{"sf1_id":53946,"sf2_id":"RnoYLJYe","title":"A Pack of Two, Part. 2","author":"Grodd","words":4082,"posted_at":"2008-06-25T16:59:00.000Z","tags":["Bad Language","Canine","Character Development","Coyote","Husky","No-Yiff","Plot Development","Violence (Not In Yiff)","Wolf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/53946-a-pack-of-two-part-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/RnoYLJYe","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=53946\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"#2 of A pack of two","content":"The deafening sound of gunfire blasted away in rapid succession for a full second.  \n\"Marcus!\" John heard himself screaming from the ground beyond the window, all stealth  \n  \nforgotten. The secret of their position didn't seam to matter if Marcus was upstairs dead  \n  \nor dying. \"Marcus!\" He shouted again, but received no answer. He ran frantically back  \n  \ntowards the window he had dropped out of. He stomped through the bushes that had caught  \n  \nhim and Lisa, and began the impossible task of climbing up the brick siding of the  \n  \napartment complex.  \n  \nLooking up, the window seemed miles, centuries, even light years away. He let out a  \n  \nwordless scream of frustration, then turned and looked at Lisa who was standing back away  \n  \nfrom him. Her hands where wringing together nervously and her legs where jittering. She  \n  \nwas looking nervously back and forth between the window to the corner of the building that  \n  \nwould lead to the front door, the direction that she expected the gangsters to come  \n  \nbarreling around any second.  \n  \n\"Get over here!\" John commanded. \"I'll boost you up. We can't risk the front door  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; for anything, but you have to go up there and see if he's okay.\"  \n  \n\"Hell no.\" She said sharply. Rare flared brightly in John's eyes. \"I'll send you  \n  \nup there. He's your friend.\" She quickly clarified.  \n  \n\"Can you do that?\" John asked almost frantically. Lisa walked over and shoved him  \n  \nout of the way, then took her position.  \n  \n\"I may be a girl but I'm a coyote. I think I can handle you, pup.\" She lowered her  \n  \nhands and joined them together so John could step on them. Without pause or hesitation  \n  \nJohn stepped up onto the fur platform. With a sharp exhalation Lisa heaved John up towards  \n  \nthe window. He actually sailed a few feat above her hands and easily grabbed onto  \n  \nwindowsill. John made a note to thank her for it later, and kept in mind that she was in no  \n  \nway as physically diminutive as she appeared. He pulled on the sill and quickly crested  \n  \nover it.  \n  \n\"Marcus!\" He said with a mix of intense worry, and grand relief. Marcus was  \n  \ncrawling backwards towards him, his eyes and gun pointed directly at the doorway. He was  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; still holding his jacket with the ammo in the front pocket in his left hand. The ammo in  \n  \nthe jacket slammed loudly against the floor as he claws his way backwards towards the  \n  \nwindow.  \n  \n\"John.\" Marcus said without looking back. \"Help me.\" His voice was horse, but as  \n  \nstrong as ever. John pushed himself the rest of the way through the window and hurried  \n  \ninto the main room towards Marcus. Even his determination to help Marcus couldn't keep him  \n  \nfrom pausing when he looked through the doorway and saw the coyote lying dead with one  \n  \nbullet through his chest, and one through his head. There was a splatter of blood on the  \n  \nwall opposite the doorway, and more blood to the side of the coyote corpse.  \n  \n\"Holy shit.\" John coughed.  \n  \n\"Yeah.\" Marcus said nodding, pain evident on his face. \"Killed the bastard, and  \n  \ninjured one of his buddies. Guess we're really screwed now. I should have killed all of  \n  \nthem so there'd be no one to report who did this.\"  \n  \n\"Did you mean to kill him?\" John asked turning back towards his friend, his  \n  \ndetermination to help keeping him from breaking down as he had earlier after their first  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; encounter with the coyote involving bullets.  \n  \n\"He meant to kill me.