Chapter 2
Just as the sun touched the horizon, I pulled up to the dock at LIRI. Cutting the engine, I drifted up silently, and John jumped out, tying up the mooring line. As Max and Julia climbed out, I grabbed my laptop bag and climbed out after them. Pointing along the path, I slunk down it, the rest of the group following me.
As soon as I could see the front gate of LIRI, I headed off the path slightly. As soon as the others had caught up to me, I pulled my laptop out of its bag and opened it, powering it up. As soon as it had turned on, I entered my password before pulling up a program and starting to type away.
"How much longer Chris?" John asked from where he stood, eyeing LIRI's compound.
"Right… now." I said, pressing the enter key. Shoving my laptop back in its bag, I slung the strap over my shoulder. "Let's go."
Sneaking back onto the path, we headed towards LIRI, which was now completely dark. As soon as we reached the front gate, I pulled the case out of my pocket, removing a few tools out of it. Sliding them into the lock, I started moving them around, before a slight click met my ears and the lock unlatched. Pocketing the tools, I opened the gate slightly, slipping in with the others following.
"This way." I hissed quietly, heading towards the lab that I was certain the wolf pup was inside. I reached the door, and a few seconds later the others caught up to me.
"Good luck picking that." Max said sarcastically, pointing a finger at the electronic lock. Rolling my eyes, I pulled my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it and opening up an app I had designed specifically for this purpose. I touched the top edge of my phone to the electronic lock, and after a minute a beep sounded, and the door opened slightly.
"I take it back." Max said, holding up his hands before following me into the lab along with Julia. John slipped inside the door and closed it just enough to were it looked like it was closed. Turning on my phones flashlight, I swept it around, illuminating multiple tables strewn with test tubes and papers, as well as a desk set against one wall with a computer. I took a step towards the computer, when Julia gasped and grabbed my arm. I followed the direction of her gaze and saw a cage sitting against the back wall, with a ball of fur lying motionless on the ground.
Racing over, I grabbed the lock on the cage and pulled my lock pick tools from my pocket. After a few seconds, the lock sprang open, and I took it off the door to the cage, opening it and pulling the wolf pup out. The pup opened its eyes, looking up at me, before letting out a small yip.
"Shhh." I said gently, before handing the pup to Julia. Glancing at the cage, I saw a clipboard attached to it. Reading it, I stopped as I saw the words Parvovirus XPB-192.
"Go back to John and head for the boat." I said. "I'll catch up."
As they headed off, I grabbed multiple medical supplies, including a couple IV's. Shoving them into a separate pocket in my laptop bag, I hurried out of the lab, closing the door behind me. As I hurried across the clearing to the gate, I heard a door begin to open. Putting on a burst of speed, I reached the gate and slipped through, closing it and locking the lock, before racing silently up the path.
I reached the dock a few minutes later and tossed my laptop bag to John, who handed it down to Julia. As I jumped onboard, John untied the mooring line and tossed it onboard, jumping on after it. I started the engine and threw the throttle into reverse, shooting away from Loggerhead island at top speed before suddenly cutting the throttle and spinning around to face forwards, before I pushed the throttle all the way forwards.
"One.. sec." Max groaned, before he hurried to the side of the boat. With a sigh, I focused on driving, keeping my eyes forward. When Max rejoined the group, Julia was the first to speak.
"Where are we going to keep him?" She asked, petting the wolf pup that she was now holding in her lap.
"Well, there's our clubhouse." I grunted, steering Nightstriker towards Morris Island. "And I'd be there to keep an eye on him because of…" My voice broke and I shook my head, blinking to keep tears out of my eyes.
Three years ago, when I had moved here with my mom and dad, everything had been fine with them. Then, two years ago my dad discovered that my mom had been cheating on him. They started fighting every night, arguing and starting work on divorce papers. Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore, and had moved all my belongings to the clubhouse that my friends and I had built. My parents had forgotten about me anyways, so I lived in peace. And since my dad worked at LIRI, I was able to continue attending school with my friends.
As the deck of our clubhouse came into view and John picked up the rope to tie us off, I slowed the boat down, drifting up to the dock. John climbed out and tied the rope to one of the docks posts, before taking my laptop bag as I handed it to him. I climbed up and turned, taking the wolf pup from Julia before turning and walking towards our clubhouse.
As soon as the four of us had become friends, we had pooled our creativity and skills and built the clubhouse on one end of Morris island, away from everyone else. We had designed it, built it, decorated it, and I had even figured out how to wire electrity and plumbing into it, making it fully functional. And, since it was isolated, it was a peaceful place to live, in my opinion.
Pushing open the front door, I carried the pup to a spot next to the sofa I had managed to buy from a yard sale. A small smile crossed my face as I remembered the trouble it caused lugging it back to Morris Island.
As soon as I set the pup down, I reached a hand out behind me and snapped my fingers.
"Laptop bag. Now please." I said, and I felt the handle being set in my hand as John gave it to me. I set it down and pulled out an IV, setting it up before standing up and dropping onto the sofa, running a hand through my hair.
After a few seconds of silence, John grunted something unintelligible before heading out the door. Max followed him almost right away, leaving Julia and I alone. I looked up into her eyes, looking for some indication of what she was thinking.
After a few moments, I leaned back, and Julia left. I looked to the side and saw the wolf pup laying on the floor, it's tail moving slowly back and forth.
I smiled. If only I had known what was going to happen, maybe I wouldn't have.