03 The Gathering

Story by Kalt on SoFurry

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Chronicles of Cold Winter - Chapter 3

I hope you guys like. Any feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.


The soldier came back. "For some reason, Agent Tag was not available, but General Gentry said you are expected, Sir. Though you are not to use your standard entrance. Because of the civilian you are to go to the tunnel and enter that way."

"Ah. Ok. I understand." Kalt watched as the gate opened for him to drive through. "And, Davy, the next time you address me by my rank or call me 'Sir' I'm gonna freeze your nuts off in the shower next time I see you in there."

"Oh. No, Sir." He stammered. "I mean, Captain, er, Kalt, Sir."

Kalt laughed loud and boisterously, "Its ok, bud. I'm just kidding. But I do hope you drop the rank next time. Ok?"

Davy sighed, relived. "Sure, Kalt. I understand." He motioned for him to drive through. Kalt winked at him and drove on.

"So, what is that all about, Captain?" Apollo grinned at his boyfriend.

Kalt looked at the husky out of the corner of his eye. "You know, I could freeze your nuts off."

"If you did, you'd never have anything more from me to swallow. Would you?"

The sigh was heavy but the smile was clear, "I guess not." He chuckled a bit. "I have an honorary rank because of the division I work for." He turned the wheel to go down the road towards the tunnel as instructed. "I don't like it and I don't like them using it, especially Davy. I tell them all, but they are trained to follow protocol so they do it out of habit usually." The cell phone rang. Kalt pulled it out of his pocket and looked at it. "Speaking of Davy." He answered the phone. "Hey, Davy. Talk fast, just about to enter the tunnel and you know how the signal is in there."

"Don't go in, it's a trap, Kalt. Get away from the...."

The boom echoed from directly above followed by another, both close enough to shake the Jeep. Kalt dropped the phone immediately, his fur instantly glowing very bright. "SHIT! HANG ON!" The next explosion was directly overhead. Large sections of the tunnel were falling at them. Kalt looked over at Apollo and saw him looking up. He could hear no sound, but he knew his husky was screaming as he tried to duck further into the jeep. He knew that the clear Jeep top would not keep the debris from crushing them. There was only one thing to do... but what about Apollo?

Back at the gate, Davy was running towards the tunnel entrance. He only hoped that he had been able to reach Kalt in time for him to do something. He didn't want to think about what might have happened, he only wanted to know that his friend was still alive and was digging his way out. He moved as fast as his bunny legs would go. It wasn't the first time, but he wished he was a different kind of bunny, one with hopping legs so he could get to the tunnel faster.

When he reached the tunnel entrance, it was completely enclosed by rubble. Some crew had already arrived with tools to clear the mess. He figured it was part of the plan that they were all ready to go even before the bombs went off.

One of the crew, a captain by the stripes on his sleeves, a mutt built like a bull dog, stepped in front of his path and aimed a gun at him. "Where do you think you're going, little rabbit?" Davy thought the gun seemed to shimmer at the tip, but it was too dark to be sure.

He thought as fast as he could. If he said he was here to try and help Kalt, he might be shot without another word. He had to be cautious. "I heard the explosions, Sir. I came to see what had happened and to see if I could offer assistance."

"You left your post, little rabbit? That's not a good idea."

"My post is still guarded, Sir, by my assigned partner." The mutt already knew where he was from. He was probably told who to look for and why. "I can see that I'm not needed and I'll just be in the way, Sir. I'll go back to my duty."

"You do that, little rabbit. Though, I'm gonna enjoy telling your superior about you deserting your post during a possible attack situation."

Davy stood up straight and tall and saluted, "Yes, Sir. I understand, Sir." He did not move. "May I be excused, Sir?"

"Go on. Get out of here and get back to work."

"Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir." Davy turned and walked up the road towards the gate. He watched the crew start to dig. He counted ten soldiers with guns just waiting around doing nothing, including the mutt he was deterred by. They looked ready to fire their weapons towards the tunnel at any moment. That was definitely odd in a situation like this. A casual wind blew by him from the tunnel's direction. He could smell fuel of some sort. Again, something else he thought was odd.

