EMP [Collateral Darkness] | Book 4

by Tony Mastrolacasa

Leo then placed a hand on Jersey’s withers and applied a small amount of pressure, the silent command for lie down and stay quiet. Their increasingly anxious, but flawlessly obedient hunting companion immediately complied. Jersey wouldn’t move again until Leo gave her the command that she was longing to hear, ‘Go get ‘em, girl!’ Even the sound of gunshots wouldn’t budge her from her post. From about 75 metres, those shots should result in a quick run and retrieve, assuming Brody and Dion were given the chance to take them.

  The snowshoe hare that Brody had spotted appeared to be alone, but that was rarely the case. During the fall hunts, Leo had noticed that many would often gather beneath the bushes. Although he and Corey were always out hunting big game, Leo still took the opportunity to observe the behaviours of the various small game animals that inhabited the area. The abundance of deer and moose might not hold out forever, so it only made sense to learn the tolerance levels that alternative food sources would have to their presence.

  Leo hoped that his little brother and Dion would have the opportunity to take home a small prize or two this morning, but Leo was unable to participate himself. The highly powerful 7mm magnum rifle that he carried was meant for much larger animals than a drove of fluffy white bunnies. He was happy to let the two 10 year olds do some small game hunting with their .22s, but Leo’s prey was far bigger and much more elusive.

  Earlier, Leo had received a polite ‘No, thank you’ from Jenny, but Brody and Dion had both jumped at the chance to go out on a hunt. Leo knew that his chances of seeing a deer or a moose would be greatly reduced with the two excited boys along, but that was the deal. After spending the last several weeks cooped up in camp, that was a deal he was more than willing to take.

  After a few minutes of silence, Jersey began moving her head around while her nose searched for something on the wind. She even offered a few slight whimpers to underscore her discomfort. Jersey always tended to get a little impatient when her release command was delayed, but she was acting unusually agitated… even for her.

  The unexpected sound of a twig snapping got their attention. Leo doubted that a snowshoe hare could be responsible, so he assumed it was just a brittle branch finally falling free after a long cold winter. Jersey, however, was less than convinced. Her quiet whines began to be intermingled with an occasional low growl. Ignoring of the restless coonhound and her emotional rollercoaster ride, the boys remained vigilant. They silently watched, stubbornly unwilling to give up on the equally stubborn hare.

  A deer suddenly leapt out of the right side of the bushes obviously in full flight. A fraction of a second later, a dozen more began leaping out. None of the boys had made as much as a peep and Jersey’s pathetic complaints weren’t nearly loud enough to be heard from that distance. Leo had even made sure to approach this thicket from down wind. It made absolutely no sense that the deer had detected them, but there they were, dashing through an open field at top speed and in the wrong direction.

  “Hold your fire, guys.” Leo said. “Those .22s will never…”

  …Leo cut himself off as he realized that the deer hadn’t been startled by the four of them at all. The herd had no less than 20 wild dogs chasing them. Thankfully, the dogs had come in from the opposite side and still hadn’t noticed the presence of humans. The large pack had no doubt been zeroing in on this herd for some time now, but their lack of experience had cost them the element of surprise.

  Unlike wolves, foxes and coyotes, most wild dogs didn’t possess the exquisite hunting skills needed to survive away from a dog bowl. Clumsily stalking them from upwind, the deer had been alerted to their presence prematurely. Now the pursuit was on, but it was not likely one that would result in a meal. This herd of deer had evaded much worse and far better.

  Unexpectedly, Brody and Dion watched as Leo suddenly pulled off his gloves and swung the rifle from his shoulder. Leo knew that he wouldn’t be bringing home one of the rapidly escaping deer, but he also knew that he had to at least try to help. It wasn’t the deer he intended to provide assistance to, though… it was the dogs.

  His father had told Leo many stories about wild dogs and how dangerous they could be. Several packs had raided the farms along Orchard Park Road throughout the years. Tobi and Allen Clarke’s chickens were a particularly popular target. Leo remembered clearly his dad commenting on how strange it was to see all of the different breeds running around together. Small, medium and large, all were accepted into the vicious pack of murderous canine pals.

