Eli ran his hand over his bald head. “Naw. Naw, y’all take what you need. I can pack you up some food, too. Gots more canned stuff than I know whats to do with.”
“Thank you, Eli. Sage, you stay here with Eli and help him with the food. Suzannah, let’s you and I go through the clothes.” Nowen stood up from the table.
“Nowen?” Sage looked up at her. “Where are we going?”
Nowen opened her mouth and then found herself at a loss for words. Tell the truth. “Honestly? I have no idea. Away. As far away as we can get from New Heaven.”
Nowen, Suzannah, and Sage looked over the supplies they had gathered. Night had fallen, clear and cold, and they used a flashlight to check everything in front of them. Eli’s house had concealed a wealth of tote bags but no backpacks or duffels. Nowen had rigged the three bags they were taking with carrying strips torn from a spare sheet. The loads would be uncomfortable but could be carried on their backs without too much trouble.
Suzannah nudged one of the bags. “Sage, honey, there’s more than just canned chili in there, right? ‘Cause while I do like chili, it plays havoc with my insides.”
The girl nodded seriously and dropped to her knees next to the bags. “Yes. I got corn, beans, peas, carrots, and asparagus.”
“Asparagus?”
“What?” Sage looked up at Suzannah, her face half-shadowed. “I like asparagus.”
“Both you and her are weird.” Suzannah said with a nod at Nowen. “And you got some water?”
Sage nodded again. “What about you guys?”
“Oh, we got clothes, and some flashlights and matches, and a couple of knives from the kitchen. And a first-aid kit. Crazy old man had eight kits in the bathroom alone! God knows what else he’s got in this house.”
“With luck we can scavenge for more supplies on the way.” Nowen said. “The question remains, though: which way? North?”
“To Canada?” Sage asked. “I heard at New Heaven that the cold slows Revs down.”
Suzannah mock-shivered. “Hell no! Let’s go to California.”
Nowen smiled. “Crossing the Rockies might be a problem. Let’s start off by heading north, and get as far away as possible from New Heaven.”
The red-haired woman chuckled. “Well, ain’t much of a plan, but it’s all we got. Now, I’m so happy to be wearing clean clothes, I plan on sleeping in them.”
Nowen looked down at herself. Among the masses of clothing she had found several pairs of jeans that were long enough to fit her legs. The extra jeans and three Montana State University sweatshirts had gone into her bag. She wore a fourth MSU sweatshirt, one with a hood and deep pockets. A pair of brand-new sneakers, just out of the box, over thick socks completed her ensemble.
Sage spoke as she struggled into her new clothes, a pair of boy’s khakis and an oversized sweater. “Those clothes you have, Nowen? I think they belonged to Amanda. Or, I mean, Eli kept buying them for Amanda.”
Nowen looked at her. “Who’s Amanda?”
“Eli’s daughter. She died in a car crash like, six years ago. Her and her little boy. I think that’s why-”
“Shhh!” Suzannah’s urgent whisper cut through the room. “Listen! You hear that?”
Nowen listened. The rumble of a powerful engine, getting closer. Nowen scooped the flashlight off the floor and hit the power button, plunging the room into darkness. She could hear the rapid breathing of the other two, matched by her own. The engine noise was regular and stationary now, coming from the front of the house.
There was a moment’s silence, and then it was shattered by the sound of the front door banging open. Nowen heard Eli’s voice, raised in indignation. Someone else was shouting at the old man. Nowen flinched at the touch of a small hand on hers, and then Sage was pulling her down to her level and whispering in her ear. “Let’s go!”
The argument from the front of the house escalated, the voices growing louder and angrier. Nowen counted three or four distinct voices, demanding information. She grasped Suzannah by the shoulder and leaned in close. “Grab your bag and put your shoes on. We’re getting out of here. Now.” The other woman pulled away and then the sound of shuffling material was heard. Nowen repeated the instructions to Sage, and then climbed over the bed to the window.
