Kate's POV
The blazing sun scorched the earth behind me as my leg muscles gave it all they had to push me forward. I could feel the ground beneath my feet burning with everlasting heat, making every step even more painful than the last. The grass turned into a scorching river of fire behind me and the trees were instantly incinerated by intense heat the sun was radiating.
I could feel my fur starting to burn away in the heat, but I kept sprinting for my life. My tail felt like a match being struck against the ground and set a blaze, every small bit of fur slowly incinerated away. It continued to creep up my body, slowly making it's way to my face. My fur and skin were literally destroyed in less than a second. It seemed no matter how fast I ran, it just kept getting closer.
The heat from the scorching sun then reached my face and the rays starting to burn off my fur and skin. I screamed in agonizing pain as my skin was completely burned to nothing. I fell to the hard boiling hot earth as I allowed the fires of the sun to finally end my suffering. Immediately as I fell to the ground, I was engulfed in an hellish fiery death. My entire body was completely taken over by the flames as I slowly burned to my impending death.
I sat up screaming as I awoke from my horrific and intense nightmare. My muzzle was immediately covered by an unknown paw and was followed by a quiet shush noise.
"Are you crazy?! Do you want us to die?" I was asked by an unknown brown wolf.
"W-w-who a-a-are you?" I asked confused and even a little scared.
"I'm Chris, I was one of the members of Shadow Company during the battle. I found you almost dead out there so I carried you to safety into this den" Chris explained to me.
"You were in pretty bad shape too, that wound on your side was real deep and if I hadn't come when I did you would be dead right now" He explained, pointing at my wound.
I looked down to see a completely bandaged wound on my side, the bleeding had stopped and there was no pain. I looked back up at him and replied: "Uh... thank you"
He chuckled and replied: "Your very welcome Ms. Kate"
I sat there, still feeling nervous and uncomfortable, not saying a word or even making eye contact with him. He looked at me confused, he raised an eyebrow and said: "Are you ok Ms?"
"Y-yes I-I'm f-f-fine" I replied immediately, without even looking at him.
"Do you want some food? I managed to scavenge up a half eaten caribou" He offered me kindly.
That caught my attention instantly, I was starving! I hadn't eaten a even single rabbit's foot in days! The offer was far too tempting to even consider turning down.
"Yes!" I replied instantly, louder than I should've.
Chris chuckled at my quick response and dragged the dead meaty caribou to me. Almost immediately, I dove into the mouthwatering deceased animal, ripping and tearing meat straight off the bone. I tore deeper into it's abdomen and started to devour anything that fit in my mouth. I lifted my head into the air, blood dripped from my mouth as I gulped down the intestines.
I breathed in a tremendous amount of air due to the intense amount of meat I had just swallowed. I looked over back at Chris to see him laughing hysterically at me.
"You hungry?" He asked, still laughing.
I blushed, embarrassed, I must've looked like a crazy starving pig.
"Sorry..." I replied, making a small smile.
"No, it's fine. It's just... it was funny is all" He assured me, chuckling.
I went back to eating, trying to get as much food in me as I could while it was possible. He walked over to the entrance of the den and poked his head out, observing the area to see what was outside.
Soon, my mind began to wander towards other things. My parents, who were killed in their den by that Shadow Commander. Although it felt like a lifetime ago, it had only been a few days. Every day feels like a year, every waking moment that I still live is a struggle and feels meaningless. Tears build up in my eyes as I picture my parents being murdered in their own home, and me not getting their in time to save them.
I could picture his face in my mind, his terrible scarred face with two burning red eyes. Cain, the Shadow Commander who led the Northerners in this attack. He was a servant to Shadow once, but after Humphrey killed him he took full control. I don't know if Humphrey had made any contact with Cain on his journey North, but part of me feels like Cain deliberately wanted Shadow dead.
The thought of Humphrey then filled my mind, more like plagued. I missed him indispensably and would give nearly anything just to share a glance with him. My body ached from not being with him or near him, I couldn't even think straight. I felt like I was in some type of withdrawal, like Humphrey was my drug that I craved so dearly.
Anxiety came over me, and I felt... scared. I actually felt scared. For the first time in my life, I was afraid. Not just for Humphrey and for the wolves that were still alive, surviving in these awful conditions. I was afraid for me, myself. Isn't that selfish? I mean, all these other wolves who were in terrible conditions and many of them were probably captured by the Shadows and unspeakable things were being done to them, and I was safe in a den. For all I know, I could've been the safest wolf in all of Jasper then, but I was still terrified.
