by William Oday
It was never easy. He didn’t deserve for it to be any other way. She blamed him for not bringing her husband home. She wasn’t wrong.
“Sorry, Maria. I’m calling about Elio.”
“I told you to leave him alone. You’re not his father. His father is gone.”
“Maria,” Mason said as he closed his eyes and tried in vain to block out images that appeared more real than the waking world. Images that haunted his dreams. He swallowed hard and continued, “I’m not calling to argue, or bring problems into your life.”
“I’m hanging up.”
“Wait!” Mason said. “I’m just checking in on Elio. To see how he’s doing. It’s been too long since I’ve talked to him.”
“I told you to stay away from him, Mason! I don’t care what you promised his father.”
“Is he still hanging around those Venice 10 gang members?”
“Why do you care?”
“They’re bad people, Maria. They aren’t kids playing games. They’re for real.”
“He knows not to mess with them. We’ve discussed it many times.”
“Has he listened?”
“Are you questioning my parenting? How dare you!”
“I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant.”
“I know what you meant! Mason West to the rescue. My son doesn’t need a superhero. He needs a father. Where were you when his father needed you?”
“Please don’t make this about David.” A spear of hot guilt pierced Mason’s belly, doubling him over. He gritted his teeth to the point of shattering. His mouth tasted foul.
“Theresa mentioned the other day that she saw him with those guys. I just wanted you to know.”
“Well, thanks for that. I guess. I’ll handle it.”
“I’d like to help—“
“How many times do I have to tell you? Any help you could’ve given my family ended in Iraq when my husband died. When my baby boy lost his father. When I lost my husband. Elio wouldn’t be in this situation if David was here.”
“I did my best, Maria.” The words tore out of him like a jagged blade. In war, your best could end up worse than you ever could’ve imagined.
“Let me be clear, Mason. Stay away from my child.”
The line clicked and the call ended.
Mason dropped his head in his hands and fought to control his breath, his heart. Fought to control the acid that scraped his insides.
He would never forget Lance Corporal David Lopez. He’d never had a closer friend.
Mason didn’t know then the repercussions of a single signature.
His.
The day he joined the United States Marine Corps.
10
BETH crept through of the metal doorway and tried to secure it behind her. She jiggled and shoved until the stubborn bolt clicked into place. As she turned around to face the interior, the fine hairs on the back of her neck tingled.
A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the California Black Oaks and Bigleaf Maples that dotted the habitat. The thick foliage drew shifting patterns of light and dark on the grass and dirt below. Thickets of shoulder-high grass waved in a lazy, hypnotic dance.
Her heart hammered in her chest and she took a slow breath to get it under control. There was something different about entering their terrain. Even as manufactured as it was here in the heart of the zoo, it was still their turf. A prudent human was wise to remember that.
There was nothing of obvious concern so she headed for the viewing area where she’d last seen Jane. She kept the rifle pointed low but ready. She trusted the female chimp not to hurt her, but then again she’d never entered carrying a rifle. And now she was injured on top of already having a hard time with the pregnancy.
It was better to be ready for anything.
With just a few large boulders between her and Jane, Beth quickened her pace. She had to check on her condition and attend to that wound.
The area opened as she rounded the boulders.
The wall of thick, clear plexiglass held no zoo visitors on the other side because the zoo hadn’t opened yet. Not having an audience should Jane to remain calm.
Just over the hump in the ground would be Jane, hopefully not in as bad a shape as it first looked.
Beth crested the small hill, and Jane wasn’t there.
She stumbled to a halt, confused. Jane was right there, just moments ago. She must’ve made it to her feet. Maybe when Ralph was tempting Jack back into the holding pen. She’d been ravenous since the two little infants had made a home inside her. She was eating enough for three.
But Ralph would’ve told her if Jane followed Jack into the holding area.
She was here somewhere. Various parts of the enclosure were out of sight from this vantage point. It had been designed so that the chimps had different places to get some privacy when they felt the desire for it. It was aimed at making life in the joint, as she sometimes joked with Mason, more fulfilling for the animals.
Jane had a favorite spot in the tall grass up on the hill. A few feet inside, she’d flattened a section of grass into a comfortable bed. Beth headed toward it, confident she’d find the giant chimp there.
A low barking rumble spiked the air and vibrated in her chest. Jack’s warning call. Must’ve come from the holding room.
Thank God, he was locked away. Beth didn’t want to think about what he would do if he got a hold of her.
She noticed her palms were slippery with sweat and wiped each on a pant leg. Sweat beaded on her neck and pooled in the hollow there. She walked around a shallow pool and made her way up the hill, the rifle heavy and awkward at her side.
The sad whimpering call of an injured chimp sprang from somewhere ahead. Every second that passed tightened the vise around Beth’s chest.
She edged forward, her eyes focused and searching.
Fifty feet away, the tall grass shuddered. The stalks swished wildly back and forth. Beth froze and listened.
The stalks settled and rejoined their formerly fluid dance with the breeze.
Beth crept closer.