When he felt he was no longer being watched, he fell to the ground on the side of the road and flattened himself as much as he could to remain unseen for as long as possible. Pulling out some binoculars he had in his pocket, he took a better accounting of who was all down there. The crew total was twenty five, fifteen workers clearing the debris and the ten soldiers. All of them carried the same rifles, however each rifle had an attached hose under where the clip would be placed. The hose ran around and under the back of the soldier's coats.

Then he noticed the spark. One of the soldiers was lighting a cigarette using the tip of his rifle. That meant the rifle was hot. Davy could only decide it was some sort of flame thrower disguised as a rifle. He continued to watch.

Near to twenty minutes later, an armored car pulled up. The passenger door was opened by the same mutt that he had talked to. Agent Tag stepped out and walked up to the tunnel entrance. Another man that looked like a general followed. Tag was shaking his head and saying something to the other guy. Within moments it was clear that Tag was upset. Davy couldn't hear what was being said, but he could hear some echo of the tone Tag was using and he could tell he was not happy at all. Tag took one step towards the general and three of the soldiers aimed their guns at him. Tag stopped, looked around and seemingly giving up. He walked back to the car and got in. The general talked with the soldiers there for a moment before he returned to the car as well. It turned around and drove up the road it had come from, which Davy knew led to a back, well-guarded, entrance to the mezzanine.

Davy continued to watch the workers below. He readied his weapon. Even from this distance, he could take some of them out if he needed to. If Kalt was alive and they tried to shoot him, he would do his best to take them out first.

The car pulled up to the door of the mezzanine. An armed guard opened the back door. The general, an ocelot, stepped out and walked toward the door. "Don't keep me waiting, Tag." The soldier branded his weapon into the car. Tag stepped out and followed the general. "Good boy, Tag. Now, follow me and keep silent. We don't want to cause anyone else to have to disappear tonight." The front door opened automatically as the electronic eye identified general Gentry. He was saluted to by the soldiers within.

As Tag followed, the soldiers stopped saluting, knowing that officially he no longer held any rank. He followed General Gentry into the first elevator. Behind him entered another armed soldier. He looked casually around the elevator car. He could see the electronic red eyes shining bright. One wrong move and Tag would be cut to shreds by the lasers. Those weapons were not to be used unless there was a complete invasion. It would seem that General Gentry had thought of everything and found a way to make it all happen. "So, General... What do you hope to gain by all of this?"

"I said to be quiet, Tag. Though, I am surprised a big bear like you isn't gruffer than that." He smiled. "I don't expect to gain anything other than the safety of our great country from natures mistakes."

"That 'mistake' as you call him was a good soldier and a good man. He would never do anything against this base, this country, or this government."

"Well, I just ensured that your statement will forever be correct." He turned for the first time to face Tag. "Since the mistake is now dead, he is no longer a threat to... this base, this country, or this government."

"You had better hope you are right, General. If not, you may have made a liar out of me."

"HA. Not even your good lap dog had the power to withstand an entire tunnel falling in on him. Besides, I'm sure he was more distracted by that husky he brought with him. You know, I never knew why you gave that mutt so much freedom."

Tag just stood there. It was clear by the expression on his face that he was angry.

"Hmmm I guess you were scared of him. Oh well, nothing to worry about now, Tag." He turned away from him and faced the door once more. "You can relax because I took away that which scared you."

Tag swallowed and fought to keep himself together. He wanted to let go and break down. Though Kalt was not his son, he was like one to him and had been since he first arrived over nine years ago. But he knew that if anyone could survive that cave in, it would be him.

The elevator opened and they all stepped out, General Gentry first, Tag next, then the soldier last. Tag recognized the soldier. It was Corporal Sims. He was nothing special. He could take him out fast if necessary, but the other soldiers around here would be too much for him to handle alone. One bear against all these soldiers, different breeds and different species. Each of them trained how to follow the orders of the highest ranking officer blindly. With Tag's rank stripped from him, it would not be his orders they followed.

General Gentry opened the conference room door. "Ah, I see you captured them all. Good work Sargent Means."

