“I’m positive it was a completely different fence. Banana orchards completely surround Quirigua, right? There were no banana trees near this fence. Plus, the first fence has a clearing on both sides of it. The second fence had a clearing on the inside of the fence, but not on the other side of it. I made it partway up before the jaguar caught up to me. It jumped at me and caught my leg. I barely held onto the fence. By the time it jumped at me a second time, I was out of its reach. I made it all the way over the top to the other side. It was pretty dark by then, so I knew I would have to stay there the whole night. It would have been stupid for me to try to come back before dawn.”
“Yeah, stupid. Unlike all of the other decisions you made up to that point,” Zero said.
Lefty shot him a look. “The black panther paced that same section of the fence. Every once in a while it would leave, but it always came back looking for me. It was waiting for me to cross back over. I was pretty shaken up by that point, and I didn’t want to go wandering around in the jungle. I didn’t know if there were any cats on my side of the fence and I didn’t want to stumble onto one in the dark.”
“So you slept right there?” Zero asked.
“Yeah. Just right there. Well, away from the fence far enough that the black panther couldn’t see me. Although I don’t know if you can really call that sleeping. I spent the night there, awake pretty much the whole time wondering if I was about to get eaten by something.”
Lemon stood up and walked to the window, gazing off into the distance. “I wonder why they would put a fence there instead of a wall. Wouldn’t one of the Remnants be able to get in? It’s easy to climb a fence.”
A sudden commotion began to erupt outside. Lefty and Zero soon joined Lemon at the window to see what the matter was. The streets were beginning to empty as people ran in every direction, ducking into the nearest building and slamming the doors shut. At first there was no sign of what could be causing such panic and chaos, but then they saw it. A large black panther—one that looked an awful lot like the one they had left pacing back and forth by the fence—came running out into the courtyard between the dorm buildings.
Chapter 14
Zero recoiled at the sight of the black panther running through the streets of Quirigua. Even though he was watching it through the window and was safe indoors, he knew his day just had got a lot more dangerous. He grabbed hold of the doorknob and stepped in front of the door to block it.
“What are you doing? Get out of the way,” Lefty said.
Zero shook his head. “As soon as I saw that cat out there I knew you would want to go chasing after it. You can’t. It will kill you.”
“Someone has to do something!” Lefty tried to push him aside, but Zero didn’t budge.
“Then let someone who isn’t walking around with a bunch of stitches in his leg go after him.”
“Stop worrying about me. I’m fine. See?” Lefty hopped up and down twice, wincing in pain each time he landed. “See? I can move around just fine.”
Zero closed his eyes and shook his head. “Nope. Just let it go.”
“I can’t let it go. Don’t you see? I’m the one who started this. I need to be the one who takes care of it.” Lefty grabbed him by the wrist and successfully pulled him a few inches away from the door, but as soon as he let go, Zero fell back against it.
“What do you mean you started this? You don’t know that’s the same black panther we saw by the fence. And we closed that hole up tight. There’s no way it could get through there.”
“You’re wrong. I do know that’s the same black panther. I got rather up-close and personal with it last night, remember? I could recognize that cat from a mile away.” Lefty turned his back and grabbed a fistful of his hair with both hands. “This is my problem right here. This is bigger than anything I’ve ever done. If that cat puts so much as a scratch on anybody, I’m gone—off to Exile City. And, to me, that’s worse than dying in the jungle.”
Zero paused but still didn’t move away from the door.
“If I take care of the cat,” Lefty continued, “I might stand a chance at being the hero, even if I was the one who made it possible for the cat to enter the city in the first place.”
“I think he’s right,” Lemon said, looking back and forth between Lefty and Zero. “This is his mess. He needs to clean it up.”
Zero took one step to the side, clearing a path to the door. “Fine. I’m coming with you this time.”
“That’s my boy!” Lefty grinned, and then slowly picked himself up off the ground, grimacing.
