Wolf Running (21 page)

She led Zoe through the hall. Stepping on the bodies was inevitable; they crunched underfoot, dead leaves and insects on an autumn forest floor. The faint lingering odor of roasted bodies made Nowen’s
no, not me, the wolf’s
mouth water. Zoe’s breathing was harsh in her ear as they picked their way toward the back of the hall. The urge to go faster was almost overwhelming as fresh air came through the gap.

They crouched next to the collapsed wall and surveyed the back parking lot. A handful of Revs wandered among the small number of cars here. Beyond the end of the lot was a row of buildings and, behind that, the interstate.

Nowen turned to the young woman next to her. “Zoe, we’re going to make a run for it. We can get to the end of the lot without the Revs seeing us. Just go from car to car. Quietly.” Zoe nodded and took a deep breath. “Got it.” she replied.

They made a dash for a dirty red van, sinking to their knees next to the back wheels. A quick peek around the bumper showed that the Revs had still not noticed them. Zoe pointed at an eighteen-wheeler that had jackknifed around a delivery truck, another twenty feet away. Nowen rose to a crouch and prepared to run.

The flat crack of a gunshot split the air. Zoe screamed and flinched away. Nowen leaned back around the end of the van. Another gunshot echoed through the parking lot and a small hole punched through the van’s bumper. She yanked her head back, her heart pounding in her chest.

“What’s going on? Who’s shooting at us?!” Zoe gasped.

“Back! Back inside!” Nowen pushed past the young woman but had only taken a couple of steps when there came another gunshot and something whined off the pavement in front of her. She leapt back to the safety of the van, knocking Zoe off her feet.

Zoe struggled up to a crouch and turned wide, frightened eyes on Nowen. “What the hell’s going on?!” she said. Nowen ignored her and dropped to her stomach, looking under the van for the shooter. At first she saw only the staggering feet of the Revs who, attracted by the sounds of the shots, were moving toward their location. Then a vehicle moved into sight, near where the parking lot ended. She recognized it.

She slid back out from under the van and looked up at Zoe. “It’s Tuck.”

A look of utter bewilderment spread over Zoe’s face. “What?”

“Tuck. That bastard’s out there firing at us. He’s keeping us pinned here, and the Revs are coming.”

“Oh, God, what are we going to do? I don’t want to die here. I don’t want to die here!” Zoe’s voice rose with each word until she was nearly screaming.

Nowen raised a hand. “Shhh! We just need to think.” Another crack, and a window in the van shattered above them, raining shards of glass on them. Zoe flinched again, clamping her hands over her head.

“We’re going to die! We’re going to die! There’s nothing we can do!” The young woman’s voice was colored with hysteria. Tears ran down her face.

There is something you can do.
Feral eyes glowed deep in her head.

“I can do something.” she sighed. The wolf grinned.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” Zoe tremblingly asked.

“I can’t explain. Just
don’t
freak out. Stay right here, ok?” Nowen grabbed the young woman’s hands in her own, waiting until the hazel eyes were completely focused on her own amber ones. “I’m going to draw the Revs away, and with any luck take out Tuck, too. Keep an eye out; as soon as it’s clear, run. Try to get into one of the cars. Got it?”

At Zoe’s hesitant nod Nowen dropped her hands and backed away a couple of steps. She closed her eyes, and let the wolf out.

Chapter Nineteen

Now

A sour stink of fear and urine swamped the wolf’s nose. She shook her head roughly to get rid of the smell and took a couple of steps back and away from the female human in front of her. The female was whimpering like a pup but was much too big to be one, and the wolf wrinkled her nose in annoyance. For some reason this caused the human to whimper even more.

The wolf turned away and moved to the other end of the metal thing
car
she was behind. She was in a large area of hard black ground. There were more of the metal things
cars - you know what they’re called
here, and there were humans. She sifted their scent from the air - they were the dead-not-dead she had come across before. She growled, low and fierce. The dead-not-dead were unnatural, and everything about them meant danger and death.

