The Jenetix Program

Chapter 29: Claws and Canines

"Whoa." I stared at the wolf and then at Jensen, who had the same expression on his face as mine. Before I could react, the wolf pounced towards me, knocking me down onto the ground. Instead of attacking me with it's sharp claws and canines, it, well, attacked me with its licking. Jensen laughed as my face was covered in the animals saliva. After much of a struggle, I managed to get the creature off of me and it sat politely at my feet. Jensen helped me up and we both looked at the wolf, unsure of what to do next.

"Can we keep him?" I asked, knowing full well that there was no way I was going to leave him behind. He looked at me as if I was crazy.

"Of course we are!" I stroked the wolf as it snuggled into my hand. It didn't seem like he had been petted in a long time, maybe ever, but he was enjoying it a lot.

"What should we call him?" Jensen asked. " I mean, we could name him after his eyes."

"Mm," I pondered over it, trying to think of a name that would do just that; represent his magical eyes.

Magical 

"I've got it." I said, grinning. Jensen raised his eyebrows, scratching the wolf behind the ears. "Merlin."

His mouth broke out into a full grin and he nodded his head. "Merlin it is."

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We started our hike towards the base again, keeping our weapons at the ready. Merlin growled deeply in between us as we walked and I fed him some of our left over rabbit to keep him happy. Every time something rustled in the distance, he perked his ears up and scanned the entire area. He wouldn't let us continue walking without having checked that no one was around. It was upsetting to see the kind of environment he was raised in, especially if he was by himself for most of it. He was constantly paranoid and over-protective which made our hike slower, but at least we knew we were getting the best protection possible.

After fighting our way through the drooping branches of a tall tree, we were met with the stomach-churning view of a dull grey wall marked with red, messy writing.

All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal.- John Steinbeck.

No humans had managed to get this far before, let alone write on the base wall. How did Beastials know how to write, let alone quote famous authors from generations ago? The next line made my blood run cold:

But we are the true animals.

As expected, Merlin growled threateningly at the wall, stepping forward with one paw and lowering the front half of his body.

"Ssh, Merlin." I stroked him across the head and he fell quiet. "How do we get in?" I asked, examining the wall.

"Well, considering it used to be an airport, I'd-"

"It used to be an airport?" I asked, surprised that such as huge place could be taken over and secured by the time the first Lethum-ised soldiers were sent out.

"Yup. It used to be Wire's main supply route. The Beastials were smart enough to cut it off and they turned it into their base soon after that. They killed the pilots and the staff who were working there, then they took all the supplies from the planes. I have to admit, it was clever."

We spent the next hour working on our plan, leaning against a tree while Merlin circled around it with his canines on full display.  We were incredibly lucky not to be ambushed while we sat there talking, but we weren't moving.

The night started to creep up on us and Jensen and I were both stuck for sleeping options. If we decided to sleep on the forest floor, it would practically be a death wish. We had to be discreet.