“Do you think she saw something and got out to investigate?” Xander asked and she looked up at him.
“No. She’s been through too much shit not to follow orders.” Zahara finished undressing and let the animal out and a low snarl and growl came from within. She howled long and loud. If Shay were close by, she’d hear it and either come back or know that Zaza was coming to get her. She scented the air and picked up a sour smell and she sneezed. It was subtle and she detected male. She began to move toward the barn and then past it, picking up speed. She could hear Xander coming behind her and her ears pricked left and right. She could only detect his movement, no one else’s. She passed by another outbuilding then moved toward dense woods.
The area was rural and there were homes scattered here and there. This house had been close to the road and was one of the reasons they had chosen it. There were other homes farther back and not seen from the road, she was sure. She caught the low of a cow somewhere but kept focus on finding her daughter.
She noted that the earth was recently disturbed but it was difficult to determine the time. The leaves were rotted and the ground was damp from an earlier shower. She slowed down and stopped. Xander came up beside her, panting. She scented the air again and then turned and quickly moved through the trees. Yes, there was a path. She moved more quickly and then she saw a two-story brick colonial. She moved faster and left Xander behind. She saw decaying bodies around the ground, zombies. They’d been there for a few days, some bloated, ready to burst like overripe melons. Flies were thick and the air reeked badly but she could still detect the sour male smell. She could also smell her daughter and the fear pheromones her daughter emitted.
Her daughter was near and she walked quietly around the building. Her ears twitched and then she heard it, the soft whimpering of her daughter. A snarl went through her chest and she turned as Xander arrived. She saw him cock his head and she knew he heard it too. They moved silently around the structure toward the back. Then she saw the double doors to a cellar, raised almost a foot off the ground. The doors were shut but there was no lock. She sniffed again and the scent of her daughter was stronger here. Xander had his weapon raised and he bent and opened the door and Zahara shot down the stairs. The hair all over her body stood erect and she let out a low vicious snarl.
Two women screamed; their voices raised in horror when they saw her. In a moment, she took in the scene. A man, perhaps fifty was holding Shay by both arms as her daughter struggled. The man turned and looked at the women screaming and then looked over his shoulder, now seeing Zahara. She opened her mouth and let her teeth drip and she snarled louder. The man jerked as though jolted with an electrical current. He let go of Shay and turned, then started backing up. The women, who were chained to metal frame beds were curling into small balls, making themselves smaller.
Shay ran forward and leapt into Zahara’s arms and wrapped her arms around her neck.
“Mommy!” Shay buried her face into Zahara’s neck. Zahara wrapped her large muscular arms protectively around her daughter and the women stopped screaming. Xander stood now beside her.
“Give me Shay, I’ll let you take care of this bastard. I’ll get these women out of here,” he said in a low deadly voice. Zahara handed Shay over to Xander and watched as he went to a beam that held a set of keys. Picking up the keys, he walked over to the women and unlocked their shackles. The man was on the ground, he was under an old scarred up desk that had stacks of toilet paper, soap and other cleaning supplies. Beside each bed was a five-gallon bucket and she could detect the stink of their toilet needs. Shay’s legs were clamped around Xander’s middle and she still whimpered but Zahara thought it was from relief.
Xander escorted the women, who had blankets wrapped around them to cover their nakedness. This bastard needed to die. When Xander had taken the women out and their daughter, Zahara turned toward the man. She was going to make this slow, she was going to rip him apart piece by piece and she would make it last as long as she could.
Xander walked the weeping women up the stone steps and he moved them around the house and away from the cellar door. He carried Shay; her warm arms secure around his neck. She was trembling and his heart was breaking at what had nearly happened. If they’d not been werewolves, they may never have found her.
“Thank you, mister, thank you. My sweet Lord, he was crazy. He said he was goin’ to rebuild the world anew. Said we were to bring in the next generation,” the tall slender woman with brown hair said, and wept harder.
“He was our handyman. He had worked for us for several years. We didn’t think he was crazy,” the other woman,
