Once and for all- a Virals fanfic [COMPLETED]

Chapter 21

(A/N: Sorry if this is a short chapter. I'm nearing the end of my story plan. This will take me to about chapter 30 I think. Is that cool with you guys or do you want something longer? And if you want something longer, how much? Something reasonable please. I'm not writing 200 chapters or anything like that.)

Tory's Pov

It had been a couple weeks since we had all regrouped and it was going well. We had food, shelter, water and a system for emergencies. Ben's leg was healing some. And for the most part, we were getting along. Of course we were keeping Ben and Chance separate but still. Currently Ella and I were out collecting fresh branches for a fire.

"I wonder where the wolves are," she asked out of the blue.
"Wherever they are, they're probably fine," I responded. "But it would be nice to confirm that they're ok."
"You could always try flaring," Ella suggested.
I winced. "About that."
She stopped. "Tory?"
"My flare hasn't exactly been activating lately."
"What do you mean it 'hasn't exactly been activating lately'?"
I huffed. "I mean that I've been trying to activate it but it's like there's something blocking it."
She grunted. "We should as the others and see if it's the same for them."

Hi greeted us as we walked back to our campsite. After setting down all of the wood, I peeked in on Ben. He was sound asleep. Quietly I slipped in and knelt beside him. I ran my fingers softly across his cheek and pushed some of his hair behind his ear. He mumbled some in his sleep. I gave an amused huff.

"Tory," Shelton called softly from the entrance. I looked over. He made a come motion. When I got out, I saw that all the others were gathered around the fire pit minus Chance.
"What's up?" I asked.
"We have an issue. None of us are able to flare except for Claybourne," Hi said.
"And he's been acting weird lately," Shelton added.
A sense of dread began to form in a stomach. "We'll figure this out. As for Chance, keep an eye on him and report back if you see anything strange," I ordered.
"Look at Tory going all commando-mode," Hi teased.

I rolled my eyes and walked off.

~~ big time skip~~

It had been about a week since I had given out the order to keep and eye on Chance. I had to admit, he was acting weird. Once again, Ella, Shelton, Hi and I were gathered around the fire pit, this time with an actual fire. Chance and Ben were both sleeping.

"You know as nice as the woods are, we don't really have anything to do," Ella pointed out.
"I know! Let's sing some camp fire songs!" Hi began clapping his hands. Then he paused. "Does anyone know any campfire songs?"
I facepalmed.
"How about scary stories? That's always been a camping tradition," Ella offered. "I'll go first."

Ella was remarkably good at telling scary stories. After telling one about a pregnant woman getting eaten by a bear and then the bear giving birth to the woman's child, one about a demon fish that slowly sucked the souls out of those who defied it, and a third of a psychopathic gunman who turned out to be a zombie angel, we were all having a good time.
"Dang Ella you should become a horror book writer," Shelton said.
"Never really thought about it," she said.
"One more?" Hi pleaded like a little kid.
"Fine," Ella said and began her final story.

She had just gotten to the part when Abby, Maddie, Dave and Thomas had reached the top floor of the old abandoned asylum that was in the middle of the woods.
"They were on the top floor when they heard creaking behind them. Suddenly there was a loud slamming crash as the stairs they had just walked up, fell in on themselves and crashed through the fourth and third floors. By silent agreement, they kept moving forward. As they neared the end of the hallway, they heard muffled screams of pain, and what sounded like someone shouting for help."

She paused for dramatic effect. I could almost hear the victim calling for help. Hi shuddered. "Damn Ella, you're too good at this. I swear I can hear someone shouting."
Shelton looked alarmed. "You too?"
"Wait a minute guys," I said. We all went silent. There was someone actually yelling. It was coming from. . .
"Ben!"

In an instant we were all inside Ben's mini-room. There we saw Chance and Ben struggling in an unfair battle. It took all four of us to pry Chance off of Ben and to drag him outside. There I pushed him to the ground.
"Chance what the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. He glared back at me with blue eyes. Damn it, he's flaring. He didn't respond, instead he just growled at me.

Suddenly he lunged, slamming into me and causing me to tumble backwards. I tumbled rolled and landed in a crouch on my feet. I tried to activate my flare but something was still blocking it. Snarling I forced my way through the block. My vision turned black and my ears pounded. Far back in my mind I thought I heard a voice whispering Let her. An instant later, I was flaring.

Faster than lightning, I streaked forward. Chance and I met. The rest happened in a blur. I ducked punches and kicks, delivered some of my own and took a few hits before finally Chance was crouched on the ground and I was standing over him.

I was breathing heavily. "Chance, you horrible motherfucking asstown, so help me if you ever and I mean EVER lay another finger on Ben, I will whip your ass into the next century, you duckdouche pickleshit!" (This was happily supplied by viralwolf therefore this is the disclaimer saying that this rant belongs to her.)

With that I stalked off into the woods. I wasn't really sure where I was going, just away to cool off. A few hours later I was still walking around, mainly lost now. I was about to try to track my scent backwards since I was still flaring, when I heard muffled yelps coming from ahead. Quickly I dropped down and crawled silently towards the noise.

Up ahead there was a wolf. She was tied to a tree by a thick rope cord and the muzzle around her snout kept her from biting through it. The wolf was slim with black fur and I could have sworn I recognized her. When she turned, I caught a glimpse of bright green eyes. Was that... Shadow?

It was. Quietly, I walked up to her. She calmed some at seeing me. I placed my hand on the back of her head to unhook the muzzle. . . When my hand passed right through her. What?

Suddenly there was a slam behind me. I spun around and saw bars. Staring closely, I saw that the bars connected with more bars that formed a cage. And I was standing right in the center. Beside me, Shadow flickered and disappeared. Footsteps from the front of the cage alerted me. Agent J stood at the door.

"Victoria Brennan. We need to talk."