Bert was happy to have trees again where he could graze at his discretion, while Ziggy worked her way through a patch of sunflowers, plucking any seeds and bugs from the dead stalks that caught her eye.
Vanessa was exploring the empty house they’d sheltered in. She beamed at the others and held up two rolls of toilet paper. One of her bags was stuffed full with it but she collected it at every opportunity.
While they were waiting for breakfast, Kodiak and Harper sat with their backs against a tree sipping water from their canteens.
“What do you think it will be like?” She asked.
“I dunno.” He shrugged. “Bob said most of the towns were really nice. Electricity and everything. We’ll see. We should be there in a few hours if I’m reading the map right. I hope they have pizza and ice cream.”
“You think they’ll give us some?” she asked “We don’t have any money and if we did, I doubt if they still use it.”
“I guess we’ll find out.” Kodiak said. “I hadn’t really thought about it. Maybe we can work a little, cut some firewood or something.”
“Or maybe do an impromptu circus act.” She said and sat up, excited. “Otis still knows some tricks from his Vegas days doesn’t he? And Ziggy does the laser pointer thing and I bet nobody’s seen anything like the twins riding around on polar bears. This could be fun!”
Kodiak rubbed his chin and smiled.
“You might be on to something.” He said. “We’ll have to talk to the others, see what they think.”
Harper pointed at Otis and giggled. “He’ll have to get over his shyness, I’ve never seen an animal go so far away to go to the bathroom.”
Otis had wandered to the top of a hill and was doing his business. The big bear didn’t like an audience when nature called. His arched back was silhouetted against the morning sky.
Kodiak couldn’t help but laugh. “Believe me, he’s doing us all a big favor by getting far away before he does that.”
“Yeah, thank goodness.” Analise said. “C’mon, foods ready.”
Harper and Kodiak stood and started towards the makeshift table when the sound of gunfire shattered the morning’s calm. Otis roared and slumped to the ground as the children stood frozen to the spot for a second.
“NO!’ Kodiak screamed and sprinted up the rise where his friend had fallen.
7
Gunshot
The strips of meat still frying in the pan were forgotten as children scrambled for weapons. Kodiak tore his way up the hill, war hammer still in his fist. The bear was on his side and moaning. He heard the rumble of an engine getting closer and turned it up to eleven. He ran faster and harder than he ever had in his life. He heard the slamming of doors and the excited chatter from men. The rest of the tribe wasn’t far behind, he heard the twins jump on their polar bears and the ground shook as they thundered up behind him. He reached Otis and dropped to his knees, skidding to a stop beside his friend.
“Drop the guns you bastard sons of bitches!” Swan yelled. She held her bow at full draw on someone Kodiak couldn’t see yet. She was backed up by a chorus of growling, snarling wolves, crouched low, fangs bared, ready to attack.
Tobias and Analise crested the rise in full battle rattle astride magnificent thousand-pound white beasts, saw bladed axes in their hands and murder on their faces. They reined the bears and Popsicle roared a threat at the intruders, his neck extended and long sharp fangs showing. The wound on Otis’s shoulder was bad, it poured blood but there wasn’t any frothing from his nostrils or mouth. It had hit high and wide if they were aiming for his heart. Kodiak raged, his skin burned hot and fury threatened to consume him as he stared at the three dumfounded men standing rooted to the spot some twenty yards away. They didn’t know where to look first, they thought they had gotten lucky and were going to have bear steak for dinner. Things had changed quickly. Now there was a savage looking Indian girl, her face painted for war, ready to put an arrow into one of them. She had a pack of wolves by her side, ready to pounce. On the other side of them a samurai had a spear cocked and an inky black panther curled his lips, showed them long, white fangs. Something was circling around behind them in the woods and they only caught glimpses but it looked like an African warrior riding an ostrich, machetes in her hands and ready to charge. On top of the hill, where the giant grizzly had fallen, were two albino children with long white hair with Gaelic runes tattooed on their skin. They were tiny astride the great polar bears they were on. The boy who had knelt over the bear stood and they took a step back. A little closer to the safety of their truck. He wore battle scared armor and had feathers and beads in his hair. His face was terrible to behold, its anger pure and undiluted. He tightened his grip on a bloody war hammer and started down the hill towards them.
