by Richard Bard
Chapter 9
“OH, NO,” I SAID. I watched one of the remaining guards open the trunk of the SUV and begin placing the duffels of money inside. Another guard held the rear passenger door open for the boss man, who seemed to be giving instructions to the couple. If the SUV moved, my brother and Timmy were dead.
“We have to do something,” Sarafina said, her voice shaking. She lowered her binoculars and glanced desperately at the scene, as if pleading for a solution to present itself.
I lowered my glasses and pushed down a surge of panic so my mind could process it all. The men below were all bunched up around the car, and it reminded me of the kind of challenges I’d faced in video games. In the game Fallout, the main character is able to throw objects to attract attention. “We need a distraction,” I said.
Sarafina frowned and then pulled the binoculars back to her eyes. She swept them from the SUV to the near end of the building and back again. Finally, she stuffed the lenses in her pack and said, “Stick close behind me, and when I tell you, we’re going to have to run as fast as we can.” Her chin quivered but her eyes were filled with resolve.
It wasn’t until I went to put my binoculars away that I realized I was holding the softball-sized case housing the mini in my other hand. I must have pulled it out of the pack when I panicked. That I’d done so unconsciously scared the heck out of me.
I could have killed us all...
I put it away and tightened the straps on my backpack. My heart was thudding so hard I thought it might burst.
“You ready?”
I nodded.
She pushed to a crouch and moved quickly down the path Ahmed and Timmy had taken down the hill. I stuck to her heels. She hesitated when we reached the trees along the edge of the road. We were directly across from the front entrance of the building, less than thirty steps from the bear cages. A couple of the bears lifted their heads and looked in our direction. One of them was Mama Bear, and I sent a silent prayer she’d remain calm. She lowered her head but her eyes seemed glued on me.
“We’re going to run into the building,” Sarafina said, taking a deep breath. “Then we’re going to set off the alarm and turn off the floodlights. Then we run back up the hill.”
It was a smart plan. Ahmed and Timmy should be able to make it to the tree line in the confusion, and then we could all get away from here.
Sarafina hesitated. “Uh...maybe you should stay here.”
My scowl told her no.
“Yeah, I figured,” she said, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go!”
My sister was on the track team at school. She ran so fast, it felt like my feet wanted to leave the ground as she pulled me with her. Mama Bear rose to her feet and chuffed as we sped past the cages and stopped inside the building.
The sight that greeted us tore my stomach to shreds, and the stench nearly sent me into convulsions.
“Dio mio,” Sarafina said, taking shelter in her native language.
My brain soaked in the sight in an instant. Long rows of wire cages lined short shelves on either side of the building, and the prone bears inside looked over at us with pleading eyes, unable to move because the cages were barely larger than the bears themselves. Their faces were scarred from rubbing against the rusty wires, their claws broken, teeth missing. Gutters of dirty water flowed beneath the cages to remove pee and waste but remnants remained. The odor mingled with the smell of rotting flesh.
And fear.
“We have to free them,” Sarafina said.
But I knew we couldn’t. They’d been here too long; they probably couldn’t even walk. When she reached for the latch on one of the cages I stopped her, and she stared at me with tear-filled eyes.
“It’s too late,” I said, shaking my head.
There was a bench with hypodermic needles, tubes, medical equipment, and jars of black liquid. The swollen abdomens and implanted metal probes on the animals told me that something was being taken from their insides. A pallet in the center of the space was stacked with the carcasses of several bears that had apparently been killed to make room for the new batch outside. I thought of Mama Bear being stuffed into the tiny cage and I felt a swell of rage like I’d never experienced before. These animals were being tortured, and it made me want to punish the people responsible.
One of the bears let out a soft whine that tugged at me. Several others joined in, and suddenly the building echoed with their pitiful cries. The noise whipped us into action. I wiped my eyes, buried my anger, and we ran to the alarm panel. Sarafina pulled on the Plexiglas enclosure protecting it. It wouldn’t budge, secured by an electronic touch pad. Our plan wasn’t going to work. There was movement at the opposite end of the building, and we ducked to one side as the woman and two guards entered the doorway.
“Look!” I whispered, pointing to an electrical panel not far from where we huddled. It was higher than I could reach, but Sarafina crept toward it and yanked on the lever.
