The Extinct (29 page)

He lowered his rifle and stood up, feeling foolish. Glancing around, he could see that he hadn’t been following any sort of trail for quite some time. He was just wandering aimlessly, breaking the first rule of searching the plains.

Walking back through the grass, watching the moon and the stars, he saw movement in the periphery of his vision. A roving mass just to the left a few yards away. He could tell by the width of the part in the grass that it was something large.

Thomas raised his rifle and took aim. The mass was moving closer, crawling slowly along the ground.

It was stalking him.

His finger lightly pressed on the trigger, not pulling it the entire way until he had a clear shot and knew what he was hitting. The movement slowed, and then stopped. The part in the grass stayed in one place.

Thomas watched it. It must’ve spotted him. He steadied the rifle and fired. A whine sounded as a leopard jumped into the air, its body twisting as it howled in pain. The lithe body of the cat landed in the grass and limped away, a large wound adorning its shoulder.

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, and walked toward where the leopard had been. They were ferocious creatures; he’d seen one take on a wildebeest by itself. There were even stories of them killing adult gorillas. Injured, they were downright unpredictable. He saw the leopard hobbling to a nearby tree and he raised his rifle and took a step forward.

As he did, he felt something soft giving way underfoot. Glancing down, he saw a cylindrical shape underneath his boot. He bent down and picked it up, bringing it into the moonlight. It felt rubbery and wet; it was a severed arm.

Thomas dropped the arm and stumbled backward; it was the arm of a Caucasian female, the nails painted red. The flesh looked gray and was flaking off the bone.

He looked at it a moment longer and then turned away, choking back his emotion. Slinging the rifle over his shoulder, he started making his way back to the jeep.

CHAPTER

58

Eric sat still in the jeep, his heart beating quickly and pounding in his ears. The laughter they’d heard had stopped and was replaced with silence. Not even the crickets made a noise. It was terrible silence; unnatural.

“Maybe we should drive off for awhile,” Douglas said. “Then we’ll circle back and try and find Thomas.”

Eric nodded, not taking his eyes off the tall grass and forest that was in the distance. Douglas started the engine and instantly there was a roar and cacophony of laughter. A massive hyena lunged out of the grass.

Eric jumped and fell over Douglas as the beast rammed its head into the jeep, causing two of its tires to lift off the ground. He rammed it again and the metal creaked as the jeep flipped over onto its side.

Douglas screamed as his leg was crushed under the weight of the vehicle. Eric was thrown out and landed on the dirt. The beast circled around the vehicle, drool pouring out of its mouth in long strands as it spotted Douglas on the ground. It approached; Douglas’ screams piercing the night air as the animal put its mouth over his head and bit down. The loud crunch of his skull caused bile to rise in Eric’s throat and he stood and began to run.

He ran along the dirt road, his ankle throbbing with pain, and could see shapes in the grass chasing him. They would run ahead of him and then stop and let him pass just to run ahead again. The laughter was at a fever pitch, saturating the air. It was coming from both sides of the road.

Another hyena dove out of the grass in front of him and Eric nearly ran into him. He avoided the beast’s mouth and ran behind him into the grass. The animal turned and ran after him.

Eric let the grass whip his body as he dashed through it, not looking back. The laughter was circling him, running ahead of him and closing in from behind. He sharply turned to the right and then up, trying to place where the animals were by their laughter. But they followed his movements and ran ahead of him again.

He could see light up ahead and gradually saw the shape of a house outside the patch of grass he was in. Calling on the last of his strength, he dug deep and sprinted.

Eric burst out of the patch of grass and onto a flat clearing. Ten yards away was a white house with a large porch. He darted for it, hearing the snarls of the animals behind him. The porch light was on and it seemed like a beacon in the darkness. His legs were failing him and he was slowing down but he felt the hard wood of the steps as he ran up the porch and to the front door. It was locked.

