Chapter Eight(8)-Reconnaissance
Author's Note: In this chapter, as you can guess, a few members go on a scouting mission in Nome. They determine any possible threats and the population. Balto and Aleu bond a bit more. But, there will be a bit of a conflict that will arise. As anyone who has studied military history, or is in the military, knows, that a recon mission is never as simple as it seems...
3 Minutes Later-Den-10:45
As the two reached the den, they noticed that Alex was awake already. They stopped in the small clearing outside outside of the cave and dropped the fish by the old wood from a long ago campfire. After he set the fish down, Rhushnorick turned to Alex. "Good morning to you. Feel free to help yourself." Alex nodded his head, but replied, "I'm not hungry, nor in the mood to eat anyway." Rhushnorick nodded his head, then entered to wake the others. Balto sat down and started to eat one of the fish.
A few moments later, everyone minus Alex exited the cave. Aleu sat down next to her father. Tamara didn't sit far from Aleu. They had talked for a little while last night. They were forming a small bond. Almost as if Tamara was Aleu's second mother, or cartaker.
She spoke. "Hey papa. How are you feeling?"
Balto responded, "I'm okay. What about you?"
She answered, "Pretty good. I know this is weird to ask now but, why are you here and not with mama?"
He sighed. "Aleu, I can only give you a general description. The rest, you'll have to find out when we get there. She betrayed me by going with an old enemy of mine. I don't know how she felt afterwards, but I felt so many things...it didn't...I couldn't..."
Aleu stepped in. "It's okay...I know what you're trying to get out."
He smiled. "Thanks. Anyway, I don't know about your brothers or sisters, but I hope that they saw it as wrong."
She nodded her head and began to eat one of the fish.
She finished a minute later. "So, do you know what we're doing today?" She got an answer a second later. Graintok addressed them.
"Alright everyone, good morning first of all. I hope you all got a good night's sleep. Well, some of you anyway. Today, a select few are going on a scouting mission in Nome. The team will depart as soon as you are finished. Those of you assigned to this task are: Rhushnorick, Silus, Balto, Alexander, and Aleu. Good luck, and Godspeed." He stopped and nodded his head. Those previously named nodded their heads in response.
Balto, Aleu, Silus, Rhushnorick, and Alex stood. Balto, Aleu, and Rhushnorick were the first to leave, just 10 meters ahead of Silus, and lastly Alex.
They began walking at a good pace of 5 mph. So, that meant that they would reach Nome in roughly 43 minutes. They walked the first 30 minutes in mostly silence. Aside from the occasional, "You good?" or, "You see anything?"
Balto turned to Aleu. "So, what have you been up to since you left?"
She smiled and responded, "I've been leading the pack. We haven't run into any problems. As a matter of fact, things seem better than what they were like before. At least, that's what some of the older wolves say. You know, Nava and Niju came back? It seems as if the latter has...changed."
Balto smiled. "Well, things seem to be going pretty smooth. Anything else?"
She turned her head a bit, then turned it back to her father.
"Well...I have a mate now. He's nice, and I think that you would approve."
Balto cocked an eyebrow at first. "Is he treating you fairly? Did anything happen to you? Do you guys have any p-"
Aleu cut him off with a chuckle. "Slow down papa. I can't answer that many questions at once."
Balto got his usual nervous, shy smile. "Sorry. So...you know, is he..."
Aleu was confused at first. "What? Oh...no, no. Papa...no. We're not there yet. We talked about it once or twice but...not yet." She chuckled a bit at the end. Balto chuckled as well. "Sorry if I-"
Aleu stopped him. "No, don't worry about it. You're my father, it's your right to be concerned about me."
Balto smiled and nodded.
Nome Outskirts
They all continued walking until they reached the outskirts 7 minutes later. Once there, everyone stopped, and Rhushnorick turned to speak.