“I’m coming with you because it’s the only way to keep you from doing anything completely stupid,” Zero said.
“I’m coming too,” Lemon said.
Lefty smiled. “This is great. Last night’s adventure was fun, but there was nobody next to me to share it with.”
They opened the door and stepped out into the street. It had only been about sixty seconds since the cat had come strolling into the center of town. Now the streets were completely empty of everyone but themselves.
Lefty hurried to the cafeteria, emerging in a moment with a long knife. Zero and Lemon took their cue from that, both running to the tool shed where they found machetes.
The panther had slowed to a walk, heavily panting as it paced the street. The armed three man posse grouped together and followed after it, but the cat didn’t seem to like being outnumbered and had no trouble keeping its distance.
“I don’t understand how this happened.” Lemon asked. “We twisted those metal ties pretty tight.”
“It doesn’t make any sense,” Lefty said. “There’s no way it could have gotten through that hole. No way.”
“There must be another hole,” Zero said. “It had to have gotten through somewhere else. Maybe we should—”
“Zero, don’t even say it,” Lefty said.
“What?”
“You were about to say we should get back inside one of the buildings,” Lefty said. “No way.”
“Why not?”
“Because that means we’re gambling with my future. Maybe it did, and maybe it didn’t get through the opening I made. But it’s obviously the same cat. I’m going to have to bet on this being my fault. And even if it wasn’t my fault, someone has to take care of it. That someone might as well be me, since I’m probably more used to this kind of thing than anyone else in the city.”
“Yeah, but—”
Lefty slapped him in the chest with the back of his hand, pointing a finger in his face. “If you don’t want to be out here, you can go hide back inside.”
Zero sighed but then nodded in agreement. “Okay, fine. But I’m not exactly sure what we’re trying to accomplish here. Are we trying to kill it or do we just want to scare it back toward the hole in the fence?”
“I seriously doubt it will go back through that hole even if we chase it all the way there. I think I’m going to have to stab it.”
Zero shook his head. “There’s no way this is going to work. There’s no way.”
They followed the cat in a full circle around the cafeteria. It stopped near the entrance doors and sniffed along the bottoms of the doors.
Lefty put one finger to his lips to hush the others, then tiptoed around the back of the black panther. He bent down low, holding the long kitchen knife in front of his face and pointing the tip at the cat. Lefty took a step, waited a few seconds, took another step, waited a few seconds, and continued that pattern as he crept closer. Although the cat didn’t turn to look at him, its ears turned every time Lefty took one of his steps. Once he was only about six feet away, the cat turned and looked at him. They stared at each other for a moment before Lefty took another step. The cat backed up against the door and bared its teeth, hissing and holding one clawed paw up under its chin.
“Lefty, what do you think you’re doing?” Captain calle
d from behind.
Zero and Lemon spun around to see Captain standing there, accompanied by two others from the security team.
“I’m going to stick this cat with this knife,” Lefty said with his eyes still fixed on the cat.
“That thing is going to bite your face off long before that happens. Step away. I can neutralize it from here. I have a tranquilizer rifle.” Captain was holding something in his hands. The butt end of it was made of wood, while most of its length was a metal tube.
Zero looked at Captain confused, unsure of what this ‘tranquilizer rifle’ was capable. But Captain said he could take care of the cat from a distance, which was all he needed to know. “Lefty, get away from there. Let Captain do his neutralizing tranquilizer rifle thing.”
Lefty took three steps back. He maintained eye contact, playing with the knife in his hand as he moved away.
The black panther turned and began to walk away.
Captain held the butt end of the rifle up to his shoulder, looking down the length of it. He squeezed his right index finger on its trigger and with a loud pop, something shot out of the end of it.
Everyone, including the other security guards, gasped when they witnessed the rifle in action.
“What was that thing?” Lefty asked.
“It’s called a ‘tranquilizer rifle.’ It shoots a dart that will put the cat to sleep.”
“Amazing,” Lefty said.
