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2009-07-18 01:04:09

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Run As One:
Chapter Six

A month passed. Thanks to their quick healing capabilities, Molly, Natale and Augustine's wounds all healed properly. For the most part, the wolves stayed in the cottage and only ventured out into the city for groceries or to hunt for meat. Being the first pack to escape the compound, they had to be extra cautious now that the catchers were on the prowl and pissed as ever. Although they have all been living together for some time now, Augustine was still cold towards Natale. Some had warmed up to him and forgiven him whilst others still didn't trust him.
The group were all called together into the living room for the next plan of action that the pack was going to take. Do they fight the compound and destroy it? Or run off into the woods and live peacefully as true wolves?

"I know our kind has been extinguished in the past 100 years and there aren't many left, but I don't think running is a good idea." Molly spoke up on two legs, breaking the silence. "When they capture all the wolves in the city, what then?! They will come to the forest and kill us there. The compound needs to be destroyed."

Arron was sitting on his haunches in wolf form, having just returned from a run when the meeting had been called. "Quite assuredly, it must be destroyed. But we six? Seven with Natale? We need more help. We barely escaped that place with our lives."

"I know how to make mustard gas out of every day house hold cleaners." Mercie said, jumping right in and not even considering staying behind. "And my dad used to make a really cool explosive for the 4th of July. I'm sure I could figure it out.

"Perfect. And if need be, we can go into town and get supplies if you need them." Molly smiled, glad that everyone was on her side so far. She really hadn't gotten the chance to speak with Natale over his circumstances, "Perhaps Natale's information will be of use during this escapade." She looked to him, wondering if he was going to object.

Talk about the compound made Natale more than a little uncomfortable. He looked up at Molly and shrugged, not giving a clear answer.

Augustine arrived late. He had been picking up a pack of smokes. One cigarette lazily dangled between his lips as he entered and then walked over to Molly. He looked a bit irritated that they had gathered without him and that he wasn't discussing the grand plans. He was, after all, sort of a control freak.

Mercie hadn't exactly warmed up to Natal in the last month but she didn't exactly treat him like chopped liver any more. "Since you know your way around the place can't you formulate some sort of map? Give us a layout of the grounds, that sort of thing."

Lakota sat beside Arron in human form, her fingers running through his fur. "I know a weapons designer. We can see if he can help us." Glancing over at Augustine she growled. "Ass on my floor and I'll kick your ass. We may share this house, but it's still under my name. Find an ashtray." They all knew her well enough by now that she wasn't being hateful, just protective of her home.

Augustine insolently blew a puff of smoke in the air and boldly looked at Lakota without responding.

Natale shifted uncomfortably and swallowed. "Yeah, I'll try." Natale was very quiet and meek with Augustine around. The larger wolf scared him shitless.

"No one here is a tech, are they?" Molly asked. "I assume their research is kept on some sort of database. If we could hack it and erase it before blowing everything up, that would be best. Otherwise they might have the data accessible from outside of the compound. I...only assume though."

Arron would have grinned had he been capable of it. "They probably have it all backed up on some off-base harddrive. I could hack it and put a viral code in. It'll all be connected to the same database, afterall, and if I can get to a computer on the compound, I can infect all of them." He stopped for a moment. "With the right preperation, of course." Arron leaned into Lakota, glad she had sat by him. They never did seem to part from one another for too long.

Mercie raised her hand with a question "What's a database?" She knew how to make explosive out of regular toiletries but her grasp of technology went as far as setting the clock on a vcr.

Molly shook her head and looked to Arron. She had no clue herself on human things like that. She glanced to Augustine, wondering if this talk about human technology would bother him.

"Why don't we just blow it the fuck up?" Augustine asked, annoyed, his voice a little muffled as he held the cigarette between his teeth. All this human jargon was indeed bothering him. He preferred simpler terms like kill, destroy and explode.

Terrified he'd anger Augustine more, Natale meekly said, "I can help you with the computers."

Arron turned on Augustine with a slight growl. "You don't know anything about humans, do you? You blow up the computer on the compound, we won't have access to the information that isn't there. We need to destroy the information first. Then you can blow the shit out of it all you want. But if we don't do it like this, they'll still have all the data we are trying to destroy! I know you're basically clueless to human technology, but I'm not." He looked over at Natale. "If you can help, that's great. If you do anything to jeapardize this, I will rip your throat out." Arron did get along with Natale, he just wasn't beyond letting the pup know he meant business.

Natale gulped, wide eyed.

A snarl formed on Augustine's lips. After all he did for these damn pups they were still rude little snots to him. "Rather be clueless about humans than be clueless 'bout being a wolf, doggy," he said sourly.

Arron stood and shrugged away from Lakota. "Well, I'm sorry that I'm not some perfect idea of what a wolf should be. Yes, I know more about humans than I do wolves. But that's hardly my fault. With what perfect role models of wolf society I had. Not a single one of them was all 'kill, maim, and destroy'." He looked over at Molly, who Arron actually would look to for guidance. "Let me know what you decide." He trotted towards the door, shouldering it open before sitting out on the porch.

A slow, determined, scratch came from beside Natale as Garth finally stirred from what seemed like a coma; he'd been keeping a little fever going through some of the month but it seemed to have been fading lately. He blinked his large black eyes at the lot, gritting his teeth slightly as he thought "We can't just blow this up... we need to destroy as much as we can, not just the building."

"What if it's not the only one?" Mercie asked. "There could be chapters in other cities. What about those wolves?"

Augustine looked shocked and offended when Arron spoke to Molly, and after Garth spoke, Augustine growled and spat, "He said that already! He doesn't need a fucking echo."

Garth blinked slightly, scratching his head with some difficulty as his fingers got tangled in the locks "Sorry, I was asleep. So who's doing what now? Why's Augustine being all... like that."

