Tainted Trail

  He was curled into a tight ball, the way he used to sleep, trying to copy the wolves’ nose-to-flank slumber. He opened his eyes, a low growl rumbling in his chest, until he made out the steep roofline of Sam’s loft bedroom in her little A-framed cabin. A dim light downstairs threw a pale halo on the ceiling beyond the loft’s railing; one of the mismatched lamps by the angle.

  A soft noise by his head drew his attention. A small old-fashioned steel cage on the nightstand held one of his black mice. The mouse struggled to lift the cage door, desperate to get to Ukiah.

  Ukiah reached out and slid up the cage door. The mouse scurried up his arm to hide in his hair. It held an image of Rennie, astride his bike, driving off to fetch Degas and the Demon Curs. The thought of Degas triggered the low growl again.

  Rennie wanted Ukiah gone before he returned with Degas. How long had passed since the shooting? Ukiah sat up in the king-sized bed, trying to count the lost days.

  It was night—which night? Alicia had shot him on Wednesday, early in the morning. He had spent most of the day dead, awaking in the mountains at dusk. Or had he been dead more than a day? He didn’t think so. With three captives to contain, the Ontongard would have infected Kraynak and Zoey immediately, quickly changing them from troublesome prisoners to allied Gets. Kraynak had just been injected, while Zoey was only in the first stage of infection. Thus only a short time had passed from Alicia shooting him and his waking into the cabin. The thoughts opened a floodgate on his memories.

  Zoey lay beside him, denying the alien memories that were crowding into her mind, pushing her out. “No, that isn’t me. I’m not that person. I don’t really remember that! That didn’t happen to me! Why is it so much easier to remember not being me?”

  “Ukiah! Oh, God, kid, I thought you were dead! What the hell is going on? Ukiah? Ukiah?” Kraynak caught his chin and eyed Ukiah’s temple wound. “Oh, shit, kid. Can you even understand what I’m saying? What the hell did these people do to Alicia? They’ve twisted her to hell and back. She didn’t even flinch when she did this to you!”

  Ukiah struggled to free Kraynak, not knowing what the man said.

  “No, no, no.” Kraynak caught hold of him, silenced him with a hard look. “You might have more lives than a cat, but you’ve used up at least three this trip. I dragged you into this. I can’t let you get killed. You’re leaving now, without me. You go find help, and bring it back, if you can.”

  And he had gone, leaving them behind, without even looking back.

  Footsteps thudded up the loft stairs. He rolled off the big bed and onto the mismatched wood floor. The intruder paused on the top step, and Max’s familiar voice said, “Ukiah?”

  Ukiah peered over the edge of the bed at Max.

  His partner cautiously stepped forward and crouched so they were level. “It’s okay, son. It’s just me. You’re safe.”

  Ukiah couldn’t stop himself. He scurried over the bed with puppy whines of fear and self-loathing. He’d left Max’s best friend behind, handcuffed and dying.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay,” Max crooned, tentatively taking hold of him, as if expecting him to fight or flee.

  “I-I left Kraynak!” Ukiah whimpered. “He told me to go and I just left him there. I ran away and left him.”

  Max didn’t seem to understand. He tightened his hold on Ukiah. “Oh, thank God.”

  “I left Kraynak and Zoey!”

  “Hey, hey, hey! You did the best you could, and that was to stay out of the Ontongard’s hands. Did you leave any mice behind?”

  Ukiah considered his body at waking and what he just recovered. “No. Nothing’s missing.”

  “Good.” Then as if he really didn’t want to ask, nor wanted to hear the answer, Max said, “How were Kraynak and Zoey when you left them?”

  “Alive. Sick. They were both infected.”

  Max took a deep breath and sighed it out. “I figured that’s how it would work out. Ukiah, you did the right thing. There was nothing you could have done for them.” He rumpled Ukiah’s hair. “Get dressed, kid. We’ve got an airplane to catch, although by now, they’re probably wondering why I keep buying tickets and not using them.”

  “We’re leaving?”

  Max had laid out a set of Ukiah’s clothes for him the night before. Ukiah struggled through changing out of his shorts and into them. He felt new to his skin, as if the brief run through the mountains as the Wolf Boy had stripped away the eight years of civilization.