\" Marcus said in defense. \"All three of them did. When your  \n  \nfaced with that there's not really intent to kill. You just fire, and if marksmanship is  \n  \nembedded in your bones, death is just a natural result of your shots.\"  \nJohn only half heard the explanation as he looked Marcus over. There was a bullet hole,  \n  \nand blood flowing from his right shoulder, and right thigh. \"Why didn't you answer when I  \n  \ncalled out to you?\" John asked as he headed to the bathroom to get what medical supplies  \n  \nthey had.  \n  \n\"You ever fire a .45 five times within one second in a room as small as this with  \n  \nDesert Eagle shots whizzing past your head? I didn't even hear you. I can hardly hear you  \n  \nnow.\"  \n  \n\"You think they'll be back?\"  \n  \nMarcus smiled wickedly. \"Not for a while. Scared the shit outta them.\"  \n  \n\"Scared the shit outta me.\" John said. John examined the gruesome wound on Marcus'  \n  \nshoulder. It was entirely exposed due to the wolf's lack of a shirt. The bullet had passed  \n  \nthrough, and it didn't seem to have hit anything vital, not that John would know. \"Can you  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; move your arm and leg?\"  \n  \n\"Yeah, but it hurts. Baddly.\" His face was in a constant contortion of pain.  \n  \n\"Jonny!\" Lisa said loudly from outside the window. \"I see lights. We have to go.\"  \n  \n\"Lights?\" John repeated. Then the sirens came within hearing range.  \n  \n\"We have to go.\" Marcus said hurriedly, shoving his gun into his pants pocket.  \n  \n\"Now.\"  \n  \n\"It was self defense.\" John said stubbornly.  \n  \n\"Against the Bores! We've been over this. The cops can't be trusted when the  \n  \nBores are involved.\" They could hear the cop cars pulling up in front of the complex.  \n  \n\"Damnit.\" John cursed. He threw the box of medical supplies out the window, and  \n  \nlifted Marcus from under his legs and around his back. They could hear the cars squealing  \n  \nin behind their apartment, and the doors opening as the cops exited their vehicles. John  \n  \ngrowled a little and ran for the window. He turned at a sharp angle and leapt through the  \n  \nhole into the darkness. Marcus made no sounds, but tensed up as they fell. John pulled his  \n  \nway around Marcus and hugged him from behind. John hit the bushes first and was slammed to  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; the bottom of the huge evergreen styled shrubbery. Sticks scrapped him and jabbed him  \n  \nfiercely, but within moments he knew he wasn't seriously injured.  \n  \nHe helped Marcus off of him, then pulled himself free. A cop's flashlight beamed  \n  \nout of the window and scanned the lawn below. John slipped under Marcus and hefted him  \n  \ninto a fireman's carry. The cop's light caught him as he hurried away. Lisa was already  \n  \ngone, running far ahead. \"Freeze!\" the cop shouted. Marcus and John never even looked at  \n  \nhim. The cop disappeared into the apartment.  \n\"Take a sharp right.\" Marcus said.  \n  \n\"Lisa!\" John whispered harshly to the coyote ahead of them. She looked back and  \n  \nsaw John take a hard right. She turned back and headed towards them at an angle so she  \n  \nwouldn't fall behind.  \n  \n\"The park's this way.\" Marcus explained. \"We have to reach it as quickly as  \n  \npossible.\" John was panting hard and sweating as he ran with all the speed he could manage  \n  \nwith Marcus on his back. It was only about two hundred yards to the tree line. They were  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; lucky in that their apartment was moderately close to the park. Twenty yards from the  \n  \ntrees the blazing headlights of cop cars caught them as they ran.  \n\"Freeze!\" The loudspeaker commanded. Again they ignored it, pushing their way into the  \n  \nforest.  \n  \nDon't shoot, don't shoot. Marcus pleaded mentally. His wounds where killing him  \n  \nlike nothing he'd ever felt and the last thing he needed was more of them. Luckily gunfire  \n  \nnever rang out and they escaped into the forest. They ran through the woods which seeming  \n  \nlike a thick primal forest in the dark of night. They weren't quite cats, but they did  \n  \nhave descent night vision an they were able to make good distance through the park.  \n  \nMarcus looked back as he was jostled on John's heaving shoulders. \"Down!