Chapter 1; "The Call"
POV Daniel;
It was a peaceful day in northern alaska, the sun was out and as far as the eye could see there were beautiful hills and mountains covering the horizon, as well as seemingly endless forest with a snow covered ground glistening in the sun. Just another day in paradise. he thought to himself letting out a loud sigh within his squad car, when suddenly...
*Static* "K9 blok 52 rekomendovat' vam nuzhny v gorode Allakaket, tam byl soobshchili 10-54 i mozhet byt' ssylka na posledniye nedeli 10-57."
As Daniel heard the call come over the radio his first thought that came to his mind was the call " K9 unit 52 be advised you are needed in the town of allakaket, there has been a reported 10-54 and could be a link to last weeks 10-57." He had learned to speak fluent russian around age 10 from his grandfather and preferred to be contacted directly in the russian language. A 10-54 being a dead body and 10-57 being a missing person. He initialy thought of another tragic bear attack. How many more attacks are we going to have this season? I hope this is the last one I'm ever called to he thinks to himself. Just as he was about to contact his fellow troopers to see how far they were from allakaket, he heard over the radio "korennyye zhiteli soobshchili, chto abonent na vernulsya v derevnyu i budu zhdat' soldat s poiskovoy partii." he is quick to translate the message "the native people have reported that the caller has not returned to the village and will wait for troopers with a search party." Search party? How has the caller disappeared as well? Dan asks himself once more.
" Great… do we have a plane cleared to take us to allakaket?" He asks dispatch over the radio.
" Affirmative trooper James, there are natives waiting with a plane to take you there."The soft feminine voice said in a heavy russian accent.
As soon as she finishes she announces over an open channel." Any and all units near allakaket there has been a reported 10-54 and all units within close proximity are needed to respond."
Trooper Daniel James was his full name but usually preferred his nickname Dan, he is tall, standing at 6/1. As Daniel took the last sip of his coffee he looked back at his brave companion awaiting his next call. Daniel had been assigned a 6 year old German Shepard named "Ape". Daniel and Ape's friendship was unbreakable, Ape was raised by Daniel ever since he was a pup. Ape was a strong and muscular dog who had shown great potential in his training courses. Daniel could never think about what he would do without his friend. And with that he started to make his way to the local airport.
POV Ape;
Well this is a first. Ape thought to himself as he let out a joyful bark. Eversince he was young he had grown up along side Daniel, Ape thought of him as a brother and loved his personality. Dans personality was cheerful and was and opportunistic. Ape had come to the conclusion that if Daniel was ever in trouble or in need, that he would do anything for his friend. Even if it meant giving his life to save him. Ape knew that if he was ever in a dangerous situation, Daniel would do the same for Ape as well. Ape had known this before when he had fell down a small cliff and shatterd his left shoulder and hip back when he was 4. Daniel had climbed down (nearly falling himself) to help Ape. He had picked Ape up and brought him back to his squad car to drive him 20 miles to the nearest vet. He couldnt wait to be back in the field of duty with his friend...his human.
POV Daniel;
As Daniel prepared himself to head to the local airport two more voices came over the C.B radio he had installed in his car, mainly for discussing a situation or just having a regular conversation over the C.B. "Count trooper Jack and Anna in!" A masculine voice said with slight excitment. "Count me in as well." A much louder and deeper voice said. Dan immediately knew who the last voice belonged to, Billy. Daniel was close friends with Billy and the others, they had all grown up on the same street and were neighborhood friends since a young age of 5 or 6. Ever since they had grown up they had looked up to the local troopers, encouraging all of them to pursue the profession. He was glad to hear they were tagging along for the trip.
"Glad to hear we have the gang together." Daniel said this excitement. "I haven't seen you guys in forever!"
"I'm glad to be able to see you guys as well." Billy said. "But remember we still have a job to do."
"So how far are you from the airport? I should be their in 10 minutes."
"I know I'll be there about the same time as you bill." Dan said. "But how about you two Jack and Anna? Are you two going to be their around the same time?."
"Actually, we are already at the airport. Just waiting on you two." Jack said with slight annoyance and anticipation. Both Billy and Daniel were on there way and weren't far from the airport.
