Forest Dwellers Ch. 10
#10 of Forest Dwellers
"...What the FUCK!?" The wolf howled out as he exited their van.
"What...just happened...? Why...who would do this?" Bon-Bon cried as she looked on in horror at the site that was before them.
All the others were silent. They just stared on in awe at what had happened. The entire apartment complex they stayed at, was in burning shambles. The upper floor, where they stayed at was simply blown way, as well as the many floors below. This was no accident. Not when everything around them was destroyed. Debris and piles of flaming buildings were strewn about everywhere. They were quite sure that the buildings were occupied too, seeing as it was a Saturday afternoon. The number of casualties, though, had to be phenomenal.
"Those fucking bastards...I know exactly who did this...they're gonna pay!" Rally growled out as she ran to the back of the van, flipping her cell phone open and starting to talk on it, heavily angry.
Maverick, however, was just lost and confused. He had no idea that coming into this family meant getting all of this. He thought everything was fine and sweet. That now that he had a family, the fun times were about to begin. Little did he know, he couldn't be further from the truth. He backed against the black van, panting a bit, afraid at what was going on; at least, the little that he did know. His heart was racing and his eyes darted about, wondering what to do now, what comes next. He was homeless yet again.
"Get in the car...NOW!" Lana demanded with a rather authoritative voice he was definitely not used to hearing from her. The wolfess grabbed Maverick's arm and nearly threw him in the back seat. "Stay down...do not peak your head up for even a millisecond! This shit just got REALLY serious!" She growled out. The group themselves all stayed around the car now. Mika and Lobo stood at the hood, Bon-Bon took her post on the right side of the car, Lana at the left, and Rally standing against the trunk with Kaleigh.
_ "What the hell is going on here? They all seem like...they know something, yet, they're keeping me totally in the dark..."_ The fox grumbled to himself. This was scary, yes, but more than that, it was confusing. None of this made sense to him at all. He wanted to at least get up to ask a question, but the moment the blue tip of his ear appeared...
"Get down Mav! Don't let us have to keep telling you!" Bon-Bon shouted. The fact she was serious, scared Maverick far beyond anything else. The male actually let out a whimper, before ducking down below the seats in the van.
It was unknown how long he was down there either. All this chaos, all this fear, and all these feelings running through him at once made a single second feel like an eternity, and at the same time, every minute felt like it passed in seconds. Once he had gotten settled down though, he heard all the doors opening at once, and the furs piled in. Maverick quickly scurried to the back, sitting against the seat and allowing Bon-Bon to sit beside him, and the others took their seats as well.
"They're after us now..." Mika spoke softly. Her own voice maintained that same sweetness, although at this point, it expressed dire seriousness. "The fact they destroyed our home means a few things guys..." She sighed as she started to debrief them on the situation. Lobo turned on the engine and started on his way down the road. "...It means that first off, they know we have Project Berserk with us...which is bad. I was hoping that he'd stay under the radar for much longer, but they seem to have him tagged, which mean for a while...we're in a really, really bad position. Second off, the fact they took out these buildings means they're as serious as cancer. They're not above killing hundreds of innocent people to get back what they want...which again, means we have to be EXTRA careful in how we move from now on...got it guys?" After she spoke, there was a unified nod in the vehicle, all, except Maverick.
"Wait...what are you all talking about!?" He shouted. He was scared, and half the terminology that was used made no sense to him whatsoever. Nothing was. He wanted answers, and if he was part of the family, he felt that no matter what, he was entitled to them as of now.
"You'll figure it out when we get there. They'll debrief you on everything. For now, all you need to know is that your life is in danger now, and you're going to need to get yourself prepared for anything as of now." Lobo sighed, realizing that this was one nasty situation they've gotten themselves into as of now.
"This, however, is entirely our faults." Bon-Bon explained. "We let our guard down. I thought that we shook them off and we could finally live in peace, and boy, were we wrong." She sighed. "And worst off is that because of us, Maverick is in danger. We messed up bad." The teenager explained. "We've gotta stock up hard...and most likely...we're going to have to take the fight to them. I have a feeling that this is definitely only the beginning, and things are about to go from bad, to worse..."
The rest of the trip was quiet. Everyone kept to their own devices as they drove to wherever they were going. Bon-Bon was fiddling with something that looked like a PDA, Rally was cleaning out, and putting together her own handgun, which to Maverick's surprise, was even in the car. Lana was cracking her knuckles as though she was about to really, really hurt someone. Mika sighed out and opened up the glove compartment as she pulled out a small set of kunai knives. They were very thin, and black, perfect for steal and night time attacks. Lobo just kept his eyes on the road.
_ "'Them'...who is this, 'them' they speak of. And a base? What the hell are these guys? They certainly aren't normal furs under any definition of the word."_ Maverick wrapped these questions around his brain the best he could. And at this point, seeing as they were getting ready to do whatever they were going to do, it wasn't wise or advisable to talk to them either. So for hours, they all sat in silence.
Finally, though, they approached a large building and headed inside. On the outside, it had the appearance to just be a run-down warehouse, but going inside, they immediately noticed a few furs standing right before them. A dragon and a hedgehog.
The dragon was rather tall. She towered over them all at 8 feet. She had red scales and a bit of a gold on her front, and a scar over her left eye. The wings were properly folded back as well to make her seem as least intimidating as possible. Her arms were crossed and she had a slightly light look to her face, but at this point, after receiving the information that was given earlier, her expression was rather saddened, than peppy. Her body was rather slender and she looked like she had to be in her mid-20's
The hedgehog, however, was the total opposite. He had to be in his 40's. He looked like a war veteran as well. There were easily noticeable scars everywhere on his rugged body. A few spikes on his back were missing, and he had a patch over his right eye. His brown fur, though, at least looked like he maintained that. His clothing was strictly a black, sleeveless shirt, and loose camouflage pants. His chest, which was easily noticed by everyone, was quite buff, as was the rest of him.
"I heard you guys got the shit end of Delvtek's military. Good job." The hedgehog grinned at them.
"I really don't feel like dealing with your smartass shit today, got that Noland?!" Lobo stepped up to him, squaring off, chest to chest, muscle to muscle.
"Stand down both of you, we don't have time for this." Mika interjected. "Kiera, prep the De-tracker, looks like they've got their eyes on this guy here." She pointed to Maverick. "Our little lost boy, Project Berserker...has been found." The squirrel said. Upon that, the two that greeted them gasped in shock, as though they were just presented with the largest diamond they had ever seen in their lives.
"Please, this way sir..." The dragoness said as she put a large claw on Maverick's back. So she, and the fox both walked over to a wall, and she tapped a few buttons on a security panel, as the wall opened, revealing an elevator, and the two went in and disappeared down it. Kaleigh and Maverick gave each other one short glance, connecting eyes, just before the doors shut.
"Don't worry, he'll be fine..." Bon-Bon explained. "I'm pretty sure he'll keep his wits about him when she tells him what's going on. She has a knack for explaining things."
"I hope so..." The black vixen sighed, seeing her new friend have to separate so soon.