Chapter 8 #2
Carl’s gun ran out of bullets. He dropped down beside her and started dragging her backward, away from the house and the fight.
And why the hell hadn’t she been moving already?
Because she’d been struck stupid by the sight of the bear ripping whatever it was into bloody scraps.
And she’d thought The Revenant was gross.
It had nothing on the real thing, especially when the beast was less than a foot away.
She crawled backward with Carl while he slammed another clip into his gun.
She risked a glance at the third creature.
It was down and spurting blood from a couple bullet holes.
So one dead by the back door, the other riddled with bullet holes, and the third was now mincemeat thanks to the bear.
That meant they just had to get away from the grizzly.
But then Carl froze, one hand on his gun, the other on her shoulder as his gaze went to the tree line in the direction they’d been moving.
Oh, hell. There was something there. She had no idea what it was. Just a shadow of movement. But Carl pointed his gun at it, and she strained her eyes trying to figure out what he’d seen.
“Mark!” Carl abruptly barked. “Eastern tree line. Mark!”
She didn’t see Mark. She looked all over, trying to find him even while she cursed herself for dropping the phone. Damn it, it was back there by the grizzly who had abruptly stopped chewing on the man-thing. The huge bear who suddenly stopped growling to look up and over. At the eastern tree line.
What the fuck?
Had it sensed whatever the shadow was? Or…hell…was it about to attack Mark? Mark who was naked and about to be eaten by this bear.
“Run, Mark!” she screamed. “Run into the house!” And come back with an Uzi.
The grizzly turned to stare at her, and she almost swallowed her tongue. Oh, hell. She started to scrabble backward, but she was shaking and terrified, and she couldn’t get purchase on the grass.
“Over there!” Carl said, gesturing broadly to the tree line. “Mark! There was something else over there!”
“A cougar. I think. I saw it earlier.” God, she hoped she was wrong. The last thing they needed was a cat-bear fight.
Meanwhile, the grizzly’s head swung to the eastern side of the property. Carl grabbed her arm and hauled her up to her feet. But at that moment, the bear looked back at them and slowly pushed up onto his back feet, growling the whole time.
It had been big before, but on its hind legs like that, it was terrifyingly massive. And even half deaf, she could hear its growl.
“Mark!” Carl yelled again, and even she could hear a note of desperation in his voice. “Mark! Check the perimeter. Go!”
Perimeter check? How about, “Go call 911 from the house”? How about, “Kick over a trashcan and distract the damned bear?” How about anything but a perimeter check?
She and Carl backed up together, moving slowly away as the grizzly towered over them. It didn’t seem like it was about to attack, but what the hell did she know? And though Carl held his gun out, it was pointed to the side and down.
“Just shoot it!” she cried. She was as much a pacifist as the next person, but right now, she really wanted him to blow the thing’s head off.
“No!” Carl bellowed, and she didn’t even know if it was at her or at the bear. But there was fury in his tone, and she cringed from the force of it.
Which is when the bear lunged forward. She dove to the side, and Carl shot wildly at the ground, spraying dirt into the air.
She landed on her butt, still scrambling backward, while Carl rolled to the opposite side.
He came up on a knee, his shirt matted with dirt and blood, but his eyes were steady as he faced off with the creature.
Damn it, why didn’t he just shoot?
The bear was almost between them now, maneuvering to separate them.
Obviously sensing that Carl was the bigger threat, the creature’s golden eyes focused there.
Which gave her the opportunity to head away from them both.
She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do, but if she went off toward the back of the property, she might be able to draw the creature away from Carl.
So she backed up. No hope in getting to the house, but she was a fair hand at climbing trees. The grizzly was too big to climb up after her—she hoped—so that was her escape route. It was a stretch, to be sure, but she clung to it like a lifeline.
And while she moved backward to the closest sturdy tree, Carl remained eye-locked with the creature. He was talking, pitching his voice low and calm, his words making no sense at all.
“I’m not the threat, Mark. Take a big whiff. I’m bleeding. No danger to her. Go look for more of those things.”
Oh, shit. Carl was a lot more hurt than he was letting on.
Which meant that she had to act now. She was close enough to the tree, she hoped.
And she really hoped that she wasn’t about to commit suicide.
She’d gathered a few rocks as she’d moved.
All that she could see while inching herself backward.
Gathering all her softball experience into her brain, she adjusted the heaviest rock in her hand and threw straight at the creature’s head.
Score!
She tagged it right at the back of the noggin. She thought at first that even with the impact, the rock had been too light to make a difference. But then grizzly turned to look at her. Good…maybe. But she was working on adrenaline now, so she pitched the next and the next and the next.
Three stones in rapid-fire throws, all hitting him not because of her accuracy but because it was that freaking huge. And in case that wasn’t working, she started screaming at it.
“That’s right. That’s me, you big bully. Get away from him!”
She thought Carl would take the opportunity to scramble away from the bear. At least he had a clear field to empty his clip into the creature’s head. But instead of doing the intelligent thing, he started screaming at her.
“No, no! Julie, stop it! Don’t upset him!”
Don’t upset the thing-eating bear? Bullshit. It was pretty damned riled up already. So she whipped the last two stones in her arsenal at it, one of them nailing the beast right on the nose.
It roared in fury and finally abandoned Carl to go for her. Great!
Or not.
She gulped and tore for the tree, kicking away her flip-flops as she scrambled up the trunk.
Ouch, ouch, ouch!
The bark sliced into her hands and feet, but adrenaline kept her from feeling the worst of it. And even with her moving as fast as she could manage, she was still way too slow. She felt the creature’s breath on her back as it roared again. And the tree shuddered as a single paw swiped at her feet.
It could have knocked her down. She was sure of it.
