He checked both directions then hurled the stone at the window pane. The noise felt deafening, but the glass remained intact. “This is insane.” He grabbed her by the sleeve and rushed toward the front entrance. “We do this the hard way.”
As she reached for the door handle, a scream echoed between the buildings and both researchers felt their blood run cold.
Simon cradled the boomstick in the crook of his arm while his hunters spread out, searching for other Quee. He tried to imagine how the meet and greet might go, but somehow he knew that in order for him to take over their forces, he’d have to beat or kill their alpha in some form of combat.
He felt pretty confident that the boomstick would do the job. Unless, of course, their Alpha also knew how to use firearms. Then it was anybody’s guess.
His head popped up at the sound of bare feet slapping along the empty street. He saw one of his men approaching and as the figure came into view, it wasn’t the tall one. He would either have to give these assholes names or find out what they called each other. He couldn’t just keep pointing at them and saying, “You.”
“Quee. Come.” The man waved at him.
Simon held a hand up to stop him. “Where are our other hunters? We should go together.”
The hunter stared at him for a moment then pointed. “We go. There.”
With a sigh, Simon fell into step behind him, his heavy motorcycle boots thumping along with the slap of the hunter’s bare feet. When the hunter slowed, Simon angled closer to the nearest building. They crouched behind a dying bush and the hunter pointed to an open fire in an intersection of the road. Cars were parked on three of the four sides and reflected the warmth of the fire back to the Quee surrounding it.
Simon patted the hunter’s shoulder and slipped closer. He could hear the grunts and chortles of those around the fire and knew that there was a heated debate.
“Many gone!” a lone man shouted. “No more.”
The figure standing closest to the fire held his hand out toward the other man. “Then no eat!”
A murmur of voices rose and Simon heard more than one woman whimper.
“Eat the weakest,” the lone man stated, his face a stone mask.
The man near the fire seemed to grow in stature. His shoulders squared and he shook his head. “No eat own!” He thrust his fist at the other man. “Never.”
Simon thought that perhaps this would be his most opportune time. He stepped from behind the bush and approached the fire. “I have a solution!”
All eyes turned to him and more than one of the males took on a defensive posture. The man closest to the fire squinted in the low light and turned toward the man approaching. “Go! Now!” He growled. “No food here.”
“I’m sure there’s not.” Simon stopped just outside the ring of people. “But I have plenty of food.”
The leader glared at him, searching him for this “food” that he spoke of. “No food.”
Simon smiled to himself. “I have food.” He stepped closer. “Not here.”
The leader wasn’t so trusting. “Go! Now!”
Simon stepped closer and slowly brought the barrel of the boomstick to rest in the leader’s direction. “I have enough food for all of you.” He smiled again. “But only if you’ll follow me.”
The leader stepped closer. “To food?”
Simon shook his head. “No.” He shifted his weight slightly, preparing to absorb the recoil of the shotgun. “You and your people join my group. I feed you. You do what I tell you to do.”
The leader slapped at his chest and yelled into the night. “No! You go!”
Simon nodded slowly. “You would let your people starve?” He caught the looks of the others and shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like much of a leader to me.”
“Go!” The man stepped toward Simon, his fists raised in the air and Simon let him close the distance. When the man was less than ten feet away and increasing his attack speed, Simon pulled the trigger.
The man’s momentum sent him sprawling at his feet, black blood oozing from his midsection.
Simon stared down at the man and kicked at the side of his head with his boot. He slowly looked up at the assemblage and asked, “Who’s your leader now?”
One woman slowly came to her feet. She stared at the body lying on the ground then murmured something. The crowd seemed to erupt as they pounced toward Simon.
To his credit, Simon didn’t move. He knew what was about to happen. They fell on the dead and began rending body parts from the still-warm corpse. He took a tentative step back and watched as the starving Quee made a short meal of their recently departed leader.
The man who had argued to eat the weak approached him, an organ in his hand. Simon already knew what it was and actually looked forward to eating the meaty muscle.
The man bent low and offered the heart to him. Simon took it and tore a chunk from the end, barely chewing before swallowing the coppery mass. He ripped another chunk from the heart then handed it back to the man. “Go ahead. You need this more than I do.”
He stepped back and listened as they began to chew their way through the bones, the sucking of marrow sounding a lot like crickets on a hot summer night.
“When you’re through, gather what you will and follow me.” He shot them a brilliant, bloody smile. “I know where there’s a lot more food.” He picked at his teeth with his pinky nail. “If you’re willing to do what I tell ya.”
Chapter 11
“We’re still short.” Vic fell into the chair, an air of exhaustion surrounding her. “I handed out the meds the boys got in order
