Chapter 2
By Chris Gilman
I wake in the morning at my usual time. The clock says it's about 5:00 A.M. I get up without waking anybody else, and, entering the kitchen, dig around in the cupboards for some breakfast. I find some cereal, milk, and a bowl. As I'm pouring the cereal into the bowl, I feel a hand on my shoulder ... and I react without thinking again. My body reacts almost on its own, without my conscious thought. Turning, I sweep the hand away with my left arm and reach to bring the cut-down shotgun up with my right from where it rests in the holster at my hip.
Then I stop with the gun half out of its holster. I'm looking straight into a pair of deep green eyes set in a white tiger’s face. She looks a little startled at my reaction. I slump in on myself at what I almost did, letting my tense muscles relax after the tension I have just put them under. "Sorry about that, Kim. I told you not to sneak up on me. After yesterday, I'm still a little tense. My instincts are still fighting with my common sense over what to do sometimes when I'm under stress. And one question keeps coming to mind: If those two changed for the bad, who else might be out there that we have to face before we reach somewhere we can settle down in peace?"
She seems to calm a little at my explanation and gives me a smile. "I’m sorry about sneaking up on you there Goliath. I guess it comes naturally to a feline, instinct like you said. I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I’ll try to keep from being so quiet around you from now on."
I give a quiet laugh, "I’ll try to not be quite so tense anymore. Wonder why I'm not as quiet naturally?"
She gives a small smile, "Well, most mountain lions aren’t 7’ 6" and 400 pounds."
I give a nod in return. "Why are you up so early anyway? I was the only one who was going to be up so early to go get what you had on the new list."
"I know, but when you started moving around it woke me, and I figured you might enjoy some company when you went out."
I think for a minute, "It will be good to have someone to talk to and watch my back while I’m out. Sure, if you want to come, I'd enjoy the company."
I go down the hall and enter Bill’s gunroom. He left his safes unlocked and I reach into one and pull out a .38 revolver and holster. Turning around, I see that Kim followed me and is standing in the doorway. I hold out the holstered gun to her, and she takes it, without a word, but the look in her eyes asks me questions.
"If you want to come with me, it would be a good idea to carry a pistol at least. That's a smaller caliber then what Ken and I carry, so it ought to be better for you if you aren't used to using a gun." Looking at her look still on her face I wonder, "You do know how to use a gun, don’t you?"
Her look changes to a smirk and she pulls the gun and opens the cylinder, spinning it to see if it’s loaded before grabbing a speed loader off the shelf and loading the gun. With a flip of her wrist she closes the cylinder and re-holsters the gun. She gives me the same smirk again. "I know a few things, and I can put a clip through a bull’s eye at fifty yards. It’s what happens to you when your father is ex-military and each summer is like boot camp."
I grin back, "Army?"
She gives me a nod, "Yep. How did you know?"
I give a little chuckle, "Know the feeling. My father was a retired Sergeant First Class. While he claimed he didn’t like guns that much, I figure being an Army brat helped me gain my fondness for them and other weapons."
She slips the holster on and buckles it in place. "Yep, I know the feeling."
I snap my fingers as I remember something, "I also want to run by my house this morning and pick up a few things. With a few alterations, most of my clothing will still fit even." I look down at my body before I look back up at her, "Well, my shirts should at least."
We go back to the kitchen and I pour her a bowl too. We eat together in silence, quickly and quietly. When we are finished we put the dishes in the sink and quietly leave the house. Outside, we climb into the HUMM-V and with the turn of a key are off down the road.
***
A few minutes later, I pull up outside my house and get out. Looks almost like an early Sunday morning where no one is awake yet. I've lived here for almost twenty years, and now I'm going to miss this place. I slowly walk up to my door and enter my house for the last time with Kim in tow. Thankfully, she doesn’t say a word.
Power seems to have failed here. When I walk down the hall, the lights don’t come on when I flip the switch. Oh well, one more thing of modern life failing. Gee, what is an electrician going to do in this New World where there is no need for him anymore?
I walk down the hall to my room and open the door to the ‘Black Hole of Calcutta’.
What’s that, cub? Oh that's what I called my bedroom then. Things would go in, but never come out again. Now where was I ... oh yes, now I remember.