"Alright! Natale and Arron can be in charge of whipping out the system since they know the most about it." Molly placed a hand on Mercie. As she approached the young wolf, it was notable that her wolfie scent was... a little unfamiliar. It was nonetheless Molly, but something was a bit different about it. "I think it would be best if we worked on this one first and see how it goes." She then looked sharply to Natale and approached him. By doing this she was hoping to intimidate him. "We need to know every single weak spot of the compound. If there is a way to get in other then the sewers, you NEED to tell us. They probably fixed that little bug in the system by now."

Natale was usually quite comfortable around Molly, but she was certainly somewhat frightening right now. He gave a nervous nod. "I'll, uh, ehem," he got up and motioned towards the porch where Arron now was. "I'll discus everything with him..." he then quickly walked out.

Augustine couldn't help but snarl at this scene. Over the last month, he and Molly had agreed on splitting the alpha role, but recently, he felt like he was being left out of the decision making. He was nothing more than the muscle of the pack and he was far from content with that.

Mercie nodded to Molly as she addressed her. Then after a moments thought she came to a secure seclusion. "We're gonna need backpacks, ones we can still wear if we shift." Pulling a pen from her pocket she made a little note on her hand, something she'd been doing recently.

Arron looked over at the door, hearing the talking, but not quite paying attention. He wasn't that surprised that Natale came to join him. He and Natale seemed to understand each other, if in a limited way. "What did they decide?"

"So... that's the computer side taken care of..." Garth sighed, pulling his hand away with a small crack of nails breaking in his hair "So we need a distraction, Augustine?"

"That's want the bombs and shit are for," Augustine said shortly, not even looking at him. "Molly-" he snapped and nodded his head towards the door leading outside.

Natale came out and leaned on the wall. "They want us to wipe the computers. Then we're going to blow it up, or something," he said uncomfortably. Since the escape, his human form lacked the lab coat and was now just a gray turtle neck with black pants and shoes. However, for some reason or another, he was afraid to shift into a wolf. It had been years since he walked on all fours.

Molly glared at Augustine for a brief moment as if she had a reason to be angry at him. Throughout the past month, they had seemingly gotten closer in the beginning. Though as of the past two and a half weeks, Molly had been avoiding him a lot, almost as if the two had gotten into a huge fight. "What?" she asked flat out.

Widening his eyes in annoyance, Augustine nodded towards the door again.

"Excuse me ladies...and Garth." Molly turned and walked outside. She stepped out and spun around, waiting for Augustine.

"I hope they don't do it before I get the information destroyed." Arron looked over at Natale and shook his head, laying down with his head pillowed on his paws. "I hope you're going to help me."

Mercie wasn't paying much attention to the others, she was busy drawing small diagrams of backpacks and wolves on the leg of her faded, ragged and worn jeans. Jeans that she'd designated "Run around" and upon their last legs.

"Yes," said Natale. "I know how to access things. I'm not familiar with specifics but I'll get you around. And uhm, I was thinking, we should get something to communicate with, while in the compound."

"If you'll excuse me" Garth sighed as he stood up, moving to the door the two had left through and closing his eyes as he waited until finally "One... two..."

Augustine followed Molly and walked to the edge of the forest, out of the ear shot of the others. When Molly was beside him, he growled, "You can at least pretend I do some of the decision making."

"If you would be on time to the meetings, maybe you could." Molly explained, crossing her arms. Although it had only been three weeks, her gut had gotten a little bigger.

"You could ask my opinion! You could glance at me for a nod or something. Everyone's getting the impression you're the one in charge!" Augustine said angrily, pointing his finger accusingly.

"Hey! I can't help who the pack looks to for guidance!" Molly shot back, defensively. "Maybe if you would swallow your pride, suck it up and actually ACT like a leader- the others would look up to you too."

"Act like a leader? Those stupid puppies would be crying and running away if I acted like a real alpha wolf. You act more like their mother!" Augustine snapped.

The 'm-word' tipped the scale. "Oh yea?" Molly growled. "Do you think I can help that?!" Ever since...it happened, her hormones have been completely out of wack. "If it wasn't for you, I would be as fucked up as I am now!" she shouted, barring her teeth at him.

"Well-!" Augustine cut off. He glanced nervously back at the house and then flicked his cigarette onto the ground and stepped on it. "Let me do the talking next time," he said and began to retreat.

Molly straightened herself up, "Running away from your problems again? Go figure." she said plainly as she watched Augustine.

Augustine froze mid step and turned around, rigid with rage. "How fucking dare you," he growled.

Molly's eyebrows flared, "Go on! Run! You apparently can't do anything else!" she shifted into her wolf form and growled at him. The hairs on her back stood straight up. Their angry barks could be heard from inside the house.

Augustine shifted to all fours, snarling and snapping. "You stupid bitch," he growled. "I could rip you in half..."

"FINE! At least it'll prevent your pathetic genes from spreading!" Molly growled before pouncing at him, her razor sharp teeth barred.

Augustine snarled and pounced as well, counting on his heavier body to knock her down.

They hit one another in mid air. Unfortunately for Molly, Augustine did have the upper hand and they tumbled backwards onto the grass. The two rolled around on the grass, nipping and barking at one another. If someone didn't come out to split them up-- there will be bloodshed.

"THREE!" Garth yelled as he burst through the door, rushing forward and shifting into wolf form as he did. Seeing as Augustine was on top he ran straight at him, going straight to top speed before his feet left the floor and his body curled slightly in order to smack hard into Augustine with his entire body.

Arron stood as he heard the snarling and went after Garth. Once he saw Augustine, he snarled and ran over to help Garth, throwing his weight into getting them apart. "Knock it off, you two!"

Molly ignored the two juveniles that interfered with her fight. She got to her feet and charged at Augustine once more. She pounced on him and bit down on his back. The teeth didn't go in too deeply, but it was enough to bruise.

Augustine rolled away when Garth bashed him, then he got up, snarling. He never liked this stupid pup and right now he was angry enough to rip his throat out. But then there was Arron. Augustine glanced at the house, wondering if there was anyone else he had to worry about, but this was obviously a mistake. He yelped as Molly chomped him. He tried to pull back out of her mouth.

