A/N: I'm back again! For those of you wondering how I get updates out every week, I put my strategy on my profile. I did some minor changes to it, but I'm sure you guys can find it.
Anyway, before you read, I just wanna say that if there is any chapter up to this point that I want you guys to review more, it's this one. I don't care if you're a guest or not; I want to know what you think of this chapter in particular. Any feedback at all; please let me know. I would really appreciate it. Why?
...You'll see... Take care you guys!
Rockford, Illinois
Nathan was practically asleep on his couch when a loud jet engine overhead rattled the windows and jerked him out of his impending sleep. He instantly recognized that sound as the same noise as the engines of the jets that attacked Chicago. Nathan tensed up immediately, but Fox shot up off the couch and hopped up to the front window. As he gingerly peeled back the curtains slightly, he gasped and yanked them shut.
"That's not Wolf's Arwing!"
Nathan instantly bolted up, grabbed his ACR that was propped up against the wall near the TV, then held up the weapon to its proper stance as he pointed it at the door.
Fox was able to position himself so he could see the plane without being noticed from the outside. He wasn't wrong; it was not a Star Fox generation Arwing that Wolf or his father used. It was the next step lower, which was what the high ranking Cornerian Army officers used. He scanned the fighter, and noticed a small insignia on the outside of the right G-diffuser. It looked like a small white husky head.
"The Huskies? I thought they were on the east," Fox murmured, continuing to watch for a familiar figure to leave the Arwing, and hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was.
He practically exploded from excitement when he saw a large gray wolf exit the fighter.
"Wolf!" Fox cried, unlocking the door and hobbling out onto the small balcony overlooking the parking lot the lupine had touched down on. Wolf took a second to process his surroundings, but once he realized the teenage kit was standing in the doorway of a human house he pulled out a small sub-machine gun and bolting up the stairs up to the vulpine.
"Fox! Thank god you're alright!" Wolf said, visibly relieved as he embraced the smaller frame tightly, doing his best not to chop Fox's crutches from his paws. "Where are they?" he questioned as he broke his hold on the kit and held his weapon up in the recently shut doorway.
"No, Wolf, stop!" Fox pleaded, pushing the weapon down. "Hold on a second, let me explain!"
"Explain how you were taken hostage?" Wolf shot back, prying the gun from the vulpine's paws.
"That's not what happened," Fox retorted. "Just let me explain, please."
"Alright," Wolf sighed, flopping his arms down. "What?"
Fox cracked the door slightly and stuck the tip of his muzzle through the door. "It's him Nate, don't shoot."
"Nate?" Wolf echoed questioningly with an eyebrow raised.
Fox smiled slightly and nudged the lupine's backside with his crutch, then practically pushed him into the room and quickly shut the door behind their tails. Wolf hesitantly looked around the small room, but once he saw a human figure slowly lowering a medium-sized rifle he instantly raised up his sub-machine gun and pointed it at the person. He didn't fire, but continued to stare into the human's green eyes. Wolf probably could have paralyzed the human in fear if he wasn't an army veteran.
"Wolf, don't!" Fox shouted, chopping at the gun with his crutch. "He's not gonna hurt you!"
Wolf disregarded the vulpine's pleas as he kept his weapon trained on the human. Nathan noticed his death stare and quickly spoke up.
"Woah, buddy, chill," Nathan assured, placing the ACR on the floor and holding up his empty hands. "I'm not gonna shoot."
Wolf made a faint glance to the small fox with an eyebrow raised, still with the weapon pointed at the human. Fox giggled slightly and spoke up.
"Wolf, this is Nathan Fox. He helped me find you."
"He also kidnapped you," Wolf added, making another angry glance to the already intimidated human. "Why should I trust him?"
"Because you're still alive," Nathan responded calmly. "If I wasn't to be trusted, I'd have killed you as soon as you stepped foot in my home."
Wolf made another growl at him, but Nathan inched closer and gingerly outstretched his hand. "I'm not hostile. I only want to help."
Wolf hesitated, but eventually lowered his weapon enough to be able to shake the human's hand. "Name's Wolf O'Donnell. Nathan, right?"