She flipped the latch and pushed on the frame. The window, swollen with age, gave way reluctantly and with a loud scrape. Nowen found the bottom of the window frame and eased it up as carefully as she could, wincing inside at every squeal. Something fell over in the living room with a shattering crash. Sage gave a muffled scream, but her outcry was swallowed by Eli shouting. “Where are they?!” one of the intruders roared in response.
Vuk! Nowen shoved frantically on the window frame but it refused to go higher. Tears filmed her eyes. She could hear somebody saying ‘no no no no’ over and over and as she shoved upward again on the window she realized it was her. A splinter drove into her palm but she ignored the spike of pain and mindlessly pushed on the window.
Suzannah was next to her suddenly, wrapping her cool hands around Nowen’s scorching hot ones. “Shh, shh, honey. It’s ok. The window’s open enough for us to get out.” the woman murmured and drew Nowen back from the window. Nowen clasped her trembling hands together and looked at the gap between the window and the sill; it would be tight but they could squeeze through.
She joined Suzannah in easing Sage out the window first. The girl touched the ground and ducked into a crouch. Suzannah passed one of the tote bags out to her and was reaching for another when a gunshot echoed back from the living room. Nowen shoved her at the window. “Go! Go!” she urged, and then followed the woman through the narrow gap.
The moon, a few days past full, was cresting the trees. It spread moonlight across the weedy back yard as Nowen ran for the fence. There was a stretch where the weathered boards had snapped like matchsticks and Nowen pushed through the break. A quick glance up and down the alley showed shadows speckled with moonlight. Nothing moved, and she reached back and helped Sage and Suzannah out into the alley.
She grabbed one of the girl’s hands and headed across the alley toward the house directly behind Eli’s. There was no fence here and she led her companions through the back yard and alongside the house. She paused at the front edge of the house and peered down the street. The moon illuminated nearly all of this block. There were a few cars and trucks parked in the street but nothing was moving. She looked straight ahead; more houses. Nowen glanced back at Sage and Suzannah. She pointed at the houses across the street; at their affirmative nod she took off.
The pale silver light showed her the way was clear of obstacles but made her feel horribly noticeable. She ran flat out, reaching the dark cover of some overgrown shrubs next to her target house’s porch. She sank into the shadows and turned around, just in time for the other two to reach her. Nowen held up a hand to stop them and looked back the way they had come. She couldn’t see Eli’s house but there was a soft orange glow haloing the house they had first run to. She pulled air deep into her lungs and smelled a faint whiff of smoke.
Nowen whispered “Keep moving.” and turned on her heel without waiting for a response. She moved down the side of the building, pausing again at the corner and looking carefully around. The smell of rotten flesh swept over her just before the Rev grabbed her.
Moldering fingers dug into her sweatshirt as the Rev pulled her forward. Nowen went with the movement, overpowering the creature’s unsteady legs and forcing it down to the ground. In the moonlight she could see that the Rev, so far decayed it was impossible to tell what it had been before, was missing its lower jaw and most of its throat. Its blue-green-grey tongue flapped against exposed nerves and frayed muscle tissue.
Nowen grabbed the Rev’s head between her hands and twisted it sharply to one side. She could hear the fragile bones snap and the body grew limp beneath her even as the yellow eyes continued to roll in their sockets. She crawled away from the Rev and stood up.
A blinding
light demolished the night. It seemed as wide as the sky, and she stood pinned like a butterfly on a piece of cardboard. An amplified voice boomed out from behind the light. “There!” The words reverberated through her skull and slid through her veins like shards of ice. “There she is!”
She couldn’t move. All that existed in that moment was the voice, the voice that belonged to the man that had kept the wolf me us us captive and would not let them be free. The cage would be next, the cage and the pain and the darkness, and the wolf us us us would be broken completely or die.
Without warning she was flying backwards to land in the rank grass. Someone was over her, a woman with fly-away red hair who slapped her, hard, across the face. Nowen blinked and remembered where she was. “Suzannah?”
