Mercie didn't stop when she came to the river, she padded right off into it until she was chest deep and then dunked herself completely. "Get in." She told Nadine and Kenny "It'll be harder for them to track out scent."

Kenny jumped in gladfully, feeling the cold water stinging at his burning muscles "Ok.... ok ok which way?" he asked, frowing slightly as he looked the two different ways the river went.

"Like I wasnt going too anyways." Nadine mumbled as she waided into the cold water. She winced as the water hit her wound but eventually relaxed as the water cleaned it.

"This way." Mercie said as she splased her way down stream. "Stick to the rocks, if you step in the mud be sure not to leave and visible tracks."

If Kenny stepped in mud it was likely that he'd leave skid marks, splashing and almost swimming his way down stream as quickly as he could. He wanted to get far far away.

Nadine did her best to keep up making darn sure that she didnt step in the mud. "Stupid rocks, stupid mud, stupid stream, stupid giant mutant wolf things!"

Mercie didn't bother commenting, they traveled in the water for about eight hundred yards before she decided to embark for the bank. "You guys see that mess of roots over there?" She asked, pointing her nose at what looked like a place where a tree had been washed away. It was one of those subtle land markers they used to know when they where getting close to the emergency den. "Get out and don't shake off. I'm going to go this way and give them a bogus trail to follow just in case. I'll only be a minuet, promise you won't skin out without me?"

Kenny gave a small grumble and squatted down in the water slightly, wetting himself completely before clambering out onto the stream and making himself not shake off. He gave a small growl under his breath and twitched slightly, not seeming happy about being told to wait.

Nadine was beginning to wonder if staying with this pack had been a big mistake. First giant metal tree and wolf destroyers and now mutant wolfs. She shoulda just let Kenny run and followed. She stepped out of the river and trotted quickly over to the indicated spot. "I am going to need a good long bath after this."

"The emergency den doesn't have plumbing." Mercie told Nadiene before padding off for the other side to leave her false trail. Doubted they could even get this far if the monsters decided to follow but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Which was a shame because Kenny really needed to use some porceline right now, but he was keeping himself in control. He glanced at nadine and gave a small whine "Dammit... I should have kept running."

"Smart ass." Nadine mumbled as Mercie walked off. "You always think that." She said to Kenny as she crawled into the den. "There are better things to do then running.

"There are worse things too, dying, being torn to shreds..." Kenny said through teeth clenched with nerves "If I had a choice between running or dying I'd chose running."

"Well of course." Nadine said in a "duh" sort of tone. "But sometimes there is a third option you overlook. Fight and survive."

"Look at me" Kenny said, almost stuttering out the words "I'm skin and twitch muscle, I'm fast, nothing else. There are people who are made to fight and people who are made to run like hell and I think it's obvious which one I am."

Further up the river Mercie's small gray form paddled threw the water. Her fur poofed out substantially as she shook off "OK." She said "I think that'll do it, you guys catch your breath ready to go?"

"I guess." Nadine said as she walked over to the river. "Nothing like another cold dip in a muddy river to end this night."

"Better than a sudden warm bloody slash" Kenny grumbled slightly, slinking down into the comforting cold of the river "I wonder how the others are doing..."

As the river continued, it was noticeable that the animals were becoming more and more vacant. There weren't even birds chirping in the trees. If one looked on, there seemed to be a field past a line of trees. If Mercie would explore closer, she could see that the machines had already taken out a huge plot of land that stretched until the mountains. They were nearly surrounded. She was also able to see something large, metallic and painted yellow in front of her. It wasn't being manned at the moment, but the blades that tore up the trees were horrifying nonetheless.

When she saw the thing Kenny would have been proud of Mercie's first instincts. She however realized that the thing was inactive a split second before her brain told her feet to bolt. She was surprised that she hadn't scented it before they saw it, the air smelled acrid and metallic, like someone had infused it with tinfoil and some sort of automotive lubricant. She immediately realized that her intentions to find the E-den where completely wrong and therefor she'd just led the wolves she was supposed to protect back into the same situation they had only recently fled. She'd failed Molly's orders and that set a bitter taste between her teeth.

