7. Wyatt
SEVEN
WYATT
By the time we set the last trap we were deep into Stirling County. The areas where we placed the traps had to be strategic. We couldn’t do it on public land. Catching a soccer mom in an ankle snare wouldn’t go over well.
Grandview owned large swaths of land next to the national forest. Members of the public were not allowed to trespass on it, and although there were plenty of signs outlining the boundaries of our land, and any of the land we subleased, that didn’t stop some of them. We’d been dealing with trespassers and protestors since as long as I could remember.
A helicopter’s blades whipped in the air above us. Atticus looked up. “What cowboy is flying that whirly-bird so low?”
The tops of the trees swayed as the green and gold helicopter continued its low trip overhead. It took me a minute to remember where I’d seen the logo. “I think that’s one of Carder’s. They’re probably going to Genocorp.”
“Should we head up there and check out the zombies?” Atticus’s gaze followed the helicopter as it disappeared due north of where we were standing.
Fiona’s reports of people acting weird outside of the remote headquarters of Genocorp were alarming, but in the ruckus with Harper’s father, those concerns had been pushed aside. I looked at my watch. “Genocorp is probably full of employees on break, staring at their phones.”
Because we aged so differently from humans, I had seen firsthand the changes in humanity that came with the changes in technology. In my opinion, it wasn’t good. It had also made our way of life more challenging. Drones with heat-seeking technology, and cameras that could zoom into craters on the moon, put our community at risk. We lived deep in Stirling County, in a valley where no human would dare to venture, but a drone with an unscrupulous pilot at its controls? That was a different story.
Atticus had been looking into technology to tackle the problem, because it wasn’t if the drones would come, it was when .
I hated the idea of shooting them down. It seemed risky. We’d seen some eagles take them down, but we didn’t have the resources or knowledge of how to train the birds to attack the buzzing technology.
“Probably,” Atticus said. “You know, I’ve started letting those idiots walk into me on the street when they don’t look up from their screens.”
It seemed like more of a Tank thing to do, but it still made me laugh. What was so interesting on a phone screen that could keep a person from seeing a seven-foot-tall man walking directly toward them?
“Back to these supposed zombies,” I said, “we need to look into it. Carder Corporation signed a contract stating that any staff in Stirling County would be kept to under twenty people, and it sounds like they may be breaching it. They also signed a non-compete clause, so if Carder is doing any mining or exploration, we can kick them out of the county.”
Atticus pulled out his phone. “How do you spell it again?”
I sighed. “It looks like we’re getting more reliant on the damn things too.” I spelled out Genocorp and Atticus typed it into his phone.
“There’s not much.” His brow knitted as he tapped and frowned at the screen. “I’ll check the Carder Corporation.”
I walked ahead while Atticus searched for any information about Genocorp. The leaves rustled as Atticus caught up, moments later.
“Anything?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Looks like they use a private network.”
My stomach clenched. “What kind of company sets up a branch in the middle of nowhere, with zero internet or social media presence?”
“One that’s up to no good.”
Rocks clattered and clacked down the steep cliff ahead of us, disappearing into the treetops of the forest below. My eyesight was ten times better than twenty-twenty, but I still needed my binoculars from time to time. I took them from the pocket of my backpack and scanned the area leased by Carder. “I can see the clearing.”
“Where?” Atticus held his hand over his eyes.
I handed him the binoculars. “Just past that stand of aspens, directly north. You can see the open spot where they landed the helicopter.”
Atticus bit his lower lip as he focused the binoculars. “I can see the roof and the chopper. It looks like they did minimal clearing around the building, which is good for the forest.”
Tucking the binoculars into my backpack, I nodded. “It’s also good for keeping a low profile.”
“Do we have time to check it out?” Atticus looked to the sky instead of checking his watch, a habit that we had learned growing up, and one that hadn’t been erased by technology – yet.
I was anxious to get back to the house. Harper was safe there, but no one could protect her like me. My crew was loyal as fuck, but if it came down to choosing between saving one of us, or Harper, they would choose a sasquatch every time. Even with my orders. We were hardwired to protect each other, which is why it had been so tough for us when we’d killed the rogue. I’d chosen Harper’s life over the rogue’s, and it had cost me my position in the community. The threat of the wolves had brought me back into the community, but one more misstep would lead to a permanent banishment, or worse.
But I would do it again.
If it came down to it, I’d kill one of us for Harper. Joe Davis, on the other hand – I wasn’t sure where a creature like him fell in our code.
“Yeah. We have to go see what they’re doing there,” I said. “At least make sure they aren’t violating any terms of the agreement. Maybe someone there has seen something weird in the woods.”
“True. Good point.” Atticus adjusted the strap of the crossbow and put on his wool hat. “It’s chilly up here. We’re going to lose the sun soon, too.” Clouds loomed on the horizon. “Should we take the eastern route along the riv—”
A loud scream interrupted him. The kind that an animal made when it was in intense pain. But the pitch was wrong, and I knew that we weren’t hearing an animal. The bloodcurdling sound was a human, screaming for his life.
“Shit.” I tilted my head and tried to figure out where the scream had originated.
