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Chapter 15 Change of Plans

A gentle grasping of my head from someone's hand followed by a gentle shake wakes me up from my music induced nap. For a moment I don't remember where I am and who the person's hand belongs to. It has to be Patrick as Mark should still be busy driving the car, opening my eyes confirms its Patrick. Yawning I also notice that the mid day sun has been replaced with a late evening glow, the edges of nightfall not are to far away as it looms on the horizon. Blinking and rubbing the sleep out of my eyes I watch as he wakes Ashley in a similar fashion.

"Were in Bottineau. It is the small town where the safe house is located. Mark just exited the highway and are driving up main street. There is a side street not to far away that will take us directly to it. So do what you need to do to fully wake up, once we stop there we will load you up with the hiking supplies and send you on your way once the sun fully goes down." Using what most likely looks like a hilarious combination of a nod and a yawn I reply as I move to look out the window. Patrick gently grabs my shoulder, and then Ashley's as she was about to do the same before gently pushing us back down into a laying position.

"Did you forget? This town is not friendly to Bio-Morphs so stay down." Oh yes, that little fact. It must've slipped my mind having just woken up. Still I don't resist and once I let him do this, Ashley stops resisting as well. I also give him a slight glare, not that I am angry at HIM, just the situation in general. I can at least look forward and look out the front windshield from here and to be frank, I'm not surprised. It looks like any other small town. Old buildings, old cars and older people. Few young adults and even fewer kids. Just about everything in this town looks like it was made in or closely after the turn of the century. Some of the people even look like they might have been born before it. All of the buildings seem in dis-repair in some way or another. The commercial district, if you could even call it that lasts only a couple of blocks. Once outside of it we hit the main neighborhood of the town. The are in a similar state compared to the few small shops we just passed. The tall and mature trees dominating their yards though make them kinda cozy looking.

Barely a block into the neighborhood something else grabs my attention, an acrid scent to the air filtering in through the vents of the car. It stings my nose to the point that I let out a sneeze or two. Ashley soon follows suit before letting out a whine. Patrick looks back at me, I think his face is one of concern so I hold up a finger before grabbing the pad and pencil.

'Do you smell that horrible burnt smell?' I show it to him and he shakes his head. Of course I would smell it before him, better senses and all that. I have to resort to covering my nose with my hand while Ashley buries her muzzle into the seat cushion. As we continue down the road it gets stronger to the point that it becomes almost unbearable.

"Okay now I smell it.. What the hell is it?" Okay so it's only 'now' Patrick is able to smell it? With his shirt over his nose between his hand and his face he looks out the front passenger side window for the cause as Mark continues driving. Copying Patrick I adjust my shirt so I can use it as a filter too, it seems to help. But the scent continues to get stronger the closer we get to the northern edge of the town, only when we get closer to the intersection at the end of the street we are on do we see the cause. Of course by that time the scent is overpowering to the point nothing helps.

A house at the end of the road which places it at the edge of the town is a smoldering pile of ash and half burnt pieces of roof tile. That is the least of spectacle, in the front yard stand three large and chard wooden crosses with the remains of bonfires at the base. Hanging by their necks via metal nooses are the half burnt remains of Bio-morphs, the tree next to them have two humans hanging from their necks in rope nooses. Marks sudden inhaling of air and the creaking of the steering wheel as he grips it tightly make me realize that this was our destination, the safe house we were going to wait in until it was completely dark out. Patrick just mutters 'oh shit' under his breath as I finally notice the large sign attached to one of the hanging human corpses. ' We the god loving people of Bottineau do not take kindly to the devil's creations nor their collaborators. Let this be a warning to all who see this.'

I have to give Mark some credit, he stays calm enough despite having a death grip on the steering wheel, to continue down the street without changing speed or direction. Hopefully anyone watching thinks we are only passing by and that was not where we were headed. Only once we reach the end of the street does he quickly turn onto a main thoroughfare for long enough to pull over onto another side street, over some rail road tracks. Then into a junkyard before speeding past the small building at the entrance, skidding to a stop at the northern edge of the property. It boarders an open field overgrown grass and brush. Mark slams his hands onto the wheel in anger while muttering expletives like a sailor. Patrick quickly exits the car and dashes back to the trunk slamming it open, I have been on the edge of gagging but as soon as the outside air floods into the car I nearly do so onto the seat. Mark stops swearing and looks back at us.