"Yeah," Nathan responded, letting go of the lupine's paw. "You're his brother?" he asked, nodding his head in the direction of the vulpine.
"Metaphorically, yes," he responded with a grin. "Not exactly blood relation, but might as well be."
Thank Lord Jesus, Nathan thought with a faint smirk, then gestured to the couch. "Go ahead and take a seat. We've got some things to discuss."
Wolf obliged by setting his weapon on the coffee table and hopping backwards on the large couch. Fox instantly bolted over and sat next to him, which made Wolf chuckle softly and run his paw through the kit's fur.
That is so weird. I'm half expecting him to pull out a knife on Fox or something
"Alright, I'm trusting you here," Wolf announced, crossing his right leg. "Don't make me regret doing it… Talk."
Nathan cleared his throat. "So… First off, I understand your kind is here because of a supposed missile that hit your planet launched by us, correct?"
"Yeah," Wolf responded. "At least… that's what my military is saying. I personally don't agree with them."
"And you'd be correct in thinking that, Wolf," Nathan said with a nod. "I don't run the country, but I know for a fact that our government is not that stupid to attack an intergalactic race such as yourself."
"I fuckin' knew it," Wolf muttered in a low growl, then suddenly picked his voice up. "I told them! I even explained why!"
"How so?"
Wolf slouched a bit as he tilted his ears slightly. "Well, you know that we've been sending satellites into your atmosphere, right?"
"So those were yours?" Nathan said, nodding his head forward a bit.
"Yup… Anyway, I told our general that supposed 'missile' that hit us was just you guys' botched satellite in an attempt to mimic us, but he said it was too coincidental to be an accident."
"Damn, that does makes a lot of sense," Nathan mumbled.
"And now my military is hell bent on revenge and want nothing more than to see your planet crumble, and there's no stopping them once they've got their minds set on something."
"Not unless we make them sit down and rationalize," Nathan stated, but the lupine's sarcastic laughing cut him off.
"You think they'll listen to you?" Wolf chuckled, shaking his head. "They won't listen to anyone that'll tell them different. I tried, believe me I've tried, but they will not listen. They won't even listen to their own kind; what makes you think they'll listen to yours?"
"Hold on," Nathan said, raising his hand up slightly. "They probably wouldn't listen to me before, but they sure as hell will now."
"Hah! What'll make 'em, huh?" Wolf said doubtfully. "You gonna threaten 'em? What good'll that do ya?"
Nathan grew tired of the lupine's nagging, so he un-holstered his silenced silver handgun and pressed it up against the orange vulpine's temple, right underneath his ear. Fox instantly froze faster than a computer with a virus and inhaled a big gasp of air, feeling the barrel of the cold weapon pushed deep into his fur. Wolf faintly recoiled at the sudden sight with a terrified look on his maw.
"That got your attention, didn't it?" Nathan taunted, caressing the handle of the weapon. "No different with the rest of you guys. As soon as they realize I have him, they will negotiate to get him back."
Wolf could not reply. He was still holding his breath as the light sneaking in from the windows glinted off the weapon. Fox was easily just as terrified as the lupine was. He remembered the human telling him he wouldn't hurt him just moments ago, but he was within inches of blowing his head off.
"Do I make a point?" Nathan said with a smirk. Wolf nodded violently in response.
"Alright, alright, I get it!" Wolf finally spoke up. "Just don't hurt him! Please!"
Nathan chuckled faintly and removed the gun from the kit's fur. Fox instantly let out a sigh of relief, then was attacked by the lupine's paws as Wolf grabbed his head and embraced it.
"Don't worry. I'll never hurt this little guy," Nathan assured, patting the tod's unbroken leg gently. "He's our ticket to the end of these attacks. I need him for negotiations." Wolf nodded, then gave a reassuring wink to the vulpine on the couch.
"So… are you with me on this?" Nathan asked, holstering the weapon. "Can you help me?"
Wolf glanced back at the vulpine, then towards the bearded human. He hesitated, but eventually held out his gray paw.