"Thank you, Sir. It was easy. They didn't expect a thing." Standing tall, the equine saluted the general as he had been trained.

Tag entered and his thoughts started to come together in a plan to get out of this mess. Across the room sat Dackson Turner and Misty Zimmerman, both of which were close to Kalt as well and both of which had their own abilities that nobody knew about.

"Agent Tag. Explain this." The large bear sitting at the far end of the table growled as he spoke in his British accent.

"Agent Tag is just Tag now, Dackson. None of you have any rank anymore."

"What? What reasons do you have for doing this?"

"Dackson...", Tag interrupted before anyone else could speak, "... it's best you heard it from me and not someone else. Kalt is dead."

Dack slumped in his chair. "What do you mean, Agent Tag?" General Gentry grinned at Dack's persistence. Misty pulled out a tissue from under her sleeve and dabbed at her eyes as she started to cry. Tag sat next to her and held her. She tried not to cry loud and kept it mostly quiet, just a few sniffles and tears, her ears flat against her head.

"He was killed. The tunnel collapsed on him as he was driving through it."

"Why was he coming back here? He was to be on leave for a while longer."

"I called him back under the impression that he was needed for an assignment overseas." Tag glanced in general Gentry's direction.

"Ah. I see. You did this." Dack stood. The three soldiers in the room cocked their guns at him and he stood there looking at them. "What do you boys plan on doing with those."

"Sit down, Dackson, or we will make you sit down." General Gentry was proud of himself and it could be heard in his voice. "See, now that the genetic mistake has been removed from operations, we can finally start to work on other matters in the correct fashion."

Dackson smiled. He sat down to listen. "Other matters?"

"Yes. To get rid of the other genetic mistakes. It is plain to see that all that have come to exist have all been mentally unstable or physically deformed in some way. It was only time before the same happed to the dog and he would have turned on us."

"If you mean Kalt, then you have no idea what you are talking about. And there are other people that are like him as well and we know them all to be safe."

"DACKSON!" Tag jumped up. "That's enough."

Dack stared at Tag and smiled. "It's time, Tag. It's time that he knew the truth."

"What's he talking about, Tag?" General Gentry stepped closer a bit towards the door and motioned to the guards to be ready.

"Nothing, General. He is just trying to confuse the issue."

"No. The issue has already been confused for too long. It's time for us to come out as you Americans say." Dack stretched his big arms and his back out. "So, boys, I think you want to be putting those guns down. If not, you are going to get hurt."

General Gentry stepped towards the door again. "Well, it was going to happen sooner or later. Shoot them. I'm going to go get the clean-up crew for the mess."

"Shoot them, Sir?" Sargent means asked. "Shouldn't they be arrested and tried first?"

"Soldier, you had better follow my orders or you will be on the other end of that weapon like they are." General Gentry walked out and closed the door behind him.

"Now, you all don't want to cause any trouble. I'm sure he really doesn't want you all shot." The equine was sweating. Dack could see the fear in his eyes. Not for what he didn't know Dack could do, but he was scared that he would have to kill someone without a good reason.

Stepping away from the table, Dack pushed himself between the line of bullet fire and Tag and Misty. Tag pulled Misty back as far as they could go, and subtly motioned for her to jump under the table for cover if anything should go wrong. She nodded that she understood.

"Now, boys, what's it going to be?" Dack growled.

The second soldier, a mouse was shaking so much his digit pulled the trigger and fired one shot. Startled by this the third soldier, a cat, pulled the trigger all the way back on his gun and he screamed, unloading his entire set of bullets at Dack. When his gun was empty, the three soldiers stood there and looked on. Dack had not moved an inch, and Tag and Misty were under the table already, trying to keep safe.

"Well, I guess it's not going to be a nice discussion." Dack walked towards the two soldiers that had fired, ripping his torn shirt off of himself as he went. He passed Sargent Means who had not fired. The mouse and the cat backed against the wall and stared at him. Dack reached them and looked down at them. "You should have chosen the nice discussion like your friend over there", he pointed to the equine.

"Sorry, Sir. It won't happen again."