"Okay, Change of plans. We're sending you off from here. Most likely someone spotted us driving by so we will be having a visitor soon so for your sake both of you need to be as far away as possible. Patrick will give you the supplies so hurry." He reaches back and unbuckles us before opening Ashley's door. Once open I gently encourage her to exit before I slide over and hop out myself, as we do this I hear him opening the glove compartment and taking out the pistol. Gently grabbing Ashley I move her away from the door and to the trunk where Patrick is taking out our gear and stuffing some smaller stuff into them. Mark closes the door a second later. She just stands there now looking at me and Patrick with confusion and fear on her face, ears, and tail.

"Jack, your pack has the tent and other camping supplies including; the sleeping bag, the map, and other camping tools." Firmly but gently he grabs me and hoists up the hiking backpack onto my back, I nearly fall over from the weight of it. I know it can't be more than thirty pounds considering everything must be light weight for us Bio-Morphs but it's heavier than what I am used to now. He then grabs the other pack and turns to Ashley. "Ashley's pack has; food, water, and a decent amount of water purifier tablets in case you run out. She also has a couple flame-less heater pads and a small pan to use said tablets." He hefts the pack onto her back resulting in a whine but she doesn't try to take it off as he closes the support clasps. I don't need help with mine so I do it myself. Grabbing both our hands Patrick then nearly drags us to a part of the fence hidden by a bush which he parts to the side showing a pre-cut flap in the fence. He then shoves a light up compass attached to a lanyard into my hands along with a laminated map about six inches square, slipping both around my wrist he then moves to open said fence flap.

"Go! Quickly! Head North-East and in about three to five miles you should hit some patches of woods with some scattered fields and lakes. From there head North for about ten or so miles till you hit the boarder. You can't miss it! It's twenty feet of short cut grass with no other vegetation running all along the boarder and through even the densest forest. Wait for a bit before you cross it, there are drones that patrol stretches of the boarder. The boarder patrol uses the old and noisy low flying kind, so you should hear them well before you see them. Keep out of sight no matter what when you hear them! If they spot you, they 'will' take a picture of you and give it to the Canadian boarder patrol. Canada has a policy, unofficial of course, if the drones don't take a picture they don't give any effort in finding said runaways who cross the boarder. If they do have one, they WILL deport you!" Patrick gently pushes Ashley through the hole in the fence but when it comes my turn. I take a second to give him a firm hug, just in case. Before following Ashley without any help from him. In the distance though I hear the sound of a truck's engine roaring, we're out of time. I dread to learn who 's driving it. Once we are on the other side of the fence he yells out.

"Once you are across the boarder head straight north as possible. On the northern boarder of the park is farmland and two fields farther north is a small country road. Wait in the brush at the edge of it out of sight until you see a powder blue Nissan Vanette. If it has a Canadian flag in the window they will be able to pick you up. If it doesn't have one do not get out of brush, that means they think boarder patrol is following them. My brother, mother, or father will be driving it depending on who feels like doing it that day. They drive by twice a day so you won't have to wait long." Patrick's voice shakes a little as he says this he, like I am, must be scared right now. So I only nod and grab Ashley's hand before dashing in the direction I think is north-east from a split second look at the compass. The hill that lines the edge of this farm field helps but we are soon onto the flat interior and the weight of the pack on my back hampers my speed.

We are barely half way across the field before I hear the sound of the truck's squealing breaks, this is followed by the familiar sound of the engine of Mark's car roaring. For a second I think they lucked out and got away, that thought is dashed when I hear the distinct and loud firecracker like sound of firearms being used. With the view blocked by the hill and the fact it would mean loosing precious time to go back and see. I fear for Patrick's safety. Ashley seems to worry as well as she lets out a whine while looking at me. I don't want to loose him again, but there is nothing I can do expect move forward and hope he is there to greet me when we get to Canada.

