Isoba stopped the truck. He reached back and opened the door for Samson, then got out his door. He reached in and grabbed his rifle. Frank climbed out his side.
“Be careful,” Isoba warned.
Frank leaned in the cab and grabbed a hunting rifle he had brought along. He pulled back the bolt and rammed a cartridge into the breech.
“Dr. Tomie!” Isoba called out. “Can you hear me?”
“Yes,” the doctor hollered back. “We’re trapped under the Jeep. Dayo’s arm is broken, and I’m pinned down.”
Frank looked at Isoba. “What about Ally?”
Isoba gave him a shrug then yelled, “Hold on! We will get you out!”
“What about the buffalos?” Frank said.
Isoba shouted to Samson. The dog began barking and charged the buffalos. Some of the bovines retreated and scattered into the low shrub. A few decided to hold their ground.
Isoba fired his rifle in the air.
The remaining buffalos turned tail and trotted into the darkness. Samson took off after them and disappeared in the night but quickly returned, chest puffed out and wagging his tail.
With the buffalos now out of the way, Frank and Isoba ran over to the upside down vehicle. Frank stood and held the flashlight while Isoba got down on his hands and knees and peered underneath the overturned Jeep.
“I don’t think we can get out,” Dr. Tomie said. “You’re going to have to figure a way to lift the Jeep.”
Isoba stood and turned to Frank. “I’ll need help with the winch.”
“All right.” Frank stood by while Isoba got back in the cab and maneuvered the front bumper of the truck over to the side of the Jeep.
Frank leaned his rifle against the bumper. He grabbed the hook and began pulling out the cable wound around the winch. He strung the cable over the chassis and anchored the hook on the side of the Jeep.
“Okay, nice and slow,” he yelled over to Isoba.
Isoba activated the winch. The cable became taut and started to wind back onto the spool.
Frank could hear creaking metal as the Jeep rose a couple feet. “Okay, stop!” He got down and looked under the vehicle. “Dr. Tomie, do you have enough room to free yourself?”
“Yes. I think we can crawl out, but you will have to help us.”
Frank reached in and grabbed Dr. Tomie by the arms and pulled her slowly out from under the vehicle. He went back under and was able to help Dayo out as well but then he was surprised Ally wasn’t there.
“Where’s Ally?”
“She went to save Sasha’s cub,” Dayo said. “Back in those trees.”
“What? You mean to tell me you sent her out there?”
“No, Frank. She insisted on going. I’m sorry. I know it was wrong.”
“We have to get Dr. Tomie and Dayo back to the clinic,” Isoba said, rushing over from the truck.
“Wait a minute, we can’t just leave Ally out there.” Frank cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled Ally’s name over and over again but there was no answer.
He kept shouting, even when his voice became hoarse.
“Please,” Isoba said, “I need your help.”
Frank assisted Isoba and they carried the doctor to the rear of the truck and made her as comfortable as possible in the flatbed. Isoba helped his daughter up to sit with Dr. Tomie.
“I have to go find Ally,” Frank said.
“It will be too dangerous in the dark,” Isoba said. “Especially on foot.”
“I don’t care. I have to find her.”
“We will come back, when it is light. It will be easier to pick up her tracks.”
Frank could hear Dr. Tomie groaning in the back of the truck. He wanted to argue the point, convince Isoba to help him go find Ally, but he knew it was futile. Dr. Tomie and Dayo were in great pain and need of medical attention.
He cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled one last time, “Ally!”
This time he did get an answer. The distant roar of a lion followed by a cackling hyena.
He didn’t know which he dreaded worse.
Having to leave Ally out here all by herself…
Or going back and telling Wanda of his decision.
35
Even though Ally tried her best to subdue the fidgety cub, it still managed to free a back paw and scratch her arm. Her little rescue mission hadn’t gone quite like she’d planned. She feared if she put the cub on the ground, it would scamper off, and she would be forced to chase after it.
There was no telling what was lurking out there in the dark—waiting hungrily for something to come its way.
So when she shined the flashlight on the entrance to a small cave, she was relieved. It looked like a good spot to hold up for the night. Once inside, she could finally put the cub down and rest her arm, get the small creature situated where she could guard and prevent it from escaping.
Bending down, Ally shined the light inside the cave. The tunnel was about four feet high and went back approximately twenty feet. She couldn’t tell if it stopped at a dead end or if there was an elbow leading to another passageway.
“Come on, you,” Ally said, gazing into the cub’s face. “We’re sleeping here for the night.” She had to stoop as she entered the cave. She didn’t want to venture too far back. There was a strange but familiar odor inside the cave that she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
She sat down on the hard ground. Keeping one arm around the cub, Ally reached down and unbuckled her belt. After she drew the belt out of her pant loops, she slipped the belt through the buckle and formed a noose. She slipped the noose over the cub’s small head, and cinched it tight enough the baby lion couldn’t pull its head out, but loose enough so as not to choke it.
The cub immediately fought the restraint.
“Now, now, little one. Relax. No one’s going to hurt you.”
The cub continued to tug and hissed at his captor.
