by Tom Jones
Bravo then heard Charlie speak through the radio, “You got all three of them. That’s all of the anthros I can see on the cameras.” Once Alpha entered the room Bravo said, “That’s all of the anthros that got inside.” Alpha looked at the three anthros on the ground, and he watched as the snow leopard’s previously white fur was now stained bright red from the blood that was still pouring from his open wounds. The human did not even entertain the thought of rendering aid to the anthro. Alpha could hear faint choking noises coming from the leopard, and he knew that Rodney was now choking on his own blood. Bravo heard this too, and he aimed his rifle at the anthro’s head preparing to put the snow leopard out of his misery. Alpha then pushed the barrel aside with his hand, “No, don’t shoot him. Let him suffer... I hate anthros so much.” Bravo lowered his rifle and looked at the two wolves that were now sprawled out on the floor.
Jack was bleeding from his left arm and his right leg. Jason had not been shot, but he had been knocked out by Bravo. Alpha then heard the choking stop, and he turned to see that the snow leopard was now deceased. Alpha then came up with an idea. “Alright. We’re going to take these three up to the control room. Then, we’ll interrogate these two. Let’s move!” Bravo looked at the two incapacitated wolves as he toggled the safety on his rifle before determining the best way to bring the three anthros to the command room. Alpha finally inserted a new magazine into his ACR and racked the charging handle before also flipping the fire selector to safe. Alpha turned to Bravo and said, “Pick up the gray one, and I’ll take the brown one. I’ll come back and get the leopard after we’re done.” Bravo grabbed Jason and hoisted him over his shoulders. As he picked him up, Jason’s rifle landed on the ground and Bravo stopped to look at it for a moment. The human saw that the fire selector was still on safe. Bravo shook his head as he reminded himself of the task at hand, and he proceeded to exit the room in order to head to the stairs. As Bravo was climbing the stairs, he could hear Alpha following closely behind him while carrying Jack. Alpha began to complain, “This bastard is bleeding on me,” Bravo disregarded his commanding officer and only continued to climb the stairs.
Charlie heard the door behind him open, and he watched as Alpha and Bravo entered the room with the two anthros on their backs. Alpha dumped Jack on the ground and attempted to wipe some of the blood off of his stained green combat uniform. When he wiped the blood off of his shoulder, he removed the Castle Defense Industries patch from his uniform and examined it. The green shield patch once had a tan bastion emblem inside of it. Now, the entire top half of the emblem was stained red with Jack’s blood. Alpha placed the patch back on his uniform, and he turned to Bravo, “Keep this one from running when he wakes up. I’m gonna go get the other guy’s body.” Bravo removed his combat helmet and sat it on a table next to Charlie. Charlie looked at the deceased snow leopard that was still in frame on the security camera before looking back at Bravo. He was removing his plate carrier, and he sat it next to his helmet. He then placed his CZ 805 on the table. As he turned around, he noticed that Alpha had already left to go and grab the already deceased anthro. Charlie turned to Bravo and said, “You heard him.” Bravo then turned around and saw Jason slumped over on the floor. Next to him was Jack, and the wolf was still bleeding out of his arm and leg.
Bravo dragged Jack close to the wall, and he sat him down on his side. A trail of blood was on the floor and it led from where Jack’s first resting spot was. Bravo was not planning on rendering aid to Jack, nor was he concerned with cleaning up the mess caused by the wolf’s blood. Bravo turned to Jason, and he began to remove the wolf’s combat gear. He was not wearing a helmet, but Bravo removed the wolf’s lightly equipped chest rig followed by his battle belt. Bravo searched Jason’s pockets, but did not find anything in them. The human assumed the wolf carried his gear with his chest rig. Bravo then noticed a weapon was in the holster that was attached to Jason’s battle belt. The human pulled out the handgun and examined it. It was a Heckler & Koch HK45 and the safety was still enabled. Bravo placed the handgun inside his waistband since he was not wearing a holster and assumed that the handgun was already loaded.