The remaining daylight fades faster than I expected, yet I am also surprised at how little it matters. My better night vision more than compensates by the time I half drag Ashley to the foot of the hill on the other side of the farm field. Only now does she get the hint that she has to dash to keep up with me despite these heavy packs. So we top the hill in a few seconds only to wish I hadn't so quickly. While we are lucky that there are no cars in either direction on the road between this field and the next. My luck doesn't hold any farther as hill hid the fact that sitting in the middle of the next field is a tractor and it's owner staring in our direction. If I had to guess this person must own the farmland we are crossing and is thus a resident of this town. Please god let him be sympathetic to Bio-Morphs and not one of the fanatics that did that to the safe-house.

We cross the road not wanting to lose our momentum just yet, that and I fear that if I stop I will have to rest for a bit before continuing. As soon as we set foot onto the field just after getting down the slope does the farmer yell out for us to stop before getting into his tractor and starting it up. God dammit! A little luck would be helpful please! We still have a chance though, while running back is not an option. If we can get to one of the other edges of the field and up the hill or tot he forest on the other side before he reaches us we will be able to out run him and his tractor. So I try to push myself into a full on run with Ashley close behind me. We could ditch these packs and gain some more speed, but we wouldn't be able to make it much farther without them. Maybe we can make it, I see the tree line up ahead, Ashley is right behind me, but where is the tractor? The answer comes as it skids to a stop in front of us causing both of us to fall to all fours to stop as well. We are a mere thirty feet or so from the tree line, so fucking close! A stereotypical looking farmer climbs out of the tractor.

"Now what do we have here? Two stray foxes who seem to think they are people. Guess you'all didn't see our sign back there." As he speaks he reaches into his jacket. I on the other hand glance around trying to figure out if we can make a dash for it. The glint of metal though draws my attention back to the farmer, he pulls out a revolver of a make and model I have no clue on. Only that he has a gun and we don't.

"Now be a couple of good little vermin and stay right there." He aims it at us and cocks the hammer. Nope! Not staying here Mr wannabe cowboy! Both Ashley and I take off running in the opposite direction as soon as we see him point it at us. It's taking all I have just to keep up with her, damn she can move when motivated. Then again I'm pretty motivated as well.

The next thing I know I hear the loud crack of the revolver being fired, followed by finding my muzzle digging into the dirt. I am only able to half wonder if I tripped before I start to feel the white hot lancing pain from my thigh. I got shot, the bastard fucking shot me! Half panicking I unbuckle the backpack and roll over to press my hand against the wound. I let out an involuntary howl as this causes the pain to get worse even if it does slow the bleeding a little. Did it go straight through? It had to have considering I should be stopping the blood. When my ears stop ringing I hear a guttural growl from Ashley before more gunshots. Followed by a body hitting the ground, another growl, and one more gunshot before silence. Shit, why did this have to happen? That was most likely Ashley being killed by the farmer. Any second now I am going to see him walk up to me and kill me as well. Gotta get up, gotta get moving. I don't want to die at the hand's of some hic farmer mere miles from being free! But I can barely move, my leg will no longer hold any weight and moving it just causes more lances of pain to shoot up the limb. So I resort to pulling myself backwards with one hand while using my good leg for support the other hand covers the front part of the wound. It's not enough though as I hear someone walking towards me much faster than I can move right now. Will I even hear the crack of the gunshot that kills me?

'Alpha, Jack' The sound of my name being said in 'the tongue' is the next thing I hear rather than a gunshot. Ashley?! Wait, does that mean she stopped him? How? Moving to sit up so I can see if it's actually her and not some end of life hallucination or worse, some kind of greeting to the afterlife, if there is one. But it is her, standing a few feet away from me without her pack on and covered in dirt, grass, and blood. She also has the still smoking revolver in one of her hands. Upon seeing me she drops it and nearly leaps the remaining feet to kneel by my side. Her hands go for the one of mine that I am using to cover my bullet wound. It actually should be bleeding more than this? don't tell me I am lucky enough for that bastard to have missed the femoral artery? She gently lifts my hand to take a look causing a spike of pain from it making me whine out loud, she lets out a smaller sympathetic one as she takes off her shirt and starts tearing it into strips. Realizing what she is about to do, but more fearing the pain from it I try to protest this by using my free hand to push her away, Ashley deftly knocks it away. She then removes my hand that is covering the wound and ties the strips around my leg where the entrance and exit wounds are.

