Before anyone could do anything further, a rustle was heard in the bushes near the bend in the road. The men drew their guns. Seth squinted, shading his eyes with his claw.
“Come out of there,” he shouted. The bushes rustled again and then parted, revealing a small curly, white-haired dog, his face eager, his tail wagging.
Seth’s mouth split into an expansive, vulpine grin as he recognized the lonely Barney, who had been following the human scent of Lorna and her now deceased inner circle.
Chapter 17
Back on Lily Pond Road, Echo had still not returned. The Elders were in the midst of preparing for their departure, and Jose stood with Scotty and his gang.
“I can’t leave until I know Barney’s safe. There’s no reason we can’t delay for a few more days.” His words were laced with anxiety.
“I agree,” chimed in Abby. They all looked up as Baby came wobbling toward them. His aura included them all.
“I will find My Barney for Sister Echo.”
Chloe spoke up. “How will you know where to start, Baby? He could be anywhere by now. And it could be dangerous out there. I think we need to split up and start a search.” Her worried face said what everyone else was thinking.
“Okay. How about Baby takes to the air and goes south while Chloe and I set out with Caesar toward the hills in the other direction? If he hears us, he’ll come. He’s probably hungry by now. We just better hope none of the cats have found his trail. There’s no telling—”
Abby threw her arms around her brother. “Don’t worry about that, kiddo. Barney won’t wind up as a meal for any of our animals. I haven’t removed their implants yet. I needed them to become more familiar with their new environment and scatter further before I called the implants back.”
Kane spoke up. “I think you need me to go with you, bro. We can’t have you getting lost on us.” Kane good-naturedly ribbed his best friend.
Scotty refused to rise to the bait, his concern over Barney overriding everything. “No, you stay here in case Echo comes back. Make sure you tell her I have plans to have a few words with her. It’s just not like her to be so insensitive. Especially to Barney.” Scotty shook his head with dismay. “Promise you won’t leave until we come back with Barney, Ab.”
Abby rubbed his arm for reassurance. “We promise, hon. If Netty and Wil can’t wait, they can go on without us. Although I doubt they’ll leave without Baby.” She gave Chloe a quick hug. “Maybe you should take Jose with you, Chloe. Your brother can look after you.” Abby quirked a questioning eyebrow at Jose.
“They don’t need me, Abby. Scotty and Chloe can handle it on their own. Besides, I need to stay here to look after things.”
Abby laughed. “Look after things? What’s to look after?”
Jose shifted his eyes to the ground after a long scan of her face. “Never mind. Let’s just get the search party off.”
Abby stared at Jose, confusion and reluctance lurking in her expression. Closing her mouth, she urged everyone to come back safe.
With that, Baby’s aura faded as he fluttered up in the air and flew south.
“I’m going to grab a knife from Dezi’s kitchen,” Chloe announced.
*
Chloe slammed into the kitchen to find Dezi sitting at a table with a book open, his shoulders hunched in concentration. “I need to borrow one of your longest and sharpest knives, Dezi.”
He looked up from his reading, casually slipping the book in his apron. “Bring it back in one piece, please.” He handed her a long wicked carving knife, tapered to a razor edge.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you read before, Dezi. What caught your fancy?”
“Nothing you’d be interested in, my dear. Now be careful with this. It’s very sharp.” He handed her a cloth bag to slip it into. “Just to keep the blade from cuttin’ you.
“I hear you’re going lookin’ for Barney. Remember to be home for lunch. And keep your eyes peeled, we don’t know what’s in those woods yet.”
Chloe threw him a kiss and hurried out the door.
*
Chloe, Scotty and Caesar reached the edge of the settlement. The morning sun beat lightly on their eyes as they searched for an easy way through the brush to head for the hills.
“I think if we make it to the base, we can climb up and see around the valley. We might even spot Echo and her friends. We could sure use their help to find Barney. I’m very surprised at her. I thought she’d be back last night.” Scotty’s disappointment showed in the tone of his voice.