"I'm in," Wolf affirmed, shaking the human's hand. He suddenly tightened his grip and brought his muzzle within inches of the human's nose. "But, if you ever hurt that one there, or try to pull that shit like you just did again, I will kill you. I am not kidding."
"Don't worry," Nathan said with a smile, "I would never lift a finger to you guys. I'll do everything in my power to keep you guys safe."
Wolf gave a slight pleased grin, then watched as the human pulled out his phone from his pocket.
"I know a friend of mine that works for our space program," Nathan said, tapping the screen. "I'll call him and see if your assumptions are ri–"
"Don't!" Wolf yelled, lashing out like a blur and snatching the phone from the human's grasp. "If you try and call anyone, our military will be right on your doorstep in a heartbeat. They hacked into all your cell grids, and are using them for their own communications lines. They can triangulate anyone's location if they have the given information to do so."
"So they can basically track us?"
"With stuff like this, yes," Wolf responded, shaking the phone like a piece of paper. "If they want someone, like this one for example," he started, patting the vulpine's head. "They'll pull out all the stops to try and locate them."
Nathan nodded, then froze mid nod and had the look of someone that just shit their pants. He eyeballed the vulpine on the couch, then shifted his glance back to the lupine. Wolf instantly donned the same look as the bearded human.
"FOX! Give me your damn transmitter NOW!" Wolf shouted, practically ripping the wristlet off of his arm and throwing it full force at the door, completely shattering the device. If that wasn't good enough, Wolf grabbed his weapon off the table and fired at it, completely vaporizing most of the chips.
Wolf growled and set the gun back down, then looked at the human who was still trying to comprehend what just happened. "De'nue iseu se avios, met'ne suus."
"What are you– oh, damn translations," Nathan grumbled, then activated the translator on his end. Wolf saw the device strapped to the human's wrist and attempted to grab at it, but Nathan pulled away before his paw could clamp down on it.
"Hold on, we need this one. If you want me to understand you, and the other way around, we need this one at least."
Wolf grunted and held out his paw. "Fine. Lemme see it for a quick sec," he motioned two claws towards himself at the human, then pawed at the device on his wrist.
"There," he said, closing the main flap. "Disabled the location markers. Considering they probably didn't know you two had transmitters, they don't have their serials. They won't be able to track yours." He glanced over at the smaller woman, who had the similar device on her wrist as well. "Can you hand me yours, sweetie?"
"If you promise not to call me that ever again," Taylor giggled, removing the device and tossing it across the room to the lupine. "Just keep it. I don't have a use for it."
"Thank you," Wolf grinned, then adjusted the wristlet on his own arm. After he had the correct size, he turned back to Nathan. "Well, since you didn't get rid of Fox's transmitter right away, they probably know where we are. We need to move if you want your plan to work."
Nathan cursed and kicked at the wall. "Alright. I know a place pretty far away from here that we can go to. Friend of mine lives in the mountains in the west. We can camp out up there."
Wolf nodded, then nudged the kit to get up. The four walked out of the small apartment and into the quickly cooling Midwestern evening. The temperature was plummeting just as fast as the impending sunset, and Nathan instantly knew it would be a cold evening.
"You got room for an extra set of legs?" Wolf asked with a faint grin. "I'd take the Arwing but the guys could track them too."
"Yeah," Nathan responded. "Just grab the stuff that you need and load it up in that car. We gotta get out of here quickly."
Wolf obliged, then walked to the stolen fighter and looked around its contents. It had an extra set of clothes, which fit him perfectly since Garrison was Wolf's size, a small handgun, a first-aid kit, and a large, bulging black briefcase. Wolf was hesitant on the bag, but grabbed it nonetheless. The first thing he noticed about it was it was extremely heavy. It was probably heavier than the first-aid kit and his weapon combined. He set the bag and the other contents next to the car's back tire just as Nathan walked out with a medium sized suitcase.
The suitcase had everything he needed; a few sets of clothes, including the Cornerian uniforms, some technological gear, and his ACR with a few other weapons just in case. As he rolled the bag up to the car, he gasped at the briefcase leaning against the tire.
"Where the hell did you get that?" Nathan questioned, grabbing the briefcase up. There was no mistaking it; it was exactly what Nathan presumed it was.