About 10 minutes later*
"We are here Jack, tell the pilot to prepare for takeoff."
"I see you two now, come on over and put your gear in the plane. We leave in 5 minutes." Said Jack, who was now eager to depart. Jack wasnt like the rest of the guys, he was skinny and had blonde hair with blue eyes, and in all honesty jack had never visited the village and was eager to get a glimpse at how life in an secluded village was like. The others however were not as eager as they knew the dangers ahead of them much more clearly and have been and stayed at villages much like allakaket. They all knew it was very dangerous traveling to a secluded village as back up and emergency medical assistance would take to long to get to them. Just before leaving Daniel was checking the weather forecast to see if they might be there longer than expected or if they would be able to catch a break this time around. To his disbelief there was a massive blizzard warning for the local regions they were setting out towards. heading strait for the small town of allakaket. Not only was it a blizzard, but it was said to be a potential record breaking one as well. This would mean below 20° degrees and potentially almost no visibility from the incoming snowfall.
"Hey did you guys see the weather forecast for later today until next week? There is supposed to be a potentially deadly snowstorm blowing in from the east." Dan asked with clear nervousness in his voice.
"What?! I didn't hear anything about a storm! Did you bill?"
"No Jack but if we hurry we can beat out the storm. Now let's get our asses moving shall we?" Bill said while placing the last of the luggage into the planes storage compartment. "Alright everyone in! Let's see if this old bird can make it." Just as bill finishes, Dan's k9 companion ape climbs into the plane along with the rest of the troopers. Bill was a strong willed man who towered over them at 6/5 with short black hair and green eyes.
"Wow look at Ape! He's grown so much since I last saw him." Anna comments while praising the dog. Anna was different from the rest, she had long blonde hair and hazel eyes, she too was standing tall at 6/2.
"Yeah" Dan said with a slight chuckle. And boy is he a fighter-" Just as Dan is about to finish he is cut off when the pilot says "Alright the trips going to be a while so sit tight. We should be there in at most 2 hours, probly less." "Hopefully there is enough time for us to go with the search party when we reach allakaket." Bill adds in.
"Just remember, because of the storm coming in, the plane will be grounded for a while. But I'm sure it won't last long." The pilot replies.
"Ready Dan?"
"Ready for what Anna?" he replies.
"For the flight silly." Anna replies while laughing to herself. He seems nervous. She thought to herself.
"As ready as I'll ever be Anna." He replies nervously but not noticeable. In fact he was a bit "on edge". His brother in-law had lost his life out towards allakaket in a snowmobile accident.
"Alright you five. Here we go." And with that the pilot takes off.
"So Bill? Do we really have to wait for the storm to pass before we can return home?" asks Jack. Even though Jack was eager to see and meet new people, he didn't like the idea of being caught within a storm as well as away from home. Jack had a rising suspicion that this trip would not go entirely as planned.
About 1 hour into the flight*
Daniel had fallen asleep like the others until he was suddenly awoken by a violent shake. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" Jack screamed in pure terror.
"Its nothing. Just a little turbulence." The pilot says in an apologetic voice.
"A LITTLE?" Jack replies. But before he could speak again the plane shook violently once more. "Must be that storm." Bill says as he wakes up. "I think your right bill… look at those clouds." "Yeah anna, holy shit. Look at those clouds!" Jack comments in a petrified and nervous tone. "How much longer until we're in allakaket? Not sure I can say im enjoying this myself."
"We are actually two minutes away from landing I believe." The pilot says in a reassuring and soft tone.
"Alright guys n gals get ready to land. And from the looks of things just in time too, starting to snow and the winds kicking up." The troopers are relieved to know they have beaten the storm, but now have a serious and important job to tend to. The airstrip was jsut a little ways away from the village. Surrounding the airstrip was a large dense forest. There is a path that cut through the forset leading to the village.
"So… what's the first order of business when we get off?"
"Well Anna… first things first we need to meet up with that search party and if we don't find the missing caller… we will need to spread out and search in the direction he was last seen traveling." While Dan didn't feel to comfortable spreading a search party out in a blizzard, he knew it's the only way to search for anyone before the snow covers their tracks. The group walked to the path through the forest which lead to a clearing with a small sized village within it. They walked into the village to find most of the homes currently unoccupied. Most of the inhabitants were edge of the woods waiting for the troopers.