The woman hauled her to her feet. “This ain’t no time for a nap, honey. Move your ass!” Suzannah barked. The bright light was moving closer and now Nowen could hear the sound of engines and people shouting orders at each other. Sage grabbed one of her hands and Suzannah took the other, and together they ran toward the alley and then down it, moving away from the New Heaven members as fast as they could go.
Chapter Nineteen
Nowen lay under the car in a puddle of oil-sheened water, all that was left of a storm the night before. In one hand she clutched the handles of a black tote-bag, her meager finds barely weighing the bag down. In the other hand she held a rock. The water still held a chill despite the unseasonable warmth of the day, and she shivered involuntarily beneath her soaked sweatshirt.
The shuffling feet of Revs, some in battered shoes beneath frayed hems, some bare and marked with bloodless cuts, passed before her viewpoint. The Revs were restless, stirred from their lethargy by the warmth and the near-constant growling of engines. The patrols, six convoys of two heavy vehicles each, had been moving up and down the streets of Bozeman since the night Eli’s house had gone up in flames. In the four days since Nowen, Suzannah and Sage had escaped from the New Heaven guards they had only covered about a mile.
Nowen watched the progression of Revs. She hefted the rock in her hand; about the size of a baseball, she had scooped it from a decorative planter just before she dove under the car to avoid a Rev. She had to create a distraction to clear a path; Sage and Suzannah were waiting at their hideout, a block and a half away. It might as well be in another state. Between the Revs and the patrols-
As if thinking about them had brought them into existence, two vehicles turned onto the street. Nowen was at the north end; the patrol, two yellow construction trucks set high up on massive wheels, rolled down the road from the south end. The rumble of their engines bounced off the houses and buildings that lined the street and the noise they made was amplified by loud, strident music emanating from the cabs. The purpose of their slow, discordant procession was obvious in the mass of Revs that followed them. Lurching and stumbling but drawn on by the noise, the undead seemed to be pouring out of everywhere. From her position under the car Nowen could see the wheels of the trucks, and behind them the staggering feet of the Revs. Damn it. How many are there - twenty? Thirty? Plus the black-shirts. Damn!
The trucks approached her hiding space. Nowen flattened herself as much as possible, her chin resting in the oily water. Don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop. Revs in front of the huge vehicles were dragged under the wheels, the crunch of bones almost as loud as the music and engine noise. Some of the Revs weren’t killed, just damaged, and even then the creatures still kept moving, dragging their shattered and smeared bodies in the wake of the trucks.
Nowen realized she was holding her breath. Foolish. They can’t hear you breathing. Still, she didn’t take a breath until the macabre parade passed her, paused, and then turned at the intersection and headed west. A cautious glance revealed the street in front of her was clear. She pulled herself forward and free of the car.
There came a creak of metal above her. Nowen flipped onto her back just in time to see a short man leap from the roof of the car at her. He landed lightly, planting a leg on either side of her. He wore a black sweater over grungy cargo pants, and a black ski mask covered his head. In one hand was a handgun, pointed at Nowen’s head. In the other hand was a small walkie-talkie.
When he spoke his voice was slightly muffled by the fabric of the mask. “Well, fuck me sideways if this isn’t my lucky day! Bringing you in should be worth a few hours’ entertainment in the red tent-”
Nowen drew her knees to her chest and then pistoned her legs out, connecting a solid blow on the man’s crotch. She expected him to scream and collapse; instead he took a half-step back and laughed. The hand with the walkie-talkie reached up to his head and pulled the black ski-mask free, revealing a head of short-cropped brown hair over a woman’s bony face. The woman laughed again, stained yellow teeth flashing behind her lips. “Nice try, but I don’t have that equipment! Now, let’s get you get back to camp.” She brought the walkie-talkie to her lips.
Nowen kicked out with her right leg, slamming her foot into the woman’s knee. The woman cursed and stumbled to the side. As her foot dragged across Nowen’s stomach Nowen grabbed the thin ankle and twisted. The violent movement threw the New Heaven guard off-balance and she fell with a shriek.
Nowen rolled forward onto her knees. The other woman had dropped the gun but still held the walkie-talkie. Got to stop her from calling for help. Nowen threw herself across the woman’s body and reached for the device. The woman hissed “No way, bitch!” and punched Nowen on the mouth with her free hand.