"It was in the Arwing. Why? What is it?"
"It's the damn football!" Nathan shouted, handling the bag like it was radioactive.
"The hell is the football?" Wolf questioned with an eyebrow raised.
"This is our government's super weapon. It's basically a briefcase with the controls to all of the nuclear missiles scattered around the nation. Again, where did you get this?"
"Again, it was in the Arwing," Wolf responded with eyes wide at what Nathan just explained. "It's not my ship; it belongs to one of the Husky Squadron pilots. They hit the east coast earlier today, which is probably where they found it."
Nathan set the bag in the trunk of the car and looked back at Wolf. "Do you realize what your military would have done with that?"
"Of course," Wolf responded with a scoff. Nathan gave a sly smirk and glanced at the large silver and blue aviation masterpiece that was the Husky Squadron Arwing.
"You stole the right ship," Nathan stated, making Wolf grin slightly.
"Just what I do," he said proudly, then helped the vulpine into the back seat. "You'll be fine back here, right bud?"
"I guess," Fox responded, trying to get comfortable in the seat.
"Yeah, sorry about the seats Fox," Nathan apologized. "They aren't really made for people with tails."
Wolf started to walk to the other side of the vehicle, but not before smacking Nathan in the back of the leg with his own tail. It probably hurt the lupine more than it did the human, considering the tail is a very sensitive part of the Cornerian anatomy. Wolf popped into the passenger seat as Nathan slipped behind the wheel. As he started the car, Taylor jumped up into the open window.
"You guys stay safe out there, m'kay?"
"You're not coming with?" Nathan asked.
Taylor shook her head. "You guys can take care of yourself without me. Plus, I'll just end up slowing you guys down."
Nathan sighed, then half hugged the woman through the window of the car. "I will. And… Thank you so much. I couldn't ask for a better friend."
"Please don't start making me cry," Taylor giggled, sniffing faintly. "Just… Stay safe Nate. I'll be right here waiting for ya."
"Thank you Taylor," Nathan said before putting the car in gear. As he was backing up, he shouted over the engine roar. "I'll try and let you know how things are going."
"Awesome," she responded, then looked in the back seat at the vulpine. "Goodbye Fox! Stay safe!"
Fox smiled and waved back as Nathan pulled out of the parking lot and onto the city street, making a beeline westward for the Rocky Mountains; their only safe haven.
Husky Destroyer
"How's he doing?" Sharp asked in the small infirmary in the Husky Destroyer. A small husky doctor was working with a machine as he responded.
"He just got his bell rung. He'll be fine once he wakes up," he responded, pushing his glasses farther up his face.
"No, not G. Him," Sharp corrected, pointing at the occupied bed next to the unconscious husky.
"Oh, he's alive. We've got him on a little bit of life support since your shot ripped right through the center of his chest. You missed his heart by inches, Alex."
"That's good," Sharp responded, sitting in a chair by the door. "I just wish the other one was still alive."
"What happened to the other one anyway?" the doctor asked, pulling up a chair and sitting next to the tall husky.
"Sheila went mad," Sharp explained, rubbing his left temple. "She went berserk after that one blew Richie's brains out. I'm surprised she didn't go after him."
The doctor nodded and looked back at the unconscious human in the bed. "I did manage to find some information about him. Name's Justin Trent. He's an army officer for them; a colonel to be exact. He's also got some background with their space program. He might actually have the information we need."
"The space program?" Sharp echoed. "Like, the missile they launched?"
"I'd assume so," he responded, then patted the larger husky's shoulder. "As soon as he wakes up, I'll call you down. I'll also let Pepper know that we have him as well."
"Thanks doc," Sharp said as the doctor stood back up and checked on the two patients. "I'm gonna check on Sheila. Hopefully she's calmed down a bit."
The dark husky got up and walked out of the medical room, and slowly trotted down the hall towards the copper husky's quarters. As he was within fifty feet of the major's door, his transmitter started buzzing loudly. Sharp stared in curiosity at the caller ID.