Now less than twenty feet away.
The towering shoots whipped and shuddered and parted with a flash of motion. A huge head poked through. Its dark eyes focused intently on her. Its mouth hung open, fearsome canines exposed.
A shiver of concern fluttered in Beth’s stomach.
Jane.
Blood matted the fur above her right eyebrow. It created a trail down her cheek and neck, tinting the gray-black hair a darker shade. She needed help.
Not for the first time, Beth gave a quick thank you to the universe for giving her this career. She loved caring for all the creatures on the green earth.
Most of them anyway.
Observing Jane for an instant, Beth noticed an unwelcome shallow, quick panting. A slightly unfocused feel to her eyes. An immediate examination was required. No matter what the idiot in the front office thought.
Beth was about to close the distance and start the exam when something odd tickled the edges of her awareness.
The head-high thicket to her left.
What was different about it?
She couldn’t resolve it for a moment. And then it zoomed into focus. Clumps of stalks in the middle swished around in sporadic bursts. The movement contrasted with the gentle swaying of the surrounding areas. Beth narrowed her gaze to study it.
What—
An enormous form crashed through, splintering the thicker stalks like toothpicks. The hulk landed on two feet and spread his arms, his posture broad and threatening.
Jack.
Oh no.
11
Cold eyes regarded her with malevolent intent. She shuddered as a chill like an Arctic wind blew over her. Her legs wobbled. Her body a quivering mass of flesh and bone incapable of obeying commands to move, to do something.
Not that any instructions were forthcoming.
Her brain was equally numbed. A thousand thoughts collided at once, threatening to
degrade the fight or flight response into a worse option: freeze in fear.
Jack watched her from less than a hundred feet away. A distance he could cover in seconds. His lips snarled and pulled back to reveal gigantic, white daggers for canine teeth.
He rolled his head back and a roar tore from his throat like thunder. The sound touched a primal nerve deep inside her brain. Her heart pounded like a bass drum in her ears. The air seemed to crawl across her skin. Terror tasted like an old penny on her tongue.
She looked toward the locked metal door she’d entered a few moments ago. It was the closest point of escape. It may as well have been miles away. She wouldn’t come close to making that distance.
Something slipped in her right hand. Her grip clenched involuntarily to hang on to whatever it was.
She looked down to see what had provoked the automatic response.
The rifle.
Loaded with a dart primed with M99. Enough to make Jane drowsy. Not nearly enough to knock out the much larger Jack.
Still, it was better than nothing.
Jack’s roar cut to silence and left behind a cacophony of responses from the surrounding animals nearby. They all screeched one message.
Danger! Danger!
He glanced at Jane to his left for a moment. She held her head low in a display of submission.
With his focus pulled away, conscious thought returned. A ragged breath struggled into her lungs. She thought of Theresa and Mason. Imagined their faces upon hearing of her death. Their pain broke her heart.
And steeled her will.
Consciously moving slowly, she raised the rifle and settled the stock into the crook of her shoulder. She tried to keep the front sight aligned on Jack’s broad chest but her shaking hands bounced it around.
One shot. One chance to even have a chance.
He turned his massive head toward her. The vicious intensity of his focus threatened to knock her down. Send her into physical spasms of horror.
She took a deep breath and then blew it out. At the end of the exhale, she paused and let the front sight settle.
Jack leaped forward, his arms extending in front of him and stretching for the ground between them.
She squeezed the trigger.
BOOF.
The dart exploded out of the barrel and spiked Jack in the chest as he rushed forward. He’d already closed more than half the distance.
He was so fast. Too fast.
He bounded closer as another second passed and her life ticked down to a sliver that she couldn’t extend.
She stumbled back, buffeted by the tremor of psychic violence that preceded him like a shockwave. Her boot heel caught a rock and she fell. Her arms windmilled in a futile attempt to grab something to regain balance. She landed hard and her head snapped backward and slammed into hard dirt. Bright pain clawed at her eyes. She blinked hard and watched in horror as Jack launched into the air from ten feet away.
His cavernous mouth opened, eager to tear into her flesh.
Beth yanked up the spent rifle, as if it might somehow hold back two-hundred-seventy pounds of primal fury.
Movement streaked across her vision, coming from her right.
Jack stretched for her, his enormous hands extended as he descended.
Beth turned her head. She couldn’t watch. She’d done her best.
She never had a chance.
Jack reached for her throat. His jaws stretched wide to finish her. Jane streaked through the air and broadsided him. Though smaller, her speed and fury gave her strength.
Jack’s sharp canine caught Beth on the pant leg and gouged a red furrow across her thigh.
Jane’s impact slammed both chimps to the ground to Beth’s left. They rolled and tumbled in a flying ball of fur and fangs. Their limbs blurred as they tore at each other.
Beth glanced at the open laceration on her thigh and almost vomited. It had just missed the femoral artery. An injury that would have ended her life in minutes. The gash was wide open but didn’t look too deep. She got lucky. She struggled to stand, using the rifle like a cane to get upright.
