He looked across the savanna. No one was waiting for him. No one had fired a shot at him. Either the terror bird had frightened them off, or maybe it had killed them all. He strode through the tall gra.s.s, his legs becoming wet with the morning dew clinging to the blades. Something dark lay in the field to his right, perhaps twenty feet ahead. He paced up to it and looked down. It was Winston Grisham, the retired soldier who had been legally battling both Holcomb and the Berg Brothers over the fate of this wilderness. Immediately, he knew that a partnership had somehow been formed between his two foes.

He saw that Grisham was still breathing. Vance chambered a round and aimed the gun at the colonel's head. Where his attempted a.s.sa.s.sin was concerned, he was not going to be squeamish or indecisive. His finger tightened on the trigger.

"Drop the gun," the voice told him.

Holcomb looked up to see another man in camouflage fatigues standing in the gra.s.s no more than thirty feet away. The man was aiming a pistol at him, but he was not standing solidly and did not seem to be in the best of health. In fact, it looked as if he might pa.s.s out at any second. The man squinted and tried to look determined.

"You drop your pistol or I swear I'll blow your colonel's head off."

The soldier continued to weave unsteadily. His chest was bleeding profusely, blood soaking through the military issue fabric. He'd obviously not had the protection Holcomb had enjoyed when the terror bird had drop kicked him like a leather ball. In a second, the wounded man dropped his pistol and then went to his knees.

"That's a good little Fascist," Holcomb said. He knelt and found the pistol on Grisham's body. Taking it, he threw it as far toward the north as he could. The pistol landed somewhere out in the gra.s.ses with all of the other unfound weapons from years gone by. Taking a good look at the colonel's still form, Vance started toward the other wounded man and only stopped short when he encountered the man's pistol, which he tossed in the general direction of the other.

"Are your wounds terminal?" he asked the man. His injuries appeared to be very bad, and if the blood continued to flow he was not going to last very long.

"Screw you," the man muttered.

Holcomb kicked him in the ribs. Just as he was turning from the soldier who was lying limp and useless there in the gra.s.s, he heard yet another voice.

"Grief, but you've been a lot of trouble to kill." Watkins, rising up from the gra.s.s, had retrieved his rifle. The scope had been somewhat skewed, but he didn't need it at this range. He had every intention of sending Holcomb straight to h.e.l.l when a fearfully familiar sound came to him.

The nearby air was filled with a strange fluttering, fluttering, again similar to the whirring of many insect wings. The Flock was suddenly there, appearing as by magic from the surrounding gra.s.ses. They readjusted the positioning of their striped and mottled feathers so that they no longer blended neatly with the savanna around them. Egg Father had left these three adults behind, to monitor the humans, to see what they did. again similar to the whirring of many insect wings. The Flock was suddenly there, appearing as by magic from the surrounding gra.s.ses. They readjusted the positioning of their striped and mottled feathers so that they no longer blended neatly with the savanna around them. Egg Father had left these three adults behind, to monitor the humans, to see what they did. Act only if you feel threatened, Act only if you feel threatened, he had told them. They felt threatened. he had told them. They felt threatened.

The terror bird nearest the still unconscious Grisham made a sudden movement in the direction of the colonel. Watkins aimed as best he could and fired at it. The shot went slightly right and above where he had intended it to, but the bullet still struck the bird, pa.s.sing through the fleshy muscle tissue along his left side. A small gout of blood showered out, and the bird, an adult female, quickly learned that the histories were true the histories were true. Men could kill from a distance. She screamed this fact to the others, who all turned toward the armed man.

As the birds focused their attention on Watkins, Holcomb ran. He faced in the direction from which he had first come and he went, pumping his legs as fast and with as much energy as he could muster. Behind him, he heard the gun crack again, three times. The earth shuddered a bit under the tread of the huge animals. When Watkins screamed Holcomb did not turn to see what was going on, what they were doing. But he did hear a sound he never wanted to hear again. He supposed it was the sound of flesh being cut.

The pines swallowed him up, as behind he heard yet another volley of shots followed by a very short scream. He wondered if that had been the wounded man he'd kicked, or the awakening Grisham. Vance doubted he'd ever know as he once more began to run as fast as he could, realizing that it probably would not be enough. He pushed on, waiting for the sound of pursuit. The birds' tread actually shook the ground when they bore down on you. He'd know when they got close.