I enter my room and start digging around in my closet for my duffel bag. Finding it, I start filling it with mementos I can’t bear to think about leaving behind. Some stuff was silly in hindsight, but I just didn’t want to leave them to the ravages of time and scavengers. Things like pictures of family that I will never see again. A couple of shirts from places I had been over the years. And even my collection of RPG games.
A few models I've spent much time on over the years I carefully pack away in foam so I can have them when we settle down again. I spent two years on the model of the Constitution, and there's no way I can just leave it behind.
My collection of books goes into a large box with my ZIP disks that have my stories on them. Might not have time right now to read, but I am not going to leave my books and the stories I have written behind. You’ve seen my library, cubs ... not many people can say they have more books than I do.
I set those on the bed and re-enter my closet. After a few minutes of moving stuff, I find my bow sitting in its case in a corner. I unwrap it from its hand-made case and examine it closely before I wrap it back up and place it on the bed too. Now some of you might wonder what is so great about a bow. Most of you cubs now know how to make bows, it’s a part of our life now, but back then everyone bought bows at sporting goods stores that had been mass-produced. Well this bow is a hand-made re-curve that I made in high school. I put six months of grueling handwork into it in a time when most bows were made by machines. And unlike a gun, I can reuse my arrows. Also, something in me wants me to use the bow more then anything, something primal. Must be my instincts again. After all, Goliath had been a forest ranger when I created him. That might explain it.
Next thing I grab is my gun case still under my bed. It has three more guns in it, and since I inherited two of them from grandfathers, I was not about to leave them. Plus one was an old style percussion cap muzzle-loader. A copy of the Kentucky long rifle, one of the most accurate rifles of its day. Hell, it is still one of the most accurate weapons produced. I could make ammo for it, and with the help of a chemistry book, could probably make gunpowder too.
Finally I go over to a shelf and grab a small wooden chest. Opening it reveals my small knife collection. They aren’t much, mostly a collection of good utility knives, but I have several that are high carbon steel, and they will be useful. Also I have a fine set I inherited. They're ivory handled and well balanced, something I received from my favorite grandfather when he died. This chest I add to the pile growing on my bed.
Kim looks at the pile on my bed, she looks a little worried. "What’s wrong," I ask her.
She waves her hand at the weapons I have lying there bundled up. Three guns, a bow, and a small chest of knives. "What would you need so many things for? And why are we going to need them now?"
"You mean the guns and such?" She gives a nod. "I had them mostly for artistic value to me. I learned how to make weapons just to admire them for their craftsmanship. And now I feel we might have to use some of these in the future. There is something in me telling me to take them, but I am not sure why yet. I think the reasons will become apparent in time. Some of those, like the knives, have real world use potential, they are all good quality knives so they should last." I give her a friendly hug of reassurance and she gives me a smile. "The rest is just parts of my life I can’t leave behind. Call me a sentimental fool if you wish, but that is just me." I look back towards the pile and let out a sigh. "Well, let’s get this out to the HUMM-V and we can go get things we forgot yesterday."
I remember to grab the bags out of Ken’s mother’s van. One of them I know what is in it just by the heft and the shapes poking out from it. It has to be his sword collection. He has quite a few that are extremely high quality, not just reproductions. Figures he would want those with him.
In a few minutes, the back is loaded with my stuff and Ken’s, and once more we are looking over her list. Most things I think we can get at the Wal-Mart again and so we head off for there.
While we're on the road, the only sound is the sound of the motor of the HUMM-V. Driving through a city that was around ninth largest in Texas and having it so quiet is spooky. I wish I knew better what happened to everybody in the world. In ten minutes we are outside Wal-Mart once again.
"You stay out here Goliath, and keep an eye out for anybody," Kim tells me. "This shouldn’t take me more than a few minutes, okay?"
I give her a nod and settle into the gunnery seat with a pair of binoculars to keep watch for anything in the area. While she is inside I don’t see or hear anything. Not a living thing is moving out here. Even with my new improved hearing I can only hear the sound of the wind blowing gently. As for my new sense of smell, forget it. There was still way too much pollution in the air for me to sense anyone that way. This is so spooky. Reminds me of that movie, Night of the Comet. Not a living soul is stirring out here other than us, and it scares the shit out of me to think about it.
After about twenty or thirty minutes she comes back out with a cart full of stuff. I climb down and help her load it into the rear. "Did you get everything on your list?"