While making their way to where the search party is supposed to be located, Anna trys to lighten the mood. "So when we get back I was wondering if you guys wanted to go on a hunting trip?" Jack replies with a simple nod of the head while Dan and Bill both agree to the idea. "So… were did you plan on going for a hunt then Anna?..." Bill asks with an intrigued tone of voice. "Well I was wondering if you guys want to take a trip to New Zealand? Its expensive but it would be fun!" The rest of the troopers nod in agreement. And with that they decide a long vaccation is in order.
"There is that search party! Let's go check with them I suppose." Dan says as he starts to walk further away from the village and could see a gathering of people at the edge of the woods.
Soon after discussing with the group, the leader of the search party known as Amaqjuaq meaning "Strong One" in the native language of inuit, had agreed to Daniels plan to split up to cover more ground and to try and hurry before it gets dark. As they made their way into the woods the snowfall started to pick up. "Alright people. We need to hurry before the blizzard picks up on us and then we are the ones needing help." Dan commands the group. While trudging through the woodland a sudden howl bursts into the air, startling all who heard it.
Upon hearing this Jack perks up and asks "What the hell? Now we need to watch out for wolves?"
"Well yeah jack were not heading into northern Alaska or anything. Afraid there gonna getcha?!" Anna asks amusing herself.
"That's not funny anna. It's a possiblility…" jack returns with annoyance.
"Oh calm down I'm just screwing with you."
"I know its just I- I am a little nervous, recent wolf encounters have spiked as well as attacks you know…"
Anna glanced at jack sympathetically when he said this.
"Oh yea, I heard about that… maybe it has to do with tonight. Tonight is a rare occasion I heard, suppose to be something called a "blood moon." But im sure its probly nothing." Bill replies no knowing how nervous it made Jack
"Well don't worry. Were here for you Jack." She replies hoping to comfort jack.
About 30 minutes into the hike*
The forest floor was coverd in snow and was dense with many pine trees and bushes making it somewhat hard to navigate, not to mention find anything that could be a clue.
Soon one of the other searchers trails off from the group after noticing something strange in the distance caught in a low hanging tree branch. After being informed, another searcher call out.
"Hey guys! One of the other searchers found a flannel shirt!"
The group quickly ran over to the two standing over the bloodied and batterd shirt that had been pulled off of the tree branch and now lay on the ground.
Upon examining the shirt a small flip phone had been found in the chest pocket, as well as massive rips and tears in the back of the shirt. All over the shirt were large traces of dried blood and long black hairs were found on it as well.
"Well this adds a whole new perspective to things." One of the searchers states.
"It sure does. Hey Dan…what do you think of this?" Bill asks.
"Well bill, it certainly adds a possibility of murder… but we can't be to sure as of now, especially looking at these hairs… I don't think these are human. Have you tried checking the phone yet?"
"No not yet… I'll check it now…"
As Bill opens the phone and starts looking through it he uncovers shocking information. On the phone is the recently called, list of phone numbers which indeed confirms him as calling 911 earlier that day. Upon further examination uncovers a 45 second video recorded earlier that day as well.
"Hey Dan?" Bill asks "you might want to see this…"
"Yea Bill what is it?"
"There's a video here. Not a long one but it may be evidence."
"Should we play it?" Bill asks him.
"Yea… play it. It may give us clues on what happened hear."
Soon after starting the video it was dark and a man can be seen in the far distance of the woods motionless. While the person recording starts to walk closer asking the man questions. Suddenly the man in the distance bolts into the trees were the man recording gives chase. Soon after he is standing where the strange man was last when you can suddenly hear a loud growl and the man being pushed to the ground screaming in agony.A loud howl can be heard as the video goes black.
"Holy shit! Could we have a serial killer out here?" Jack asks in a now terrified voice.
"It sure feels like something VERY! Strange is going on here but remember the hairs? And after hearing a howl in the background it could be a possible wolf attack." He replies to Jack.