  “The sooner we get out of Oregon, the better.” Max started to pace, jerking short when he nearly smacked his head against the sharply slanted ceiling. “The kidnapping of you, Kraynak, and Zoey was in the paper. It was too public to keep quiet. I’m not sure how we’re going to explain getting you back while they’re still missing, but I’d rather do it from Pittsburgh than Pendleton.”

  Ukiah considered those last few moments, the shadowed hallway, the sun-baked asphalt parking lot, and the blinding muzzle flare inches from his face. In those last seconds, he found Sam’s voice, shouting out a protest. “Sam?”

  “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to get you back.” Max said quietly. “I haven’t told her anything. I gave her a thousand in spending money and sent her to Pittsburgh in Kraynak’s van.” A smug grin flashed across his face. “She’s in for a surprise.”

  “This trip has been hard on my credibility as a normal human.” Ukiah rubbed the new flesh on his temple. The bone underneath ached slightly. “I’m surprised she left. I thought she would have been the type to tough it out.”

  “Well, I led her to think that I was getting on a flight out yesterday, but only because she would be showing up in Pittsburgh on Sunday.”

  Ukiah puzzled through this a moment. Sam left only because she thought by doing so she was protecting Max. Max had pretended to leave only to protect Sam. Somehow this seemed twisted. “She left this morning?”

  Max nodded. “She was hoping to make Salt Lake City today.”

  “She’s going to be pissed when she gets to Pittsburgh.”

  “Only if she beats us there.”

  “I think she’s going to be pissed regardless.”

  “I’d rather deal with her pissed than dead. What worries me most is that I haven’t seen Rennie since we hit the hospital.”

  “He was going to get Degas and the Demon Curs.”

  “Degas? That’s a new one,” Max said after a moment of thought.

  “The Curs didn’t make the fight in June. Rennie is afraid that Degas will kill me.”

  “Rennie is afraid? Shit! Oh, this just gets better and better.” Max paused, cocking his head. “Is that a car?”

  Ukiah listened to the rumble of the approaching motor. “It’s Kraynak’s van.”

  “Damn that woman! I told her to go to Pittsburgh!” Max turned and trotted down out of the loft. Headlights slashed brilliance through the downstairs, and then snapped off, making the darkness more solid. The kitchen door banged open, letting in the soft chorus of night insects, as the van door slammed closed.

  “What are you doing here?” Max shouted, outside, in the night. “I gave you money to drive to Pittsburgh.”

  “What am I doing here?” Sam shouted back, even though, by the sounds, they were only feet apart. “You send me off on a wild-goose chase, you break into my house, and you lie to me! You said you were flying to Pittsburgh! I stopped in Idaho and called Portland—do you know how many quarters that takes?—and you never got on the friggin’ plane!”

  “I’m getting on it! Tonight! I just wanted you out of firing range.”

  “Yeah, sure! I am not June-fucking-Cleaver here. I am a licensed private investigator and a damn good one. How dare you send me off while you play Rambo out for revenge?”

  “I am not Rambo, you are not June Cleaver. You can drive me to the airport and watch me get on the damn airplane, if you don’t believe me, but I want you out of here before all the shit hits the fan.”

  Sam gave a sudden laugh, as if caugh
t off guard by Max’s comment. “If the shit isn’t already on the fan, I’d hate to see your idea of trouble!”

  Max laughed too, then sobered. “I’m sorry, Sam. I shouldn’t have lied to you. But I couldn’t bear to lose you too.”

  Ukiah stepped out of the house in time to see Sam reach out and pull Max to her. They locked into a hard, desperate kiss. The rawness of it checked Ukiah, feeling like he was seeing something incredibly intimate. He was about to retreat when Sam caught sight of him, and she jerked away from Max with a gasp.

  Max whipped around, reaching for his gun, and then relaxed, seeing it was Ukiah that startled her.

  “I had a tracer on him,” Max said as Sam covered her mouth and made a small guttural noise that could have been a sob. “Because of all the weirdness going on and with Rennie under foot. It just seemed a good idea to keep track of him. That’s why I stayed behind, to find him.”

  Sam brushed past Max and went wordlessly to Ukiah. She reached for his head, and he shied back from the touch, his lip curling up into a silent snarl.