  Who those dogs had once belonged to and how they had ended up together was no mystery either. Living out in the country, so close to a major highway, the residents of Orchard Park would often find strays that had been released by their heartless owners. Some were picked up and brought to the local shelter where they could be adopted by a family that weren’t a bunch of selfish jerks. Others, though, would resist capture and run off only to be found by other strays with similar back stories. Before long, none of those animals were what anyone would call ‘pets,’ especially in large numbers. That was a fact that was made perfectly clear to Leo.

  Also made abundantly clear was just how desperate wild dogs could become. If Leo didn’t help these starving animals secure their prey the human presence would soon be discovered. Worse, he feared that the dogs would suddenly find themselves with a new prey, one that they could easily outrun.

  Leo’s rifle barked once and then a moment later he fired again. A buck tumbled into a front summersault, it’s attempts to get back up thwarted by a shattered right front leg. The pack of ravenous dogs had heard the gunshots, of course, but they had other matters to attend to. They were on top of that deer seconds later snapping and lunging at the helpless stag. Again, unlike the natural canine hunters of the wilderness, the wild dogs did not have the wherewithal to give the unfortunate animal a quick death.

  “We gotta get out of here, guys.“ Leo whispered. “Stay low and follow me. Jersey… come.”

  During their jog out of the area, Brody had attempted to question his big brother’s motives for shooting the deer, but Leo had quickly silenced him. He would gladly answer all of his questions once they were safely away, but until then they needed to create some distance. That was an enormous pack and he wasn’t entirely certain that a single deer would satisfy them all. He worried that several might not get a share of venison at all and decide to try out a little Cooper or Jackson meat instead.

  After a kilometre of jogging at a quick pace, Leo finally allowed them to slow to a brisk walk. Jersey had allowed herself to get a good lead on them, so Leo quickly called her back in.

  “Jersey, heel.”

  “That was bullshit, Leo.” Brody said, obviously angry with his big brother.

  …And so begins the interrogation.

  “Why did you do that? You totally screwed that deer over.” He added.

  “Better it than us, Brody.” Leo said. “Do you even know what those things were back there?”

  “Yeah, labs and shepherds and shit.” Brody replied curtly. “They didn’t need your help, Leo. They’re perfectly capable of catching their own food.”

  “Brody, when we get back you can ask Dad about wild dogs.” Leo said. “He’ll tell you exactly what they’re capable of.”

  “My dad told me about wild dog packs a while ago.” Dion said. “He said they’re not very good hunters… Then he mentioned a bunch of nasty stuff.”

  “Did he mention how they…?” Leo stopped himself from finishing the question. He could live with Brody’s outrage for now, but scaring these two kids senseless would not help his efforts to get them home safely. Instead he asked, “Do you know why your dad decided to tell you about wild dogs, Dion?”

  “We were just talking one night about some of the animals that we might see up here.” Dion replied. “We talked about black bears, moose and deer mostly, but then he mentioned wild dogs and how we might start seeing them more often.”

  “More often? Did he say why he thought that?” Leo asked.

>   “He thought that a lot of people would be forced to get rid of their dogs and cats because they couldn’t feed them anymore.” Dion replied. “Dad didn’t know what would happen to the cats, but he figured the dogs would outnumber the wolves before long, especially the larger breeds.”

  “Shit… I never even thought of that.” Leo said.

  “I couldn’t even imagine having to get rid of Jersey.” Brody said.

  “You don’t have to worry about that, Brody.” Leo said. “Jersey’s not our pet, she’s our sister.”

  “That’s cool.” Dion said.

  “Still, that pack of dogs could end up being a big problem for us.” Leo continued. “We’ll have to see what Dad has to say about this. I’m guessing our fun little rabbit hunts are pretty much over.”

  The sound of dogs baying in the distance caused Jersey to spin around and start growling.

  “Are they following us, Leo?” Brody asked as the three of them looked back.

  “That sounded pretty close.” Dion added.

