Alpha Blood Box Set(87)

I glanced to Luke who had his lips pursed. “This doesn’t look good,” I commented.

“That’s because it isn’t,” Wilson chimed in. He stopped the vehicle fifteen yards from the fence and glared at the chain link. “Last time I went by this place this wasn’t here.”

Emily leaned into the cab through the window and glared at the fence. “Lance doesn’t waste time patching up holes if he finds them, and he must have found this one.”

“So what do we do now? Full reverse?” I suggested.

Luke shook his head. “No, we break through here and find Callean.”

Emily looked at him like he was nuts. “Are you crazy?” She pointed at a thin black wire between the very top of the fence and the barbed wire. “That’s part of a security system. If we break that then they’ll know we’re here and will send a pack to deal with us.”

“How long before the pack comes?” Luke asked her.

She shrugged. “Depends on how close one is right now. I don’t smell anyone, but they could have the de-scenter in their systems and could have passed by ten minutes ago. Hell, they could be here right now.”

“Then it could be only a few minutes?” he guessed.

“Yes, but what’s important is they’ll know we’re here, unless you want to tell them and have our little adventure here cut short by a quick battle,” she countered.

“I do want them to know we’re here,” Luke replied.

Emily and my mouths dropped open, Wilson raised an eyebrow, and Adam and Ian in the bed jumped to their feet. “Are you mad?” Adam asked Luke.

“No, but I am desperate. The only plan I can come up with to find Callean is for him to find us,” Luke explained. “The most effective way he can find us is if everyone knows we’re in the region.”

“But that would make it a suicide mission, and I’m not going to get myself killed with a stupid plan like that,” Emily protested. She pulled her head from the cab and turned toward the end of the bed, but Adam stepped in her way and glared at her. She snarled back. “Get out of my way, Boy Scout.”

“I won’t allow you to leave without knowing for sure you are not against us,” Adam replied.

Emily opened her mouth and out came a loud howl. Unfortunately, it wasn’t hers. The noise came from the deep grass and few bunches of trees along the fence. My werewolf ears told me this was a call to attack, and in a moment a dozen half-transformed werewolves sprang from the grass. To add to the trouble, four of the attackers had their fully-transformed friends on thick chain leashes that led to collars. They were far larger than a normal wolf, more like a bear than a giant dog. There was a cold, feral look in their eyes that told me something wasn’t right about them. Every scrap of humanity was gone, replaced by the ferocity of the wolf that was ever-clawing inside of us.

Emily, Ian and Adam raced to the front of the bed and looked over the cab at our adversaries. Emily’s eyes widened in fear. “Feroce!” she yelled.

Wilson shifted the stick and slammed on the pedal. We barreled backward and our friends in the rear of the truck nearly tumbled over the top of the cab. Our foes with the leashed wolves untied the leashes and released the salivating monsters. They sprinted after us with their wild yellow eyes filled with hunger for flesh.

The wind whipped into the cab through the rear window. I held onto the dashboard and locked my arms to keep from sliding forward. “What the hell are those?” I yelled at Luke.

“Feroce. They are what are created when a werewolf remains in their full wolf state for too long,” he replied.

“How do we stop them?” I asked him.

Wilson shook his head. “You don’t stop them, you just run, now hang on!” He spun the wheel and we performed a tight one-eighty. Wilson slammed his foot on the accelerator and we flew forward, but not fast enough.

The feroce dove at the tailgate and three of the four managed to grab the metal. They pulled themselves into the bed and snarled at our three friends in the rear. The other feroce followed ten yards behind us as we bounced down the dirt road. The normal werewolves were thirty yards behind and losing ground. Ian, Emily and Adam dove as far apart as the bed would allow when the feroce jumped toward them. They landed at the head of the bed against the cab. One of the beasts noticed the open rear window and thrust his claw inside the cab. It swiped and swung at us, and I yelped and dodged the swings. Luke grabbed the window and slammed the glass shut on the creature’s arm. The glass and metal cut deep into its arm, and it howled and pulled its wounded arm out of the truck.

