I could have killed us all...
I put it away and tightened the straps on my backpack. My heart was thudding so hard I thought it might burst.
“You ready?”
I nodded.
She pushed to a crouch and moved quickly down the path Ahmed and Timmy had taken down the hill. I stuck to her heels. She hesitated when we reached the trees along the edge of the road. We were directly across from the front entrance of the building, less than thirty steps from the bear cages. A couple of the bears lifted their heads and looked in our direction. One of them was Mama Bear, and I sent a silent prayer she’d remain calm. She lowered her head but her eyes seemed glued on me.
“We’re going to run into the building,” Sarafina said, taking a deep breath. “Then we’re going to set off the alarm and turn off the floodlights. Then we run back up the hill.”
It was a smart plan. Ahmed and Timmy should be able to make it to the tree line in the confusion, and then we could all get away from here.
Sarafina hesitated. “Uh...maybe you should stay here.”
My scowl told her no.
“Yeah, I figured,” she said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go!”
My sister was on the track team at school. She ran so fast, it felt like my feet wanted to leave the ground as she pulled me with her. Mama Bear rose to her feet and chuffed as we sped past the cages and stopped inside the building.
The sight that greeted us tore my stomach to shreds, and the stench nearly sent me into convulsions.
“Dio mio,” Sarafina said, taking shelter in her native language.
My brain soaked in the sight in an instant. Long rows of wire cages lined short shelves on either side of the building, and the prone bears inside looked over at us with pleading eyes, unable to move because the cages were barely larger than the bears themselves. Their faces were scarred from rubbing against the rusty wires, their claws broken, teeth missing. Gutters of dirty water flowed beneath the cages to remove pee and waste but remnants remained. The odor mingled with the smell of rotting flesh.
And fear.
“We have to free them,” Sarafina said.
But I knew we couldn’t. They’d been here too long; they probably couldn’t even walk. When she reached for the latch on one of the cages I stopped her, and she stared at me with tear-filled eyes.
“It’s too late,” I said, shaking my head.
There was a bench with hypodermic needles, tubes, medical equipment, and jars of black liquid. The swollen abdomens and implanted metal probes on the animals told me that something was being taken from their insides. A pallet in the center of the space was stacked with the carcasses of several bears that had apparently been killed to make room for the new batch outside. I thought of Mama Bear being stuffed into the tiny cage and I felt a swell of rage like I’d never experienced before. These animals were being tortured, and it made me want to punish the people responsible.
One of the bears let out a soft whine that tugged at me. Several others joined in, and suddenly the building echoed with their pitiful cries. The noise whipped us into action. I wiped my eyes, buried my anger, and we ran to the alarm panel. Sarafina pulled on the Plexiglas enclosure protecting it. It wouldn’t budge, secured by an electronic touch pad. Our plan wasn’t going to work. There was movement at the opposite end of the building, and we ducked to one side as the woman and two guards entered the doorway.
“Look!” I whispered, pointing to an electrical panel not far from where we huddled. It was higher than I could reach, but Sarafina crept toward it and yanked on the lever.
The interior of the building went dark.
The woman shouted an order as she and the guards exited the far side of the building and disappeared around the corner. They needed to check the electrical panel that we were huddled under, so I imagined a guard running along the well-lit exterior of the building in order to enter from this end.
“Come on,” Sarafina said, taking my hand. We ran in a crouch toward the caged bears clustered outside, huddling between two of them. All seven of the bears shifted to face us. A few low growls made my insides vibrate, but something about the way Mama Bear looked at me set me at ease. I opened my mind, and she blinked as we made the connection. It was different than the links I’d made with my family, or with others like Mississippi Mike, where I could sometimes hear their thoughts. With Mama Bear it was more of a transfer of emotions. I sensed her fear but also her trust. So I tested our bond, first embracing her with my thoughts, sending feelings of family and safety and caring for her cubs. Then I asked her to lie down. Her nose wriggled as if she was sniffing my scent, and then she slowly lowered herself to the floor of her cage.