The interior of the building went dark.
The woman shouted an order as she and the guards exited the far side of the building and disappeared around the corner. They needed to check the electrical panel that we were huddled under, so I imagined a guard running along the well-lit exterior of the building in order to enter from this end.
“Come on,” Sarafina said, taking my hand. We ran in a crouch toward the caged bears clustered outside, huddling between two of them. All seven of the bears shifted to face us. A few low growls made my insides vibrate, but something about the way Mama Bear looked at me set me at ease. I opened my mind, and she blinked as we made the connection. It was different than the links I’d made with my family, or with others like Mississippi Mike, where I could sometimes hear their thoughts. With Mama Bear it was more of a transfer of emotions. I sensed her fear but also her trust. So I tested our bond, first embracing her with my thoughts, sending feelings of family and safety and caring for her cubs. Then I asked her to lie down. Her nose wriggled as if she was sniffing my scent, and then she slowly lowered herself to the floor of her cage.
It worked!
It gave me an idea, but it frightened me. We could get hurt. Or worse. But what choice did I have? The area was lit by floodlights, and though we were well hidden among the cages, I was afraid that as soon as the guard turned the corner, he’d notice the bears all staring at us. How could I get them to ignore us?
If we sit down and close our eyes, would the bears turn away?
I knew it was a stupid thought the moment it came out, and it reminded me of the time I put a bucket over my head during a game of hide-and-seek. If I can’t see you, you can’t see me, right? Blah!
The mewling sounds in the building died away, and that’s when I heard the SUV’s engine start up. Sarafina stiffened beside me. If the car pulled away, my brother and Timmy would be discovered.
I stopped thinking and reached for the latch on Mama Bear’s cage.
Sarafina’s sharp intake of breath didn’t stop me. “Stay behind me,” I whispered, pulling out the hooks that held the side panel in place. She shuffled over. Her breath was on my neck.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
I ignored her, sliding open the cage door, my focus entirely on Mama Bear. She crouched less than five feet away, her shoulders bunched, her black eyes locked on mine. The other bears quieted.
Safe.
She blinked. I inched backward. Sarafina moved with me.
Come.
Mama Bear slunk out of her cage and stopped in front of me, her snout wriggling a few inches from my face. She huffed and I felt her warm breath on my cheeks. I moved to one side and pulled Sarafina beside me. Her body was shaking.
Family.
Mama Bear’s gaze took us both in, and the rolls of muscles under her furry shoulders relaxed. I felt a projection of warmth from her mind. It reminded me of Mom.
Follow.
She padded beside us as I moved to the next cage, expanding my mind to embrace all six remain
ing bears, urging them to follow her lead. Mama Bear woofed, and as each of the other bears became present in my mind, I had the sense they had long since established a group bond of their own, formed as they’d shared the fear imposed by their imprisonment and the anguish of others like them inside the building. I opened the next cage, and the male bear hurried out so fast that for a moment I thought he was coming for me. Instead, he brushed past and turned a quick circle behind me, and I felt his joy at being free. I moved quickly to another cage and Sarafina unlatched the one past that. Within a few moments, all the bears milled eagerly around us. I sensed each of their connections individually and the purity of their emotions felt good.
The squelch of a radio drew our attention toward the building, just as a guard trotted around the corner. He skidded to a stop at the sight of us, his eyes huge as his hands scrambled to unclip the radio on his belt. Backing away, he raised it to his lips and shouted in Chinese. Then he turned and ran around the corner.
The bears’ thoughts combined to form a single thought:
Danger!
I felt their combined urge to run up the hill toward the safety of the darkness. But I threw the force of my will behind my thoughts as I ran after the man.
Protect.
Mama Bear was immediately beside me. The other bears followed.
“Are you crazy?” Sarafina said, quickly catching up. “What are you doing?”
“Creating a distraction.” I charged as fast as I could around the corner, knowing we’d only have one chance for this to work. The floodlights were still glaring. We ran past the first truck, and as soon as I spotted the running guard, I let out a loud, angry scream. The bears picked up on my emotion, their roars fueling my own, and we became a marauding band of man and beast assaulting an enemy tribe.