As he continued, he kept expecting to hear the approach of the huge birds. Fifty yards, a hundred. They still were not on him. At the place where the forest met the savanna he did not turn to see what was happening, but heard yet another explosion of firearms. This time it seemed to be a pair of weapons. But by then he was determined not to look back, not to stop running. Holcomb was tired, sore, and verging on clinical dehydration. He knew that even if nothing ran him down, he was still not going to make it very far without something to drink and a moment to rest.

He was tempted to slow down, and he recalled the sight of the Scarlet rogue bearing down on him, remembered how it felt when its foot-the toes splayed as wide as his chest-crashed down on him. Vance Holcomb ran faster and did not stop until he had reached the punctured ruin of his dome where he had left his backpack and roughly a gallon of fresh water.

Crawling into the dome he found his pack amid the wreckage of his equipment. He drank his fill and, recalling his previous mistake of remaining there too long, crawled back through the tunnel. He'd left his ATV only a few miles away. It was his last, best chance.

Jogging briskly, but conserving his strength, he went toward the place where he had stashed the tough little vehicle. Along the way, he chanced a glance back now and again. He saw nothing, heard nothing. Vance Holcomb seemed to be alone again.

Chapter Forty-Three.

The first sight that greeted them at the top of the sinkhole was what remained of a pair of men. They'd had guns, very good rifles in fact, but neither of them apparently had been able to get a shot off when they'd been attacked. Each of the men seemed to have been cut neatly in half. The sight was quite hideous, and both Riggs and Niccols wanted to get past them. It was only at Mary's insistence that they paused long enough to retrieve the pair of rifles.

"I think our guns are probably full of water and mud, anyway," she'd told Ron, who quickly dropped Crane's shotgun and shed the bag of sh.e.l.ls at her feet. "Why didn't they shoot? Got any idea?"

"I can't imagine," Ron said. "The one we saw was certainly big enough to hit without much trouble." Ron shivered. "d.a.m.n. I didn't think they would be that big big. Christ."

"What do you think's going to happen, now?" There was a definite rattle in Mary's lungs, now. The hours spent crouching in the water had done her bronchitis no good.

"I honestly couldn't tell you. I do know that this place will be shut down and probably by G.o.d fenced off as soon as word gets out." They pushed through the forest. Occasionally, they would spot an enormous three-toed track in the soft earth and one or the other would point it out as if making a great discovery.

"What's going to happen to that b.i.t.c.h, Kate?"

"If she's still around, which I doubt, I personally want to see to it that she's put away forever." Ron didn't want to tell Mary that Kate almost had him suspecting her of complicity in Dodd's murder. She might never forgive him if he told her.

"What the h.e.l.l was she up to? I mean, who did all this?"

"I'm not sure," Ron admitted. "I've got my suspicions. But basically we need to be about as careful as we can be. In fact, I suspect we should avoid the Eyesore entirely and just get the h.e.l.l out of here. Make for Salutations and forget about Holcomb and his compound. Best case, it's empty and there are only a few dead bodies. Worst case, someone's going to be waiting to pop us and add us to the list."

"Screw that," Mary said.

"My sentiments, too."

Ron stood there for a moment, just looking at Mary. Her own gaze was focused on the forest, as she searched for the likeliest route out of the stand of trees in which they stood. Her face was covered in grime, her hair tacked with sticks and leaves and dots of mud. But she had saved his life. She had put herself in danger, had stayed with him every step of the way. As if suddenly seeing the sun for the first time, Ron was. .h.i.t with a rush of emotion he'd never really experienced. Suddenly Mary was the most important person in the world to him. He'd realized he had been such a fool.

Without saying anything, without asking for permission, Ron dropped the rifle and grasped Mary by the shoulder. He turned her to him and planted his lips firmly on hers. He kissed her long and hard, and his heart raced as he realized that she was returning the kiss with all of the pa.s.sion he now felt flooding out of him. After a few seconds, he took his mouth from hers and looked into her face.

"Mary. I've been a d.a.m.ned fool," he told her. "I'm sorry I treated you the way that I did. Sometimes a man doesn't realize what he has. I've been an idiot."

"Well," Mary said, "that's what I've been trying to tell you for months." She bent and retrieved the rifle he'd dropped. "Learn to respect a weapon, son. We might need it."

"Yes," Ron said. "You're right. Let's get out of here."

