It took him twenty minutes to walk to his Honda. It was parked well away from the city center and it made him nervous. He heard the intermittent roars and grunts of the lions. He looked around him, feeling the hair raise on his arms and back. He was now the prey. He’d not been given a weapon yet. He had to earn that. He wasn’t sure how to do it. He did know that once he left this place, he’d find him a few weapons and kill anyone who tried to stop him. Now, he was defenseless with wild animals roaming around. How could Casper have let them go? He’d found out in their long chats, that Casper had indeed let the animals out of the zoo. Who the hell would set predators loose?
No, Casper was a madman and Flynn had to leave and leave fast. But not before he tried to find Xandra Abano. Once more, Flynn was filled with shame over his cowardice. His selfishness. He’d not checked on Roger nor Cramer. If he’d have found Cramer and helped the man, would he have lost his mind? Flynn didn’t know. He only knew that the man was batshit crazy and he needed to get out of this place before disease or a lion killed him.
He got to his car and breathed a sigh of relief. He started it up and pulled out. He wove in and out of streets, going farther away from Casper’s grasp and feeling all the better for it. Tears of self-pity and fear slid down his face. He wasn’t equipped for this kind of thing. Nothing in his short life had prepared him for this. He bit down on his trembling lip. He hated himself for the coward he was. No more. No more.
To date, his biggest endeavor, was to avoid bullies in high school. Then, getting a job and finally, finding his own place. His father had died last year, heart attack. The man had smoked like a chimney. He’d mourned his father, but being young, he had moved on. He was glad his father didn’t have to live to face the Vermilion strain. Christ, he wasn’t sure if he could have survived his father’s agonizing death.
Flynn slowed when he saw zebras running, there was a tiger close on their heels. He held his breath as he watched the zebras skitter and slip on the asphalt, and stumble. The tiger was nearly on them and they disappeared behind a building. His heart was racing wildly with the near miss of the tiger. He pulled up and looked down the side street, but there was no sign of the tiger, nor zebras. Good, he hoped they got away. He wiped at the tears, trying to get a grip on his emotions. He was exhausted.
He’d not slept well since all this had begun. Even less now that Casper was trying to keep him here in the city. He’d stopped talking about wishing to leave and played along with scavenging and looking for things to better the small community. He knew the more he spoke of wishes to leave, the more that Casper would keep a tighter grip, so he’d gone on small scrounging trips, always coming back, faithful. The brothers watched him closely as well. This was the first time in days that he’d been allowed to leave by himself. And had been given the password. He knew about it, but no one had shared it, and he’d not asked.
He pulled up Clay street and slowed down. It was like all other parts of the city, lumps of decaying bodies. He just hoped some of the predators hadn’t made it out this far. Seeing how there was plenty of food closer to the zoo. The stench was just as prevalent here, since there had been no pyres. He parked by Xandra’s apartment building and turned off the car. It was silent outside; the wind was blowing but there were no other sounds. No birds, no dogs, nothing.
This place was truly dead. Trash blew across the streets and sidewalks. Grass had begun to grow between the cracks. It wasn’t but weeks, but it seemed like the nightmarish event had been longer, the devastation complete. He got out of the car. Because he’d not been given a weapon, there were very few people around Casper that carried weapons, Flynn walked around in constant fear. Casper had a stash of them, but he was not privy to them nor their location and Flynn felt naked and vulnerable out here.
He’d heard that one man had been killed by the lions. Unable to defend himself. Casper hadn’t seemed bothered by the event. Once more, the hair rose, thinking of his long-ago drinking buddy. Crazy as a loon. He just hoped that Xandra was still alive. If she weren’t, he’d still leave. He had to get the hell out of there.
Ӝ
Javier watched Flynn go, he looked down at Casper. He knew Flynn was Casper’s weak spot. Because of their long friendship.
“You sure he’s okay to go off by himself?” Javier asked, scratching his beard. The heat of the day made it itchy. Shaving was a waste of water.
“Yeah, he’s a standup guy. We’ve been friends for years and years. I know he’s a little quirky, but he’s come through for us.” Casper said.
