Hunter and Hunted
By Josh84
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and characters from the TV series © Disney, Predator © 20th Century Fox.
Rating: M for language, extreme violence and gory scenes.
Special thanks to MaceEcam and Tomboy 601 for beta-reading.
Chapter 1
Monique sighed heavily as she plopped down into the booth next to Kim.
"Long night?" Kim asked, placing a sympathetic hand on her friend's arm.
"Long and slow, girl." Monique replied tiredly, resting her head in her hands. "We only had a handful of people come into the store, let alone purchase anything. It seems fashion isn't really an issue since the aliens attacked."
During the invasion, when the alien walkers went on their rampage, many buildings were demolished. However, a lot of key buildings, including the hospital, the space center, and the mall, managed to remain more or less untouched.
"Don't worry, Monique," Kim replied with consoling pat on the arm. "Once things settle down, business will pick up again."
"Let's hope so." Monique cast a quick glance around the mostly reconstructed Bueno Nacho – all that was missing was the giant sombrero roof, a plastic film cover in its place; there were only four or five people besides themselves spread out in the restaurant. Immediately, she noticed a certain member of their little group was missing in action. "Where's Ron?"
"Finishing his shift at Smarty Mart; he and Rufus should be here soon." A smirk appeared on the redhead's face. "I'm sure he'll be in worse shape than you."
"Why's that?"
"He got stuck with stockroom duty."
Monique winced, but matched her friend's smirk. "Ooh, tough break."
Just then, the front doors were pushed open, and in came Ron, looking ready to collapse on the spot. Rufus was slung over his shoulder, with the same look of exhaustion as his owner. Ron staggered across the few meters to the booth, and slumped into the seat across from Kim and Monique with a loud groan.
Monique tried very hard to hide her smirk, but with little success. "Another grueling day in the stockroom, huh?" she asked with a casual tone.
"Please." the blond moaned, weakly raising his hand up. "Don't mention 'stockroom.'" He then lifted Rufus off his shoulder. The naked mole rat squeaked a small groan of his own as Ron gently placed him on the tabletop.
After a few minutes of silence, Ron recovered enough to speak normally. "I'm serious, there ought to be some kind of child labor laws for this kind of thing."
"There are. But then you said so yourself when you faced Warhok, you're not a child." Kim added with wry smile.
Ron glared at his girlfriend. "Oh, real nice, Kim, mock my pain; like I didn't get enough of that from Mr. Barkin today." He shifted his gaze straight ahead, glaring into empty space as he recalled the events. All the while, his ire rose as he spoke: "Every time I actually made some progress, in walks Mr. Barkin with more returns to add to the piles, putting me back at square one. And all the time he was wearing a grin that would make any super villain proud, mocking me, relishing in my torment!"
With a growl, he rose to his feet and slammed his fists on the table. Rufus, who was drifting off to dreamland, squeaked in alarm and looked around in a panic. Ron didn't notice as he continued his rant. "Even after graduating, I'M STILL GETTING BARKINED!"
Kim reached across the table, grabbed the collar of his jersey and yanked him down into his seat. "Ron, amp down." she hissed. When he complied, the group looked around to see that everyone in the restaurant was staring at them.
Ron rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, I guess I kinda freaked." he chuckled nervously.
"Ya think?" Monique asked; her tone was bone-dry.
"Mm-hmm!" Rufus nodded in agreement.
As Kim and the others got up from the booth and went to the counter to place their order, the other customers returned to their meals. Since it wasn't very busy, it didn't take long for Ned to get their food to them. They then returned to their seats and began to eat. After the first few mouthfuls, Ron and Rufus were quickly rejuvenated and started wolfing down their meals with their usual gusto. Meanwhile, Monique and Kim talked about inconsequential events. Finally, Monique brought up the one topic that only Kim and Ron could relate to.
"So, anything been going on mission-wise?"
Kim shook her head. "Nope, things have been pretty quiet since the Lorwardians invaded a few weeks ago."