\" He  \n  \nhissed. John hit the dirt, sending Marcus rolling painfully across the ground. Lisa  \n  \ndropped quickly as well, and the beam of a flashlight scanned over their heads. Now that  \n  \nhe was listening, Marcus could hear the footsteps of the cops as they carefully made their  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; way through the forest, scanning back and for with their flashlights. At their current  \n  \ncourse they would step on John within a few minutes.  \n  \nAll three of them suppressed their breathing and listened as the footsteps grew  \n  \ncloser and closer, and the light scanned over them again and again. Like a worm, Marcus  \n  \nslowly slid his arm across the ground and into his pocket where he felt the reassuring  \n  \nsteel of his .45. Adrenaline was still coursing through his veins. He was already sizing  \n  \nup how much damage he could inflict on the group of cops before he fell. He decided that  \n  \nhe'd be able to hold them long enough, using trees as cover, for John and Lisa to escape.  \n  \nHe started a series of three deep breathes, preparing the jump up at the end of the third.  \n  \nBy the end of the second, the cop's footsteps sounded like they were receding.  \n  \nMarcus didn't move, he didn't breath. He listened closely, and even through his  \n  \nringing ears he could clearly tell the cop and changed direction. The flash light no  \n  \nlonger scanned overhead, and for the moment it seemed that they had been saved. They sat  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; in silence until they could no longer hear the cops footsteps. Craning his head, Marcus  \n  \ncouldn't see the roaming flashlight either. They couldn't stay there too long, or another  \n  \ncop would inevitably come across them, but neither could they move too quickly or they'd  \n  \nalert the closer cops.  \n  \nMarcus slowly lurched to his feat. John and Lisa did the same. They came together  \n  \nin a tight huddle. \"We have to be silent.\" Marcus whispered below his breath. He grunted a  \n  \nlittle, his wounds where burning. \"Hold on a second.\" Marcus said. They held their breath  \n  \nfor a second and heard nothing. They looked around again and still saw no searching  \n  \nflashlights. Leaning heavily on his left leg, Marcus stood. He looked, and for the first  \n  \ntime noticed that Lisa was holding the medical kit.  \n  \n\"Thank God.\" He said softly, and reached for the box. Lisa handed it over. Marcus  \n  \ntook it and sat down, leaning against a tree. He was breathing hard although he'd not been  \n  \nrunning. He shook his head. \"I can hardly see straight.\" He explained. \"I've lost so much  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; blood.\" With the comment John suddenly noticed his back. He looked over his shoulder and  \n  \nsaw that it was entirely covered with coagulating blood, Marcus' blood.  \n  \n\"We've got to get you to a hospital.\" Lisa said.  \n  \nMarcus didn't object, but he started working on the medical kit. He pulled out a  \n  \npack of gaws pads, and some medical tape. He held the gaws down hard against the wound on  \n  \nthe front of his shoulder, thankful that he had the durability and endurance of a wolf.  \n  \nThe wounds might have been the death of some lesser species. He fumbled with the tape for  \n  \na second before John and Lisa came to the rescue. They soon had his shoulder  \n  \ninsufficiently bandaged on both sides, but it was the best they could do. They removed his  \n  \npants and did the same to his leg. No one even managed any sexual comments in the tension  \n  \nof the situation. Marcus reloaded the clip of his .45 with bullets from within the ammo box  \n  \nin his jacket.  \n  \n\"There's a hospital on the east side of the park.\" Marcus said.  \n  \n\"Which way is that.\" John asked looking all around as if he'd see a sign.  \nMarcus nodded his head over his left shoulder. \"Let me walk though. I'll need your help,  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; but you need a rest.\"  \n  \n\"I can handle it.