Wolf Hiding (A Wolf in the Land of the Dead Book 2) (22 page)

The three of them walked back to the large open area where Nowen had fallen from her bike. The Rev pinned under the rack howled at them as they passed. Nowen used the bloody bat to finish him off, and then pulled her bike up. A quick once-over showed the bike to still be in good shape.

Outside the store Nowen mounted her bicycle and joined the other two. She was pleasantly surprised to realize that her backpack had survived the attacks. She looked at her companions; they were ready to go. She pushed off and headed across the parking lot through the waning moon’s light, Suzannah and Sage close behind.

They had left the lot and were near the highway overpass when Sage darted up next to Nowen and motioned for her to stop. The girl held a finger vertically across her lips, and then cupped her hand around her ear. Suzannah joined them and Sage repeated the motions. Nowen turned her head back the way they had come and listened.

She heard nothing at first, just the towering and complete silence. And then, it came to her: music, playing loudly over the rumble of an engine.
Metallica.
Nowen urged the other two into the shadowy recesses under the highway, and then watched with them as the intense headlights of at least two vehicles moved through the WalMart parking lot.

“How did they know we were there?” Sage whispered in the darkness.

“I don’t know.” Nowen whispered back.
Are they tracking us with
vukodlak
?

“Those goddamned sonsabitches. Why the hell can’t they get eaten by some CZs?” Suzannah hissed. “Well, let’s not sit around here waiting for them to come find us.”

Nowen turned her bike away from the sight of the New Heaven trackers and she, Suzannah, and Sage pedaled away into the dark night.

Chapter Twenty-two

Nowen paused at the top of the ridge and surveyed her surroundings. The snow-dusted trees of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest marched away in all directions. The sky over this piece of Montana, thirty miles or so northwest of Butte, was a deep and chilly blue. The sun was out but the steady wind set up a counterpoint to its meager warmth. Nowen pulled her scarf higher over her nose and mouth, snugged her woolen hat down tighter over her head, and pushed off on her skis. The small wooden sled she towed rode smoothly behind her. She glanced back; the little group of bundled tote bags was still securely attached. Nowen focused on the woods in front of her and dug her ski poles more forcefully into the snow, gaining more speed as she went.

Damn storm.
Nowen had left Sage and Suzannah at their cabin two days ago as she went off on a scavenging trip. In the almost four months since they had fled Bozeman and found this small ski resort, the three of them had cleaned out most of the nearby sources of food, water, and other supplies. Now they were forced to go farther afield, searching for private houses and hunting camps tucked away in the forest. Nowen had just reached a small building, part of an adjoining ski resort, when the snowstorm had moved in, raging for a day-and-a-half and trapping her where she was.

She trailed a wispy cloud of breath as she swung around a rocky outcropping. Home was very close now, and even though they had seen and heard nothing more dangerous than a distant bear in the time they had been here, she knew her companions would be worried. It was the unspoken fear of New Heaven finding them that colored their every thought. It was this fear that kept them in their small cabin instead of moving into one of the more luxurious lodges. It was this same fear that controlled their decisions on whether or not to build a fire, whether or not to travel during the day, even whether or not to go outside.

During her first few weeks in this little cabin Nowen had flinched at everything: the sudden uplifting of a flock of birds, the snap of a branch nearby, a flash of bright color in the woods. Sage and Suzannah were in the same state of near-constant anxiety, and it was only when enough time had passed with no sign of strangers that the three of them had relaxed somewhat. Nowen
hoped
that they were safe, here, more than ninety miles from Bozeman. But even though it seemed like they had dropped off the face of the earth, she wasn’t ready to take the chance that Vuk had forgotten about her.

