Forsaken World (Book 3): Rite of Passage

by Watson, Thomas A.

  “Lilly, stay on your gun and forget the bow today,” Lance said, heading for the door. Lilly gave a sigh of relief as Lance patted his leg and Dino jumped up and ran over. A stinker within thirty yards of the boys with a bow was looked at as ‘dead stinker walking’. For Jennifer and Lilly, a stinker ten yards away wasn’t a ‘give me’.

  Pushing the door open, Lance gave a groan as he walked out into the rain. “Yeah, this is going to suck ass,” he mumbled, heading over to the buggy. Unhooking the trailer and unplugging the buggy, Lance looked over at Lilly. “Pull it over to the shop,” he said and walked off.

  “Load up,” Lilly barked and George jumped in the buggy. Climbing behind the steering wheel, Lilly made sure the switch was on battery, then drove over to the shop. When she stopped, Lance walked out carrying an electric chainsaw, an axe, and wedges. “What about power?” Lilly asked, not liking the fact that she alone would be covering Lance.

  “The buggy has outlets you can use when you turn the engine on,” Lance answered, putting the stuff in the back. Walking back in the shop, Lance came out with a small propane bottle torch and a katana. He and Ian had started carrying one several weeks ago after finding some in a house. Not to fight with, but to dismember stinkers. They soon learned it was easier to move a stinker if they were chopped up. Especially pulling them off of what they called the spear fences.

  Tossing the stuff in, Lance climbed in the passenger side with George between him and Lilly on the bench seat. “If you don’t mind, will you drive?” Lance asked, looking around George.

  “Just tell me where to go,” Lilly replied, pressing the accelerator.

  “Keep your rifle in your lap, pointing out in case the kitties get close,” Lance said as they pulled up to the gates and found Ian and Jennifer waiting. Driving out the outer gate, Lilly took a deep breath as Lance guided her through the maze of traps and trees.

  Barely driving the buggy at a walk with Dino just in front of them, Lilly stopped when Dino did, looking off to the right down the draw. “Those fucking kitties killed them everywhere,” Lance groaned, climbing out.

  Lilly jumped out with George. Holding the leash tight, Lilly brought up her AR and looked around. Lance grabbed the small propane bottle and moved up to Dino. “Lead,” Lance said, lifting his AR up but holding the barrel low.

  Almost breaking into a run, Lilly moved over behind Lance. When George tried to take off, Lilly yanked the leash. “Heel,” she growled and George stopped yanking the leash and moved beside her. Walking sideways so she could see behind them Lilly leaned over, using her shoulder to wipe the rain dripping off her helmet onto her face.

  Ahead Lance stopped, seeing a leg. “They need to work on their table manners,” Lance complained, moving off. The rest of the body wasn’t far, minus the head. Walking back, Lance dragged the leg over and tossed it on the body.

  Holding up the propane torch, Lance pressed a button and blue flame shot out. Kneeling down, Lance held the flame on the body and Lilly heard the skin fat cooking, going snap, crackle, and pop for a second. The body gave a ‘whoof’ as blue flame covered the body, making steam rise up for a second.

  Turning around, Lance gave a tired sigh as he headed back to the buggy. “I really thought it would be harder to light them in the rain,” Lilly admitted, scanning around.

  “Not one that’s been dead for a few hours,” Lance said. “It takes longer to light up a fresh one because for some reason, they aren’t making as much hydrogen sulfide when they are ‘alive’,” Lance emphasized.

  Climbing in the buggy, they had barely moved ten yards when Dino stopped again. “Ah man, fuck this,” Lance moaned, climbing out. “Stay on me, we are sweeping on foot.”

  With Dino leading, they moved around the area, crisscrossing a section. They found stinkers under deadfalls, in pits, and snares, but none were ‘alive’. Most were already in pieces which didn’t bother Lance, the fact the pieces were scattered far and wide did, though.

  Coming up on a spear fence Lilly grinned, looking at it. Over a dozen, seven-foot long spears were tied to a log placed three feet high between two trees. The ends were weighted down and the tips were angled up four feet off the ground with four stinkers impaled. Two were missing heads and the other two were missing half their heads. “What made you think to build a cheval-de-frise? Granted it’s modified, but it’s still the same,” Lilly asked as Lance moved over, pulling out the katana.

  Spinning around, Lance looked at her in shock. “You know what that is?” he almost cried out.

