The Killers Amongst Us: Chimera Dawn Chronicles (29 page)

FRANK
opened up his map and sucked air through his
teeth in a drawn out hiss. Carla and Cox trotted up alongside on their mounts.

“Al says that two Deuce-and-a-half troop carriers loaded
with soldiers have pulled up over at their Claymore Junction checkpoint. Says
that they’re spreading out in a line either side along the boundary, one hundred
yards apart.”

“Maybe we should abort,” Shaw said.

Cox threw him a sideways glance. “Risk and reward, remember?”

“We can still make it if we hurry,” said Frank. He pointed
to his map. “Al said that if we head for this gulley and tether the horses, we
can get through on foot. The guys will keep us informed on where the guard’s positions
are.”

Shaw covered his mouth with his hand, stroking his cheek
with his thumb. Going to the sanctuary was a long shot at best of discovering
anything, save for the DNA and test results on the water samples. If any of
them were developing the sickness, he thought they’d deserve to be shot. He
wondered if it was maybe not worth the effort to put lives at risk. Working
with a team, he knew wasn’t his style. On this mission, he was a passenger,
unsure who was driving the bus, yet compelled to see the journey through. They
were all looking at him. It was clear they saw him as the driver. If they had
caught the bug, Shaw decided it wasn’t as though they were carrying the
sickness on a walk through crowded streets. He took a deep breath.

“Okay, we’ll do that. You lead on, Frank. Carla, you keep
your eyes to the left.” He turned to Cox. “You keep your eyes right, and I’ll
take our flank and watch our backs. Listen, if we’re spotted, no heroics.”

They continued on until they reached the gulley and
dismounted. Al greeted Frank and they exchanged words.

Frank took his rope from his saddle, fastening it between
two trees.

“We’ll tether the horses here. Al is going to stay here with
Greg when he returns. They’ll look after our horses until we return. Turn off
your radios and talk in whispers.”

The woods were thick either side of the gully. The gully
itself had a bank either side of around twenty feet. The pine trees gave way to
thorn bushes along the gulley sides and base. Al stepped forward.

“There are two guards dug in one hundred yards from here,
both around fifty yards either side of the gulley. Break a twig and they could
hear you. Greg is waiting along the gulley in a position between the two guards
at the boundary. As soon as you see him, he’ll return. They haven’t ventured
out on patrol yet, but I reckon they will, because they’re blind with the tree
cover to scan the boundary. Good luck.”

“Space out, ten yards apart. Keep alert and listen for any
movement,” Shaw said.

Frank entered the gulley and Shaw followed. Movement was
hard going with the thorns snagging his clothing. Fifty yards in and Frank had
stopped. Frank waved him onward.

“Why stop.” Shaw whispered.

Frank pointed two fingers to his eyes and then at the
ground. Underfoot it was boggy. Even Shaw could see that something had been
dragged through the wet patch with what looked like a good number of mountain
lion paw marks on either side.

“There must be a spring trickling around here. See there,
that looks like blood in the pool of water that’s settled in that paw track.”

The direction they were heading was toward the sanctuary.
Shaw wondered if they could be leopard tracks. If they were the leopards from
the sanctuary, then Cleo had lied about them not going outside the perimeter.
If she had lied about that, he wondered what else she could have lied about.

Shaw waved Frank on. Fifty yards further along the gulley
and Shaw stopped when he saw Frank give him a signal to lie low. He turned and
signaled Carla to stop. Carla ignored his command.

“I think I’ve seen a cat stalking us,” Carla said, as she
came up alongside of him.

“What kind?”

“It was like a shadow. I only caught a glimpse. Maybe a
mountain lion?”

He rolled his eyes at the thought of the tracks. If it
wasn’t for the tracks, he would have suggested it could be her imagination.

“Hurry back to Cox. Stay together and keep your eyes open
for the cat.”

He watched as she crawled back to join Cox. Shaw’s heartbeat
raced, when he heard branches snagging and saw a figure sliding down the
banking. Whoever it was, talked to Frank in hushed tones. Frank swayed his hand
for Shaw to join them. Relief washed over him as he recognized Al’s buddy,
Greg.

“Sorry about the noise. I slipped. Listen, the guard to the
left is static. I can smell cigarette smoke, so don’t worry about him. But over
on the right I spotted the guard taking a leak through my binoculars. He’s thirty
yards from here and heading in this direction. Lie low, I’m going back to meet
with Al.”

