“What are you hoping to see? Don’t we need to get stuff done here at the dock?”
“I’m crawling out of my skin anxious here. Everything has felt upside down since Root disappeared. I don’t know what I’m looking for—I just know I’m not going to find it sitting at the dock.”
***
One of the perks of working at the loading docks was that Lemon and Zero were able to grab the keys to the forklift and ride across town in style. They decided not to drive it into the banana grove since that would leave an obvious trail to their destination. With that thought in mind, they parked it at the place where the banana workers loaded their bunches, and walked a different path in case someone like Flea happened to be watching. Before long they arrived at their destination.
“Lefty cut that hole,” Zero said, pointing at the section of fence that had been altered. “It started out small, just big enough to stick his arm through, and then he made it big enough to climb through.”
Lemon ran his hand along the different links that had been clipped. “So what do you want to do?”
“Me?” Zero asked. “You’re the one who wanted to come here. What do you want to do?”
“I want to go in there and find him.”
Zero nodded. “Me too.”
Lemon turned and looked at him. “That surprises me a little. How come you didn’t want to go find him before?”
“I tried. I only made it to the tree line before a jaguar came up on me.”
“It chased you out? Those things are pretty fast, aren’t they?”
“It didn’t really chase me. It would be more accurate to say that it ‘escorted me out.’ It didn’t seem to want to kill me—not at that moment, anyway.”
“Well,” Lemon took a deep breath. “I’m going in.”
“And I’m coming with you.”
They teamed up on the wires and had it open in no time at all.
“Please. Let me go first,” Zero said.
They repeated the same method as before, taking a few steps and surveying the area for signs of any predators.
“This is as far as I made it before.” Zero stepped a little farther into the trees and looked around.
“Do you know which way he went?” Lemon whispered.
Zero shook his head. A sudden feeling of discomfort washed over him—like something was about to happen. He was on edge. When he closed his eyes to listen more acutely to the sounds around them, he heard something charging in the distance. He tugged on Lemon’s shirtsleeve and motioned back toward the opening. When Lemon looked quizzically at him, he pointed at his ear, and then in the direction he had heard the sound.
They did their best to move quietly at first, but when the sound got louder, busting through brush toward them, they abandoned their strategy of silence and concentrated only on being quick.
They hurried back through the opening and began twisting the wires closed. As they twisted the last few wires, they saw the silhouette of what had just chased them out. It was much taller than any cat could be. It stepped out of the shadows and into the light.
It was Lefty. He was soaked in blood and barely able to stand.
Chapter 13
Zero’s jaw dropped open at the sight of Lefty standing at the edge of the clearing. His pants were covered in blood—both fresh and dried.
Zero and Lemon both began twisting the wires open as quickly as they could. Once they had it open, they looked up at Lefty, but he was just standing there motionless.
“Come on,” Zero yelled, beckoning him with the wave of a hand.
Lefty remained rooted where he stood. He put a finger up to his lips to quiet them, and then pointed toward his right. Zero and Lemon stood on the tips of their toes and looked around, but they failed to see what he was pointing at.
“What is it?” Lemon asked.
Then Zero saw it. A black panther, the same one that had chased him into the jungle the day before, was crouched low in the tall grass close by. If Lefty were to run, the cat would be on him within two steps. But he also knew Lefty couldn’t remain still for very long. The cat was beginning to inch closer, stalking him.
Zero pushed open the fence and stuck one leg through. “I’m going in after him.”
“Are you sure he’s not infected?” Lemon asked. “What if he got sick with the virus last night just by being out there?”
“I don’t care.” Zero slowly pulled his second leg through and paused too briefly to collect his nerves.
With his eyes still focused on the black panther, Lefty took two careful steps toward the fence. He held up one hand to tell Zero not to come any closer, but Zero ignored him and took a few steps toward them.
The black panther crept closer, staying low to the ground with its eyes glued on Lefty, which caused him to freeze again. “Zero, you fool. Go back through,” he said without turning his head.
“Not without you.”
“I’m being stalked.” He pointed toward the black panther in the grass. Lefty took one more step and stopped. The cat also took a step.
Zero walked straight toward the cat. When the black panther noticed him, it dropped even lower in the grass. Zero stood tall and stretched his arms out to his sides. He bore his teeth and hissed like a cat.
“Are you crazy?” Lefty whisper-yelled. “What’s the matter with you?”
Zero grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at the cat, hissing again. The cat spun partway around to face Zero, wagging its hind end like it was about to pounce. Zero threw another handful of dirt and dashed back toward the fence. He didn’t run toward the opening, though. He darted away from it and continued parallel to the fence once he was close. The cat sprinted after him. Once he was about fifty feet away from the hole, Zero jumped high onto the fence and in one smooth climbing motion he was halfway up before he stopped. “Run, you idiot,” Zero yelled.
The black panther jumped high in the air. It swiped at Zero’s leg, but came up empty.