  Nodding, “Yeah, it was used in medieval times as an anti-cavalry measure,” Lilly answered. Seeing Lance just stare at her in shock, Lilly smiled. “I really like horses and have studied them through history.”

  Giving Lilly a big smile, Lance turned around and raised the katana. “That is cool,” he said, swinging the katana and taking a stinker’s arm off. Glad that she’d impressed Lance, Lilly couldn’t help but smile at her accomplishment, watching Lance casually dismembering the bodies, leaving only one arm attached to use as a handle to drag the body.

  Wiping the blade off and putting the katana away, Lance moved over to pull the trunks off the spears. Making a pile off to the side, Lance reached down and pulled the propane torch from his thigh pocket.

  With the pile burning, Lance put the torch back in his thigh pocket, using his pocket like a holster. Lifting his arm looking at his watch, “It took us two hours to gather up twenty-two stinkers,” Lance mumbled.

  “Don’t we need to reset the traps?” Lilly asked as George turned around, giving off a low growl. Turning to face downhill where George was looking, Lilly saw Dino was looking the same direction with his tongue hanging out. “Good boy, quiet,” Lilly commanded, patting George and he stopped growling.

  “Let’s get the buggy and move up to the clearing,” Lance said, walking past her.

  Giving the leash a small tug, Lilly followed him. “The tigers are close,” she offered in a low voice.

  “Yep,” Lance said over his shoulder. “We kill more stinkers on this side because the slope is gentler than the west side.”

  “So?” Lilly said, walking backwards now.

  “The pussy cats use the stinkers like chew toys and this side has more toys,” Lance said. “They will only eat fresh stinker and won’t eat on them after an hour or so.”

  When they reached the buggy, Lilly got in and gave George enough leash to walk beside the buggy. “What about resetting the traps?” she asked, adjusting her AR in her lap.

  “Too wet and that’s not the best time to teach a newbie,” Lance answered, looking around.

  Barely pressing the accelerator, Lilly guided the buggy through the trees. “So, if Ian were here you would?” she asked, swiveling her head.

  “Of course,” Lance said immediately.

  Glancing over, Lilly saw Lance looking around, but he seemed very relaxed. “So I take it, you and Ian aren’t newbies? You set traps before this?” Lilly asked, glancing back.

  Watching Dino stare ahead, Lance nodded. “We set a few in our day,” Lance admitted with a grin.

  Looking down at George, Lilly saw him staring the same direction Dino was. “You guys are so cool,” Lilly chuckled.

  Hearing that, Lance sat up a little straighter, poking his chest out as his grin grew. Out of the corner of her eye, Lilly saw it and smiled. “Turn more to the left,” Lance told her, pointing ahead at the clearing. “Punji pit there.”

  “Tigers are in front of you,” Allie called over the radio.

  As Lilly’s heart rate skyrocketed, Lance grabbed his PTT. “Thank you, Ladybug,” he called back. “Let us know if you see anything.”

  Turning the wheel, Lilly looked ahead and saw a hole in the ground. Stopping in the trees, Lilly got out and moved over to Lance as he eased up to the hole. Getting closer, Lilly saw the hole was through a mat of branches. Looking inside she saw stakes four feet down at the bottom. “Where’s the stinker?” she asked, looking around.

&nb
sp; “Kitties got ‘em,” Lance answered, looking to the south side of the clearing. Following Lance’s sightline, Lilly froze, seeing the tigers twenty yards away casually lying beside a tree.

  “Shouldn’t we go?” Lilly whispered just loud enough for Lance to hear her over the rain.

  Lance turned to her and Lilly felt fear grip her because Lance wasn’t watching the tigers. “You see all those stinkers in the clearing?” Lance snapped and Lilly cringed at the volume, expecting the tigers to charge.

  Slowly, Lilly turned to the clearing and could make out a few body parts in the knee high grass. “We can come back,” she said hopefully.

  “Bullshit, I’m cold and soaked already,” Lance huffed. “You watch ‘em while I light one up. They usually leave when we start a fire near them.”

  “Usually?” Lilly croaked, bringing her rifle to her shoulder and keeping the barrel low but in the direction of the tigers.

  Nodding, Lance walked around the pit, “A few times when Ian and I have burnt stinkers, the kitty cats stayed,” Lance replied, picking up a leg.