Natale followed Arron but stopped beside the house, terrified. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved in this.

Arron growled in frustration. "Fine! Rip each other apart! Great example to set as Alphas! Let's all rip each other to shreds so that it'll take another month to heal and be able to help those wolves in the city!" He turned back to the house, his tyrannical rant still going all the way back. "Hey, Natale, how about you and I go and work on this project and leave these 'real' wolves here to be completely moronical?! Because they are setting a prime example of teamwork!" Arron stalked back to the porch and paused long enough to look back at the two who were fighting. He sighed and looked back at Natale.

Mercie had heard the angry snarls, barks and yelps and came rushing threw the door in time for everything to be over. You could cut the stench of their heightened tempers with a butter knife. "What is going on out here?"

Since Molly was still on Augustine's back and no one seemed willing to body slam her, he didn't catch any of Arron's rant. All he heard was annoying noise. He finally pulled away from Molly, growling, now extremely embarrassed that she got the upper hand on him with everyone watching. He snapped at Garth, threatening him to stay away.

Natale was wide eyed and nervous. He didn't want to be on the porch anymore. He bit his lip and was about to put his hand on Arron's arm to lead him into the house, but decided against it. He wasn't close enough to anyone to be touchy feely. Being a young wolf this lack of contact was some what painful. Without explanation he slipped into the house, hoping Arron would follow and not think he was running away.

Garth growled menacingly at Augustine and shifted back to human, he lashed out with a foot towards Augustine's side and grabbed Molly around the muzzle. He tried to wrench them apart, pushing against Augustine and pulling at Molly's jaws to try and prise her off and back "IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE LIKE THIS I'LL CHALLENGE YOU BOTH FOR ALPHA! YOU'RE RIPPIN EACH OTHER APART SO MUCH YOU'D BE AN EASY PICKING!"

Molly released her hold on Augustine's back. Her teeth luckily didn't rip but just slid out. She kept her teeth exposed as she growled. Now with Garth between them, Molly jerked her muzzle away from him and took a few steps back. In the back of her mind, she knew that fighting wasn't a good idea right now, but she was so caught up in rage that it didn't matter. Drool dripped out of her lip and hit the ground at her feet. She kept her head lower and ears back, as a warning to Augustine.

Arron walked over to where Mercie was and gestured to Molly and Augustine with his head. "They're acting like pups in heat going crazy over a bone." He said this loud enough for the others to easily hear him. "And I'm not having anything to do with it anymore. I have much better things to do." He followed Natale, heading towards the living room on his way to the computer. Arron easily caught up with Natale, putting one hand on Natale's shoulder. "Sorry about that, pup."

Natale recoiled slightly, but not completely. He gave a shy smile and he let Arron take the computer chair.

"Crazy bitch..." Augustine growled. He snipped at Garth's leg, annoyed at him. He wasn't going to pounce at Molly again, but these pups yelling at him and insulting him was becoming more than he could handle. He wanted to take a chunk out of everyone. They were being so disrespectful.

Garth's fist smacked hard onto Augustine's nose, gritting his teeth slightly as he gazed out from behind his wild bush of hair "You want to know why we're not reacting to you? You do this, all the time; you want to be one of the group, stop fighting among us all the damn time. Not like she's any better." His gaze turned back to Molly, fist still clenched in a fist as he waited to see if she backed down.

Augustine yelped and then blinked, shocked. He couldn't believe the little mutt would do that to him.

Arron noticed Natale pull away and he let his hand drop. "Sorry...again." He felt as if he apologized an awful lot to the wolves around here. Arron sat in the chair and turned the computer on, letting it boot up. "So do we want to go stealth or fireworks?" He knew how to make a hidden virus, but he also knew that it would destroy them more to leave them unable to do anything and have to watch their computers go down.

Molly shifted onto two legs. He grabbed Garth's shoulder firmly and spun him around to face her. With an open hand and a pulled back arm, she slapped him hard across the face. This was the first time she has ever lashed out at another pack member--other then the other alpha. "How DARE you talk to your alphas like that?!" Not only was she referring to his complete disrespect to Augustine but also to his comment earlier about taking over as alpha himself. "We saved your ass and you repay us like this?!" Garth's cheek was already turning red.

Needless to say, Augustine was shocked again. Now she was defending him? All of his rage was forced away by a violent puzzlement.

"I don't really know what you're doing," Natale said honestly.

"Simple virile code," Arron said, turning back to the computer. Now that it was on, he opened a command prompt program and started entering commands. "What I mean is should I leave a mark so they know it was us, or just make them all die? And do you think we should take the information for ourselves? You never know what might be useful." He thought of the events earlier and was sure that was a question he should pose to the alphas. But right now, he didn't want to approach Augustine. And he knew that Molly would be a bit...difficult for awhile if he said the wrong thing.

"What ever would be fastest, I think," Natale said. "Augustine really want to blow it up..." he didn't know why that thought made him sad. Natale had completely rejected his earlier life but somewhere deep inside he missed his master. He wanted to believe she missed him too.

Mercie couldn't take it any more, as Omega of the pack she was supposed to be the one to keep the peace and keep morale up. She'd certainly screwed that up. "Just stop it!" She screamed coming off the porch urgently. "We're not suppose to turn on each other! If we do we're no better than those monsters that caged us up." Her spine gave a cold shiver at the thought of that antiseptic smell "We have to stick together, we can't go ripping each other's heads off!"

Garth hissed slightly and grabbed his cheek, glaring up at Molly with a slight growl on his lips. Finally he decided to spring that little surprise they had never thought of on them. He grabbed Molly by the front of her clothes and yanked her forward so he was face to face with her "I NEVER AGREED TO BEING IN A PACK!" he yelled "I AM NOT RESPECTING YOUR IDIOTIC ACTIONS BECAUSE YOU ARE NOT MY ALPHAS! I HAVE REMAINED HERE BECAUSE YOU NEEDED ME! OUT OF THE THREE OF US, I HAVE TAKEN THE MOST KNOCKS, CARRIED THE MOST PEOPLE, AND TAKEN THE MOST PEOPLE OUT! SINCE YOU'VE DECIDED I AM TOO WILD TO BE IN YOUR DAMN DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY, I AM LEAVING!" The yelling was ringing in Molly's ears, and the breath was terrible; it was probably the shock of getting all that in her nose that was the reason Garth was still standing now. He let her go, turned around and began to storm off towards the darkening forest.