A large cracking sound startled her. Her ears drew flat against her head, and the other part of her, the human that kept her from running free, knew that sound was dangerous. The wolf swung her head about, searching for a way out of this place of cars and humans and dead-not-dead. She saw a way, a path past all the obstacles between her and the north. North meant home, and that’s all the wolf wanted. She ran.

The wolf swept around a couple of large cars, keeping them between her and the direction of the cracking sound. A dead-not-dead
Rev
lunged at her as she flew past the end bumper. She slammed her body against the male thing’s legs and sent the creature flying. Behind her came another cracking sound and then the crash of shattering glass. She increased her pace, running as fast as she could force herself to go. Not far ahead she could see where the hard black ground changed to grass, and the wolf set her sights on that.

No!
The wolf stumbled in her flight as the other’s voice rang through her head. She slid to a halt next to an overturned car, a long metal thing that smelled of rubber and rotted meat. She dropped her head, pawing at her ears as the other kept talking.
No. I have something for you to do.
The wolf snarled and bit at the air. She wanted to run, to feel the grass under her paws, to get away from this dead place.

No! Not yet. You will do this. We have to help someone.
Frothy salvia dripped from the wolf’s lips as she fought against the other. Images started to flash through her head - the large male human with no fur
Oliver
hitting her
us
, the shorter male with thin grey fur
Tuck
trying to dominate her. That image especially rankled, a subordinate male attempting to displace her as the alpha.
We will teach them a lesson first. And then we will head home.
The endless prairie, the snowy peaks, the clean air and the abundant prey - they filled her senses and kindled a longing so strong she almost howled.
Deal?
The wolf gave a small yip of acceptance.
Good. Let’s go.

The wolf dropped to her stomach and crawled under one of the vehicles until she could see where the
shots
were coming from. The male called ‘Tuck’ was inside a car
that’s called a truck
, leaning out an opening in the side, something long and shiny in his hands. He was looking back toward the car and the female she had left behind. There were a few Revs wandering in from the left side of the lot, drawn by the sounds of the shots. She slithered out from underneath her shelter, waiting for the stragglers to pass further to her right.

A scream from behind her almost startled the wolf to flight, so unexpected and fearful it was.
Zoe! We have to go back!
She snarled angrily.
Now!
The wolf had twisted back on herself and was racing toward the scream before she knew it. She snarled again but didn’t fight the urgency that was taking over. In a moment she was back where she had started.

The female screamed again. The human was backed up against one of the cars, surrounded by Revs. The wolf plunged into the middle of the unnatural creatures, snapping and biting. She sunk her teeth into the foul-tasting meat of a leg and yanked, pulling a hunk of tissue and flesh free. As the Rev staggered from her attack she whirled around to the other leg, this time catching hold of the reeking creature and jerking as she went. The Rev fell backwards, taking two of its fellows with it as it went down. She shot through the tangle of limbs and bodies and turned in a tight arc to charge back into the group. The female had managed to crawl under one of the cars, and with one target gone the Revs turned their attention to the wolf.

She leapt onto the back of one of the fallen creatures and launched herself at a large Rev, hitting it in the chest. She drove her muzzle for the vulnerable throat, her powerful jaws meeting each other through the muscle and flesh. Fetid liquid oozed into her mouth and it was only with the urging of the other that the wolf kept her hold.

The force of her jump drove the big Rev back into the horde, but this one wasn’t going to do down as easily as her first victim. Its hands grasped for purchase on her body. Without warning she found herself falling. The decaying skin on the creature’s throat had given way beneath her weight. She landed off-balance, just unsettled enough to allow another Rev to lunge at her.

She wriggled away from its weight. The other Revs had closed in, and she felt a shared burst of sheer panic. For a moment she was trapped, the Revs grabbing at her ears and tail. One bony hand swiped at her eyes and a sharp tugging came from her back where another one had managed to sink its fingers into the heavy fur. The wolf drove through the a small gap in the enclosing legs, fear lending strength to her body. Pain jumped down her back as she left a Rev holding a swath of fur.

The wolf turned, a few feet past the creatures, and looked for the female. She saw the human, staring out from the inside of a car.
Zoe’s fine for right now. Let’s see if we can lure these things away.
The wolf turned again and started loping away from where the female was sheltered. The Revs followed.