But by some miracle, that massive paw hadn’t connected with her leg.
It had simply slammed into the tree trunk, making the whole thing shudder.
She swung herself up into the nearest branch, then half leapt, half hauled herself up the next.
The tree swayed ominously, but it didn’t break.
And, damn it, there weren’t any other branches higher up that could hold her weight. Which is when she chanced to look down.
The grizzly was standing up, two massive paws stretched against the tree about six inches from her feet. One good jump and she’d be toast. This close, she could hear its mournful lowing and see every pointy inch of its claws.
Damn, damn, damn.
But at least she’d gotten it away from Carl, right? She looked over, hoping to see the man scrambling full tilt for the house. That would be the intelligent thing to do. No such luck. He was running toward her, gun at his side, talking nonsense all the way.
“Don’t make any sudden moves,” he called. “Just stay there. And for God’s sake, don’t throw anything else.”
“Are you crazy?” she bellowed. “Shoot it!”
As if the creature understood what she’d said, it turned its head and roared at Carl. The sound was a loud rumble that sounded a thousand times worse than any movie-made roar she’d ever experienced.
Carl stopped running forward, half stumbling as he gripped his bloody side. But his gun hand was steady as he aimed down at the ground.
“I’m not coming any closer, Mark. I got it.”
Who the hell was he talking to? She didn’t see Mark anywhere. Meanwhile, the creature let out another furious roar, though not quite as loud as the last one.
“You’re frightening her, Mark. Smell her. She’s terrified.”
Bizarrely enough, the creature did seem to sniff. It was probably just a natural predatory instinct, but still. A sniffing bear wasn’t a ripping-her-out-of-the-tree-and-eating-her bear, right?
“You have to calm down. You have to remember who you are.”
The bear turned to her, then, lifting its snout up in her direction. If she bent her knees, she could probably kick it. That would discourage it from coming closer, right? But she really didn’t want to get her foot that close to the thing’s mouth.
But what choice did she have? Any second now, the bear might decide to climb up for her.
“Don’t move, Julie!” Carl said. “You don’t understand what’s going on. Just stay still.”
A bear was about to eat her, that’s what was going on. But she didn’t argue. If he thought she should freeze, then call her Ms. Popsicle. And then—miracle of miracles—she heard the sound of a police siren in the distance.
Hallelujah! People with guns were coming. People who would actually use them instead of holding it to the side and putting bullets into the ground. She just had to stay alive until they showed up.
“You hear that, Mark?” Carl continued. “We’re safe.
She’s safe. But I can’t get this wound bound up until you get control of yourself.
Come on, Mark. Remember who you are.” Carl took a step forward, but the animal reared up, obviously pissed at that.
Carl stopped, his hands up in the air. And when the bear growled, low in his throat, Carl took a step back.
“Okay, okay. I get it. She’s yours. But you’re scaring her. ”
Julie wanted to snap that she sure as hell was not some bear’s, but thought better of it. Especially as the animal dropped down to all fours to face Carl, not her.
Was it going to run away? Or attack Carl?
Why the hell hadn’t the idiot man run away when he had the chance?
It wasn’t like there were any more rocks up in this tree to throw at the creature.
Fortunately, the thing didn’t seem to be attacking anyway.
It had just dropped down to stare at Carl, who took another slow step back.
“That’s right, Mark. Remember who you are.”
The bear released a long howl that was almost plaintive. And Julie had the weird thought that the two were really talking to each other. Carl and the bear in some bizarre conversation.
“Don’t give me that shit, Mark. I’m your alpha, and I say face me as a man.” The last word had the vibration of a command. Even Julie felt the power of it, though how a bear was going to understand that, she hadn’t a clue.
Meanwhile, she heard the siren stop, and two car doors slammed. Both man and beast turned to the sound, but Carl bellowed first.
“Stay back! Don’t shoot!”
A woman officer with short blond hair came tearing around the corner, but she pulled up short at the command. Her partner appeared next, a lanky guy who looked too young to be holding a gun.
“Oh, shit,” the guy said, though it was more like a babble.
The woman held him back by putting a hand on his chest, but both of their eyes were on the bear.
“You’re hurt, Carl, and he’s out of control,” the woman said.
“Stay out of it, Tonya,” Carl growled. Lord, he was sounding more like a bear every second.
The woman glared, then slowly took a step forward, drawing her pistol as she moved. “Let me do this for you.”
“Don’t you fucking dare.”
The woman stopped, and she gestured for her partner to stay back. But she didn’t put away her gun. “Stevie,” she said, her voice calm, “go get the tranq gun, will you?”
Her partner blanched. “What?”
“Go, slowly. Now.”
The kid nodded, then backed away. One step. Two. Three. Then, at the edge of the house, he pivoted and ran. Which is when the woman spoke again.
“Okay, Mark. You’ve got about ten seconds until Stevie gets back. Carl’s bleeding, and you’re keeping me from helping him. Your alpha is hurt, and you’re in the way. So you fucking switch back now, or so help me God—”
The bear moved. No, not so much moved as shimmered.
Like a heat wave going through the air, creating a distortion or mirage.
Julie was staring right at him when it happened, and she still could not process what she saw.
The creature was on all fours when it started…
doing whatever it was. One second she saw a huge black grizzly bear.
The next, it seemed to shrink in on itself.
The nose grew shorter, the hump lost fur.
Then she saw skin, rippling with power or pain. She wasn’t sure.
Then she saw legs and arms. The hard points of two shoulder blades before a man collapsed downward upon himself.
He dropped and curled onto his side as he went.
His head was tucked down, buried into forearms that came up and covered his face.
But even so, she recognized him. Even lying dirty and howling on the ground, she knew who it was.
Mark.
She screamed.