DALLAS, TEXAS
Back in Reich, Marshall was being whisked down the hallway to a courtroom to be trialed for multiple crimes. In typical criminal custody fashion, around Marshall's paws with tight leg cuffs to prevent him from escaping if he ever tried and a muzzle on his face to prevent biting. Two Guards were beside him and said nothing to him. Marshall knew there was no way he was getting off innocent. He was now just imagining his sentence, life in a work camp? Death by firing squad?
Marshall turned the corner following the escorting guards to come face to face with him staring down a long hallway, what was really surprising is that he knew the courtroom was behind the two large french doors at the end of the brightly lit hallway. He could already hear people talking and gossiping about random stuff from behind the doors from that far of a distance. So many voices at once gave the Dalmation the thought of the number of people in the room. Probably over two hundred people at the most.
With each step, Marshall was getting more and more afraid of what his fate could be and how the people would see him. Marshall could feel his own heartbeat in his throat and his paws beginning to feel like jelly. Excluding the banter from the people in the courtroom ahead, if someone had dropped a pin, for sure Marshall would hear like it was an anvil falling from a two-story building. Marshall's paws kept walking unconsciously without him really think much at all. Within time, Marshall had reached the end of the hallway and stood directly at the doors. Both the Guards stepped in front of him and both opened the doors at the same time.
Inside the courtroom was a huge skylight, the sun rays blinded Marshall for a few seconds. Marshall tried to cover his face with his paws, but they were tightly bound together by the cuffs, so he just looked the other way. When his vision had adjusted, he gazed inside and saw the courtroom was massive. Marshall estimated two hundred people looked like child's play to what his eyes were presenting to himself. For sure over eight hundred people must be in this one room just to watch Marshall get 'justice'.
Platforms upon platforms of people along the wall of the courthouse, giving people an elevated look down. One of the guards by Marshall shoved him a little into the courtroom for him to continue walking. But Marshall felt almost parallelized from the overwhelming amount of fear coursing through him. He's never been much to have stage freight, but it was clearly shown as he stood there like a statue, taking short breathes.
"Bewege es!" (Move it!) The other guard gave another push but with more strength. Without wanting to face the wrath of a guard's baton, Marshall slowly started to walk along a small isle that small metal borders separating the aisle Marshall was taking from the spectators. Marshall's eyes kept looking around at the people at his left and right. All of them looked like they wanted to kill the Dalmation. Marshall kept his head down at tried to focus on him getting to the end of the aisle to be trialed.
"Hang him!" One of the people in the huge crowd shouted out.
"Send him to the camps! Make him pay!" Another said, as more and more ideas were shouted out, The crowd began to get more violent by throwing crushed up pieces of paper at Marshall or anything they could find on the floor to hurt the Dalmation. It didn't phase Marshall that much with a little piece of paper hitting him and falling elegantly down to the carpeted ground, the sentence ideas were the ones to turn his stomach inside out.
Thankfully, Marshall reached the end of the aisle and stepped up to a small elevated platform for him to see everyone, and for everyone to see him clear as day. Fifty feet in front of Marshall was a much higher elevated platform that the Judge was station at. The Judge was a canine dressed in a long back robe, white-collar and small circular glasses. To top it all off was a large red swastika on the back of the robe. Behind the judge were two Nazi battle flags and two Nazi America flags with the swastika in the canton. The judge was a brown Newfoundland.
''Marshall Erode Schmidt...never in all my years in law have I come face to face with evil like you… numerous counts of murder on law enforcement, recruiting law abiding citizens to join a terroristic group, evasion from justice, illegal possession of a firearm, connections to the Resistance Movement, and numerous other crimes against the State." the judge read out the charges against the Dalmation, Marshall couldn't deny those charges, but he did know that this wouldn't have started if it were for that Doberman.
''We shall know to hear from the victim's families," the judge stated as he took off his glasses and looked over to the right, over was a small podium similar to Marshall's but for victims to speak out against the criminals, in this case, Marshall. The first family to speak were two cockapoos. Marshall looked at the two canine breeds and saw they looked quite familiar, one was female and the other was male, Married couple, blondish fur colors and both looked old enough to be parents.