I nearly black out from the pain as she ties the strips tight. They already have blood and dirt on them so I try not to think what else they have on them as I realize Ashley was doing this to stop the bleeding.

Well any doubts abut making it to Canada are no longer needed, I'm not going to be able to make it like this. But Ashley can, so I try to hand her the map and compass only for her to growl deeply at me with her ears flat back. She slaps that hand away and then grabs my other one. Then with more strength than I would expect from someone her size, she pulls me onto my feet, well foot. As soon as I try to put any weight at all on the leg that got shot I get white hot lances of pain from it. Ashley then clamps by muzzle shut to prevent the howl of pain I was about to let out from this. Fine, so you're going to drag me behind you? I'm just going to slow you down. Not to mention I don't know where Ashley's pack is, She had all food, water, and purifiers. When she lets go of my muzzle I let out a whine at her, Ashley's response is to bark loudly at me once before pulling me in the direction of the dead farmer. I have to hop on my good foot to keep up with her and not fall down.

The scent of blood actually gets stronger as we get closer to the motionless body, he's not even breathing. A hole in his head shows that the last shot must've been Ashley killing him with his own gun. I've, never seen a dead body so I just stare as she pulls me over to where her pack lays nearby. She leaves me standing on one leg only for as long as it takes her to pick up the pack and put it back on. Once it's settled on her back she grabs the arm on my injured side and slips it over her shoulder. I realize this is so I can walk without putting weight on the leg at the cost of putting even more of a load on her. Walking slowly we make our way back to where I left my pack and hefts it up onto my back with much trouble, it takes a couple of tries to do it without me having to put any weight on the injured leg. Ashley barks at me and a moment later grabs the compass and map from me, studies both, then wraps them around her own wrist before taking off roughly in the same direction as the trees we were trying to get to for safety. Only to realize that the clumps of trees have spaces between them large enough to have allowed the tractor to go through them.

Night fully sets in once we are inside the next field and my leg has settled into a low throb and tiny spikes every time our gait necessitates me leaning against Ashley. For once I am actually glad about what they changed us into, my low light vision is good enough that the moon and stars give enough light for us to see where we are going without a flashlight. I doubt they packed one for us and right now I am glad about that, it would let any of that farmer's friends know where we are at. Ashley seems to be having a hard time looking at the map, but the luminescent dial and needle of the compass is plain to see even for me. I smell water and hear the rustle of newly made leaves before I look around and spot the trees and slope we were heading for. I hadn't noticed that sometime during our crossing of yet another farm field that I had stopped smelling the majority of the coppery scent of blood. Ashley drops her pack making me realize this is where we will be spending the night, she moves to remove mine as well. When the I feel the weight of it off my back I slump to the ground exhausted and feeling a little cold. Yet it feels good to not be standing and removing even the minimal weight off the injured leg reduces the pain to a deep but dull ache.

Looking over at Ashley as she rummages through both packs, taking stuff out like she is trying to find something I have to wonder why she called me that. Alpha Jack, I'm certainly no alpha after getting shot like this. A click and a burst of light stops my train of thought, okay they must have packed a flashlight as she just found one. It doesn't stop her from continuing to move about like a woman possessed. Ashley then pulls a first aid kit from my backpack, could have found it even in the dark due to it's stark white case with a simple red cross on it. She sets it next to me carefully before going back to my pack and pulling out the tent. A rustle in the branches nearby causes her to go dead still after instantly shutting off the light, my vision quickly adjusts back to the low light and I can see her staring in the direction of the sound. A few more tense minutes pass before she puts her ears flat back and turns the light on doubling up on her speed as she sets up the simple pop up tent. Once the four steaks are firmly into the ground she pulls a cord and the tent expands in a near instant. She then opens the tent, and tosses everything into it; packs and supplies first, then the sleeping bags, followed by gently placing the first aid kit inside and tying the flashlight to the roof of it.