Zero’s actions had been so unexpected and uncharacteristic that Lefty almost missed his opportunity. With the cat now focused on Zero, leaping up to catch him on the fence, Lefty limped toward the opening. Pain was evident on his face as he struggled to run. He grabbed a fistful of his pants and pulled his right leg along, grimacing with every step.
At about the same time the black panther realized it would never catch Zero, Lefty reached the hole. The cat turned and bounded for him. He dove through the opening. It caught him by the ankle a split second before he was through, tearing off his shoe and shredding the last six inches of his jeans. Lefty let out a painful scream as he landed in the grass.
The black panther returned to the hole, swiping at Lemon as he held the fence closed with one hand and hurried to twist the wires closed with the other. “Someone help me!” he yelled.
Lefty stood on his good leg and leaned all of his weight against the fence. The cat muscled one paw through the opening, swiping in every direction and shredding Lefty’s shirt and skin.
Zero climbed over the top of the fence and dropped to the grass before hurrying over to help. He stood back and kicked his heel forward at the cat’s paw, striking successfully and causing it to pull back. They teamed up to finish twisting the last links closed, and then all of them jumped clear.
The black panther’s jowls curled up and it growled, baring enormous yellow fangs. It paced back and forth a few times before standing on its hind legs to apparently test the strength of the fence. But the fence didn’t budge, and the boys all sighed in relief.
Zero walked over to Lefty, who stood shaking uncontrollably. “Lefty, I don’t know whether to hug you or throw you a beating.”
Lefty looked down at his leg and began to shake with even more violence. His knees gave out and he fell flat onto his face.
Zero took a step toward him, but Lemon grabbed his arm. “I
wouldn’t touch him,” Lemon said. “Not till we know what we’re dealing with. There’s no way he could survive a whole night between the inner fence and the outer wall. He must have made it beyond the wall into Remnant territory. He could be infected.”
“I’ll … be … all right.” Lefty continued to shake. “I’m just—I don’t know.”
“Lefty,” Lemon looked concerned now. “Are you infected?”
“Not infected. I just—” He could barely speak, he was shaking so badly. He curled into the fetal position, his head bouncing off his chest.
“Are you sure? Did you run into any Remnants while you were out there?”
“No.”
Zero began to move toward him again, but Lemon squeezed his arm tighter. “He could have gotten infected just by being out there. We don’t know all the ways to get infected with the virus. For all we know a person might be able to get infected just be being out there for too long. Maybe he wouldn’t even have had to come in direct contact with a Remnant.”
Lefty reached out and grabbed Zero’s ankle. “I’m not infected. I’ll be all right.” He had no strength in his grip, which made it easy for Zero to pull his leg free.
Zero knelt next to him and pulled up on Lefty’s pant leg to assess the damage.
“I lost a shoe,” Lefty said. “That stupid cat took my shoe.”
“Stop worrying about nonsense,” Zero said. “We’ll just stop by and grab you a new pair on our way to the clinic. We need to get you there immediately.”
“I’m fffff. I’m ffffine. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine,” Lemon said. “Look at you. You look like you got attacked by a Remnant.”
“No. No. No. I didn’t see any Remnants. Just a jungle cat—a black panther. That one.” Lefty pointed a shaky finger at the cat pacing back and forth along the other side of the fence.
“We need to get you to the clinic,” Zero said. “You have some new cuts, but the ones I’m really worried about are these deep ones that are already scabbing up. They look like they’re getting infected. Did you get these last night?”
“Yes.”
“What happened to you last night?” Lemon asked.
Lefty shook his head, still trying to calm his nerves so he could stop shaking. “Just get me to the clinic. I’ll tell you later.”
“Can you stand up?” Zero asked.
Lefty nodded. He continued to shake, but not as severely as before.
“I think you’re infected,” Lemon said. “I’ve seen Remnants before. You look like you’re infected.” He had taken a few steps back and held the palms of his hands up in front of him, as if that would somehow shield him from a virus.
“I told you. I’m not infected.” Lefty took a few deep breaths and was able to stop shaking. “I’m just experiencing an adrenaline dump—a really bad one. I thought I was as good as dead out there, and I would have been if you guys hadn’t been here to help me get back through the fence.”
“Come on, Lemon,” Zero said. “If he was infected with the virus he’d be blabbing nonsense and attacking us by now, wouldn’t he?”
“Not necessarily,” Lemon said. “Who knows how long it takes before the virus has completely taken over his system? For all I know, it could take days or weeks.”
“Get me to the clinic,” Lefty said. “I’ll be all right after a day in bed. That’s all. I’ll be okay. No problem.”
Zero stood in front of Lefty and held out his hand. “I believe you. Come on. Sitting here isn’t doing us any good.”
Lemon closed his eyes and shook his head as if to say “I’m going to regret this,” and then stepped in to lend a hand. Zero and Lemon walked on either side of him, both supporting him by holding one hand under each of his arms.
***
It took almost two hours for Stitch to sew up Lefty. Zero sat next to him the entire time and Lemon paced around the room. Lefty needed a lot more stitches this time than last time, but he didn’t put up nearly as much of a fuss about the numbing needle or anything else. He mostly just lay back on the bed and allowed Stitch to do the work.