The other two feroce kept our friends busy. The creatures snapped their powerful jaws and tried to grab any leg or arm within reach. Our friends had little room to dodge, and soon one of Ian’s legs was captured by the sharp teeth. The creature yanked his leg out from under him. Ian cried out and grabbed the side of the bed to keep the rest of his leg from being swallowed by the feroce.

Emily snarled and dove at the feroce while Adam kept the other one entertained. She half-transformed and crashed into its thick, furry body. Her long teeth bit into its neck and the beast loosened its grip on Ian’s leg enough for him to pull out his wounded limb. The beast, angered at the loss of its easy meal, turned on Emily. It swung its head around and snapped at her clothes. She jumped on its back, and clawed and bit at its tough hide.

Adam had his hands full with his unwanted guest. He dodged its snapping jaws and jumped atop the cab. Adam’s feet slipped on the smooth roof and he fell onto his stomach with his hands grasping the rear of the roof. That made him face-to-ugly-face with the feroce. Fortunately, the feroce Luke injured stumbled back and toppled into his friend. The pair tumbled to the rear of the bed and Adam scurried into the kind-of-safety of the bed before he lost his grip on the roof.

“A little help!” Emily growled. Her foe had turned into a bucking bronco and she rode him with all the agility of a pig on a jet ski.

I tried to get the window open, but Luke held me back. “There is no room in the bed,” he pointed out.

Adam rushed forward and slammed his shoulder into the feroce. At the moment of impact Emily stood on the back and pushed off the feroce’s back with her feet. Their combined push shoved the feroce into its two companions at the rear, and the whole lot tumbled into the tailgate. The short metal didn’t keep them from falling and they toppled out of sight, soon to be seen on the dusty road behind us. The two uninjured feroce got back on their feet and joined their running brethren at chasing us down the road.

“Ian!” Emily shouted. She rushed to his side as he sat up against the side of the bed. His pant leg was torn open and the wound from the deep teeth marks bled freely.

Adam came up behind her, and she turned to him with tears flowing down her cheeks. “Do you trust us now?” she growled.

The former Protector didn’t say a word, but merely stooped and pulled off his jacket. He wrapped the thick cloth around the wound, his face firm and his lips pressed tightly together. When the job was finished he turned his attention to the rear of the truck. The five-gallon buckets lay on their sides near the tailgate, battered and bruised. One of them was punctured and slowly leaked our precious fuel.

Adam stood and strode over to the tailgate. On the ground beneath him raced the three feroce, their snapping jaws a promise of what they would do to us if they managed to get back into the bed of the truck. Adam picked up the leakiest of the capped buckets and waited. The feroce inched closer. Wilson’s old truck couldn’t outrace these monstrosities, not without a smooth road and about a hundred more horse-power. Ten yards, five. They could jump into the bed again. The three monsters howled in glee and dove at the tailgate like before. Adam threw the bucket at them.

The bucket struck the front wolf square in the head. The cheap plastic broke into a million pieces against that hard head and splattered not only that feroce, but the other two as well. The sticky oil didn’t stop them from grasping the tailgate, and they snarled up at Adam.

Adam pulled something from his pocket, and in the dim light of twilight I saw it was a match. He struck it against the tailgate and nonchalantly tossed it at the feroce. The match fell onto the forehead of the middle feroce and the creature caught like a pile of dry twigs. It flailed to put out the fire, but the flames were fed by the wind and jumped to its companions. All three feroce were now aflame, and in their frantic clawing they lost their grip and fell off the truck. The last I saw of them were three figures rolling against the ground trying futilely to extinguish the flames. The wolves were now cooked weenies.

Adam turned back to us and I saw that his face was calm but determined. “They won’t be following us,” he spoke up. For the first time I understood why he’d been made captain of the Protectors. Even Emily’s mouth was agape at Adam’s ruthless efficiency in dispatching our foes.

Wilson broke the tense silence. “If you’re done having your fun then I’ll get us across another way I know. It’ll take a while longer to get anywhere, but we’ll get there,” he offered.

“If it avoids more attention then we will take the longer route. If Callean is watching the border than he will soon know we’re here,” Luke agreed. Behind us a thick trail of black smoke rose into the sky.