I swear her face got just a little redder under her fur in embarrassment, the inside of her ears definitely turned red. "Yep, and even got me a few extras for me."
"Hey, each of us should go ahead and take what we want. I think each of us have a few things that might prove to be useless for now, but we might as well have them." I tap the side of the HUMM-V I am leaning against, "Look what I picked up." I hop into the driver side seat and turn the ignition, "Okay, let’s go get the others and we can head for the mall to do some clothes shopping."
She gives me a smirk, "Okay."
I shove the gearshift into gear and away we go. I go ahead and push the speed up a little over the almost clear roads. I laugh as I think about what a cop would have done if he had seen me doing 100 MPH down some of the main roads in town. Heck, what would a cop do about it when I have a .50 cal. Heavy machine-gun on top? Oh well, I see the look on Kim’s face and I slow it down to a more manageable speed.
"Better?" I ask her.
"Yes, why did you do that?"
I give a shrug of my shoulders, "Just felt like giving this baby a try out. The roads are clear and there isn’t a cop for miles."
She lets out a laugh, "Okay, I can understand that."
"Don’t worry, I won’t do it again. Just wanted to do it once so I could say I did. It is quite a thrill though."
"I guess I can agree with you. It was a little cool, but remember there are no rescue personnel anymore if you get into a wreck."
"Yeah, I know. That’s why I don’t plan to do it again unless I have to."
She gives me a sideways glance, "What do you mean, ‘unless I have to’?"
I shrug, "Who knows what awaits for us out there? Maybe some time I'm going to need every ounce of speed this baby will put out. Who knows? I sure don’t."
For the rest of the trip we travel in silence, just listening to a CD I put into the stereo. Kim seems to like the country music and we drive back to Bill’s house listening to the songs of Johnny Cash. What, who is Johnny Cash, cubs? Look it up in the library, he was a famous singer back when humans still walked this planet. I know they have some of his CD’s in there because I brought a few extras for them when I arrived here.
***
About thirty minutes later we once more pull up outside Bill’s house. There is motion inside of the RV, and after a minute the black fox form of Ken comes out of it. He gives a wave as we pull up and Kim and I jump out.
"How’s Mike doing," I ask him as we shake hands.
"He woke up this morning in a little pain, but nothing too bad, he says. He says thanks for the rescue yesterday. For now he's resting again ... you can check on him just before we leave."
I give a dismissive wave of one hand. "Any of you would have probably done the same if you had been in my shoes. And I’ll check in on him in a minute." I give him a clap on the shoulder and guide him towards the back of my HUMM-V. "Picked up your stuff for you too." I reach into the back and pull out his two bags.
He sets them both down on the curb and opens up the one that I think contains his swords. I was right. He pulls out one of them and slides it from its scabbard slowly. It is one of his Japanese swords. This is no cheap replica, either, like so many of the swords around in those days.
About three feet of folded high-carbon steel, sharpened to a fine edge. The handle and scabbard are made of fine hardwood, stained to an almost black color. The handle is wrapped in sharkskin, which will provide a firm grip when the sword is swung. I have always admired this piece of craftsmanship in his collection, but now I see it as what it is designed to be, a weapon. He makes a few practice motions through the air before returning it to its scabbard. He reaches back into the back and pulls out a sling that he attaches to the scabbard. He then slings the sword across his back.
Then a thought hits me right between the eyes with a landscape timber. "Didn’t know you knew how to use a sword, Ken. When did you learn?"
He gives me a funny look, then looks at the handle sticking over his shoulder. "I don’t ... at least I have never strapped one on till now. As for using one." He pulls the sword out of its scabbard again and runs it through a different set of motions this time and replaces it back in its home, all in one fluid movement.
I clap my hands a few times in respect and Kim is giving him a wide-eyed, open-mouthed gape. "It looks like the technique came with the new form. Didn’t I allow your character in D&D to use those types of swords even though wizards were not allowed to use such weapons at the time?"
He gives me a nod, "Yeah, you did." He gets a thoughtful look on his face and gazes at me. "Wasn’t it in your background that Goliath was a forest ranger and he had an almost unnatural ability with bows and thrown weapons, and his marksmanship was astounding, almost supernatural in nature?"