It worked!
It gave me an idea, but it frightened me. We could get hurt. Or worse. But what choice did I have? The area was lit by floodlights, and though we were well hidden among the cages, I was afraid that as soon as the guard turned the corner, he’d notice the bears all staring at us. How could I get them to ignore us?
If we sit down and close our eyes, would the bears turn away?
I knew it was a stupid thought the moment it came out, and it reminded me of the time I put a bucket over my head during a game of hide-and-seek. If I can’t see you, you can’t see me, right? Blah!
The mewling sounds in the building died away, and that’s when I heard the SUV’s engine start up. Sarafina stiffened beside me. If the car pulled away, my brother and Timmy would be discovered.
I stopped thinking and reached for the latch on Mama Bear’s cage.
Sarafina’s sharp intake of breath didn’t stop me. “Stay behind me,” I whispered, pulling out the hooks that held the side panel in place. She shuffled over. Her breath was on my neck.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
I ignored her, sliding open the cage door, my focus entirely on Mama Bear. She crouched less than five feet away, her shoulders bunched, her black eyes locked on mine. The other bears quieted.
Safe.
She blinked. I inched backward. Sarafina moved with me.
Come.
Mama Bear slunk out of her cage and stopped in front of me, her snout wriggling a few inches from my face. She huffed and I felt her warm breath on my cheeks. I moved to one side and pulled Sarafina beside me. Her body was shaking.
Family.
Mama Bear’s gaze took us both in, and the rolls of muscles under her furry shoulders relaxed. I felt a projection of warmth from her mind. It reminded me of Mom.
Follow.
She padded beside us as I moved to the next cage, expanding my mind to embrace all six remaining bears, urging them to follow her lead. Mama Bear woofed, and as each of the other bears became present in my mind, I had the sense they had long since established a group bond of their own, formed as they’d shared the fear imposed by their imprisonment and the anguish of others like them inside the building. I opened the next cage, and the male bear hurried out so fast that for a moment I thought he was coming for me. Instead, he brushed past and turned a quick circle behind me, and I felt his joy at being free. I moved quickly to another cage and Sarafina unlatched the one past that. Within a few moments, all the bears milled eagerly around us. I sensed each of their connections individually and the purity of their emotions felt good.
The squelch of a radio drew our attention toward the building, just as a guard trotted around the corner. He skidded to a stop at the sight of us, his eyes huge as his hands scrambled to unclip the radio on his belt. Backing away, he raised it to his lips and shouted in Chinese. Then he turned and ran around the corner.
The bears’ thoughts combined to form a single thought:
Danger!
I felt their combined urge to run up the hill toward the safety of the darkness. But I threw the force of my will behind my thoughts as I ran after the man.
Protect.
Mama Bear was immediately beside me. The other bears followed.
“Are you crazy?” Sarafina said, quickly catching up.
“What are you doing?”
“Creating a distraction.” I charged as fast as I could around the corner, knowing we’d only have one chance for this to work. The floodlights were still glaring. We ran past the first truck, and as soon as I spotted the running guard, I let out a loud, angry scream. The bears picked up on my emotion, their roars fueling my own, and we became a marauding band of man and beast assaulting an enemy tribe.
Chapter 25
Fujian Province
“AHH!” SARAFINA SHOUTED, as she and I and the bears charged at the guard.
The running man glanced over his shoulder, his face filled with terror. His friends at the far end of the building were already speeding toward one of the shacks behind them, the woman and her partner leading the way. The SUV was still parked at the end of the row of vehicles, smoke coming from its exhaust. The driver was inside, his face frozen in shock. The boss man was in the back yelling at him as he rolled up his window.
