by Angela White
Dog regarded the rest of the eager wolves. “Go away!”
He lunged forward, bloody teeth snapping, and half of the pack fled, tails tucked.
Dog faced the other three with low growls and a bushed tail. “Leave us!”
The female joined him for the fight this time. She came in low, growling in warning that Dog was her chosen mate now. As the fight began, a loud whistle sounded, but the five wolves didn’t pause in their battle.
3
Jeff and Kevin stared with a hand up to block the glare, wolves fighting and cubs edging closer forgotten.
“That’s a train!”
Sally came to the window, gaping in surprise. She hadn’t viewed a train in almost a year.
“It’s heading south…”
Jeff understood Kevin’s concern. He tried to count the cars on the train and then realized it didn’t matter. One car or fifty, they had no way to know how many people were in each car. “Get out of sight.”
He and Kevin swiftly took cover, motioning Sally to get away from the window. When Jeff thought he was in a good position, he took out his binoculars and zoomed in on the train. As he did, it ended, only to be followed by a second.
He wasn’t able to spot any of the people on the long trains, but he did get a clear sense of menace that sent his mind straight to Safe Haven. It appeared their former camp had drawn more than just the government and the Mexicans.
Five minutes later, the fourth train finally finished passing them. Jeff hadn’t moved, mind spinning. They needed to go home, but through this snow, they had no hope of beating the rails.
“What should we do?” Kevin asked, aware of the woman listening from the cracked door.
“We can be the other slice of bread,” Jeff murmured. The snow melting into his clothes wasn’t noticed as he plotted the future.
“What?”
“We’ll squeeze them in–follow and block.”
“The two of us?” Kevin inquired incredulously.
“Maybe.” Jeff continued to work on the plans. “We just need the right equipment. Let’s finish packing and roll. We can’t let them get too far ahead.”
“Can we run on the railroad tracks?” Kevin wondered.
“I plan to try,” Jeff confirmed. “Come on. It’s time to slide out of this frozen cemetery.”
“Oh, man!” Kevin groaned, snickering.
As they pulled away, Sally came out into the yard to witness it. They hadn’t tried to convince her again and she hadn’t changed her mind. As the truck tried to turn at the end of the snow-covered block and skidded into the sidewalk, she hoped they didn’t make it in time. She didn’t wish for Jeff or Kevin to get hurt, only for them to be too late to prevent whatever fate was heading for Safe Haven on those trains. The people there were just as bad as the government and they had to be eliminated before the entire world was covered in atrocities.
Sally returned to the pungent home and locked herself in, allowing the relief to come. She was alone, alive, and free. It was perfect.
4
Dog and the female took shelter for the night in the house next door. Dog’s leg was hurting after the fights that had broken off the cast. His mate was hurting too. Her injuries were minor, but blood was still leaking from her muzzle.
Finally alone with her, Dog was too tired to encourage her or even to communicate. He dropped down in the corner of the cold room, between her and the door they had nudged closed.
The female–Natalia–circled the spot next to him and then huddled against his haunches, shivering a bit from the stinging in her snout.
Dog whined lowly, lids shutting.
When he opened them again, full night had fallen and Natalia had wiggled under his big body for warmth. His jaw was resting on her shoulder and Dog took the next logical step. He mounted her.
5
Sally and her dogs had gone up to the attic. The number of animals in the yard was incredible. She was suddenly very sorry she’d sent the men away, but she didn’t belong in a camp of people–of any kind. She was too broken to be rehabilitated.
Sally’s dogs slept in the bed with her, uncaring of the personal or environmental drama. They didn’t hear the wind or the woman. Both of the dogs were half blind and half deaf. Sally had taken them in when no one else would, saving them from being euthanized. They were completely loyal to her and the Wind’s orders weren’t being received.
The rest of the animals heard the demands for the woman’s death loud and clear. They gathered around the house, sniffing for an entry.
Dog also felt the order, but he and his mate were locked in the ages old position of love and neither of them responded.
