xp_logs | What of the Hunting, Hunter Bold?

xp_catseye posting in

Sharon and Liam visit the Central Park, unaware that while they were watching the zoo animals someone else was watching them.

Sharon had insisted they walk the North Woods after their visit to the zoo. The crowds had her craving wilderness, and while the wilderness in Central Park had been just as carefully constructed as the zoo exhibits there was at least space to breathe. That wouldn't keep her from complaining, though.

"Human rules are unjust," Sharon declared as her long tail lashed from beneath the hem of her skirt. "Why may I not enter the exhibit? Am I not also Cat?"

"You're not that type of cat," Liam pointed out, amused. "You can't just enter an enclosure of an animal like whatever. You're not like them and they know it," he'd spent way too long making faces at a bunch of lynx kittens that were enthralled by him.

Sharon tilted her head at the sound of a vehicle's approach and turned, but it was only a ranger's truck rumbling up the path behind them. She wrinkled her nose and moved to the side of the path. "Is discriminatory," she insisted. "I should be allowed to commune with our brothers and sisters. Would this not be Enriching for them?"

"No, they don't have your intelligence. You'll confuse them and make them aggressive, which is bad for their keepers." Really, how could Sharon be this smart and this dumb?

The older girl scoffed. "This is how I know Kitten to be an only child. Communication requires only attention and patience. My cat brothers-"

Something sharp hit Sharon in the back. Instantly, the area went numb. The girl staggered, groping for whatever had struck her; her fingertips managed to brush something small and cylindrical protruding just below her shoulder blade before the strength drained from her muscles.

"Li . . ." she began, but her tongue was a dead thing in her mouth. It was as if the numbness spread with every heartbeat. She took a halting step, then fell.

"What?" Liam half turned, a sharp pinch as a dart hit him in the upper back. Crumpling, he hit the ground still turning.

Behind the two ferals the barrel of a long gun slid back through the open car window.

"Just under the wire," said the driver, carefully stowing the weapon behind his seat. "We lucked out."

His partner was already opening the door. "Help me get them into the car before someone comes," she said as she pulled a pair of zip ties from her pocket. "I can't believe you talked me into this."

"For as much as we're getting paid per head we can take a few risks. Sure the girl is worth taking?"

The woman knelt beside Sharon's limp form and swiftly secured her hands behind her back. "Borderline," she concluded after giving the girl a once over.

"We'll try it. The boy will be a nice payday, anything else is gravy." Her partner joined her as she bound Liam's hands. He studied the boy's striped face for a moment and spat over his shoulder. "Animals," he said, and reached for his earpiece.

"Targets secured. Meet us at 110th and Malcolm X. We need to be back by dusk."