Chapter 24

The Outside World

Penny shoved her way back outside roughly, in a foul mood.

She looked up and down the street she had just walked out onto, making sure that there were no signs of Calico's men looking for her, before making her way to the nearest light post, where Bolt was tied down, the leash normally kept in her scooter wrapped around the post, and clipped to Bolt's collar. But rather than untying him just yet, she sat down beside him, leaning against the light post, shoving her head into her hands and spending a few minutes thinking, trying to calm herself.

She had just spent the entirety of the morning looking through the library of this small town - Keiton Gorge, she recalled - poring over every book, and every Internet web page she could think of, looking for any sign, any hint, of a Bolivia facility under Calico's control. But after close to five hours of searching, she had come up with absolutely nothing. According to all records, Calico Technology did not have a facility, warehouse, or even a goods checkpoint, in Bolivia, or indeed, even in that part of South America. The closest thing they had were small branches in Brazil and Mexico, and they were small, unimportant facilities. Penny knew that Richard would be kept in an important facility, where his knowledge could be put to instant use the moment he buckled under the pressure, and revealed Bolt's secrets...but where could he possibly be? Even though Calico had no facilities in Bolivia, she was certain that Bruce's lead was genuine, and that it was her own deduction skills that were lacking. She knew she had heard or seen a reference to a Bolivia facility somewhere before...but where? It infuriated her that she could not work out what she knew was right in front of her, and that every second she failed to see what must have been so obvious was another second that her father was being held prisoner, having only God-knows-what done to him to make him spill his secrets.

Finally Penny just resorted to silent fuming, letting her anger slowly fade away as she sat next to her best friend, patting him occasionally, letting his presence help calm her. she was amazed at how Bolt had changed over the past couple of days...she could hardly recognise him any more. The White Shepherd now had this constant edge, an alert air about him that suggested that nothing would distract him from his internal mission to protect Penny at all costs. Penny knew that Bolt would never quite be the same again after this was over. Even if they were somehow able to overcome Calico and return to their old lives in Silverlake, Penny knew that Bolt would never quite be the same companion as he was in the five years they spent together before this mess started. Whether the change would be for better or worse, Penny could only guess at, but there was no doubt that Bolt had changed. Thinking about this lead her to Bolt's recent sense of aggression...which bordered on outright blood lust. During their hitch-hiking and scooter trips down the highway, she had attempted to teach Bolt how life was not something that should be carelessly taken, and that he had to value all life...even that of his enemies. But this seemed to be one lesson that Bolt was unable to learn. Whether he simply did not understand what Penny was trying to teach him, or whether he did not want to learn restraint, Penny could not figure out. But one thing was certain...Bolt was going to get himself into a lot of trouble if he did not change his act, and soon.

But the thing Penny marvelled at the most was Bolt's appearance. He never longer even remotely resembled a White Shepherd any more. over the past couple of days, a layer of dust, dirt, mud and grime had coated him, covering his fur from head to tail, leaving his fur a strange mottled mix of browns. Penny had initially had the urge to remove this dirt from him, but had stopped herself...it would actually work in her favour. First off, the layer of grime actually served to hide his mark extremely well, which meant that no-one would take a second glance at him thanks to the presence of a black lightning-bolt mark in his fur. And secondly, the dirty fur disguised his nature as a White Shepherd...he now more closely resembled a standard German Shepherd, a breed that was much more common, and therefore much less likely to draw attention. The disguise would also serve to quite thoroughly fool Calico's men, who would be on the lookout for a young girl with a white dog. A girl and a German Shepherd would go almost completely unnoticed, which gave her a new advantage. But even so, she still had to be extremely careful. Calico's men may no longer be able to recognise Bolt, but they may still be able to identify her, which still left her in terrible danger.

At that moment Penny was snapped out of her daydream by Bolt, who barked loudly, looking down the street. Penny jumped to her feet immediately, following Bolt's gaze, trying to see what had drawn his attention. And sure enough, turning into the street roughly half a mile away, was the familiar black sedan...Calico's patrol! She may have been able to lose them in Highton's outskirts, but that certainly did not mean that they were going to stop looking for her. Penny guessed that all the towns situated close to Highton were being checked. She knew that, after escaping from him several times now, that Calico must be beginning to get frustrated and impatient.

Penny sprang into action immediately, quickly grabbing Bolt's lead and fumbling to untie it from the light post, struggling for a moment with the knot, which had tightened under Bolt's constant yanking. "Come on, come on!" Finally, it came free, and Penny immediately unclipped Bolt from it, stowing the leash in her backpack, before heading off down the street at a swift walk, Bolt behind her all the way, looking for somewhere she could escape and hide, without drawing any attention to herself. She looked along the series of small shops the little town offered on its main street, until eventually she found a small alleyway that disappeared behind an abandoned store. It appeared to be the store's parking lot, but since the store was abandoned, Penny guessed that the lot would be, too. "Come on, Bolt!"