Bravo then opened a nearby equipment locker and rummaged through it. After he finished, he removed a pair of chain-linked handcuffs and a pair of stainless steel shackles. He dropped the restraints on the ground and rolled the wolf on his stomach. Bravo grabbed the wolf’s wrists, and he began to restrain them. Once he finished, he slid the unconscious wolf forwards in order to apply the shackles. However, the restraints did not fit around the wolf’s tall combat boots. Charlie was watching Alpha drag the dead leopard out of the room via the camera when he turned to check on Bravo’s progress. He noticed that Bravo was experiencing difficulties, so the human made a suggestion, “Take his shoes off.” Bravo stopped what he was doing and looked at the radio operator with a face of slight confusion. Charlie continued, “Go on now. Let’s not waste anymore time,” and Bravo finally turned back around with a sigh before he started to remove the wolf’s shoes.
Alpha was dragging Rodney’s corpse up the stairs by his shoulders, and the leopard’s head was bumping on many of the steps. Alpha was trying to avoid getting more blood on his uniform than he already had, so this was why he adopted the method of carrying the anthro. He still would have to go back downstairs to collect the weapons that the anthros dropped. Getting tired of hauling the extra weight, Alpha stopped to remove the snow leopard’s plate carrier. He picked up the olive drab vest and examined it. The vest showed signs of many entry wounds, but only a few exit wounds. Blood was surrounding the area of the exit wounds. Alpha undid the cumberbund, tossed the vest aside, and he told himself that he would have to go back for the damaged vest later.
He then removed the leopard’s helmet followed by the goggles that were still sitting on top of it. Alpha examined the Ops-Core FAST Helmet that he had removed and determined that it was not damaged. The helmet was OD Green, and that was an acceptable color by CDI’s uniform code. The attached goggles were black colored Oakley goggles. Alpha set down the helmet gently on the ground, but did not set the anthro’s head down gently. When Rodney’s head landed on the ground, blood that was still in his mouth began to spill out on the floor. The fur around his mouth was already stained with his own blood, and his Kryptek Mandrake combat shirt was stained as well. Alpha used his boot to shift the helmet out of the blood’s way before he grabbed Rodney by the shoulders and continued dragging him again. Looking at all of the blood that had been spilled, Alpha figured it would be more trouble than it is worth in order to clean up the FOB. He didn’t even know if any other CDI forces would ever return, and he was now starting to doubt the thought further. After making his way to the floor his destination was on, he dragged the body down the hall and was approaching the control room. When he finally made it to his destination, he opened the door and let himself in.
When Bravo heard the door open, he looked up to see Alpha dragging in the bloody corpse. Jason was restrained in the middle of the room, and Alpha dragged the leopard’s body around the wolf. Bravo asked, “Why did you drag him all the way here?” Alpha let go of the leopard, and he checked his gloves to see how much blood they soaked up. After noticing that his gloves were completely soaked with blood, he removed them, but he only dropped them on the ground. Some blood from the gloves splattered on the floor when they landed on the floor, and Alpha turned to the sink to wash the blood off that was already on his hands. However, the blood that was on his hands did not come off. Feeling agitated, Alpha grabbed a paper towel and proceeded to wipe his hands. The paper towel soaked up some of the blood, but it did not remove all of the blood.
Alpha decided that he would have to clean up later; after all, there was a huge mess. Charlie closed the camera feed, and he sat back to look at Alpha. After a moment of silence, he spoke, “The wolf still hasn’t woken up yet.” Alpha directed his attention to Jason, who was kneeling on the floor with his arms pinned behind his back. His tail was being pulled
down by the chain of the shackles, which was also wrapped around the chain of the handcuffs. This effectively would keep the wolf from standing and would force him into the vulnerable position. To make things even worse for the wolf, he had been stripped of his footwear. This would make him feel even more vulnerable once he would wake up. Alpha responded to Charlie, “Good, we still have time to prepare then. We’re gonna find out who’s been killin’ all our guys.” Alpha opened the locker, and he removed a Standard Manufacturing Co. DP-12 shotgun that was outfitted with flat dark earth furniture. He opened the chamber of the shotgun and began loading 12-gauge shells into each of the chambers until he finished filling both magazines of the shotgun. He decided to keep the chamber open, and he would not close it until Jason would wake up as the human had something in mind. Charlie then asked, “Hey, speaking of guns, did you grab the rifles that they came with?” Alpha sat the shotgun on the table before saying, “No, we’ll grab those later when we finish here. There’s some gear down there that we’ll have to grab and plenty of blood we need to clean up as well.” Bravo eyed the DP-12 that was on the table. “When the wolf wakes up, I need you to try and look intimidating with that. Alright?” Alpha said. Bravo quickly directed his attention to Alpha before saying, “Oop. Yes sir, of course.”