''The way… you have taken my daughter away from me… just… just like you took away fathers and brothers as you killed those officers, sworn in to protect and serve."
''Skye?" Marshall asked out, trying to clarify who they were talking about, the female cockapoo gasped and growled, making Marshall quite scared even though they were almost fourty feet apart from each other.
"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH HER, YOU… YOU… TERRORIST!" She shouted out into the Microphone, making her voice echo through the court.
"She's fine, I promise, She's… in the Neutral Zone," Marshall knew it wasn't wise to give up the location of Skye, but he at least had the decency to tell her the truth to her mother. Marshall's confession made the court gasp as if it were the worst fate.
"Our Daughter had a bright future ahead of her as a Luftwaffe Pilot, and you took it away for the sake of your Resistance," The Father Cockapoo stepped in and spoke instead of the female.
"IT WAS HER OWN CHOICE, SHE WAS UNHAPPY!" Marshall shouted.
"LIAR!" The Father shouted back. Marshall just scoffed back since he didn't want to get into a shouting match with someone a fair distance away.
The canine judge barked into his private microphone for the two to stop, a guard escorted the cockapoo parents off the podium as their time of verbal expression was up. Marshall growled at the both of them.
"A few more families and relatives will speak before the prosecution begins," the judge stated, Marshall sighed knowing that this is was going to be a long moment of people screaming and damning him to hell.
"Lupe, I-I'm back," Skye sheepishly stated as she walked into the run-down store she originally met him. Her voiced barely making an echo in the room. The Wolf was not too far as he was present behind a counter drinking whiskey.
"Don't call me that out loud, I'm Ulysses and Ulysses only, even being in Resistance isn't tolerable around here," He stated.
"Sorry."
"It's alright, cmon', they're waiting for us," He said walking over from the front counter and into a deeper part of the store. Skye followed behind Lupe for him to open a backdoor leading outside at the back of the store. Skye was going to say something but just decided to shut up instead and continue to follow him into the unknown. Lupe walked behind a large tree and moved away a big pile of dead leaves to reveal a root cellar door.
For sure this seems like the kind of setup for Skye to get stabbed or worse and she was aware of it. Lupe got to work opening the ground door which proved to be a challenge since the door was and looked very old. With a few violent pulls, the cellar doors shot up which scared Skye just a little bit. Lupe motioned his paw for Skye to follow once more. There was a rusted ladder down, but Lupe just jumped down instead. Skye walked over to the edge of the opening and saw it was just a five foot drop.
"Well… jump down," Lupe encouraged, it was a far drop, but Skye just decided to take the ladder instead.
"You sure you're with Marshall?"
"Y-Yeah."
"Surprising, I figured anyone that knew him was willing to get their paws dirty, I guess I was wrong," Lupe shrugged and walked down a dark hallway into the root cellar. Skye just stood there not really offended, more challenged. Knowing that some time or later she was would have to cast away her old ways and get more like Marshall. At the end of the hallway was a rusted metal door, Lupe put his paw on the door to open before turning his head behind him to Skye.
"Tip, don't interrupt anyone," Lupe with a serious tone in his voice, Skye nodded in response. Lupe opened the metal door to see three people in the room around a wooden table with a large map on it. Two of them were canines. One was a German Shepherd was looked like he was blind in one eye, The other was a Bull Terrier that had a small sliced wound on his side, and the last person was a human.
"Ulysses, you arrange a meeting at ass in the morning to talk about… who the hell is that?" The German Shepherd pointed out the cockapoo slightly hiding behind Lupe. The Grey Wolf stepped aside so that they could see her clearer. Skye froze after being put in the spotlight.
"This is Skye, she defected from the Reich Territory, shes Marshall's friend, so maybe she can tell us something we don't know," Lupe stated, Skye just gave a small wave at the three starings her down as if she were the enemy.
