Turn 148 of 226

Unfortunately, our escapades have drawn the attention of the authorities, forcing us to flee

The sound is the thing that wakes them. The sound is not the coyote or the boar or the bull. The sound is the engine — the engine that is the diesel, the diesel that is the thing idling at the foundry gate. The gate is the thing the bodies thought was forgotten. The forgotten is the thing the bodies were wrong about. The wrong is the thing the flashlight proves. The flashlight is the thing that sweeps the lot — the lot that is the concrete and the blood stains and the bone fragments and the piss and the two naked bodies that are 9'8" and 1,250 pounds each.

Lena's hand is the thing that finds Diane's wrist. The finding is the thing that is the grip — the grip that is the thing that does not let go. The voices are the things that carry across the lot. The voices are the things that say words Lena has not heard in months — words that are "police" and "animal control" and "what the hell is that." The "that" is the thing the bodies are. The bodies are the thing the flashlights find. The finding is the thing that is the seeing — the seeing that is the thing the authorities do. The seeing is the thing the bodies cannot afford.

The scrub is the thing Lena pulls Diane toward. The pulling is the thing that is the rail spur gap — the gap the bodies use for the hunts, the gap that is the thing the bodies know in the dark. The dark is the thing the bodies own. The dark is the thing the bodies hunt in. The dark is the thing the authorities do not own. Lena's feet are the things that find the gravel without sound. The sound is the thing the bodies do not make. The not making is the thing the dark hunts taught. The teaching is the thing that saves them.

The creek is the thing the bodies reach. The creek is the thing the bull died on. The creek is the thing Lena's nose uses — the nose that is the thing that tracks the water downstream, the water that is the thing that covers the scent. The scent is the thing the dogs would follow. The dogs are the thing Lena does not hear. The not hearing is the thing that is the advantage. The advantage is the thing the bodies have. The bodies have the advantage because the bodies are the animals and the animals are the things that move in the dark.

The moving is the thing that lasts until dawn. The dawn is the thing that finds the bodies in the drainage culvert — the culvert that is the thing six feet in diameter, the culvert that is the thing the bodies fit in because the bodies are the things that curl. The curling is the thing the bodies do. The bodies do the curling because the bodies are the things that are hiding. The hiding is the thing the bodies have not done. The not doing is the thing that is the new. The new is the thing Lena feels. The feeling is not fear. The feeling is the thing that is the irritation — the irritation that is the thing the animal feels when the animal is driven from the territory. The territory is the thing the foundry was. The foundry is the thing the bodies left behind. The leaving is the thing that is the loss. The loss is the thing Lena feels beside the irritation. The loss and the irritation are the things the body carries in the culvert. The culvert is the thing that is the temporary. The temporary is the thing the body needs to replace with the permanent. The permanent is the thing the body does not have yet.