Realizing I'm next I try to at least do something so I try to drag myself over to the tent, but I am stopped even before I start. Ashley gently bops my nose saying 'No' before grabbing my shoulders, picking me up till only my ankle joint is touching the ground, and drags me inside. She then gently lays be down onto one of the sleeping bags that I realize she had already opened. Once we are inside the tent she zips up the door and flops herself down onto the other and closing her eyes with a sigh. She only stays still for a moment or two and when she opens her eyes they have the look of sheer determination in them. A far cry from what I saw on the way up from here. I don't have time to say anything as she scoots over and grabs at the impromptu bandages she put on the gunshot wound earlier. I can't help but shiver as I see the lighter fresh blood on it compared to the darker dried blood. Only for a moment does she look at me with sympathy before she rips them of, the quick stab of pain drains my strength and causes me to lay flat on the sleeping bag, only the injured leg is up in the air. Next I feel her removing my pants, I realize what Ashley is intending to do as I hear the first aid case being opening and the uncapping of something. She's going to disinfec.. My vision, my hearing, all I can sense is white hot pain coming from my leg. It's like she just stuck a hot poker into the wound.

Next thing I realize is that I am shivering and panting as my eyes finally focus on Ashley. She's wrapping the wound in white gauze followed by some protective tan wrapping. When the wound is fully wrapped she ties off the end and goes rummaging through the packs again. I just feel so tired so I lay back down and close my eyes. Only for Ashley to slap her hand across my muzzle yelling 'NO', then presses one of the full canteens of water against my muzzle 'Drink' she says. Holding onto it I take a sip, then I start gulping it down as I suddenly feel thirsty. She is writing something down on the pad of paper that I brought with me. I down nearly half of it before she hands me the pad of paper.

'You're in shock. I can't let you fall asleep until the wound stops bleeding, food and water will help you replace the blood lost as well.' She takes the pad back only for her to hand me the canteen again. I shake my head but she thrusts it into my hands and to my muzzle. So I sip from it a bit more as she opens her pack some more and pulls out some bags. I finally notice how much she's covered in blood, her muzzle, neck and parts of her bra are stained dark red with it. Most likely the blood from the farmer, but how? Looking down I see that my pants are crumpled in a ball in front of the door flap of the tent, soaked with blood and dirt. My legs have some pretty large stains of it in my fur as well, above my waist though I am just covered in dirt and some mud. Again Ashley gets my attention by thrusting something into my face, this time it's some kind of breakfast bar. The wrapper is already taken off and all she says is 'eat'. Shaking my head I try to indicate I am not hungry. I know what she wrote, how does she know? I'm just tired so I try to lay back down only to get another slap against my muzzle with her nearly yelling at me 'EAT' again. Fine, I'll take a bite of it. As soon as I taste it though I can't help but woof it down, chewing just enough to not choke on it. Ashley moves to drape the rest of the sleeping bag over me, and her. No, correcting myself, she took her sleeping bag and draped it over us while we are both on mine. Ashley already has the pad of paper and pencil in her hand with something written on it when I finish eating. The wind starts to pick up as I take the pad and pencil from her, the rustling of the leafs and the creaking of the branches are kinda relaxing.

'I 'will' slap you again Alpha Jack if you try to fall asleep again! You cannot do so until the wound stops bleeding at least, otherwise as your body relaxes the bleeding will get worse and you can bleed out in your sleep.' Again how does she know this? I write down as such and hand both back to her. As she writes down her answer I try to pull the sleeping bag closer as I still feel cold. Ashley notices, and moves to lay down next to me before continuing to write. She then shows it to me as I stop shivering next to her body warmth.

