by AJ Newman
MMax heard the roar, became very excited, and almost caused me to lose my grip. I said, “Easy, boy. We’re okay up here in the tree,” then I said, “Kat, can you climb a bit higher?”
Kat replied, “I’m climbing. Don’t you believe what you told MMax?”
I looked up and didn’t see her but heard her scrambling higher up the tree. “What the heck was that, Jason? It scared the crap out of me.”
“Hon, it must be a cougar or lion that escaped from a zoo. Anyway, it’s a big ass cat, and they can climb trees. Don’t worry; we’ll shoot the bastard and then worry about who hears it. I won’t let the beast get to you.”
The roars coming through the bushes didn’t go unnoticed by the dogs. About half of them ran with their tails tucked between their legs after the first roar. The others crouched down, ready for a fight. There was just enough light from the moon to see the dogs with their backs to the tree and facing where the sound had come from. Suddenly a shadow ran through the middle of the dogs and one howled in pain when the large cat sunk its teeth into the medium-sized dog on the run. One second the dog was there, and the next, the others were confused about what had happened to him.
I watched from above and saw the huge cat carry the mutt off into the bushes, but then I saw two more of the beasts circling the dogs. “Kat, be careful what you wish for. The dogs are being eaten one at a time by the lions. I hope they get full really soon.”
The cats attacked the dogs once more, and the remaining dozen dogs took off in all directions with the lions chasing them. I was ready to climb down when one of the lions walked out of the bushes and stared straight up at us. The lion licked the blood around her maw and calmly walked away to find easier prey.
We waited for a while before we spoke. I said, “I think it’s safe to go down.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. I’m not going to the ground until the sun comes up. Every school kid knows lions hunt at night.”
I replied, “Okay, okay, I guess you’re right. Tie yourself to a limb so you won’t fall if you go to sleep. I’m taking MMax down so he can do his business. He’s been squirming and passing gas for an hour. We’ll be back up in a minute.”
The silence was unnerving. Only the sound of crickets chirping split the eerie silence. I lowered myself to the ground and unhooked MMax. MMax stopped to sniff the air and then relieved himself on the tree trunk. He walked about twenty feet away and fertilized the grass before returning. MMax kept sniffing the air and sat on the ground, looking at me. MMax obviously wasn’t concerned about any immediate danger, so I extended our break for several more minutes.
After about twenty minutes, Kat said, “Get your ass back up the tree! They’re sneaking up on us from downwind.”
“Oh shit,” I said as I hooked MMax up to his rig and started to climb. Again, a tiny hand came down, grabbed the back of my chest rig, and helped pull us upward. I heard a growl below and scampered quickly up the tree. I stopped about twenty feet up and peered down through the darkness to see a lion clawing the tree. Another joined in with the first one scratching on the tree. I looked down and could faintly see my rifle lying on the ground.
“Kat, pass your shotgun down to me. I left my rifle on the ground.”
“Here it comes. Don’t drop it.”
“Smartass.”
Kat snickered. “I don’t see your ass doing any tricks, and I have my shotgun. Where’s your rifle? It looks like I’m the smart one.”
“Yes, dear.”
I felt the gun hit my hand and closed my fingers around the stock. The lions continued to paw on the tree for a short while longer and then disappeared back into the brush. Kat saw them leave and said, “You going down again? Please give me my shotgun back if you go down. I don’t want to lose it.”
I kept my mouth shut, this time.
I didn’t sleep, but MMax snored in his sleep. I wondered how he could sleep with monster cats roaming around, but remembered we had both slept while others had stayed awake on watch. I guess this wasn’t so much different from being in a war zone. I looked up and saw Kat slumped over with her face against a branch. That would leave a pattern on her face for the rest of the day. I suddenly realized it was light enough for me to see her face clearly, even though the sun was still below the horizon.