A living room window was near the door and Eric covered his face and jumped through. The glass shattered and scraped his body and he felt the sting of cuts from his face down to his shins. He stood and ran as he heard a roar in the darkness behind him.

The house was elegantly designed; obviously a vacation house. Eric ran past a small kitchen and saw a closet door in the hallway. He opened it and ran inside, shutting it behind him.

The closet was small and smelled like clean linen and dust. His back was against some shelves and it gave him only enough room so that his body wasn’t pressed against the wood of the door.

His breathing was too loud and he tried to slow it. He put his ear to the door and listened. It was silent at first and then he heard glass from the broken window crunching under the weight of something. Slowly, the sound of deep pants approached him. He could hear the beast snorting, trying to pick up a scent.

Eric looked down to the crack between the hardwood floors and the closet; some light was coming through and he saw a shadow coming close. The panting grew loud as the animal stood in front of the door. It stopped and took in a deep breath through its nostrils. The snout leaned down and sniffed at the floor. Eric held his breath.

Suddenly the sniffing stopped and the beast moved on, and was gone. Eric exhaled and every muscle inside him relaxed. As he took a deep breath the thunderous sound of splintering wood tore through the night and the beast’s head rammed through the closet door, missing Eric’s stomach by a few inches.

Eric was pinned against the wall. He shoved his thumb into the animal’s eye, causing it to howl in pain. The hyena withdrew its head far enough for Eric to open the door and slip out. There was a staircase in the hallway and he ran up as the hyena’s roar echoed through the house. He got to the top of the stairwell and looked back; the beast was at the base staring up at him.

He dashed through the hallway and felt something grip his shoulder.

“Eric!”

He saw Jalani and she grabbed him and pulled him into a room. They ran to the back and Jalani led him up a ladder that went to the attic. They climbed and Jalani pulled the ladder up when they were in the attic, shutting off the entrance with a small wooden door and latch.

The beast crashed through the bedroom door and rummaged through the room, howling in frustration and bloodlust at its escaped prey. It tore the bed apart and smashed in the closets before stopping and staring up at the latch leading to the attic.

Eric stumbled and then wrapped his arms around her. She smelled of dirt and grass but he thought it was the most beautiful smell he’d ever experienced. “I thought you were dead,” he said out of breath.

“I lived,” Jalani said, “but I don’t where anyone else is. Where is Thomas?”

“I don’t know, we got separated. Douglas is . . . Douglas is dead.”

Jalani looked out the only window in the attic, a small hexagonal shape with a thin pane of glass. “We have no food or water. I fear we may soon be joining him.”

CHAPTER

59

Thomas walked along the dirt road, listening to the crickets. He saw a dark shape up ahead and as he neared he saw it was the jeep. And behind it was the other one, both tipped on their sides.

He froze in his tracks and began looking around as he brought his rifle up. It was quiet except for the nightlife of the plains and he cautiously made his way to the jeeps. He could see the remains of Douglas’ corpse, little more than legs caught under the jeep and some bloodstained rags that had been his clothes.

He knelt down and picked up the torn shirt, observing the large claw marks across the chest before dropping it. Thomas sighed and stood up. Off in the distance he heard laughter. It was over a large patch of grass. He took Douglas’ rifle and slung it across his chest before beginning to walk toward the sounds.

The grass hid him well if he crouched low. He kept his breathing to a whisper and stopped every few paces to make sure nothing was following him. When he reached the edge of the patch he could see a house with the porch light on. In front of it were three colossal hyenas.

They were snapping at each other and rolling around in the dirt. One bit the other’s leg and it let out a whelp before nipping at the other’s ear.

The animals rolled and nipped and eventually grew bored. They sat on the ground surveying their surroundings and staring up at the small window of the attic. One finally rose and walked inside the house. The other two promptly lie on their sides and fell asleep.