Molly growled as Garth yelled at him. To be honest, she was a little amused that he had the nerve to do that. "A rogue wolf is a dead one!" she shouted, barely giving a care if he stayed or not. What the hell was he talking about?! Her leg was blown clean open and all he had was a cut on his back. Not to mention that without Molly and Augustine-- they would probably be dissected upon by a scientist right now. The two hadn't even gotten a simple 'thank you' since it all happened. She gave Garth one last glare. He didn't even know what they were fighting about!? How the hell could he judge? She took a breath before turning to Mercie. The rage and angry spark in her eyes had died out. "I'm sorry..." Molly admitted to her.

"What is going on?" Mercie asked coming up to Molly "You've been acting super weird lately." She said "Enough that I've been keeping my distance...wait" She sniffed the air "Do you smell that?"

Augustine was more than a little pissed. First Garth didn't mind his own business, swatted him like a dog, then grabbed Molly like that? He shifted into a human. He left the girls to talk and followed Garth. Once they were a little pasted the tree line, Augustine grabbed Garth by the collar and swung him into a tree. "I don't know what's fucking wrong with you. You're obviously retarded, so I'll try to be as clear as possible. You... are... worthless. You're an ugly, smelly little runt and what ever made you think we need you... You're a delusional little shit. That woman and I saved your pathetic little life. You've done what? You know, besides confused everyone to fuck on several occasions. You know what, if you come back, I'll kill you. Life is difficult enough without having to babysit a retard. Did any of that register? Huh?" Augustine tapped the side of Garth's head. Even in human form, Augustine was more than a little menacing. Everything about him seemed dangerous. That he hadn't picked Garth up and broken his spine over his knee was impressive. The honest truth was, Augustine did think Garth had some sort of a problem, and somewhat pitied him.

Garth's forehead jerked forward in a second, smashing his forehead into Augustine's nose as hard as he can; blood was clotting the hair on his face as he growled at Augustine. There was something else there though... something frothy on his collar "You did WHAT!?" he growled "We met someone of yours in there Augy... You didn't save their life, and you didn't save ours; I was doing FINE in there, those others didn't get a scratch on them until you guys arrived. Distracted them, again and again, got Natale to talk to them all the time; we would have gotten out of there eventually. You burst in and got everyone SHOT!" He turned away from Augustine with a growl of impatience, wiping his mouth on his jacket sleeve leaving a white trail on it "Don't worry about me coming back, I wouldn't want you to be under your damn idiotic ruling."

Augustine stumbled back, holding his nose. He was about to pounce but at the mention of his old pack member he froze. He could barely make out Garth's mad ranting. "What the hell is wrong with you?!" he yelled. Garth was usually weird but this was insane.

Mericie was still trying to figure out what the smell was when she heard the elevated voices and snarls of Garth and Augustine "Ohmygoshhe'sgoingtokillhim!" She told Molly and ran for the treeline "Stop it!" She yelled as she closed the gab between them. She had no idea what she would do when she got there but something told her that her wolf had it figured out.

Augustine wasn't attacking or anything. He was just standing there, looking at Garth dumbfounded. Something was very wrong.

Garth was just walking away, growling slightly to himself and scratching hard at his head every now and then and stamping at the floor occasionally. He seemed determined to go however, no matter how annoyed or.. strange he seemed, he was walking away.

Arron looked back at Natale. "I can do it all in one clean swoop. Get the info and destroy the system. But I'm going to need an external harddrive. And I can't walk into the city to get one. I have the funds, but...I don't even know anywhere that would have one." He looked back at the computer for a moment and frowned. "I need Molly or Augustine here. Too many questions to pose at the moment." He stood and looked over at Natale. "Are you coming?"

Mercie ran up to Augustine, thankful that the two had stopped fighting "What's going on?" She asked "Why is he leaving, wait... what's that on your collar?"

Lakota stood in the doorway of the house and watched the entire time. No one seemed to ever listen to her, they used her for her healing and used her house. But other than that her opinion's and ideas were shoved aside. so all she did was sit by and watch what was going on. Her eyes shot over at Mercie at the notice of the collar but she herself didn't move.

Molly ran up to Mercie and Augustine. Almost ignoring their fight earlier, she said, "He's sick...Not the usual kind either." She looked at Augustine, "We need to get him back here. He doesn't know what he is doing." she said with concern. Sure Garth had REALLY pissed her off-- but being rabid was a good excuse.

Augustine took his hand off of his bleeding nose and touched the foam on his shirt. he immediately made a loud disgusted noise and flicked it onto the ground.

Natale was hesitant. "I suppose..." he got up and followed Arron.

"Eww..." Mercie said as Augustine flicked the stuff off his collar "Is that... slobber?" She knelt down to look it and gave a small gasp "Oh my god... he was bitten back at the white coat's lab... I bet he's rabid! Maybe that explains his irrational behavior."

"Just make sure he doesn't can any of his blood or spit on you." Molly warned. She sniffed the air, catching Garth's scent. "Ugh this is just fantastic timing isn't it?"

Arron went out to the lawn and looked over, not seeing anyone at first. He sniffed slightly and walked out to the woods. Upon seeing Augustine's face and everyone else's odd behavior, he paused. "What's going on?"

"Garth has rabies." Molly said plainly as she gestured towards the woods. "It's no wonder he has been acting like a complete imbecile."

Arron stared at her for a moment. "How?" He prayed silently she didn't say the lab. He was bitten by one of those lab wolves, and he rubbed at his hand. Garth had been injured much worse, but still, if he was rabid, it would only be a matter of time for Arron.