“Sooner or later, you’re going to realize that I’m doing this for your own good.”
It took about two minutes of yanking and squirming before the cub came to the conclusion that no matter how hard it fought to get free, it was wasting its time. The cub stopped struggling, and lay on its belly with its chin on its front paws.
“Good boy. See, that wasn’t so hard.”
Ally sat back against the rock wall and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible. The cub inched over and nestled up against her hip. Ally reached down and stroked its fur. It wasn’t long before the content cub began purring.
“Don’t worry, little one. We’ll find your mother.”
36
Wanda was fit to be tied when Frank told her that Ally was still out there somewhere on the savanna. She was so upset that she had even slammed her hand down on a table in the hall, which only shot a jolt of pain through her injured collarbone.
“Damn it, Frank, how could you just leave her out there?”
“Do you think I wanted to? Hell, no,” Frank said, wanting nothing better than to punch something himself. “But Isoba insisted we come back. He said it would be impossible to find her in the dark on foot. That we should wait until daybreak. I felt I had no choice. Besides, there were Dr. Tomie and Dayo to consider. They were in a lot of pain. I’m sorry.”
Wanda glared at Frank.
“Okay, you’re right. I shouldn’t have left her. Please, let’s not fight.”
Wanda turned away for a moment then looked back at Frank. “Promise you’ll find her.”
“I will, I swear.”
“I don’t want to fight either.”
They’d taken a moment to go off into another part of the building to quarrel, leaving Dr. Tomie and Dayo in the examination room.
“We should get back, see if there’s anymore we can do to help out.”
Frank and Wanda went back down the corridor and joined the others.
Dr. Tomie was wrapping wet plaster strips around Dayo’s left forearm that would later dry into a cast. Sh
e was sitting on a swivel stool with her right foot propped up on top of one of the casters. A thick bandage was wrapped around her ankle.
“I took an x-ray. Ally did a great job setting Dayo’s arm,” Dr. Tomie said.
“How’s your ankle?” Frank asked.
“Swollen, but I don’t think it’s broken.” Dr. Tomie looked at Wanda. “Would it make you feel any better if I told you Isoba made the right decision?”
“No.”
“I didn’t think so. If I hadn’t been so worried about Sasha this never would have happened.”
“That’s part of your job. Being a vet. I know how it is. Duty and all,” Wanda said.
Frank came up and put his arm around Wanda. “Don’t worry, we’ll—”
“Hey, you guys!” Ryan yelled, storming into the room. “It’s happening again. Hurry!”
Frank and Wanda rushed out of the room and followed Ryan down the corridor.
They raced outside and ran over to the deck that overlooked the savanna. Celeste and Dillon were gazing up at the stars.
“Over there!” Celeste shouted, pointing at the night sky.
A green streak shot across the black backdrop dotted with white pinpricks of light. Another meteor came down in the north; then another one not too far away.
They continued to watch. Dillon got excited each time he saw a meteor. This time the event lasted slightly longer than the previous night.
“How many was that, Celeste?” Frank asked.
“Thirty-six.”
“That’s more than last night.”
“That’s right.”
“You mean that’s it?” Dillon said.
“Guess so,” Celeste said.
“Bummer.”
“Well, that sure was something,” Ryan said, turning to his mother. “Right, Mom?”
But Wanda’s thoughts were a million miles away.
“Mom, are you okay?”
Wanda turned and said, “Yes, I’m fine.”
Ryan looked around. “Where’s Ally?”
Wanda and Frank exchanged glances.
“We didn’t want you to worry,” Frank said.
“Worry? About what?”
“Ally’s missing.”
37
Ally woke up when she heard the noise. She shined the flashlight deep inside the cave. At first, she wasn’t sure what she was seeing. It looked like a hundred thin stalks of wheat twitching in a breeze though there was no airflow moving through the stagnant cave.
She scooted onto her knees to get a better look and accidentally bumped the lion cub, waking it up. That’s when she heard a multitude of skittering feet.
A horde of long-antennae crickets—each the size of a large man’s shoe—raced towards her. She never knew crickets could get so big. There were so many they had to climb over one another in order to squeeze down the narrow tunnel. They covered the walls and the floor.
Ally went to grab the cub, but it was already going for the crickets and pulled the belt from her hand. “Hey, get back here!”
The cub pounced on a few of the crickets, snapping their spindly legs. Then the large insects swarmed the cub, so many that Ally couldn’t see the young lion.
Ally, too, had to fend off the bothersome bugs. She had handled crickets as a child and never remembered ever being bitten by one. But these crickets were different—they were bigger and had sizable jaws that pinched her flesh like tiny pliers.
She could hear the lion cub yelp under the blanket of crickets.
“It’s check-out time,” Ally said. She leaned over and shoved her hand into the mound of crickets until she felt fur. She pulled the lion cub out of the turmoil and brushed off the crickets still clinging to the hissing cat.
She ducked her head and rushed out of the cave. She ran a few steps before stopping to look back. The crickets hadn’t followed her out. They had no intention of coming out of the cave and had only been trying to scare her away.
“That wasn’t very hospitable,” Ally said.