"You're right. It won't." Dack smacked the soldier's heads together. The passed out and fell to the ground. He turned to Sargent Means. "So, horsey, what's it going to be for you?" A moment later, Sargent Means was passed out on the floor, fainted from fear, a pool of piss spilling out of his boots.

Tag and Misty came out from under the desk. "Leave it to you to make things worse, Dack."

"HA! I'm tired of hiding, Tag. It's time that Kalt knew he was not the only one." He leaned on the table with both paws. "Don't you agree, Misty?"

Misty slowly nodded.

"Well, then I guess it's unanimous." Tag turned to Misty hoping she could give him some good news. "Misty... Is Kalt still alive?"

"I don't know, Sir. There is a static about him. It's not like he is there or not there. I can't sense him or hear him."

Tag nodded. "Guess that means we need to go find out personally."

"Right." Dack smiled at the idea.

"It's going to be dangerous. Are you up for it, Misty?" Tag was genuinely concerned. "I know you are not military trained in combat."

"Yes, Sir." A pencil flew from the table and embedded itself in the wall. "I'll manage."

"Good. Let's go."

Dack said nothing but quietly applauded Misty's display as Tag and she walked by him. He followed them out the door. There were 2 soldiers guarding the elevator and Tag tried to reason with them.

"You men, get that section at the top over there before it falls on us all." One of the workers yelled at the rest of the crew clearing the debris from the mouth of the tunnel. They moved their work as ordered.

One of the workers called back to the, "Sir, this section seems to be frozen." The worker put his ear near the area. "And it's humming."

The lead worker and the mutt bull dog looked at each other. The mutt yelled first, "Get away from there", but he was too late. The face of the top section of rubble blasted out followed by bolts of electricity. The soldiers below pulled up their weapons, ready to let loose the fire while the crew ran away, far enough they felt a little safe. They were not told what to expect.

On the road above, Davy looked through the sight of his rifle. He had a clear shot on the mutt below.

BANG

The mutt's head shattered and its insides splattered across the face of the tunnel. The other soldiers looked back up the road for where the shot came from. They moved behind their vehicle. That's when another blast of electricity and frost came from inside the tunnel. A bright glow escaped from the inside of the tunnel followed by a loud growl. Kalt stepped through the hole and stood there snarling at the soldiers below him. Another shot rang out from up the road hitting the clean-up van and sparked.

One of the soldiers pulled the trigger on his gun. A blast of fire flew from the barrel towards Kalt, but it was deflected around an invisible bubble of cold no one could see.

"HOW DARE YOU!!!!" With one wave, a blue lightning bold lept from Kalt's paw and struck the gun. The soldier was shocked and the fuel tank he carried under his coat on his back exploded. Shrapnel from the exploding tanks hit the other soldiers in the area. They all fell down. Of the ten that were there, only three seemed to be alive right now. Their guns lying next to them, but they knew not to reach for them.

Kalt walked up to each of them and froze each weapon he found. He looked up the road where the bullet came from. He saw Davy walking cautiously towards him. Davy's weapon was in paw, but not pointed at Kalt.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, DAVY?" A metallic sound was coming from Kalt's voice.

Davy was close enough to be able to see the breath escaping from Kalt as he breathed. "I came to look for you and see if you were alive. They made me turn away." Kalt walked over to Davy. The cold field made Davy shiver and he felt the frost building up on his fur and on his long ears. "Kalt, please, I'm dressed to handle the winter, but you are below freezing." He tried to smile. The cold field disappeared. Davy could feel it immediately. Kalt stood directly in front of Davy and smiled. He collapsed into Davy's arms. It was all Davy could do to keep Kalt from hitting the ground hard, but they both landed with some easy. Davy was sitting and Kalt was passed out on top of him. "Kalt? Kalt, can you hear me?"

Movement made Davy turn his attention back to the soldiers. One of them had managed to relight his weapon and was limping over to them. Davy didn't know him by name, but he recognized him as someone from his squad. "Why are you doing this? What's the point?"

"It doesn't matter what the point is." It was hard for him to speak. He swallowed hard and limped a few more steps. "We follow orders or die trying."