“Yeah, except that I missed,” Captain said. “It’s getting away.”
They ran together to the corner. Thirty feet away, the cat stood panting. Its tongue hung loosely out of the front of its mouth. Its tail swayed lazily back and forth. Captain dropped to one knee and raised the rifle again to his shoulder. He pulled the trigger. A dart shot out of the end of the barrel and stuck right in the muscle of the cat’s shoulder. The cat hissed and jumped before darting away at full speed down the road.
“Well, that didn’t work,” Lefty said. “I should have killed it when we had it cornered.”
“It takes time to kick in—I think,” Captain said. “I’ve never actually had to use this thing before.”
They followed after it. They turned corner after corner, waiting and hoping for it to stop. Eventually it slowed to a stop, swayed back and forth, took two staggering steps, and then fell to its side motionless in the street.
Captain walked up to it first and poked it with the end of the rifle. It didn’t move.
“Where did you get that rifle thing?” Lefty asked. “I’ve never seen something like that before.”
“They trained me how to use it when they put me in charge,” Captain said. “It’s meant to be used only as a last resort. This is actually the first time I’ve had to use it.”
“Can I hold it?” Lefty asked.
Captain looked at him seriously. “Lefty, there have been some rumors going around, and unfortunately for all of us, I didn’t look into them. Tell me the truth. Did you do this?”
“Um. Do what, exactly?” Lefty asked.
“Did you let this cat into the city?”
“Not on purpose, but… maybe.”
Lefty’s eyes dropped to the ground. He began toeing a pebble. “I did make a hole in the fence. I thought I had it wired completely shut tight, but I suppose there is a chance the cat got through there somehow. I don’t know how, but there’s a good chance I’m responsible.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
Lefty shrugged his shoulders. He was embarrassed—obviously much more so than any of the times he had been confronted by any of his professors at school—probably because he didn’t respect them like he did Captain. “I like cats. I had never seen one before I came here. I wanted to get close to them and learn about them.”
Captain looked down at the panther and poked it again with his rifle. “Well, here’s your chance to touch one. You have to be the one to carry it back to where you cut the fence.”
Lemon stepped forward and nudged the cat with his foot. “Don’t you think we should kill this thing?”
“No. When I was put in charge, they told me that protecting the jungle cats was one of my responsibilities,” Captain said.
“Why?” Lemon asked.
“Because Remnants are more dangerous than jungle cats,” Captain said. “The cats are what keep out the Remnants.” He poked the cat again with the rifle. “Go ahead, Lefty. Carry that thing back where it came from. We’d better hurry. I have no idea how long they stay asleep.”
“I think it weighs almost as much as I do,” Lefty said. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Captain,” Lemon said. “The forklift is parked pretty close to here. Why don’t we just throw the cat on a pallet and drive it over there?”
“Fine,” Captain said. “Just hurry.”
Lemon ran around the corner and returned quickly with the forklift. Lefty grabbed the panther’s hind legs and Zero the front. Lifting together they dragged it on top of a pallet. Everyone followed as Lemon idled the forklift through the trees toward the opening.
Zero reflected that Captain wasn’t as angry as he could have been. He hadn’t yelled at Lefty for being at the center of the problem like one of his old professors would have done. This gave Zero some hope that he might not be sent to Exile after all. But that all depended on whether or not Captain felt the need to tell Lucid what Lefty had confessed, who wouldn’t be so slow to anger.
As they approached the spot where Lefty had clipped the fence, it was obvious the panther had gone through it. It was wide open.
“How could that be?” Lefty ran to the hole and inspected it, his face showing his surprise. “Captain, I promise it was wired shut when we left it earlier.”
Captain approached the opening. “What on earth made you think this would be a good idea? Cutting a hole this big in the fence? Of course a cat would come through it. It was just a matter of time.”
“I left it closed. I swear.” Lefty pointed at the wire ties sitting in the grass below the opening. “Those were twisted around every link of the fence. There’s no way a cat could get through there without someone undoing them.”