Thomas began to slowly step backward into the grass, keeping his eye on the two hyenas sprawled out on the ground. They were obviously juveniles. The one they killed the other night was large and male. That meant a matriarch was still out there. If these were like normal spotted hyenas, the matriarch would be the largest and most aggressive of the pack.

Another step and a crunch. He looked down and saw he’d stepped on a piece of dry bark. One of the hyenas looked up, straining its neck and moving its ears to pick up any more sound. Thomas stood entirely still, not even breathing. He could feel sweat roll down his back and tickle his skin.

The hyena lay its head back down, ignoring the sound. Thomas breathed and slowly turned, moving as quickly as he could in a crouching position.

A growl sounded from behind him. He stopped, hearing the deep breathing of the creature behind him just a couple yards. He turned his head and saw the two juveniles on the edge of the grass, glaring at him with their red eyes, a low snarl escaping their lips.

Thomas raised his gun in a slow purposeful motion, aiming at the juvenile closest to him. The hyenas took a step forward, and then hesitated. They let out mournful whines and ducked their heads low. Then they backed away from the patch and sat down on the ground.

Thomas’s brow furrowed and he lowered the rifle. The hyenas were unmoving. They kept their eyes low, as if frightened.

He felt the breath first.

It was hot and wet against the skin on his neck. Drool fell down his back and he heard rumbling coming deep from a great belly. He didn’t turn around at first, he just closed his eyes, and thought of the wife he had lost so long ago.

Thomas took a deep breath and looked up to the moon, enjoying its icy glow.

He turned.

The beast’s mouth stood a few feet higher than his head and its eyes were savage and bare. Its mouth opened with a growl as it tore into Thomas’s neck, lifting him off his feet. He aimed the gun at the creature’s chest but his hands went limp as the hyena crushed his throat, severing the head, and dropped him to the ground.

The beast howled to its clan and they strutted over, and began to feed.

CHAPTER

60

Eric sat with his back against a wall of the attic, Jalani asleep in his arms. She had smears of dirt on her face and clothes but her beauty still shined through like an emerald gleaming through water. He had no watch but could guess that it was probably three or four in the morning. He’d been hearing howls and laughter all night. The hyenas weren’t leaving; they would circle the house, sometimes coming inside and occasionally coming into the room below them.

Eric forewent sleep and stayed up until sunrise. The sun came through the window and filled the attic with streams of warm light. Swirls of dust were in every beam and it had the smell of mildew.

The attic was small and dirty, cluttered with old papers and clothes from vacationers not terribly worried about leaving behind personal items. There was some lingerie in a corner coated with a thick layer of dust and cardboard boxes filled with old paperback novels, brushes, matchbooks, toiletries, and a few office supplies. In the north corner was a stool and a three gallon plastic container of gasoline.

Jalani awoke and smiled when she saw him. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, a grave expression coming over her face when the realities of her circumstances dawned on her and she realized it wasn’t a dream.

“Did you not sleep?” she asked.

“I’m fine.”

“You can sleep now if you like.”

“No, I’m okay.” He glanced around his surroundings. “We should empty those boxes and see if we can find anything useful.”

They went about the task of dumping the contents of all the boxes onto the bare floor. Soon, hardly any portion of the floor was visible. A hunting knife was in one box and Eric tucked it into his waistband. They found an old pack of gum and each had a piece, the gum stale and tasting like dust.

Eventually everything was emptied on to the floor and examined. There was little they could use.

“We’ll need to leave here soon,” Eric said, walking to the window and glaring out. “I think they’ve already left.”

“They won’t leave.”

He turned to her. “How do you know?”

“We’ve killed one of their clan. They will not leave until we are dead.”

Eric turned back to the window. He noticed something out near the grass: a white shirt and boots. They were Thomas’s boots.

“Stay here,” Eric said, running to the latch. He opened the latch and went to climb down.

Jalani grabbed him and screamed, “No!” She pulled him up just as massive jaws snapped shut below his feet. It jumped again, the snout coming up through the latch and pushing his leg but not getting hold of it.