Furious, the Wind called for the attack, including the two rebellious wolves as their targets. Disobeying commanded a terrible price.
6
“I feel bad for leaving her behind.”
Jeff sighed in warm truck. So did he, but he refused to live that way. If he wanted to worry over his safety at night, he could have stayed in Safe Haven.
“Can we…”
Jeff grunted, turning the wheel to spin them wildly through the drifts as he rotated the truck on the wide street. He’d known as they left that he hadn’t seen the last of her yet.
Kevin was relieved. “Thanks, man. We’ll drop her somewhere, but it’s wrong to leave her, you know?”
Jeff didn’t agree, but he was tired of women dying, so the choice wasn’t a hard one.
They had only been gone for an hour, but the sun had already sunk. Nights came quicker now, as if the very earth didn’t want people to receive more light than it absolutely had to give.
“Did you get through on the radio?” Jeff asked, speeding up a bit.
“No. The storm must be over them right now.”
“Angela saw it all coming, I’m sure,” Jeff replied bitterly.
“Yeah,” Kevin agreed, still reaching down for the mike. “Kevin to base. Come in, Safe Haven.”
There wasn’t even static.
“How long do you think it will take–”
“A couple of days, at most,” Jeff interrupted, tiring of the tension. “Tell me why you left. Was it because of Cynthia and Adrian?”
Kevin was surprised at the fast topic change, but answered, “Partly. The rest was feeling of it all ending. Nothing was the same.”
“Yeah.”
“What about you? Crista’s death or Adrian?”
“Both,” Jeff admitted honestly, wincing at the words that Kevin hadn’t hesitated to speak. He had all the tact of a bull. “Also because of my failures. I saw no reason to fix them if I was going to be unhappy there anyway.”
“And now?”
Jeff wiped at the windshield, disliking the old Ford. It had been the only thing left at the lot. “I’ll defend them. I still believe in the dreams. But I won’t stay. Once this is over, I’m out.”
“Same here,” Kevin promised.
Jeff doubted that would be true, but didn’t say so. After a month away, Jeff was betting Kevin would realize how civilized it was compared to the way they’d been living. For Jeff, their trek was perfect. For Kevin, it had been an adventure, but if Cynthia gave him the slightest sign, Kevin would stay. The warmth of a willing woman was hard to resist after not having one for a while.
Jeff winced at his own thoughtless phrasing and forced his mind back to issues that were more important. “How can we get her to leave those damn dogs behind?”
7
“Help!”
Dog tried to ignore the woman’s screams, but she’d done a lot for him. He would likely be dead right now if not for Sally and her love of animals.
Wounds and stiff body protesting, Dog reluctantly stood up to regard his mate. “I have to go.”
“Why?” Natalia asked, yawning. She was perfectly content to remain in their nest.
“I have to help her.”
“The human?” Natalia asked, shocked.
Dog knew she wouldn’t like it, but he refused
to lie. “I have a bond with humans. I won’t ever hunt them.”
“You traitor!” Natalia growled, rising.
Dog limped toward the door, hurting. “No, that’s you. The Wind commands and you follow like the woman’s pets.”
The female remembered a time when she hadn’t hated people, but the voices in her mind were insistent that the humans had to be eliminated to restore the natural balance.
“We are of the natural world. People do not belong!”
“Maybe animals don’t,” Dog replied, thinking of how he’d become a wolf. Natalia may have also been born that way, but he’d seen no signs so far that she remembered her previous life if she’d had one.
“I won’t aid them.”
Dog pawed at the door, letting in a rough draft. “Just don’t attack them. And be here when I come back. I like the scent.”
Natalia’s tail wagged, ears perking up. “You like my scent?”
Dog grunted tiredly, wishing he could mount her again and then sleep for a week. “Enough to follow you north, but don’t expect me to act like you. I have no grudge against people.”