"Vince?" Sharp answered the call hesitantly. "Uh… everything alright? You don't usually call–"
"Did you hear what happened?" Vince practically shouted to the large husky. He caressed his left ear as he responded.
"No… What's up?"
"You know James' kit, Fox?"
"Of course," Sharp said with a smile. "Everybody knows little Foxie."
"The humans took him!" Vince blurted out suddenly, stunning the husky on the other end.
"What?! How?" Sharp questioned, disbelieving that the humans were able to kidnap someone of such high importance.
"I- I don't have any clue," Vince said humbly. "We've been working nonstop to try and get him back, but so far we haven't had any luck."
"Do you want me to help?" Sharp asked. "Our mission is done, I can help if–"
"I already asked Pepper, but he wants you guys to rest up and prep for the second assault."
"Damn," Sharp cursed under his breath. "What's this second mission, Vinny?"
"Um," Vince started, trying to jog his memory. "If I'm not mistaken, tomorrow you guys are supposed to take a southern strike and eliminate some military bases in a region called the 'Pacific Southwest'. That'll be a success if we can eliminate all of the bases there."
"Well, I'm sorry Vince, but I need you to tell Pepper we won't be able to fight tomorrow."
"Why? What's wrong Alex?"
Sharp sighed as he leaned up against Sheila's door. "Our squadron took a pretty hefty blow earlier today. I don't think anyone will want to fly tomorrow."
Vince noticeably lowered his voice. "Who?"
"Both Richardson and Gallagher were K.I.A, Garrison took a pretty hard lick, so he'll be out for a while, and Sheila's completely fuckin' lost it."
"Damn," Vince said after the word bomb had finished being recited. "I'm so sorry. I'll contact Pepper right away; let him know that we'll need to put your second mission on hold."
"I'd appreciate that Vinny," Sharp said thoughtfully. "Thank you."
"Anytime," Vince said, then dropped the call. Sharp sighed and put his arm down, then used that same arm to knock on Sheila's door.
Hopefully she's still awake, Sharp thought. I know that was a pretty long and grueling mission, and the emotional toll it took on her was catastrophic, but she needs to know what's up. She loves little Foxie; she'll want to know.
A few seconds passed, but nothing happened. There wasn't even a slight rustling inside, or even any recognition that he was even at the door. Again, Sharp pounded on the door with more force, but the same response came from the other end; a lack of one.
"Sheila?" he called out from the other side. "She, you alright? I need to talk to ya."
Sharp knew that the copper husky was not a heavy sleeper, so either she was ignoring him, or she wasn't even there. Sharp pounded on the door again, but silence still resounded from the other end.
"Sheila," Sharp stated sternly. "Come on Spitzie, open up. I need to tell you something."
The silence on the other end quickly transitioned from annoying to worrisome. Sharp swiftly pulled out his transmitter, scanned the door with the machine, and opened the door to the husky's room. As he walked in, the fur on the back of his neck stood on end, and a cold chill ran down his spine.
"Where'd she go?"
Almost as if on cue, the alarm for the main hangar doors opening blared loudly, and he could hear the sound of a G-diffuser warming up. Sharp bolted from the female husky's room and down to the hangar, but once he stepped foot in the hangar he saw the light copper husky shutting her Arwing cockpit and immediately shot out towards the surface of the planet.
"Fuck!" Sharp barked, kicking the wall. He pulled up his transmitter and instantly called the husky. "What the hell are you doing? You don't have any authorization–"
"I'm done," Sheila interrupted calmly. "I'm not fighting anymore. You can take over."
"What? Why?"
A few more seconds passed in silence, then right as he was going to question her again she spoke up in the same way she said before.
"I'm getting to the bottom of this shit."
Rockford, Illinois
"This the place?" Wes called out as he flew over a medium sized apartment complex almost 750 feet below. The building was a dark shade of brown with some pigments of black strewn all around it; which was tough to decipher with the quickly darkening sky swarming them. James glanced at his radar screen in his Arwing HUD and responded.
"According to Arti's tracker, he's in there," he said, then cracked his knuckles. "Let's rough up these kidnapping sons of bitches."
