The LAB

Chapter 40

"That makes forty missing vehicles this month alone!" Zotic paced in the house, which had some boxes scattered around form him moving in to help with payments. His voice carried beyond a closed door where the only reply was a low groan.

"You sure you don't want to call out sick, Jas?" he asked, hearing the gasp of the Blazer behind the door.

"I'm fine! Just continue with the briefing! I'll be fine in a few," she managed to say before coughing and slumping over in the bathroom with very tired eyes.

"Alright alright. Anyways, we've been tasked with tracing one of the latest vehicle's phones to an odd area outside the city. That was where the phone was last pinged before it was untraceable again. If we can at least find one vehicle, we may be able to figure out who is taking these cars and why." Zotic froze and shuddered as he could hear the SUV empty her tank in the most unpleasant of ways. He feared asking about her health, but even as partners, she was a beast and could handle herself for the most part.

"You sure you're up to this? I can go alone if needed. You just don't sound too..." he trailed off as she heaved whatever was left and ended with a whimper.

"I'm fine. It's safer for me to go with you out there. Don't know what hounds are still around." She managed to answer over the sound of washing up; cleaning her fangs was the worst part of everything.

"Jas, it's been months since that day! It's been about five months to be exact. I'm certain there's nothing else out there and you can rest with a sick day already!" Zotic was at the end of his rope now, not liking to see his friend in such a state. His grumpy attitude vanished as the door opened to reveal a very tired looking SUV, who otherwise was looking fit as ever.

"If I have stayed alive this entire time, and even went unnoticed by several vehicles for so long, then the hounds can too. I'm goin with and you'll just have to deal with it." He just sighed, defeated, before heading to the front door with a grumble.

"OK, but promise that at any feeling of worse illness, you let me know and take a breather. Ok?" She just rolled her eyes as she pulled up to him.

"Okay?!"

"Yea yea alright, I will tell ya if I feel like shit more. Can we go now?" The two soon returned to their usual smiles and took off out the door. Heading out across the dirt roads towards the coordinates they were given, they could see some tire tracks but nothing much. Jaslo led the way through the rough terrain, scouting spots too rough for her lower companion. She raised her antenna as she stopped, signaling to her partner something was up. He paused, watching her roll forward out of the brush and onto a very wide dirt road, one that was smooth from recent and heavy use. She chuffed, lowering her front to the ground to investigate the area. Zotic stood at the edge of the road, peering around before he saw something glisten in the sunlight.

"Blitz," he called, gaining her attention quickly and getting her to drive over. He held up a cellphone, unable to power on from being left on in the desert heat, but otherwise undamaged.

"Bag it up, we'll get prints or something on it, and maybe trace the last calls to see if something adds up." Zotic nodded and obeyed her orders, quickly wrapping up the phone in a bag and stashing it in his side compartment. He backed up and took photos of the area, a few with Jaslo in it as a size reference on how wide the road was. As he finished up, he was tackled into the brush by his partner and a tire was held over his mouth. She made a good reason for him to be silent, not only her stern gaze out at the road but her claws poked at him from through her grip.

A large semi rumbled down the road towards them, and on either side of it was a very beefed up Humvee, white in color, acting as guards to guide the truck down the road. The sight of such a party took both cops by surprise, mostly at the size of the Humvees and their large upwards fangs. As the truck passed, they could hear the distressed calls of a few cars from the trailer, and a few other grunts as the road became rough for a moment. Jaslo shuddered over her friend, picking up the scent of the vehicles and unable to hold back the deep bred memories within her. As the party vanished on the horizon and in a cloud of dust, the two crawled out from the brush and looked on with questions. Zotic picked out twigs and leaves that had stuck to him, shaking off most of the dirt before looking over to the still dust covered and leaf riddled Chevy.

"Jas? You alright?" he asked as he rolled over to her and placed a gentle tire on her side.

"They're abducting cars as more test subjects." Her tone was weak as her jaw shook with her words, not letting her eyes off of where the truck had gone.

"Jas?"

"Those families split apart, lives taken, randoms stolen, just to become a weapon like myself..."

"We'll get them, but we need to call for back up on this."

"There's no time!" She snapped, turning to face him with a snarl.

"Jaslo, we can't just rush in there!"

"You don't know the hell of that place! I'm going with or without you!" He couldn't even take a breath before she bolted off down the road, galloping on her tires with tears streaming out of her eyes. She was passionate about this, and he wasn't about to let his partner die this soon in the work week. Soon, the Supra zipped on after, catching up to her and glancing up at the sun overhead before looking to his phone as the signal slowly dropped to nothing.

"It's a deadzone out here!" he stated after they had been driving for half an hour and the terrain became sparse of vegetation.

"That means we're close!" The two continued onto their path but soon slowed down as the road suddenly turned to slabs of cement. They parked on the flat surface and looked down ahead, seeing a small building jut out of the landscape as Zotic gulped loudly. Jaslo huffed, bracing herself mentally as she straightened herself out, slowly driving towards the building with her partner close behind. He was looking ahead at the building, and felt uneasy in general about it. To think this could be the last thing he saw was chilling him through his frame, and as he glanced behind him to see nothing for miles made him rethink his life choice to take on this job. This was not how he saw his career ending.