“Lefty, Lefty, Lefty. What am I going to do with you?” Captain shook his head. Lefty knew the question wasn’t rhetorical. He actually was trying to decide what to do with him, and everyone knew it needed to be answered. “Sending you to Exile is the last thing I want to do.”
Everyone stood in silence. Was that his answer?
Lefty’s eyes showed both panic and pleading. “Punish me any way you feel the need. Make me clean the toilets with my tongue. Make me work triple shifts in the cafeteria for the rest of my life. Just don’t send me to Exile.”
“I’m going to have to sleep on this one,” Captain continued. “This is serious. Very serious. Something will have to be done, but just consider yourself lucky this didn’t happen on a day when Lucid was in town or you’d be gone for good.”
“Yes, sir.”
Captain gave Lefty a light open-handed slap across the cheek. “I told you not to call me sir.”
Lefty and Captain smiled at each other.
Lefty and Zero again teamed up to lift the cat. Zero was the first one through the fence, followed by Lefty, and they set the cat down a few feet away from the opening.
“I’m guessing that cat is going to be pretty grumpy when it wakes up,” Captain said.
Lefty picked up a few of the ties and began to twist the links shut.
“Hold on, Lefty,” Captain said. “I think I’m starting to understand why you cut that hole.”
“Um. What do you mean?” Lefty asked.
Much to everyone’s surprise, Captain began to undo the ties Lefty had twisted onto the fence. “I mean, I’ve seen the cats many times as I patrolled the fence, but I’ve never dared set foot on the other side. Did you make it all the way into th
e jungle, or did you just go out into the grass?”
“I made it pretty far in,” Lefty said.
“How far?”
“Far.” Lefty pulled up his pant leg to reveal his bandaged leg. “I was walking through the jungle when a black panther—that one right there—chased me. I was lucky to make it out alive.”
“You didn’t have one of these.” Captain grinned and held up his tranquilizer rifle.
“Uhhh. I think I know what you’re thinking, Captain, and it’s not a very good idea,” Lefty said.
“Really? I thought that you of all people would go for it. Come on. Come with me,” Captain said.
“No, really. I’ve been there, and it really is suicide. I got lucky. Your rifle won’t keep you alive if it takes five minutes for the cat to go to sleep,” Lefty said.
Captain looked down at Lefty, gazed into the shadows of the jungle, and then back at Lefty again. “Maybe we’ll consider this your punishment, then. You go with me out there, just to the edge of the woods and back, and we’ll call it even.”
“You’re serious?” Lefty asked.
“Yep,” Captain said.
“Just out there into the trees and back? Just long enough for you to see what it’s like?” Lefty asked.
Captain smiled.
Lefty nodded. “Okay. If something happens and we both end up in Exile, at least I won’t be alone.”
Lefty stepped through the opening first. He nudged the sleeping cat just to make sure it wasn’t going to wake up and eat them. They both took ten steps away from the fence and stopped to scan the area. Nothing. They took ten steps more.
Then Captain dashed at full speed toward the jungle. At first Zero thought he was making a run for it—which made no sense at all—but then he dropped to one knee in the tall grass. He was kneeling next to someone.
Lefty sprinted to his side and knelt next to him. Zero stood on the tips of his toes to try to see what they were looking at, but they were too far away. Lefty jumped to his feet and beckoned for everyone to come help.
Zero bound through the hole and ran to their side. A young man was lying on his back in the grass. Dried blood was caked on his face and still oozed from the two-inch-wide gash where his scalp had been torn. His left eye was badly damaged and swollen shut. Most of his shirt had been ripped off, revealing large claw marks on his chest. A chunk had been taken out of his shoulder all the way to the bone, making it possible to see the muscles and fatty tissue inside. His breathing was shallow—gurgling. He was barely conscious. With every inch of his body soaked in blood, it was hard to recognize him at first.
The Inner Fence: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 2) Page 10