Chapter 5- The Escape

***Be warned, there is some violence and gore in this one so read at your own risk.***

Tobi was up early the next morning. They had gone over the plan last night. They were going to split up into groups. Tobi and Ember would start on one side, Tib and the girls on the other. They would follow the fence until they found a gate or a break. They would then howl to let the rest of the pack know and they would figure out where to go from there. Tobi walked over and nudged Ember with his nose.

"Hey, you up?"

"Ugh, I am now." ember moaned, rolling over on his back and stretching.

"Okay, we'll go when your ready." He walked over and sat by Tiberius.

"Are you and Ember ready?" The tan wolf asked. He was sitting at the entrance to the den. It didn't seem quite as big now as it had earlier.

"Yeah, we're almost ready. You want me to wake the girls?"

"Nah, I'll let them sleep a little longer. They could use it. We'll head out a little after you two."

"Okay," Tobi said as Ember walked up, letting out a yawn. "You ready?"

"Yep!"

"Good, we'll see the rest of you later then." Tobi said as he sauntered out the den.

"So, where do we start?"

"What's the quickest way to the fence?"

"This way, follow me." Ember took off in a direction away from the den, the older pup right on his heels.

"Well that should keep them busy for a while." Tiberius mumbled to himself as he went to check on the two still sleeping wolves. Mist was curled up in a ball, her nose covered by her tail as she slept soundly. Sasha on the other paw was splayed out on her back. All four of her paws in the air as she made little movements that indicated that she was dreaming. He gently reached down and tugged playfully on her ear. She opened one eye to look up at him, letting out a slight giggle.

"Good morning Sasha."

"Morning!" She said, grinning as she rolled over and slowly got up. "Hey where's Tobi and Ember?"

"They left already."

"Ahh… I wanted to go with them."

"But I need you to stay with me and keep an eye on Mist… make sure she doesn't fall asleep on us."

"I heard that!' Mist scolded, peering through the thick fur of her tail.

"Well speak of the devil, look who's finally up!" He teased.

"Very funny Tiberius. Now shouldn't we get going." Mist said, getting up slowly and stretching her paws.

"If you two are ready?"

"I'm ready!" Sasha said excitedly, prancing around.

"Sure thing, let's go."

"Alrighty, we're off!"

It wasn't long before they reached the fence. Tiberius set about determining which way the boys went and then proceeded to head in the opposite direction. Hopefully the area would be small enough that they could cover it in one day. He didn't really want to be there much longer. But first they needed find a gate or something. The humans had to have gotten them in somehow, and maybe they could get out the same way.

"Hey how big is this place anyway?" Tobi asked as he and Ember continued to trot along. They would stop every so often to check the fence. It was just too secure.

"I don't know… I never really explored it all."

"Well, how much did you actually explore. I mean it can't be that big. These are humans after all."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well they seem to think smaller… I mean the den where in? We had one almost three times as big!"

"Really!?"

"Yeah! It had three rooms too!"

"Wow…. That's pretty neat.."

"I know," Tobi smiled broadly.

"Not that…" coming to a stop. "That!"

Tobi stopped and looked to where Ember was looking. Amazingly they could see a small cluster of buildings just outside the fence, and more importantly, a gate!

A sharp howl pierced the air. Tiberius's ears immediately swiveled around to locate the direction of the sound. "This way! The boys must have found something!"

"Yippee!" Sasha exclaimed as she raced after the tan wolf. Despite his considerable bulk he was quite fit and was surprisingly fast. Mist paced beside him, her slender form flying across the rough terrain as the tore through the make shift forest the humans had evidently constructed.

Tobi and Ember stood at the gate, watching the people as they moved about. Some of them even stopping to stare back.

"Wow, look at them all!" Tobi exclaimed.

"No kidding. How do we get past them all?"

"When there all asleep." Tiberius said, walking up behind them. Mist and Sasha sat under a tree a ways off, panting heavily.

"That was quick!" Tobi said, turning to face the tan wolf.

"Well… Whatcha got?"

"I don't know? Can we use this place?" The midnight wolf jerked his head towards the large gate. Tire marks could be seen to have recently passed through. It must be how they placed the wolves there. The double gates reached high, towering above the rest of the fence and topped with the same shiny wire that Shiego had run into when he had broken into the facility to rescue Jade so long ago. Tib winced at the thought of getting hung up on that stuff. It was too high to get over, he slowly walked over to it. The humans staring at him. Tiberius froze, looking back at the curious people. They watch each other for some time before the scarred wolf moved again. He knelt down to sniff and paw at the ground at the gate. It was solid, made of the same stuff as the den. There was no way to get under. He tried poking his muzzle under, not even to get his nose through the narrow gap. The humans looked at the trio of wolves as they explored the gate. Most of them stopping whatever they were doing to take the time to watch the creatures.

"Why are they looking at us?" Sasha asked, turning to Mist. They had settled down and it had been at least a few hours now.

"There just curious is all."

"They are?"

"Well aren't you? About them?"

"No, not at all."

"Really?"

"It's there fault we're here in the first place. It's there fault Jade died!" The pup snarled, showing her teeth.

"I'm sorry…"

"That's okay… we're going to get out of here soon. Then we won't have to bother with humans ever again."

"Oh…" Mist laid her head on her paws. She still like the humans somewhat. She felt safer around them for some reason. She secretly hated herself for that. She so wanted to be a valuable member of the pack, but how could they trust her after what she had done?

