Hi all!
Years ago I wrote a short story that I haven’t published called Food Chain. After writing a sequel I decided I wanted to continue writing in that universe. I thought I’d share the first part with you just in case I write more of it in the future!
Food Chain
A growl rumbles in Bagira's throat as she takes in the scent of her prey. It has recently passed through; the trail is still fresh. She breaks into a trot, her fluffy tail swishing from side to side. Her large paws are silent against the pavement.
A bird flying overhead barely makes her flinch as she continues in pursuit of her prey. She can hear the herd now, screeching to each other. Pressing her body low to the ground, she scoots into a patch of yellow grass, keeping her tail low and out of view.
The hooves of her prey clink on the concrete as they move from side to side, searching for anything edible. She pulls her lips back in a snarl as she eyes her target: an older camel with some sort of limp. Although it's large, she's confident she can take it down.
The brown animal huffs and bends its head, slowly moving away from the others. She licks her lips and wills her body to keep still as it inches further and further away from the herd.
Once it's far enough, she leaps.
She clashes with its tough hide, manoeuvring herself to climb onto its back. She digs her claws into its humps as she moves towards its head.
The creature shrieks and alerts the rest of the herd, which take off with a few panicked kicks. Dust is kicked into her eyes, but she manages to blink it out by the time her claws are hooked in its throat. It bleats and bucks its entire body, throwing her onto the concrete.
Momentarily winded, she watches her prey escape. Once she regains her composure she leaps onto the nearest wall and gives chase.
Thankfully due to its injury it's relatively slow, allowing her to catch up with ease. When she's side by side with it she launches herself at its throat. Teeth meets skin and makes a tearing sound upon contact. The taste of blood fills her mouth as the camel continues its vain attempt to escape. It manages to pull her in different directions, kicking up more dust and dirt and scouring the earth with its hooves. Once she can feel it weakening, she locks her arms around its face and takes another bite. This time it makes a horrified gurgling sound before slumping onto its knees. She licks her lips as it bleeds out in front of her.
Pleased with her kill, she goes to drag back to her lair when a loud bang makes her eardrums vibrate. She can only growl as a human male approaches, his death stick targeting her head. He points his stick at her and then towards the wall. Not wanting to give her prey up so easily, she stands her ground and roars at him. He gets too close for comfort, leaving her no choice but to smack the death stick out of his paws.
His grubby paws fly above his head as soon as she does so, and he starts backing off. The smell of sweat and urine emanates from his body, unlikely to be a tasty meal. With one last growl she returns to her camel, keeping her brown eyes locked on him.
Although his face is contorted in what she can only imagine is anger, he makes no other attempt to pursue her.
***
The camel is barely inside when her cubs burst out. Their grey spots are just starting to come through their snow-white fur, though their eyes are still a baby blue, yet to change to their permanent colour.
She cuffs her sons over their ears when they start playing with the prey's ears, whacking its limp skin. With a growl they sit up straight, watching her eat with curious eyes. They are not old enough to eat fresh kill yet, but she still prefers to stay close to them while eating herself. She had to go further this time, deeper into the abandoned buildings of the human city.
Her cubs play fight amongst the corpse of an old human transport, her mother had called them monsters. This one has been dead for years though, its pelt, once shiny and a vibrant colour, is now nothing more than a rusted brown and stone cold. She draws her tongue over her lips once she's done, dragging the rest of her kill into her lair. She had chosen old human territory to nest in. The humans didn't seem to want the large building anymore, even though there are remnants of their old rags inside.
She had taken to this place after the disaster. From her cage she had watched men flee as the sky burned orange and red with the fury of nature. The stars had been blocked out for days and she had been left to fend for herself. Sometimes she can still taste the ash, despite it clearing months ago. Once other animals started escaping into the human territory, she followed them, wanting a stable food source for her cubs.
Her eyelids start to droop, and she dreams of the days where she used to loll around in the sun, when two short booms catch her attention. Rushing back outside, her cubs are missing. She growls to call them to her, but they don't respond. Blood stains the floor where they had been playing and panic rises in her stomach.
She tastes the air once more, catching the scent of man. With a growl she bounds after the scent of her cubs, coming across a man wielding a death stick. In his arms are her cubs, hanging limply with blood dripping from their white fur.
They aren't supposed to hunt leopards.
With a roar, she launches at him. He doesn't have time to react when she knocks him over, crunching his collarbone with her teeth. Her cubs fly out of his arms and bounce off the pavement.
With a whine she noses one, but he is getting colder by the second. She roars at the sky, screaming her fury at nature for letting man take her cubs from her.
***
It's been days now, but Bagira isn't willing to let her cubs die in vain. Since she killed the man who had taken them from her, she had been stalking the human herd. They were moving North, using the camels she had previously hunted to pull their strange wooden contraptions. If they had noticed her, they hadn't bothered chasing her off, and they also didn't seem to care about the man she killed.
For days she had watched the human cubs play amongst the camels, but they weren't her target. Knowing that the men have moved ahead of their contraptions, she makes her move. The first camels spot her and start to bleat, but the men pay no attention.
It doesn't take much growling for them to start to run. The wooden contraptions are pulled behind them, crashing around on the concrete. The wooden wheels catch on the pavement and rip off, the contraptions dropping their cargo. Once a few camels start to flee, the whole herd follows. She creeps back into the grass with satisfaction as the camels rush through the human hunting grounds, trampling anyone who gets in their way. The men scream and either dive to safety or attempt to call the camels back. Without their precious camels they won't last long, especially if the contents of those contraptions are important.
Their screams are like music to her ears as she continues to follow the carnage. A lone man has been left behind by the others, his limbs crushed and sticking out at different angles. He feebly tries to pull himself after the others, his bones clicking with each movement. She places a paw on his back, relishing in the fear in his eyes as she delivers the killing bite.
No longer would she hunt wild camels.
Humans are her prey now.
***
That’s it for this week, maybe one day I’ll share more about Bagira and her story. Maybe I’ll post the short stories on my Patreon when I set it up! See you next week.
