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A moment later, gunfire obliterated all other sound. Three shots rang out. The bear wasn’t hit and took to the trees, for all practical purposes invisible once it breached the barrier of underground on the edge of the forest.
Oakley knew where the shots originated. This might be her best chance to deal with the attackers. Oakley gave a silent thanks to Matt for providing her with a special weapon. A compound bow. Not everyone was fond of the weapon. If Oakley wanted to take out one target at a time, silently and efficiently, she couldn’t think of a better weapon for this particular battle.
Surround them, she signed to her wolves. Lead your pack. No fight bear.
Oakley hoped her message was fully understood as the wolves split and took off. Each half of the pack traveled parallel to the men in the center of the clearing, currently only detectable by their noise as they wandered through the small, gnarled patch of briars and small trees entangled with vines.
She trailed behind the men, accompanied by Ba’Cho and two large female wolves who seemed to be vying for his attention. It occurred to her that Ba’Choand Nashoba’s line was probably being spread even now. Wolves didn’t hide their mating, and there must be half the females in the pack in heat.
What she would give to see the offspring that came from those pairings. She put that thought aside and continued on. What happened next ended her plan of attack and turned the battle into a free-for-all.
She heard a man yell and understood what he said, but he certainly wasn’t speaking English. It translated generally as “Bear! Run!”
Unfortunately, that was the moment Nashoba and the wolves following him attacked.
Oakley hurried toward the fight with her pack. She shot a man on the run. His weapon was pointed at the wolves. Her arrow went through his back, high on his right shoulder. His scream of agony attracted the bear, and in a blink the animal was on him.
Amidst his screams, the bear’s roars, the gunfire, snarls, and barks of the wolves, it was a din of noise and death. Oakley took out two men, this time going for the kill shot, rather than leave them to be ripped apart by the wolves.
Not that they didn’t deserve it, but she didn’t have to be as inhumane as they would have been if the situation was reversed. When the dust cleared, the bear had already ambled off, eager to leave the scene, and the wolves were eager to feed off the dead bodies.
That didn’t bother her. The men were dead, their bodies served no purpose now other than fertilizer for the land or food for the animals. She checked all the bodies before allowing the wolves to feed.
One man was alive, but not for long from the looks of things. “How many with you?” she asked in thesimplest terms, as her knowledge of his language wasn’t extensive.
He shook his head, and she placed her foot on his upper thigh where the flesh had been ripped away. His howl of pain rose above the other sounds, and she wondered how far away the sound could be heard. “How many?” she asked. “Tell me and I’ll end it quick. Or I can let the wolves loose on you.”
That opened his lips, and before she pulled her handgun and put a bullet in his brain, she knew that Samir was indeed, after her, and had twenty-five men with him. She’d just wiped out one team, as there were five teams of five men each, looking for them.
He laughed, spewing blood as he told her they radioed in their location. All the other teams will be converging on them, and they’ll kill her and every wolf with her. That’s when she released him from his torment, and the wolves moved in to feed.
Oakley called for Nashoba and Ba’Cho. “Feed. Find water.”
She turned away, headed in the direction of a shallow river that snaked its way along the valley, eager to wash the smell of blood from her. Just as she reached the stream, she saw it, high in the air. A drone.
Her heart raced and she made for cover. If that was one of Samir’s, her goose was cooked. She watched as the drone’s altitude dropped and continued dropping. What was the operator up to?
It wasn’t long before the drone landed on a small patch of bare earth. Oakley watched for a moment, then left her place of cover and approached it. There was something on it. She hurried to kneel down beside it. Apiece of duct tape had a small plastic bag taped to the drone.
It took a minute to free it without damaging the drone, and then to cut the bag free from the tape without damaging the contents. It was a piece of paper, folded multiple times. On it was writing.
If you are reading this, stay close. I’m here and headed for you.
Gun
Oakley had never been so happy. Gunner was close. He’d be here soon. And with him and the wolves fighting with her, they’d not just defeat Samir and his men, they’d make sure he never hurt anyone again.
But what if it wasn’t Gunner?She had to consider the possibility. If Samir had found where she was, there was a chance he knew about Gunner. Maybe this was nothing more than a trap.
Which brought a new question. What to do?
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
While Oakley had been tracking the people hunting her, Gunner had been studying the way the wildlife disappeared, and then reappeared in an area once convinced the danger is gone. He noticed a pattern, like someone following a map. Could that be Oakley?
Then he spotted her. On the edge of a clearing, surrounded by wolves. He circled the clearing, actually a shallow valley, and spotted five men. He was on the move within seconds, doing his best to move quickly, but keep an eye on the drone’s video feed.
He pushed back fear, as a sense of urgency captured him. The fight wasn’t one that would end until one side or the other was dead. That wasn’t going to be Oakley. No, he would reach her in time.