'Remember, I told you I lived on the streets for a few years. Combine that with some health class basics from my boarding school and I think I have a pretty good grasp on first aid. The homeless were not exactly welcome in hospitals since the government refuses to foot their bill anymore. So setting bones and treating wounds like gunshot wounds is stuff I had to learn on my own for my own health. As well as anyone I grouping with at the time.' I guess that makes sense, healthcare was another thing people had to fend for themselves on when staying in one of the jobless centers. I am just glad Patrick and I were lucky enough to not need anything serious. That luck seems to have run out on me I guess. Somewhere in between thinking about asking her on what happened with her back there and why she is calling me Alpha and putting pencil to paper I must have closed my eyes for too long because the next thing I know is she slaps my face again. Shaking my head a little I start writing those questions down.

'I couldn't see what happened back there after I was shot. What did you do and why did you have that man's gun in your hand? Also, why are you calling me Alpha Jack?' I at least know she finished him off with it, but how it got to that point is a mystery to me. After handing both the pencil and the pad to her I pick up the canteen and start to drink some more. Ashley only takes a moment to read it over before writing her reply and handing both back to me. A momentary gust of wind causes both of us to stop and look about as it shakes the tent a bit and thus the flashlight, it dies down quick enough to no longer worry about the tent blowing away with us in it.

'I looked back at you when I heard the gunshot. After that I can't really explain the emotion I had other than getting angry at him for hurting you, my Alpha female. So I charged at him with my teeth bared, he must've panicked and shot at me wildly. Missing what would have been an easy shot I guess. From there I leaped onto him, knocking him to the ground. The weight of my backpack must've helped in that, still next thing I know I had my teeth clamping down on his neck. I can still taste his blood in my mouth, anyway I heard the thump of the gun hitting the ground as well. He had dropped it in surprise, or to free his hand to grab my head. Either way I wasn't letting go but I knew if I didn't pick up that gun I was a goner. So I grabbed it as he tried to pry my jaws loose. So I, I brought the barrel of the gun up to the side of his head and fired. He went limp and my jaws finally un-clenched allowing me to let go. I, I never killed anyone before. I've also never felt so angry either. I don't know what came over me, only that I knew it stopped when I killed him. Also I don't know why I just wrote down Alpha Female rather than Jack. Alpha did say to me that I would need to help take care of you and you will help take care of me. I don't think this is what she meant.' Setting the pad and pencil down I scoot a bit closer to her, for her warmth and to hug her in thanks. I don't care what caused her to do it, other than some part of the instincts in this form, what I do know is she saved my life. That hic farmer intended to kill both of us from the start, only his poor marksmen skills prevented him from doing so. As well as not expecting his 'prey' to fight back. I am not deserving of the title 'Alpha' either, I hope she stops calling me that after we get to Canada.

Ashley moves to break the hug because she grabs the flash light and moves down to my injured leg. I feel her unwrapping it, then the sting of the gauze being removed. It's not quite as bad as when she removed the improvised one but it still is painful enough to cause me to let out a yelp. She balls up the used gauze and moves to the tent flap but stops and looks down at it, Ashley instead places it with the ruined clothing balled up nearby. The wrapping she used is hung from the tent ceiling in place of the flashlight before she grabs a fresh roll of it and some clean gauze. Ashley has to hold my leg down as she wraps it, the pressure from how tight she is wrapping it causes the wound to throb and thus causes me to squirm a bit. Once finished she moves to lay against me while grabbing the pencil and pad to write something down and hands it to me.

'The bleeding has slowed, but not stopped. Sorry I still can't let you fall asleep, I also know it hurts but I can't do a thing about it. They didn't pack any kind of pain relievers in the first aid kit. But at least it has plenty of antibiotic spray, gauze and wrappings. So at least it shouldn't get infected before we reach Canada.' When she's finished I take the writing implements and simply state she should leave me as I will only slow her down. We will either get caught or run out of the few days worth of food before we make it. While I deeply thank her for doing what she has done, I will only slow her down. When I show her the pad she yanks both pad and pencil out of my hands and slaps me hard twice, once on each cheek followed by a low growl. If I try to move away from her she growls again and stares at me with ears flat back. A few minutes later she thrusts the writing implements back into my hands.

