Running With The Tiger

by Bonnie Burrows

  Cambria lowered her head, but she said nothing. She’d already told Laskin how she felt, but Tom wouldn’t understand and he wouldn’t believe her anyway.

  The light from his watch face glowed softly as he checked the time.

  “Time to head back. I have bigger things to do than walk the perimeter with a coward.”

  He strode away, cutting a path straight towards the cabin and leaving her standing in the darkness, alone.

  She stood there, defeated by his anger and her failure. Hot tears streamed down her face but she remained silent.

  Cambria took her time walking back, trying to get her thoughts together. But all she could think about was how foolish she’d been to say aloud what was in her head. Her one job was to be loyal to the cause, and she’d failed miserably. Tom had every right to be angry with her. She was angry at herself.

  She walked quietly into the cabin, going straight for her room and sweet solitude. It was early, just before midnight, and the grounds were still a flurry of activity. But all Cambria wanted to do was get into her bed and sleep the hurt away.

  Her door was unlocked, and Cambria scolded herself for being so careless. She didn’t remember locking the door because she hadn’t.

  She opened the door and turned on the light, nearly jumping at the sight of Tom sitting on her bed. She quickly closed the door behind her.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked. She was surprised to see him at all, let alone in her room waiting for her.

  “I was hard on you and I feel awful.” He patted the bed beside himself, but she stood her ground. “I should have chosen my words more carefully. You’re wrong to question Laskin, but it wasn’t my place to come down on you like that.”

  He looked at her, and his sad eyes weakened her resolve. She was angry and he’d hurt her, but he was sorry and he’d been right.

  She went to sit beside him, letting him pull her in for a hug.

  “I’m so sorry,” he whispered into her ear.

  He leaned back, pulling her with him. She hesitated.

  “No sex, I just want to hold you. I’ll be up and gone before anyone wakes up.”

  She sighed, letting him pull her down beside him. It was only for a few hours. What harm could it be?

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Cambria moved about the little cabin behind the main house. Like many of the cabins on the other side of the compound, this one only had a few tiny rooms. As long as Cambria had been there, it had only been used for storage. But Laskin had asked her to clean it out, securing it for the prisoner.

  She worked tirelessly, moving bulky items into a large storage closet that smelled oddly of old potatoes and something else she couldn’t place. She’d only realized that the one smell was potatoes because she’d found several when she’d started transferring things from the other rooms into the dark closet. They were black and nearly liquefied, having been in the dark, damp closet for who knew how many years.

  The cabin was covered in years of dust and grime, so Cambria didn’t worry too much about making it homey. They weren’t bringing the woman here for a spa experience.

  The knot in her stomach grew and grew as she worked. Even after Tom had explained the purpose to her, she still didn’t like it. Understanding wasn’t the same as accepting it.

  Cambria was securing the last of the windows when she heard a car drive up and park beside the old cabin.

  A car door closed and Cambria quietly let herself out the back door of the little building. Tom might be just doing his job, but she wanted no part of it until she was forced to. Several steps from the cabin, she heard a loud thud as something heavy was dropped onto the decrepit wood floor. The sound was sickening, and Cambria was left wondering if the woman had made it there alive.

  It sure didn’t sound like it.

  She spent the day avoiding the shed, working odd jobs around the compound and keeping out of sight. She wasn’t on duty that night, so she was able to eat dinner and go straight to her room. Tom didn’t come around and Cambria didn’t see Gary once the entire day. Cambria went to sleep, the knot in her stomach hadn’t grown, but it was still there.

  Cambria lay awake for some time before sleep finally claimed her. She couldn’t get the sound of dead weight hitting the floor out of her head.

  The next morning, she woke up early and headed out again, tending to the garden and the animals beyond the cabins. When she ran out of things to do in the garden and with the livestock, she went to the mess hall and started prepping dinner.

  Her plan worked and she managed to avoid the old cabin until after dinner had been served. When she saw Tom pop his head into the cafeteria, she knew he was looking for her.

  He smiled when he saw her, his stride eating up the distance between them. A few of the recruits watched him as they ate, clearly wondering what was going on. Everyone was on edge and had been the entire meal. The news had spread like wildfire that the woman had already escaped once.

  She was proving to be more trouble than she was worth.

  “Cambria, can you make a plate of food and bring it to the storage shed?”

  “Of course,” she said, finishing the final bite of her own food and clearing her plate before going to the kitchen to dish one up for the prisoner. She grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator and hurried out the door.

  The shed was dark, and Cambria had to watch the floor as she walked once she got inside. Gary came out of the room in a huff, giving Cambria an angry look before continuing down the hall.

  “I don’t know why we’re feeding the bitch, but she’s all yours for a while. I wouldn’t untie her if I were you.”

  He didn’t offer an explanation, just shoved the door open and let it slam shut behind him. Cambria opened the rickety door slowly, peeking through the crack to make sure that the woman was where she should be.