Davy brought up his gun and pulled the trigger. The soldier fell backwards. Kalt jumped awake, his fur gaining a little glow as he flipped over and looked at what was going on around him. Davy patted the dog's head. "It's ok, Kalt. They can't hurt you anymore."

Kalt looked at Davy and smiled. "Thank you, Davy. You've always been a good friend. I'm sorry we didn't work as a couple."

"It's ok, Kalt." His eyes flashed towards the tunnel. "But your friend? Is he..." "He's fine. I told him to stay put until I called for him to come out. Other than freezing to death, he doesn't have anything to worry about. heh heh We'd better get him." Kalt nodded towards the tunnel. "Come on." He stood up and helped Davy up as well.

Davy took a moment to look at Kalt. He had only seen him in training sessions, never in real life action. It was impressive. His standard tank top was gone, but his shorts clung to him tight, just as he liked to wear them. Davy's mind flashed on one of the fun nights he and Kalt had before, full of licking paws, cock sucking, and finally Kalt breeding the rabbit full of his seed. When his thoughts came back to the situation at hand, he saw Kalt hugging on to Apollo who was a bit banged up and bruised, but he looked unharmed otherwise. 'Now that's a lucky husky." Davy sighed to himself. 'I shouldn't have let work get in the way.'

Kalt reached in and down a little. His paw was met with Apollo's. "You ok, hon?"

"Ya, big dog. I'm still ok." He looked out the hole and all around. He saw the bodies of the soldiers on the ground. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine."

"Did you do that?"

"I had to." Kalt looked away from the bodies. "If they had attacked me, I would have been less... well, less. When they endangered you as well, they made the worst choice of their lives." Apollo's ears laid flat against his head as he ran a paw down the big dog's cheek, a look of regret on his muzzle.

Davy interrupted before anything more could be said. "Kalt, I think Agent Tag is in danger as well."

Kalt looked at him. "Then we need to find him."

"They went towards the mezzanine last I saw. There was a general here that seemed to be running everything."

"A general?"

"Ya, an ocelot. I don't remember every seeing him around here."

Kalt growled, his fur glowing slightly. The effect hand no physical manifestation this time, but it caused Apollo to recoil from him. "That would be General Gentry. He's been wanting to shut my division down for a good while. He thinks that I and those like me are all threats to be destroyed."

"My partner back at the gate said his sergeant at his last base knew of this plan. It must have been in the works for a while."

"Knowing Gentry, I believe it." Looking at Davy and Apollo in turn, Kalt snarled into the air. "Let's get going. We need to find him."

Davy followed immediately.

Kalt walked with a stance and a determination that Apollo had never seen. The husky watched his boyfriend, so different, so much changed from less than a few hours ago. The kind and loving german shepherd was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he was two different people inside. It reminded him of some of the times when they role played as Dom/sub and Kalt was the Dominant. There was an edge to him. It always kinda scary for Apollo, but it was fun as well since Apollo had a very submissive side to him.

The bodies that Apollo passed gave him an eerie feeling. It was as if Kalt was capable of such violence and it didn't seem to affect him. For the first time, Apollo felt scared of his big dog. The idea was cool and exciting that he had superpowers and led the life of a secret agent, but seeing it for real made things all too real. Even his submissive side was getting scared. He looked at Kalt's back as he walked ahead of him and wondered, 'what would he do to me if I made him mad enough or to someone that I played with and he became jealous of?' Apollo tried to shake the thoughts and feelings out of his head.

"Hey. You ok?"

Apollo looked up at Davy. "Ya. I guess I am."

Davy walked back and put a paw on the husky's shoulder. "You are not ok. You're wondering about your lover and if he still is the same guy he was before."

The dogs eyes teared up a little and he nodded. They both looked after Kalt who was still walking down the road towards the mezzanine. "Is he always like this?"

"He's been trained to be like this on the job. He does what he has to so we can all be safe. He is a protective person." Davy pulled Apollo into a hug and let the husky break down some. "But I know that he would rather not be this strong. He wants so very much to just be normal and not have to worry about each and every slightest thing he does because it might hurt someone." Davy saw Kalt turn back to see where they were and noticed the concern on Kalt's face. He waved at him and gave him a thumbs up.