I give it a thought for a second, and giving him a nod, I reach into the HUMM-V and pull out my bow. Slowly I unwrap the bow and string it. Reaching back into the HUMM-V, I pull one of my arrows from its quiver and stand there, holding it in my hands, it feels so natural. Ken produces a piece of wood from somewhere and throws it up into the air. With one smooth motion I set the arrow, pull back the string, aim, and let it go. When the wood hits the ground it has my arrow sticking out of it. The tri-blade hunting tip clean through the wood
Ken and Kim are clapping much in the manner I had a moment before. "Looks like I got the abilities of Goliath to go with his body." I unstring the bow and place it back in its case. Once more placing it back into the HUMM-V.
"Here, try this." When I turn back Ken is holding out a small black nylon pouch.
I take it and flip open the cover. Inside the pouch is a fine set of balanced throwing knives. Pulling them out I feel the weight of them in my palm, almost perfect in balance. And with a precise move I spin and sink all three blades in a nearby tree, each blade less then an inch apart and buried into the tree at least two inches.
Ken gives me a nod. "Yep, I would say you inherited his abilities. Wonder what else you can do?" I shake my head as I walk over to the tree and pull the knives out. When I go to give them back to Ken, he waves them off. "Keep them, looks like you are better than I could ever be."
I shrug and strap the pouch onto my forearm, wiggling it around to settle it in place. Almost feels too natural. "I would worry more about what you can do. Remember what else your character could do? You are a kitsune after all. Plus you were a wizard."
He gives me a funny look for a minute before the look of recognition finally crosses his face. "Are you honestly thinking that I could have magical abilities?" He starts to laugh, but soon stops when he sees that I am not laughing. "Come on, that was all just a game. Things like that can’t happen. This is the real world."
"Oh, and us turning into characters we’ve played in one form or another, in games or on the net, doesn’t strike you as having something magical about it," I ask him tapping my foot. "What else would you call it Ken, natural selection? Maybe just chance? But I definitely wouldn’t call it all that natural."
Our talk is interrupted by a large red wolf coming out of Bill’s house and walking right up to us. It shows no sign of fear, almost as if it belongs here. Oddly enough, I am not frightened by it in any way. But why would a wolf be coming out of Bill’s house? I don’t know of any red wolves native to Texas either. Suddenly it shifts and stands up on its rear legs. Almost in the blink of an eye, Bill now stands before us in his red werewolf form, in nothing but his fur.
"Would someone please tell me I wasn’t dreaming what happened just now?", he says.
Kim is looking away with a small giggle and Ken and I are laughing up a storm. Finally I get enough breath to speak. "Well, if the fact that you are standing there in your fur and nothing else isn’t enough fact of what you just did for you, then I don’t know what is," I tell him. "Don’t you feel a draft?" He looks down, and seeing that he isn’t wearing anything, crosses his paws in front of himself and runs back inside with his tail hanging low to cover his rear somewhat.
I look over at Ken who is still laughing and give a grin. "Can we still call it a streak when they are covered in fur, but not wearing any clothes?"
This sets him off into another fit of giggles and it takes him a few minutes to regain control enough to speak. "Well, he might have a fur coat, but so do all of us. Besides, his privates are still hanging out. Looks like a streak to me ladies and gentlefurs."
After about another five minutes we are all calmed down again. I look at Ken and shrug my shoulders finally. "If he can shapeshift into a wolf, why can’t you use the natural abilities I gave your character? Even if you can’t call on some of the spells your character could as a wizard, your natural abilities were mean enough, and you had a bunch of them. But if you can call on those, you might be able to call on those that you had to learn."
He gets a thoughtful look on his face for a few minutes before he finally answers me. "I just don’t want to try them right now. Maybe later when we have more free time. And more clear room around us so I won’t cause a fire storm if I mess up."
I give him a nod. "Okay, lets go in and see what Bill has been up to since he ran in." Kim almost seems reluctant to go in at first. I put my arm around her and guide her towards the house. "Don’t worry, I’ll have Ken go in first and see if Bill found his clothes yet." This sets Kim and Ken off into another set of giggles.
Inside the house, Timmy is sitting on the couch watching a recording on the TV. He looks up at us when we walk in and runs over to me. With a spring he lands in my arms and gives me a hug. "Hi Mr. Goliath. Mr. Ken says we are going on a trip today, where are we going?"
