I hopped to the windows on the other side desperate to see out.
Where had the guy gone?
He sauntered past the RV, looking back frequently.
I hopped back to the other side, and the Sheriff was still sitting in his car.
I couldn't shake the feeling that somehow, he knew we were inside of Arlene's rig. I peered out the other window and the plaid shirt guy had taken up a position at the far edge of the Sheriff's station. He still had a full view of the library, the street, and the Sheriff's station.
He was just a lookout.
I felt the net closing in on me. We were trapped. There was no way out. If we tried to sneak out a window one of them would surely see us. There was no way that a full size timber wolf would go unnoticed in a farming community, hell we'd be lucky to make it out of town without being shot.
I was panicking again.
Arlene! I shouted in my mind. Hurry up.
But I couldn't figure out if that would be better. What was he waiting for? Why didn't he just grab us now? Unless he was waiting for us to get out of town. Somewhere on a country road there would be no witnesses. I couldn't shake the fear that somehow he knew to be on the lookout for us. Somehow Shen was connected or maybe he knew Stinger? Maybe he filed the false police report that I'd heard about? A million ideas shouted for attention in my mind. I couldn't seem to keep a thought for more than a moment. And I surely couldn't follow any of them anywhere. I couldn't seem to think what would happen if any of those crazy thoughts were true.
I couldn't seem to process it like my brain was stuck in the mud. What did it mean? What should I do? Was I really turning into a dog, with only a memory of the present? Was my short term memory slowly being devolved out of me? New fears piling onto the old ones. I heard whining and I looked at Apoc.
He was watching me, but I realized it was me that was whining.
I could smell that he was upset watching me. He was tense. I felt my nose starting to run.
I felt hot.
I put my feet flat on the cool floor mat. It felt good.
I tried to breathe deeply.
I closed my eyes and focused on just breathing.
Oh my I had to look right now, what if he was just outside the door? What if something had happened to Arlene? What if he was going to ram us with the car? Or shoot her? Or... Or...
Stop, you can only control you, I thought to myself furiously.
Just breathe.
Again.
Again.
The doors slapped open and for a moment I levitated in fear.