Kalt continued down the road a bit more and turned a corner. Within a few second he was out of sight.

"One thing I can say about him is...when you were in danger it brought out something in him I've only guessed was there. He unleashed a bit of himself the always keeps in check so he could protect you. He loves you so much, he risked becoming the monster he has saved the world from many times over the years."

Apollo wiped away some of his tears from his muzzle with a digit on a paw. He looked up at Davy and saw some tears in his eyes as well. He stared for a moment as Davy wiped away his own tears. "You love him. Don't you."

"He's the reason I'm the rank I am. I had to be reduced so that I was no longer working with him anymore. We were never lovers and he never felt about me the way he does about you. And, once they found out that we were both playmates for a while, it became a liability they thought for missions."

"Meeting me must be hard then."

"It is. But my focus is Kalt's happiness and I have never seen him as happy as he is with you."

Apollo looked down at the ground to avoid a little guilt creeping in from Davy's statement. He had what this rabbit wanted and was not able to have. It was a good and bad feeling, both at the same time. "Should we follow him?"

"He'd have had us fall back sooner or later to keep us out of harm's way as much as possible and for me to protect you so we are fine. He usually works alone, but he might need some back-up and I'm a hell of a sniper shot." Davy forced a grin to try to lighten Apollo's mood a bit.

It didn't work.

Apollo slowly walked the same direction that Kalt did and letting Davy take the lead when he passed by.

Kalt hid behind some cars to assess the situation. There was a battalion entering the building from the other direction. The building was on fire in some areas. A few windows blew out as Kalt watched on. He could hear gunfire and saw lots of movement on the first floor. Something big was tossing soldiers around like rag dolls. Whatever it was, the soldiers were backing away from, their bullets seemingly bouncing off. When they exited, it followed.

The large bear picked up the closest soldier by the tail, swinging him around knocking other soldiers out of the way. Kalt grinned. 'Well, Dack. You had been keeping secrets from me I see.'

Kalt saw the shadow sneak behind Dack, but before he could warn him, the shadow flew into the air on seemingly on its own. It flailed around as if it was lost in a tornado. A few moments later, it threw up whatever was in its belly before it came crashing down hard on the ground. The doors exploded from their hinges, the glass shattering all over. The shards of glass did not hit the ground. They floated and spun in the air. Kalt's head tilted as he tried to figure out what was causing this. Then he saw Misty floating out from inside the lobby. Forming a moving bubble around her, the shards flew faster and faster. Anyone getting caught by this bubble would instantly be shredded. 'Hmmm and Dack is not the only one.'

Dack smacked and punched the soldiers that he could get his paws on. He kept himself between them and Tag and Misty as much as possible, using himself as an ursine shield. The bullets that hit him ricocheted off in different directions or fell to the ground.

From behind, a few of the soldiers lit up bright as bolts of lightning struck them. Looking in the direction the bolts came, Dack saw the familiar face of Kalt running up, his paws held in front of him, his eyes and fur glowing bright, and arcs of electrify filling the air. "KALT!!! YOU'RE ALIVE! YOU WANKER! AH HAAAAA" He smiled wide.

Misty looked at the german shepherd as he ran up behind the soldiers and used his bolts to shock them unconscious. The bubble of glass around here faltered as she lost some of here concentration. Inside her head she head Tag's voice tell her to keep her focus until a proper reunion could be made.

Inside the building, Tag himself was elated to see the white dog in action still, but he knew better than to let his thoughts linger on that too much. They were in a battle for their lives and that was first priority. 'Misty, could you bridge a link between Kalt and I?'

'I'm not sure how long I can keep it going, Sir, but I'll try.' Kalt was startled slightly when he heard Tag's voice inside his head. He almost didn't believe it.

'Listen here you no good pup. Somehow most of the base has been made to believe that we are the enemy and they all want us killed. I'm not sure why or how it was done. Right now we have to get ourselves to safety so we can figure this out.'

Kalt drop kicked the last soldier standing.