'Don't you fucking dare start acting like that! I'm gonna take you with me up there even if I have to drag you with my bare hands! It is my duty as your beta to help you, even if you don't want it. Look, I understand you're in pain and you are definitely in shock so you may not be thinking straight. So the situation may seem more hopeless than it looks. By some fucking miracle the bullet not only went clean through your leg, it also missed the femoral artery from what I can tell. If it hadn't you would be dead by now. So this is what we are going to do. You're going to keep sipping that water till the bleeding stops. ONLY then will I allow you to sleep. Then in the morning I am going to go bury the blood stained clothing and find you, or make you a crutch from a branch of wood so you can walk on your own. I will also put as much stuff from your pack into mine after using the filters to refill the canteens. We will then try to make up the lost time, only stopping to eat and drink. If we should find a secluded area like this again. Only then will we sleep. Got it Alpha Jack?' Blinking I look at the pad and then at Ashley's face. She has stopped growing but the angry and determined look remains along with her ears staying flat back. Fine, we will give it a try. Can't say I didn't try to point out what will happen. I take another sip of water before turning the page in the pad to find an empty one to write my reply. But before I can put the pencil tip to the pad of paper the sound of a roaring four by four makes it's self known over the howl of the wind.

We look at each other before Ashley quickly shuts off the flashlight and pulls the sleeping bag over both of us. Damn it, it must be the one driven by the people who shot at Patrick and Mark. I hope they got away at least, if it keeps coming closer they are going to find us! The sound of the truck's engine gets louder followed soon by the light of it's headlights shining through the brush and trees. We look at each other and dare not make a single sound as the lights pause momentarily then the engine roars as the truck turns and moves on. Only when I don't hear the sound of the engine do I let out the breath I didn't realize I was holding in. That was close, too close. I would laugh about how lady luck is treating us if I wasn't so tired. Unlucky enough to get shot, but lucky enough that they don't even SEE us mere feet away due possibly to the trees and brush near us. After a few more minutes of listening to each other breath and the sound of the wind does Ashley risk turning on the flash light.

I watch as she grabs the first aid kit and scoots down to my legs while still under the sleeping bag, a moment later she starts unwrapping my bandage. I hadn't noticed the throbbing had stopped till it starts up again in response to this attention. She doesn't seem to completely take off the gauze this time, hopefully that is a good sign that it's stopped bleeding and Ashley can stop slapping me every time I close my eyes for more than a few seconds. She has to hold my legs down again when re-wrapping the wound again as putting any kind of pressure onto the wound causes a stabbing pain from it. Ashley pops her head out of the sleeping bag next to mine and reaches up to grab the canteen and another breakfast bar.

'Eat, drink, then sleep.' She says handing me both. I take a few sips of water before eating the bar even though I am not that hungry. The way Ashley is acting she might just force it down my throat if I don't. Next thing I know she hands me the pad of paper but not a pencil. So a statement and not a question? I read it while she holds it.

'The bleeding has slowed to almost nothing so it should be safe for you to go to sleep, but only after you finish that breakfast bar.' She then puts the pad down and gently lifts the hand of mine that has said highly processed piece of food. I have been taking smaller bites compared to the last one and it seems she wants to see me finish it first. Looking at her, then it I sigh and force it down in a couple of bites. Smiling she pats my head and then helps move me lay down. The ground now feels about as hard as those cots we had to sleep on but the sleeping bags make it nice and toasty. I try to curl up but the sudden jab of pain from my wound causes me to stop. Okay so laying like I used to as a human it is then. Ashley at least tries to make it more comfortable for me. Moving the softer backpack closer so I can use it as a pillow and tucking the sleeping bag over us a bit tighter to keep our body heat in.

'Sleep Alpha Jack, Sleep.' She says in a hushed tone while petting the fur on my head. It feels nice and I close my eyes, sleep claims me soon after to the semi calming noise of the wind rustling leafs.