The solid ‘thunk’ of metal on wood met her as she entered the small clearing around the cabin. Sage was chopping wood, stacking logs and swinging the hatchet with a smooth and economical motion. Nowen slowed as she approached the girl. Even though she had only been gone for two days it felt much longer, and seeing Sage now was like seeing her for the first time. The girl had shot up a couple of inches in the months here. She was now as tall as Suzannah and the top of her head came to Nowen’s shoulder. She was thin and wiry, but they all shared that look- months of enforced rationing ensured that. A close cap of short russet curls covered Sage’s head. Nowen pulled her hat off and ran a hand over her own close-cropped hair. Melting snow for water was time-intensive enough; trying to get enough water for baths
and
hair washing was more trouble than it was worth. Nowen smiled in remembrance at Suzannah’s reaction when she suggested cutting their hair. The outspoken redhead had declared that she was fine with sponge baths but ‘ain’t no one gonna cut my hair off!’. After the first couple of weeks of sweat, dirt, and smoke buildup Suzannah had reluctantly agreed to be shorn.

Nowen scooped a handful of snow off a nearby tree branch. She compacted it into a tight sphere in her hands, and then lofted it in a perfect arc at Sage. The snowball exploded on impact, showering the girl with icy particles. She shrieked and whirled, bringing the hatchet up protectively. Nowen grinned as the startled look on Sage’s face changed to one of joy.

“Nowen!” Sage dropped the hatchet and threw her hands up in the air. She leapt forward, trying to run in the knee-high snow but not making any progress. Nowen took pity and slid forward on her skis until she was next to the girl. Sage laughed and hugged Nowen, babbling so fast that Nowen couldn’t make out one word. Finally she was able to pry the girl’s surprisingly strong grip off and held her at arm’s reach.

“Settle down! Settle down! You’re not making any sense!” Nowen said.

Sage paused in her rambling speech and took a deep breath. When she continued her words were finally understandable. “I
knew
you were ok! I
I knew
you would be back. Suzannah was half-convinced that the black-shirts had found you, but I knew you would never be outwitted by them. And here you are!” Sage tilted her head to the side, taking in the partially-loaded sled behind Nowen. “And you got supplies, too!”

Nowen shook her head regretfully. “Yeah, I got some stuff, but not as much as we need.”

A fleeting look of worry crossed Sage’s face. “Well...we can just ration some more.”

“If we ration any more we’ll all dry up and float away.”

Sage chewed her lower lip for a second, and then brightened. She grabbed one of Nowen’s hands and tugged, drawing her toward the cabin. “Come on and let Suzannah know you’re still alive.”

Nowen followed the girl across the clearing. At the short flight of steps leading up to the porch she kicked out of her skis, propping them against the rough wood railing. She freed the bags from the sled and then joined Sage at the front door.

The door opened on the small interior of the cabin and Nowen drew in a welcome breath of warm air. The cabin was rectangular-shaped, with a round-bellied wood-burning stove and minuscule kitchen area at the far end. When Nowen and the others had found the place the only furnishings had been a low-slung cot, an old and battered recliner, and a small table. In her scavenging Nowen had brought back blankets and quilts, enough to turn the cot, the chair, and the floor into comfortable sleeping areas.

Suzannah was crouched by the stove, feeding pieces of wood into the flames. She looked over her shoulder at the noise of their entrance, and her face brightened when she saw Nowen. Suzannah straightened, sinking back on her heels. She grinned. “Well, look who finally decided to come back! What’s the matter, honey, get tired of your vacation?”

Nowen closed the door on the cold and started toward the kitchen area. “Yeah, it’s nice to see you, too.”

Suzannah got to her feet and, with Sage, followed her to the pitiful stack of cans and bags that constituted their food supply. Nowen opened one of the tote bags and pulled out a can, handing it with a smile to Sage.

Suzannah glanced at the label “What’s that? Asparagus!” She moved forward and started helping Nowen with the bags. “Not much luck, huh?” she asked as she stacked cans.

Nowen held up a bag of plastic-wrapped cupcakes. “Well, I got us dessert. But no, not much luck.”

“How far did you go?” Sage asked as she passed the can of asparagus back to Nowen.

“About five miles, I think. I went south to the main lodge, and then headed east. I found another ski resort, but it’s even smaller than this place, I think. I only got to check one building - the storm moved in and trapped me there, and by the time it blew over all I wanted to do was get back here.” Nowen folded the empty bags, stuffing them inside a cabinet before she turned to face her friends. She sighed and leaned back against the counter behind her. “Sorry I didn’t bring back more.”

“That’s ok.” Sage said.

“But you know what we have to do next.” Suzannah added.

