The Watcher Chapter 10

"Randy's Ark"

'Are you still tired?' Spice asks when she sees my yawn just before we start out on our second day of our journey home.

'Yes. I forgot how much I hate being outside at night, especially when it's cold' I say. It's a lie. I didn't get much sleep last night because I couldn't fall asleep without Randy being next to me. Instead of Him and His scent, I had Tuna (everyone slept next to each other for both safety and warmth) and the scent of scary smelling animals.

After a few hours of walking, and about an hour and half of whining from some of the younger animals, Tuna stops for a break. The problem is, he did just that. He didn't make any kind of announcement; he just stopped and flopped down on his side and started washing a paw, thus causing a major pile up of animals, and much grousing.

'So tell me Tuna, how is it that you know Spice?' I ask while we're stopped.

'How is that any of us know any of us?' he answers stoically.

'Good point' I say, although it isn't. I decide I'll talk to Spice about it later.

I do just that once we set out after the rest stop. I come up with an excuse to go to the back of the pack and slip in between Spice and Greenie, one of the iguanas.

'Just out of curiosity, how do you know Tuna?' I ask Spice after a couple minutes of silence.

'He used to be one of us. One of…that man's animals. He got out last November, after he got some cat pregnant. He promised to come back for her and her litter, or so I'm told. I didn't get there until May. But anyways, by the time he got back, right around the time I got there, the cat and her litter had all been…disposed of' Spice explains.

'Did anyone ever mention who the cat was that Tuna impregnated?' I ask, even more curious now.

'They didn't mention a name, they just said she was a real slut' she answers.

'Who told you this?' I ask.

'Chewy, one of the rats, said his mom said that.' Spice says. Or something like that.

'Where's Chewy's mom at?' I shout in order to be heard.

'Over here' a squeaky voice replies.

I follow the voice and fall into step next to the rat.

'What's your name?' I ask the rat.

'Mousy. Don't ask' she says when I give her a questioning look.

'I hear from a good source that your son said that you said that the cat who Tuna got pregnant before he left last November was a real slut' I begin.

'Yes' Mousy says.

'What was the cat's name?' I ask.

'Cherry' she answers. I leave without saying anything else, and go back up front next to Tuna.

'What's masticating you?' Tuna asks after I've fumed for an hour.

'What the hell does masticating mean?' I snap.

'Eating. What's eating you?' he asks.

'The fact that no one would want me to be doing what I'm doing if anyone knew who I was' I explain.

'Why not? J.C. was a jerk to every one of them. Why would they not want you to liberate them of that?' Tuna asks.

'Like I said, because of who I am' I remind him.

'Who are you?' he asks.

'Apparently I'm the son of the resident slut' I snap, not wanting to think of Mother as something like a slut.

'I lived in that hellhole for eight years. I wish I would've gotten out sooner, son of a slut liberator or no. Oh, and by the way, who was your mother? I might've known her. If I did, I can tell you whether or not she was the slut everyone says she is or not' he says.

'Cherry' I answer. Tuna is silent for several moments.

'No. No, your mother was definitely not a slut' he says when he finally does speak.

After that, we walk for the next few hours without saying anything to each other. I think both of us are thinking the same thing, but neither one of us has the guts to say it.

That Afternoon

Ander's POV

The rest of the day is uneventful until mid-afternoon.

Then Tuna turns to me and says 'Your street is the next one on the right. I'll let you lead us from there.'

Sure enough, he falls back into the pack as soon as the street sign that says "Glenview Rd." comes into view.

I try to ignore the painful memories as I lead the way. It takes every ounce of mental strength and focus I have to do so.

After a few more minutes of walking, I see our destination. Forgetting about everyone else, I go running to the front door and start meowing and scratching.

Randy's POV

I'm sitting on the couch, doing homework, when I hear scratching and meowing at the door. Mom gets up from the table to answer the door, but doesn't make it there before I do.

I yank the door open and sure enough, there's Anders. He immediately comes in and starts rubbing up against my legs.

When I start to shut the door, Anders jumps back outside and looks up at me.

'You want me to follow you outside?' I ask.

'Meow' he answers.

Mom and I both follow him, and are both shocked with what we see. Waiting in our driveway is a large mass of animals.

'Now all we're missing is a flood' I joke. Before I can get the last word out of my mouth, rain starts pouring from the overcast skies. I gulp.

Later That Night

Randy's POV

'Come on dad, the story will be on after this commercial break' I yell to dad, who's in the bathroom.

'And finally tonight, we have the story that some have dubbed the story of "Randy's Ark"'.

'A Detroit teenager's cat has made the news tonight for leading a pack of animals to his home. While we can't be positive yet, it is believed that these animals once belonged to J.C. Smith, whose death is currently under investigation.'

The newscast ends with a picture of me holding Anders, and a picture of the pack of animals, who have all been taken someplace (a safe place, not somewhere where they'll be killed; I made sure of this).

I start to ask Anders what he thinks of all this, but stop when I see that he's sound asleep. I start to move him so I can get up and get ready for bed, and he sinks a claw into my shirt so I can't.

'Yeah, I missed you too' I whisper. Anders opens his eyes and looks at me. Then he closes them again, and sighs contentedly. I pet his head and scratch behind his ear. For once, he doesn't object.

A/N: Yuck. I'll just say up front, I don't like this chapter. I don't like it at all, except for about the last seven sentences.

So why did I post this then? Because I think this is the best it's going to get for this chapter. Hopefully the next one will be much better.

Even though it isn't so good, I hope you read and review.

Thanks for reading.

-Yours truly, Randy Taylor