She was surprised to see the morning sun creeping up on the horizon, realizing that she and the cub had slept soundly in the cave. She turned off her flashlight and stuffed it in her back pocket. Now that it was light, she might have a chance of finding her way back to the Jeep and wait with Dr. Tomie and Dayo until help came. Hopefully the buffalos had grown bored and moved on.
Ally put the cub down. As soon as its paws were on the ground, the cub tried to bolt.
“You’re not going anywhere,” she said and tugged on the belt.
The cub halted and swung around to bite the leather. Thinking she might be able to lead the cub like a dog, Ally started walking, but the cub would have none of it. It twirled around, ending up on its back, and shook its head to get out of the strap.
“I guess this isn’t going to work.” Ally bent down and picked the cub up. She was expecting a fight, but instead the cub calmed down right away. “Well, now, aren’t we the smart one. Why walk when you can get a free ride.”
Ally turned in a circle, hoping to recall anything that might give her a clue as to which way she should go. Nothing looked familiar.
So she headed in the direction of the sunrise.
38
Ryan woke to a pounding on the door. He opened his eyes, glanced out the window and saw that it was light outside. He climbed out of bed, went over, and opened the door a crack to look out. Celeste peered back at him.
“Ryan, I have the keys to the Jeep.”
“Yeah?”
“We can go look for your sister.”
“I was hoping to go with Frank and Isoba.”
“They’ve already gone,” Celeste said, pushing open the door and stepping inside the cottage.
“When did they leave?”
“About half an hour ago. You coming or what?”
“Yeah, but what about my little brother?” Ryan looked over at Dillon, who was still fast asleep.
“Leave him a note,” Celeste said. She went over to the nightstand and opened the drawer. She took out a small notepad and pen and handed them to Ryan.
“Let me get dressed first.” Standing in only his boxers, Ryan grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of loose-fitting trousers off the end of the bed. He put them on then slipped on his socks and boots.
He took the pen and pad from Celeste and scribbled a short note. He tore off the slip of paper and set it on the nightstand by Dillon’s bed.
“Come on, before he wakes up,” Celeste said, standing in the doorway.
Ryan walked across the room and gently closed the door. But when the latch clicked, the noise stirred Dillon in his sleep and he rolled over. The edge of his pillow brushed the note off the nightstand. The slip of paper floated down and fell under the bed.
Outside, Ryan and Celeste ran across the yard to where the Willys Jeep was parked. Celeste handed Ryan the ignition key and they got into the old military four-wheeler.
“Did you see which way they went?” Ryan asked.
“Just follow that compass on the dashboard and go west.”
Ryan started the engine. Before he put it into gear, he looked down and noticed the Geiger counter down by Celeste’s feet, along with her computer bag. “Why are you bringing those?”
“Thought as long as we’re looking for your sister, we might get lucky and come across one of those meteorites.”
“Right now, all I care about is finding Ally.”
“I understand.”
“Okay then. You said west.”
“That’s right.”
Ryan looked at the compass, then turned the Jeep around.
He tromped on the accelerator and headed due west
39
Isoba drove toward the rising sun while Frank gazed through a pair of binoculars in hopes of spotting Ally wandering the plain. Even Samson was on high alert, sitting in the back seat and staring out the side window.
“Is that Gatura’s village up ahead?” Frank asked when he saw the structures.
�
��Yes,” Isoba answered.
“Where is everyone?”
“Let’s stop for a minute.”
Frank continued to scan the binoculars, searching for any sign of life. There was none—no goats, sheep, or chickens. “I wonder if the ants came back and they had to abandon the village.”
Isoba pulled up to the side of one of the dwellings and shut off the engine. He got out of the truck, grabbed his rifle, and opened the door for Samson to jump out.
Frank climbed out on his side and brought his rifle.
“This is very strange,” Isoba said, looking around.
It was deathly quiet. No sound, not even a cicada.
“We better get going,” Frank said, anxious to get back in the truck and continue the search for Ally.
“Not until we look through the village,” Isoba said.
Frank was getting irritated but held back from snapping at Isoba. He knew the man was only concerned about the villagers. Even though it was just after six in the morning, it was already unbearably hot. Whatever could cause the people to leave the sanctuary of their homes and expose themselves to this torrid heat?
Isoba gave Samson a hand signal and the dog darted off between the huts.
Frank walked over to a dwelling and peeked inside the open doorway. The interior was circular in design. A long shelf protruding from the dried mud ran completely around the room, filled with hand-painted plates and weaved baskets. Different patterned rugs covered most of the dirt floor. Against the wall were a variety of mismatched chairs that looked like they had been collected throughout the years.
But there was no one inside.
He went to the next hut. The same.
Frank was about to search the next dwelling when suddenly Samson began to bark and Isoba yelled, “Frank! Over here!”
Judging by the urgency of his voice, Frank knew Isoba had discovered something alarming.
Frank had no idea what to expect when he ran over—certainly not an emperor scorpion the size of a Chevy Suburban with pinchers big enough to pick up fifty-five gallon drums.
The Next World Page 8