"My Dad's hunting dog got bitten by some bats once. We had to put it down." Mercie said nervously "But don't we have like heightened immune systems or something? I mean, I was over the measles in a day or so when I was a kid. He'll be alright won't he?"

"... Hunting do-" Augustine gave up. "I'm gonna go wash," he said and walked back towards the house.

Molly looked back at Augustine for a moment. "Alright troops, let's get him back." She ran into the woods, "Garth!" she shouted at him, running in the direction of his scent.

Arron shifted and quickly overtook Molly, following Garth's strong scent. "Molly, careful. I'll get him, since I'm probably already infected." He didn't like to think about it, but it was true at this point. Arron had been bitten but the same rabid wolves Garth had and it was only a matter of time.

Molly slowed down and waited. She kept thinking about how horrible timing this was. Not only did they have to plan and prepare for a war with the humans, but now Garth was rabid...and possibly Arron. Not to mention she was housing pups to a wolf who hated her. She took a few steps back, working her way back to Mercie.

Arron kept going until he caught up with Garth. Shifting quickly into human form, he grabbed Garth by the arm, effectively stopping the small wolves forward movement. "Garth, wait. Come on, man. You have to come back. After what we've been through, you can't abandon us now."

Garth growled loudly, spittle splashing on the floor as his other fist clenched "No... not wanted... all I did... you wanted me out... and she wanted me out... you all wanted me damn OUT!" He barked loudly and swung a fist around towards Arron "WELL I'M GOING!"

Arron suddenly lost his patience with the wolf before him. Taking the blow, he grabbed Garth's arm and twisted it so Garth was forced to the ground. Putting his knee in Garth's back, he kept ahold of his arm, twisting it backwards almost painfully. "Garth, you stupid shit! I never wanted you gone! As a matter of fact, the only thing I can remember is helping your sorry ass! Just as I am now! You rabid little fuck!" Picking up a rock from the ground, Arron clenched it in his fist. "I'm sorry for this, but we have no other choice!" He slammed the rock into the back of Garth's head, effectively knocking him out. Once he made sure that Garth was unconcious, he picked up the wolf in a fireman's carry and brought him back to the rest.

"What did you do!?" Mercie said rushing up to inspect why Garth was know unconscious. She could smell blood, but it wasn't an overwhelming scent, which meant whatever wound Garth recieved to earn his current state wasn't bad enough to warrant panic.

"Nice." Molly said with a grin when Arron returned. "Bring him to the cabin. I'm sure Lakota can do something about this!" She took off in a run to open the door for them.

Arron brushed past Mercie, keeping his grip on Garth firm. He didn't even acknowledge Molly. Going straight to the small medical room, he dumped Garth on the table. Guilt ate at him as he saw how limp the small wolf was now. He rubbed at his shoulder, which was starting to ache. Whiping the blood off his hands, he went back to the front door. "Let me move the computer to a safe room. I'll set up the program and tell you how to activate it." He said this without emotion, resigned to his fate. "I'll try to make it so we will have a copy of the system, so we can figure out if this strain is reversable..." He trailed off, his voice shaking slightly.

Mercie took a place next to Molly again as she watched Aaron take Garth into the house. "There's that smell again!" She told Molly and began sniffing in her direction.

Lakota heard them come into the house and called down to them. "Bring him up here." She had set up the room. There were holsters and straps attached to the bed now, to hold him down. Rabies wasn't fun to play with but she's cured it before.

Molly turned to Mercie. "What is it? I don't smell anything." she backed away from Mercie a little, wondering if this pup could tell.

Augustine had ran into the bathroom to wash his hands, then got paranoid, threw off his clothes and got in a shower. The last thing he wanted was rabies.

Natale had drifted back to the house during all of this, seeing Arron left him alone and the tensions were high.

"I don't know... " Mercie said sniffing, following her nose as best she could she closed her eyes to better concentrate. The scent led her to the left, unbeknown to her in Molly's direction. "It's here." She said with her eyes still closed "In this area... it's like baby powder and cookies..."

Molly cringed a little, "Oh my- whatever could that be?" she asked, trying to be oblivious. She watched Mercie sniff around and rolled her eyes before looking around. "Alright." she sighed, "It's going to get out sooner of later. Listen Mercie-" Molly said with hesitation, "I'm pregnant."

Arron went and picked Garth up again, carrying him to the bed Lakota had set up. Strapping Garth in, he looked at Lakota. "If I start acting crazy, don't hesitate to lock me up." Arron reached over and took Lakota's hand. "Promise me you won't allow me to become..." He paused and looked at Garth.

Mercie's eyes suddenly sparkled and a look of joyful surprise crossed her face. "That's great! You must be so excited!" She began practically dancing on the spot. That quickly vanished when the more serious question had to be asked "Ohhhhh... you and.... and you two.... oh no wonder you've been crazy lately."

"Yea...excited." Molly scratched her neck, making a disgusted face. "Not as excited as Augustine...I'm sure.."

Molly seemed upset, that much was certain and Mercie put a lid on the excitement bubbling in her. "In a book I read once, it said that all the females in a pack work together to take care of the Alpha's pups... I'd be happy to help you out."

Molly gave Mercie a slight hug with her arm, "Thanks. I should be fine though." A little embarrassed, she rubbed her neck, "As your alpha, I order you to never be near an arrogant, selfish male that doesn't know you enough when your in heat." She looked down firmly at her, "No matter how dangerous or how...powerful...strong..." she blinked and shook her head. "Promise me, alright?!" she said down to her, almost angrily.

"I promise." Mercie told Molly but wasn't exactly sure what she meant. She figured she'd get it eventually.

"Hmm...Depending on how sick Garth is and with what, I'm not sure if our little plan will be as successful." Molly explained to Mercie, changing the subject. "Shall we go see how he is doing?" She looked around for a moment, "Where is that Natale?"

This situation was more than a little awkward for Natale. Of course, life since the lab had been awkward in general, but when he had seen Garth's condition... He retreated to his room. He felt at least a little secure in there.