I decided to let her sleep until the sun was higher in the sky. Maybe the cats would be in their dens by then, and we could high tail it out of here. MMax was still asleep, which gave me time to reflect back on the past few months. I’d fought terrorists, been wounded in an explosion, and survived a plane crash during the first weeks of the apocalypse. The next two months hadn’t been much better. I’d been shot, bitten, and had several friends and loved ones killed. The only bright spots were finding my sister alive and meeting Kat.
It had been only a few weeks since I’d returned with my nephew after my dad, and Michael’s wife and daughter had been killed. I knew I was in some kind of denial because I couldn’t cry. I held back the rage because I didn’t have anyone to blame or kill for their deaths. I had killed most of their killers, and the others had been killed by my friends before they had died. I caught myself feeling pity for myself and slapped my face.
I smiled because I changed my thoughts to the pixie warrior sleeping soundly above me. Kat had started out on my shit list because she was so stubborn and hardheaded. I still held my crotch every time I thought about our first meeting. She thought I was attacking her. Later, we had saved each other’s lives several times, and we’d fallen in love along the way.
MMax stirred, and after looking all around the tree, I climbed to the ground and let MMax loose to roam. He headed away and appeared to be sniffing the ground all around the tree. I kept guard against the return of the big cats.
I heard a noise above me and looked skyward. “Kat, come on …”
She jumped to the ground before I could complete my sentence. “I’m down. Let’s run.”
“Whoa, the cats and dogs are gone. No need to panic,” I said as I handed the shotgun to her.
I drew her near to me and wrapped my arms around her. “Good morning, beautiful. I need my good morning kiss.”
“You do understand the concept of morning breath, don’t you?”
“I won’t breathe. Now, kiss me.”
I gave her a passionate kiss and held her tight to my chest. It was always a bit awkward with her standing on her tiptoes and me bending over a foot to match up. Kissing in bed was much easier and ended up being much more fun. I lifted her up to eye level, and she wrapped her legs around me. We stood there kissing until MMax sat down beside me and whimpered.
I slowly let Kat down and said, “MMax, old boy, you miss Mom feeding you while she cooks every morning.”
Damn, that reminded me about Mom being upset because Kat and I were living in sin. I heard about it every day when Mom was around. I had hinted at getting married, but Kat ignored me. I tossed MMax some dried deer meat and walked up to Kat, who was checking her backpack and shotgun.
I took her hand and kneeled down. “Darling, I don’t have a ring, but I want you to marry me. I promise to give you a ring later.”
Kat said, “Of course, I’ll marry you. Here’s a ring we can use. Your mom gave it to me the other day, and I was working up the courage to ask you to marry me.”
We kissed. “So, Mom has been working on you too?”
Kat said, “I love Mom, but she’s about as subtle as a freight train. I knew you loved me and would ask eventually, but the last thing she did before we left was to hand me her engagement ring, and she said, ‘I don’t want my grandbabies to be born out of wedlock.’”
I thought for a minute, “Doesn’t she know you can’t have children for a couple of years?”
“Yes, but she wants more grandkids. Jason, would you be mad if a child came along?”
“It would be a bad time to start raising a kid now, but we’d do our best to make him safe and raise him the right way.”
“Oh no, the
first one will be a girl. What is the right way? Drinking beer, killing bad guys, and knocking innocent women to the ground?”
I held her close. “No, I meant God-fearing, well educated, and killing bad guys.”
She replied, “Girls also kill bad guys.”
☆
Chapter 2
Smyrna, TN.
MMax didn’t catch the scent of the big cats or wild dogs during the quarter-mile trek to the woods along the highway. He sensed the big cats were smart enough to stalk them from downwind, so he growled every now and then to keep his human alert. The road between his human and the building he watched was wide, and the area in front of them was open, so any attack would come from behind them. MMax stayed vigilant the entire time his human watched the building.
MMax then felt something he’d never felt before. He feared for his pups. The lions could attack the barn. He couldn’t leave his human, but he wanted to go home soon and check on his puppies.