Dog hefted himself through the drifts, not hearing the screams of the woman now that he was outside. He waited to hear Natalia shove the door shut and felt like he could now understand Marc’s intense feelings for Angela. The need to have a mate had also driven him hundreds of miles into a harsh land that had tried several times to kill him.
His bond with Marc lit up, bright and shining in his mind. Dog wondered if he could send a message so far, but didn’t try. He needed all the strength he had to save Sally. The sense of her death being near was impossible to miss, as was the scent of something big. She was being stalked by an animal that even the other wolves were letting go first. The tracks were clear in the snow.
Dog padded through the animals surrounding the cabin without drawing notice. He was simply one of many who had come for the fight. Despite the Wind’s command for the two wolves to be killed, nature couldn’t change herself. The animals had already been given a target.
Dog edged to the door that was open, smelling something large, like a lion. He’d been near one of those a few times, and known to be careful.
He tracked the scent into the kitchen area that was filled with animals he normally would have eaten. Dog followed the stairs to a door that he hadn’t been able to get through earlier. He went up the final, narrow flight of steps to find danger already waiting for him.
Without a single noise, the huge cat leapt.
8
Jeff slid the truck onto the street, letting it go where it wanted until he felt the tires gain a bit of traction. Then he steered them across the dark, frozen tundra that had once been a playground. A swing set was yanked up, crashing into them.
“Hold my beer and watch this!” Jeff shouted, cackling madly.
Kevin tried to grin and hung on to the seatbelt, praying they didn’t die.
Jeff slid back into the street, bumping them off a small car to straighten the route. He gunned the engine to clear the hill in front of the house.
“Hang on!”
Kevin did and Jeff charged them through the front door of the house, where it was most vulnerable. The wood splintered easily, letting them go all the way in. Wood and debris fell, but the frame of the house held.
Jeff opened his door with a hard shove to move the rubble and corpses of the animals that had been in front of the house and inside it. He rushed up the stairs, confident of where Sally would be.
Kevin followed, after shutting both doors so that their escape was secure.
Jeff ran up the last stairs, rifle ready. They’d viewed Sally’s wild shadow through the top window, but Jeff hadn’t expected to find a wolf and a panther battling it out in the narrow space. The attic had been destroyed by a massive fight.
Sally, clutching her two snarling dogs, was on top of a cabinet in the far corner, crying.
Jeff tried to get the panther in his sights, but there wasn’t enough room. The fight was moving too fast. He couldn’t rush up to fire or he would be knocked down in the melee, and who knew where the bullets might go then. He settled for trying to get to Sally without interfering in the fight. If he could get her down to the truck, maybe Dog could run after them and jump in the bed.
Dog had never had fight a like this. The panther was his match in speed and ruthlessness, but she was more than he could handle in strength. Her jaws tried to snap his neck repeatedly, long claws swiping away patches of skin and fur. He wouldn’t be able to hold her for long.
Jeff skirted around the snarling, snapping animals, and ran to Sally. He jerked her down into his arms, not caring if she kept ahold of the mutts. He was actually hoping she wouldn’t. The panther might eat them while the people escaped.
Sally cried out, dogs yelping, but she tried not to struggle as Jeff carried her partially over one shoulder. He was almost to the stairs when the fight rolled their way.
Standing at the top of the stairs, Kevin was trying to figure out which dark mass to shoot when he was hit from behind by a furry form that knocked him to his knees. The heavy body leapt over him, and hit the floor. It immediately lunged again.
Jeff also jumped, leaping over Kevin to hit the stairs at full slide. He let them fall, using his coat for padding as they slid down to the truck.
Dog was at his limit as Natalia shoved between him and the panther. She managed to land a sharp bite to the panther’s nose, something he hadn’t been able to gain the advantage to do. He was forced to back off as Natalia bit down, and the big cat jerked away, slinging her aside.
Dog faced the angry panther, aware of Jeff taking the woman downstairs. Natalia lay in the corner nearby, whimpering.
Dog leapt forward, furious.
