Chapter 7 The Start of Something New

October 6, 2041

As Alexander and Jake approached the warehouse, they saw five figures approaching them. As the figures came into view, Alexander's jaw dropped. "They're…they're…HRF." Jake starts to shake and prays for his life mentally. Alexander approaches the group leader and salutes. "Sir, HRF Corporal Alexander of San Francisco. Reporting for duty." The leader looks at him, eye to eye. "At ease. What happened out there in San Francisco? We were trying to contact the base out there, but no luck." Alexander's smile disappears and is replaced with a look of sorrow. "The…base was…destroyed. We heard missiles being fired and we didn't think anything of it. Then the whole building just…exploded. I'm lucky to be alive." The leader then nods and looks at Jake. "What the hell is that son of a bitch doing here? I don't want him near our base ever again!" Alexander puts his hand up to calm down the leader. "Relax. I know what he did here. I know how he betrayed you, but he has changed his ways. He wants to join the HRF." The leader then looks at Alexander again. "Alright, he can stay. But if he sells us out again, I'll kill him myself." Alexander nods his head. The leader turns around and starts walking toward the warehouse. Alexander and Jake then follow him into the building.

Meanwhile, in Nome, Alaska, Balto is walking through the streets, looking for something. Where is it? As he's walking he sees the house he and Jenna used to live in. We lived here for a year before the government abducted us and killed…you, Jenna. He approaches the door and turns the doorknob. As he's opening the door, he notices that the building has not really changed since he left. He enters the house and closes the door. He surveys the living room and sees the couch still has Jenna's blanket on it. She used to love that thing. He starts to laugh and he walks over to the couch and sits down. He starts to feel Jenna's blanket and tears start to form in his eyes. She…she and I used to sit here and we would gaze into each other's eyes and we would start to laugh and kiss each other. I miss her so much. He puts his head into his paws and breaks down crying. Outside the window, a female husky is staring into the window. On her arm, the insignia HRF can be seen. I…love you too, Balto. The husky turns and runs off into the snow-covered hills away from the house. Inside the house, Balto reaches into his pocket and pulls out a picture of Jenna. Jenna, I…I miss you so much it kills me that you're not here with me. He smiles at her picture and starts to tear up again.

In the Nome military base, Charlie was in the laboratory of the complex. He watched the scientist experiment with one of the subject tubes. I wonder who's in there. He walks up to the tube and peers inside. He sees a white German shepherd with a lightning bolt running down his sides. What the hell? Why is Bolt here? He looks over at the lead doctor, a black and white malamute. "So, ugh, why do we have, you know, Bolt in the subject tube thing?" The lead doctor looks at him and chuckles. "Why, we have him here because he wanted to be here. He filled out some paper work that said we will conduct experiments on you for money." Charlie just laughs. "C'mon, you don't expect me to believe that. No one in their right mind would ever sign something like that." The doctor smiles at him. "True, but if you just skim through it, you would probably sign the contract. Now let me get back to work." Charlie nods and leaves him alone to do work.

After about an hour, Balto, followed by Kaltag, Nikki, and Star, enters the laboratory. Balto sees the subject tube and peers inside. "Why do we have Bolt in here?" Charlie turns to face him and frowns. "Balto, it's a long story. Just forget about it." Balto looks back at Charlie and shrugs. After about an hour, the lead doctor approaches the four officers. "Well, we're done working on him." Balto looks at the doctor. "What did you do to him, exactly?" The doctor smiles maliciously. "Why, we gave him all the powers and weaknesses he has in his show." Balto glances back to the subject tube. "Is he…secured in there?" The doctor laughs at him. "Of course he is. The only thing that could break it is-" With a supersonic bark, the tube bursts open and shards of metal and glass fly everywhere. Balto and the other four duck behind whatever could provide some protection from the flying pieces of death. Then the sonic wave smashes into them and it sends the flying into the walls. Balto smacks the wall and slides down to the floor below.

Bolt wakes up and sees two things: First, he sees the destroyed laboratory. Second, he sees all the bodies lying all over the place. He carefully walks out of the subject tube and glances over them. He sees scientists and soldiers for the UNDM. What the hell am I doing here? He looks at the door and decides it's time to leave.

Three hours later, Charlie wakes up. His vision is blurry and he's slipping in and out of consciousness. After two minutes of this, he finally becomes completely conscience to notice his surroundings. He sees the doctors are either knocked out or dead and he sees the other officers. Looking over himself, he sees a piece of shrapnel in his right upper leg. He also notices the other officers are close enough to see their injuries. Kaltag has a broken arm, Star has a piece of shrapnel in his back, and Balto has a broken leg and a broken nose. He tries to move, but does not realize he also has a broken leg so when he moved his left leg; the pain skyrocketed and sent him back to the floor. Son of a bitch! He decides to wait for someone to check on them to see what that big explosion noise was. As he leaned back, he felt that his back was wet. Leaning forward again, he reached his hand behind him and felt up and down his back. When he pulled his hand back, he saw that his hand was covered in blood. He carefully lies down on his side, trying to relax so he doesn't bleed to death before help arrives.

Four hours later, one of the guards patrolling the base enters the lab to see what's going on in there. As he opens the door, he sees a destroyed subject tube. Wonder what they're doing in here. As soon as he opened the door all the way, a horrible sight befell on him; Bodies laying everywhere. He looks to the far right wall and sees the four commanders, lying near the wall. He ignored the doctors and ran up to the officers. He surveyed each one and noted that not one went uninjured. He swiftly pulled out his radio. "This is Alpha Kilo. I'm in the laboratory. We have wounded down here. Send help as quickly as possible." He turns off his radio and waits for help.

Thirty minutes later, four medical teams arrive. They enter the lab and see the horrible sight before them. They glance at the guard and notice the officers lying next to the wall. They rush over and four of them crouch down next to each officer. Team one has sat next to Charlie while team two is at Kaltag, team three is at Star, and team four is at Balto. "Commander Charles Barkin will live. He just needs to be moved to the infirmary." "Commander Kaltag is fine. He just has a broken arm. We can fix him up here." Commander Star needs to be moved to the infirmary so we can get the shrapnel out of his back." Team four leans Balto forward and see there is a piece of shrapnel in his back as well. "Commander Balto will be moved to the infirmary ASAP." The others nod and they start helping the wounded officers.