Already, Jane’s smaller size and weaker condition began to tell. Jack slashed his exposed teeth and caught her down the side. Red spilled down her ribs and over her swollen belly.
Beth grabbed a plum-sized rock and whipped it at the back of his head. Her aim was true, but it bounced off harmlessly.
This was a fight she couldn’t sway. Not without better tools than the one she currently wielded. She needed another dart. A full dose of M99 would do it. She just had to get it before it was too late.
Beth sprinted for the exit and nearly fell as the gash in her leg sent a shock up her left side. She hobbled along as fast as the injury would allow.
The two huge chimps scrambled and rolled in a dust cloud so thick it was hard to see what was happening. Then Jane flew out and tumbled over the ground. She rolled to her feet just as Jack slammed into her.
She couldn’t win that fight. It was only a matter of time. And by the looks of it, not much.
Beth limped to the metal door and fumbled at the ring of keys at her hip with numb, unfeeling fingers.
She found the right one, but her shaking hands kept poking the tip of the key anywhere but the keyhole. She finally managed to shove it home and cranked the bolt free.
The ferocious sounds of the battle subsided. The fight was ending. But not with a truce.
Jane lay sprawled on her back. She offered only token resistance.
Jack stood over her, his enormous hands pinning her down. His powerful jaws around her neck. In minutes, he would starve her brain of oxygen and end not only her life but the life of the two unborn infants as well.
Beth sprinted out and slammed the door shut, in the blind panic of a parent about to lose a child.
In her fevered rush, she neglected to throw the bolt and lock the door shut.
12
Beth fumbled through unlocking the safe in the lab and fumbled further in dosing a dart with enough M99 to incapacitate an adult male Bili chimp in short order. She yanked back the bolt on the rifle and loaded the primed cartridge. She slammed the bolt home and checked that the safety was engaged.
Not wanting to be caught unprepared again, she filled another dart, left the plastic safety tip on, and dropped it into her pocket.
Two shots to take the beast down. It should be one more than she needed.
She locked the safe and started back down the maze of corridors that led toward the metal door on the west side of the chimp exhibit.
She moved as fast as she could, but the wound to her leg slowed her down. And she was keenly aware that precious minutes had ticked by. Jane could already be gone, her body twitching as stray electrical impulses fired muscles that still couldn’t accept that life was a rapidly fading memory.
The final turn brought her to the metal door. And to a discovery that sent a violent shudder through her chest.
The door was wide open.
She hadn’t left it like that. She’d shut it and locked it!
Hadn’t she?
Her lungs sucked at air that felt thinner than at the top of Mount Everest. There was too little oxygen to clear her thoughts, to get her brain functioning normally.
Did she lock it?
Beth stood there, paralyzed by what the open door might mean.
The answer came in the form of a low, deep howl that echoed down the corridor.
Her walkie-talkie chirped.
“Dr. West! Come in, Dr. West! This is Ralph!”
She thumbed the transmitter.
“Ralph, what’s going on?”
“Ma’am, I came back to the holding room to grab something and, well, I don’t know how it could’ve happened, but, well…”
“Jack isn’t inside. I know.”
“Yes. I secured the pen just as you showed me before. I swear I did. I don’t know what happened.”
“Let’s worry about that later. I’m over by the west gate and
it’s open. And Jack’s location is unknown.”
Another low growl echoed down the hall. This time, distinctly coming from the direction of the north gate and holding room.
“Ralph, get out of there! Now! Jack is loose in the maintenance corridors!”
There was no response. She waited.
“Ralph! Do you hear me? Get out now!”
The faintest whisper replied.
“He’s here now…”
A wild scream tore through the tiny speaker.
Beth sprinted down the corridor. The overhead lights painted patches of light in the surrounding shadows. Her boots slapped the hard concrete floor in a desperate rhythm.
As she arrived at the doorway leading to the holding room, a loud crash accompanied another roar. The sound was deafening in the small space. She made the turn and lifted the rifle stock to her shoulder.
Ralph was trapped under a large stainless steel pushcart. The one they used to transport the daily meals for the chimps. It was now turned upside down with Jack above and Ralph beneath. Ralph’s tan shirt had a ragged tear at the shoulder. A dark crimson stain covered the sleeve, all the way down to the cuff.
Beth skidded to a stop and fired.
Jack’s head whipped around just as the trigger broke and the dart shot forward.
The small projectile ricocheted off the table and landed harmlessly in the tangle of thick fur at his neck. Jack flinched, pausing to assess what had been done to him.
Which was nothing.
But at least she had his attention now.
Oh no.
She had his attention now.
Beth fumbled for the remaining dart lodged in her pocket. The projectile turned sideways and got stuck in the folds of cloth. With a violent jerk, it finally came free. She ripped the plastic safety tip off just as Jack turned and lunged.
The enraged chimp slammed her backward. The rifle clattered to the floor several feet away.
She crashed to the ground with Jack on top. His enormous hand crushed down on her chest. He regarded her coolly with mouth open and a rumble emanating more from his chest than his throat.