Wes chuckled as he knifed downward and brought his Arwing down in a small field across the street from the building complex. Just as planned, James and Sarah came down right behind him, while Wallace and Riley circled the sky around the building with their search lights on. James pulled out a flashlight and strapped it to the top of his rifle as he approached the other two rescuers.
"Okay, follow me, and stay quiet," the orange vulpine commanded, then hesitantly crossed the street and trotted up to the building. As Sarah was scanning the area with her own flashlight, she gasped as her light reflected off of something metallic. Something familiarly metallic.
"Mr. McCloud, check this out," she piped up in her young feminine voice. She sounded polite and stern, albeit she was a teenage girl. James quickly came up next to her, and he growled as he recognized the object being illuminated.
"What the hell is one of our Arwings doing down here?" he said through clenched teeth. Wes deviated from his position and shone a light on the right G-diffuser; right on the husky head.
"One of the huskies is with them," Wes announced with a scoff. "That's one of their ships."
James growled in the back of his throat as he stormed up to the cockpit and searched the contents. "Husky 8… Who's Husky 8?"
"That's uhh… Garrison," Sarah responded. "Anthony Garrison."
James harshly slammed the cockpit shut as he dropped off of the ship. "That son of a bitch is working for them," he growled bitterly, then raised his rifle back up and pointed at the house. As they inched closer to the building, James pulled out his transmitter and pulled up the tracking device. He followed the dot to the second story, and the third door on that floor marked with the numbers '43'. The three of them stood their tails up against the wall, and waited for James to make a move.
"Now!" James barked, pushing off the wall and putting his boot through the door, practically tearing the door off of its hinges. The three of them stormed in with guns primed and triggers tightened. However, the small apartment was completely empty and pitch black. Sarah located a light switch and suddenly bathed the room in a dull yellow light from the corner of the room. James kept transitioning his eyes from his transmitter to the room itself, with his worried look growing with each transition.
"He's right here…" James said distantly. "I'm standing right on top of him. Where the hell is he?"
"You sure that it's calibrated correctly?" Sarah asked, walking up to the orange vulpine. Sarah was significantly shorter than James, which made the sight of the silver vulpine struggling to see the screen somewhat funny. Wes himself couldn't keep a straight face as he watched her fight to see his screen.
"I don't see why it wouldn't," James responded, poking at the transmitter. "I just fixed it not–"
James stopped mid-sentence as he heard something crack underneath his boot. He lifted up his left foot, and noticed a small green chip that had been snapped under his weight. He bent down to pick it up, then gasped as it reflected off of the light in the corner.
"This is part of our transmitters… He was here, but god only knows where he is now! God dammit we were too fuckin' late!"
James growled and sank down on the large couch, and pawed his forehead in despair. He let a few quiet sobs escape his maw as he buried his face into his arms. Sarah herself started getting emotional at the sight of the sobbing vulpine, so she slid up beside him and awkwardly spoke up.
"Mr. McCloud, please don't cry. We'll find him."
Wes growled angrily in the back of his throat, cutting off the vixen. "Do you know where they are then?" he questioned harshly. "Can you find them Bowman? Can you find them so I can give them what–"
Wes suddenly stopped as both of his gray tinged ears stuck straight up and twitched. He noticed a feminine figure holding a small box come out from the hallway out of the corner of his eye, and as soon as she noticed the armed Cornerians, her eyes widened and instantly dropped the box.
"Oh shit," she muttered, throwing her arm down to pull the silver handgun from her pants. Wes instantly noticed the object she was shooting for and fired first, putting three or four lasers into the human's frame. She instantly fell to the ground, coughing up blood and gasping for breath. Two of the hybrid's shots ripped through the female's chest, one through her leg, and another through her left arm. Wes brutally picked up the woman by her long, braided brown hair and forcefully slammed her up against the wall with his muzzle contracted in complete enragement.
Taylor chuckled as she let another bloody cough exit her body. "Killing me won't solve anything. You want your kid, you have to find him… I ain't telling you where he is."
"He ain't my kit," Wes snapped, bringing his other arm against the human's neck. "I don't care what happens to him. All I want is to see your kind suffer for what you've done to us."