“Pass the word to the ladies on your way back. Tell them to
stay hidden in the bushes, and you watch out for a mountain lion. One of them
thinks she saw a large cat.”

He watched as Greg disappeared into the undergrowth. They
both knelt, hidden in the bushes. No more than ten minutes had passed, when he
heard twigs trodden underfoot at the top of the gulley, followed by the static
from a radio.

“Tango Twenty to, Tango Forty, all clear to the gulley,
over.”

“Tango Forty, Rodger that. You head back and I’ll check this
side, over and out.”

Through a gap in the bushes, he could see the soldier at the
top of the gulley. He removed his bio-mask, pulled out a cigarette packet, and
taking out a cigarette he lit it, then leaned against a tree trunk.

Shaw glanced down. His pants were sodden at the knees, and
his hands were scratched and bloody from snagging on the thorns. He looked up
through the gap in the bushes. The soldier stubbed out his cigarette and walked
out of sight. Shaw looked at his wristwatch. Two minutes since his radio call.
He reckoned that could put Tango Forty at around thirty yards to his right. He
thought that if they were to regularly alternate walks, they could be playing
the dance all day.

“You go ahead, Frank. I’ll get the ladies.”

Keeping his head down, he worked his way back to Cox. Carla
was with her.

“Any sign of the cat?”

“No.”

“Good. Stay low, but move fast. We’re at the boundary, but we
need to put at least one hundred yards between us and the guards.”

Every sound they made along the gulley amplified as if it
were enough to wake the dead. Sweat poured from his brow, stinging in his eyes.
His lungs were burning form the effort of walking on the uneven ground and
stooping. He saw Frank sitting on a boulder ahead and grinning.

“What kept ya’ll.”

Shaw dropped his backside next to Frank, unable to answer
and blowing hard. Cox and Carla squatted at the side of them on their haunches.
Neither of them seemed to have broken a sweat.

“How far now,” said Carla.

“Another half-mile hump through the woods and we’ll be at
the entrance,” said Frank.

Shaw turned to Frank.

“Will your legs hold up?”

“Not even a twinge. It’s you I worry about. You look like
someone who spends too much time sat on their ass in the office.”

He glanced over at Cox. She wasn’t looking at him, but she
was smirking. He guessed she’d taken in what Frank had said. He dug deep, and
standing, he said, “Come on then, no time for sitting around.”

The onward journey seemed less of a danger now they were
outside the boundary. Exiting the tree line near the entrance to the sanctuary
at a leisurely pace, a sudden burst of gunfire rang out. Shaw dropped to the
ground.

“Shit, dive for cover,” he said.

A
second blast of rounds from automatic gunfire
erupted. This time Shaw got a fix on the direction. He glanced at Frank who was
lying beside him, spitting dirt from his lips. Looking either side, Cox and
Carla were positioned behind tree trunks, assuming a kneeling position on one
knee, their automatic rifles shouldered.

“No bullets are headed our way,” Shaw said. “The sound is coming
from the direction of the sanctuary.”

Cox darted past him to the hedgerow at the side of the road.
Carla followed and set a position, ten yards to her right.

“I think the girls are telling us something.”

One, two three,
Shaw counted, pulling his revolver
from its holster, and in a stoop, he scrambled to the hedge alongside Cox.

“Keep behind me,” said Cox.

He glanced over at Carla. Frank had joined her.

Cox signaled Carla with finger signs. Carla nodded. Shaw
followed Cox through a gap in the hedgerow and across the road, then along to
the side of the entrance road. Carla and Frank came up behind. Cox edged toward
a tree at the corner of the entrance, took a quick glance and ducked back to
the sound of more gunfire.

“There’s a gate open and a tanker truck parked. Some guys are
firing from behind the cab.”

She pointed across the entrance road, then darted across,
taking up a position behind a bush. She kept her eyes trained down the road and
signaled him to join her. Shaw gulped, took a deep breath, then ran for all he
was worth to join her. He looked across in time to see Carla grab Frank by his
shirt as he was about to join them. Cox signaled across to Carla.

“Never mind them, follow me, eyes forward,” Cox said.”

Using the cover of bushes and tree trunks, they worked their
way to near the gate. Cat and Kitten were behind the security hut, alternately
exchanging fire with the guys behind the truck. Shaw felt something brush his
leg. His jaw dropped, when he saw five black leopards charging down the road
toward the back of the truck. His body leapt, when from behind, another leopard
brushed his pants as it charged toward the gate. Carla had been right about a
cat stalking them. Now he knew it was six of them. He exchanged glances with
Cox. She shrugged her shoulders. Shaw looked back toward the truck in time to
see the leopards leap at the guys, dropping them both, with two of them ragging
at the guys necks. Cat and Kitten stepped out and gestured at the leopards.
They slinked away through the second gate into the sanctuary. Shaw grabbed Cox
by the arm.

