Chapter 2
My ears perked at the sound of heavy footsteps. The loud pounding was coming from up top, seemingly inside the warehouse. With a brisk flick, I flipped the almost invisible switch next to
the slide. A single, shrill whistle traveled throughout the underground area, grabbing everyone’s attention and bringing them to their alpha's side in mere seconds. I simply waved twice and pointed upward before placing a finger over my lips. With their leader in the front, they made the long walk upwards, back to the
warehouse.
By the time they had all reached the
very circle they had all jumped from less than an hour earlier, it was silent. On the small amount of wind that trickled past the two slabs of
concrete, I could smell rain and burnt ozone. A thunderstorm was on its way
here, and whatever stood outside this warehouse was in for a surprise. Turning
around I pulled everyone into a tight circle, pulling as many of my wolves as close to me as I could to reduce the need to raise my voice more
than needed. I explained the plan to all of them. I didn't need to see them
in their animal forms to know every ear was tuned to my voice and listening
intently.
Turning away I once more flicked an almost invisible button, winching at the loud noise of the stone slabs
grinding against each other. It was a great thing for when
you’re listening for intruders, not so
much when you were trying to be silent. By the time the stones had
come apart fully, everyone was on edge. Leader poked her head out of the circle
and waited; I could feel a wolf outside the warehouse, circling and hiding,
running along neighboring buildings roofs.
It was not one of my wolves; that was
for sure. I couldn't feel anything beyond its presence, no connection
meant it was not part of this gang.
As a part of initiation, every wolf
must make a blood connection with the alpha and three others that he or she
may know or trust. If they know no one, the leader chooses the three. These
three are responsible for taking care of the new comer in shifts, each teaching
the newbie different styles of fighting, thinking, and social skill. Allowing
them the best chance to create their own style so that they may be a free
thinking and a unique wolf. Of course the first day after initiation, they are
pushed into the ground with physical and mental activities so draining, the
person begins a special kind of refinement.
This is a more military style of
creating a truly new gang member, wipe them of everything, and you get a clean
plate to pile your ways, beliefs and skills onto. Of course, this place is like
a buffet for them to pile their plate with, we do not discourage integrity or
creativity. As those are some of the qualities that have saved many of us before.
The way this wolf ran though, had a feeling of urgency to it, so I
reached out to it, not mentally like I did with my own, but using emotions
as the link. A link that was both more potent and able to reach to others I did not have a connection to.
The only emotion that came back from
that link before it was broken off was one of warning and caution, and then the
lone wolf disappeared.
Climbing out of the hole I motion to my top ten wolves to climb out and begin what they had been told.
Three more left after them, and another group of three, and another. This
continued till there was only seven of the wolves, plus me. With a horrible
cry, Todd began crying as loudly as he had ever, and while three wolves tried
to comfort and quiet him, he continued to scream and wail. That’s when the
doors got kicked in, all four ten by eight, two inch thick steel cargo bay
doors. The people behind those doors? Well, the wolves would be calling them
Ellie's from now on.
Todd went silent with triumph in that
moment; I looked back at him and scowled. The
speed at which his face fell would have been humorous had it not be rehearsed.
There were four groups of four that walked in; all of them seemed to lumber
forward with the heavy equipment that weighed them down. They basically walked
in suits made of steel and wires, this was not something we had been
expecting, but nothing would change, as long as they did not pull out anything
fancy.
These were obviously older suits, with
dents and scratches and patched over openings, it showed that these were on
their last legs of usefulness. More than likely they had only sent these pieces
of junk to both test us, and get rid of them. The only other thing that I could
think of for them to use such old crappy things, was because they had better
suits in the making, but we're not finished yet. Then the suits and a past
memory clicked into place, these weren't just junk suits, these were the same
ones that they had been using for the past three years in large cities to stop
gangs like us.
Of course the moment they had popped up
on national television, I had sent scouts out to watch them, only half came
back three months later with information, blueprints, and scars. Of course they
looked as complex as the blueprints had made them seem. These suits were almost
made entirely out of wiring and steel. The way these suits were put on was
easier than the assembly. Basically, the men would suit up in a one piece full
body suit with a hood, made from a mixture of wool, cotton, and covered in
Kevlar and a few metal clasps; these ‘undergarments’ were basically armored
suits themselves.
The actual suit though was a story on
its own, at the bottom; their feet were clad in steel plated boots. The steel
designed to be able to compress down into a cartable version on their backs,
like a small metal backpack, at least, that’s what they planned for, for their
future designs anyways. These ones were put on in two stages, first you
basically step into the armored bottom half and run the gears till it is snug
on you, these gears were one of the weak spots. Of course these gears were also
almost entirely covered with metal, the same thing applied to the top, but this
entire process could take up to half an hour. Strapping it on like a jacket and
winding the gears.
While these things were practically
walking tanks, they were slow, predictable, and easily maneuvered as they had
limited vision thanks to the tinted helmets. The helmet were not attached to
the armor in any ways and was simply held on by pressure, this was another weak
spot, one that could kill someone, since if you rip the helmet off right, you
could pull their heads off with them. Of course, the head was a common target
and so they had many tricks and ways to protect themselves by now.
Points: 374
Reviews: 32
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