Knowing that Calico's patrol must be close behind her now, she darted into the alleyway, walking briskly down it, before hiding behind the far end of the building and peering around the corner, watching...waiting for the patrol to pass her by, or jump down the dead-end alley and trap her.

But in the end, nearly a minute later, Penny watched with relief as Calico's car drove casually by, showing no sign that it had seen her at all. She finally released the breath she had been unconsciously holding, turning around and slumping to the gravel, relieved that, for once, they had been able to avoid a confrontation. She did not know if she could take any more fighting at this stage, all she needed was a chance to relax, recover, and -

"Well, 'ey 'ere, pretty!"

The voice made Penny jumped a clear foot into the air, back on her feet in seconds, looking for the source of the voice, thinking for a horrific moment that the car had been a ruse to lead into another trap here. But when she saw the man who had been talking she realised that was not the case, but that she was still in trouble.

The voice belonged to a young man, no older than twenty, who it seemed was using this place as a hideout of his own. Penny could immediately tell from the slurring in his voice and his wavering, unfocused eyes that the man was clearly drunk, and that meant serious problems for Penny, especially when she noticed that he had two friends, both of whom were as intoxicated as the first. These men were so out of it that Penny simply could not know what they wanted, or what they were going to do, and that frightened her more than the car had.

The man who had spoken before, the one closest to Penny, scowled at her silence. "Wha're ya doin' here, of all pla'es, huh?"

Penny decided her best course of action might be to throw off their attempts at conversation, and just leave. "None of your business," she replied hotly, turning to head back to the street.

"Aw, come on! Why ya so rude?" a second man called, forcing Penny's attention. "We ju' asked ya a question, tha's all!"

"Yeah!" the third one chimed in. "We just wanna talk, is all!"

Penny decided at that point that it would be better to just ignore them and leave, but when she turned to do so, she found that the three men had already moved, blocking her off and surrounding her. It was only now, at their mercy, that she realised what was happening...and it horrified her to no end. Somehow, she managed to keep herself calm, and continued to try and get out of the situation without causing any trouble. "What do you want?" she asked firmly.

"Oh, I dunno," the first man said, now sneering at her, a strange hunger in his eyes that made Penny back away from him slightly. "First, we wanna talk."

"Which we've now done!" the second man cried, also seeming to grow excited at the situation unfolding before him as Penny continued to try and back away from them.

"And now," the first man re-took control of the conversation. "Well..." He stopped, letting the sentence hang dramatically for Penny, who now raised her hands defensively.

"Stay away from me!" she cried, now beginning to panic. "I'm warning you, just stay a - " her words were lost in a startled scream as the third man, who she had not seen, crept up behind her and grabbed her firmly around the waist, the other two taking the cue and rushing forward, just as Penny managed to get out one last cry: "BOLT!"

The response was quick, and unexpected.

The first one to go was the first man, the apparent ringleader, as two beams of green energy shot through his chest. He yelled once, then collapsed, dead. The second man yelled and spun at the sudden, inexplicable death of his friend...just in time to see a large, brownish blur shoot straight for his face. The next thing Penny knew, the man was on the ground, trashing wildly, Bolt having his head locked firmly in his jaws. He shook him violently a couple of times, then threw him away as if he were nothing more than a piece of garbage, where he crashed into a corner and lay still, Penny unable to tell if he was dead or alive.

But there was still the third man, who still had Penny firmly by the waist. He took in what had happened to his friend, and reacted quickly, placing one arm around Penny's throat, ready to crush the life out of her. "Get your dog to back off, girly...now!"

Penny struggled briefly with the man, trying to get his arm off her neck, but it was no use. The man may be drunk, but he was strong, and that was all he needed. But Penny still managed a small smile, knowing that she had a distinct advantage the man did not know about. "Bolt!" she called, stopping her friend in his tracks. He sat there, growling at Penny's captor, waiting for his person's demand. Penny gave another small smile, winking briefly at Bolt before speaking, hoping he got the message. If Bolt misinterpreted this one, it could easily mean her death...but then, when Penny saw the alternate, she knew she favoured the first course of action greatly. "Zoom zoom!"

Bolt paused, seemingly trying to figure out the meaning of such a basic command, but he eventually gave a small nod and, before the last drunkard could anything, reacted to the order. He shot off from his mark, moving so fast Penny didn't even see where he went; one second he was there, the next...the only sign of him was a small puff of dust.

"What the 'ell?" the third man cried, looking for the dog, but before he could even think of doing anything more than that, Penny heard a loud growling bark from somewhere behind her, and felt the man's grip slacken, before he was violently thrown aside as Bolt pushed him in some way. Penny turned, just in time to see the man fly head-first into a brick wall...hard. He slumped to the floor, knocked unconscious by the blow. Bolt made to step in and finish the man off.

"No, Bolt!" Penny cried, stopping Bolt in his tracks. "Leave him, he's no danger any more."

But Bolt did not seem satisfied by Penny's assurance of safety, and continued to look around, all of his senses obviously on high alert, as Penny's emotions recovered from a close call. And all the while, neither of them noticed a small, dark figure slink deeper into the shadows, watching them.