“I know what you mean, babe. I’m just as surprised Barney took off. It’s not like the rest of the dogs rejected him. I guess he has one true love and that’s that. I sure wish he’d come to us first.”
Chloe stepped aside as Caesar plowed through the bush, leaving a massive hole for them to slip through.
“Barr . . . ney,” Scotty shouted.
“Barr . . . ney,” Chloe echoed.
They chomped through the underbrush for the next hour, finally breaking through with Caesar’s help. The sun began to heat up, forcing them to stop and catch their breath. They stood at the base of the first hill, now appearing craggier than it had from their settlement.
Scotty pulled detritus from Chloe’s short hair as he examined the bramble cuts on her arms and legs. Caesar was covered in brambles and pieces of brown leaf litter which had caught in his magnificent fur. But Scotty was the worse for wear, his wings covered with burrs, feathers missing, and no longer sleek against his body.
He shook out his tail and tucked it back around his torso, his voice suddenly concerned. “I don’t see any sign of Barney. I wonder why we haven’t seen any wildlife? You’d think we’d have spotted some of our own.” He scanned the trees, Chloe following his line of sight, their backs to the hill.
“Not even a bird. And I didn’t see a single primate when we left the settlement. We must have at least a hundred. Where can they be?”
She puckered her forehead in wonder. “Do you notice how quiet it is, Scotty?”
A whoosh from behind forced them to turn, just as a giant streak of gleaming flame sunk its talons into both of Caesar’s thick ribs, piercing him deeply and lifting him off the ground.
He roared with pain and struggled, Chloe screaming like a banshee.
As the flamer flew higher into the air with the six-hundred-and-fifty-pound tiger, Caesar panicked, flailing wildly and gouging the creature’s leg. It instinctively released Caesar to send him plunging to his death.
With no thought for their own safety, Scotty and Chloe plunged back into the thick brush to Caesar’s side. The poor cat was still breathing, steam rising off his bloody coat.
“Oh my God, Caesar,” Chloe cried, throwing herself on top of him, Scotty kneeling at her side.
“Hey, big guy. Don’t worry.” He placed his hands on Caesar’s steaming pelt to hopelessly stem the blood that still poured from his broken body. Caesar tried to lift his head, a broken groan escaping from his throat.
“Please don’t leave us.” Chloe’s shoulders shook with tears, her eyes frantic. “Scotty, get your tail out. You can save him.”
Before the words had left her mouth, Scotty’s tail stood high, extruding the membrane which emitted the healing pressure that would save the iconic cat. Chloe clapped with delight as Caesar tried to right himself, faltering and crashing back to the ground.
He finally stood, chuffing softly and licking the blood from the side of his chest. All that was left from his nightmare was the smell of sulfur and Chloe’s relieved tears.
Astonishingly, Caesar’s hair bristled. He turned and snarled, then let loose with a deafening roar, his hot breath bathing Chloe in terror as she slowly turned to see the flamer seize an unsuspecting Scotty in its talons.
Time stood still as Chloe watched the only man she had ever loved rise high into the sky. She squinted her eyes, her hand blocking the searing sun as he flailed madly, disturbing the monstrous creature so much it reared its h
ead back, screamed and brought its huge scaled bill down on Scotty’s golden head, cleaving it in half. It then calmly flew away as Scotty struggled no more.
“Nooooooo.” Chloe watched the bird disappear behind the crest of the hill. In shock, slowly sinking to the ground to silently curl up, she lay dazed.
Chloe lost track of time as she lay numb in the red dirt; grasses and weeds cocooning her small body. Her mind emptied of all thought as she willed herself to die, the blistering sun witness to her hopeless surrender.
Her ears vaguely registered the rustle of grasses through her miasma of pain and despair, unconcerned for her own safety. She fought the sensation of hot breath on her face which lay pressed sideways in the grass, unwilling to be drawn to reality.
The heavy weight of Caesar’s paw slapped the side of her chest. She opened her eyes to stare into the face of the tiger, three inches from her own.
Silently and slowly, she closed her eyes again. Caesar crept another inch toward her, his hot breath demanding, his throat chuffing and still she lay unmoving. She felt the big cat rise, feeling pressure as he grasped her in his terrifying mouth and pulled her along the ground.