“What the—” Shaw’s eyes popped in their sockets. The
leopards transformed to a walking upright position on their hind legs. He
stared in disbelief as their black coats changed to skin, and their naked
bodies took on human form. “Tell me I haven’t just seen that!”

Cat and Kitten covered the bodies of the two guys with their
rifles. Fuller appeared from the security hut, holding his pistol at arm’s
length at his side. He walked over to the bodies. Shaw flinched, as Fuller put
a slug in each of guy’s heads. Cox stepped out into the road.

“FBI, drop your weapons.”

Carla joined her in the center of the road, both creeping
toward the scene. Shaw covered them aiming his line of sight down the barrel of
his gun, his trigger finger at the ready. Cat and Kitten dropped their rifles.
Fuller was less forthcoming.

“Homeland Security. I’ve got this. The girls are on our
side.”

“Yeah, right, drop your weapon,” said Cox. She stopped,
firming her stance, the rifle tight to her shoulder, and caressed the trigger. “Last
call, now drop the freakin’ weapon,” she screamed at him top note.

Fuller huffed, then dropped his pistol, kicking it toward
Cox.

“We need to dispose of the bodies... quickly, before they
turn,” Fuller said.

“What’s that mean?” Frank asked, as he stepped behind
Fuller, drawing his cuffs from his belt and snapping them on his wrists. Cox
tossed a set of cuffs to Carla.

“Cuff the girls.”

“Wait,” said Shaw, as he looked over the bodies. “These are
the guys from the silver mine. This is their water truck. What were they doing
here? And just what the hell was that we saw with the leopards?”

“The leopards I’ll explain later. These guys were delivering
contaminated water,” said Cat. “Fuller is right, if you don’t let us dispose of
the bodies before they transform, all hell is going to let loose.”

Shaw tapped Cox on the shoulder.

“Have you seen the sign on the door of the truck? There was
no sign on the one at the silver mine, but it’s the same water truck.”

Cox glanced at the truck.

“That’s one of Grimes’ businesses.”

A vision of the driver emptying the water cooler bottles
from the back of his truck at the store in town flashed through Shaw’s mind.

“How do you know it’s contaminated?” Shaw asked. “Just
what’s going on here?”

Fuller stepped forward.

“Look you’re wasting time. The tests on your water sample
and the autopsy on the cat show that the water is the cause of the sickness in
town. It’s all part of the preppers plan. This situation is bigger than either
you or that small-town sheriff badge you’re wearing, or the FBI.”

Shaw stabbed Fuller a look. “Is that right—Alice.”

Frank tugged at Shaw’s sleeve.

“Remember at the silver mine when I told you they were
filling the tanker and not emptying it. Then there’s the tire tracks at the
water plant.”

Shaw noticed the double wheels on the tanker truck.

“So are you saying they were emptying the tank at the filtration
plant and not stealing the water?”

“You’ve answered your own question,” said Fuller.

An SUV van headed their way from inside the sanctuary. Shaw
recognized the young women from his last visit. Four of them climbed out of the
back, followed by the driver and a passenger climbing out of their seats. Shaw
noticed two of them were holding machetes.

“Tell them to stay back,” said Cox.

Cat grinned. “These are your leopards that you asked about,
Sheriff. You know what you saw. Yes, it happened. It wasn’t an illusion. Professor
Bastet will explain,” said Cat, “If you don’t let them cut up the preppers into
pieces, these bodies here will come to life. Then they’ll transform into rabid
dogs like the one that ripped out the vet’s throat. Then they’ll probably rip
out your throats.”

Shaw, Frank, Cox and Carla all exchanged glances that
smacked of incredulity as to what they had heard. She was right about one thing
though. He knew what he had seen. It definitely happened before his eyes. The
two women with the machetes stepped forward.

“Stay back and drop your weapons,” said Cox.

Shaw reached out, grabbed the barrel of her rifle and lowered
it to face the ground.

“I think we’d all better drop our weapons,” said Shaw.

All along the tree lined driveway, women stepped out from
the cover, pointing rifles at them. Shaw counted maybe twenty and dropped his
gun to the ground.

“Now get these cuffs off me,” said Fuller. “Then I’ll tell
you where Amy is being held.”