  Leo thought about it for exactly two seconds and then said the only thing that made sense.

  “Run!”

  ◆◆◆

  “Terrell…! Who is that?” Stacey shouted as he continued to run towards her and Brian.

  Terrell said nothing choosing instead to sprint right past them and continue on towards the cabin. Terrell had no idea who he had in his arms and he didn’t give a damn. He had lost precious time already by removing his coat and placing it over the freezing kid. He was damned if he would waste a second more trying to explain why this person would soon be dead if he didn’t get to the cabin immediately.

  He was met with the same dumb look as he ran past the others. The only words Terrell spoke were to Sydney who was busy hiding behind the front porch with her rifle at the ready.

  “Syd, the door!”

  Without hesitation, Sydney lowered her rifle, leapt onto the porch and swung the door open for him. Terrell slowed down and eased himself and his passenger through. Then he placed the bundled up package gently on the living room floor as far from the wood stove as he could.

  “Where’s Nichelle?” Terrell asked.

  “I’m here.” Nichelle replied, running in from the medical room. “What have we got?”

  Terrell removed the ski mask from his patient’s face and began his preliminary diagnosis.

  “Young female, hypothermic, lethargic, some signs of physical abuse.” Terrell, placed his cheek to her face for a moment. “She’s still breathing, but it’s shallow.”

  “Gwen, please bring us a pile of blankets and pillows.” Nichelle said. “Grace, I need the black leather bag from the med room. It should be under the examination table.” She then kneeled down beside her husband and began removing their patient’s frozen outerwear.

  “Are we in any danger, Terrell?” Sydney asked, still standing guard outside the door.

  “What?” Terrell replied, completely taken aback by the question.

  “Is there anybody else out there?” Sydney asked, clarifying the inquiry.

  “Oh… no, the trail’s clear.” Terrell said. “All we saw was this kid.”

  Sydney cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, “All clear!”

  “Syd, get George to start the generator, will ya?” Nichelle asked. “We need the water.”

  “On it.” Sydney said before running off.

  Fran immediately shuffled the kids back outside to spare them from the frantic scene that they had all been staring at. Until this got straightened out, all of them would be spending the day in her camper. Their school day wasn’t nearly over yet anyway.

  Grace ran back out and set the medical bag between the two doctors. Nichelle immediately unsnapped its large buckle, opened it up and passed Terrell a pair of scissors.

  “I need you to pull the cushions off the couch, Grace.” Nichelle said as she continued to rummage through the medical bag. “Lay them out on the floor like a bed. Don’t set it up too close to the wood stove though.”

  “You got it.”

  Gwen then walked in carrying a high stack of neatly folded flannel sheets and pillows.

  “What are you thinking for heat, Terrell?” Nichelle asked, looking at her husband.

  Terrell looked up from cutting away the girl’s clothing and considered the situation for a moment.

  “Let’s warm the sheets up on the wood stove, Gwen.” Terrell said. “Place them on a large pan or a cookie sheet first and keep an eye on them. Don’t let them get too hot.”

  “Okay.” Gwen said.

  “As soon as we have power, I need you to fill a jug with hot water, Grace.” Nichelle said. “Then find some of those sugary juice crystals and mix it up. Make it extra sweet.”

  Stu stepped inside to see what was going on. He and George had spent the last few minutes trying to calm Cole down, but that had proven impossible. He needed answers, something that the unreasonably panicked and ridiculously winded young man was entirely unable to provide. When this was over, young Cole would be introduced to a far more vigorous calisthenics program. George would be happy to learn that his daughter’s boyfriend would be going to bed completely exhausted for the next few weeks.

  “What have you got, Terrell?” Stu asked as he looked on from the doorway.

  “I don’t know yet.” Terrell replied. “Kid’s frozen solid. She was awake and shivering when I picked her up, but she’s fading in and out of consciousness now.”

  “She’s not shivering anymore either.” Nichelle added. “Stage two.”

  “What can I…?” Stu froze and his heart sank.