"Seems like the bad guys decided to take a vacation, too," Ron said with a smile, "Which I'm glad for, 'cause it's given me the chance to spend some quality time with my bon-diggity girlfriend."
Kim returned the smile as she reached across the table and took his hand in hers. "I'm glad, too, Ron." She then sighed. "Better make the most of it while we can. Before we know it, the villains will be back, with more evil plots we'll need to foil."
"Eh, no big, KP." he replied with a dismissive wave. "After single-handedly stopping an alien invasion, taking on super villains will be a piece of cake."
"Remember, Ron, we didn't fight the Lorwardians alone. Drakken and Shego helped us out," she reminded him, and then added grudgingly; "And, technically, and I so don't like admitting this, it was Drakken's mutant plant plot that saved the world."
"Yeah… I guess," Ron groused. But he quickly brightened. "But it was yours truly who took out Warmonga and Warhok and their mother ship with my mystical monkey mojo," he said, throwing a couple shadow punches.
"Uh-huh." Rufus agreed, mimicking Ron's movements and squeaking "Hai-yah!"
"Yes, you did, Ron." Kim agreed with a warm smile.
"Speaking of Drakken and Shego, what happened to them?" Monique asked curiously.
"Apparently, Drakked received a medal for saving the world, and Global Justice granted him and Shego amnesty," Kim answered. "Haven't heard from or seen them since."
"You think they've given up the villain gig?"
"I don't know," she replied. "The whole reason Drakken tried to take over the world was to be recognized for his genius. Now that he's done that, he may go good and leave it at that."
"What about Shego?"
Kim thought for a moment. "Her, I have doubts about," she sighed. "I'm thinking that if Drakken did go good, Shego might continue the villain thing on her own, freelancing and mercenary-type stuff."
"You don't think she'd do the super hero thing again?"
"No," Kim answered immediately. "She did that with her brothers for years, and then she quit."
"And if you met her brothers, you'd see why." Ron mentioned, Rufus nodding in affirmation.
"Okay, how about Global Justice?" Monique inquired. "Couldn't she work for them? They pay, don't they?"
"Yes, which begs the question why we haven't joined them, yet." Ron stated, giving Kim a look.
Kim rolled her eyes and turned back to Monique, ignoring her boyfriend's remark. "While GJ does pay, they also have certain procedures and protocols that would set limits for Shego. And I know she would have issues with that. She likes to follow her own rules."
She fell silent as she turned to stare out the window, her mind now on the green woman. In truth, Kim truly hoped that Shego would change her ways. It would be great if the two could fight side by side, like they have done on a couple separate occasions, instead of constantly fighting each other. Maybe they could even become friends.
Ron and Monique shared a glance before looking back at the redhead as she continued to look out the window with a solemn expression. Ron, unaware of Kim's thoughts, figured that she was brought down by the idea of having to continue to fight Shego in the future. He decided to try and boost her spirits.
"Stress not, KP," he said in his usual upbeat manner, "If Shego does decide to keep causing trouble; you can take a break and I'll take her on. After all, I am the Monkey Master." He emphasized his point by waving his arms in an exaggerated kung fu fashion. As he executed a hand chop that slammed into the table, his fingers hit the tip of a plate of half-eaten nachos, catapulting a large glob of cheese through the air, which splattered right in the center of his face.
Monique rip-snorted, breaking into a large grin as she laughed, "More like… the Splatter Master!"
Kim snorted softly, the corners of her mouth curling into a small smile, which was growing broader every second as she looked at her boyfriend sitting there, wide-eyed with cheese oozing down his face. Her snorting quickly gave way to giggling, and it was at this point that Rufus leapt up onto Ron's shoulder. Whether it was to help his owner, or just help himself, the naked mole rat started to lick the cheese off Ron's face, causing the young man to sputter, "Rufus! Stop it!" Finally Kim gave up her struggle and started laughing, too.