  The prisoner sat against the wall, propped up awkwardly and tied like a pig being taken for slaughter. Cambria couldn’t believe what she was seeing and mentally cursed Gary. Surely he was the one who had left those bruises on her face. It was clear from her posture that she was in a great deal of pain.

  As Cambria approached her, the woman lifted her head and seemed shocked to see her.

  “Who are you?” Her voice cracked.

  “I’m Cambria. You’re Grace, right?”

  “Yes.” Cambria waited for the woman to speak, but she didn’t ask any further questions.

  Cambria sat in front of her on the floor, balancing the plate of food on her lap.

  “I’m not supposed to untie you, but you need to eat.” She motioned to the plates that were strewn angrily about the room, the food untouched.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “I understand, but you still need to eat something.” Cambria dipped a spoon into the mashed potatoes and held it to Grace’s mouth. “Please. You need your strength.”

  Grace gave her a withering look but opened her mouth. She struggled to get the potatoes down, and Cambria held the ice cold water to her lips to help her swallow.

  Cambria fed her slowly, giving Grace a chance to swallow each bite before presenting her with another one. In no time, the plate was nearly empty and Grace told Cambria she couldn’t eat another bite.

  Cambria set the plate down and helped Grace drink the rest of the water. She stood, fetching a wet cloth from the bathroom and gently washing Grace’s face. The bruises were darkening and Cambria couldn’t help but feel anger for the woman. She knew what it was like to be beaten by a man, and it broke her heart.

  How could anyone think this was alright?

  Cambria cautioned herself not to care about the enemy. As sad as Grace’s predicament was, she had chosen her fate.

  “All you have to do is help them find the shifters and they’ll let you go.”

  “Is that what you think?” Grace asked. “They’ve already lured my friends out of hiding. They’re probably already in Florida right now, looking for me. Do you really think they’re going
to just let me go?”

  “Of course they will.” Cambria wanted to believe it, but she didn’t.

  “I can hear it in your voice. You know the truth.” Grace lowered her voice, looking young Cambria directly in the eye when she spoke. “You can help me get away. If I can just get away, I can warn them and no one has to die.”

  “No, that’s not true. We can’t let the shifters keep doing what they’re doing. They’re destroying our nation.”

  “Who is telling you these things? Shifters are good people. My friends are good people. They don’t deserve to die.”

  “They left you here to fend for yourself.”

  “No they didn’t, I didn’t want to leave. I thought this entire thing would blow over and everything would get back to normal. They begged me to come with them, but I didn’t want to leave my life here. When that man kidnapped me I was on my way to the airport because Olivia bought me tickets so that I could go live with them, where it’s safe.”

  “It doesn’t matter. Even if you don’t understand, it’s the right thing to do. You’ve been brainwashed into believing the shifters are good people. But they’re not.”

  “It’s you who’s been brainwashed. No one has to tell me how to feel about people I love. And what about their child? Their son Morgan is five. He’s five years old. You know they’re going to kill him too, right?”

  Cambria swallowed the lump in her throat and the knot in her stomach grew.

  “He’ll be a full-grown shifter then, and he’ll be just as dangerous as his father.”

  Grace gave her a knowing look, but it was clear that she’d given up trying to convince Cambria of the truth. “You don’t believe that, and you know it. I hope for your sake that you see the truth before you die fighting for the bad guys.”

  Heavy footsteps fell in the hall just outside the door. Cambria stood abruptly, picking up the empty plate and the water bottle. Grace watched her as she went, her unwavering stare boring holes into her.

  Cambria passed Tom in the hall.

  “I see you got her to eat. I hope you didn’t untie her.”

  “No, I didn’t.”

  “Smart girl. I’ll see you in a little bit. You’d best get home, it’s dark out.”

  Cambria nodded but said nothing. She didn’t trust herself to speak. Jogging the short distance to the main house when a noise caught her attention. A long-bed pickup had pulled up to the mess hall, and Laskin had stepped out of the passenger seat.

  What was going on?

  Cambria altered her course, heading for the mess hall and towards all the commotion. She walked quietly through the back door, surprised to see all the men gathered there. Once again, she’d been left out of the loop.

  Silence fell as Laskin held up his hand.

  “I have it on good authority that the shifters-the ones we’ve been hunting for the last five years-are here, looking for the woman we’re holding captive.”

  The men whooped with joy, all of them clearly ready for a fight. Laskin held up his hand and they stopped immediately.

  “Do not celebrate yet. When they come, it will be a battle of epic proportions. They will not go down easily. I need men to spread out and guard the perimeter, and I need men to ride with me to spread out into the forest surrounding us.”

  Hands shot up and quickly, Laskin counted off the men he needed and sent them outside.

  “The rest of you, be ready. We may outnumber them, but don’t underestimate their evil. They are here to kill us all and take the woman. If we fail, they will breed an army and destroy our great nation with their spawn. Do not give up!”

  The men roared and Cambria ran up to the front, stopping Laskin as he worked his way back towards the door.

  “I want to come.”

  “No Cambria, I need you here. Take care of the woman.”

