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Suddenly an agitated voice rumbled out of the back of the room. "There's a story goin' around that you and Madden shot the thing several times earlier tonight and it didn't even slow it down." |
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Kendall held up his hand in an attempt to quiet the murmur of voices. "That's true," he admitted. |
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"Then what the hell good are these rifles you gave us?" |
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Madden elbowed his way to the front of the circle. "Look, ain't nobody sayin' this is gonna be a cakewalk. We know two things. We know our round of fire knocked him out of the tree last night, and we know we scared him off with gunshots tonight." |
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Another voice grunted. "Yeah, and we know that we ain't got no one gun that'll stop the damn thing." |
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Madden was undaunted. "Doc Ferris took a good look at that thing when it was back there in the cooler, and he figures we're dealin' with somethin' altogether different here." |
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"Like what?" the voice shot back. |
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"Well . . . Doc figures this thing has some real low-functioning respiratory system with such a low basal metabolism that it would be virtually impossible to tell what condition it was in. He figures we only stunned it." |
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"Then how the hell are we gonna stop it?" |
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"The object," Madden persisted, "is not |
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