Kenny was staring at the blades and whimpering slightly, a shiver running through his body as his claws dug into the ground. He stood still for a long moment, just staring at it, before saying hoarsely "Lets steal it..." He licked his muzzle slightly, a glint of insanity driven desperation in his eyes "Use it against them, wreck it, anything, but we shouldn't leave it here."

Mercie was surprised at Kenny and his sudden offensive attitude. "Do you know how to drive it?" She asked, doubting he or Nadine knew how, she'd driven her father's tractor once and doubted it was any similar.

"If we're trying to wreck it do we really need to know how to drive it?" Kenny asked; though the only reason he was still standing in one spot was the fact his claws were practically stuck. Sure he was brave while no one was around, while there was no danger really, but if a guy appeared up there he'd be gone in a shot... probably leaving his claws behind.

"To be effective yes." Mercie told him "What good will it do if we run it off a cliff or something before we have a chance to do any real damage. I vote we wait for molly and the others."

"Why?" Nadine said as he took a few steps towards the machine. She turned and put her side towards the group. "Why should be wait for Molly to come and tell us what to do? I for one am going to do as much damage as possible to this thing. I can do it in human form so they think its just a kid."

---

Elsewhere in the forest, Molly and Tabor had returned to the den only to find it being torn up by two large, mutant-wolf creations. The two were hiding behind a fallen tree, spying down as their home was destroyed

Molly kept her ears down as she looked on. "What...are they?" she whispered softly to Tabor. She didn't smell the others so they had to of gotten away safely....right?

Tabor was struck brain dead by this horror movie come to life. "Uh..." Tabor continued to watch the beasts. "I don't know but... I think we're in a scifi original."

"They are all...stitched together like Frankenstein." Molly commented, quite nervous about these creatures. She lifted her nose and sniffed, trying to get an accurate whiff of them. "They smell like humans too." Her ear twitched, "Wolf and human....you don't think-?" she asked him, forgetting that he wasn't there in the beginning when she and her old pack broke into the compound.

"... What?" he asked, his eyes never leaving the mutant things.

"Over a year ago, we shut down this organization that was trying to blend wolf and human DNA together." Molly explained, not wanting to get into the details right now. "I wonder if... they succeeded."

One of the creatures was tearing up the inside of the den while the other continued to sniff around the entrance. It began to defecate to mark his scent.

"Aaagh that's just great," Tabor quietly moaned in reaction to the shitting. He sighed and finally looked at Molly. "So, if you shut the place down, do you think these creatures are after us for revenge or something?"

"I have no idea..." Molly admitted honestly. "It means that we either didn't shut the facility down completely or that there are other bases around here. But I have no idea why they let these things loose out here. If I recall correctly, they were going to use them in armies."

"Oh God, it is a scifi original..." Tabor said to himself. "Well, what are we gonna do? Where did everyone else go?"

"I don't know-" Molly said before remembering a small den that Mercie and herself had stumbled onto a while back. "Well- there is one spot...north of here. But I can't be sure they went that way."

"It's our best bet though, right? So we've just got to... sneak around them somehow..." Tabor found the idea terrifying. If he didn't care about the other wolves, minus Molly's ex, of course, he would have just gone back to the town.

"Let's go around on the left side. That way the wind won't carry our scent towards them." Molly said, moving behind the log. She kept her body low and her eyes locked on the beast outside of the den.

Tabor didn't question Molly for a second. Then again, he never did. He had complete confidence in her always. He mimicked her movements and followed, also keeping a close eye on the monsters.

Molly movement's were almost cat-like as she took care in every stop she made. If she crushed a leaf or twig, it would alert the creatures. By now the other creature had come out of the den and was sniffing around with the other.

Tabor was trying to be even more careful then Molly. He was, after all, super clumsy and he knew it. He used to be extremely afraid of bumping into a bear out in these woods, but these things made bears look cuddly.

The two wolves managed to make it around undetected. They were practically on top of the den when Molly looked back at Tabor to give him the signal.

