"HOW THE HELL DID I SURVIVE THAT?!"
Cassie pulled herself out of the snow and hugged herself tightly around her chest. She looked in front of her to see signs of snowmobiles sticking out of the snow. The temperature around her suddenly dropped when she realized that she had just narrowly avoided being crushed to death by a mountain of snow. She would've counted herself lucky but she considered herself to be lucky with a bittersweet flavor.
"I spent hours hiking up this mountain and because of this avalanche, I'm stuck at the near bottom with giant wolves the size of the Statue of Liberty trying to eat me. What else could happen?"
She decided that she did not want to spend several more hours hiking up this mountain and was more than happy to drive up as she had driven down the mountain.
She climbs down into the pits of the mountain of deep snow and reaches for one of the snowmobiles sticking out of the snow. She yanks it up and starts revving it up only for the engine to stall. She grumbles before shoving it back into the snow.
"I am not climbing up this mountain after this avalanche threw me off routine."
She waddles through the snow searching for more snowmobiles sticking out of the ground. When she acquired a second snowmobile, she pulled it out of the ground and the engine didn't make so much as a whisper.
After finding the third snowmobile, she started it up and cheered when she heard the sounds of the engine come to life.
"Hell yeah!" she cheered.
She dragged it over to solid ground before she climbs on top of it and rides up the mountain, staying as on the northwest side of the mountain as possible.
"Gotta find Tyler and Alec," she told herself, "I didn't see them when the snow crushed these guys so I better make sure they got out alive."
She pulled up to the top of the hill opposite where she last heard of Tyler and Alec's snowmobile and dismounted. She looked to the opposite side of the hill to see Tyler and Alec with their snowmobile intact.
She waved to them.
They waved back.
"Good to see you made it!" Cassie shouted.
"We still have orders to follow!" Tyler shouted. "We're heading back."
"Alright; see you there." Cassie climbed on her snowmobile before it stalled on her. "Damn it!"
Tyler and Alec saw that something was wrong with Cassie's vehicle so they drove up and across the hill to meet up with her.
"What's wrong with your snowmobile?" Alec asked as he climbed off.
"It's stalling on me." She tried revving the vehicle up once more.
Alec stroked his chin. "Let me take a look at it."
Alec remembered how he hung out with his crew back at the warehouse and they would take turns fixing the plane and were covered in grease at the end of the day.
Tyler gets off his snowmobile and watches Alec work his magic before his keen ears pick up something.
What is that?
He unholsters his M4 Carbine and steps away from his vehicle and aims at the cliff behind Cassie and Alec.
He walked around the duo as they focused on fixing Cassie's stalled snowmobile and listens for the sound his ears picked up. He edges closer to the cliff and upon reaching said cliff, points his barrel down to search for hostiles.
The cliff lead into an abyss but he could see the bottom. A giant boulder the size of a door was now the size of an ant from his perspective.
Alec tapped the front of the snowmobile. "There ya go, patched it up."
Cassie revved up the snowmobile. "How the hell did you do that?"
Alec shrugs. "I used to work as a mechanic." He turns back to his snowmobile. "Tyler, let's go."
Tyler keeps searching down the canyon.
"Tyler," Cassie yells.
Tyler sighs.
It's nothing.
He holsters his gun away when-
The giant wolf jumped up from the canyon and took Tyler in its mouth in one gulp.
Cassie and Alec screamed in terror before climbing on their snowmobiles and driving out of there.
The giant wolf plants its paws into the snowy ground and hoists itself upon the solid ground before its weight caused the ground beneath it to shift and send the wolf back down into the canyon.
As Cassie and Alec were driving up the mountain, Alec shouted across the field, "What the hell was that?"
"The giant wolf from my vision," Cassie answered with a yell back, "I was not picturing it to be that gigantic!"
"It ate Tyler in one gulp!"
"Do you think I need glasses to see; I saw that!"
Although I am wearing contacts right now.
"I thought you said they only stay on the east side of the mountain!"
"They do; unless they chase prey onto the other side of the mountain!"
"Anything else you want to tell us or should I sprinkle a little seasoning on me so I taste good for the titanic wolf?"
Cassie couldn't think in her current state and shouted, "No!"