Wes' gray tinged ear twitched as he heard a click resound from right behind his head. He turned his head around just enough to see James holding the rifle up to his head to the point where he could see down the barrel of the weapon.
"What was that?" James questioned angrily. "He's my fuckin' kit, now put her down before I kill you."
"Don't get pissy with me McCloud," Wes retorted, not releasing his hold. Taylor was gasping and sputtering for breath under the hybrid's arm, and not to mention the immense pain she was experiencing as she felt the intense heat from the lasers in her stomach. "If you're gonna kill someone, kill her."
"Then get out of my way," James commanded, swiping at the wolf-dog with his rifle. "I'm honestly more pissed with you right now."
"What the hell did I do?" Wes shot, tightening the grip on the human's throat. "I saved your life by taking down this son of a bitch. You should be thanking me!"
"Why should I thank you when you just said you don't care about my kit?" James impatiently asked, fondling the trigger of his rifle.
Wes scoffed faintly as he donned a sly smirk. "He's your kit McCloud; not mine. I couldn't care less about what happens to him."
James succumbed to his increasing rage, and pulled the weapon back up, thrusting it up against the wolf-dog's forehead. Sarah gasped loudly and covered her muzzle, while Wes snickered as he felt the cold barrel in his fur.
"You won't do it," Wes taunted with a scowl. "You couldn't kill your own kind, no matter what they said to you. You're too soft."
"You wanna see me change that?" James questioned irately, priming the weapon.
"Do it then," Wes egged the vulpine on with a smirk. "Prove me wrong."
"James, please don't!" Sarah pleaded. James ignored her and tightened his grip on the rifle and caressed the trigger with his claw, continuing to glare at the wolf-dog. Wes' muzzle was still curled upwards, and his gray ears were sticking straight up.
"Come on James," Wes pestered quietly, keeping his chokehold on the female behind him. "I know you want to do it. Come on! Shoot me if you're gonna shoot me!"
James pushed the hybrid's skull back with the barrel of his gun, but it didn't discourage him one bit.
"Do it! Fuckin' do it James! Fuckin' shoot–"
James threw the rifle down, then instantly lashed out and landed a staggering blow to the wolf-dog's muzzle, causing him to yelp and falter backwards into a bookshelf. He collided with the furniture piece harshly, letting his knees buckle as he fell onto his tail with both of his paws over his nose. James spun around to the human who had slid down the wall and was desperately trying to catch her breath. He lowered himself to one knee and glared at the human.
"Where the hell is he?" James questioned through clenched teeth. Taylor sputtered with blood leaking from her mouth, then coughed violently, getting a few drops of blood onto the vulpine's green flight suit pants.
"I… I don't know…" Taylor whispered. "I wouldn't tell you anyway…"
James faintly growled in the back of his throat, the inched closer to the human's dying frame. "Tell me now, and I'll help you. We can save you if you just tell me where they've taken him."
Taylor chuckled again as another drop of blood oozed from her mouth. "You furries aren't getting anything from me…"
Taylor coughed violently again, then slouched even lower on the wall as she gasped for breath. James grabbed at her arm and attempted to bring her back up. Sarah dropped her weapon and rushed up alongside the orange vulpine.
"Please," James pleaded. "Just tell me where my kit is. I'm begging you."
Taylor's eyes shut as she let a smirk escape her face. "And… what'll happen… when we beg you to stop your attacks? Will… you listen?"
"What are you–"
"We didn't start this," Taylor coughed, feeling the world around her darkening. "We did not start a war with you guys… If anyone started this war… it was you…"
James lifted his head back up and cocked it at the vixen next to him. Sarah gave her own confused stare back, then turned back when the human started chuckling distantly.
"I… I know… where they went… but… you… you have to promise me something…"
"What is it?" James quickly asked, leaning closer to the dying human.
Taylor choked back another bloody cough, then smirked again as another crimson drop dripped down out of the corner of her face. She lifted her right hand off of the wound on her midsection and dropped it to her side, then used the last of her strength to tighten her fingers.
"Promise me you'll see me in hell."
BANG