I give him a hug in return and ruffle his hair. "First off, just call me Goliath, forget Mr. when you talk to me. As for the trip, we are going all over the place. We want to find others like us who changed, who are good. Together we can protect each other from those who changed into evil people." I set him down on the floor and ruffle his hair again. "Did you see which way Bill ran when he came in?"
He gives a little giggle and points towards Bill’s room. "He ran in there without any clothes on."
I pat him on the head and walk to bill’s door, giving it a gentle tap.
"Stay out!" Bill must still be a little troubled over what he just did outside.
"Bill, don’t make me open this door. Now open up."
"I said stay out!"
"Bill, if you tell me to stay out again and you don’t open this door, I am going to go through the door and haul you out by your tail." I take a deep breath to calm down before saying anything else. "Now, open the door please." I hear a shuffle behind the door and watch as it slowly opens. Bill’s muzzle sticks out the door as he looks out at me. "You know if you close that door too fast you will loose your muzzle right?" Finally he opens it enough and motions me in. I step in and he closes the door behind me. I turn and see him with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and body.
He answers my unspoken question; "It was the first thing I grabbed."
"I bet. Now what happened?"
He starts to pace the room. "I don’t know for sure. I just woke up and found myself like that." He paces a few times before continuing. "Scared the piss out of me, literally."
"I bet, but please continue."
"I heard the sound of you returning and ran out to see if you could fix what had happened to me. I saw that you weren’t afraid, but I still had no way to communicate with you. Then I thought back to how we were supposed to change when playing garou, just think it. When I imaged myself back in this form I shifted and you know what happened then."
I rub my chin in thought. "Can you shift to human?"
He shakes his head. "Sorry, but no. I have tried, but it seams I only get the two forms."
"What about Hispo."
Still pacing he responds. "Haven’t tried it yet, was thinking about that myself."
I sit on the bed and cross my arms over my chest as I give him a level gaze. "Try it."
He nods his head and closes his eyes. For a moment nothing happens. Then in the space of only a few breaths he starts changing. The process is much slower then before, but still fast. Soon a huge wolf is in the room looking over himself in apparent surprise. He is easily the size of a small horse, maybe ten hands high at the shoulder.
"Well, looks like you get three of the five forms at least."
The huge wolf nods his head in response. Then he closes his eyes again and soon starts changing back to what I am starting to call his natural form. Soon he is in his hybrid form and once more covers himself with the blanket.
"So, now I know I can control it to some extent."
"Must have been some dream last night Bill." I shake my head in laughter at the thoughts it brings to my mind. "Must have come to you since it was your first night since we have changed."
He gives me a nod as he slips on a pair of fixed shorts. "You know, I did dream that I was running through an open field. Soon more wolves were with me and we ran together. Then one by one they left and I went to sleep." He stops in shock for a minute. "I have never remembered a dream that well before."
I dismiss it with a wave of my hand. "Probably has something to do with your first change. I wouldn’t worry about it too much right now."
He looks at his feet and gives a weak nod.
I stand up and give him a pat on his back. "Now come, let’s get ready to go." Together we exit the room. I give him another pat on the back. "Now, go pack up and find anything you want to take with you. I want to be on the road today. I would really like to be out of here by noon if possible."
"Sure," he stops when he sees me turn to enter the room Mike is in. "You going to check on him?" I give a nod. "Okay, I’ll get the others ready by the time you are done in there." I give him a thumb’s up and enter the darkened room with care, closing the door behind me.
My eyes quickly adjust to the dim room and I see the form lying on the bed. His dark fur standing out against the light colored sheets in the dim light that filters in through the pulled drapes. The form shifts and I can see his eyes open.
"Chris?" it croaks out as it looks around the room and settles on me.
I walk over and sit on the edge of the bed. "Yeah buddy, I’m here. How you doing?"
He gives me a weak smile. "Did you get the license plate of the semi that ran me over?"
I give a little chuckle. "Yeah, and we wrecked it."
He shakes his head. "I heard it was all you." I try to hush him but he will have none of it. "Thank you, don’t feel bad about what you had to do. You shouldn’t worry nor have any remorse over what you did. You made this New World of ours a safer place, and saved my ass in the process."
"But I could have settled it without killing them."