Conversation between them was minimal, which was a big relief. Zero was pretty sure Stitch recognized the wounds immediately and simply didn’t want to get mixed up in any trouble.
All of the other beds in the clinic were empty, so nobody else needed to know what happened to him. He would probably limp for a few days, but he’d do his best to hide that and he could cover that up with a little white lie about falling out of a tree or something.
It took twenty-six stitches this time to close him up—sixteen of them in on his lower calf, and ten on his ankle. Stitch also replaced the bandages on his forearm from the previous visit.
“Let him have his rest. He’ll be fine,” Stitch said, turning to Zero and Lemon.
Lefty was already starting to look better.
Lefty, Lemon, and Zero were in the process of helping Stitch clean up when someone came busting through the clinic door.
“Here you are. I’ve been looking all over for you,” Flea said, grinning from ear to ear. “Your fellow kitchen workers aren’t very happy with you skipping work today.” He shook his head. “Not very happy at all.”
“What do you want, Flea?”
“I heard you were in here and I wanted to check on you to make sure you’re okay. I worry about you, that’s all.” Flea was enjoying this a little too much already. “Of course, everyone is already used to seeing you beat up, but this visit to the clinic sounded different from usual. So, being the security guard on shift right now—you know, being my job and all—I thought I’d come and ask a few questions.”
“Fine. What do you want to know?” Lefty hopped down from the bed and stood on his leg, doing his very best to make everything appear normal.
Zero was glad the clinic had a stack of clean laundry on hand, and that Lefty was able to get his foot back into a shoe. If he didn’t know any better—just by seeing him standing there—he might not be able to grasp just how badly he had been torn up.
“Now,” Flea said, “just tell me how you hurt your leg and your arm.”
“How I hurt myself? How does that have anything to do with the security of the city?”
“Answer the question. I’ll be the judge of what’s important for the city.”
“I fell. I fall all the time. You know that. Clumsy ol’ me, always falling and hurting himself.”
“Oh, really?”
“Fell on what? A crocodile?” His grin broadened. “A lion?”
Zero really didn’t like the sound of that last comment. Flea knew as well as anybody about Lefty’s obsession for dangerous animals, and this was proof that he was clearly suspicious about where he received his wounds.
“You’re a fool,” Lefty said, and walked toward the exit.
Flea grinned, looking down at Lefty’s leg as he limped, but he didn’t follow.
***
Lefty was able to walk all the way home without any support, however gingerly. Once back in his dorm room he laid on his bed and grinned. He closed his eyes and pretended like he was going to sleep. He knew what Zero and Lemon were still waiting to hear about—what happened out there in the jungle—and he loved toying with their anticipation.
“Well?” Lemon asked.
“Well what?” Lefty said, his eyes still closed. “Don’t you have some work to do at the docks? You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine here in my bed for the rest of the day.”
“We know you’ll be fine.” Lemon smiled. “We’re not worried about that. We want to hear about your night in the jungle.”
Lefty grinned. “It was pretty terrific. It was definitely worth it.”
“I don’t know if I can listen to this,” Zero said.
“Oh, knock it off, Zero. You need to learn to live a little,” Lefty
said. “Nothing can make you feel more alive than coming that close to death. A couple of times I thought I was as good as dead. I really did.”
Zero sighed and shook his head. “You’re absolutely crazy.”
Lefty rolled onto his side and propped his head up with his pillow. “Okay, so I went into the jungle with that big chicken leg, right? I was planning to feed it to the jaguar so I might be able to earn its trust, but I couldn’t see it anywhere. I threw it into the trees and waited, but nothing happened. I went and picked it up and threw it again and nothing happened. I did that a bunch of times until I heard something moving in the brush. By this time, I was pretty deep into the trees. I got all excited until I realized the cat coming up on me was that black panther, and not the spotted yellow jaguar I was hoping to see. That was when I knew I was in trouble. Immediately I could tell that this cat was not only bigger, it was meaner.” Lefty held his hands up like claws and bared his teeth.
“And that’s when you got bit?” Lemon asked.
“No. That’s when I ran. I wasn’t about to stick around to see if I could get close enough to pet this cat. I’m not stupid.”
Zero rolled his eyes and scoffed.
Lefty ignored him. “It was obvious to me from the first look in its eyes that I wanted to be as far away from it as possible. I just ran. It followed me, but not at full speed at first. I dropped the chicken hoping it would stop and eat it, but that didn’t work. Luckily it didn’t decide to chase me at full speed until I was almost home free. I got partway up the fence before it caught me.”
“Fence?” Zero interrupted him. “Wait. Wait. You said you were running in the opposite direction. How did you get back to the fence? Why did you spend the whole night out there if you made it back to the fence?”
“It was a different fence. A second one. Only a few hundred yards into the jungle.”
“Are you sure it wasn’t just a different section of the same fence?” Zero asked. “Like you circled back around without realizing it? The outer wall should be made of stone and mortar, right? A hundred feet tall.”
The Inner Fence: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 2) Page 9