After a few minutes, the girls' laughter died down, an occasional giggle escaping now and again, and Ron was able to shoo Rufus away and use a napkin to wipe off the leftover cheese sauce. When he finished cleaning up, he looked at Kim, and he smiled. Though the cheese was not part of his plan, it helped him accomplish his mission: putting that wonderful smile back on his girlfriend's face.
The three friends and naked mole rat soon returned to their meals, just enjoying the peaceful silence and each other's company. Suddenly, a sound caught Kim's attention, causing her to look out the restaurant's window. At the same time, Ron, after washing down his latest mouthful with soda, let loose a hearty—and loud—belch.
"Ron!" Monique snapped.
"Did you hear that?" Kim asked.
Monique looked at her dryly. "Kim, everyone here heard that," she answered just as dryly, motioning to the other diners, who were looking at their table once again.
Kim shook her head. "No, not Ron, that booming sound," she said, looking back out the window. "It came from outside."
"Booming sound?" Monique repeated, raising a curious eyebrow.
"I didn't hear anything," Ron said, turning to look out the window. Rufus shook his head, indicating he didn't hear the anything either.
"Considering that belch you just let loose, I'd be surprised if you did," Monique flatly replied. Ignoring his glare, she turned to Kim and placed a hand on her shoulder. "What do you think it was, Kim?"
Kim kept silent as she stared out the window, waiting to see if she would hear the sound again or maybe see what caused it. Over the next couple minutes, she heard nothing except the gossip of the diners in Bueno Nacho. She sighed as she shook her head, and looked back to her friends. "I guess I'm just hearing things," she assured them with a small smile. "It's nothing."
At that instant, there were four loud pops. This time, everyone heard it. The customers were looking out the windows, murmuring nervously.
"But that was something," Monique said warily, casting a glance out the window as Kim had done.
"Post-Fourth of July fireworks?" Ron guessed uneasily. The serious look that appeared on Kim's face immediately told him that wasn't it.
"Gunshots," she grimly stated.
Recognizing the look on her face and the tone of her voice, Monique quickly scooted out of her seat, Kim close behind her. As soon as she was on her feet, the redhead made a beeline for the doors. Ron got out of the booth as Rufus leapt from the table into Ron's pant pocket, and the boy chased after her, Monique close behind.
Kim burst through the double doors and came to a halt, her friends coming to a stop on either side of her a second later. She carefully looked around, her eyes scanning for any signs of disturbance. Just then, another shot rang out, and Kim's head shot to the right; the sound came from that direction. As Kim sprinted down the street, with her friends on her heels, her Kimmunicator beeped.
"Wade," she answered, barely sparing a glance at the device.
"Kim, I'm monitoring the police scanner," the tech guru informed her. "There was a call-in reporting gunfire, two blocks east of your location."
"Already moving," she replied before shutting off the Kimmunicator. After a couple minutes, the group closed in on the location; there was a small crowd of people standing on the sidewalk outside the coffee shop, nervously looking towards an alleyway further down the street, but keeping their distance.
"What's the sitch?" Kim asked the group as she came to a stop. A guy who worked at the coffee shop stepped up to her to answer her question.
"We were all inside, and there was this loud boom," he explained, "Like a cannon or something."
Ron and Monique shared a look that said "So Kim did hear a booming sound". Kim just focused on the man as he continued; "I stepped outside to look around. Then I heard a man scream and then a crash coming from the alley. A few seconds later, I heard gunshots and saw muzzle fire. I ran in and told someone to call the police." He paused, taking a deep breath and exhaling. "After that last shot, it's been quiet. No one's come out, and none of us have gone near there," he added, warily glancing at the alley.
Kim placed a hand on his shoulder to get his attention again. "Just keep everyone back. We'll check it out." When he nodded in affirmation, she cautiously started towards the alleyway, with Ron and Monique close behind her. They were a few meters from the alley's entrance when Ron spoke up.
"Hey, isn't that Bonnie's car?"
