In the Woods, Bears

Chapter 63 - The Ambush

Once the cop released them, Terry and Jeremiah pushed the truck down the state road until they reached the Tedco. Kennedy steered as the men provided the forward thrust. She tapped the brake lightly when the truck rolled a little too fast toward the gas pump when the downhill slope added unexpected momentum. Relief washed through her as the fluorescent lights bathed the interior of the cab. The ticket they could pay.

Their insurance company would fix the cruiser. The cop was in the gas station, buying donuts or coffee or whatever middle aged cops survived on. He'd told them he wanted them out of his town as soon as possible and planned to escort them. Any other time, having a cop linger would have irritated her, but tonight she was grateful.

The night air greeted her as she hopped down out of driver's seat, cool against her face. Behind her, Terry pumped gas, while Jeremiah did his best to clear the windshield of bugs and pollen. Bladder complaining, she went in to pee. She had to pee all the time now. The cop stood by the wall on his cell phone, voice too low to hear, hand cupped over the mouthpiece. A taquito and a coffee waited on the counter next to him. A prickle of warning ran up the back of her neck, but her bladder was more insistent. He was probably just calling his wife to ask her if he needed to bring anything home. Milk. Bread. Being around bears was making her paranoid.

*

Half eaten beef stick in her hand, Kennedy headed toward the truck. She'd bought drinks for all of them. The bag full of bottles swayed heavily from her wrist.

Jeremiah had arranged the back seat, putting everything back in its place. The cop was in his car, parked to the side, waiting for them. He offered her a lift of his fingers as she passed him, and an itching sensation moved under her skin across her shoulder blades. Jeremiah got out of the car to open her door. Covering his hand with her own, she nodded toward the cop and said, "I don't trust him."

"I don't either. Get in." As she fastened her seat belt, the big man shifted their supplies around her, making sure the guns were concealed. Once she was settled, he drew back and shut her door.

*

Even with the police car escorting them out of town, she felt jumpy and kept turning to look and see if the trucks had returned. "Something feels weird. That was a little too easy. Do you think they are waiting for us further down the road?"

From the front seat, Terry grunted in agreement.

Jeremiah opened the soda pop she had purchased for him. "What else can we do? Run from the law? These aren't small town cops. He's human. I can smell it." Drumming his fingers on the dash, he added, "We agreed to follow him out of town." He took a swig. "I texted Red his license plate, just in case."

*

When the cop in front of them turned left, they followed. "The sign on the highway said Knoxville was the other way."

"He may be taking us around the city."

Kennedy gripped her knees as the trees thinned out and the road went from four lanes to two. "This doesn't feel right to me. Where is he taking us?"

Jeremiah tapped the back of his knuckles against his window. "I don't feel good about that last turn. I don't want to kill a cop."

The Vet opened and closed his hands. When the cop turned onto an even smaller single lane road, instead of following him, Terry jerked the wheel to the right. He hit the brakes and smoked the tires doing a U turn. As he jammed down on the gas, and the truck jerked forward and picked up speed. Back tracking down the road, he headed them towards the highway.

Her heart flipped when they passed a familiar white truck. "Is that, was that?" Around the bend, they flew past the second truck.

Behind them, a siren wailed in the distance. The white truck fishtailed as it attempted to abruptly turn and follow them. Skidding sideways, it hit a back panel against the barriers.

The night blurred past them as Terry picked up speed, pushing his truck hard. Screaming down the road, the first impact was unexpected. The jolt stunned her as their truck spun across the road. Metal rent as they ripped through the barriers and slid down a steep embankment sideway. All the world cascaded around her. Something hard struck her chin and knocked her head upward. Chaos, Stars. Darkness.

*

Hanging upside down in her seatbelt and shoulder harness, Kennedy woke up to the sound of fighting. Men and bear. Blood dripped down her neck and across her cheek, falling to the seat below. When she tried the seat belt release, it held, refusing to budge.

Cursing, she braced one hand on the roof of the truck, trying to push up enough to lessen the pull on the belts. Nothing. One shotgun gleamed under her, partially obscured by their supplies. She strained to reach it, fingertips brushing the cool smoothe metal. Too far. The spider webbed window impaired her visibility, but she glimpsed them taking Jeremiah down, still in man form. Four of them, five.

HEr heart screamed and her shoulder burned as she forced herself to reach further until she gripped the shotgun. It too two tries to pull it free. Working to get a good grip, she tried to remember everything Mr. Bob had shown her the one time he had taken her to hunt quail. Her fingers weren't working right, burning.

A terrifying face appeared at the window, the cop leering as he jerked on the door handle and forced it open. Without thinking, she brought the shotgun up and pulled the trigger. His face exploded like a chrysanthemum. Blood wet her face and coated her hair. Pieces of him decorated the inside of the cab and she began to scream.

In the distance, she heard a roar. Terry, oh my god, Terry. A man appeared in the front seat and grabbed the gun. She fought him. Through the windshield she saw a bear, her bear, trying to get to her, underneath two others. With a flash, a dart seated in his neck and he went down.

Overpowering her, the stranger in the front seat gripped the gun with both hands and pressed its still warm barrel against her throat, forcing her back into the seat, hard enough that black spots exploded in her vision. The last thing she saw before darkness overcame her was a second dart strike, up under her bear's arm as he lifted mighty claws to defend her.

*

THe motion of being carried woke Kennedy. Her eyes hurt, swollen and hot, and her throat burned. Everything was dark. Unable to move, ropes bit into her. Blinking to clear her vision, she tried not to let them know she was conscious. They were loading her into a cage. She could smell Jeremiah close, somewhere out of her line of sight.

"She's waking up. Take her back down."

"But she is pregnant."

"Do you want to transport another bear?" When she tried to scream, the only sound that came out was a broken groan. Her throat was on fire. Four thousand times worse than when she had strep throat. Her mouth worked to shape the word no as a needle sank into her hip.