  Following Lance, Lilly moved, putting herself and George between the tigers and him. When Dino walked up beside her and moved in front of her, Lilly almost cut loose with her AR. Glancing down quickly, “Don’t do that again, Dino,” Lilly scolded, lifting her eyes back to the tigers.

  “He won’t let you get closer,” Lance told her, tossing body parts in a pile. Glancing around the clearing, Lilly saw dozens of burnt spots.

  “This seems like a busy spot,” she noticed, afraid to blink.

  Pulling the katana out, Lance moved up to a very fat stinker. “Everyone we took care of came through this clearing,” he said, then started hacking away at the fat stinker’s leg.

  Hearing the repeated chops and knowing how sharp that sword was Lilly turned, wanting to know what the hell Lance was doing. Her mouth dropped open as Lance finally chopped off the left leg just below the pelvis. Glancing up, Lilly saw the fat stinker’s skull was crushed and even saw the holes from the canine teeth of the tigers.

  “I hate fat stinkers,” Lance popped off, making Lilly jump in the air and snapping her eyes back to the tigers. Both were just laying down, casually watching.

  Clearing her throat, “Lance, can you start a fire so they will leave?” Lilly asked in a trembling voice and Dino took a step.

  “Hell, no,” Lance snapped and Lilly turned until she could see him and the tigers. “I like having them where I can see their asses.”

  Though it seemed sound reasoning, Lilly thought something about that didn’t sound right. Allie’s tiny voice sounded in Lilly’s ear, “Don’t let the tigers get Dino.”

  Giving a startled yelp Lilly jumped in the air, making Dino and George jump, but neither dog looked away from the tigers. Reaching up with her left hand still holding the leash, Lilly grabbed the PTT. She stopped before pressing the button and unloading on Allie.

  Taking two slow breaths, Lilly pushed the button. “Allie, I won’t,” Lilly answered in a trembling voice as the tigers watched her.

  Out of the corner of her eye, Lilly saw Lance getting up off the ground and grabbing his chest. “Allie, you scared the shit out of me!” Lance barked over the radio.

  “Sorry,” Allie’s meek voice answered and Lilly was glad Lance had been the one to yell and not her, because she sure had wanted to.

  Taking a deep breath, Lance calmed down. “Allie, I’m sorry but it’s scary out here, as you know. Call when you see something or have something to report.”

  Shaking her head, “Yep, wrapped tight,” Lilly mumbled.

  Reaching down, Lance pulled the torch out of his pocket and both tigers jumped to their feet. Seeing movement Lilly dropped to one knee, aiming at the closest tiger as both dogs crouched giving low growls. “The tigers moved!” Allie yelled over the radio.

  “No shit,” Lance snapped, looking at the tigers and holding his AR out like a pistol with his right hand. Then he looked down at the bottle. A grin slowly crept up on his face as Lance looked up at the tigers. “Ah, the putty cats don’t like bottles that we can hold,” he sang out.

  Never taking her aim off the tiger, Lilly realized both were staring hard at Lance. “Lance, they move and I’m shooting,” Lilly shouted.

  “Don’t unless they come this way but if you do, you use your entire magazine,” Lance instructed and held up the torch and both tigers jumped back. “You want some bottle?” Lance cried out in a teasing voice and took a step toward the tigers, and both tigers bounded away into the woods.

  Lowering her AR, Lilly looked over at Lance holding up the blue propane torch. “The ladybugs put the fear in those two,” Lilly said, getting to her feet.

  Moving over to one pile he had made, Lance lit the torch. “Seems bear spray makes good pussy spray,” Lance chuckled and Lilly joined him as the pile caught fire.

  It took another hour for them to clear the area of bodies. Even though both dogs were relaxed, Lilly stayed nervous. Stinkers and humans she could handle, but Lilly had come to respect Ian’s irrational fear of the tigers.

  When they climbed in the buggy Lance glanced over at her, pointing where the tigers had gone. “That is one of the paths the stinkers use to get here. Watch how many stinkers we find on the way,” Lance said.

  Not trusting her voice Lilly just gave a nod, pulling down the slope. It didn’t take long for Lance to be proved right. Over a dozen fires later, Lilly pulled into the field and stomped on the brakes. “Holy shit,” she mumbled, looking at all the body parts.

  “Mean pussy,” Lance sang, getting out and grabbing his PTT. “Allie, can you see the tigers?” he called out.