Almost instinctively, Kim craned her head around and spotted a white, topless German Mercedes parked a few feet from them. She was about to turn to Ron to tell him to keep his head in the game, but stopped when she noticed two things that caught her attention – the first was the keys hanging in the door lock, and the second was the turned over to-go coffee cup on the sidewalk by the car, the leaking brown liquid forming a small puddle.
Casting a quick glance at the alleyway, Kim changed course and headed for the car, and the others followed her. As she knelt down over the spilled coffee cup, Monique walked around to the front to see the license plate, which read "BNIE-1" on it. "It is her car," she confirmed.
Kim dipped her index and middle finger into the puddle. It was still warm. A small ball of ice started to form in the pit of her stomach as she turned to look back at the dimly lit alleyway.
Meanwhile, Ron looked in the car and noticed a book bag filled with school books and papers. He then remembered how Bonnie was the only one who didn't graduate with the rest of them and was forced to go to summer school to get that last credit she needed. Despite the way she treated him and his friends throughout high school, Ron couldn't help but feel a ping of pity for the girl.
"So, where is Bonnie?" he asked distractedly. He looked at Kim as she stood up and saw that she was looking towards the alley again. A couple seconds later, something clicked in his head, and he paled in realization. "Oh, no." he whispered.
The three of them cautiously made their way toward the alleyway again. As they got closer, they pressed themselves against the wall just outside the alley's entrance. Kim took a couple deep breaths, preparing for the worst. Then she moved the last few inches and carefully peaked around the corner. Seeing no immediate danger, she moved to stand directly in the entranceway, Ron and Monique moving to stand on either side. Their wide eyes took in the scene.
The alleyway was lit by a single bulb that was positioned above the side entrance of the right building. The bulb occasionally flickered and didn't give off much light, but there was enough to let them see everything. A few of the trashcans were overturned, spilling their putrid contents onto the ground; some of them were heavily dented, as if someone took a sledge hammer to them. But that's not what caught the team's attention.
It was the blood.
There was a lot of blood. It covered the ground in splatters here and there, and there were at least two pretty good-sized puddles of it. There was a small streak of the dark red fluid across the right wall like spray paint, and the left wall had a large splatter that looked like someone threw a ketchup bottle at the wall, which exploded on impact.
"My God." Monique whispered, her hands flying to her mouth.
"It's like something out of a horror movie," Ron gulped, horrified. Rufus poked his head out of the pocket, gave a shuddering chatter, and ducked back down, leaving only his eyes visible.
Kim was also shaken, though she recovered quickly. She looked at the blood puddles and noticed that the some of the edges were smeared outward, like something was dragged through them, forming red trails on the concrete that were leading to the back of the alley.
"Stay close." Kim whispered as she cautiously moved forward, tensed and ready for anything. Ron and Monique needed no further encouragement as they got up right behind her, leaving only the barest of space between them. As they approached the blood smears, they tried their best to get through without actually stepping into the mess, but considering it covered most of the ground, it couldn't really be helped.
Along the way, Kim saw an open switchblade on the ground, blood splattered on both the blade and handle. A little further along, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a gun barrel sticking out from underneath a trashcan lid. Kim stepped over to the lid, knelt down and took hold of the handle, and lifted the lid.
Kim gasped as she backed away, dropping the lid, which hit the ground with a loud, reverberating clang. When the others looked over her shoulders, Monique paled, Ron gave wheezing gasp, and Rufus let out a frightened squeak and ducked fully back into the pocket, pulling the pocket flap down over him.
It wasn't the gun itself that shocked them; it was a standard 9mm semi-automatic pistol, the kind similar to what policemen carry. It was the severed hand, cut cleanly at the wrist, the fingers clutching the hand grip, and the index finger wrapped tightly around the trigger, that got them wigging.
"Okay, I'm really getting freaked here." Ron said, trembling.
"I got you beat, boy! I'm already freaked!" Monique nearly shrieked.
Kim quickly shushed them both. "Listen," she whispered. When they complied, they immediately heard it. It was soft, but unmistakable – the sound of whimpering. They quickly looked around for the source.