  Oh, come on…

  He finally caught a glimpse of the young girl that the doctors were fighting desperately to save. He was stunned to see Olivia Bishop lying on the floor in front of him. Her face was badly bruised, very dirty and slightly blue, but Stu was certain that he was looking down at his friend’s niece.

  “Stu, snap out of it, man! I need you to help us lift her onto these couch cushions.” Terrell said. “We have to do it very gently. She’s already started warming up, so any jolts or sudden movements can send her into cardiac arrest.”

  “Yea… ugh… yeah, okay.” Stu said, fighting the catch in his throat.

  “You okay, Stu?” Nichelle asked.

  “That’s Liv… Hal’s niece.” Stu replied. “I don’t know how she found us or why she came, but that’s her.”

  “We’ll do all that we can for her, Stu.” Terrell said.

  “Please do.” Stu said. “Give her whatever…”

  …They suddenly heard the faint sound of a gunshot coming from somewhere around the lake. Then they heard a second and a third. Three shots fired with an equally spaced pause in between.

  The boys are in trouble.

  ◆◆◆

  The pack of wild dogs was steadily gaining on Leo, Brody, Dion and Jersey. Their coonhound purposely eased her pace in order to kept herself between Brody and Leo. Unlike her people, she already knew that they wouldn’t make it to safety before the ‘bad dogs’ caught up to them. She needed to be ready to turn around and charge back in when the time came. Jersey was a good dog, loyal and obedient, but she was also courageous and far more confident than she had any right to be. There was no way that she would allow any of her people to be harmed and she was fully prepared to give her life to protect them. Accordingly, she had accepted her last command of the day.

  Dion, as it would turn out, was a bit of a track star. He was so far out front that neither Brody nor Leo could even see him anymore. Brody was no slouch, especially when it came to speeding down a forest trail, but even he couldn’t believe how fast Dion was moving. Even the snow that remained didn’t seem to slow him down.

  The excited barks and baying continued to rise in volume as the vicious hunters closed in on them. Leo had no idea how many wild dogs they had behind them exactly, but even a few would be a problem. He wanted to draw his CZ 75, but he had the rifle to consider. He still had three roun
ds in it that he could put to good use. That would be next to impossible with the pistol in his hand, so he decided to hang onto it. He would first empty his rifle into them and then draw his sidearm. Leo could only hope that the strongest of the pack had remained with the deer carcass and he would only have a few of the smaller, weaker members to deal with.

  Where the hell is the cabin? It can’t be that much further!

  That thought suddenly spawned an idea. It might not be enough to save his neck, but it may be just enough to allow Dion and Brody to get to safety. It would also settle the weapon selection dilemma he was currently struggling with.

  As he continued to run, Leo raised his rifle to the sky and fired all three rounds into the air pausing slightly in between trigger pulls. Back when Fran had taken the kids around the lake in the UTV, he remembered George firing three spaced out shots into the air with this very rifle. It was his way of signalling Fran that it was safe for them to return. Today, Leo hoped their families would hear his gunshots and realize that they were in desperate need of help.

  That bit of business out of the way, Leo dropped George’s 7mm magnum to the ground and drew his handgun. Now he had 17 rounds at his disposal and he was ready to switch roles, the hunted to the hunter, as it were. He also managed to pick up the pace a little. He hadn’t realize just how much the large calibre rifle had been weighing him down.

  Dion and Brody were absolutely gone which was exactly what Leo was hoping for. Much like Jersey, Leo had been pacing himself as well and giving the young boys a chance to get far ahead of the contest to come. Now that they were both out of sight, however, Leo thought that he’d give himself and his coonhound a chance to avoid a fight as well. He even managed to surprise Jersey and had to shoo her ahead to keep from passing her.

  Not 10 seconds later, Jersey suddenly slammed on the brakes in front of him and turned around. Leo thought that the dogs might be drawing close, but his faithful companion was sure of it. In fact, by the time Leo stopped and turned around beside her their first lovely contestant was already coming into view. It looked like a German shepherd, but it was so mangy and full of burrs that Leo couldn’t even be sure.