The light gray wolf began to finally wake up. He started groaning in pain from what previously occurred, and this grabbed the attention of the human fireteam. Jason’s vision was blurry as he tried to adjust his eyes for what was going on. He immediately felt the uncomfortable position that he was in, and this prompted the wolf to attempt to move. However, the restraints did not budge. Jason felt stressed, and he looked up to see his brother, who was still bleeding out from his wounds. Jason’s vision went blurry again and when it cleared, he noticed his former snow leopard colleague was dead in the corner of the room. The wolf was in disbelief of what he was witnessing, and he wanted to believe that what he was seeing was not a reality.
Suddenly, he heard the noise of a shotgun chambering, and he instantly looked to his right to see three humans staring at him. One was clearly armed with the shotgun. “Wake up, dirtbag,” Alpha barked at the anthro. Being in the defenseless position that he was in, the wolf was at a loss of words. “Wha-?” the anthro tried to speak, but he was silenced by Alpha kicking him in the torso. Having no way to brace for the sudden impact, Jason bent his body forwards in pain. Jason grunted, and he let out a soft sob as tears began to form in his eyes. Jason clenched his bound fists and attempted to sit back up in the position that he was forced to be in. Alpha leaned in and firmly grabbed the wolf’s muzzle. “Listen up dickhead. I’m gonna ask you some questions, and you are going to answer them. If I don’t like your answers, you are going to get hurt. Understood?” The human spoke with a cold tone as he stared the anthro dead in the eyes. The anthro began to choke up a sentence, but his muzzle was grabbed tighter by the human. His breathing rapidly sped up and tears began to drop from his eyes. Alpha then yelled at his captive, “DO YOU HEAR ME?” He loosened his grip on the anthro, and this indicated to Jason that it was now his turn to speak.
After a sniffle and sob, the wolf finally spoke, “Y-yes.” After hearing this response, Alpha tightened his grip back on the wolf’s muzzle and yanked his head towards the ground. Jason grunted again from the impact, and Alpha finally released him. The human stood back and waited for Jason to pick himself up again. Jason never felt so vulnerable before, and this effect was multiplied due to the fact that he also could tell that he was barefoot. On top of the position that he was forced in and the shackles he was locked in, he was feeling extremely defenseless. Jason did not wait for the question that Alpha was going to ask, and he immediately started to plead with the humans. “Pl-please! Don’t h-hurt me!” Though his speech was barely coherent, Alpha figured what he was saying. Alpha grabbed Jason’s muzzle again and squeezed it harder. “SHUT UP! Dirty anthros like you deserve no mercy! Humans are the superior species, and YOU’RE GOING TO REMEMBER THAT!” Feeling the rage, Alpha squeezed Jason’s muzzle even more, and the wolf began to cry out in pain from the mental and now added physical pressure. When Alpha removed his grip from the anthro, he rammed his knee into the wolf’s muzzle. Jason let out a yelp in pain and decided to wait for Alpha to ask the questions. It would hurt him less to choose that option.
“Who are you three with?” Alpha officially started the interrogation. A puddle of Jason’s tears was forming in front of where he was kneeling. Alpha heard only Jason’s weeping instead of a response. In response to this, the human smacked the anthro on the side of the face. “Speak up, dirtbag! Don’t make me kill your sorry ass!” Jason only tilted his head downwards, and he spit out a bit of blood which landed in the puddle of tears. Alpha motioned for Bravo to drag Jack in front of Jason. Bravo held the DP-12 in one hand, and he dragged the brown wolf by his shirt collar. When Bravo sat down Jason’s brother in front of him, it triggered a reaction. “JACK! NO!” Alpha noticed this reaction, and he then said, “Oh. So, do you know this assface? What is he? Your faggot gay-ass lover? Knowing you shithead anthros, that probably ain’t so far from the truth. Now is it?”