  “Easy,” Max said from behind Sam. “He’s been through a lot. Go slow.”

  Sam carefully stretched out only one hand, and this time Ukiah suffered the touch. Her fingers explored the new flesh on his temple. “I saw her shoot him. I’ve seen it every time I’ve closed my eyes for last two days. She shot him. I saw it.”

  Ukiah felt the need to say something, but was at a loss for what. Finally he settled for a simple, “She did. I got better.”

  “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to find him,” Max said quietly. “Or what condition he’d be in, if I did.”

  “You’re not human, are you?” Sam whispered.

  “My mother was a Kicking Deer.” Ukiah said.

  Anger flashed across Sam’s face. “So you’re saying this is all Indian mystic bullshit?”

  “No.” He nearly whined his distress.

  “Sam,” Max said. “What I said before still holds true. He’s a good kid. He didn’t ask to be this way.”

  Sam saw that Ukiah was upset and smoothed away her anger. “It’s all right, kid. I’ve just had a lot thrown at me the last few days.” She considered him. “Rennie Shaw, he’s like you, isn’t he? It’s why he doesn’t seem to give a fuck if you’ve got a gun to his head.”

  Ukiah nodded. “More or less.”

  “And the Kicking Deers? They’re legendary for being strong as bears and healthy as horses.”

  “They’re only a little bit like me, not much at all.” Ukiah looked to Max.

  Max explained the viral transformation: Once exposed to the virus the person became virtually indestructible. “There are two types. Rennie has been exposed to the Pack virus, which makes him only vaguely anti-social. The Ontongard virus creates complete homicidal lunatics. Quinn, the Brodys, and Alicia have been exposed to it—and now Kraynak and Zoey.”

  Sam glanced at Ukiah. “But the kid is special. That’s why you were hustling him out of the state once you realized what was happening.”

  Max explained Ukiah’s unique position and the danger his capture created. “Because Ukiah’s mom carried Ukiah first, then went on to give birth to the Kicking Deer ancestors, the whole clan has been affected. They make perfect hosts for the virus.”

  Sam gasped. “Oh, my God—Jared!”

  “What about Jared?” Ukiah asked.

  Sam spoke to Max, watching Ukiah as if afraid he would break under the news. “When I discovered you hadn’t gotten on the plane, I called the sheriff’s office, figuring Jared would know where you were. They told me that he’s vanished. He called in for backup and when it arrived, all they found was the empty squad car.”

  “No!” It was the only human word Ukiah could force out.

  Max gripped Ukiah by the shoulder. “Easy. Easy.” Then softly, he asked Sam, “When was this?”

  Sam seemed torn between wanting to offer Ukiah comfort and afraid he’d bite any outstretched hand. “Like four hours ago.”

  Max had tightened his hold on Ukiah. “It’s too long. He’s already gone.”

  “No,” Ukiah growled through clenched teeth. He couldn’t keep running away, leaving behind those he loved. If he hadn’t gone after Indigo and Max when the Ontongard held them, they would be dead now. He had to go.

  Max gave him a shake. “You are not going after him, Ukiah. You had the Pack behind you in Pittsburgh.”

  “No.” Ukiah ducked his head.

  “Kid, if you go, you’re going to have to face down Alicia. Do you think you can kill her and Kraynak in the hopes of saving Jared?”

  The concept staggered Ukiah. He had barely been able to deal death to the Ontongard in Pittsburgh, wearing strangers’ faces, to save Indigo. He had cringed every time he pulled the trigger, reminding himself that they were no longer humans.

  He wouldn’t be able to point a gun at Alicia and fire. Even knowing every cell of her had been replaced by a monster, that she would heal back even from dismemberment, that she would destroy everyone he loved without hesitation—he wouldn’t be able to kill her.

  He sagged against Max’s shoulder. “Max, what do we do?”

  “There’s nothing we can do.” Max hugged him briefly, patting him on the back. “Let’s go home.”