"Well if she's with Marshall, I guess we can offer her a chance," The Terrier claimed before looking back at the large map. The German Shepherd didn't do the same, he continued to give suspicious looks.
"If you are with Marshall, then where is he then?"
"Captured," Lupe spoke up.
"What?!" The German Shepherd shouted in shock, the other two just silenced, but still as shocked.
"Y-You realize if those bastards get him to talk, we will lose a lot of our spies in the Reich and Pacific States"
"The fuck you want us to do then, wave a wand and bring him back, there's nothing we can do." The human spoke to silence the German Shepherd. He growled a little bit before remaining silent.
"I know you're concerned Eli, but Lambth is right, we can only hope for the best, and that's it," Lupe said as he walked over to an edge of the table to look at the large map. Skye slowly followed behind him and started to look at the sketch of the land as well.
"Oh and of course, Skye, this is Eli, Lambth, and Bellion"
"I don't give a shit about what happens to that Dalmation. He just better not say anything, I just want to stay six feet above," Eli stated, only interest in his own survival.
"As do we all...now let's get back to work, I have a pile of weapons I want to get shipped out to our contacts in Washington state, they said they've been having troubles with the Japanese up there," Lupe claimed pointed to Washington state on the map.
"Not surprising, The Japs are just as land-hungry as those in the Reich, but of course there's bad news, isn't there?" Bellion said.
"Mhm, not only bounty hunters but also white supremacists also," Lupe replied, stating the bad news. Skye looked at Lupe with a little bit of confusion.
"Why would bounty hunters take the guns?" Skye asked, before Lupe could give an answer, Eli did.
"Well for one, They keep the guns for the sake of their pleasure, or they sell them for profit, and if they sell them, we don't know who gets them,"
"Well… I know a bounty hunter, maybe I can talk to him and see if I can get his opinion on this," Skye started looking at them with innocence.
All the others just look on in shock as if she just killed Hitler and walked away as if it was nothing. Skye acknowledged the silence by noticing no-one at least corrected her suggestion.
"You've been in the Neutral Zone not even for a week, and you know a bounty hunter?" Lupe almost shouted. Never thinking the alliance of a defector and a bounty hunter would be real.
"Yeah...his name is Tracker, and-"
"WOAH WOAH WOAH SLOW DOWN...Tracker?!" Lambth stopped Skye, which honestly scared her a little bit from the sudden raised voice and strict tone.
"Y-Yeah," Scared that she had done something wrong, Skye started to back off and because quiet again.
"Skye, if you're going to live or at least stay in the Neutral Zone, you have to know Bounty Hunters, especially Tracker," Lupe turned around and faced Skye, almost like a father scolding his child for doing something wrong.
"Y-You know him?"
"Everyone does. He's infamous for carrying out cruel and cold contracts, he's killed tons and with no remorse. Elders, Children, you know to name it, he's killed them. He can drown a pup now and have a good night's sleep," Lupe went on about his distaste for the Chihuahua. Skye knew Tracker was a little brutal sometimes but didn't think that he was like that.
"And just like all bounty hunters, they have no loyalty. He could be working for the Reich for all I know," Bellion stood and added to Lupe's attack on Tracker. Skye got the message that Tracker was heartless, but she didn't believe all of it. If Tracker was heartless, sure then he wouldn't have a pup, right?
"Alright...Okay, I-I'll talk to him"
"Doubt that'll do anything, but fine, it's your life, feel free to waste it," Lupe said before turning back to his plan about the guns. Skye was still distanced from the rest, left alone to think about this new information about Tracker.
"I so dearly hope that you burn in Hell for all the pain… and misery you've brought to everyone that you touch, DAMN YOU, YOU HEAR ME YOU MUTT, DAMN YOU TO THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF HELL!" One family member spoke into the microphone to express their hate toward Marshall. Marshall in response was only allowed to do one thing. Nothing.
Marshall really didn't mind him doing anything since, he's not the one that shot up a Police Station, and he didn't really feel bad for killing those officers to make an escape for Skye, since he felt like it was worth it.