  “Yes, they are on the other side of the creek. We can see them on camera thirty-one,” Allie called back.

  Turning around, Lance looked at Lilly. “Help me get this in piles,” he said, grabbing the PTT. “Allie, if the tigers leave, call us,” he called out.

  “Okay,” Allie called back cheerfully.

  When they were done and fires were lit, Lance moved to the buggy and pulled out the chainsaw. Turning the engine on, Lance plugged the chainsaw in. Moving to the tree line, Lance attacked a large tree. Standing back, Lilly shrugged her shoulders against the water-soaked 3D suit. The carbon liner was now waterlogged and weighed a ton. Pulling up on the 3D pants that were trying to fall off, she looked at the area around the tree that Lance was cutting and clearly saw a path the stinkers had made up the slope.

  Glancing around, Lilly realized the stand of cedar trees looked like a wall and the slope there was the path of least resistance. Hearing wood cracking, Lilly turned to watch the tree crash down. Yanking the extension cord Lance moved up the slope, attacking another tree.

  “Smart, making them a path,” Lilly said smiling. Feeling the heat from one of the fires Lilly moved closer, giving a sigh and hoping the fire would dry the 3D suit some, even though it was still raining. When Lance had five trees down he moved along them, cutting off the limbs and waved Lilly over.

  Giving a groan as she left the fire Lilly ran over, holding the 3D pants up. “Start pulling limbs to the fire,” Lance instructed, looking around and then noticed steam rising off of Lilly’s clothes. “What the hell?” Lance exclaimed, stepping back.

  “I was guarding near one of the fires,” Lilly confessed, grabbing a limb. “I need some suspenders for these pants.”

  Giving an impressed nod, “Smart and beautiful,” Lance mumbled, but Lilly heard and grinned.

  With ten trees down, Lance put the chainsaw up and grabbed his drinking tube off his vest. He watched Lilly pull over several limbs, tossing them on a fire and then head back for more. Feeling guilty, Lance clipped his drinking tube back and was moving to help when his body told him not yet, it wanted rest.

  Looking at the two fires that were burning limbs, Lance saw the body piles were already ash. There was smoke from the burning piles of limbs but with the light rain, Lance wasn’t worried about smoke or smell. The electric chainsaw made nois
e, but nothing compared to a real one. Lance was proud of his decision to cut in the rain. Not only did the rain hide the smoke and smell, but cut down on how far the sound of the chainsaw would travel.

  Reaching up Lance took off his helmet, shaking his head and slinging water off. Looking down, Lance watched Dino and George do the same thing. “Yeah, it sucks,” Lance laughed, patting both dogs.

  “You got that right,” Lilly said, walking up behind him. Reaching over, Lilly took Lance’s drinking tube off and started drinking. When she was done, Lilly clipped it back. “Sorry, but mine is empty,” she told him smiling.

  With a grin, Lance patted her arm. “It’s fine, Lilly,” Lance said. “I wear two suspenders, one for my pants because the 3D suit pulls them down and one for the 3D pants. Give me a minute and I’ll help.”

  “No, I have it. You rest. The tigers scared me and I drank all my water keeping my mouth moist,” she confessed and then leaned over, kissing his cheek. “Don’t judge me too hard because I’m just peeing in my pants.”

  Startled, Lance slowly turned to look at her. “You think I haven’t been peeing in my pants? Hell, it’s warm and feels good on my frozen legs,” he said.

  Hearing Dino give a growl, Lance turned and saw Dino looking down the dirt road. Half a mile away, a lone stinker was walking toward them. George gave a bark and took off, dragging his leash behind him. “George!” Lilly shouted and smacked her hands together hard with a resounding smack.

  George skidded to a halt and turned to her. Glaring at George, Lilly pointed at her side and George lowered his head and slinked back. When he had stopped beside her Lilly bent over, taking the leash off. “I need to walk out to that stinker, so I can stop that,” Lilly said, standing up.

  “Have to go out there anyway,” Lance said, walking off.

  Looking down at George, “Heel,” Lilly snapped and George moved to her side. Catching up to Lance, Lilly saw he was carrying the katana. “We have guns,” she said.

  Lifting his arm, Lance started pointing around outside the barbed wire fence. “We can’t leave those bodies there,” Lance said and Lilly saw bodies and body parts strewn over the road and the cleared area beside the road. They had long ago stopped trying to count the body parts to figure out how many stinkers had been killed.