"Not from the way they attacked us. If you had been there when they caught us, they would have killed you outright as a threat." I give him a puzzled look and he sees it. "You forget how large you are now, probably bigger than both of them were. They would have seen you as a threat to them ruling us." He pauses for effect. "They would have killed you dead in a heartbeat."
Finally I nod and give him a pat on his head. "So, you ready to try to get out of that bed? Or are you going to stay here when we leave?"
He gives a little chuckle and slowly sits up. "I guess I need to start getting up." I hold out my hand to help him up. Once he is standing he looks down and gives a smile. "But before I leave this room, do you think I can get some clothes on?"
I let loose a laugh. "Sure, sure, come on." I set him down in a chair and leave the room to find some clothes. I return a few minutes with a pair of shorts that might be a little too big, but he can always use a belt. I hand them to him and help him stand up to put them on.
When he is at least decent we leave the dark room and enter the living room. Everyone else goes quiet as we enter.
Bill stands and walks over to Mike. "You okay, man?"
Mike gives him a smile. "Yeah, just a little sore still."
Bill gets a funny look on his face as he looks Michael over. "I am surprised to see you up so soon."
Mike grins, "Yeah, well I guess I heal faster now."
I rub my chin as what he says sinks in. ‘Wonder if he could have that ability?’ I give a little shrug though, now is not the time to try experimenting with something like that.
I rub my hands together and look around at everyone here. "Well guys, are we ready to leave?" A series of nods and weak grins answer me. "Okay then, let’s get the last of the things we’re taking from here and we can make one more stop on our way out of town." Everyone stands up to get the last of the things from the house, but when Mike tries to get up I motion for him to stay put. "Timmy, you and Mike keep each other company while we load up."
Timmy gives me a nod and gingerly climbs up into Mike’s lap. I hear them start talking as I walk away to help load things up.
***
It takes about two hours to finish loading everything we are taking. As we finish loading things up I talk to the others. "Okay guys, I think we know pretty much how we are going. I’ll drive point with the HUMM-V while Ken drives the RV about half a mile behind us once we get out on the highways." I look over at my HUMM-V before I continue. "It isn’t necessary, but I would like one of you to ride with me."
Bill asks the most obvious question. "Why? We won’t be that far apart so nothing should happen. Besides we have the CB’s to stay in contact too."
"Yes, but Ken knows how I can be, if I don’t have someone to talk to while on long drives I have a tendency to drift off. Also, if the shit hits the fan I want someone to man the gun while I try to extricate us from it. So I have two reasons why I want someone else with me in the point position. Any volunteers?"
Ken raises his hand. "I would, but I know you want me driving the RV."
"Yep, you have had some practice with it yesterday. And we know how Michael is about driving and wrecking." I look over at Bill and grin at him. "Sorry Bill, you have had problems with driving your truck in the past, and this is a much bigger truck. We don’t know what kind of things we're going to have to drive through and Ken has the most driving experience."
Kim raises her hand with a kind of meek look on her face. "I’ll go with you. Don’t know how well I can fire that gun, but you can tell me how and run me through the motions while we're going down the road."
I look over at Bill. "Okay, that means you get to ride shotgun for Ken. And I do mean shotgun, keep one near you just in case something happens and we need it. If you hear a burst of fire from my gun you can bet that the shit is about to hit the fan. So stay on your toes while we are on the road. No telling who or what we are going to run into out there."
He gives me a thumb’s up and a grin. "No problem there, big guy. We'll be ready for anything."
I give him a nod. "Okay, let’s get the other two and get going."
Ken climbs in and starts up the motor while I start the motor of the HUMM-V. Kim and Bill run in to get Timmy and Mike. In a few minutes they come back out, and while Bill, Timmy and Mike climb into the RV, Kim comes over and climbs in with me. She settles into her seat and buckles her belt as I give the pedal a goose to rev-up the engine. As I watch it settle back down into the normal range. Ken lets loose a blast from the RV’s horn to signal they are ready. I give him a wave out the window and putting the shift lever into gear let out the clutch, and away we go.
Traffic has never been so good before, not another vehicle moving. My mind is still thinking there should be hundreds of vehicles on the same road as I am. But the few cars we pass look as if they just drifted to the side of the road and stopped, driver-less. Still, I take some caution as we approach major intersections. Other people still might be about, and there's no telling how they're driving.