The men didn’t think to raise their guns, they knew the animals would tear them apart if they opened fire.
Another girl, no older than fourteen of fifteen placed a calming hand on the boy’s shoulder. She looked just as fierce with her roughly tanned leather cuirass and bracers but her face didn’t hold the violence his did. She saw how it had been a mistake and no more blood needed to be spilled.
“I, I, I’m sorry.” The man stuttered. “We didn’t know. I thought he was wild.”
Kodiak couldn’t speak, he didn’t trust any words that may come out of his mouth. He wanted to kill them, crush their skulls and grind their bones but Harper’s hand stayed his rage. Helped him see how it could have been an accident. He took a deep, calming breath and lowered his hammer. The tribe followed suit and calming hands went down to animals to soothe them.
“We’ve heard about you’uns.” The man said. “You’re them wild kids that tamed the animals.”
“I didn’t believe it was true, I really didn’t. I thought them retrievers was telling tall tales.” Another man clutching an AR15 said.
Their leader slowly slid his rifle over his shoulder and let it rest on the sling then raised his hands.
“I’m real sorry.” He said again. “We didn’t mean no harm. How bad is he? We got a pretty good doc in town, maybe she can patch him up.”
“Kodiak.” Harper said, drawing his attention back to Otis. “He’s in pain but it’s not going to kill him. Looks like it blew up instead of penetrating.” She said as the big bear chuffed and tried to lick the wound.
“That sounds about right.” The man said. “I told Graham that was the wrong kind of gun, it wasn’t big enough to take down a grizzly. I was going to finish him off with…”
He broke off, realized what he was going to say and cleared his throat.
“Um, look, my name is Denny. This here is Dave Small and that there is Graham Rintoul. We were on a scavenge run up to Jamesport. Doc needs some meds that are probably in the pharmacy. We saw the bear silhouetted against the sky line and um, you know, thought we’d um…”
He broke off again at their glares.
“Um, you kids have names? Where you headed to? We mean you no harm. Think your friend might lower the bow?” He asked with genuine concern in his voice.
Swan should have probably looked chagrined but didn’t. She hadn’t realized she’d raised it, and knocked an arrow when the man started talking about killing Otis. With a curl of her lip, she released the tension and lowered it but didn’t remove the arrow. The men had no doubt she could raise, pull, aim and loose in about a nanosecond.
“Gallatin.” Kodiak said. “We heard it was a fortified town, a safe place to stop.”
“It is, it is.” Wilson assured him. “Um, look, it’s only a few miles away. Really, our doc is pretty good. She’s treated some really bad wounds. Wally James managed to get himself gored by a pissed off bull last month, pardon my French ladies, and she fixed him up right as rain. You think you can get that big fella in the back of my truck? I’ll take him there.”
“I think we should.” Harper said softly. “The bullet came apart into little pieces. I can feel fragments under his skin but they’re in pretty deep.
Without something to numb the area, I won’t be able to get them out. It’ll hurt him too much, he won’t allow it. His shoulder doesn’t feel broken. I can pack the wound with cloth and pour honey on it to protect it and slow the bleeding. Pine sap would be better, but we don’t have any.”
Kodiak knew the bits of lead had to come out otherwise infection would set in. Otis might be able to absorb them over time but they would hurt him, possibly even kill him.
“Yeah.” He said. “I can get him in. Can you back up close?”
“You guys want to stay here or follow us in?” Kodiak asked the tribe when the men hurried off to get the truck.
“We’re not letting you go by yourself.” Harper said and the rest of them chorused agreement.
When they saw what the men were driving, they all exchanged glances. It was an old ice cream truck complete with a side window and rolled up awning over it. Stickers of various ice pops and frozen treats were still visible under the layers of grime and the armor.