Mary knew that by all rights she should have stopped caring for Ron when he'd rejected her. She knew his reasons. Not fear of commitment, not afraid that they'd moved too far, too fast. He'd been a sn.o.b. But she couldn't help herself. They'd had so many things in common, similar feelings and interests. And there had been the physical attraction. You couldn't help that, sometimes. And who the h.e.l.l knew what love was, or how to control it? Mary certainly didn't. She had been stuck on Ron almost as soon as she'd met him, and she remained so.

There was a moment of silence as they plodded along; both were tired beyond words. Finally, Mary brought it up. "What about Billy? We going to check on him? He can't be far away. You never said..."

"Oh, yes. He's dead. No doubt about it." He recalled the feeling of the awful exit wound as he'd placed his hand on Billy's stomach.

"Christ."

Neither spoke for a while as they continued to walk, veering southward and away from Holcomb's buildings and going wide of the spot where Crane had been shot.

"Best thing we can do for him is get some help and come back," Mary said, echoing what Ron was feeling.

Before Ron could reply, the sound of a motor began to come toward them. It grew until they felt the need to hide, concealing themselves behind a clump of Spanish bayonet. They soon recognized the sound of one of the ATVs they had seen in the Eyesore's garage. In a while, the stubby little machine appeared, and they could see that Vance Holcomb was astride it, guiding it skillfully through the forest at a respectable rate of speed. Even from the distance, they could clearly see that Holcomb was disheveled; his shirt was in tatters, open to the waist to reveal flesh a very nasty shade of black and blue.

"Think we should flag him down?" Mary asked.

"How?"

"Fire one of these guns in the air?"

"Unless I'm mistaken, he's the main target these guys were after. We were just in the way. I think that if we fired a shot he'd soil himself and find a few more rpms in that engine. I think we'd best just let him go."

"You're probably right," Mary said. And soon the gas vehicle roared past them and became a slight burr in the distance.

The sun rose in the sky, the heat began to peel the sweat from their skin. Slowly, they ticked off the yards, knowing they had miles to go.

Chapter Forty-Four.

"Thank G.o.d for your eye," Grisham told Redmond. "I knew I was making a wise choice to add you to the team."

Redmond said nothing as the pair hit the Colonel's property boundary, moving quickly for two people who had been kicked in the guts by a creature who stood ten feet tall and weighed roughly one thousand pounds. They were jogging, in fact, Grisham scanning 180 degrees to the fore, while Redmond watched their backs. If Walks Backward had seen them, he would have approved.

"d.a.m.ned good shooting back there, too, son."

At that, Redmond spoke up. "I didn't hit a one of them." He was thinking of the way they could alter their coloration, in a way in which they blended almost perfectly with their surrounding. He would almost have thought them capable of changing color as a chameleon does, until he realized that they had been moving their feathers feathers to achieve the effect. As he'd admitted, he had been unable to strike a single one of the birds, although Watkins had slightly wounded one of them. It must have been that one good shot from Watkins that had let them understand what the gunshots meant. to achieve the effect. As he'd admitted, he had been unable to strike a single one of the birds, although Watkins had slightly wounded one of them. It must have been that one good shot from Watkins that had let them understand what the gunshots meant.

"But you held them off, son. You frightened them away." Grisham moved with determination, but there was something like fear in his eyes as he went. And he was glad that Redmond could not see his face. He'd faced enemy fire in Vietnam and half a dozen other places the American taxpayers would never know of. But this was the first time he'd actually been frightened of anything. When he'd come to and seen those things things moving toward him, he thought that was going to be the end for him. Being eaten was not something for which he could prepare. moving toward him, he thought that was going to be the end for him. Being eaten was not something for which he could prepare.

"I couldn't save Watkins," Redmond blurted. "Or poor Joyner." There was a catch in Redmond's voice, and his own ruddy features went a shade darker at the memory of the huge things slashing and tearing at his two comrades. Watkins had exploded like a balloon overfilled with crimson dye.

"That's the kind of price we pay, son. We're all of us expendable." Now that it didn't look probable that he would end up that way, Grisham could speak of such things. He shuddered, though. They weren't home, yet.

Redmond said nothing at that. He only wanted to be out of this place. He only wanted them to find their way back to Grisham's house and to the safety of four well-built walls. Even the idea of a bellyful of good cooking was beginning to appeal to him. The whole venture had been a debacle, though he didn't know that he could lay the blame at Grisham's feet. Who knew those creatures could do the things they had seen them do? Who could have known?

"We can still salvage this operation," the Colonel suddenly said. He stepped through a broken section of barbed wire that had parted long ago, one of his posted posted signs hanging by a rusted nail from a cedar tree. signs hanging by a rusted nail from a cedar tree.