An instant later, Ahmed popped up on the opposite side of the car, swung open the rear passenger door, and jumped inside. The driver’s head snapped around. His hands went up in the air, as did the boss man’s, and I knew my brother was pointing a pistol at them. The driver shook his head, probably refusing to get out to face a gang of attacking bears. But when a warning shot shattered the driver’s-side window, the door flew open, the driver scrambled out, and he fled toward the shack faster than a jackrabbit chased by a pack of wolves.
I slowed and the bears slowed with me. Growls turned to huffs as we approached the SUV.
Ahmed had the pistol aimed at the man in the backseat. Timmy ran around from behind the car and jumped into the driver’s seat. “Get in!” he shouted, slamming the door closed so hard that the remaining glass fragments spilled onto the ground.
Sarafina slid into the front passenger seat. I turned toward Mama Bear and the others. They all looked my way but seemed confused, moving about restlessly, their skin twitching under their fur.
I pointed up the ridge and the darkness beyond.
Freedom!
The thought unified them, and all but Mama Bear raced up the hill. She hesitated a moment, and it was like she took one last look into my soul. Then she turned and raced away. I clambered into the backseat next to Ahmed and pulled the door closed.
“Go!” Ahmed yelled.
Timmy backed us up in a spinning turn that threw me against the door. When the SUV’s nose was pointed down the road, he put it in Drive and stomped on the gas. The car jumped forward just as one of the guards rushed out of the shack. I recognized him as the man from the truck who had enjoyed hurting Mama Bear with his electric prod. His discolored teeth were bared in anger as he raised his assault rifle, its muzzle matching the movement of the vehicle.
“Duck!” Sarafina cried.
I couldn’t move. Everything seemed to slow in my mind as I stared at the AK-47. It was a weapon I’d used hundreds of times online, when damage was more important than accuracy. I was deadly with it on short-range maps, and got a chill when I imagined what it would feel like when the bullets struck real flesh. The shooter was so close he couldn’t miss and it looked like the gun was aimed directly at me. The man’s eyes narrowed, his grimace changed to a leer, and I realized he was looking forward to tearing us to shreds. The woman rushed into view and shoved the weapon aside just as he squeezed the trigger. The muzzle flashed but none of the bullets struck the car. We sped away, shimmying in the ruts, leaving a cloud of dust behind us. As we exited the pools of light cast by the floodlights, there was movement on the hill. I saw one of the first six bears disappear into the trees. Then I caught a glimpse of Mama Bear scampering along the ridgeline in the opposite direction. She was headed back to her territory to find her cubs.
“You are all dead,” the boss man growled. He had a thick Chinese accent.
“Shut up,” Ahmed said, jamming the pistol in his side so hard that the man winced. “Hands up. Grab the hand grip.”
The boss man glared but Ahmed didn’t waver. Finally, the man raised his hands over his head and wrapped his fingers around the handle, squeezing it so hard his knuckles went white.
Timmy glanced in the rearview mirror. “They’re following us!”
I got up on my knees and looked out the back window. There were at least three sets of headlights on the road.
Sarafina swiveled around and followed my gaze. “Faster, Timmy, please.”
“Oh, dear,” the boss man said when he saw her face for the first time. “Aren’t you a pretty little thing. My men are going to love—”
Ahmed swung the pistol across the man’s jaw, whipping his neck to one side. Blood flowed from a gash in his chin.
“I told you to shut up,” Ahmed said, pressing the muzzle of the pistol into the boss man’s temple. The pulsing vein in the man’s forehead looked like it might burst.
If he gets his hands on the gun...
The car went into a sharp turn and I had to grab hold of the headrest to keep from falling into Ahmed. The man’s eyes narrowed and I could tell he was looking for his chance to make a move. Ahmed must have noticed it, too, because he pushed the pistol harder against the man’s temple, forcing his head against the window.
“Don’t even think about it,” Ahmed said.
The boss man spat a glob of blood. “You’ll be wearing a green hat in our brothel before this night is out,” he said. “Have you ever even shot a man, monkey? It’s a lot different than putting a bullet through a car window.”