  Max released him. As Ukiah stepped away from Max, something came out of the dark woods, a solid form moving silent and quick. Ukiah only caught the flicker of movement out the corner of his eye before it hit him, a hard collision of bodies.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Blue Mountains, Eastern Oregon

  Friday, September 3, 2004

  Ukiah was slammed to the ground, his attacker on top of him. He felt leather, dodged a thin edge of steel, smelled wolf and man mixed together, sensed the pricking awareness of Pack. Degas, he thought, twisting and snarling, trying to escape the other. He had been taken too much by surprise. Faster than either of the two humans could react, he was pinned to the ground, a great weight on his chest, fingers like iron rods gripping his chin, a rumble of growl that felt like a motorcycle engine against his skin, a familiar awareness in his mind. It was Rennie, though, not Degas.

  “Oh, Jesus Christ, Ukiah!” Max shouted in surprise and alarm.

  Head thrust back by the hand that gripped his chin, exposing his throat, Ukiah could only see dark trees that loomed over them, a slice of moon, a scattering of stars and planets.

  Submit! Rennie Shaw growled the single word directly into Ukiah’s mind. Ukiah snarled back, too angry and frightened from the sudden attack to be relieved, the wildness flaring up in him.

  Ukiah heard Max draw his pistol. Light flooded down from an overhead spotlight, bathing the entire yard in sudden sharp-edged brilliance.

  “Shaw!” Max breathed in, and gave a growl of his own. “Get off my boy! I know shooting you will only piss you off for a while, but I’m not in the mood for this bullshit!”

  “I’m not going to hurt your boy,” Rennie growled. “I’m just making sure it’s only him.”

  “ ‘Please’ and ‘may I’ still work,” Max said.

  “Please, may I cut you?” Rennie said.

  Ukiah snarled and fell back to a low, unending growl as he thrashed under Rennie.

  “I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’ since I’m not willing to take a ‘no’ on this,” Rennie said. “Degas and the Curs are close behind me. I’d rather be done with this before they arrive.”

  I’m putting Max and Sam in danger by fighting, Ukiah realized and forced himself to go limp. He couldn’t stop the growling.

  “Go ahead and growl all you want.” Rennie scored a thin cut across Ukiah’s cheek and then licked up the welling blood. “You don’t have to like this part any better than what the Ontongard did to you.”

  The mind-to-mind touch was too open and honest. He could sense Rennie’s fears of what the Ontongard could have done to Ukiah while they held him, and the Pack’s reaction to any additions to his genetics, and started to tremble. “I was so scared.”
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  Rennie gazed down at Ukiah with eyes so dark blue they were nearly his father’s utter black. There was a momentary stab of pain as Rennie entered his memories and relived those moments before and after dying. Rennie backed up and held the focus on those brief seconds of bright pain at the hospital, the awareness of blood, bone, and brain matter painting the glass behind him.

  “Did you get this back?”

  “Yes. Max had it.”

  “Good.”

  Ukiah sensed that Rennie approved of the man as well as the act.

  “I would rather not have to kill him. Remember, the more you fight, the more your partner will try to defend you. For his sake, take whatever Degas dishes out to you.” Even as Rennie gave his silent warning, he pulled Ukiah to his feet, but kept a loose hold on him.

  Max holstered his pistol, frowning. “What the hell are you doing here instead of chasing the Ontongard?”

  “We found their den two hours ago, but they’d moved already. The cub’s trail escaping was two days old. There’s an unbreakable bond between you and him, Bennett; he would head for you, and you would search until you found him.”

  “So you just looked for me.”

  “The hotels are full and public.”

  “I hate being obvious.”

  Rennie chuckled softly. “Hex’s Gets missed their chance to warp the cub. We’ll have to be sure they don’t get another chance.”

  “We were just leaving.”

  Rennie cocked his head, listening. “Too late.”

  Ukiah listened with all his senses, and felt the Pack around him, familiar strangers moving through the shadows.

  Rennie jerked his chin toward the cabin door. “Take her, Bennett, and get inside. You two can’t get into the middle of this.”

  Max clenched his jaw in anger, but he pulled a protesting Sam into the cabin.

  After Ukiah’s recent brush with the Ontongard, the arriving Demon Curs struck him with their feral grace. Quinn and Alicia had the same strength and agility, but they lacked style. The Ontongard moved with robotic precision, wearing clothes like ill-fitting sacks over their stolen bodies. The Demon Curs moved with the elegance of dancers.