“Help.” The call echoed through the canyon.
Atticus shook his head. “That’s not Joe Davis.”
He was right. The scream had come from the direction of our last snare. “Come on.” I jumped from the clearing and set off through the forest, back the way we’d come. “I hope you brought some of the forgetting serum.”
He patted his chest pocket. “I never leave home without it.”
“Good.” The scream pierced the air again. “Sounds like we’re going to need it.”
We watched from a distance before approaching. The man was swinging upside down, hanging by his ankle.
“Should we wait until he tires himself out?” Atticus whispered.
The swinging slowed, but every time the man tried to reach the rope around his ankle, he ended up flailing around. Yellow leaves fell from the tree branches above him, and if it weren’t for the fact that we could smell his fear, and hear the frantic grunts he was making, it would almost look beautiful. Like a circus act.
“No. He’ll have adrenaline running through his body. We should get him down before he seriously injures himself.”
“This was a mistake.” Atticus sidestepped to hide behind a neighboring tree. “We need to get rid of the traps. We can’t be constantly monitoring them, and if a human is killed in one of them…” Atticus’s voice trailed off.
“They’re trespassing,” I grunted, but knew that Atticus was right. “How are we going to capture Joe Davis without traps?” As the words came out of my mouth, I knew the answer. And I didn’t like it.
We would have to use Harper as bait.
“We’ll think of something.” Atticus’s gaze was focused on the flailing man in the hiking pants, but his lips were drawn into a tight line. “I have an idea, but let’s get this guy down first. Did you bring the darts?”
“Of course.” I slid the pack off my back and handed Atticus the long tube and darts. Atticus pulled the bottle of forgetting serum from his pocket and started to unscrew the bottle. “Wait.” I held up my hand. “Maybe he has some answers. What if we wait a bit before we wipe his memory?”
Atticus screwed the lid back on the bottle and returned it to his pocket. “He’s gonna fight us.”
“We’re rescuing him. He’ll be happy to see us.”
Atticus raised an eyebrow.
“Fine. It’s that, or we’ll drop him on his head and give him a nice little concussion.”
“I like option two.” Atticus interlaced his fingers and stretched his hands in front of him.
I slipped my arms into the straps of the backpack and stood. “That can be our backup plan. You stay here.” I didn’t wait for Atticus to agree, and stepped out from behind the tree, breaking into a jog.
“Whoa. Dude. What happened?” I shouted to the man as I approached.
“T-trap. Leg. Stuck.” Leaves fell like snowfall as his flailing returned. His voice sounded strange, like he was struggling to find the words to describe his predicament. But fear and adrenaline can do weird things to the human body.
“Hold on. I’ll get you down.”
Luckily the man wasn’t as big as one of us, not even close. I was able to use one hand to lift him higher, taking the pressure off the rope. The man screamed as he was tugged a foot higher into the tree canopy. If I couldn’t see with my own eyes that it was a man on the other end of the rope, I would’ve sworn that it was a wild animal – a fox, maybe. Their screams are terrifying, and sometimes mistaken for human babies. “Chill out, man. I’m getting you down. Whoever tied this did a good job.”
The rope stilled, and the man watched me with wide eyes as I lowered him to the ground. As soon as his body touched the forest floor, he ripped and tore at the rope around his ankle.
“Let me help you.” I reached for the knot, which had cut into his skin, but he shimmied backwards, his fingers, blooded from trying to free himself, leaving crimson dots on the moss. “It’s okay. I’m here to help you.”
The man backed to the tree and his eyes darted like prey, trying to find an escape route. I held up my hands. “I have a first aid kit in my pack. Let me help you.”
He held up a hand and pointed a finger at me. “One of them.”
“Wha—”
I didn’t have time to ask what he meant. Atticus stepped around the tree and knocked him on the head with the butt of his knife. “It was time for plan B. Let’s get him back to the house and see what he knows.”
“I could’ve calmed him down.”
Atticus shook his head. “No. There’s something wrong with this one. He smells like Harper’s freaky father.”
Inhaling, I hated to admit that Atticus was right. It was subtle, but the unconscious man smelled eerily similar to Joe Davis. “We better tie him up then.”
“Or we could always leave him here.” Atticus touched the man’s neck. “He’ll survive.”
“No. We need answers.” I tied the man’s hands behind his back and roped his ankles together.
“Rock, paper, scissors for who has to carry this dude back to the car?”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re the one who enacted plan B. With my plan, this skinny hipster would be walking on his own.”
Atticus groaned and flopped the man, who couldn’t have weighed more than 150 pounds, over his shoulder. “Should one of us stay out here and disassemble the traps?”
The sun had started to dip behind the peaks in the west. I didn’t want either of us to be this deep in Stirling County alone. I felt like a pussy. We were solitary creatures, but neither of us had ever seen anything like Joe Davis in our entire lives. “We can come back tomorrow. Let’s get back to the city before String Bean here wakes up.” It was at least a three hour drive back to the mansion, depending on traffic, and I wasn’t sure just how hard Atticus had hit the guy on the head.
“Well then, let’s get moving.” Atticus must have sensed the urgency and took off jogging through the woods. I followed close behind.