The dirt and weeds ground into her face, rocks riding under her inert form to leave bruises as Caesar pulled her up the hill. Unable to stand the pain any longer, her reaching hand stayed the relentless cat. He dropped his grip and sat quietly as she rose up, her face slack, her eyes unfocused.
Breathing shallow breaths, the sweet gamy odor of Caesar’s pelt forced her stomach to rebel as she vomited in the grass. Tears slipped down her face as she slicked back her hair, which lay plastered with sweat against her feverish neck.
Caesar opened wide and let loose with an ear-splitting roar.
“Geesh . . . Okay, Caesar, I hear you.”
The great cat watched as Chloe pulled herself together, comprehension flooding back into her face. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and stood looking up the hill, a glint developing in her eyes. Her hands searched for the cloth hooked to her belt, the carving knife still nestled inside and infusing her with strength.
Her eyes found those of the huge tiger. Caesar stared unblinking and stoic as she lost herself in the strength of his piercing gaze.
Together, they turned and began to ascend the hill, renewed purpose launching bitter anger through her veins. She knew just one thing. She must kill the flamer. She must avenge Scotty’s death if she was to go on living herself.
She slipped her right hand under the cowl of her neckline to retrieve the chain that held the gold coin which had hung around her neck since she was sixteen. Scotty’s gold coin . . . Netty’s gold coin. She squeezed it tight, feeling a grateful tear course down her cheek.
It had been the fateful coin that had brought them this far. If Netty hadn’t stolen it for revenge from her disgusting husband, Robert, it would never have been found by her Scotty. He would never have discovered Echo. He would never have met her on the beach in Sarasota. They would have all become victims of the bombs like the rest of the world.
She took the coin and raised it to her lips, her heart now inflamed with emotion. It would see her through her task; one more assistance with revenge. The coin would witness the death of the flamer and give her the strength she needed to complete the slaughter. Her heart beat stronger. It was almost as if she held a piece of Scotty in her hands. A piece that would stand witness to her retribution.
The hill became steeper as they neared the crest. The stench of carrion emanated down the hillside, evidence they neared its nest. Chloe unsheathed Dezi’s evil carving knife, the blade glinting in the searing sun. Adjusting her grip, she crept slowly to the edge of the crest, Caesar’s heaving breath assuring her of his assistance.
As their heads cleared the last of the crest, they feasted their eyes on the nest of the flamer. The flamer itself, nowhere in sight.
The nest sat protected by a copse of large rocks giving the interior a circumference the size of an automobile not seen since the bombs a century ago. Assorted bones stuck in the rocks cupping the nest, evidence of mama’s housecleaning. She studied the bones and remains of previous meals, a half-eaten lion roasting in the sun and thick pools of drying blood sending waves of stench to abuse her stomach. Her heart beat faster as she wondered if the long bone near the lion carcass was human or animal. Her eager eyes slowed as she realized the thatch of golden feathers that littered the nest floor belonged to her beloved Scotty. She clutched at the few that clung nearest to her, tucking them into the cloth bag at her belt.
Bloodlust filled her breast as she gazed further into the nest. Two flamer hatchlings lay quiet amid the carnage, eyes shut and vulnerable, their red-scaled bodies not yet sporting the translucent feathers of their mother. They squatted exposed, their bodies no bigger than that of a full-grown chicken.
Chloe signaled Caesar to move forward. He didn’t budge, his attention fully on her.
“Well, if you aren’t going to help, can you at least watch for their mama?” she whispered.
The big cat stayed silent, detached and observant. Shrugging her shoulders and miffed, her rage at the loss of her lover overtook her hesitation. Lifting her legs over the thick edge of the nest, she lowered herself to the floor. Creeping along, she summoned all her strength to ignore the soft golden feathers she stepped on. Her targets beckoned.
When she reached the hatchlings, she stood up and her rage boiled over as she prepared to strike, the carving knife high over her head.
One of the hatchlings opened its eyes.