Not wanting to put on his diseased clothes, Augustine turned into a wolf, shook off the water and scratched the door open. His claws clicked on the floor as he went to see what was happening. "N'awww, you brought him back?!" he said, displeased as he walked into the area Garth was being kept.

Letting go of Lakota's hand, Arron turned to Augustine, his voice deadpan as he glared at the other wolf. "No thanks to you." He smelled that Augustine had recently showered and clenched his jaw. Arron was still a bit blood and foam covered. Walking over to Augustine, he crouched down so he was out of earshot of Lakota when he spoke. "I think you need to apologize to Molly. As much as I appreciate having you around when we're in trouble, and I do, the reason we respect her more is because she actually gives a damn about us." Arron paused for a moment, thinking how best to phrase what he wanted to say. "I know I haven't said it, but thank you for helping us. Now, if you can show me that you deserve my respect, then I'll attempt to forget all the insult you have given." Standing again, he looked at Lakota. "I'm going to wash up and change. Call me if he wakes up again?" Before exiting, however, Arron looked at Augustine. "At least think about it."

Garth could only lay there, strapped to the table and twitching slightly every once in a while as his brain neurons fought for survival against the fever. Spit occasionally frothed at his mouth, a deep growl coming with it as the small wolf fought against the straps even in his sleep.

Augustine was immediately set into hostile mode with Arron looking down at him all condescendingly. The following words did not improve his mood. "Yeah, no," Augustine spat in response. "What the fuck do you want me to do? Serve you breakfast in bed? Pat you on the back? The reason I don't care for the lot of you is because you've all fucking forgotten your wolves. I haven't! If you want someone to scratch your ears, go live with some humans. What the fuck is up with everyone today?!" He started to the door outside. "You know," he said to no one in general. "If you want me to kill you, just ask. I'm sick of all this bull shit!"

Arron had never really hated anyone in his life, but Augustine, with all his arrogance and 'I'm better than you' attitude was getting really close to it. "Bull shit?!" Arron asked at Augustine's retreating back. "You have got to be kidding me?! That wolf in the lab was right. We have no reason to trust you. And I really don't think we should. Someone who was an Alpha and just got his pack captured or killed." He threw up his hands, anger in his voice as he went out the door. "I'm going for a run." He shifted and went out the front door, into the woods, passing everyone as he went. Frustration and anger were warring in his brain, and he knew himself well enough to know when he needed to get away.

"If they keep acting like this we're all going to get killed." Mercie said as the yelling carried into the yard where she and Molly could hear.

Augustine was more than a little tempted to run down Arron and kill him. The frustration in him was boiling over the top. Everything in his chest was tense. He knew he was going to explode in some way or another. He couldn't take it here. More than anything he wanted to just run away but that would have been too much of a blow to his pride. He disappeared into the forest in the opposite direction of Arron. He needed some alone time.

All the while Lakota had stood back and listened to the argument. Rubbing her eyes she glanced back over to Garth and sighed. Cracking her neck she went over to a cabinet and looked through all the labels. Once she found the ones with the red labels, standing for major injuries, she shuffled through those until she found the one she needed. Thinking aloud to herself she sighed. "Now, I haven't personally healed something like this. But this concoction should do." The words of Arron came flooding back into her mind as she set to work. "If I start acting crazy, don't hesitate to lock me up. Promise me you won't allow me to become..." A shiver ran down her spine as she gave Garth a once over. Getting out a syringe she took just enough liquid out of the container and stuck Garth with it. Forcing the antidote into his blood stream, she waited a few seconds and then gave him another dosage in the other arm. "That should be good until we see some results." Cleaning up her mess, she threw the syringe away and placed the container back in the cabinet. Leaving the room she turned around and locked the door. "Just in case you decide to break free." Going downstairs she plopped down in one of her cozy chairs and closed her eyes. She wanted a few moments of peace. No fighting, no injuries, no new diseases, just peace.

"I'm going inside." Mercie told Molly and started for the house. Inside she noticed Lakota sitting in the front room. "You want a cup of okulapea?" It was just the thing right now to calm her nerves and the tension she could feel threw out the house. That and she'd never really come across any tea in her usual endeavors in the kitchen, she just figured okulapea was the Indian version.

Molly watched Mercie leave before she stared out into the treeline. She was able to smell Arron and Augustine somewhere in the area, but tried to ignore it. Going back inside, Molly made her way to Natale's room. "Hey Natale!" she shouted through the closed door.

Natale jumped so high he almost fell off of the bed. "Uh, yes?" he said meekly.

Lakota opened her eyes gently and glanced over at Mercie. Clearing her throat she stood and moved towards her. "Sure...I'm going to have to start restocking my supplies. It's dwindling slowly but still. Later, I could use your help to get the Herbs from my special spot. That is if you'd like."

Molly waited for him to open the door, "I need to talk to you."

Natale opened the door, looking pale. He was afraid he'd be blamed for Garth's condition, having worked at the lab where he got it.

Arron paused in his running at a large tree. Shifting into his human form, he grabbed the lower branches and pulled himself upward. He may act mature for the most part around the others, but that was with alot of training. He was younger than most pups were before they left home. And Arron felt that right now. For all his ranting and his speech to Augustine, right now he felt two feet tall, staring up at the grown up's table, asking for a chair. And to top it off, he wasn't sure if he was going to come down with rabies or not. Arron knew that despite his knowledge of technology, despite his growing attachment to Lakota and the feelings he had for her, despite the arguing with Augustine and the fighting and the running, he was still much too young for this sort of thing.

Molly was leaning against the door frame lazily when it was opened. She entered and led him back in. "Yo-" she closed the door behind her and leaned against it. "Natale, you'v e been with this pack for nearly a month, right? I haven't really gotten to know you that well, nor have I asked you about your history in the compound. But-what exactly were you and your master studying in there and what does Garth have? Is it rabies?" she crossed her arms, staring him down with intimidation, "And do hurry, I really don't patience for you to prance around the answer."