"Kim, over there," Monique said as she pointed to a pair of upright trashcans. Behind them was a pair of dainty, shaking, shoe-covered feet. The trio carefully inched their way over. Once they got close enough they slowly peaked over the trashcans to see…
"Bonnie!" Kim gasped.
She wasn't sure what she would find going into that alley. She had feared the worst. She was relieved to find her high school rival alive, but that feeling was short lived and quickly replaced with shock when she got a good look at her current state.
Bonnie was on the ground, curled up in a ball, shaking like a leave in the wind. The zipper on her jean shorts was undone and they were pulled down just past her hips, revealing her black panties underneath. Her shirt had been sliced straight down the middle and was hanging in on her shoulders like a makeshift vest. It also looked like the front of her black bra was also cut, revealing her breasts, which were now covered by her crossed arms as she hugged herself. Most of the front of her upper body was covered with splattered blood, including her neck, her hair and the top half of her face. Her left eye was open wide with fright, while the right was nearly swollen shut, and there was a trail of blood from her nose to her upper lip and a second trail from her lower lip to her chin.
Kim quickly rounded the trashcans, kneeling down beside Bonnie. Monique followed suit and knelt on the opposite side of the shivering girl. Ron stood back behind Kim, looking on with concern, while at the same time, trying not to stare at Bonnie's barely covered cleavage. He was about to ask if she was okay, but for once he was able to bite back the question before it escaped his lips. It was obvious, even to him, that Bonnie was not okay.
"Bonnie," Kim spoke. She got no response. She gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Bonnie, it's me. It's Kim. Can you hear me?"
The brunette gave no sign of hearing her. She just sat there in the fetal position, trembling.
"Look at her." Monique said softly. "The girl is scared to death."
Kim nodded. Whatever happened, Bonnie must have been right in the middle of it.
She was brought out her reverie by soft murmuring, coming from Bonnie. She leaned in close, as did Monique. A minute later, they pulled back and looked at each other in confusion.
"What's she saying?" Ron asked, noticing their expressions.
"I don't know," Kim replied. "She's not making much sense."
Monique spoke up. "She keeps saying, 'It came out of nowhere.' 'It killed them.'"
Kim activated her Kimmunicator. "Wade, we're at the scene. Bonnie's hurt and in shock. I need an ambulance ASAP."
"You got it, Kim," he replied as his fingers flew across the keyboard. "The police are on their way; ETA, five minutes."
"Thanks." As the screen went black, Kim looked back at Bonnie; she had fallen silent again, an occasional whimper the only thing passing her quivering lips. Kim then turned her attention back to the blood trail at their feet. It ran all the way to the back of the alley, splatters leading up the back wall.
"Monique, stay with Bonnie." she said. "The police will be here soon."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna follow that blood trail and see who it leads me to."
Monique fell silent for a moment. The idea of her best friend going after who did… whatever happened here made her worried. But she knew that once Kim set her mind to something, there was no talking her out of it. "Be careful." she finally said.
Kim nodded and then turned to her boyfriend. "Let's go, Ron." With that, she dashed toward the back wall and with a show of cheerleading prowess, leapt over it, somersaulted in mid-air, and gracefully landed on the other side.
"Right behind ya, KP!" he called. He then broke into a run. As he reached the back wall, he narrowed his eyes, concentrating, summoning some of the mystical monkey power within him. At the last second, he veered to the right, planted his foot on the wall of the building and used it to launch himself into the air towards the wall of the opposite building. He repeated the process once more, and he leapt over the back wall.
Unfortunately, he didn't gain enough height to completely clear the wall, and his foot hooked onto the ledge. As a result, he was flung straight down, where he bellyflopped onto a dumpster, and immediately bounced head-over-heels and slammed back first onto the concrete, completely knocking the wind out of him.