I finally had finished eating and sat back, leaning against the wall of the den. I sat shaking uncontrollably, not knowing if it was from fear or the freezing cold... or both. Chris sat down next to the dead caribou carcass, he sighed and I walked over and sat next to him.
"So... what's your story Chris? If... you don't mind me asking?" I asked politely, hoping he doesn't get angry at me for asking.
"No, I don't mind. I'm western, like you. I was in the Western Pack Special Forces and I fought in the battle here. We had a plan, to send most of the troops to the East. Our scouts had seen the bulk of the Shadow horde heading towards the East, so what choice did we have? But we still knew that just a straight up battle would result in a defeat, so Garth a had a decent sized force that was going to flank The Shadow horde once they attack the East" Chris explained in detail about the battle.
"But I thought there were Southerners here?" I asked, curious to why he didn't mention them.
"We did, the South sent an entire army to reinforce us. But most of them were sent to the East, so it's safe to assume that most of them are dead" Chris replied sadly.
"Why are you so sure everyone in the East is dead?" I asked, not able to figure out why he thinks that.
He looked up at me and stared into my eyes and replied: "Because Garth's unit was destroyed"
"I was teamed up with Commander Shady to go and check on Garth's unit, because they didn't respond to the signal. Once we got their, they were under heavy attack from the Shadows. We managed to push them back, but he had taken too many casualties" He explained.
"So... what happened to the Eastern Pack?" I asked worried, but I already knew the answer.
He had walked up to the entrance of the den and stood there, looking out. He sighed and replied with a straight face: "They died. The battle in the East, without Garth's reinforcements, turned into a slaughter. I presume that Tony is dead as well, unless the Shadows kept him alive. Then he would really wish he was dead"
"What about Shady? And Garth?" I asked, hoping that at least Shady was alive.
"I don't know, I haven't seen them since we rescued Garth's unit. They could be anywhere, or they could be dead, I don't know" He replied, disappointing me.
I put my head down and my ears followed, a sigh made it's way out of my mouth as I thought about Shady. I hadn't seen him since before I was kidnapped, but knowing him, I was pretty sure he would be alright. Commander huh? That's funny, never thought of Shady as the 'leader type' but I guess there's been a lot of surprises in this war.
"What about Humphrey?" I asked, my mind instantly going back to him.
He looked back at me, looking confused. Like he didn't know who I was talking about.
"Who?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uhh... Humphrey? How do you not know who he is? He was a Spec Ops like Shady and he's lived here his whole life" I explained, not believing him.
"Oh uhh... yeah Humphrey! Now I remember! No, I uhh... haven't... seen him the entire battle. He may have been in the East or something" He replied very nervously.
"Uhh... Humphrey wasn't in the battle. He was in the North remember? He volunteered to come rescue me" I explained, correcting him and watching him suspiciously.
"Oh of course! How stupid of me, I remember" He replied, turned back around, not making eye contact.
I kept looking at him suspiciously, my instincts were telling me not to trust him. But then again, he did save my life. He quickly tried to change the conversation, and I decided to let him.
"So... how are your wounds?" He asked, still not making eye contact.
I had completely forgotten that I was even hurt at all, whatever he did sure did the job alright.
"Much better, I barely remembered they were even there" I replied, assuring him that I was fine.
"Excellent, then we will be able to move soon. We're gonna need to find some survivors or anyone really that's not a Shadow or an Easterner" He explained.
"You're right, when can we move?" I asked, wanting to get on with my search for Humphrey as soon as possible.
"We can head out tomorrow morning, go ahead and get some rest. You're gonna need it" Chris told me, watching the entrance of the den.
I walked over to the back of the den, and laid down against the wall. I put my head on my paws and my mind began to wander again. I thought of my parents, I thought of Lilly, I thought of what happened to the East. Wondering if Garth and Tony were alive. I was never really fond of either of them, I found Tony as a sour old wolf, but a good leader.
I thought of Shady, wondering if he was alive. I then realized that I had never been so worried about Shady in my entire life, I never even thought about him that much. I never considered Shady a really close friend, even though there were some nights when I thought of him. But there were also nights where I thought of Humphrey or other males. It sucked being a virgin and being desired by every male in the pack. Regardless, I desperately hoped he was alright.
But most of all, I thought of Humphrey. I desired him is probably a better way to describe it, I felt lost and lonely without him nearby. And the fact that I didn't even know he was alive or not was killing me! Was he alive? And if he was, was he looking for me? What if he ran off to the South to leave me and save himself, never to think of me again? No, he would never do that... would he?
Finally, after two hours of constant unrest, my eyes rolled into my head and I fell into a deep sleep. I dreamt of Humphrey that night.