Jason sobbed more, and he couldn’t bear to watch his bleeding brother. Jack was almost at death’s door thanks to all of the blood that he had lost, and he would soon die without medical attention. Jason tried to speak to Jack, “JACK! JA-HAH-ACK! SPEAK TO ME, BROTHER!” Jason’s voice was filled with pure distress. Alpha listened to what the wolf had said before continuing, “Brothers? Heh. Tell me who you are, and I may let him live.” Jason sobbed some more, but finally said, “M-my name i-is J-J-Jason. Th-hat’s my brother J-Jack.. PLEASE DON’T KILL HIM. PL-EEE-ASE!” Bravo turned around and was holding Jack’s dog tags. He nodded to Alpha, and Alpha nodded back at him. Alpha then said, “Looks like you answered one question correctly. But, you took way too long. Your brother is gonna die.” When Jason heard this, he immediately began to desperately plead. However, his intense pleas fell upon deaf ears. Bravo turned his head away from the brown wolf, and he was hoping to shield himself from the splatter as much as he could. Charlie plugged his ears with his hands, and the human closed his eyes to prevent blood from entering them. Alpha did nothing to brace himself from what he was about to do. Jason was physically unable to brace himself. The wolf could not look away, but he wished that he could.
Bravo pulled the trigger. Jason watched in horror as his brother’s head began to instantly deform from the blast. Jack’s head could not handle the force of the 12-gauge round at point-blank range and began to split. Blood, brain, skull, skin, and fur began to disperse in all directions. The blast was so powerful that Jack’s head actually became decapitated from his body. The noise of the shotgun inside also deafened Jason, and his ears were now ringing. Pieces of gooey brain landed on Jason’s shirt, and he only looked on in horror. His brother who he had grown up with and did everything with was now gone. The image of Jack’s head exploding would forever be embedded in Jason’s mind. Jason started screaming, “JACK! NOOOOO!” He closed his eyes and held them shut. He wished that what he was experiencing was not reality; However, he knew that this would not change what had just happened.
Bravo turned back, and he took a look around the room. Blood and brain was all over the room. On the walls, on the floor, on the ceiling, and even Jason was painted with his own brother’s blood. Bravo remembered that the shotgun still had a round in the second chamber. He raised the DP-12, and he fired the second round at the wolf’s corpse. The headless wolf jolted forwards from the impact of the 12-gauge. Jason watched as more blood sprayed in the air. He pleaded for the nightmare to end, “PLEASE STOP! PL-EE-ASE!” Jason saw all of the body parts and blood scatter around the room, and he felt sick. However, there was nothing in his stomach to vomit. Jason began to squirm, but the unfeeling restraints did not give the anguished wolf any leniency. Alpha then remembered what he wanted to get from the anthro in the first place. He grabbed the wolf by the shoulders, and he began to shake him.
Undried blood that was on the wolf’s fur began to drip off onto the ground and the blood that was on Alpha was still running down his face. “WHO KILLED OUR MEN!? ANSWER ME! NOW!”
Alpha shook Jason, and he was hoping that he would get an answer. However, the mental trauma that he just caused Jason to feel would not allow him to receive any answers. After more weeping, the wolf cried out, “I DON’T KNOW!!” Jason genuinely did not know who the human was talking about. The wolf opened his eyes and looked at the human. His face grimaced before he began to sob more. Alpha stirred up with rage, and he moved behind Jason. The human grabbed the handcuffs and squeezed the bows tighter around Jason’s wrists. Since the cuffs were not double locked, the bows were free to lock down tighter. Jason felt the immediate pain of the metallic restraints on his wrists, and he yelped out in pain once more. Alpha grabbed the handcuffs by the chain and yanked them upwards. The chain squeezed Jason’s tail, and another audible yelp was heard. Since the handcuffs and the shackles were connected to each other, Jason’s bare ankles began to painfully move upwards. This caused him to yelp once again. When Alpha finally dropped him back on the ground, he could not find a somewhat comfortable position. His legs were hurting from kneeling, and his wrists were now hurting from the circulation being cut off.
