Fatalis

Chapter Fifty

Grand did two things in the instant before the cat in front of them charged. First, he flung his flashlight at the second cat. The animal growled as the flashlight struck it. Grand hoped it would also distract and confuse the cat in front, for just a moment. As the submerged flashlight filled the pipe with a dim, rippling glow. Grand dropped his belt by his feet and grabbed the branch that Hannah had stumbled over. The thick limb had become wedged diagonally against the sides of the conduit. Wrenching it free, Grand wrapped his belt around the bottom to protect his hands, then immediately flattened his back against the pipe and lifted the branch slightly.

The charging cat stopped right in front of Grand. The animal landed on the branch and the forward part cracked beneath its forepaws. As the animal opened its jaw and lunged toward him, Grand shoved what was left of the limb forward, into the cat's right front shoulder. The scientist leaned all his weight into the push, growling and focusing his moat. The cat hadn't had time to dig its claws in and, helped by the water's buoyancy, Grand was able to shove the animal back against the far side of the conduit. The beast snapped and struggled but Grand had it pinned.

For the moment.

"Go!" Grand screamed hoarsely at Hannah.

The young woman scrambled behind Grand on her hands and knees. The churning water nearly reached her chest as the flood increased. She made it past the scientist, stumbled forward until she could get her feet under her, then ran into the darkness.

The big cat began to duck and wriggle to get away from the branch.

"No!" Grand cried and pushed harder, his feet braced behind him, against the side of the pipe. The animal's cries filled the conduit. So did its twisting struggles, which prevented the second cat from squeezing around it.

Grand saw the second cat finally give up trying to get past. It crouched and prepared to leap over the other cat.

This was it, he told himself. He was going to have to release the first cat and run.

Suddenly, a second, deeper roar filled the pipe, sounds that didn't come from the cats or from Grand. When the massive flood hit seconds later, it filled the pipe more than halfway, slamming the cats one into the other and driving them forward while washing around them.

Grand immediately released the branch, bent to scoop up his belt, and was knocked back hard before he could find it. The waters washed him forward, back first, which may have prevented him from drowning. He was able to breathe by stretching out and floating on his back, his mouth facing up. Buffeted from side to side, he extended his arms to keep from being rammed against the walls of the conduit.

It was dark. Grand did not see or hear the cats. There was only the din of the flood. Thoughts came at him quickly and disconnectedly. He hoped that Hannah was all right; he knew they were both going to take a bad hit when they emerged from the pipe; and he was sorry he'd had to hurt the cat, as magnificent a creature as he'd ever seen. A creature whose right to life and to the earth itself transcended his own.

And there was another thought. A thought spurred by what he'd seen in the blockhouse. Confirmation of what he'd suspected and the certainty that there would be more death before this matter was concluded.

Grand's thoughts were cut short when he felt himself drop. The roar of the water changed from loud and thunderous to loud and strident. The dark of the pipe was replaced by sky, though he was still on his back. He was swept to his left, felt the grate against his shoulder, and reflexively grabbed it to break his fall. But Grand couldn't hold on and he hit the rocky ground hard. From cave falls he knew not to take the entire hit on his back and he immediately slapped-out, striking the ground with his arms extended and his hands palm-down. That helped brace him and spread the force of the impact. His shoulders and lower back still struck hard but at least he didn't break anything.

He also didn't come to a stop. Water continued to wash over him, pushed him toward the larger gully. He leaned on his right side and tried to swing over on his hands and knees but the water knocked him forward. He tumbled down the stony wall, water and branches pouring over him as he struggled to move away from the flow, toward the rear of the gully. He got out of the cascade, scratched at the wall with his left hand, and managed to pull himself to his feet.

"Hannah!" he cried.

There was no answer. He looked around in the dark.

"Hannah!"

"Here," she moaned.

He looked ahead and saw Hannah curled on her side several feet ahead of him in the gully.

Struggling forward as the water and debris spilled onto him, Grand reached Hannah's side. Water from the pipe flowed under and around her. Though her eyes were shut, she was breathing and coughing. Grand felt her neck. It didn't appear to be broken. It was probably all right to move her.

He slid his arms carefully under her legs and shoulders.

"Where are we?" she asked, her eyes still shut. It was as though she was waking from a dream.

"Outside the pipe," Grand told her. "Now hush. I'm going to get you out of here."

"Okay."

There was something sweet and trusting about the "okay."

Grand picked her up gently and, shielding her from the water with his body, carried her to the back of the gully.

Half-walking, halt-stumbling, but making sure that Hannah didn't hit the ground, Grand climbed from the channel.

He set her down on the soft grasses at the far end. Still barely conscious, Hannah moved her leg, her head, her arms. Except for a few cuts and bruises, she didn't appear to be seriously hurt.

"Where are the tigers?"

"I think they're staying inside. We're not a threat anymore," he said.

"Good… good."

Grand turned to look back at the pipe. The water continued to pour out but he saw no sign of the cats. He wasn't surprised. Once those claws and forelimbs dug into something, he didn't imagine there was very much that could dislodge them.

Grand sat on the grass to Hannah's left. He took her hand in his and held it as he caught his breath and thought about what he'd seen in the blockhouse. About the Chumash painting. About how it all made sense now.

Suddenly, the terrain began to brighten. Grand looked behind him as a light appeared in the sky. A moment later he heard the sounds of a rotor.

Less than a minute after that a chopper was settling down on the hilltop above the conduit.