"Alright well its starting to get dark and tomorrow is the beginning of the dark winter months, and we will lose daylight. So we will tell the others to turn back and return to the village." Soon after he calls the search party to return to their homes the snow had kicked up and started to affect their visibility.
Approximately 10 minutes of Wandering*
The snow had picked up to a blinding blizzard and they had been separated from the search party. They had become lost due to complications with a lack of visibility, and could barley see 20 ft in front of them.
"I c-cant see a-anything!" Jack cries out to his fellow troopers.
"Not t-to mention its f-freezing." Anna replies in a shaky voice.
"Are you sure were heading in the right direction?" Dan asks. "Do you still have your compass?"
As Bill reached into his pockets in search for the compass he is met with not a compass but a hole in the pocket where the compass had previously been. Bill had been the only one fortunate enough to remember a compass, and without any other means of finding their location, Bill is met with sudden grief and sadness.
"No, I think I dropped it, there must be a hole in my pocket. Let's just hope the search party made it home and weren't caught in the blizzard as well. We need find shelter from this blizzard!" Bill immediately states. "Look over there! I think it's a cave."
"I think I see it too Bill. Let's hurry! I don't think Ape can survive in this weather for much longer!" Dan says in a hurry. "Do we all have our sleeping bags and lanterns?"
They all nod in confirmation and soon reach the dark cave. The cave is shallow and small but is still big enough to fit the troopers and ape. By the time they had set up inside of the small cave it had already become pitch black outside consuming the land in darkness. They immediately begin setting up their sleeping bags as well as heat lamps and a small lantern, capable of only illuminating a small corner of the cave.
"Who wants to take first watch?" Anna asks in a sleepy tone. "Ive got first watch." Jack replies "You guys get some rest."
"After 2 hours wake one of us up. We will take turns keeping watch." Dan replies with drowsy eyes. "Wake us if there is an emergency." Daniel states one last time before being consumed by sleeps tender embrace.
While the others are sleeping jack finds himself thinking to himself "Will I Make it out of this?" he whispers to himself. Will I die? What happened here?... Are we this-this things! Next victims? No! No! Everything will be fine! We will be OK. We will make it. Jack is suddenly ripped from his thoughts as he hears Ape the 6 year old German Shepard start to growl in a low and fearful way.
"Wh-wha-what is it boy?" he asks as the dog as it continues to growl towards the entrance of the cave.
"i-is someone there!?" Jack calls out now alarmed by the dogs sudden aggressive behavior.
"GUYS! WAKE UP!" Jack screams now completely terrified.
As Jack screams, the others awake startled and suddenly become quite as Ape stands and his hair becomes raised and his growling becomes louder and more aggravated.
"Wh-what is he-" anna starts but is interrupted by a sharp piercing howl.
As soon as the howl is heard ape breaks for the cave entrance after the creature that made the noise. Ape stops just outside the cave to wait for the noise again.
POV Ape;
When Ape is standing further outside from the cave listening for another howl, the evil and sinister smell of a weird wolf like creature enters his nose. Ape hears foot steps behind him. Upon trying to glance back he is hit hard and sent flying into a tree.
"Ow… son of a bitch… wh-who did that!?" Ape asks as he climbs back to his feet, and is immediately grabbed once more and thrown to the ground.
An evil voice fills his ears immediately in a low growl "Im going to kill you and your friends next."
Ape makes a swift bite after hearing this, snatching the creatures leg in his mouth and biting down the with all of his might. The creature let's out a loud roar and shakes Ape off knocking him out against another tree.
"Stupid mutt! I'll kill you when I'm done with these pathetic humans!" The creature calls out once more.
POV Daniel;
"Ape! We have to go get him. He won't last out in the cold!" Daniel says in a panic.
"Don't worry a-" he is cut off when he hears a distant struggle and then hears ape.
*yelp* *bark* *whimper*
The first one out of the cave after ape is jack, who is immediately met with an unknown creature who flings jack into a tree. "aaahhh…" the creature picks Jack up off the ground by te neck. "he-help…" Jack tries to call out but is met with only a whisper. The evil creature before him clenches down on Jacks throat, crushing his windpipe as Bill exits the cave to see Jack die before his eyes, before being thrown to the ground like a ragdoll as his body goes limp.
