“It was fake.This isn’t legal anywhere.Especially not in this country.Are you stupid or something?” frowned Rush.
“W-we’re not stupid.They told us it was all legal.The animals, the girls, all of it.”
“What girls?” growled Trak.The men jumped, turning to see the man with the deep baritone voice.“I will only ask one more time.What girls?”
“I don’t know.They were supposed to bring them to us tonight.We paid…”Trak moved so fast the man urinated himself.The knife, still bloody from the last man, was at his throat.
“If you say you paid for these animals and the women one more time, it will be the last thing you ever say.Clear?”The man nodded, the others nodding as well.
“Let’s go,” said Remington.
“B-but what about the zebra?I’m almost done and the four-wheelers are over there.”
“You’ll bury the zebra here,” said Rush.He tossed several shovels from their own vehicle at their feet.“Six feet deep.Dig.”
The men just stared at the shovels and then at the men in front of them.When Remington fired his rifle at their feet, they moved so fast they tripped over themselves.
It took far longer to dig that hole than it should have.These men were city boys, never having done manual labor in their lives.Their own hands were bloody and blistered but no one gave a damn.
They tossed the carcass and half-skinned zebra into the hole and then began to fill it.An hour later, they were finally done.
“We’ve got all the animals loaded and moving.No sign of the two that were with your group,”said Sniff.
“We’re on our way back toward you.Call the sheriff and game wardens.We’ve got a present for them.”
“You can’t do this.I’m an important man.I own a number of businesses in Fargo,” said Henry.
Once again Trak moved so fast it seemed unimaginable given his age.The stealth, lithe movements seemed to float across the earth, his blade glistening in the sunlight.
“I will say this only one more time.I do not give a fuck who you are or what you do.You will be going to prison for what you’ve done here.These animals were malnourished, abused, and only sought a place of refuge.Your hunt wasn’t honorable.There was nothing worthy about it.
“You stalked injured animals.For what?For some skin to lay on your office floor or wall?To tell your buddies at the club that you hunted a zebra?You’re not a man.You’re a pathetic excuse for a human being and I haven’t even gotten to the intention of raping women.”
“It wasn’t rape!We paid for it!”
This time it was Rush that moved with blistering speed.His massive fist slammed the man so hard in the center of his face, the sounds of cracking bones echoed in the prairie.His body sounded like a ton of bricks, the thud almost hurting the ears of his friends.
“My God!You’ve killed him,” said one of the men.
“I didn’t kill him but he damn sure won’t ever breathe right again.And when he looks in the mirror, he will remember me,” sneered Rush.“Pick him up.”
His friends lifted him on his feet, blood covering his face, the bones of his cheek and nose poking through flesh.
“That was well done,” smiled Remington.
“I needed to do that,” said Rush, “or the alternative was put a bullet in his brain.”
“Let’s go,” said Trak.
“Wait.What about the four-wheelers?We each have one.We can follow you.”
“Not in this lifetime.You’ll walk the entire way back and if you say one word, if you so much as utter a curse or whine, I will ensure that you are every bit as injured as that zebra was and then watch you crawl to your incarceration.”
It wasn’t surprising that the men kept their mouths shut.By the time they arrived at the burned down house and dilapidated barn, there were sheriff’s deputies everywhere, officers from Wildlife and Fisheries, and even Homeland.
“I can’t believe this is what was happening in our own backyard,” said the sheriff shaking his head.“We were told they had a license for a wildlife sanctuary, helping animals escape abusive safaris, wildlife centers, zoos, that sort of thing.We even have the licenses on file.”
“Licenses can be fake,” said Striker.“The animals we found are bound for a real wildlife sanctuary.Every structure on this property will be burned to the ground.The government now owns the land, while the legalities of what happened here are played out.”