  “Gary is taking care of her. They don’t need me. She’s tied up and she’s been beaten so badly she can hardly hold her head up. I can be helpful, I’ve worked so hard and I want to fight.”

  Laskin let out a sigh, his face softening as he regarded her.

  “I need you here. I can’t trust the others the way I trust you and I need to know that everything here is taken care of.”

  Cambria could tell she was being blown off, and she forced herself to remain calm. Laskin turned and started walking out the door and onto the large porch that ran along the front of the building.

  Cambria hurried after Laskin.

  “But I can help!”

  Laskin paused as he was entering the truck, regarding the young woman with disdain and a touch of amusement.

  “You need to stay behind and be ready.” Without another word, he drove away, leaving her standing in his dust. Angrily, she kicked a rock with the toe of her boot, sending it sailing into the air.

  She watched the dust settle behind him, doing her best not to cry. That was it. All the men were in that truck. And she was left to babysit a woman who was tied and beaten. Grace was in no shape to leave on her own, even if Cambria cut her loose right now.

  “This is ridiculous,” she grumbled, kicking at another rock as she walked down the packed trail towards the main house.

  Laskin couldn’t make her watch that woman, and the last she’d seen, both Tom and Gary had been taking turns watching over her. More like torturing her, Cambria thought. She was going back to the house to cool down. Later on, if she wasn’t angry, she might consider checking on the woman.

  Cambria heard a soft rustle in the leaves near the edge of the tree line. She stopped for a moment, listening for the sound to come again, but the leaves remained still. It was probably just the wind.

  She continued walking, letting her mind wander as she did. She was so angry, and with each step her anger grew. She was still being treated like a burden, even though she’d worked really hard to get where she was today. Cambria had run circles around the new recruits less than a week ago, yet Laskin was so willing to let them go out for such an important mission.

  One that could make or break their cause.

  Cambria was starting to question everything she knew about the people she’d come to know as her family. Maybe Laskin was letting his personal feelings overshadow his good sense. There wasn’t another explanation that she could come up with that made sounded true.

  And then there was Tom. Tom, who ran hot one minute and ice-cold the next. She never knew where she stood with him and that drove her mad. She couldn’t get past the little voice in her head planting the seeds of doubt against both Tom and Laskin. Things weren’t the way she thought they’d been, and it was making her question everything.

  She heard another quiet noise in the darkness off to her left, but this time, she kept going. She didn’t have time for her mind to play tricks on her. She knew as well as any man that there were animals in the woods. If it had been anything else, the noise would have been much louder.

  Being that she was a woman walking alone in the dark, any man hiding in the woods would have made his move long ago.

  This is why they don’t think you can handle a real battle, she thought angrily.

  No matter how hard she worked, she was still just a girl.

  The main house finally came into view and she was relieved. With everyone gone, she was free to spend time in the common room, watching television while she sat on the tattered sofa. It wasn’t what she wanted to be doing right now, but it was better than sulking in her room like a spoiled teenager.

  A dark figure moved off to her left, and for an instant, her heart raced. But the figure held up his hand in a familiar gesture, signaling that he was one of the recruits. He moved along the shadows, going towards the mess hall in the opposite direction from Cambria.

  Further up, a low whistle gave away the position of another recruit, who was letting this one know that he was there so he didn’t get shot.

  Cambria rolled her eyes. With men like that in charge, she had nothing to worry about.

  She almost laughed, but she
was still too angry. When tonight was over and she had a moment alone with her uncle, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

  Cambria was done being pushed to the side and treated like a burden. She stomped up the steps into the main house, stopping for a moment in the doorway to survey the woods beyond the well-kept yard. The soft, yellow glow of the light prevented her from seeing much, but it didn’t matter. She could hear the men at the far end of the field, moving around in the bushes. She should be out there with them, but as usual, she was left behind like a burden. She was starting to wonder what the point of taking and passing the stupid combat test was. It hadn’t changed anything, even though she’d proven herself more than capable of doing what needed to be done.

  She sat on the sofa, arms crossed angrily in front of her as she watched the TV. The news flashed images of civilians clashing in the street across the screen while the news anchor read the words on the teleprompter with little emotion. All hell was breaking loose and she was stuck at home, waiting her turn to babysit the prisoner again. She was so angry she didn’t even notice when a shadow filled the doorway of the darkened room.

  He stood in the doorway for several seconds before his presence registered with Cambria. When at last she noticed him, she threw him her most angry glance. If Tom thought she was going to welcome him back after she’d been left behind he had another think coming. He had dismissed her so easily when she wanted to fight, and she was still pretty upset with the entire situation. If they were back so soon, it couldn’t have been that dangerous, anyway.

  “I’m not in the mood to talk right now.” She set her mouth, hoping Tom would take the hint and walk away. As charming as he was, there was nothing he could say that would help right now. She was just too mad to be placated right now.

  The man in the shadows stepped forward and Cambria took in the tall, muscular man standing there so casually, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. She didn’t recognize him, but she knew he wasn’t one of the recruits. She didn’t know all of them by name, but she knew that there wasn’t a man like the one standing before her anywhere in the compound.