Aumeha Chronicles: The Expedition

Chapter 9

His hand was deflected. The bullet missed the leader and whizzed past him. He immediately turned back to punch the fellow who caught his arm. But stopped. It was Favian. Guards soon overpowered them and restrained them. Favian had committed a cardinal sin.

The whole crowd started screaming. They were hurling abuses at them and tried their best to strangle and kill them. The intruders were dead scared. The guards were protecting them from the mob. The guards were also getting hit.

A person emerged from the crowd. He had a formidable and strict stance.

"Silence" He shouted. And the mob settled down immediately. But, the anger in their eyes did not.

"Lock them up in the cell" He yelled at them.

The guards hit the intruders with the butt of their gun, knocking them unconscious.

Favian woke up in a cell. He had severe head ache. He could see dimly. All of his teammates were locked up in individual cells. Each cell was separated by steel rods running from the roof to the floor. There was a small door at the corner locked. They could see a clear starry sky. There was cold wind flowing through the small opening. There was a hole at the rear corner of the cell. It was for doing their private business. The complete jail was made of carved out rocks. Favian's cell was at one end. So, his rear and his right side was stonewalled. They had one small window high up beyond their reach.

Next to Favian it was Ethan, followed by Cassini, Andrea, and Alvis. Favian slides his hand through the two rods and shakes Ethan.

"No! NO! STOP!" Ethan shouts while he wakes up from a bad dream.

And everyone regains their consciousness. But, there was a growl too. Everyone was silent. Slowly their eyes adjusted with the darkness. Putting some strain, they could see animal eyes.

"Hey!" Shouted Ethan.

The eyes multiplied immediately. The lot got scared and went a bit back into their cells. But, these eyes were smaller than the first ones.

A small bark. A bark from dark. The sound which haunted their memories for years. A bark from a small pup.

Immediately, a light went on, and they could see the entire jail. Similar to theirs, there were 5 opposite cells with a passage separating the two. There was a wooden door on the left to enter the jail. There were 5 puppies with their mother in the cell opposite to Cassini's, the central cell. The puppies were nearly a month old. Keeping close to their mother.

Suddenly, two guards barged in through the gate. The puppies tucked under the mother more closely. They opened the cell where the dogs were kept. One of the guards stepped on the mother and restrained her mouth using his hand. The screams and shrieks from the puppies and the muffled cries from the mother would make anyone afraid and heart shrink. The other guard removed the puppies from her and started pushing them through the rods in each of the cells.

Favians pup sat silently at the opposite side of the cell looking down crying. Ethans' was screaming loudly, barking at the guard restraining his mother. Cassini's pup was jumping and going round and round barking at the front part of the cell. Andrea's pup was silently observing and walking slowly fixating his eyes on the moving guard. Alvis' pup was plain barking at both the guards.

As soon as the guard left the mother, she tried biting the guards hand. But, He was very quick and precise. He slammed the door shut on her face. And then she started barking at the guards.

The guards ignored all the cries and stood infront of Ethan's cell. The guard on the right instructed Ethan to stand up andcome close by his finger. The puppy stopped screaming and was retreating fromthe guards slowly eyeing them.