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Flea Bitten

Chapter One

By Roofles

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Places and names are just used because. Nothing else.

In an unmarked location in the countryside of Maine.

It was raining that night. A storm rolling in. Thunder flashed; lightning cracked the sky in two as a downpour unlike any other seen in the past decade fell from above. A storm that swept in and blanketed the land in water.

The lightning the only light this dark, dank night as a blackout swept through the state of Maine.

Paws hit the ground.

Heavy, muddy paws pounded the earth as the beast ran through the night. Four legs moving as golden fur flashed between the trees as lightning struck in the distance. Ragged, panting heaving heavy breaths, misted the frosty night air before the muzzle of the beast that ran this forsaken night.

The golden furred wolf didn't dare look behind him as he ran. Ran through the pain in his side. Ran through the trees. Ran as fast as his four legs could take him through the rugged terrain of the forest he had escaped into.

The heavy shackles around his wrists hurt. The broken chains catching as he turned sharply, breaking the tree it had gotten caught on.

A shot rang out. A sound that perked the wolf's ears. The tree he had been standing next to exploded, shrapnel of bark and wood flew through the air. A half-second sooner, that shot would've gone through the back of his skull.

Fear fueled his steps. Driving him ever further. Onwards. Where didn't matter. All he knew was that he needed to escape. The chance given couldn't be taken for granted. He wouldn't be so lucky to have another opportunity.

His legs were growing heavy. Soaked with rain, covered in mud they weighed him down like balls and chains. Each step felt like he was dragging his back two. Exhaustion, hunger, wear, and tear were eating away at his core as Orion, the golden wolf, fled into the night.

Lights flashed behind him. Beams of light sweeping over the rugged terrain Orion was making his escape through. The dense forest, untouched by man provided cover for the wolf as he clawed his way up the rocky hillside with bloody nails that dug into the rocky earth's core, scratching, and digging into out of sheer desperation.

There were shouts from behind him, but Orion didn't dare look back.

Those people were still after him, even now, chasing him into the wilds his animal instincts told him to use. They wouldn't stop. Alive or dead, they wouldn't stop. It didn't matter anymore at this point. They'd search until they had a body to drag back into that horrid, cold place Orion had escaped from.

A place Orion never wanted to see again so long as he lived.

Why? Orion couldn't understand it. Any of it.

The wolf didn't know. He couldn't. The hand that fed him one second, smacked him the next. Shot him. Drugged him. Shaved his fur and pricked his limbs with needles and bled him dry. They stole so much from him. Everything. The one thing they couldn't take was his life.

He would never give them that pleasure.

Distracted as he was, Orion nearly didn't see the cliffside until it was too late.

His paws came to a sudden halt, skidding to the edge overlooking a raging river below. Overflowing from the storm, the rivers waves crashed against the rocky cliff dragging with it anything unlucky enough to fall in. Orion could hear the waters crashing against the rocks below over the sound of his breath and the storm raging above him.

He knew what such a drop would mean, even for one such as him.

The rain brought little solace as he turned to look back at the trees he'd come from. His only other option. Beams of white continued to sweep through the trees, searching. Searching for him. And they were drawing closer, nearer, and with it, Orion felt the panic and fear building up deep inside.

He couldn't go back. He rather die than face that place again as he backed away from those lights, those people.

His foot brushed against the edge. Pebbles fell and he dared to look back. The cliff fell seemingly forever down to the dark, rushing waters below. Orion glanced upwards towards the heavens and, if by some miracle, a light seemed to shine through illuminating the other side of the river.

As if guiding him to salvation.

The other side of the river wasn't too far. Surely, he could make the jump. Leap from this side to freedom. Whatever the risk, he'd take it, if it meant he'd put his pursuers behind him.

Fear weld in his chest, gluing his paws to the ground. A fear that racked at his heart like untamed claws. A vicious, vicelike grip that held him in place with icy talons as his ragged breath continued to mist the air.

The rain continued to fall. He could barely pick up the voices catching up to him. Orion dared to glance back, knowing what it would mean to be found by them and still fearing the alternative. His primal need to survive was a conflict he couldn't fully process in such a tense moment.

To stay possibly meant they'd keep him alive. Drag him back. Chain him up. Muzzle him, bind him, trap him, cage him like some feral animal... but to jump? That, in itself, could mean death.

There were the sound of barking dogs behind him. They were closing in. They had picked up his scent despite the rain. Orion was trapped as he looked back at the approaching shadows between the trees, watching them with glowing golden eyes.

