CHAPTER 2
DAKOTA
The next morning, I load my crossbow, strap my knives and my bear spray to my belt, and kiss my daughter’s forehead. “Stay inside until I come back, all right? And if I don’t come back by dark, I want you to grab your things and head for the nearest fort.”
Part of me expects her to roll her eyes at how dramatic I am, but this is a child that’s grown up in the After. She knows when to be playful and when to be serious. Rabbit nods and hugs me tightly, watching me head out the repaired front door and into the bright morning sunlight.
Everything is quiet. Peaceful. Birds are twittering in a tree at the front of the parking lot, and the grasses growing up through the cracks in the pavement sway in a gentle breeze.
Nothing looks alarming, but that doesn’t mean anything at all.
I pull back the tension on my crossbow, checking the bolt again to make sure that it’s loaded properly, and then head into the parking lot.
There’s a cluster of buildings here, all clumped together to share parking, which means there’s also a lot for me to check.
Rabbit had mentioned the old sporting goods store, which I’ve been meaning to check out anyhow.
I’ll get there eventually. I move to the first store, which looks like an old dental clinic.
It’s totally collapsed, so I move on to the next business, a nail salon.
On and on I go, taking the time to pick through the wreckage, looking for anything that might be of use.
I’m wearing a backpack and filling it up with things I find—scissors, toothpaste tubes, an old box knife.
Bigger things can be scavenged later, provided this area is safe.
My stomach growls, but I ignore it. Our food supplies are thin, and we can’t hunt or set traps until we know this area is secure.
I’d rather save what little we have left for Rabbit. I can miss a meal or two.
I check over a smoothie store, disappointed when I don’t even find sugar packets or napkins. It’s been completely picked over, which means someone’s been in this area before. Not surprising, given that we’re in the city. Everything easy to take was scavenged long ago.
When I exit out of the store, I hear the sound of a kitten crying.
I turn, looking for the source of the sound.
Rabbit had said there were a lot of cats around, but so far I haven’t seen any.
I head for the sporting goods store, and as I do, the sound of the crying gets louder.
It’s plaintive and reedy and tugs at my heart.
“Pspspsps. Here, little baby.” I move through the tall grass, heading toward an abandoned car with four flat tires. It’s just barely off the ground, but sure enough, I see movement underneath it. I snap my fingers, crouching low. “Come here, kitten.”
After another cry, the baby stumbles out.
It’s a kitten all right, maybe a month old or so.
He’s tiny with orange stripes and a cream-colored belly, and as he stumbles toward me, I see his eyes are covered in gunk.
No wonder he’s lost. I set down my crossbow and scoop him up, cuddling him.
With the corner of my t-shirt, I wipe at the crust on his eyes, but he needs medicine and water to clean them off.
He cries and squirms while I clean him up, and then tries to snuggle in against my neck.
“I can’t take you with me,” I protest, my heart squeezing. “I wish I could, buddy. Let’s find your mom, okay?”
Picking up my crossbow with one hand and cradling the kitten in my other, I head toward the sporting goods store.
As I approach, I see a few cats hiding in shadows or lurking nearby.
It matches with what Rabbit had described.
I don’t see signs of a human around, though.
If someone was living here, there’d probably be trash piled up somewhere nearby—empty food cans or wrappers, broken gear, anything along those lines.
There’s nothing that I can see and perhaps that’s a good sign.
Perhaps there’s just a few random cats nearby.
“Do you see your mama?” I whisper to the kitten in my hand. I watch the other cats. One pretty calico approaches me and rubs against my legs, purring, but none of them seem interested in the kitten in my hands.
I move to the front of the store, peering inside. The interior is dark, the doors destroyed. More cats lounge in the front of the store, watching me as I climb over a shopping cart on its side. Leaves and detritus are scattered everywhere, crunching under my work boots.
No mama cat comes out to snatch her baby from my arms. “Pspspsps,” I try again. To my chagrin, another kitten emerges, this one a little black ball of fluff. He’s got the same gunk in his eyes, and my heart drops. They need medicine.
There’s got to be a pharmacy or a vet’s office around here somewhere. My dog had a medicated eye paste but that was years ago—
Something moves in the back of the store. Something big. A shelf crashes and metal groans.
I clutch the kitten to my chest harder, raising my crossbow. “Hello?”
Another shelf knocks over. I watch as it tumbles to the ground, and as it does, a massive, clawed, reptilian foot emerges. Gold scales gleam even in the darkness, and I start to pant with fear.
Dragon.
There’s a fucking dragon here.
A large, triangular horned head suddenly appears from the shadows. I scream, blood running cold, and turn and race out of the store, back towards Rabbit.
We have to fucking get out of here!