At that, Redmond actually tore his bloodshot gaze from their rear and he stared at his commanding officer. But he said nothing.

"We can still find Holcomb. I'm not going to let him get away with this."

"Sir. He's most likely in a very safe place by this time. We both heard the motor of his ATV."

"That was our only real mistake," Grisham bl.u.s.tered. "We should have incapacitated that machine. But I'm not going to let this get the best of me. I can still pull a victory out of this. We can still get the job done. Part of it, at least."

"Part of it, sir?" They were now on familiar territory. Within minutes they would find themselves at one of the outer pastures. The farmhouse would even be visible if they were where Redmond thought they were.

"Yes. Those animals. Those creatures. Now that we know what they can do, we'll be ready for them. I made a vow that we'd exterminate them. I'm a man of my word."

"But sir. We lost three very good men. Watkins and Joyner and Gant. They all have families, sir. Is it wise to go back out there? Take more men out there?"

"We don't have much time, boy." Grisham turned his head and glared at Redmond without slowing down. His own stride was growing as they neared sanctuary. He was gaining confidence and strength the closer they got to his home. "If Holcomb gets away and word gets out, I doubt that we'll have much more than twenty-four hours to kill these things."

"But, sir. I don't think we should..."

Grisham did not let Redmond finish. "You'll do as you're ordered, son. You took a blood oath when you joined this militia. You will not not foul this up. Do you understand?" Grisham had stopped and turned to deliver this final bit. foul this up. Do you understand?" Grisham had stopped and turned to deliver this final bit.

Redmond stared into Grisham's mad face. "I understand, Colonel. I understand."

They broke through the line of young slash pines at the edge of the pasture and in the morning sun they could see Grisham's farmhouse and barn off in the distance. The Colonel was all but jogging as he strode through the green gra.s.s dotted all about with mounds of cow manure. "We can still get something done," he said.

Redmond followed at a distance, and continued to glance back, to make sure that nothing appeared from the forest to kill them.

Chapter Forty-Five.

His plan had worked well, the Scarlet rogue thought.

The presence of the humans had frightened off the main body of the Flock for a time. Initially, when he'd run amidst the humans and had taken them down, he had wondered why the Flock had always been so frightened of them. With only a little surprise, they were indeed easy to incapacitate or kill. In fact, they moved so slowly that they were easier to kill than anything that the Scarlet had encountered for such heavy creatures.

But the men that the Scarlet had left behind him had frightened the Egg Father and the others. Even though none of the men seemed to be even awake, the Flock had held back. The Scarlet knew this because the sounds of pursuit had died down and eventually vanished. That gave him enough time to find water. He had gone down to the banks of one of the streams that fed into the river that bordered the west side of the Flock's domain. On the other side of that river were the humans, in large numbers. He had thought briefly of swimming the distance and retreating there. None from the Flock would dared have followed him in that direction.

Still, something held him back. He had never crossed that barrier. Not because he could not swim it, because swimming was something he could do and do well. It was just strange country strange country to him, and he didn't want to risk it. Not yet. to him, and he didn't want to risk it. Not yet.

So he had drunk his fill, had run down and devoured a couple of armadillos. Revitalized, the Scarlet had done his best to cover his spoor, wading to the center of the stream, and swimming for a distance when it became too deep to walk. From that point he had come out and headed toward the huge rocky nest that belonged to The Man Who Watches The Man Who Watches. That area had been an old gathering s.p.a.ce for the Flock before that man had invaded it. Once, they had used it as a wallow, playing in the pits of sand there and searching for the large tortoises that were so tasty. But the Flock had been forced to abandon it when the men had arrived, constructing the gigantic nests.

There were always always men there, at this s.p.a.ce they had once known as their own. The Scarlet was counting on more men being there. Men enough to dissuade the Flock from further pursuit. They were after him, to kill him. He was certain of that, now, having heard this strange new song coming up from the flock members who pursued him so rabidly. They were referring to him as some kind of enemy, as something to be eaten. And it had become his plan to make them break away from this chase and leave him alone, at least for a while. He needed time to plan, to organize his thoughts and decide what he should do. men there, at this s.p.a.ce they had once known as their own. The Scarlet was counting on more men being there. Men enough to dissuade the Flock from further pursuit. They were after him, to kill him. He was certain of that, now, having heard this strange new song coming up from the flock members who pursued him so rabidly. They were referring to him as some kind of enemy, as something to be eaten. And it had become his plan to make them break away from this chase and leave him alone, at least for a while. He needed time to plan, to organize his thoughts and decide what he should do.