Not far from the right side on Molly's face, Within one of the bushes there came an urgent "Psst!"

Molly was so focused on sneaking past the beasts that the sound startled her. She yelped and jumped a bit. Unfortunately she had slipped off of the boulder above the den and fell into the "pit". The two monstrous lifted their heads and looked at her with hungry eyes. Molly's eyes went wide as she was practically frozen. Her ears and tail cowered in as she frantically looked around for an exit.

Tabor also jumped at the noise and now he was standing there frozen with no idea of what was going on.

"For fuck's sake!" Augustine growled, emerging from the bushes. Not even thinking about his actions, Augy jumped down next to Molly and snarled at the beasts. "Run!" he yelled at her.

Molly snapped out of it when Augustine jumped in front of her. "You fucking idiot!" she swore before turning and bolting into a sprint. The two beasts snarled and bound towards both her and Augustine.

Augustine didn't want both of the creatures on Molly's tail, so as she ran he continued to stand his ground and snarl, only to start running in a different direction at the last second. He hoped maybe both of them would follow him. They didn't seem to smart. If he kept snarling at them, they might forget about Molly.

When Molly ran by Tabor regained his senses and ran along with her.

---

"If we run if off a cliff that would be the best thing" Kenny said in a determined voice "Make it go over unmanned, smashed to pieces on the floor below. Make sure it was never used again..."

---

The two mutants were still chasing Augustine. They could run with short bursts of speed, easily catching up with him. However, their large size made it difficult to maneuver around trees and shrubs. For the most part, the monsters collided and tore down their obstacles with ease. They roared behind him, drool trailing out of their mouths hungrily.

Augustine dove under flying splinters of wood, laughing at the stupid beasts and getting way too cocky. Had his puppies not been in town, he would have led the beasts straight to the humans. Now, he was just looking for some opportunity.

When he dove under logs and brush, the two massive wolfs thoughtlessly smashed their way through. Their stretched skin started to get minor cuts, but they didn't seem to even feel it. Ahead of Augustine was the edge of a cliff that dropped down with a small waterfall nearly fifty feet into a small river.

Augstine skidded to a stop by the edge and looked over his shoulder at the beasts. His first instinct was to run to the waterfall and jump in, but he knew how risky and retarded that was. He quickly looked over the side of the ledge, trying to see if there were any roots or anything to hang from.

The wolf mutants ran at him at full speed, knocking over small trees that lay in their wake. As if not understanding what a cliff was, they barreled forward at him.

Augustine saw a sapling stinking out the side of the cliff by the waterfall. It looked sturdy enough. "Fuck it," he said aloud and jumped. In mid air, he turned human and grabbed onto the little tree, which jerked, cracked and nearly came out. "Shit!" he cried in alarm as he dangled by a few roots. He hoped the dumb brutes would keep charging and not stop to swipe at him.

The mutants leapt off of the cliff without fear. Because of their sheer size, their jump wasn't as high as Augustine's and they fell quickly. One of the mutants extended it's paw and managed to catch it's nail on Augustin's chest, ripping downward as it fell. It then knocked into the cliff wall that Augustine was clinging onto. It pulled down other roots and vines that hugged the stone. The two eventually smashed into the water. Their bodies split open like melons on the sharp rocks below.

Augustine let out a loud painful yell as the claw dragged across him. One of his arms gave way, but luckily, despite the pain, he was still in control enough to keep the other hanging on. He dangled for a few seconds, trying not to cry out again and regain his senses. He had no idea how bad the wound was, but he had to get back up. He swung his arm to the sapling and failed to contain another cry. He paused, eyes closed, breathing between his teeth, then looked up at the ledge with murderous determination. He painfully managed to haul himself up, the roots somehow holding and rolled onto his back. He laid there for a few seconds then scooted onto his elbow. He looked down and lifted his shirt. The cut didn't make it through his ribcage, so he was fine in that regard. Still, it tore through quite a bit of muscle and was bleeding like crazy. He needed to get out of there before another beast smelled his blood. He slowly got up and began to walk back towards the stream.