“Not yet,” Ahmed said. “But this is as good a time as any to give it a try. I suggest you keep your ugly mouth shut.”
The boss man laughed and his grip loosened on the overhead handle. “You don’t have the balls—”
Ahmed shot him through the biceps. The man shrieked. The window exploded in a spray of blood. Ahmed jammed the smoking muzzle into the man’s crotch.
“My balls are fine,” Ahmed said. “How about yours?”
The boss froze, his eyes wide, blood leaking from the fingers gripping his wound.
My ears were ringing, my heart was racing, and my mind was astonished by how easily my brother had slid into the role of protector...and aggressor. If necessary, he’d kill the man, and I suspected he’d not regret doing so. The violent reaction to the man’s threat had seemed like an instinctive response, no different than that of a bear protecting her cubs.
Is that what I would have done?
We pulled out of the turn and the road began to climb. Wind swirled into the car from the two missing windows and a blur of trees rushed past us. I looked out the back window again and saw the first set of headlights clear the corner behind us, getting closer.
“Dammit,” Timmy said, giving it more gas. The SUV rocked on the uneven road.
The road steepened. The moon broke through the clouds, illuminating the view. The landscape dropped off behind us, where two cars and a truck followed.
“This is their territory. We’ll never lose them,” Sarafina said. She glanced at the boss man. “But maybe we can slow them down if we pull over and let him out—”
“No!” Ahmed and Timmy said at the same time.
“As long as he’s with us, they won’t shoot,” Timmy added.
“But they’re getting closer,” she said in a choked voice.
“The money,” I said.
“Huh?” Timmy said.
“Give them the money,” I said.
“What money?” Ahmed said, never taking his eyes off the boss man.
“That’s right,” Sarafina said, pointing to the back of the SUV. “There are three bags of money back there. From the drug deal.”
Ahmed risked a quick peek over the seat. “Timmy, can you roll the back window down from up there?”
“No. It’s a flip-up.”
“Never mind,” Ahmed said, keeping an eye on the boss man as he removed the pistol from between his legs and aimed it at the back window. He waited until I dropped low and covered my ears before he fired two sh
ots. Then he turned the gun back on the boss man. When I peeked over the seat, I saw that the window had shattered and most of the glass had blown outside.
“Get back there and open ’em up,” Ahmed said.
I climbed over and unzipped the first duffel. It was filled with bound wads of colorful money.
“Start ripping off those rubber bands,” Ahmed said. “Timmy, I need you to slow down.”
“Dude, are you nuts?” Timmy asked.
“They’ve got to be close enough to see what we’re doing.”
“Oh man, oh man,” Timmy said, easing off the gas.
I pulled off one band after another and before long there was a pile of loose bills in the bag. The headlights rushed toward us. A few moments later the lead car was close enough that I could see the heads of four people silhouetted by the lights from the car behind it. One man leaned out a side window and looked like he held a rifle.
“Now!” Ahmed shouted. “Start tossing it.”
I grabbed two handfuls of bills and pitched them out. The wind grabbed hold of them and a cloud of money swirled and danced like confetti at a parade, whisking around the cars behind us. The man leaning out the window seemed distracted.
“More,” Ahmed said.
I threw wad after wad, and suddenly the caravan behind screeched to a stop. A figure jumped out of the lead vehicle. He waved as though he was issuing orders to the other drivers. A moment later the occupants of the second car were scurrying along the road gathering money, and the lead car and the truck were speeding up to follow us.
“One down,” Timmy said. “Two to go.”
I heaved more wads out the window.
“Nooo,” the boss man moaned.
“Not a muscle,” Ahmed said, the pistol digging into the man’s ribs.
When the last of the loose cash was gone, I looked up and saw that the two cars had caught up to us. Men leaned out of either side of the lead vehicle and they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the scattering bills.
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