Page 48

“Listen!” whispered Davey, crouching down again.

Ahead of him, Michael was already looking down the sight of his scope.

Steph listened. Nothing. No. Not nothing. Just less than expected. Every so often there was a soft guttural growl in the direction of the buggies.

“It’s the lion!” Steph replied, her tone purposely saying a thousand other urgent things all at once. But then it sank in. Davey needn’t have continued explaining.

“Only the lion,” he sighed.

Steph swallowed. It didn’t seem real. It didn’t seem real that she could be in such a situation. One of substantial danger. Sure, she had seen what had happened to Fergus, but she had never met the man. There was a detachment, not just from him, but from the reality of the danger posed by what killed him. By what was everywhere. Knowing that she was surrounded by large predators – even genetically modified ones – had not made her appreciate the danger. She knew there was danger – she was not an idiot – but she had neverappreciatedit properly until that point.

“Clever fucking pussy cat,” Michael sighed.

There was an audible click and Steph turned in the direction of Davey. Michael had apparently done the same.

“Put that thing away,” Michael whispered. “We aren’t in need of it yet. Besides, I think for every hole you put in Martina’s prized possession, she would put ten in you… and then probably fill them with some extinct flesh-eating worm or something equally unpleasant. Come on.”

Michael guided them closer. Davey lowered his revolver but didn’t put it away.

Steph could see through the goggles that the buggies were now only a hundred yards away. Less probably.

“He’s behind the buggy,” Michael whispered, his voice so light that it almost blew away in the breeze.

They edged further around to one side. Sure enough, there was the lion. There was also Daniel. It almost seemed as if there was life in him still, but this was just an illusion. Each small convulsive movement was nothing more than the lion ripping at the contents of his stomach.

Through the goggles, Steph could see his throat was a crushed, bloody mess. The lion, who was now gorging itself blind to the world around, had not made quite the same mess he had with Fergus. Even so, it was upsetting.

“Why is the door open?” whispered Davey.

Both Steph and Michael trained their respective lenses on the buggy. He was right. The side door was open.

“Who knows,” grumbled Michael, training the tranquillizer on the lion. “Who fucking knows…”

Steph watched him for a few seconds through the goggles. His whole focus was directed at the lion. At that moment, it was all he saw. He slowed his breathing. His chest seemed to almost cease to move. Considering the rate at which Steph’s own heart was beating, she found this quite impressive. Then his fingertwitched slightly over the trigger, positioning itself, getting comfortable. Steph spun the goggles back to the lion.

A large, conceited roar broke the night once more. Steph’s stomach didn’t so much as clench as almost fall out of itself. It appeared that neither Davey nor Michael had noticed the sudden appearance of the cave bear amongst the heath. Nor had the lion. It instinctively placed itself over its kill, roaring back. Steph felt horrifically exposed.

She began to crouch closer to the ground, backing off slightly. Davey did the same, but Michael remained where he was, his tranquillizer rifle scanning back and forth between the two large predators.

Due to the position of the bear, Steph was still not certain whether it intended to head to the lion’s kill or them – not that the lion was aware of their presence.

“You have your cowboy gun handy?” Michael asked very quietly. “Might be best to have it close.”

Steph watched Davey unholster the revolver that he kept at his side. He brought it up and gently pulled back the hammer.

They watched as the bear lumbered closer. The lion, sensing it wasn’t going to stop, now desperately tried to drag Daniel’s carcass to some sort of safety. Steph was surprised at the speed with which it was able to move with the body. She supposed she had only seen leopards trying to perform such a manoeuvre before and their prey was probably a fair bit heavier than the delicate, broken frame of Daniel. Besides, no leopard Steph had seen had ever had muscles bulging out quite like the lion. In fact, now that Steph considered it, there was something off. Or was there? Was that just how a cave lion was meant to look?

As impressive as the lion was, it had nothing on the bear. The creature was gargantuan. It started to walk with more purpose – to Steph’s relief – in the direction of the lion. Again though, there was something odd about the bear as with the cave lion.It was as if its muscle was too pronounced. It was hard to tell through the shaggy fur and night-vision goggles. Also, as Steph had already admitted to herself, she had no reference as to what was normal, but she felt something which seemed slightly off. Exaggerated. Certainly, a noticeable difference compared to other bears or lions she had seen before. She’d have to talk to Martina.

“Fuck!”

Steph turned to look at Michael.

“What?” she whispered.

“What do you mean ‘what’? We’re going to lose the goddamn lion… and have lost Daniel for our troubles.”

Steph watched as Michael pinched the bridge of his nose and crumpled his eyes for a moment before returning to the scope of his rifle.