"I'm going to kill you if you leave anything out, Cassie!"
Cassie glared at him.
I haven't forgotten when you tried to hit me on the plane.
Cassie and Alec continued to climb up the mountain, unaware of the giant wolf finally finding his footing and climbing back on the mountain, bloody remains dangling from its teeth from its most recent kill.
Cassie and Alec pull up to where they drove off to begin with before the avalanche hit. They forgot about the rock wall they had to climb earlier and quickly abandoned them to climb up the wall.
Upon reaching the top, they called out for the others several times before seeing them emerge from the cave.
Derek came out first with the Priest tugging on his niece by the hand, shivering.
"You abandoned us," Derek joked. "Are we dead weight?" He notices the absence of someone. "Where's Tyler?"
Cassie was about to answer when she felt a knotted tangle in her chest made her hesitate.
Alec held his head down. "I wish I could've collected his dog tags."
Derek's eyes went wide. "What?"
"He was devoured by a giant wolf," Cassie confirmed, "the giant wolf."
Derek shook his head. "Damn it." He thought of his mother. "My mother served with that guy and he's dead? Did he at least die a hero's death?"
Alec shook her head. "He switched off and was eaten alive." Then he shrugs. "All the more reason for none of us to switch off in return."
The Priest took his turn to speak up. "How did you guys escape the avalanche?"
"The snowmobiles," Cassie answered. "We barely escaped the avalanche." She remembered the guys she intercepted on the way down. "I think Tariq was here with his guys because there was a small army of snowmobiles climbing up the mountain."
"What happened to Tariq?"
"The avalanche got hungry and ate him."
Alec laughed. "At least that's one problem dealt with."
"Yep," Derek agreed. "Time for the final boss - Overlord."
Cassie pointed down the rock wall. "There are two snowmobiles down below. We could probably winch them up if we use the grappling hooks to hoist them up."
Derek chuckled. "Do you know how heavy a snowmobile is?"
Cassie put a hand on her hip. "What, afraid you won't be able to lift it without my help?"
"No! Just concerned with who's going to be driving and how all five of us are going to fit on two snowmobiles."
Bethany raised her hand like a student in class. "I'm small so I can fit in between two people."
Alec pointed at her. "Smart third grader."
"Why do you keep belittling me?" Bethany yelled.
Alec laughed. "It's easy."
Bethany chuckled, "You're mean."
Without wasting another second, Cassie climbed down the rock wall after taking Derek's grappling hook. Once she tied the hooks around the skis of the snowmobile she came on, she threw the ropes up to the men and climbed back up. They hoisted the snowmobile up, two people yanking on each rope at the same time like in tug-of-war with Bethany acting as the spotter. They put all their strength into yanking up the snowmobile and screamed in agony at the feeling of their muscles tearing, their faces flushing red.
They successfully hoisted the snowmobile up the rock wall and once they assured their victory, the four of them fell on their back, their chests heaving off the ground.
"One down..." Alec wheezed, "one to go."
They moved the snowmobile off to the side before yanking the second snowmobile up, albeit at a slower pace with their muscles still aching in their limbs.
The first thing they did when they finished hoisting both vehicles up was rest on the ground and let their breaths catch up to them. Cassie tried climbing on the snowmobile but fell short and landed on her ass with her back pressed to the snowmobile.
"Man," Bethany tsked, "you guys are lazy."
Cassie pointed a shaky finger at the young girl. "Says the girl who did nothing but spots the snowmobiles."
"Hey, a spotter is important in the career of weightlifting; you'd guys never raise the bar without me."
"And you called us the lazy ones."
They waited two minutes for their breaths to catch up before they all found their footing.
"I'll ride," Derek insisted as he climbed onto Cassie's snowmobile.
"Still having trust issues I see."
Derek looked at her solemnly. "Hell yeah, Cassie-Blanca."
Cassie climbed onto the back and wrapped her arms around his waist. She pulled her hands away slowly when she felt her gloved hands touch Derek's jacket. She knew that there was electricity running through Derek's body but just the mere touch of him sent shivers down her spine.
It is such a different sensation touching him knowing that...
She looks at the back of his head.
I'm so in love with you, Derek.
"WOLF!"
