CHAPTER 6
A New Recruit
YEAR 009X
64 winced at the hot sand that their paws stepped upon in a continuous running motion. It was quite odd that there would be sand in such a place, especially since the GPS was leading them this way. Frankly, the both of them were beginning to wonder whether or not the GPS they were using had malfunctioned or not. But there was no turning back, they had travelled much too far to go back now. Everything seemed dry and quite dead compared to Salt Lake City which was flourishing with overgrown plants and weeds. The sun seemed to scorch down on them in a manner that almost made their fur too hot to touch and since Alucard had a dark colored pelt it made it even worse. On the upside their stamina had kept up with them and they were able to make it just short of a quarter of the way there, atleast that's what it said on the GPS. Alucard slowed down to take a breather, the sun hadn't seemed to let up quite yet even though it was late afternoon already.
"This sand is going to leave burn marks on my feet if I keep going" Alucard complained.
"Well it's not going to get better if you keep standing in one spot" 64 replied, "besides, we should be able to pass this desert like area pretty soon"
"I sure hope your right" Alucard started back up into a gallop again.
Evening soon overshadowed them and the scorching rays of the sun perished along with the sandy area they had crossed over. They came into a well wooded forest and hunger was upon them now. Everything was not recognizable to them any longer. Roads were cracked and in sections while houses and farms were broken and scattered around and overgrown with weeds and various grasses. As they searched for a reasonable place to spend the night they came across an old house. It was cracked at the windows and veins covered it from top to bottom. The door was sideways and off it's hinges in such a way that if someone was holding onto it for dear life. There were scratch marks from the top of the door to the bottom, Alucard compared his claws to the one on the door and revealed it to be a near match. Inside the tables and chairs were laying on their sides and plates and cups were partially and if not all shattered and on the ground. The wooden stairs that lead to the bedroom upstairs were missing some steps and some were rotting away so much that it was unsafe to walk on them. The basement however was completely intact, everything stood where it must have been two years earlier.
"What a sad state this house is in" Alucard pointed out.
"By the looks of things the family that used to live here got caught up in the whole experiment incident" 64 said poking at a half naked barbie doll laying on the floor. It's clothes laying beside it as if the girl who was playing with it was soon to come back.
"Yeah well, it doesn't look like they had much of a chance anyways" Alucard put his paw on a wall that had a minor smear or old blood on it. Alucard sighed, "we can't sleep here... I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I'm just going to sleep in a dead families house"
"Well, it's getting dark... we could just sleep outside" 64 suggested, "we'll be fine, besides if we get attacked by something we should be able to fight it off since we look like we do now"
"mine aswell" Alucard started for the door.
Stepping outside was a tad chilly, but thanks to their furry coats the frosty air didn't effect them very much. Stepping into the warm grass and smelling the summer night's breeze felt just like camping, except you were in the middle of nowhere and the fact that you couldn't go back to civilization could be a bit dissapointing. There were trees and shrubs everywhere casting dark shadows here and there. Even though Alucard and 64 could pretty much blend into the whole 'wild' scene of things, they still had human feelings and the fact that sleeping outside with the monsters was not a choice, it was quite disturbing. Alucard and 64 ripped the grass away and patted down a circle that bared only dirt. It was only thanks to their nocturnal vision that gathering firewood was easy but lighting a spark was a whole different situation.
"I guess using a match would be out of the question" 64 starred dully at the dry firewood.
"if only we could hold things properly" Alucard looked at his paw, pulling out and retracting his claws over and over, "actually... maybe if I-" Alucard glanced over at his mechanical arm and back at his tail. "well I have no idea what my limbs are made of but maybe if I rub them together they'll produce a spark?"
64 scrunched up his face with concern, "It's worth a shot, but don't come crying to me if you blow up or something"
Perhaps luck was on their side. Alucard's idea worked because the firwood was now flourishing with a medium sized flame. Stomach's began to growl as the night grew longer and more tiring.
"I'm so hungry" 64 announced by rolling onto his back and squirming around.
"I thought you were supposed to bring something to eat" Alucard sighed.
"no, does it look like I can bring any-" 64 was interupted by the sound of branch cracking from above him. He was only able to get a quick look above him before he got squashed by a dark blue shadowy figure.
"Hey!" Alucard exclaimed, "were you spying on us?!"
"Well who wouldn't, your the only living beings I've seen in two whole years" she shouted back.
"Still... you could have introduced yourself or something instead of sneaking up on us" 64 replied wriggling out from under her.
"Atleast we've actually met someone" Alucard said thoughtfully, "what's your name?"
"My name is Dakota" She replied brushing herself off, "and there's no reason to tell you my last name so I'll just leave it at that"
Dakota did not resemble either 64 or Alucard. She was alot like a reptile or to be more percise a dragon. But dragon's did not exist so it wasn't possible. Her body was sleek and long but her stance was like that of a horse. She had a long slender tail and her neck was also long and arching, but not too long. Her face was kind of lizard like and as mentioned before she could be easily mistaken to look like some sortof dragon you'd find in a fairytale. But like all dragons you would read in a book they are slow and overly large for their own good. Dakota was more petite and if you looked closely she was no larger than Alucard or 64. She was of a dark blue color with some purple hues here and there. And on her forehead stood a single, long grey horn.
"ha! You're like a unicorn" 64 pointed out.
"shut up!" Dakota growled, "it's not my fault I look like this"
"Since you're here" Alucard looked at Dakota, "why don't you come with us?"
"oh yeah? And what makes you think I want to come with you?" She stated.
"because for one thing, you were following us" 64 frowned.
Dakota huffed, "fine, I'll come with you... where are we going?"
"Were going to Washingtion D.C. to find out more about an organization called DOMINION" Alucard explained.
Dakota simply nodded and said okay. For now she was going to lay low and let them find the documents about DOMINION. She wasn't about to reveal the information she knew about them just yet.
"So are you guys hungry?" Dakota insisted.
"We're starving!" The two boys said in unison.
A look of horrid crept onto their faces as they watched Dakota gag up something.
"I've been saving this for later but if you guys-"
"Uhh, actually" Alucard waved his paw resistently while 64 ran behind a tree covering his mouth, "I think we'll pass" Alucard laughed.