***
“Jason, those dogs were bad enough, but the lions scared the crap out of me. Do you think they came from the Nashville Zoo?”
“That would be my guess. It also means we could run into tigers, bears, and rhinos,” I replied, and then saw something that caught my interest. I raised my binoculars. An old pickup drove across the ninth fairway up to the clubhouse. A man with a rifle and four people were in the back. Two men exited the cab, and the men and women lined up in front of the door to the clubhouse. A man came out of the clubhouse and examined the people. He shoved a woman back to the men and carefully examined the woman he kept.
Kat was curious. “Why did they send the woman into the clubhouse and the other to stand in front of the cart barn?”
It wasn’t funny, but I wondered how naïve my girl was. “Kat, take the binoculars and look at the two women.”
“Son of a bitch, the mother f …”
I interrupted, “Kat, I’ve never heard you drop the f-bomb, much less the MF word. My mom would pass out if she heard you curse like that.”
Kat said, “Those bastards selected the good-looking young one and sent the homely one with the men. My guess is the young one will be their plaything, and the others will be put to work on a farm. How could our government do this?”
“Babe, it’s not our government or FEMA. A rogue FEMA unit and Army men took over their commands and now use them for evil. This isn’t government sanctioned.”
“I’ve been meaning to tell you your mom put me in time out the other day.”
“Do what?”
“My puppy bit me on the arm while we were playing, and it surprised me. I might have said a few bad words. Mom calmly led me to a chair in the kitchen and told me to face the corner for fifteen minutes.”
I tried hard not to snicker and definitely not to laugh. “I told you that Mom doesn’t like cussing. She shouldn’t have treated you like a child, though.”
“I’m not mad at Mom. It’s her house and her rules. I know I have a potty mouth and try hard not to curse around you or the others. I don’t want to be cussing when we have children.”
I laughed and said, “Besides, it’s my job to teach the kids how to cuss.”
She said, “Not funny. Now, what are we looking for on this surveillance trip besides perverts and slavers?”
“Our goal is the same as we discussed with Maria before we split up yesterday. We need info on the enemy’s troop strength, outpost locations, and how many farms they’ve taken over. Oh, also how close they are to our farm.”
The rest of the morning was boring but fruitful. There were twenty-four troops stationed at this outpost, and they processed eleven detainees during the five hours we watched them. Kat wanted to attack the outpost; however, even she realized it would be a suicide mission.
We ate some dried venison on biscuits and slid back into the woods to go to our rendezvous with Maria and the others. The surveillance of the General’s people was a secondary mission. Our primary objective was to find the groups who had met with Zack and agreed to join us in a Mutual Assistance Group (MAG). This accomplishment would make all of the groups stronger and would allow us to start a trade and bartering process.
Our meeting location was four miles north as the crow flies, but was more like six-miles as we worked around the Smyrna Airport and Percy Priest Lake to the old Youth Camp on the banks of the lake.
“Let’s stop and see if we’re being followed by man or beast,” I said, and then added, “MMax is a bit jittery, and that could mean something’s out there.”
Kat said, “Let’s stop and rest a bit. I didn’t get much sleep last night.”
“Okay, let’s climb that antenna and get on top of the building. We can watch for big cats, dogs, and people.”
Kat scampered up the antenna while I hooked MMax to the harness. I didn’t climb up as fast and noticed I was getting out of shape. I worked my butt off every day but didn’t tax my muscles like I’d done before in the Army.
We dropped down below the short wall around the roof and scanned for anyone or anything that might have followed us. MMax was uneasy and tested the breeze with his nose several times. I knew something was out there, but where it was located was the big question. What it was, turned out to be the next question. A few minutes later, I heard MMax growl, and Kat say, “You ain’t gonna believe this shit. There is a big ass lion just inside the woods to your right. See him? There to the left of the blue Corvette.”