Natale shrunk back. "He- it's like rabies, I mean, they used rabies as a basis. I don't know the technical aspects," he said. "And uh, it's a long story really."

Once he felt he put a good distance between himself and the others, Augustine collapsed on a patch of grass. His chest was heaving, not with the physical exhaustion from running, but from the mounting emotional pressure he was feeling. He couldn't get a grip on it. Unknown to him, the stress he was feeling was a reaction from the fact that he needed to grow up. He wasn't the leader of a pack of young thrill seeking men, he had innocent inexperienced people who, unlike his old group, didn't want to run around killing people and risking their lives. They needed guidance and protection. And Molly... He was going to be a father soon. Blindly, he fought against these truths. Angrily, he thought of how ignorant and stupid everyone was, how in the wild, an alpha like him would kill over such insolence. But thinking these things didn't bring him any comfort. They just upset him more. He started panting, feeling panic overtake him. Finally he let out a whimper and sort of... fell apart.

"Spill it." Molly demanded, keeping her stance and crossing her arms.

Natale inhaled then said, "It's military research. Wolves can manipulate their appearance, uhm, communicate telepathically. They wanted to figure out how to give those abilities to humans. In the meantime, they decided it would be cheap to control wolves themselves, like, clones or whatever they're capable of- for war. Just... wolf soldiers. However, they were afraid if, like, the wolves went out of their control, so they started to develop a wolf specific disease that they could use to wipe out problem groups. So, they used rabies as a base, and they were mutating it and testing it on wolves they caught. I don't know what version of the virus Garth has, or if it's even deadly. I can't really help you..."

"No, you actually helped a lot." Molly said, rubbing her head, "Would the compound hold some sort of...cure or remedy?" she asked, hopeful.

Natale cringed, not wanted to disappoint and therefore anger her. "I don't know. I didn't work in that area," he said honestly.

Molly went quite for a while, thinking. "Well there isn't anything we can do here. We need to look at the compound for a cure, if anything at all. It might be in the computers. Make sure you and Arron look into that before you erase everything." she demanded. Molly paused for a moment, "I wonder what Lakota's meds will do..."

"I can do that." Mercie told Lakota with a smile "It'll be fun, besides my parents always taught me to earn my keep. I'll be back in a jiff." She went to the kitchen to put the pot onto boil and retrieved cups from the cabinet. She also checked on the stew she'd put on the stove before the madness of the afternoon started. While the okulapea steeped she stirred the stew, adjusted the heat to let it simmer and returned to the living room where she handed Lakota her drink. "Dinner should be ready in an hour." She sat down in one of the extra squashy arm chairs and curled her feet under her.

"Thanks. You know I still can't remember why I even thought that joining another pack would be a good idea." Taking a sip of her drink she sat back and closed her eyes. The light hurt her head severely right now. Lakota sighed and glanced over at Mercie. "I should have never let Augustine into this house. He didn't even thank me for giving him a home. Because you know this place is still rightfully mine. Just because there the Alpha's, doesn't mean that if I decided to leave the pack one of these days that they can keep MY home." Shaking her head she frowned slightly. "I'm sorry. I just really irritable."

Arron dropped out of the tree, landing in a crouch. He needed to find Augustine and apologize. He couldn't live like this. It was taking a toll on him, and he felt it. Shifting into wolf form, he started back towards the house, but caught Augustine's scent on the wind and turned to follow it cautiosly. When he got closer, he wasn't sure if Augustine wouldn't just attack him, so he paused a distance away. "Augustine?! You there?" He said this as cautiosly as his approach was.

Augustine yelped and jumped up. He didn't want anyone seeing him weak. He was immediately panicky, afraid Arron had caught him whimpering. "Arron?" he said.

Arron approached slowly, his eyes locked on the ground. Once he was close enough, still a good five meters away, he stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry, Augustine. I had no right to say what I did." He sat on the ground, his ears tilted back, away from Augustine. His youth was very apparent at the moment as he sat there, quite dejected.

Augustine stood there with a paw up and his head cocked. He blinked a few times, then put his paw down. "Yeah..." he said. "I was just napping," he blurted out. The statement was strange. He definitely didn't want anyone to think he was being a wimp.

Arron looked up at Augustine. He may be young, but he wasn't stupid. Augustine's response was not only odd, but also much too quick. Almost defensive. "Are you...okay?" he asked quietly, trying to sound as if it was just a casual sort of question.

"Why the hell wouldn't I be?" said Augustine in an angry defensive tone. "You're sorry. Good. You should be. Apology accepted."

At Augustine's sudden words, Arron stood again, his tail straight out, his ears pointed forward. "I'm sorry. Sorry I ever came to apologize. What's your problem? Here I am trying to mend some fences, and you get all defensive. What, were you-" He stopped, his tail falling, his ears perking up. "You weren't sleeping. You were..." Arron sighed, loosing all his aggression quickly. "Stay here, do what you need, I'll go now." He turned to leave, but paused and looked back at Augustine. "I won't tell anyone." Arron started back to the house, amazed at the realization that Augustine wasn't as tough as he tried to be.

Augustine's eyes grew wide and fearful. He wasn't sure what to do, it wasn't like he could kill him. He growled to himself then ran up beside Arron, walking back with him. "Damn right you wont," he said then sped up to be in front.

Arron walked behind Augustine, thinking hard. Not so much about Augustine, but about his own problems. "Hey, Augustine. Since you're one of the alphas and all, what does that make the rest of us? I mean, compared to Garth, I would think that the role of second would fall to me, but..." He paused, still walking. "I know I'm younger than most everyone."

Natale shrugged, having no idea about the virus's workings. "I'll tell Arron," he said.

"Beta then," said Augustine. He didn't feel like chitchatting. He was moody and embarrassed.

"Good. Thanks and although I haven't really gotten to know you lately, I'm glad your with us." Molly said before taking her leave out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Finding an empty couch, she flew herself onto it and grabbed her headphones from a table. She placed them on her ears and closed her eyes as the music blared.