As soon as he sucked air into his lungs, he expelled it in a pained groaned. Rufus flopped out of his pant pocket, moaning as he felt his tiny head spin. Slowly, Ron rolled over and got onto his hands and knees. After catching his breath again, he got to his feet, though he was hunched over and clutching his back with one hand.
"Okay… that didn't… go very well." he moaned. As he straightened up, his back and neck popped, making him wince through clenched teeth. After the pain subsided he turned to look for Kim, and he spotted her moving up the street. He started to run, but came to a halt as a sharp pain shot through his back, making him yelp in agony. He settled for a steady power-walk, clutching his back all the way. Rufus, finally shaking off the dizziness, scampered after him.
XXXXXXX
Kim continued to follow the seemingly endless trail of blood. It moved from the street up onto the sidewalk, and soon it moved to the grass, staining the green blades dark red. Finally, the trail came to an end. She came to a stop and raised an eyebrow. At the end of the trail, sat three loose piles of what appeared to be clothes. She took a closer look, and then her eyes widened and her hand flew to her mouth as she gasped; there were what looked like human intestines and other internal organs amongst the ripped, torn, bloodstained clothing.
Just then, a trickle of blood splattered onto one of the piles, bringing Kim's attention upward. As soon as she looked up, she paled more than she had before.
XXXXXXX
As the pain finally began to fade, Ron started to pick up speed. He was fully jogging when he finally saw Kim had stopped. "Kim!" he called. As he got closer, he saw that she was on her knees, and her back was to him. He walked up and plopped down beside her, panting heavily. Not far behind, Rufus ran all the way until he came to a stop between the two humans.
"Did you… find anything, KP?" he asked. When he got no response, he finally looked at her. He immediately grew concerned when he saw her face, which was very pale, and the look she had – a look of fright. "KP?" he said, putting a hand on her shoulder. He followed her line of vision, and his face quickly grew just as pale as hers.
Above them was a billboard, but whatever was being advertised on it was completely lost to them. Hanging from the lights above the billboard were three bodies – completely skinned.
Ron began to hyperventilate. Less than a minute later, he felt his supper quickly travel up his throat. He didn't try to hold it back; instead he lurched forward and deposited his nacos onto the bloodstained grass in front of him.
Rufus, trembling in fear, ran up Kim's shoulder, and hid himself in her auburn hair.
Kim did not notice either of them. She just stayed transfixed on the three blood-soaked corpses, hanging like sides of beef in a slaughterhouse. She couldn't look away; in fact, she found herself taking in the details of them individually, each differing in some way.
She studied the one on the far right first. Based on its size, it was a man. In the center of his chest was a large, gaping wound. It looked like it was caused by a large firearm, or at least one with power, like a shotgun. Though she couldn't see from where she was, she bet that whatever made the wound went all the way through him.
The second body in the middle was also male. The only injury that she could see was the head. The top of the skull was caved in, a steady stream of blood pouring from it.
Kim turned her eyes to the final corpse on the left. This one was smaller in size than the first two and was curved differently; this one was a female. What caught Kim's attention immediately was the woman's left hand… or lack thereof. She had been the one holding the gun. Upon looking closer, Kim saw what looked like two deep puncture wounds in the woman's torso, possibly the cause of death.
Finally, through a sheer act of will, Kim forced her eyes closed and turned her head down towards the ground, taking deep breaths, trying to fight back the wave of nausea she felt, pausing to swallow the bile in the back of her throat. She then became aware of her surroundings; she hadn't even realized that she had fallen to her knees. She then heard heaving to her right, and she looked to see Ron hunched over a pool of vomit, gasping. She crawled over and placed an arm around him. He tensed at the contact. "Its okay, Ron." she spoke softly. "Just breathe." He quickly relaxed, leaning into her embrace, and slowly began to breath normally again.
Kim heard the faint but growing sound of sirens, and she looked over her shoulder to see the flashing lights coming down the street. She was then aware of a small quivering mass on the back of her neck. Using her free hand, she reached around under her lion's mane and pulled out Rufus. The poor thing was curled up in a shivering ball, whimpering, just like Bonnie before. She brought him closer to her chest, using her thumb to gently stroke his head, whispering softly, "Its okay, Rufus. It's okay."