The panther’s fangs sank down into his shoulder as Dog’s teeth broke through the tough skin of her jaw. Blood fell as they both let go for a better hold.
“Down!” Jeff shouted, using his mental gift as hard as he could to reach Dog. He came right back up with his rifle. “Get down!”
Dog and the panther ignored his minor nudge, both clamping down on flesh and bone.
Jeff knew the wolf was about to die. He also wasn’t certain of making the shot. Left with no choice, he knelt down and tried to be as cool and calm as he’d always been before. Everything had changed for him when Crista had fallen.
Dog dropped to the floor as the panther’s weight pushed on him. The last bite had been too much.
Bang!
Jeff fired the rifle again and then rushed forward to place his sig against the big cat’s twitching head. His shot to the throat hadn’t killed it cleanly. The panther’s neck was bigger than his own.
With Sally safely inside the truck, Kevin returned to help Jeff.
“Grab his bitch!” Jeff ordered as he scooped Dog into his arms. The wolf didn’t even whine.
Jeff staggered as he stood up with the weight, seeing flying shapes outside the attic window.
The female wolf wasn’t conscious, and Kevin didn’t check her for injuries as he lifted her over one shoulder and jogged down to the truck.
“In the bed!” Jeff shouted, following him down.
9
Jeff slid them down the icy street, hitting furry shapes along the way.
“Are you okay?” Jeff asked, scanning Sally’s stiff form between them. Her dogs were in the floorboard, shivering and whining.
“Yes,” she answered stiffly. “Thank you.”
“Yep,” Jeff replied, manhandling the truck toward the side street they’d used earlier. The roads had grown slicker, but he could use their ruts.
Kevin shifted around to open the narrow rear window and slid through it, avoiding the smell. He hung onto the side of the truck, trying to settle the wolves deeper into the gear so that they wouldn’t be tossed out during Jeff’s wild driving. He and Billy were the Safe Haven wheelmen and they were a little bit crazy once an engine fired up.
Inside the cab, Jeff handed S
ally a spotlight on a cord that was plugged into the truck’s lighter. “Keep this pointed at the road. Out in front, but not too high.”
Sally did as he instructed, wondering if Jeff knew he was bleeding in several places.
“Yeah, I noticed,” he grunted. “It’s what I get for being a Samaritan.”
Sally flushed, tilting the light to where he needed it. Without streetlights to aid them, the lamps on most vehicles weren’t strong enough for driving at night anymore, even in the snow. Civilization had contributed a lot more than people realized, especially the big cities.
“Do you need stitches or anything?” Sally asked suddenly. “I can do that.”
“You’ll have to take care of Dog when we land,” Jeff told her. “And we forgot your bag, so you’ll have to use the supplies we have in our medical kits.”
“Okay. Do I…” Sally was afraid to say it in case he’d forgotten.
Jeff surveyed the shivering dogs, finally having a little heart about the crippling disabilities that would have earned them death in man’s old world or any other. “No. But we’ll have to work some things out.”
Sally was relieved and tried to do a good job of holding the light. After the house being attacked, all she could feel was relief that Jeff had agreed to come back for her. She was certain it hadn’t been his idea.
Jeff saw that Kevin was hunkering down, using their bedrolls and a few of the emergency blankets from his kit for warmth. He was practically lying across both animals to keep them in the truck and Jeff hoped the female didn’t wake up. Dog’s mate was stocky and not the least bit friendly. She’d almost attacked Kevin instead of the panther when she came up the stairs. Only Dog’s whimper had saved the man.
Jeff settled the truck into their refreezing ruts on the road and carefully lit a smoke. His nerves were good, but he was about to broach a subject he suspect he would need patience for. That, he was always low on these days.
“So, why do you hate descendants and all other forms of human life?”
Sally stiffened in the dark truck. “I don’t hate all forms of human life.”
Jeff heard the tone, but didn’t let her slide off that easy. They had nothing but time to kill while he drove. Conversation would help him stay awake.