\" John protested, but Marcus was already pushing himself to his  \n  \nfeat against the tree. John slung Marcus' uninjured left arm over his shoulders, and held  \n  \nhis own right arm around Marcus' waist. They started forward, slowly and silently. Marcus  \n  \nlimped at a descent speed, and without making any noise whatsoever. Wolf's are amazing  \n  \ncreatures. Coyotes and huskies aren't so plain either. The three of them moved through  \n  \nthe forest in a tightly knit pack, their senses on high alert. They went for what felt  \n  \nlike hours, made longer by the ponds and streams that they had to circumnavigate. Finally  \n  \nthough, they where able to hear, and see cars sporadically passing by, far ahead of them.  \n  \n\"Don't leave the park right away.\" John said. \"I'll take a look around first.\" When  \n  \nthey reached the abrupt tree line, John set Marcus against a tree. He crouch low and moved  \n  \nquietly to the end of the trees. Carefully he leaned out from behind a tree and looked  \n  \ndown the street to his left and right. He saw nothing of concern in either direction. No  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; cops, and no Bores that he could tell. The hospital was directly across the street. He  \n  \nreturned to his friends quickly.  \n  \n\"It looks good, but we have to go quickly.\" John said. \"The cops'll have our names  \n  \nfrom the landlord soon, and once they report it we won't be able to get you help, Marcus.\"  \nMarcus slipped on his jacket which he had stubbornly held onto the entire time. \"You're  \n  \ngoing to look funny walking in there shirtless, bloody and scrapped up like that.\"  \n\"You can't go in there alone.\" John said.  \n  \n\"I have to.\" Marcus argued back.  \n  \nLisa stepped forward. \"When I said there was no one else I could trust, I guess I  \n  \nsort of lied. I haven't talked to him in a while, but I've got a friend who I can trust  \n  \nabove anyone else. He's at 716 on Fourth. I'll help Marcus in, then lead you to him where  \n  \nyou can get a change of clothes then come back and pick Marcus up.\" Marcus and John looked  \n  \nat her and mauled over her plan.  \n  \n\"One second.\" Marcus said, and pulled John aside. \"Should we trust her?\"  \n  \n\"I don't know. You seem to be better at this. What do you think?\"  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; Marcus didn't say anything as he thought the whole situation over. It made him  \n  \nsick to his stomach. \"I think we have to trust her.\"  \n  \n\"As sick as it makes me feel, your right.\" John agreed. They broke their  \n  \nconsultation and turned back to Lisa. They told her that they had decided that they had no  \n  \nchoice but to trust her and her \"friend\" that she was so sure of. Marcus pulled the gun  \n  \nfrom his pocket and handed it to John along with the ammo.  \n  \n\"I'll be in trouble if they find that on me. You take it until I get out.\" Marcus  \n  \nsaid. John nodded. Lisa pushed her way under Marcus' left arm, and started to help him  \n  \nout of the woods. John watched worriedly as the two of them made it to, and then across  \n  \nthe street. They made their way to the ER reception room. Behind the counter was a chubby  \n  \nfemale fox.  \n  \n\"What's the emergency?\" She asked blandly looking back and forth from one battered  \n  \nfur to the other.  \n  \n\"Gang shooting on our street. We were unlucky enough to be outside.\" John  \n  \nexplained. \"I was shot twice, once through my shoulder and the other through my leg. I  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; think I just need to be stitched up, but I'd like to see what a doctor thinks.\"  \n  \n\"What about her?\" The receptionist asked, unfazed and unaffected by John's story.  \n  \n\"Her?\" John asked, looking over to Lisa and remembering how beaten she looked.  \n  \n\"I fell running from the gun fire.\" She said quickly.  \n  \n\"Well your both handling this very well.\" The receptionist congratulated them, and  \n  \nJohn had to wonder if she was sarcastic or not fore her tone gave little indication either  \n  \nway. She probably thought Marcus and Lisa where lovers, and Marcus had beat Lisa and she  \n  \ndecided to shoot back before regretting it and helping him to the hospital.  \n  \n\"We live in the ghetto.\" Marcus said as if it explained everything.  \n  \n\"Do you have insurance?\" Marcus did, and the woman gave him some paperwork to work  \n  \non and a pen to do it with. \"Go take a seat.\"  \n  \nMarcus and Lisa nodded. Lisa helped Marcus to a seat in the empty ER waiting room.  \n  \n\"Go get John to that friend of yours.\" Lisa nodded and started to leave. Marcus caught her  \n  \nhand and turned her around. \"Remember what we did for you.\" Marcus voice was cold and sharp  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; like the steel of a razor.  \n  \n\"Did you kill Jason?\" Lisa asked, her voice the female equivalent of Marcus'.  \n  \nMarcus nodded. \"Then you've done more for me than anyone else ever has. I won't forget it,  \n  \nI promise.\" She turned and left Marcus to his paper work and his scattered thoughts.  \n  \nWithin a few minutes a nurse came and called for him. He wasn't done with his paperwork,  \n  \nbut he left it, and his insurance card, with the receptionist and followed the nurse  \n  \nthrough the white wash hallways. As he limped down the hall he felt more and more uneasy.  \n  \nThis is not good. he thought. I'm injured, and trapped in this building. If the  \n  \ncops find out I'm here there's no way I'll escape. I left John with someone we have no  \n  \nreal reason to trust to be taken to someone we don't even know. This is entirely awful.  \n  \nStill he followed the nurse. What choice did he have now? At the very least he could get  \n  \npatched up. She led him to one of the many identical rooms and sat him down. She left him  \n  \nthere to wait for the doctor. The last time Marcus had been to the emergency room he'd  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; been unconscious, so he wasn't sure if he was experiencing the normal workings of the  \n  \nplace, or if he should be worried that something was amiss. The sun would be rising soon,  \n  \nand he hoped to be out of there before that happened, and back with John.  \n  \nHe tried not to think of the long term, because whenever he did it was all bleak  \n  \nand bad. Deal with it as it comes. He told himself. Deal with issues when they reache  \n  \nyou. Don't anticipate the future ones. It was hard not to anticipate in a situation like  \n  \nthis, but if he did he'd likely kill himself before the Bores or cops ever caught him. He  \n  \nknew he'd never do that for various reasons. Too much pride for one, too much courage for  \n  \nanother, and he'd never leave John alone in this mess. The doctor helped distract him a  \n  \nfew moments later.  \n  \nIt was a tiger with glasses and entirely lacking a smile or humor. \"Gun wounds?\" he  \n  \nasked without any kind of introduction. Marcus nodded. \"I don't care how you got them.  \n  \nI'll be honest, I probably won't believe whatever you tell me anyway, but my Hippocratic  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; oath means I'm gonna help you out. Any problems with that?\" Marcus shook his head. In  \n  \nfact it was perfect. The less conversation the better. The doctor had him remove his  \n  \njacket and then his pants. He quickly ripped all the bandages from their spots and  \n  \nexamined the wounds.  \n  \n\"Good news mister...Grodd.\" He said, looking at the papers in his hands to attain  \n  \nMarcus' last name. \"Neither of the wounds are serious. Have you ever heard of the term  \n  \nflesh wound?\" Marcus nodded. \"Probably from Monte Python. Anyway, that's all they are.  \n  \nI'll stitch them up for you and you'll be outta here nice and quick, which I'm sure you  \n  \nwant as much as I do. Now, I can numb the sites if you want.\"  \n  \nMarcus shook his head. \"My insurance isn't that good.\"  \n  \n\"Indeed.\" the doctor agreed. \"I'll be right back to sew you back together.\" The  \n  \ndoctor came back and sewed Marcus' wounds shut, then put bandages over top of them. He  \n  \nleft Marcus alone in the quiet room, to sit in stinging silence. Within twenty more  \n  \nminutes, as the air started to gain some light, John came through the door. He was wearing  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; a new pair of pants, and a black greenish hoody. He had a sack of clothes with him, and  \n  \nMarcus managed a broad smile of relief when John came towards him apparently unharmed.  \n  \n\"No problems?\" He asked.  \n  \nJohn shook his head. \"He seems like a good guy. Big ass bear. Intimidating,  \n  \nalthough I'm sure not to you. I never really got if that was confidence or idiocy.\"  \n  \n\"Neither, it's just nature.\" Marcus struggled to his feat. \"Help me into the  \n  \nbathroom, then we can go.