A female African lion sniffed the air for signs that we were nearby. If that sucker had caught us on the ground, we’d have been cat poop. I searched my chest rig for a small squeeze bottle of insect repellent. The drops filled with DEET fell to the ground and splattered. I low crawled to the other sides, and one-by-one, I squeezed several drops down to the earth.
By the time I was back by Kat’s side, she had pointed. “The lion is rubbing her nose with her paw. She doesn’t like mosquito lotion.”
The revelation that the lion was hunting humans was unnerving. “Damn, first the apocalypse, then riots and starvation, and now, lions trying to eat us,” I moaned.
Kat quickly said, “Do you think the natives around the world in remote jungles even know there’s an apocalypse?”
Kat seemed to always bring up topics that sounded so simple at first, but then made you dive into some deep thinking. “Darn, that’s a good question. I think most would know something happened and would celebrate the destruction of the civilizations who constantly cut down their forests and cleared their jungles. Then, the starving hordes would descend on them to kill every bird, animal, and fish in their lakes and streams. The intruders would have M4s, ARs, and AKs. The wars wouldn’t last long.”
“Darn your hide. I was thinking about them living in paradise in a simple world.”
I quickly said, “That could also happen if they’re far enough away from civilization. Think about those people.”
“Yeah, right, it’s too late. You polluted my utopian paradise,” she replied.
The big cat approached the antenna, sniffing the ground. The lion smelled the ground where most of the insect lotion had fallen and then snorted and sneezed. The lion took off running.
I said, “Good riddance. Let’s wait for a few minutes and then head on to the meeting place.”
Jones Mill Road led us to the old Youth Camp located on a peninsula jutting into the lake north of the airport. We saw Maria’s guards before they saw us. I raised my rifle into the air and hailed them. They waved for us to join them. Pete shook my hand and said, “Did you run into the pack of wild dogs?”
“Yes, they had us treed for a while. We were afraid to shoot the dogs with us being so close to the General’s outpost,” I said.
“We came up with a solution to that issue. I’ll let Maria tell you about that.”
I couldn’t help but notice his AR had a homemade suppressor on the end of the barrel. “I think I can guess what the solution is.”
Kat saw Maria walk out the door of a dilapidated bu
ilding and motion for us to join her. She said, “Come on, she wants us to come on in.”
Maria’s team had found the two main groups who wanted to join us, and they had invited three more groups. The large room had two-dozen people from around the southeast Nashville area with one purpose, survival. MMax acted kinda strange and then alerted on one of the men. The man said, “Tie that dog outside. I don’t like dogs.”
I replied. “MMax stays.”
The man’s face turned red. He said, “Put his ass outside, or I’ll shoot him where he sits.”
I said, “MMax, watch him,” and then said, “Sir, MMax alerted on you. He only alerts on the enemy and explosives. You can try to shoot MMax, but I have to warn you, he’s a trained military working dog. MMax will tear your arm off if you reach for your pistol. I might add that MMax is my best friend, and I’ll rip you to pieces and shit down your throat if you harm him. Now, be a good boy and let us get on with the meeting.”
The man turned toward MMax, and MMax growled and shifted to pounce on the asshat. The man’s eyes bulged out, and all I could see were the whites of his eyes. He backed up slowly and walked to the door. He stopped, pulled his gun, and before he could fire, MMax clamped his powerful teeth down on his arm and knocked him out onto the porch. The gun dropped to the floor. I kicked the gun away and said, “Who is this man? MMax alerted on him, and there must be a reason. Search him.”
The man drew a small .380 from his boot with his free hand. MMax saw the weapon and shook the man’s arm violently. He got one stray shot off before I shot him in the chest with my 9mm.
“Which group brought this man with them? Search him!”
One of the leaders said, “He’s one of mine. I should’ve known something was wrong with the man. He joined us a couple of weeks ago and asked a lot of questions. He asked about Maria and you. I was surprised when he didn’t recognize you when you walked into the room. I planned to ask you about him later.”