Let’s take them to Tuck.
The wolf barked in agreement, pleased with this plan. She angled toward the truck that held the one called ‘Tuck’, barking to keep their attention on her. More of the slow-moving creatures noticed the procession and moved to join them.
Oh, damn, the gun!

A cracking sound, and something small and hot passed so close over the wolf’s head she could smell the crisped fur it let in its wake. A startled yelp escaped her.
Run!
She laid her ears flat to her skull and ran for the safety of a large wooden box that sat next to a scattering of metal barrels. She ducked behind the box just as another gunshot echoed through the lot.

The wolf, panting heavily, moved to the far end of the box and chanced a look around. The group of Revs, close to twenty strong by now, were continuing their single-minded journey toward Tuck’s car. They were moaning and growling in concert, but rising above that was another noise. She cocked her head inquiringly.
That’s an engine. A big one. What the hell-

Around the far side of the white-domed center came the
RV
, moving fast, trailing a herd of fast and slow Revs in its wake. The RV plowed into the other group of Revs at speed. Bodies flew through the air or got ground underneath, and the cracking of bones was almost as loud as the shrieking Revs.

The RV swung sharply to the left and drove straight at Tuck. The truck jolted forward a spare moment before the RV got there. The larger vehicle hit the curb and slewed sideways, rocking up on one side before settling back on its wheels. The horde of Revs swarmed around the mobile home, shrieking and roaring with a noise like a demonic tornado.

The wolf watched as the truck sped off, only to stop about forty feet away from the RV. She could see Tuck looking out the opening in the side, watching the larger vehicle. She turned her attention to the RV to see it pulling away from the curb slowly. Something was wrong with it; it was limping, like wounded prey.
Flat tire. Maybe more than one.
The RV sat still for a moment, facing the truck. To the wolf, it was as if she was watching a predator trying to determine if the chase was worth it. Finally the RV turned in a wide arc, heading back the way it had come. The remaining Revs followed it.

The wolf rose to her feet, her sharp amber eyes tracking the RV as it drove away.
No. Let that one go.
She growled at this, at the presumption of the other to keep her from her enemy.
No! It’s too dangerous - there are too many Revs. There is another one.

She turned her head quickly, searching for the truck. It was moving again, slowly, coming toward her. She dropped to her stomach, sliding backwards along the length of the wooden box.
Let’s be ready to run.
The truck kept going, however, rolling quietly past her hiding place.
What’s he doing? Oh, no.

The truck came to a stop near the car in which the female human was sitting. The grey-furred male leaned out the side opening, pointing the
gun
at the wide-eyed human. “Where are you, you bitch!” the male shouted. “Come out, now, or I’ll put a rather large hole in your friend’s head!”

Ok, you bastard. Ok.
The wolf shivered at the cold tone of the other’s voice.
Let’s go get him.

The truck was facing away from her. She darted out from the shelter of the large box and ran, making it to the truck in the time it took her to take in one breath. She jumped up and into the flat back of the truck, her paws barely touching down before she jumped again to land on the roof of the truck.

“What was that? What are you trying to pull, bitch?” Tuck shouted. The wolf could almost taste the nervousness in his voice. Her lips pulled back from her teeth in a silent snarl. She dropped to her stomach and crawled along the roof until she could lean her head over the edge. The gun was right below her, but Tuck had pulled himself back inside.
Got to draw him out.

She dragged her claws across the metal roof once, and then again. She could hear the male moving beneath her. She did it again, adding a whine this time, and finally she saw his head poke out of the opening below. He twisted around to look up and his eyes widened when he saw her. The smell of urine came from the inside of the truck.

Now!
And the wolf shot forward, mouth agape. Tuck had no time to react, no time to get away. She slammed her jaws shut on his head, her teeth slicing through the skin of his temples and cheeks. A muffled scream escaped him, rising on a desperate breath the wolf inhaled as she bit down harder. The gun fired once before it fell from his hands. In his twisted position they could only beat uselessly against the truck.