\" John helped Marcus into the bathroom, and then shut the door  \n  \nbehind them. \"We can talk in private here.\" he said. \"So...what do you think?\"  \n  \nJohn walked across the small, sterile bathroom and sat on the sink counter. He  \n  \nshook his head sadly. \"It's all so fucked up.\" Marcus nodded his agreement. \"I guess we  \n  \nneed to drop everything and get out of the city.\"  \n  \n\"Dropping everything will be easy for me.\" Marcus said. \"I've got nothing but two  \n  \ncrappy jobs, and you, and your coming with me. You have school though, and a lot of money  \n  \nput into it.\"  \n  \nJohn shrugged. \"That doesn't mean much if we both get killed for it. No, I'll drop  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; school and work and leave with you.\"  \n  \n\"We need a car. Do you think Lisa can get us one?\" Marcus asked.  \nJohn nodded. \"Probably.\"  \n  \n\"You think she's trust worthy?\"  \n  \n\"Yes.\" John said confidently. \"I think if she wasn't she'd have screwed us over  \n  \nwhile we were separated.\"  \n  \n\"I don't think we should separate ever again unless we absolutely have to in order  \n  \nto survive.\" Marcus said. \"As far as we know, we are the only people we can trust until  \n  \nLisa proves herself without a doubt to be an ally. We need to stick together as hard as we  \n  \ncan. Agreed?\"  \n\"Agreed.\"  \n\"Where is she now?\"  \n  \n\"At Bill's house. We can walk there in a few minutes.\" John looked at the bandages  \n  \non Marcus' shoulder. \"How's it feeling?\"  \n\"A lot better now. I can walk fine, probably run okay too.\" Marcus flexed and stretched  \n  \nhis injured arm as if to prove his statement. A little pain leaked onto his face, but he'd  \n  \nhandle it well. \"I'll be fine in a couple days. Wolves are tough as hell, and I'm sure as  \n  \nhell not gonna be the exception to that rule.\" he moved closer to John and rested a hand on  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; his shoulder. \"You're handling this extremely well.\"  \n\"Thanks.\"  \n  \n\"Now lookout, I got to pee.\" They both used the toilet, and John gave Marcus the  \n  \nclothes provided for him by Bill.  \n  \n\"I don't know what he had canine sized clothes for. The dude's easily you, me, and  \n  \nLisa combined.\"  \n  \n\"Damn.\" Marcus said imagining the man.  \n  \n\"Damn.\" John agreed. \"Marcus...\" He slowed his speech a bit, suddenly nervous. \"Why  \n  \ndid you...How did you do all of this? How did you handle all of this so well? How did you  \n  \ncome out of a three on one gunfight without any serious injuries? What happened to you to  \n  \nmake you like this?\"  \n  \nFor the first time in his life, Marcus was ready to answer that question. \"When I  \n  \nwas twelve,\" Then he stopped abruptly as there was a knocking on the door.  \n  \n\"Marcus Grodd. Are you in there? This is the police.\" The knocking turned into  \n  \npounding when no one answered.  \n  \n\"Fuck!\" Marcus cursed. \"They got my name and tracked me here. Damn it. Damn it.\"  \n  \nHe was looking around franticly, as was John. There where no windows, no alternative  \n  \n\n\u0026nbsp; doors, and no escape. He felt like the walls were closing in around him like some twisted  \n  \nEgyptian trap. Marcus looked to John, truly panicked for the first time sense all this had  \n  \nstarted. John was slowly reaching into the bag he had been carrying. He carefully drew out  \n  \nMarcus' .45. His eyes were sad, and worried. Marcus heart was pounding. Could he shoot a  \n  \ncop? Would he shoot a cop? He grabbed onto the cold steel and turned towards the door,  \n  \nnumb from head to toe.  \n  \n\"We have to survive.\" He whispered, and grabbed onto the door handle.  \n  \n  \n  \n  \nSorry there's no sex. I was gonna try and slip in the blowjob in the bathroom at the end, but that would make Marcus and John seem like idiots, and sex is never worth the value of a character. And for all you anti-cliff hanger fans out there, sorry but it was just too perfect a place to end it. lol. Hope you enjoyed it.  \n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"A pack of two","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/53793-a-pack-of-two.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/54108-pack-of-two-part-3.json"}}