"Mist?"

"Yea Sasha?"

"What's that human doing?"

"Oh NO… TIB Get out of there!" She barked from where she was hiding.

Tiberius stopped and looked up. A man with a large stick walking towards them, the rest of the people having turned away. Tiberius let out a low growl as he slowly backed away form the fence, the two younger males behind him.

Tiberius let out a loud growl and snapped his jaws as the man rapped his large stick against the fence.

"Stupid wolves…" The man jeered. "I don't know why the boss wants ya but y'all a pain in the ass to me."

Tiberius could understand the man well enough. He had an odd accent but he could tell just from the mans tone how much he hated them. Tib hated the man even more. It was because of men like that they were forced to live this terrible, false life they were stuck in. He wanted out, And he wanted to make the humans pay for what they had taken away from him. What they had taken away from all of them.

"Whatcha want ya dang yella liver'd coward! Where ya off to!" The man sneered as the trio of wolves disappeared into the brush. Leaving the man alone at the gate.

"If it wasn't for the fence I'd tear his throat out." Tiberius said in disgust as they marched back to where the girls were waiting.

"But how do we get past the gate now?"

"I may have an idea…" Mist said, stepping out from behind a tree, Sasha beside her.

"Really..?" Tib quipped.

"Trust me on this one…"

It took several days but he finally showed up. Mist spent her time near the gate, watching all the people until she saw him. She plastered herself against the fence, her tail wagging furiously as the man walked up to her. He reached through the chain fence to scratch behind her ears. She felt bad but she knew he was their only chance. Over the course of several more days she was able to get the man to start coming out at night. She also moved closer and closer to the gate. If only he'd get the right idea. As much as she liked this person, he was their only chance at escape. The rest of the pack was watching, waiting.

"Hey girl, how are you?" The man cooed. He had a slab of raw meat in his hand as he walked up to the gate. He gently pulled it into smaller bits and fed it to the speckled female wolf on the other side. Mist let a few fall to the ground. Pawing at them as she carefully pushed them to the other side of the fence.

"Aw… Sorry girl.. Here, let me help." The man picked up the dropped meat and Mist repeated the same actions. The man was starting to get frustrated. He stood up and ran a hand through his hair, looking back towards the buildings. No other humans could be seen milling about in the dark. He took a step towards the gate reaching into his pocket.

Mist glance back to where the rest of the pack was, hiding just out of sight. She took a step towards the gate, nudging it gently as the man pulled a plastic key card out of his pocket. He passed it over a little black box on the gate and little green light could be seen reflected off his chest. He returned the card to his pocket and knelt down.

"Okay, girl… don't tell nobody…" He slowly open the gate just enough that she could slip through she hesitated a moment, something catching her eye.

"Hey What are you doing!? Get away from that gate!" It was the gruff man from earlier that week. He was hustling his heavy frame towards them. It was too late, they had to go now!

Mist slammed into the gate hard, sending the younger man sprawling to the ground as the gate flew wide open. The rest of the pack took the hint and bolted out of their cover, rushing towards the now open gate.

"Oh NO you don't!" The large man sneered, grabbing at the speckled she-wolf. Mist spin around and caught him in the face with her tooth. The taste of the human's blood sending a surge of sensation through her body as it trickled down her throat.

"Why you!" The man reared back as Tiberius slammed him to the ground. He had had enough of this distasteful human and put a quick end to him. The blood staining his white chest.

"We need to go NOW!" Tib turned to the rest of the pack as they stared in shock at him. "What?"

"You… you killed him.." Ember stuttered.

"Kill or be killed kid… let's go!" He turned to leave. They could just start to hear the commotion of more people in the buildings up ahead.

Tiberius raced towards the settlement; they had to go through it. The gate to their freedom lay just on the other side, the doors to the outside world.

Men were scrambling around as the wolves tore throughout the buildings. Nipping and clawing at those that got in their way. Tib saw an opportunity to make a dash for the gate and took it. He stopped short to look back as the rest of the pack was still making it's way too him.

"TIB! Look out!" Mist screamed, causing the tan wolf to spin around just in time. A man swung and nearly missed the wolfs head with the butt of his rifle. Tiberius took a step back to gain his balance when suddenly he felt a sharp blow to the chest. He fell off his feet as the man stood over him, fumbling with the rifle. The man pulled the rifle to his shoulder, bearing down on the wolf. There was a short burst of fire and a horrific scream as Tiberius looked up to see Mist, crouched over the dead body of the guard.

"Mist?"

"Get OUT OF HERE! NOW!" She yelled, the three younger members rushing pas t them out of the gate, and too freedom.

"Come on!" Tib shouted, stopping suddenly when he realized Mist wasn't moving after him. "What's WRONG!?"

"I… I can't… do it Tib…I just can't.."

"Oh course you can! Come ON!"

"I'm sorry… Tel him … Tell them all for me…" She turned away, facing the buildings fully involved in utter chaos.

"MIST!" Tiberius shouted as she dashed off. She had killed a man. The one thing that defined who she was, there was no going back, she couldn't live with herself after that.

Tiberius took a step towards the buildings as she disappeared from view, "Mist!?" A growl echoed towards him, followed shortly by a burst of gunfire and sudden silence… "MIST!"

Yes, she died. But she died a hero, not a traitor, and THAT is what matters.

We're getting closer to the reuniting of the pack! I hope you can stick around for it! xD

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