"That will conclude the hearing of the victim's relatives, Marshall Erode Schmidt, how do you plead to your charges?" the judge asked.
"Fuck it, I'm gonna die anyway. Guilty," Marshall shrugged, thinking that he might as well go out with a bang instead of boring. Despite the Dalmation's disrespect, the entire courtroom cheered on his death and his sentence by the judge.
"Marshall Erode Schmidt, by an overwhelming acceptance by the Jury, you are found guilty for all charges. You are sentenced to work for the rest of your life in Camp Millitoke," He stated out for everyone to hear, Marshall had never even heard of Camp Millitoke, but he was sure it was going to be a grueling time. The crowd's cheers were now getting uncontrollable as the projectiles started to make their way back, random objects with a decent weight went flying toward Marshall. The two guards by Marshall didn't shield him, they more encouraged it with small smiles.
Down pitch dark in the open air, Skye made it back to Tracker's cabin. Skye couldn't stop thinking about the accusations about Tracker and what he does for a living. Of course, she knew that Tracker was a bounty hunter, but she didn't know the true thought of who Tracker really was.
"Tracker… I'm back," Skye said opening the front door and seeing Tony playing on the floor with a toy stuffed bear. Skye ignored him before looking around more for Tracker, she started to get concerned as she checked every room in the house to no avail of his presence.
"Umm...where is Tracker?" Skye asked giving in and asking Tony. The pup just lifted his head and tried to remember.
"Uhhh...I can't remember, something about a pond I think," He said going straight back to his bear, Skye started to think and realized where he was. Walking out the back door and onto the muddy path back into the woods behind the cabin, Skye could barely see with the moon light being her only source for visual aid. It was dead quiet in the Forrest, the crunch of a leaf below her paws felt loud enough to wake up the state with crickets also being heard.
As Skye got close enough to the pond, she could see the dark outline of a canine just sitting near the pond, just staring at the water as if he was waiting for something spectacular to happen soon. It didn't take long to let Skye decipher who it was. The sound of leaves being crushed as Skye advanced forward was still clear and for sure should have alerted Tracker, but he didn't look back, it's like he didn't care.
"Tracker...Is everything alright?"
"I'm uh… sorry, I should've believed you when you said you left the Reich for good," Tracker stated.
"O-Okay, but this seems a bit, dramatic for an apology," Skye pointed out that over-dramatic scenery for just him saying sorry.
"Your parents were on television when you were gone."
"Really, what did they-"
"They condemned you, Skye, I'm sorry," He claimed before placing a paw on her paw as a show of comfort and compassion.
"To be honest, they never really did like me."
"Really?"
"In fact, I never wanted to join the Luftwaffe."
"Then why did you?"
"Because there was a place where they wanted to live, Parish Heights, you can only live there if you have a daughter or son that's in the military," Skye said, Tracker was starting to understand why she didn't like the ones who she was raising and 'loved' by.
"So they just...used you to get into a higher form of living, damn" Out of nowhere, Skye started to lean against Tracker and wrapped her paws around him.
"So many years of them just taking away my dreams, I did want to fly, but not like this," Skye said on the verge of tears, just remembering her childhood. Tracker wasn't good with how to handle emotions, so he just patted her and told her the classic: 'Everything is gonna be alright'
"Well, my dad was a Russian Soldier back when I wasn't born, he fought in Stalingrad but fled when he knew his country was going to fall. He fled to the middle east then caught a boat to Mexico, where he met my Mom."
"You're half Russian?" Skye asked, lifted her head up, and looking at Tracker.
"Yeah...after they had met, they went to the Neutral Zone where my dad became a bounty hunter since that was the only job he was capable of doing. He… he was shot, don't know how, don't know who, but that was the last time I saw him."
"I'm sorry to hear"
"It's alright"
"Yeah..." Skye slightly kissed Tracker on the cheek, which made Tracker respond by doing the same but with a short on her lips. Soon after this, Skye kissed again but instead of pulling away, she locked lips with him and they both just enjoyed each other embrace.