Soon we pull up outside the local mall and climb out of our transportation. Looking at the mall, Bill looks over at me and grins. "So, how do we get in?"
I grin back at him and toss a chain to him. He looks at it as I climb into the HUMM-V and back up to the doors. Then it hits him what he has to do. He loops one end of the chain through the handles of the doors a few times and wraps the other end around the tow hitch. I rev the engine and he backs away, clear of the doors. I slam the shift into gear and hit the gas. My tires squeal as they grip the pavement and the doors come flying behind me as I roar down the pavement and come to a stop a hundred feet away.
I stick my head out the window and yell back to him. "Was that good enough of a key for you?!" The others are yelling and cheering at me as I back up and climb out to disconnect the chain. Not only did I rip the doors off, but also I ripped a good section of the frame around them out. "Hmm, maybe too good of a key." This set the others off into giggles and laughs.
It is good to see them in such good moods after such a change as what has occurred to us. "Come on, let’s do some shopping."
"How are we going to get into all the stores?" asks Kim.
I chuckle and reach into one of the tool compartments of the RV. I pull out a small crowbar and hold it out to Kim; "Here’s your credit card." Everyone lets out a collective laugh. I wave them all into the mall; "Come on, let’s get done and get going." With one more laugh they all proceed me into the mall.
As I step into the mall something tickles at the edge of my senses, I can’t place it, so I just ignore it for now and file it for later.
***
The others all find clothing to fit them rather easily after it's altered for tails. Shirts aren’t too much of a problem for anyone. Except of course for me, but even I find a few that fit well. Pants? Forget it, cubs. When I was human I had an unusually large inseam, but now it was off the scale as far as manufacturers were concerned in those days. I search through several shops looking for something to cover my loins. Finally I find a big and tall shop and find a few pairs of shorts that I customize for my tail. They only cover my legs down to mid thigh, but at least they don’t allow anything to hang out.
Kim comes to the doorway of the store I am in and looking in sees me as I stand before a full-length mirror looking at my new body. "So, how you like the new look, Goliath?"
I turn to look at her without flicking an ear, for some reason I knew she had been standing there and how long. She stands there in the clothes she found leaning against a clothing rack. A pair of jean shorts and a matching shirt tied in front, exposing her midriff. She looks pretty good like that.
"Not too bad. This is how I pictured Goliath. But," I don’t know how to tell her.
"But what?" figures she caught that.
I look around as I start to sense what I did when we entered the Mall. "But, there is something extra. Something I am not sure I ever wrote into him." I hope she is happy with that explanation.
But she isn’t, "Like what?"
I look back at her. "I don’t know how to explain it to you."
She rests her hand on my arm as I stand there and looks up into my face. "Just try to."
I give a gentle sigh as I think of how to explain it. "Let’s just say I am having these feelings like I need to do something. Almost an instinct, but separate."
She scratches her head as she thinks this over. "I guess that makes some sense. But it doesn’t quite answer my question now does it?"
I shake my head. "Nope, but it will have to do for now I am afraid." I start walking out with a box of clothing that will now fit after I have altered it all for my tail. "You guys find enough clothing?"
She nods her head. "Yep, plenty to last quite a while. Is that box all you could find?"
"Yeah, you forget how big I am. When I was human it was hard enough to find clothes, now I’m almost a foot taller with broader shoulders." I shrug, "But it is enough for me."
"Okay, I guess we can always find more wherever we are passing through."
I rest my arm across her shoulders as we walk back into the mall. "Yep, there is always that."
In the central area of the mall we find the others waiting for us. I set my box down next to all the bags of clothes they found to fit. "Okay, is there anything else we want to get while we are here?"
I look around as they all shake their heads no. "Okay, then let’s get these bags out to the vehicles and get going." With a clap we all grab up bags and start carrying them to the RV. It takes several trips, but soon we have all of our new possessions stored and once more we are ready to go.
We all climb into our transport and fire up our engines. Ken’s voice comes in over the CB, "Let’s roll Goliath. Head north on 75 for now. That will get us into Oklahoma, from there we will need to get some new maps that are better for that area."
I pick up the mic key it. "Sure thing Ken, we should be able to make it well into Oklahoma before nightfall."
I see Ken hang up his mic and blow his horns. I rev my engine and slip it into gear. As we take off, I slip a CD into the player. Looks like a long trip ahead.