The wall split in two as the men approached toward it. Kaoz lifted his mouthpiece in front of his lips and hit a button on his wrist. “Oxade, this is Kaoz. Come in.”
The sound of an attack vehicle roared through his earpiece. “This is Oxade, over.”
The clandestine bunker lit up as the three men entered. Maar placed his hands on his hips, “So, this is home, is it?” he asked himself as he looked around the featureless room.
“For the moment, yes,” Crain said. “You’re safe here.”
“Do my family know?”
“Oh! Good Lord, no. They can’t know your whereabouts.”
Kaoz hit a button on the wall, forcing the doors to shut behind him. “Maar wants a sit-rep on the subject capture.”
The moon was full tonight.
A female Siamese sniffed around a patch of fresh grass and mud in a desperate hunt for food. The dried flakes of dust began to rumble back and forth like a marbles on a vibrating trampoline.
Alert, her ears pricked up, “Meow.”
The mud cracked apart as the sound of a furious engine blanketed her from behind.
She hopped around, trying to find the source of the noise. Two giant headlamps blinded her as she howled for her life.
P’TATCH! SWISH-SWIPE!
A brown grid enlarged in front of her eyes. Her feet shot into the air. The tomb of rope tangled in her claws as she somersaulted and landed in the back of a jeep.
“Maaoooww,” she squealed through her soft but venomous prison.
“Got her,” Oxade yelled at the driver from the passenger side of the 4x4. He thumped the USARIC logo on the outside of the door. The Siamese squealed in terror as it clamped eyes on a dozen captured cats in the back. As the vehicle sped through the bumps in the ground, the roped cats slammed into each other.
“Sorry, Kaoz. You were saying?”
He clutched the window-mounted machine gun and flicked the attached flashlight to life. The ground illuminated as they sped up, searching for more of the escapees.
“Maar wants to know how many you’ve caught.”
“Uh, hang on,” Oxade turned to the back of the 4x4 and performed a hasty head count, “Around twenty or so. We have other units out looking for them. You know what herding cats is like.”
“Okay, I’ll tell him,” Kaoz said before cutting the connection dead.
Two American bobtails – one orange, one white – hid behind a tree, exhausted from their escape from the compound. Not the fastest of felines, they’d become separated from the others who’d stormed ahead.
The 4x4’s headlamps began as dots in the distance but expanded the closer they got to them.
“Meow,” the orange bobtail nudged the white’s behind, running toward the Port D’Souza peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico – a glorious stretch of water lit up by the full moon.
Orange bobtail found the strength to continue toward the section of land that encroached the water, leaving the fatigued white cat behind.
VROOM, VROOM!
“I think I can see another one,” Oxade said to the driver, “Quick, to the left. Look, there. You can see its stupid cat’s eyes.”
“Meow,” the white bobtail exclaimed and ran away from the vehicle’s path.
Oxade took both handles of the gun as the driver floored the gas, frightening the life out of the cat. It jumped into the air and hissed, bushing up its tail.
Oxade opened fire on the cat.
THRAAAA-TA-TAT-A-TAT!
“Here, kitty-kitty-kitty…” he shouted as the bullets chewed up the grass as it hopped around like a cowboy having its feet fired at it by a drunken ne’er-do-well.
“Rowwaaarrr!” she screamed, tumbling around the exploding patches of mud.
“We got a live one,” Oxade yelled at the driver, “I think this one’s for the net. Back up.”
The vehicle screeched to a halt, flinging mud out in front of its bumper.
The hellish red reverse lights sprang on, flooding the white bobtail’s scared face. She turned around and ran off in the opposite direction.
VROOOOM!
The vehicle spun its wheels and darted backwards at full speed. Oxade swung the machine gun toward the trunk of the SUV and aimed it at the cat as the vehicle backed towards her.
“Faster, man. C’mon!”
“I’m trying,” the driver shouted into the rear view mirror. He carefully avoided veering off the already-beaten track.
“Closer… closer… come on to daddy, you dumb critter,” Oxade whispered, aiming the sight down on the cat’s behind. “Now!”
He yanked back on both triggers.
P’TATCH!
A net blasted out from the barrel and javelined over her as she ran.
“Got her!”
SWISH-SWIPE! The net swished across the mud, wrapped itself around the white Bobtail’s hind legs and swung into the air like a fierce fairground ride.
“Meeoooowwwwaaaaahhhh!”
She slammed to the opened deck in the back of the vehicles with dozens of fellow captives. The black Siamese clawed and chewed at the rope, trying to burst free. She suddenly looked up at the nasty man sitting atop the roof.
“Attention, please, my furry friends,” Oxade squatted and clapped his hands together, “Now, all of you have been very naughty, haven’t you? And you know what happens to bad pussycats, don’t you?”
“Hey, Oxade,” yelled the driver as he stepped on the gas, “Stop flirting with them, they’ve had enough.”
Oxade hissed at the petrified cats, scaring them half to death, “Ha-ha!”
He thumped his foot on the roof and shouted over his shoulder. “We must have at least thirty of them, now.”
“Where are the rest?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll get them,” Oxade took a final look at the feline captives, “Won’t we, my little pedigree chums?”
The 4x4 sped off past the trees and into the horizon. The noise from the engine dissipated only to be replaced by crickets.
Ten seconds later, a wet nose appeared from one of the trees. All clear.
Then another nose moved out from another tree…
… and another…
… until twenty or so female felines of different breeds, sizes and colors emerged, knowing they were safe – for now.
The leader of the pack, a gorgeous panther-esque Egyptian Mau with silver eyes, howled at the others, wanting their attention.
Scores of tiny spiders crept across the ground, snaking in and out of their paws.
The cats clawed back at them, stomping, and squishing a few of the spindly creatures as they scuttled away.
Mau snarled at the surviving spiders. She roared at the ground, scaring them off.
The cats instinctively formed a crescent around her and sat on their haunches. They were ready for answers.
Mau shifted around, lifted her tail and showed them all her behind. Everyone knew who was in charge, now.
“Meow,” the cats replied in unison.
Mau wandered toward the water, knowing the others were following her. She averted her attention to the bright moon and stopped at the shoreline.
The cats sat upright behind her.
Mau licked her mouth and shook the fatigue from her head. The light from the moon streaked across her pupils.
“Meow.”
The other cats followed suit. “Meow.”
A wondrous sight to behold if anyone had seen it. Thirty or so escapees looking at the stars in the night sky. Thankful for the chance for freedom.
The call-outs to the moon occurred again, and again… until the chorus of meows from each cat blended into one prolonged and eerie howl at the moon…