As he had come upon the place, the Scarlet had sensed that something was not right. It was empty of sound, of movement, of activity of any kind. The men were not there. He could scent the thousands of strange smells, the alien stench that welled out from it. But of men there was nothing. And this was not good, for he had once again sensed the Flock on his trail.

Going right up to the structure, the Scarlet rogue had called out a challenge to any man that might wait inside. Nothing came out. Only the odd light spilled from the place. He even made his imitation human calls. "Jesus," he said. "It killed me," he called. There were no humans to answer him.

His last chance was the place where the humans had built nest upon nest. Where they lived in numbers far outweighing those of the Flock. It was where the Scarlet had explored in the night, moving around the perimeter, slaying and eating the dogs. If that was where he must go, then he would. And just as he had decided to head there, the wind altered direction. There were were humans nearby, in the realm of the Flock. The scents were coming from a point north, off in the depth of the oak forest, from near the deep sinkhole that had appeared in the face of the earth some years before. So the Scarlet rogue had moved off in that direction, leading the Flock on. They had obliged him by following. humans nearby, in the realm of the Flock. The scents were coming from a point north, off in the depth of the oak forest, from near the deep sinkhole that had appeared in the face of the earth some years before. So the Scarlet rogue had moved off in that direction, leading the Flock on. They had obliged him by following.

Along the way, the Scarlet rogue had slowed his pace. He wanted to let them get closer. They would be right on his tail, and his own scent would fill their nostrils. He even began to urinate as he raced atop the forest loam, kicking up the dirt and leaving a powerful pungent mix of urine and hormonal scents overloading the unmatched olfactory senses of his pursuers. If they did not sense the humans until it was too late, that would serve his purposes well.

Soon, with the night ending, the Scarlet took a chance and peered back. Despite the fact that he wanted them to be close, he was surprised to see Egg Mother and Walks Backward less than four body lengths behind him. Walks Backward was in an impudent mood, he saw, the beta male's great brown crest lifted high as if he were leading the Flock. How great that one's hatred was. Putting on a burst of speed, he lengthened his stride and gained a bit of ground. He was coming upon the site of the sinkhole, and the humans were there. The scent of them came to him as he sprayed a last volley of urine mist into the faces of those who were at his tail.

Going wide of the great hole that gaped in the earth, the Scarlet almost fell to the slashing blows of the Egg Father who had come up on his left. The huge terror bird leaped toward his disobedient son, but his talons missed the mark and he was left to gather his speed and give chase again. The Scarlet knew that others would be waiting to make similar feints at his position, and he knew that he would not be able to last long now that they had caught up to him. He only had one chance, now.

And it came.

The rogue suddenly came upon the sinkhole. He rushed past the lip of it and peered down into it, seeing two humans who were lying partially submerged in the clear waters. It would not do him any good at all if this is all there was. He looked ahead and plunged on, and saw the others. There were not as many men as before, but this time the Flock was so close on his tail, and he had covered their scent so well that as he ran amidst the confused humans and left them behind, the Flock found themselves face to face with the men.

He ran, leaving the scene of complete confusion behind him. There was an urge in him to caw with laughter, and he did, despite the situation if his plan failed. Behind him the Flock found themselves revealed to men. This had not happened in a very long time. The terror birds, who could sense in others the urge to fight and kill, suddenly sensed that the humans were ready to inflict damage upon them. Egg Mother reacted first. She lashed out at the nearest human, cutting him down and ending his garbled screams. The other men also began to yell, to begin to make the motions that the guardians of the Flock knew could mean death for anything on the other end of that motion. Walks Backward leaped to the right, toward a man sitting high in the branches of a great live oak. The gnarled limbs allowed him easy purchase and he all but raced up the side of the huge tree, using his short forearms to tear at the bark and add stability to his movements. Reaching up with his razored beak, he grasped the man by the thigh and pulled him down before he could aim his gun. Falling to earth trailing a hot stream of jetting blood, other adult birds were on him. Egg Father found the third man who was attempting to fire at a young male and pounded him to the ground, dismembering him quickly.

Walks Backward detected two other humans down in the sinkhole, but felt no threat from them. No terror bird went to seek them out with no order from the leaders. For a very confused instant, the Flock milled about the bloodied killing ground. None of them fed on what had been killed.