Daniel sat with his back against the building, drawn into himself, his arms around his knees. Every few minutes he would cast a long glance at Kelly, where she still knelt facing away from him with one of her arms around the streetlight pole for support. A few times his mouth moved as if to say something, or to rehearse something he thought he might say. But each time his gaze drifted back to the distant clouds.
Then one time, when he looked over at her, she had risen to her feet, and was pulling her hair free from its ponytail. She met his gaze, and he was taken aback by the hardness in her clear blue eyes. He bit his lip and looked away.
After a moment, he rose to his feet and headed over to where she was standing. She had divided her hair in the back, and was, he was somehow bothered to note, pulling one half into a long braid.
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
She turned to him, her eyebrows raised. "For what?" she asked.
"Well--" he said, once again taken aback. "For not being here to help." He gestured at the sky, then dropped his hand abruptly back to his side. "I mean, isn't that what you're mad about?"
She gave him a puzzled look as she finished one braid and began the other. "What are you talking about? Why would you think I'm mad at you? Why should I blame you for that... that thing?"
He looked away and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "I don't know," he said finally. "I guess maybe because I blame me."
She finished the second braid, then walked over and offered him a hand. He took it, and she pulled him to his feet, so quickly that he almost lost his balance. "Cut it out," she said with a wry smile. "I'm the single mother here. If one of us is allowed some self-pity, it's gonna be me."
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he said nothing.
"Anyway," she said, turning away, "I'm going after that thing. I don't know where it's gone or how I'm going to follow it, but I'm going to hunt down that little piece of shit. And I'm going to get my daughter back, or --" Her voice broke momentarily, then she looked up at Daniel and continued, her eyes flashing, her voice steady. "Or I'll make that sick bastard pay."
His eyes were wide. "Whoa, whoa," he said. "You didn't see what was out in that street. You see these cars?" He pointed to a nearby car with its hood missing and parts of its engines scattered around. "I'm not totally convinced that this was all done by looters."
She frowned, twirling her ponytail band around the end of one of her braids. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, there's a semi tipped over in the middle of 108th. I mean there's a car that obviously rolled several times before it landed upside-down. That's not exactly looter kind of stuff."
"Jesus, are you serious?"
He met her gaze for a moment before he looked away. "Yeah," he said softly. "It was... it was pretty bad. There was still someone inside the car. What was left."
"But... God damn, you think it was that... that..." She flung her arm skyward. "What the hell was that thing?"
He shook his head slowly. "I'd like to know that, too. As for whether I think it's what rolled that car, and tipped that semi..." He turned his gaze back to the distant clouds. "I wish I knew. If it wasn't, I'm not sure I want to know what did."
"Damn," she breathed. Then, straightening, she continued, "I guess I'd better get going, then, so I can stay out of its way."
"You?" His face suddenly looked tired. "You're leaving me here?"
She paused. "Well, I guess I really meant 'we'. I mean, as long as that's okay with you." She put one hand on her other shoulder. "You're the only person I know around here, and I'd hate to split up if we don't have to."
He was silent for a long moment. "Of course," he said finally. "I'd love to. I -- I mean, I'd be happy to come along." He bit his lip. "I was wondering if we could make a stop first, though. It's only about a mile away. Heck, depending on where we're going, it might even be on the way. I'd like to stop back by my apartment and see if my wife is okay."
She started. "Wife? You're married?"
Surprised, he looked up at her. "Well, yeah. I thought I'd talked about Anna before. Didn't I?"
"Oh, I see," she said quickly. "I just didn't know if she was just a girlfriend or something."
Not for the first time, he cast a quick glance at her, then looked away.
And then suddenly he stepped forward, pointing to the clouds. "Look!"
Silhouetted in the near distance was a large winged figure, dropping toward the ground.
The black thing in the air was circling at a height of about twenty feet, letting out an ear-piercing cry every few minutes. The one lying on the ground would struggle to get up every few minutes, then slump back down.
The gray Bronco pulled into position facing the one on the ground, and revved its engine. Then it began to accelerate.
Daniel and Kelly rounded the last building, panting, and watched dumbfounded as the car -- evidently a few were still in working condition -- bore down on the grounded figure. The thing rose unsteadily to its feet and tried to raise its wings, but not quickly enough. The car connected with an audible crunch and the figure went sailing through the air, landing in a heap in the grass twenty yards to the side.
The figure in the air let out another screech. The truck reversed to turn, then moved forward, jolted over the curb, and revved its engine again.
Then the truck lurched uncertainly forward, and trundled to a halt again. Something wasn't right.
"Be careful of that thing in the air," Daniel panted as they moved cautiously in the direction of the truck. But the airborne figure seemed reluctant to descend. It simply watched, and voiced its displeasure. For now, at least, he told himself grimly.
The truck was at a fast idle. They made a large loop around the thing on the ground and approached the driver's door. "Who's in there?" Daniel called. "Are you all right?"
There was a pause, and then the power window rolled smoothly down. A white face stared out at them, and attempted a smile. "Hey, Kelly," he said. He took a quick gasp of air, then said, "How's it going?"
"Matt?" she said, stepping closer. "Christ, what happened to you? You look like hell!"
"Oh," he said, glancing down. He touched one hand to his stomach, then raised it to the window. It was stained red and brown with blood, some dried, some fresh. "I found a nest of these damned things' eggs. I guess they --" He grimaced in pain, and shifted in his seat, then continued painfully, "I guess they didn't much like it when I smashed all their eggs." He flashed them a weak smile.
"Eggs?" said Daniel, some of the color leaving his face. "You mean... there are more of these things?"
Matt laughed, then winced. "You don't want to know." He turned his attention back to the black thing on the ground. "And they're damned hard to kill. I started in with a piece of two-by-four, but they just shrugged it off like it was nothing." A gleam passed his eye. "But this truck... well, it's kind of a different story."
He looked at them again. "It was good to see you again, Kelly." He nodded at Daniel. "Good to meet you. But --" He grimaced again, then swallowed hard and looked forward. "If you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business."
Then, before either of them could react, he shifted the truck into gear and floored the gas. The wheels spun fast enough to dig small trenches in the grass as the car took off.
The thing on the ground let out a feeble cry as the truck bore down on it. Then there was a crunch, followed almost immediately by a resounding screech of metal as the truck smashed into a power pole, smashing the thing against it.
The figure in the air let out a shriek and wheeled away.
| < Chapter 1 | Chapter 3 > |