“It’s more comfortable than a car.” Wilson said. “If we have to stay out overnight. We don’t go out much but when we do, it’s usually for medicines or fragile stuff that can’t get wet. I was on my route and got stuck in Gallatin when all this happened.”
The kids just looked at him.
“An ice cream truck?” Tobias asked. “Really?”
“Well, it’s diesel and gets good gas mileage.” Wilson said, not sure what to say.
“It’ll go just about anywhere.” Dave volunteered. “And it’s got a lot of storage area.”
“Got any ice cream left?” Analise asked.
“Uh, no, sorry.” Wilson said. “But we’ve got some Cokes in the cooler.”
By the time Otis lumbered into the back of the truck, sagging its springs considerably, the tribe had broken camp, were packed up and ready to go.
“Drive slow.” Kodiak told the man. “They’ll follow.”
8
Welcome to Gallatin
“Tell those idiots to point their guns away.” Kodiak heard the man yell over the CB. “These are them wild kids we heard about. They’re friendlies. We’re bringing in a wounded bear, somebody get the Doc. We need her to look at him.”
There was some hesitation but the men on top of the wall pointed their machine guns skyward then came closer to the edge to watch the strange procession. The American flag hung on a pole and another one they didn’t recognize flew right beneath it. The town was enclosed by a wall of shipping containers that circled it completely. There were only two entrances, one on either end of town. They were set up similar to a castle with double gates. Once they pulled inside the sally port, the containers behind them slid into place as they waited for the ones in front to open. If someone came in hot with a horde of zombies hanging all over their truck, they could be safely picked off one by one in the enclosed area.
Time ticked by and no one said anything, simply watched them from above. The other gate didn’t open.
The animals didn’t like the confined space and were getting antsy. Popsicle growled his disapproval and reared up to sniff at a little dog that squirmed in the arms of a girl. She was standing next to one of the men with the guns. They felt the metal container shudder a little as his paws came to rest and he stretched his neck. The man jumped back, the bear was only a dozen feet below him. He could imagine the wild looking kid with the axe running up his neck and leaping to the top. Tobias leaned forward, stroked Popsicles neck and urged him to calm down. He winked at the girl and sat a little straighter in the saddle. She was about his age and kind of cute.
“What’s taking so long?” Denny finally yelled up to the men staring down at them. “Open the damn gate!”
“They need to get checked for bites!” the man yelled back at them. “But nobody wants to go in there.”
“Let us back out, then.” Swan yelled and pounded on the wall they’d just came through. “We’ll wait outside.”
“Hold your britches on, Missy.” One of the guards said. “The mayor said he’d give you an exemption, he’s on his way.”
Swan snarled at him and dropped her hands to her tomahawks. She could put one dead center of his forehead if she wanted.
“Let me out.” Swan said, her voice full of menace and drew them from their holsters.
The other children followed her lead, weapons were unsheathed, and spears were readied but not aimed. Not yet. Guns came up on top of the wall.
“Now, now, everybody calm down.” A man in a dapper black suit said as walked up and peered over at them. “Lower your weapons, boys.”
They did immediately.
“Sorry it’s taking so long.” The man said smoothly. “My name is Mayor Moretz and I’m the Mayor here.
He smiled a toothy grin at them, amused at his own joke.
“We had to find a place for all of you. A safe place for your animals and to be frank, for us, too. We have a rule, we always check everyone for zombie bites. I’m sure you can appreciate that your situation is a little different.”
“Understood.” Kodiak said. “But our animals aren’t used to being caged. Us either. It’s making everyone nervous. If you’ll open the gate, they’ll wait outside.”
“No need for all that.” He said. “We have a place for you, we’re just tidying it up a bit. Making it presentable for our honored guests. It’s near the back side of town, it should be ready by the time you get there. If you’ll just follow the truck, Denny will have you there in a jiffy.”
He adjusted his smile and bolo tie, a sterling silver piece with turquoise inlay.
“What about their weapons?” One of the men asked. “No weapons allowed.”