Cassie looked over her shoulder to see wolves leaping up from the bottom of the rock wall and landing in front of the snowmobiles.
Cassie took out her pistol and fired into the wolf as it opened its mouth to snarl. The wolf howled in pain before it fell over, leaking blood from the mouth.
"Holy crap," Cassie gasped.
"Is that the giant wolf?" Bethany asked with a shaky voice.
Cassie narrowed her eyes. "No, it's not the same wolf that ate Tyler; that one was like fifty feet tall."
Bethany looked away from the wolf. "So it's like Fenrir from Norse mythology?"
"Less talking," Derek interrupted, "more snowmobiling." He started up his snowmobile.
Alec picked up Bethany and planted her on the back of the snowmobile. Alec was about to take the driver's seat when he was yanked from the side by his arm and went falling to the ground.
One of the adolescent wolves snuck up on Alec and was biting at his arm while on the ground. Cassie and Derek aimed their guns and fired at the wolf in the eyes. The wolf howled and turned away. Alec pushed himself up and aimed his assault rifle for the wolf's throat. He fires off several rounds in the creature's neck before shoving it back. It snapped at him, opening its mouth to take a bite when a single bullet from Alec's firearm shot through the inside of his mouth and put the wolf down.
The Priest climbed onto the empty snowmobile and started it up. "Get on Alec!"
Another wolf snuck upon them. Alec spotted it and shot it in its open mouth. "I don't think so."
Another wolf jumped up the wall and ran for him. He shot it in the mouth. That dead wolf was replaced with another...
...and another...
...they just kept coming.
"Get out of here!" Alec shouted before quickly reloading.
"Alec, climb on," Bethany begged. "Please."
"I'm a soldier, expendable to society." He popped a wolf in the mouth. "My orders are to protect you guys so give me this one chance to go out like a badass."
Cassie was about to get off her snowmobile to help him when Derek took off like he was accepting his fate. The Priest followed Derek's example and drove off with Bethany reaching out to Alec while calling his name.
Alec kept firing at the incoming wolves, killing a total of twelve if his count was accurate. The wolves were jumping up the rock wall with some and backing him into a corner. He reached for another magazine clip when he found his pouch to be empty. He threw his firearm away and backed away, nearly tripping in the snow. He quickly drew his pistol and fired at the wolves. When he emptied his first clip, he reached for another mag before catching something in the corner of his eyes.
The cave that Derek, the Priest, and Bethany hid in when the avalanche hit.
I'll take my chances in there.
He turns to run but doesn't get far.
An object as heavy as a large boulder hits him in the back and pushes him deep in the snow. The wind escaped his lungs and he was left panting in the ground, clutching his side before rolling on his back.
His eyelids peeled as far back as they could go when he gazed at the sight before him.
The giant wolf was standing before him, looking down at him with yellow eyes and bloodstains on its fangs. It had knocked him into the ground with its paw and staring at him menacingly ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
Never in his four years as a SEAL and seventeen years as a mercenary has he seen an enemy of this proportion. Never had he been looked down at by a creature with soulless yellow eyes with nothing but ravenous bloodthirsty intent before. He gasped for air and choked when it felt like his heart leaped out of his chest and got caught in his throat. All rationale left Alect and all he could do was stare at this monstrous beast, the only part of him making a movement of any kind was his heart.
To have a heart attack right now would be mercy right now.
The adolescent wolves closed in on the downed Alec, which he noticed in the corner of his eyes.
"NO!" he cried in horror.
They pounced on him, burying their fangs into his flesh and ripping at his skin. They started off at the forearms before moving closer in the body and started going for his stomach.
Alec cried in agony when he felt them rip his stomach open.
"HELP ME!" Alec cried. "PLEASE! AGH!" He shuts his eyes and feels his throat start to rasp but that doesn't stop him from crying out his next sentence.
"STOP IT, DADDY! I'M SORRY, DADDY! I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! PLEASE STOP! ALEXA, MOMMY, HELP ME!"
The wolves continued to devour their prey, tearing into him like a piece of steak, showing the human no mercy.
The giant wolf stared down at the adolescent wolves gnawing at its prey, its yellow eyes devoid of emotion.
Except for rage.