Starburst of pain spread through her face and the saltwater-copper tang of blood seeped across her tongue from where her teeth had clipped her lip. She tensed, waiting expecting the wildness of the wolf to flood her veins and nerves.
There was no response.
A dizzying sense of loss curled through her brain. There was no time to mourn what was gone, though - in the bare handful of seconds that she had waited for the wolf the other woman had nearly pulled free of her hold.
An insensate fury fueled her actions. Nowen drew her own fist back and then drove it into the woman’s stomach like she was trying to reach the pavement beneath. The woman gasped and instinctively hunched her body forward. The walkie-talkie slipped from her hand. Nowen straddled the woman, kicking the device away, and begin to pound the woman’s face. Incoherent and jumbled thoughts and memories of the wolf’s our time at New Heaven flashed behind her eyes.
It was only the sound and feel of the other woman’s nose shattering beneath her fist that drew Nowen out of her fugue. She realized she was panting. Her hands ached. She looked at the woman; the face beneath the blood-splattered brown hair was a pulped mess. One eye was swollen shut. The nose was off-center. Specks of yellow dotted the mangled lips. Teeth. Those are pieces of teeth.
The woman’s undamaged eye was closed, but as Nowen watched the eyelid opened and a muddy hazel orb stared at Nowen with hate. The battered mouth parted. “You can’t get away from him. He’ll never stop looking for you.” Her words were slow and agonized but the venom in them still shown through. “And when he’s through with you, and kills you, I’ll be right there, watching and laughing.”
Nowen rose to her feet, moving to one side of the woman. She looked up and down the street. The patrol hadn’t returned but something else caught her eye. She turned her gaze back to the woman lying on the pavement before her. “Vuk may catch me, and he may kill me, but you won’t be there.” she said, and then slammed her foot down on one of the woman’s knees.
The crunch of the knee-cap beneath her sneaker was louder than the woman’s gurgle of pain. Nowen stepped back as the New Heaven guard tried to roll onto her side. Nowen scooped up the discarded walkie-talkie and then glanced around for the rock she had been holding earlier. It was back by the rear of the car she had sheltered under, and she walked over and picked it up before returning to the woman.
“Hey.” she said and nudged the woman in her side. When the one, hate-filled eye was focused on her she pointed d
own the street. The brown-haired head rolled slowly in that direction, and when the woman saw what Nowen had seen earlier the hazel eye widened.
Three Revs were at the north end of the street, stragglers from the great mass that had passed a few minutes before. Once the noise of the trucks had moved on they had grown quiescent and now stood swaying slightly, purposeless. Nowen nudged the woman again. “Watch this.” she said and then threw the rock as hard as she could.
Her aim was perfect. The rock flew in a smooth arc to crash through the windshield of a van halfway down the street. Glass exploded with a sound like shattering ice. The Revs’ heads whipped around and their leaf-yellow eyes locked on Nowen. One of them moaned and began to make its slow way toward her; the other two followed.
“Please, don’t!” the woman begged. Nowen looked her in the eye, once, and then grabbed her by her uninjured leg and dragged the woman out into the middle of the street. She let her go and stepped back. The blonde woman groaned and struggled to rise. Nowen waited until she was sure the Revs had noticed the injured prey and then she turned her back and walked away, swerving by her temporary shelter and retrieving the tote bag.
She moved into a jog as, behind her, the Revs’ moans grew louder and tangled with the breathless screams of the New Heaven woman. The path back to the others was clear of patrols and Revs, and less than five minutes after leaving the woman Nowen was slipping through the back exit of a two-story building.
The place had once been a combination thrift shop/food bank, judging by a handful of flyers Sage had found in a small office on the first floor. Like all the other buildings that Nowen and the others had checked on their escape route, everything of value had been stripped away by other survivors or New Heaven. All that remained in this building were broken appliances, cell phones, and computers. And even most of those had been ravaged for parts.
Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) Page 14
