“Or a misconception,” Gizmo added. “And besides, arguing is how you come up with the best solution, isn’t that right?” He looked at Wiley who only nodded and smiled back at him like a lovesick fool.
What I wouldn’t give to have Cipher look at me that way again.
ELEVEN
CIPHER
This job was wearingon me.
Every night was the same, as if we were caught in some never-ending time loop. Donnie and I would collect the goat from the stables, then tie it up outside the gates. We’d listen to it cry for what seemed like hours before it finally passed out from stress or exhaustion. Being stationed on deer stands on either side of the exterior gates meant we couldn’t talk via radio because we had to be silent in case the tiger showed up.
The waiting was the worst.
It gave me plenty of time to think about Kitten and all the ways I was fucking up our relationship. Like earlier today when he’d shared his very valid concerns, and I’d avoided the conversation because I was afraid of telling him the truth, that I was really just a weak-willed drug addict who was barely keeping my shit together day-to-day. Could I quit the drugs and be honest with him about my struggles? Would he still want me?
“Maybe we should hunt it,” Donnie suggested to me during our mandatory break midway through our shift. We had twenty minutes to piss, eat a sandwich, and smoke a cigarette while our relief was perched up in the stands. “Sucks to have to wait around for it to make an appearance,” Donnie continued. “It might have moved on.”
“Might have,” I said, though I suspected otherwise. Predators grew comfortable when no other threats presented themself, and I suspected none had.
“Might be what’s keeping the Rabids away,” Donnie mused and I nodded in agreement. The woods surrounding us were strangely devoid of Rabid activity. It was as if something (or someone) was patrolling this valley.
“Is that unusual?” I asked, since Donnie had been doing this a lot longer than me.
“We used to see a few Rabids every now and again, but lately there’s been nothing.”
“Doesn’t that seem weird to you?” I asked. Donnie only shrugged. He didn’t like to examine things too closely, and as he’d told me before, his job was to follow orders, not question them.
We resumed our posts shortly thereafter, but during the second half of our shift, something in the air shifted. I sensed it immediately, and the goat must have too because its ears perked up and it got up on all fours, eyes wide and alert, similar to how Marion’s horse had reacted right before the tiger came into view.
I scanned the tree line, using the same night-vision goggles I’d used to scope for Rabids while on watch. With my gaze still focused on the woods, I signaled to Donnie, though with the goggles blocking my peripheral vision, I couldn’t know if he’d seen me or not.
There. A flash of movement and then, the crack of a twig. Bigger than a raccoon.Waybigger.
I raised my rifle and rested my elbow on the ledge of the deer stand to help steady my aim. Lifting the goggles, I stared down the scope of the gun as the tiger slowly came into view. Crouched between two pines, it looked even more magnificent than before. And intimidating as hell. Massively built, its muzzle was stained with dirt or… dried blood? Its mouth was open in a pant; the points of its large, yellow fangs glinted in the moonlight. After surveying its surroundings, the beast locked eyes with me and stilled, as if daring me to take the shot. I steadied my grip on the rifle as sweat dripped down the small of my back.
I hesitated. Why? Because we were kindred spirits, the tiger and I, two loners trying to survive a bad situation. Defending our territory with our lives while trying to keep our bellies full. And this trap we’d set for him… we had guns and a better vantage point and a goat to lure him in. It wasn’t a fair fight.
But I had to keep the town safe, which included Kitten, first and foremost, so I settled myself and took aim. Drawing in a deep breath, I exhaled and focused my sight on the tiger’s forehead. One clean shot, a kill. I didn’t want the animal to suffer or injure it so that it might run away and die slowly.
I fired off one shot.
And missed.
The tiger took off, retreating into the recesses of the forest. The goat bleated, in fear or relief. I lowered my gun, still trembling with adrenaline. Donnie called out an encouraging, “Next time, bro.”
There likely wouldn’t be a next time, not if the tiger was as clever as I suspected and could see the situation for what it was, a trap. I stood there, spinning my wheels and asking myself if my miss was truly an accident or if I’d done it on purpose as a warning to the tiger.
Fuck if I knew.
* * *
“Good morning gentlemen,how are you on this fine day?” Larry called to us a few hours later. He’d met us at the armory to lock up the equipment and get our post-shift report. The man was clearly a morning person; I was not, not even on the best of days.
“Finally spotted the tiger,” Donnie said. “Cipher had him in his sights and got a shot off, but he missed.”
Larry’s penetrating gaze swung in my direction. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. Maybe I should get my eyes checked.”