“Werrrk.” The other hatchling opened its eyes to join in the call of its hungry sibling. “Werrrk.”
Chloe stood suspended and ready to strike as the baby creatures watched her. They tried to jump toward her, but their strength had not yet matured enough to maneuver. Instead, one fell over in its awkwardness, encouraging the other to take a swipe at its nest mate, leaving a tiny drop of drawn blood.
“Hey. Don’t do that.” She lowered her arms as the creatures watched her, naïve in their fascination. Their huge eyes covered most of their faces as their still-growing beaks made them look as if drawn by a child with his first set of crayons.
She raised her arms once more, the carving knife suddenly heavy and vengeful in her hands.
“Werrrk.”
Gritting her teeth, she cursed the fate that had brought the three of them within range of the deadly flamer family. Her arm slashed down to rest alongside her aching legs, covered in blood from the abattoir the flamer called its nursery.
Dispirited, she turned to go. Caesar sat watching her from the edge of the nest, frozen and immobile, eyes only for her. He chuffed softly.
Sheathing her knife, she moved to climb out of the nest and hurry back to the settlement. How in the world would she be able to report the devastating news? How could she tell Abby?
Chloe and Caesar moved stealthily, retracing their steps through the foliage from their earlier trek. She examined broken branches. Had Scotty touched that one? Is that the one he stopped from snapping back at her? Her feet moved forward, one leaden foot at a time as her cracked lips ached for moisture, her saliva thin and pasty.
She remembered to look for Barney, but her efforts were halfhearted. She existed in a stupor; a zombie, the walking dead. Only the efforts of Caesar kept her moving. If she stumbled or halted, threatening to sink to her knees, Caesar growled threateningly, nudging her forward.
Before long, they reached the edge of the settlement. No one was in sight as she made her way to the center where most of the survivors gathered for dinner, their voices and laughter sounds from another lifetime.
Kenya was the first to spot them. Her scream alerted them all as Chloe and Caesar approached. She appeared as a sunburned wraith, sweat stained, filthy and smelling of death. Caesar appeared no better, his fur matted with burrs and dried blood.
“Oh my God. Chloe, what happened?” Kenya sat her down as Bonnie ran for water. Crystal offered her a cup of tea.
/>
“You poor girl, where did you leave that man of yours?” Shirley glanced back toward the edge of the settlement as Caesar sat heavily at Chloe’s feet.
“Hey, now.” Crystal pushed him with her foot. “Johno, can you get this brute out of the way?” Johno rushed to feed the tired cat some water.
“Miss Chloe, why is Caesar not with Scotty?” His question was met with silence, her chin resting on her chest. The gathering crowd parted as Abby approached, Cobby rising as he glimpsed the fright on her face.
“Chloe, where’s Scotty?” Abby’s low voice, whispered out like a frightened fawn, wobbly and unsecure.
Chloe lifted her dirty face, her eyes full of the pain which spoke for the broken woman. She began to leak tears, her head moving from side to side in denial as the words refused to materialize.
Abby grabbed Chloe’s shoulders, her fear transforming her into a hysterical Elder. Cobby, coming from behind, wrapped his arms around the escalating Abby.
“Shhh, Abby, give her a chance. She’s traumatized.” Cobby led Abby away, signaling for a pensive and anxious Jose to hold on to her.
“Dad, can we help?” Kane’s worried face broke out in sweat. “I need to know where he is. What if he needs help? I can get it out of her.”
Cobby searched his handsome son’s face. “Okay, give it a try. Go easy.” He slapped Kane on the back as he turned to approach Chloe, who had begun to sway in her chair. He knelt down in front of her.
“Hey, Chloe. It’s me, Kane.” He smoothed her dirty face with his hand, observing a flicker in her eyes.
“Kane.” Her voice was little more than a whisper.
“What happened, honey?”
Chloe’s eyes began to twitch and blink frantically. “The flamer . . .”
“The what?”
“The flamer, the flamer, flamer, flamer . . .”
Kane reached out and slapped her face. She stared at him in surprise and began to cry. He reached out his arms and she fell into them sobbing.