She continued to hold them both close, comforting them as the police cars came pulling up to the curb.
XXXXXXX
Over the next several minutes, police were setting up barricades, redirecting cars and keeping people who were gathering back.
Kim had just finished giving her statement to an officer. As he walked away, another walked up, one that she recognized. "Officer Hobble."
"Kim Possible," he greeted. "Miss Rockwaller was taken to the hospital. Your friend, Monique, went with her."
"Thanks."
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, just a little shaken."
"I'm not surprised, after what you've seen," he said sympathetically. He then looked at
Ron sitting on the back of the second ambulance, breathing into an oxygen mask as a paramedic looked him over. "What about him?"
Kim looked at Ron, before turning back to Hobble. "He's pretty shaken up." She then turned and walked over to the ambulance, the police chief close behind her. As they got closer, they noticed Rufus sitting next to Ron, breathing into a second mask, though it was too big for him.
"How is he?" Kim asked the paramedic.
"A couple bruises from his little tumble, but nothing serious. He should be fine."
Kim nodded and then placed a hand on her boyfriend's shoulder. "How are you feeling, Ron?"
He pulled the mask away and looked at her. "They had no skin, KP. They had no skin!"
"No skin." Rufus parroted, still breathing into his mask.
"I know, Ron." Kim replied gently, giving his shoulder a comforting squeeze.
"Even the uncut edition of Zombie Mayhem didn't have that kind of carnage." he ranted. "What we just saw was a whole new level of sick and wrong!"
Just then, two EMT's wheeled a stretcher carrying a body bag up to the ambulance. Ron watched as they loaded it into the ambulance; he then started hyperventilating again, and he quickly looked away, putting the oxygen mask back on and taking deep breaths.
As the other two bodies were being loaded, Officer Hobble shook his head grimly as he looked on. "Poor bastards," he said. During his years on the force, he had seen many horrible things, but nothing like this. "No way for anyone to die."
Kim nodded as they loaded the last body onto the ambulance. She then looked to Ron and Rufus. "Come on, guys. We should meet up Monique at the hospital and see how Bonnie's doing."
"I'm all for that," Ron replied as he put the mask aside and quickly got to his feet. Rufus followed suit, leaping to the ground.
"Can I give you a lift?" Officer Hobble offered indicating his police car.
"That's okay, we'll take my car. Thanks, Officer Hobble," Kim said politely.
The police chief nodded. "Take care, you two," he said before turning to leave.
The paramedic closed the back door of the ambulance, and a minute later, the engine started off and the vehicle drove away. Kim, Ron and Rufus stood in silence, oblivious to the police and onlookers gathered, focused on the ambulance as it disappeared down the street.
"Who do you think did this, Kim?" Ron asked after awhile.
Kim was silent for moment. "I don't know, Ron." she finally replied. She then turned to him, that all-too-familiar look of determination on her face. "But we're going to find out."
"I knew you were going to say that." he said, a small smile on his face.
Kim's expression softened and she returned the smile. She then took his hand into hers. "Let's go."
The two of them walked in the direction of Bueno Nacho, Rufus scampering beside them. Suddenly, the naked mole rat came to a halt as a soft breeze blew past him. It carried a scent to his nostrils that made his instincts flare up. He looked in the direction the wind had blown from, trying to locate the source of the smell. His owner's voice interrupted his search.
"Rufus, come on!"
Rufus looked back to his retreating humans before casting a quick glance back to where he was looking. Finally, he gave up and chased after Kim and Ron, but he was still on edge. The scent he got a whiff of was one he was all too familiar with – the scent of danger.
Had he looked on a few seconds longer, he would have seen a large silhouette shimmer into view atop a nearby building, before it disappeared a second later.
To be continued…
Next time: Bonnie tells Kim what happened in the alleyway.