"I understand." Mercie said and it had just occurred to her that she'd never properly thanked Lakota for the free room and board. "Thanks by the way, this is the first real place I've lived in since my parents died."

Augustine walked into the house, his head held uncharacteristically low. He had a pack of cigarettes upstairs, and boy did he need one.

Clearing her throat, Lakota glanced up from taking a drink and nodded. "Your welcome. I know I don't seem like the...cheerful...upbeat type, but in my years, I've been through a lot."

Molly was still on the couch with her headphones. She had too much to think about right now. What was going to happen to Garth? Is there a cure? What if there isn't? And if there is, how long does he have? Not to mention that their plan now had one less person in it. Garth would have to stay here by himself. A hand rested on her stomach. She was going to have squirming little pups in her within a few more weeks. With Mercie's help, maybe she could raise them without Augustine. Then again... Molly was getting sick of arguing. Maybe it was about time she actually TALKED to Augustine instead of tearing his back off. Her eyes shot open, "Shit." she had totally forgotten that she had done that. Molly leaned up, sniffing the air, Augustine was in the house again.

Arron followed Augustine back to the house and split off, searching for Lakota. Once he did, he placed his head in her lap, searching a little comfort he knew she could give.

Lakota ran her fingers through Arron's hair and offered him a drink. "It'll calm your nerves." Glancing over at the stairs she frowned. "If he is going to keep putting stress on us all, then I want him out of here."

"Maybe talk to him first." Mercie advised "He might be willing to compromise... you never know." She stole a glance over at Molly when she cursed and wondered if she was going to tell Lakota. She would be delivering her pups in Lakota's home and she figured it wouldn't be a good idea to just let a growing belly give Molly away.

There was a sudden fit of growling, swearing and thumping from the locked door, Garth finally fully awake he was struggling against the bonds that held him to the table. It was unsure what he was saying because it was sprayed between froth covered lips, but it seemed to be a general cursing of pain, misery and gore upon every person in the house, their mothers and their puppies.

Arron's head perked up at the sound of Garth being awake. He whimpered slightly, not wanting to do what he had earlier. He didn't particularly enjoy being mean, but there was little more they could do for Garth.

Augustine walked upstairs to his room, changed into a human, got some new clothes and pulled out his cigarettes. Since Lakota had nagged him about smoke before, he threw open the window and sat on its sill, puffing rings into the fresh air.

Molly and Augy make amends

Lakota sighed and leaned her head back. Shifting in her seat slightly she pulled out a small tranquilizer gun. The tranq was also mixed with another dosage of the meds she had given him earlier. "Care to come with me, Arron? You can see how he's doing if you like. After I shoot him I'm going to have to check his vitals anyway." Standing she looked over at Mercie. "You can come too if you like."

Mercie finished her drink in one gulp and "I'll just put the cups away first." She snatched up the tea cups and any other drink holding vessel in the living room and deposited them in the sink before following Lakota and Aaron. "Should I get some hot water or something?" She asked not sure of how she would be any assistance.

ROA Chapter: Seven

Back to: Run As One
The pack members...

2009-07-01 [NOOOPE]: three?

2009-07-01 [Evolution X]: look at the comments before hand... before it was seperated by the HR

2009-07-01 [NOOOPE]: *waits for chel-chan*

2009-07-02 [Flisky]: What? Wait? Did Garth just...smack Augustine? Like a naughty dog? What the....

2009-07-02 [Evolution X]: shock tactic... >_>

2009-07-02 [Chel.]: oh hell no Garth...

2009-07-02 [Flisky]: *giggles* I think it was Arron throwing insults...Not really insulting, just...trying to make a point...*begs* No one slap Arron! He'll cry.

2009-07-02 [Chel.]: Hehe...

Did anyone like... catch HINTS about what happened between the two alphas?
Guesses?

2009-07-02 [Flisky]: I got it. I think. Is Molly...*looks down at own stomach* Really?

2009-07-02 [Flisky]: And the others would smell that...

2009-07-02 [Chel.]: Yea, I was going to do it later, but with the month jump, I figure why not?

Since the wolves, other then Lakota, haven't been in a pack before...at least one with someone preggo, maybe they don't KNOW what the smell is? I was going to play it up more as if it got stronger and the others wolves are now like "Ok...now what the hell is that smell?" XD

2009-07-02 [Flisky]: Arron stayed with a pack. He would know. But he wouldn't say anything. (Which would explain his reaction to the fight and why he backed down so quickly...)

2009-07-02 [Chel.]: Ok...well good then! :) That works!

2009-07-02 [Chel.]: Ahh... a female jacked out on hormones

2009-07-02 [Chel.]: Evo, why the hell was Garth counting anyways? He just randomly started counting and then ran into Augustine. The two WERE out of the hearing range of the wolves, thus far away from the house.
It was so random...

2009-07-02 [Evolution X]: just sort of standing by the door going "Ok... there is going to be a fight in..." wait for it... "one... two.. three!"

2009-07-02 [Ravenclaw]: If I'm playing my knowledge of wolf pack structure right then Mercie would automatically try to stop any altercation of this magnitude.

2009-07-02 [Flisky]: Oh...geez...rabid...Hmmm...

2009-07-03 [NOOOPE]: I just read that rabies is incurable.... and that after this period of aggression and foam, Garth's gonna become paralyzed and die. There's nothing to reverse it, or stop it, 'cept, one time, there was this procedure called the Milwaukee... thinger in which the rabid person was put into a coma until the virus died out. However, this was designed for humans, and only one person has survived it without major brain damage.

AKA, Garth's gonna die.

2009-07-03 [Chel.]: That's what I said!! But..idk... the wolves do have superior healing? :/
It's just shitty that it wasn't resolved earlier.

2009-07-03 [NOOOPE]: I dunno, only that one guy ever survived advanced rabies, and they put him in a coma for months.

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Run As One: Chapter Six

ROA Chapter: Seven

Run As One:
Chapter Six