Nowen nodded. “I figure in a couple of days we’ll all go check out the other resort. With luck we can get enough stuff for a couple of more weeks. Then-”

Suzannah held up a hand, palm out in a ‘stop’ gesture. “No. You know what I mean.”

Nowen looked away from the woman. “It’s not necessary.”

“It
is
necessary. Nowen-”

“No! It’s too dangerous. It’s a dangerous plan with no guarantee of a good outcome.”

“You’re being’ obstinate!” Suzannah said, planting her hands on her hips. Her tone was confrontational as she continued. “Nowen. We cannot make it much longer on these slim pickings. Now, Butte is only about twenty-thirty miles away. When we passed through on our way here, we saw a lot of stores and houses that had not been looted.”

“What, do you want to move into Butte?” Nowen asked, unable to keep her own frustration from her voice.

“Yes! Or, maybe. Look, we’ve seen nothing and no one for the last four months. New Heaven has given up on us. We can stop playing mountain man now, and move closer to where the supplies are.” Suzannah said, pleadingly.

Nowen looked at Sage. “What do you think?”

The girl turned her dark eyes from Nowen to Suzannah and then back again. “I agree with Suzannah.”

Nowen blew out a breath of frustration. “But it’s safe here!
We
are safe!”

Sage nodded. “Yes, we are, but it’s only going to get harder to survive. As we have to go further afield for food, we’ll start expending more energy than we can replace. It’ll take more calories to do stuff than we’ll take in.” Suzannah goggled at her and the girl blushed. “I really liked science in school.”

“We can try setting traps again. And I can go do a search for ammunition.”

Suzannah shook her head slowly. “Honey, we just ain’t had any luck with that. None of our traps caught anything. And even though we got that rifle, “she waved behind her at the long gun that rested high on one wall “none of us know how to shoot. And the ammo we’d need for all of us to practice and get better would be...well, let’s just say that I don’t think they ever made that many bullets.”

Sage chimed in. “We don’t have to live right in the middle of the city. I bet there’s a ranch or farm on the outskirts or something.”

Nowen abruptly turned around, bracing her hands on the counter and looking out the window. Outside the sun was still shining bright and the glare of light on snow was almost blinding. She blinked away sudden tears and told herself that it came from the sunlight.
If only the wolf hadn’t left me. We could catch hares and birds...there would be enough food. We could stay here, where it’s safe.

“Nowen?” Sage asked from behind her.

“I’m fine.” She faced them, her friends, the girl and the woman standing side by side, a joined force pushing her in a direction she didn’t want to go. “I...agree with what you both say. I’m just wary of moving closer to New Heaven.”

Suzannah dipped her head thoughtfully. “Well, I’m on the same page when it comes to those freaks. But I just don’t think there’s any other choice for us. And we don’t have to make it permanent. Just until winter’s over, and then we can press on westward. I am determined to see California before I die.” She grinned, an obvious ploy to ease the tension. Nowen forced herself to smile back.

Sage clapped her hands together, the sound loud in the small space. “Great, it’s settled, right? We go to Butte.”

Nowen nodded.

“Awesome. Let’s have a big lunch to celebrate, what do you guys say?” Sage said, searching through the cans.

Suzannah playfully pushed the girl away. “Oh, no you don’t! It’ll be asparagus and tofu soup or something else god-awful!
I’ll
do the choosing.”

Nowen listened to their banter and tried to ignore the nervous churning in her stomach.

She is standing in front of the door that is outlined with light. The dark and bloody hospital hallway stretches into infinity behind her. From the vast blackness comes a faint and fading whine, like a dog that has been abandoned by its master. She hears the noise but the door draws her forward. She lays her hand on the doorknob, cold as snow, and turns. The door swings outward silently, and as she stands in the bright and pure waterfall of light she hears - what? Someone, calling her, saying something, and she knows without knowing how that it’s her name, her
real
name, and if she just steps forward a little more she’ll hear it clearly-

With a harsh gasp Nowen woke from sleep.
What was that? In my dream; could it have really been my name?
She closed her hands for a moment, grasping at the threads of the dream, but they were like snowflakes and melted away as soon as she touched them.