"Alright my brothers...and sister. We are scouting the town of Nome and assessing it's population. Graintok placed me in charge of this mission. And no, nepotism did not play a role in that at all. Now, since we must enter the town, we must stay hidden. Stick to alleys and rooftops. Remain in the shadows. And most importantly, avoid any civilian encounters. Balto, take your daughter and Silus with you. Alex, you stay with me. First though, we get a look from a distance to assess any threats. We'll wait in cover of that ridgeline for a few minutes. Then, we'll split up and do what we're here to do. Alex, stay with me at all times."
Alex was fighting the urge to say, "Don't tell me what the fuck to do." He simply nodded his head to avoid confrontation.
They began to hide behind the treeline and move slowly. Once at a good position near some buildings, Rhushnorick began to move silently with Alex. They reached a corner and rounded it, then the other three advanced. They moved up and rounded another corner, opposite the one Rhushnorick and Alex rounded.
After a few moments of scouting, both "teams" had accounted for a total number of 97 humans add 5 visitors, 42 dogs, and 5 cats. Rhushnorick and Alex had just finished, while Balto, Aleu, and Silus still had three more corners of 4 buildings.
They had rounded one of the corners and saw nothing. Silus motioned for the other two to follow. A moment later, they rounded the next and saw the same. However, on their third corner, they ran into 2 male humans, 1 of which spotted them immediately. "WOLVES!" he shouted. The other man grabbed a rifle. "Shit!" said Silus before trying to think of something. Balto was about to help, but it was too late. As soon as Silus had turned to run instead of fight, he caught a bullet in his back. He fell to the ground, wounded. Of course, Balto would've helped now. But it seemed as if every time he lifted a paw, something happened. The other man fired two rounds from his .22 revolver. One of them impacted Silus's left hind leg, while the other hit home, straight in his brain. Right after the bullet that hit his brain went through, he screamed in agony, wanting the pain to end. His wish was granted a moment later, when another round from the .22 was fired, piercing his fur, skin, and heart, exiting out of his chest into the ground below. He lied, motionless on the ground in a heap.
Balto tried to shield Aleu's eyes, but it was too late. She had seen everything, but was more angry than scared. Her father almost immediately pulled her away from the scene to avoid any further harm to either of them.
A moment later, after running in the opposite direction, saw another human. He was also a male. He had a .44 revolver at his hip. He hadn't seen Balto before, so took him for a wolf. "When the hell did everyone get guns?!" said Balto. Aleu ignored him and ran towards the human, who was now grabbing his weapon, pointing it at her. He chambered a round into the .44 and steadied his aim. Balto gasped, about to watch his daughter be killed. Aleu was 20 feet away, well within range. She wasn't stopping.
He clenched his finger around the trigger getting ready to fire, a smile on his face. But, fate had other plans. Alex and Rhushnorick were behind the human. They jumped on his back, pulling him down. Which, in turn, made him pull the trigger. The bullet impacted the ground only 7 inches from where Aleu stood.
Both of the male wolves came down, tearing the man apart. They tore into his torso and face. Rhushnorick did a finish. Instead of going for the neck, he brought his claws into the mans temple and scraped them along the side of his head. Alex moved his revolver into place and used two of his, "fingers" on his paw to fire. The man was dead on the ground, never knowing what hit him from behind.
After collecting their breath, Rhushnorick turned to Balto and asked, "What happened...where's Silus?" Balto frowned. "He's, he's...d-" Aleu cut him off. "He's dead! Where the hell did you think he was, Texas?!" Balto shrunk back and sighed afterwards. Rhushnorick sighed as well. Alex turned to Aleu, but said nothing, not knowing what to say. Rhushnorick nodded a minute later. "Right...let us not outstay our welcome. This town will suffer greatly for it's mistakes." He began to walk back into the forest, with the others following. They had a very difficult road ahead in the next few days. Hopefully, all will work out in the end...
A/N: Well, that's all for chapter eight. I hope that you enjoyed it. And sorry it took so long to get up. XD I will attempt to go faster next time. I kept trying to make this good with the things I wanted to include. Hopefully you all liked it. Good luck in your authoring or reading, or whatever. XD
Whiskey-Foxtrot 929, out.
