Chapter 83

A half-hour later, they loaded up the two animals. The tigress weighed less than two hundred pounds, and her ennui at their moving her into the back of the truck was unsettling. She let them lift her into the sling with barely a blink. Jared spread out his bedroll, hoping the warmth of the cheap blankets would help. The tigress shivered as they lay her down.

“I’ll stay back here. Let’s get to a store first, get some Similac for him, some meat for her. I’ll sit near the front. You can keep an eye on us from the window.”

“Keep the gun with you, Jared, just in case.” Peter handed him the forty-five.

The cub cried as they bounced over the rutted road out to the highway, but settled down once the soothing hum of the highway vibrated through the truck bed. The engine’s heat began to warm the truck bed. The cub nuzzled again at a nipple, tugging too hard. Jared bent and squeezed another nipple, and the sour smell of the milk hit him. Bad milk, bad sign; the tigress was very ill.