed warriors jumped out first before helping the others.
Once on the ground Nowen stepped a few feet away and studied New Heaven. The other two trucks in their convoy had rescued travelers also, and as they alighted three women with clipboards, dressed alike in jeans and button-up white shirts, came from the organized chaos of the clearing. They drew the other people, a motley group of every age and color, away from the trucks and towards the clearing. She saw the pale red hair of Suzannah in the group that was led away.
Nowen looked for Anton. He stood near the trucks, talking earnestly to one of the men in the black t-shirts. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but Anton seemed to be making his point. The armed man nodded, grabbed the two duffel bags from Anton, and headed toward the clearing. She walked over to join Anton. Sage stood alone and lost at the rear of the Devil, and Nowen motioned her over.
“What was that all about?” she asked the blonde man.
“Oh, I asked if Isaac was here. I’m sure you want to talk to him and that white-haired woman.” Anton noticed Sage and visibly started. “Whoa! Uh, maybe you ought to run along with Suzannah and those other people, honey. They can get you settled, maybe even find you someone to take care of you.”
Sage moved closer to Nowen, and she laid her hand on the springy wild curls on the girl’s head. “She wants to stay with me.”
“Oh. Ok.” He started to say something else, and then stopped. Sweat beaded his forehead. His eyes met Nowen’s once and then he looked away.
“Why are you so nervous, Anton?” Nowen asked.
“I’m not. I’m not! I’m just glad to be here, finally, and-hey!” He pointed behind her. She glanced over her shoulder to see the man in the black t-shirt waving at them. “Looks like Isaac is here. Great, let’s go.” Anton hurried away.
Sage looked up at her. “Something feels wrong. Like when my Gramma bit my Mama.”
Nowen nodded slowly. “I know what you mean. Keep your eyes open.”
They followed Anton and the other man through the clearing toward a large log cabin that butted up against a stand of trees. The building dominated the landscape, helped by the white sign, as big as a bed sheet, that hung over the porch. ‘Welcome to New Heaven!’ the sign stated, and the symbol of the gold circle topped with a blue flame framed the words.
The black-t-shirt man opened the door to the cabin and then stepped aside. Anton walked through first. Nowen hesitated a moment; the interior of the cabin was murky. But then the wolf caught a scent, a scent of wolf different from her own, and Nowen crossed the threshold blindly.
She was vaguely aware that Sage was close behind, but the drive of the wolf was overwhelming. It was the wolf that cast wildly about, searching through the dim light that came from a handful of lanterns scattered about the large room. It was the wolf that locked on the heady smell of an animal that was like her, wolf and human mingled together, and it was the wolf that ignored her own sense of danger and plunged further into the room, toward a tall figure that glowed white in the gloom.
But it was the human that screamed as cold lightning suddenly leapt through her body, crackling along her nerves and freezing her mind. Nowen fell to the smooth wood floor, her limbs twitching uncontrollably. From a long distance away she could hear Sage screaming.
The floorboards creaked as someone moved towards her. She lay on her side as tremors shook her arms and legs, and from the corner of her eye she watched as a figure loomed over her. The shadowy being stretched down its hand. Blue-white sparks seemed to dance over the dark fingers.
The lightning tore through her again, endless waves of agony, and chased her down a dark hole that swallowed her completely.
Chapter Twelve
Nowen sat on the floor of the cage and watched the man who was watching her. This was her third day in the cage, but the first time the man had come. An icy drop of water fell from overhead and landed on her eyelash; her vision in that eye doubled and trebled, fractals warping the interior of the small hut. She blinked and the droplet fell to her naked thigh.
She sat cross-legged on the concrete floor of the cage. Close-spaced iron bars were welded together to make the sides and top of the cage. There was no room for her to stand, and even sitting as she was there was only a hairsbreadth clearance above her head. Neither could she straighten her arms or legs. It was an uncomfortable space for a human but for an animal it would be sufficient.
Her back was straight, her palms rested loosely on her knees, her face was as still as a windless night. This facade of calmness was hard-fought for, however. Since Nowen had woken up in this enclosure she had been locked in a hidden battle with the wolf. The wolf wanted out and the longer she they were kept in this small space the more crazed the wolf became. Nowen held control by the slimmest of threads, but the dearth of sleep and lack of food were fraying that thread.
A steady drip of water from the garden hose, thrown carelessly across the top of the cage, ran down her back. She fought the urge to shiver. Her clothes had been removed; Nowen guessed that was done to affect her psychologically, but it didn’t bother her. Her stomach rumbled. She was hungry, and the smells of cooking food seeped constantly into the hut. Her concentration slipped for just a moment and streaks of black fur ra
n up her back. She bit down on the inside of her cheek so hard she saw stars. The fur sank back into her skin.
The man seemed to sense her disintegrating control and he shifted almost imperceptibly in his seat. Since he had sat down in the plush, high-backed chair that had preceded his arrival the man had said nothing. Nowen thought he had been sitting and watching her for close to an hour, but her moorings in the waking world were unreliable lately. She and the wolf agreed on one thing: know your enemy. So as he studied her, she studied him.
The man was tall and thin. He wore a suit of deep blue, knife-sharp creases in the pants legs and silver cuff-links on the bone-white shirt-sleeves. A short crop of deep brown hair matched the neatly-trimmed mustache and goatee. His eyes shone beetle-green from under thick brows. His face was all sharp angles and planes, his fingers as he clasped his hands long and bony. Despite all the trappings of civilization he looked to Nowen like nothing so much as an insect in human clothing.
“You are fascinating.” His words were carefully enunciated, like a person who spoke a language that was not familiar to them. His voice carried more weight than his body. He leaned forward slightly in the chair, his pale hands tented before him. “Among the vukodlak you are what is known as a ‘feral’. You were made a vukodlak by another, and then abandoned. You fight with your wolf side, yes?”
Nowen watched and kept silent.
“Yes, you fight with your wolf side. I see it now, in your eyes, in your body.” The man sat back and brought his tented hands to his mouth. “Your two halves are not in harmony. It is not your fault, you see. The vukodlak that made you did a great disservice to you. Understand, when a vukodlak makes the decision...ah. I am getting ahead of myself. First, introductions. I am Isaac Vuk. And your name is Nowen. Or rather, that is the name you call yourself. Correct?” Vuk didn’t wait for a response before he continued. “You have come here seeking answers to your questions. You wish to know who you really are, and you wish to meet others of your kind.”
Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) Page 8