"JACK!?" Bill screams as he unholsters his sidearm and aims it at the creature firing 7 rounds at it, each hitting. Bill is stunned to see that his firearm had no affect but piss off the creature more. As he goes to reload his sidearm Anna steps out of the cave. As she steps out the cave she witnesses the Creature charge Bill slicing at him with his claws twice cutting once across his neck and another spilling his intestines.
Anna is quick to pull out her 44. Magnum, firing all 6 rounds into the creature as Daniel steps out to see the massive creature that is at least over 7 feet tall and has pitch black fur and bright orange eyes. He watches as Anna's firearm has no effect on the creature. "Dan! Run!" just as she screams this, he watches as she is tacked by the creature and sliced open over and over again, blood and flesh flying all over. Daniel stood in shock as the creature ripped his life long friend to pieces. He snapped out of shock as the creature looked up and started growling slowly stepping towards him. As he turned to run he was met with a sharp piercing pain in his shoulder. "Ahh…" he screams in agony, when suddenly he is let go and continues to run.
POV Ape;
Ape slowly opens his eyes. What the hell happend? Who was that?... Ape asks himself when he is suddenly brought out of his sleepy daze when he hears what sounds like anna yelling at Dan to run.
As Daniel is chased down and bitten, ape jumps up at the cry of pain. Ape turns to find the creature latched onto his friends shoulder. "Oh no you don't…" ape says as he is filled with fierce anger in his voice, and charges as fast as he can at it. Ape jumps onto its back sinking his teeth into the creatures neck.
"Don't touch him!" ape shouts in blind rage. Causing the creature to turn to him with an unmatchable anger and malice in its eyes. As ape makes eye contact he can feel fear take over his body as the strange wolf roars at him and jumps onto ape. The wolf like creature grabs Ape and flings him but Ape is quick to react and lands gracefully on all fours sliding backwards to a halt.
"You think you can stop me!?" the creature roars with a snarl. Ape could see Daniel running away in the corner of his eye. "Yeah I do!" "Your nothing but an abomination!" Ape yells at his attacker.
"Ill gut you!" the strange wolf yells one more time before making his last charge nocking Ape to the ground once more. Ape tries to struggle to free himself but is pinned down tightly by the creature.
"Look who's in trouble now…" the creature whispers in a low growl, readying to finish Ape off.
POV Daniel;
As he was running he could do nothing but thank his dog... his best friend, for allowing him to escape, ultimately sacrificing himself for Daniel. He couldn't help but cry as he ran remembering all of the good times and memories the two sharred. Ape… I'm so sorry… you were such a good friend… he tells himself as he continues to remember their friendship. That's when it hit him… the others had been killed as well. This caused him to emotionally break, wishing there was something he could've done to save them. He was running and sobbing when he soon found what looks to be a road.
As he made his way onto the road he could hear a loud howl signifying the tragic loss of one of the greatest friends Daniel had ever had. He shuttered at the thought of what might have happened to Ape, until he could see a car coming up the road. Just before the car had stopped infront of him to help and see if he were hurt, he could hear tree branches snapping and the sound of rustling bushes to his right. Just as the driver pulled him into the car he could see a pair of bright devilish eyes watching him through the bushes, and sent an immense amount of fear throughout his body.
"What are you doing out here? Its dangerous during this blizzard!" the driver asks with heavy concern in his voice.
"I-I got lo-lost… with m-my group… my dog… h-he is…" was all he could say in a shivering and horrified voice before the driver said "Take it easy buddy, your-" just before he could finish he noticed the bleeding bite on Daniels shoulder.
"Don't worry. I was just heading to the local airport. The storm is about to pass soon, I'll fly you to the nearest hospital…" after hearing this Daniel could feel himself drifting off into a deep slumber… while thinking about what the creature was and what would happen when he reaches the hospital. Will they believe me when I tell them what I saw?... Will they laugh? Think it was a bear?... He could clearly tell it was not a bear. Before he could question himself further, he blacked out...
That concludes chapter:1 This is my first story so please no hate, also please review and share this story as well as a Special Thank You to (Christian Knight) for helping to make this possible. I will continue to update regularly! Tune in next time for chapter:2 "The Outcast".