“No guns allowed.” The mayor corrected. “The children have spears and knives. I’m sure they’re no threat to you boys now open the gate, let’s get them comfortable.”
“Denny, lead them around the perimeter road over to the stockyard.” He shouted down. “One of my boys will be there to show you where they’ll be staying.”
Denny gave him a thumbs up and the gate started to slowly open.
“Now, I hate to say this, but I feel it is my duty. Please stay right behind the truck and don’t wander off into town. I have the safety of my citizens to worry about. I’m sure you understand. It’s just until we get you checked out, then you’ll be free to go about your business.”
“I’ll wait outside.” Swan yelled up at him from her position at the entry gate.
The mayor turned away and disappeared from sight. Annoyed, she holstered her tomahawks and followed the slow-moving group as they made their way down the dirt road that hugged the wall. She heard the men above keeping pace, their footfalls loud on the steel of the containers, their guns ready to shoot anyone that strayed off the path.
The mayor signaled for three of the men that rarely left his side to follow the procession and make sure they were secured. He and his bodyguard climbed back down to a waiting car.
“We need to keep this quiet.” He said as soon as they were inside. “You were right, Jimmy. Those animals will add quite a few pieces of gold to our coffers. I called on the ham, there are a couple of collectors in the Tower looking for some exotic hides. We might even get a bidding war going.”
The bearded man nodded, he’d seen the cards requesting them pinned up in the retrievers bar in the Tower back when he’d been out hustling. He’d fallen in with Moretz, a local politician who needed some trusted men to do his dirty work, and they’d taken over the little town. It was a lot easier and safer life than running the wilds looking for trinkets for the rich folk. He recruited the other three, men he’d known back when he rode with Casey and his raiders. They’d seen the writing on the wall, they knew that outfit was a little too wild and got out while the getting was good. Now all he had to do was an occasional odd job for the mayor and he lived comfortably behind the walls.
“I wish those fools hadn’t brought them here, it would have been easier if nobody knew about them but no matter.” The mayo
r continued. “We need to get the word out that they’re contagious. I’ll have the doc check them out and as soon as that bear can walk, we’ll get rid of them.”
“Think she’ll play ball?” Jimmy asked. “She’s one of them do-gooders.”
“She will if she knows what’s best for her and her daughter.” Moretz answered. “You see Jimmy, power doesn’t have to be brandished like a club. Sometimes subtlety, just the hint of what may happen, is all you need. She’s a mother, and mothers will do anything to protect their children. She’ll do as she’s told.”
I don’t like this. Donny signed and Swan agreed. They didn’t feel like honored guests, they felt more like prisoners.
We get Otis stitched up and get out of here as fast as we can. She flashed back at him. Kodiak is distracted, keep an eye out.
He nodded and slowed his pace, put a little distance between them and watched the buildings for anyone else pointing guns. It wasn’t being paranoid if they really were out to get you. The towns people that saw them seemed nice enough. None of them were armed, they were curious but kept their distance. Sound carried in the silence and above the clump of booted footfalls on the metal two stories above them, they could hear snatches of conversation from the men with the guns. The mayors’ deputies. Swan padded softly with her wolves and her keen ears caught phrases like they look like a bunch of savages, probably too wild to be in civilized company and they probably smell as bad as the animals and a lewd comment that the others laughed at. I’d like to tame that one leading the giraffe.
Harper heard some of the remarks, too. The men weren’t exactly keeping their voices down. It was hard to believe they’d been so excited about reaching civilization again. They had believed everything would be great, the town would welcome them with open arms and maybe even fuss over them a little. She’d imagined the ladies wanting to clean them up and smother them love, the poor things. They’d been talking about eating pizza and playing video games, watching a movie and having an ice cream, maybe putting on a circus act that everyone could enjoy. Now they were trudging towards some animal holding pens. It might still be all right. The mayor was just being careful and he couldn’t help it if his men were a little rough around the edges. They were probably good guys and would be embarrassed if they knew they could be heard.
The Feral Children | Book 3 | Nomads Page 6