Baxter’s War
Page 27
Moraine stabbed the German shepherd who yelped and sprinted away with her knife stuck in his side. The dog crumbled ten feet away from the uncanny event.
The sniper rifle roared.
A hot whisk tousled Moraine’s hair. Her eardrums rang, drowning out the sniper rifle’s dying report.
Moraine moaned, a steer behind her bellowed high before collapsing to the soft earth. Tears burst from Moraine’s eyes. She laid on the warm dry grass. Her energy waning.
White snarled at the remaining dogs. The Delta operators tossed everything at the Canines, from full magazines, helmets. A boot hurled overhead, striking White.
A Great Dane bounded up to the Barrett Adder, bent and clasped the barrel with his mouth. Two pit bulls showed up to help. One seized the rifle bolt lever with his teeth. His partner assisted the Great Dane in steadying the rifle.
Moraine canted her head, zeroed in on the Canine’s machinations in horror. The pit bull pulled the bolt to the rear and let go, slamming another fifty caliber round into the chamber. Boots rained upon the dogs, but neither shirked their duty.
White walked up to Moraine, placing his chilled wet snout against her nose and stared. Satisfied, He resettled himself at the rifle. Once again he plucked the trigger as Great Dane and pit bull maintained a powerful grip on the barrel.
Moraine mumbled a few words, no longer able to hear her own voice as an armored vest flung to the ground over the rifle barrel, knocking the aim off by inches.
Faces pranced before her mind's eye. Erik, Gladys, Casey, and Alek. She gathered the dread and pain into a red drop in her mind. Her boots dug into the muck and she crawled to the black death of the barrel waiting to whisk her soul to eternity.
Undeterred, White continued working the trigger until the Barrett boomed a second time.
83
Moraine screamed into an echoing chamber. A tiny faraway voice in her head told her screaming might be impossible with a fifty-caliber round going through her dome. Her right knee and foot vaporized into a spray of bone and rent flesh.
Boots shuffled before her blurred vision and rapid gunfire sent bright flashes before her eyes.
Jenny wasted no time. Armed with her rifle, she shot the Great Dane and both pit bulls. The Golden Retriever escaped into the darkness. White leaped from the sniper rifle and Jenny fired two shots, killing her science project.
Doctor Jenny Chow straddled the white collie. She thumbed the weapon selector switch to full automatic and emptied the magazine into him. Snot and tears drenched her face twisted in anguish.
Hank hunkered next to Moraine as a few others dressed her wounds. Hank’s mouth moved but Moraine heard nothing. Pain dominated her world, and by inches, she sensed herself sinking into the ground. Casey and eating strawberry pancakes filled her fading consciousness.
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Molly hid in the darkness, her ebony eyes watering as delicate whimpers broke from her mouth. Dogs ran everywhere, escaping the humans killing them with guns and knives. Her own unit dispersed after she gave the order to flee.
When Moraine killed Black, something dark inside Molly slipped away. Logical thought faded off similar to the setting sun. Her thinking lessened, grew sluggish. The words, the meaning word, scrambled, slurring in her brain like a stroke victim’s speech. She no longer understood what human sounds meant. But the ball of red fury imparted by White remained.
She closed her eyes and fought against the anger. The emotion arrived as an insatiable need to rend human flesh. Canine rabidness pulsed throughout her body, trembled her muscles. A few Canines swallowed the sensation, attacking the humans with an uncontrolled viciousness until Moraine charged up the hill and White vanished from view, breaking his final try at conquering the world.
With an abruptness the remaining Canines fled. The former rage cocooning them shredded. Many dogs sat obedient to the humans, exhausted from the fight. Others slunk into the shadows, and the stubborn Canines died fighting.
As for Molly, her war ended. Her small mind blurred, mixing sentences together. An ache bloomed within her skull, replacing the hateful madness. A sudden want for comfort eased into her thoughts, hunger gnawed at her belly.
The schnauzer sporting the pink collar with a tiny letter M encrusted in cubic zirconia trotted from underneath a blue Ford pickup. She sniffed the ground in places until a familiar smell suffused her nostrils. Baby oil and brown sugar.
She traveled along a street, skirting infuriated humans, screaming children, and howling dogs. The trail led into a parking lot crowded with people. Several hands reached for her, a heavy brown boot swept by her head. Her quick reflexes came into play, and she avoided the intended blows.
Her senses picked up the human she wanted. Warmth filled her. She recalled the little fingers ruffling her hair. A cry escaped her throat as she bounded up concrete steps and through an open door into a hotel room.
A few humans spotted her. Young, not angry, but upset with emotions causing the wetness to seep from their eyes. They gazed at her and sensing no threat; she continued on her mission.
The scent stopped at a doorway and she snuck in to find the human she searched for standing outside holding rusty metal bars. Molly delivered a bark, taking a chance.
Casey turned at the gentle call. Her face a mask before a smile appeared, and she rushed to Molly. She scooped her up and held her tight, burying her nose into the thin, knotted fur infested with a few fleas and a sole tick gorged gray with blood.
“Molly,” Casey said as Molly licked the girl’s fat cheeks, tasting salt.
Molly, now in Casey’s arms, stared beyond the balcony rails. She whimpered, missing her old master. But loving her new friend she met during her brief but difficult journey.
Exfil
Moraine stood on the porch of her Big Bear cabin. To her surprise, the aftershocks didn’t cause the local redwood trees to crash into her recent home purchase. The warm weather, fresh air, and the new prosthetic right leg reintroduced her to the world of no complaints.
She spent a year in the hospital in New York, learning both how to walk and jog on a running blade. Eighteen months later she got fed up with the traffic and people, and questions from news media.
When asked, she told the reporters an accurate story, enough to protect her family against those government entities guarding their failed science experiment.
Jenny resigned from the Labs and moved to Big Bear, keeping their redwood constructed house neat and clean for her arrival. And here she relaxed, holding a mug filled with hot black coffee and wondering how the hell she always stayed alive. She died on the operating table and the doctors hauled her ass back for another run at life.
Casey found her voice, everyday she talked more. The girl never mentioned the Canines, and Moraine never brought up the subject.
Her thoughts often drifted to Erik, buried somewhere in the Gilroy hills. She yet discovered the guts to dig him up and give him a proper burial.
Gentle giggles reached her. She settled her eyes on the gravel driveway and a small path branching off to the right. Her three favorite girls emerged into view, beams of afternoon sunlight played in the blond and ebony hair, and brown fur.
Moraine minded Molly the first few weeks after Casey threw tantrums to keep her. She considered the healing aspect the schnauzer might have on Casey.
However, Molly reminded Moraine of what happened. She decided against blaming Molly outright for the outlandish slaughter visited upon them. Molly sensed Moraine’s ambivalence, and in tiny sips, helped Moraine in to liking her.
Jenny climbed the four wooden steps and leaned her arms on the sturdy railing.
Moraine grabbed Jenny’s hand and squeezed. She remained silent, soaking up the thick honey sweet peace. Everything outside their bubble would take care of itself. The military controlled California and FEMA continued searching for bodies. As for her, tranquility reigned. And she promised herself as long as she lived, she would never question her purpose again.
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