They all looked around for any other threats. Seeing none, Kalt's fur stopped surging. Immediately, he was picked up by Dack and held tight off the ground. "Dack, you... are... squishing me", Kalt could barely speak or breathe.

Dack let him go. "It's good to see you are unharmed, pup."

"It's good to see you unharmed, too, Dack. Though, I think you were faking doing all of our training sessions."

"Oh no. I can turn it on and off like you can."

Looking back up the road, Kalt saw Davy and Apollo stepping out from behind a building. They must have been watching the whole fight from there. Kalt was happy that Davy was keeping Apollo safe.

The sound of glass hitting the ground near them brought Kalt's attention back to the group. "And you, missy."

Misty gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Not all of us are as open as you are about ourselves, Kalt."

"So I see." Davy walked up and Apollo was right behind them. "Any trouble back there, Davy?"

"None that I saw from the enemy. But..." His eyes flicked towards the husky.

Taking a good look at his husky - ears down, eyes watching Kalt almost uneasily, his muzzle tightly shut, his arms and paws wrapped around himself - "Hey, hon. Are you ok?" He reached out a paw to him.

Not taking the offered paw, he snuggled tight against the bigger white dog. Kalt could feel his husky trembling out of fear and adrenaline withdrawal. He hugged him to comfort him, but he knew that he had to keep some of his attention on their surroundings. "I'm sorry you had to go through all this, husky. It was not my intention when you asked to see my work and I told you everything."

"You told him everything?" Tag sounded gruffer than usual.

"Yes, we talked about that on the phone."

"No. We didn't. I asked you to come in for a mission and that's all."

"Ya, and after that I told you what I had done and you said... uh... you said." Kalt let Apollo go and they looked at each other, eye to eye. "I don't remember. What did you say?"

"Hmmmm. That's interesting." Tag had an idea flowing through his head.

"What's on your mind, Tag?" Dack was really curious.

"That the first thing we need to do is keep conjecture to a minimum until we get ourselves to a safe location." Looking around at the vehicles in the immediate area, "We can't take any of these too far. They are all easily traced. But we can use them to get out of the base."

"Agreed, but what do we do once we are out of here?" Kalt hugged on Apollo again.

Apollo didn't know what to think. Everything being said was a jumble amidst his thoughts and feelings. He was confused and scared beyond anything he had ever experienced before. He grabbed the white fur in front of his muzzle and held it tight in his paw trying to pull himself closer to the big dog he loved. The tears fell out suddenly. He could no longer keep them in.

"Cripes, Kalt. Keep your pup in line."

Kalt growled at Tag, scaring Apollo more. He let Kalt go and pulled away slightly. The growling stopped and he heard a whimper.

"I'm sorry I startled you, husky. Let your big dog hold you and protect you and get you some place safe. You have nothing to fear from me."

Apollo leaned on Kalt again wanting so bad to feel the safety he once had. But something was missing now. Something was very different. This dog he had loved, and still loved, was much more of a devil than he knew before.

"Hold on, I'm going to pick you up and we're going to get in a car."

The young husky couldn't argue. Wrapping his arms around Kalt's neck he allowed himself to be picked up and carried to a car.

Tag opened the driver side door and got in. The other doors unlocked and they others climbed in as well. Once everyone was secured in the car, they drove towards the gate. They found the gate open and they drove through it without stopping or finding any opposition.

Looking out the back window, Kalt was concerned. "Tag? We left there way too easily."

"I was thinking the same thing, pup." Tag was paying attention to the road.

"And, why were we not attacked by more people. That base has near to a thousand troops and we probably only faced about fifty outside."

"We faced about fifty inside the mezzanine ourselves, Tag. That would account for about ten percent of everyone."

"Keep the chatter to a minimum, folks. We need to worry about our survival first. Then we can get down to an investigation."

Thinking about this, Davy looked back as well wondering if the car was being tracked and if it was safe to keep driving in it.

Dack and Misty watched out the windshield as Tag drove towards the city, just a couple miles to go.

Kalt held his husky to him with both arms, his paws rubbing on him to calm him down as much as possible. Apollo started to drift asleep slightly, his adrenaline almost gone. However, it was only a moment's rest...until it all went up in a ball of fire.