"Orion!"

Someone called out but Orion couldn't hear the words over the storm coming down. He could've sworn he heard his name and that fear built up inside once more.

They only ever used his name with they offered something with one hand, before taking with the other.

His ears splayed out; body sunk in as the pain weld up inside. Recalling everything they had done to him. Kindness was only so sweet until it grew bitter. Asking more and more of the wolf that he wasn't sure he could give anything else.

Orion had only ever been a fool for trusting them. Hoping, praying, that maybe the next time they asked for something it wouldn't be for so much.

The ground erupted next to his foot as a shot was fired making the wolf yelp, stumbling to the side and nearly falling over the cliff.

His legs were sore, cut up and tired. Orion's entire body was exhausted. Whatever they had shot into him was doing its job and even his metabolism couldn't fight the numbing agent coursing through his system. It was a strain just to keep his eyes open.

He was so tired. All he wanted to do was sleep. To forget and dream of open fields and the endless hunt.

Another shot blew a chunk out of the tree close to his head, snapping him back to consciousness. Adrenaline pumped through his system as Orion turned towards the cliffside and ran. He could taste the rainwater as his heavy paws thundered over the earth.

"Stop him!" The words were drowned out as Orion braced himself at the edge of the cliff. And jumped.

The golden furred wolf leapt through the open air. Rain poured all around him as Orion stretched out his front legs, hoping to grab hold of the other side as thunder boomed and lightning flashed, illuminating this dark, dank night.

Then another shot fired.

A crack of one of their metal sticks and Orion's side was the thing to cave in. To explode in a shower of blood as his golden eyes widened and his body lurched to the side from the impact of the hot lead tore through his body.

He yelped, his voice getting lost in the rain as he plummeted towards the roaring rapids below.

Orion couldn't keep his eyes open as he stared up towards the cliffside. At the humans looking over the side. Dressed in fully body suits of metal and steel and others dressed in a dull gray rubber, dark helmets hiding their faces within. Hunters, scientists, and the man in white, stared down at him as the dark clouds continued to weep above. Weep as the waters crashed around him and Orion sunk below its surface.

Its cold wrapped around him, held him, hugging his body as it swept him away underneath its dark surface. Rocks hit his side. He smashed into a broken tree. But it was the cliff side he bounced off of that finally brought him to the blissfully bleak darkness he sunk into as Orion passed out, forgetting about it all as mother nature stole him away from those hunting him this night.

Two of the hunters were looking over the edge, snipers at the ready as they searched for any sign of gold.

"Was it silver tipped?" The man in the white lab coat just asked, glancing at one of the security officials that had hunted the rogue specimen that had managed to escape.

"Yes, sir!" The guard saluted, standing at the ready in black padded body armor. Several claw marks raked the front of it, showing where it had tried to put up a fight against them.

"Pity." The man in white just turned back towards the forest, motioning for the buggy he'd come in to come over to pick him up. "He was an excellent subject..."

"The body, sir?" The guard followed in his footsteps, glancing back.

"You're the deadeye, here, Grayson. Not I." The man in white just said, getting into the vehicle. "There's no chance he'd survive after taking such a shot like that to the heart. Locate the body and dispose of it along with the others." And with that, the buggy took off back through the trees as the guard just saluted behind.

Grayson hesitated as he moved back towards the edge, looking down as if expecting to see a body floating there. His shot had been true. The bullet tipped with silver. It was a sure thing. Yet, as he motioned for the others to comb the riverside, he couldn't help but feel doubt. Grayson couldn't get rid of the nagging suspicion that he should make sure to find the body.

To make sure he hadn't missed the mark. At the very last breath, the subject had twisted its body throwing off his aim on the creatures heart as if knowing what he'd been aiming for. Instinct? Something else?

It bothered Grayson more than he was ever willing to openly admit.

Either way, he was sure they were dead... or hoped.

They'd wash up butt naked somewhere, back in human form. The news would write it off as an accidental death during the storm if they didn't find them. Grayson knew the company would make sure to bury everything else related to the case. If they even found the body. The Penobscot River led all the way to the bay. It would take far too much manpower to comb the entire thing. It would draw to much attention from the locals and Grayson knew that was the last thing they wanted.

There were others that had escaped during the freak blackout, and it was his responsibility to track each one of them down. In order to make sure the infection doesn't spread to the civilian populace.

"Sir?" One of the other guards asked, still holding the tranquilizer rifle he used to tag the creature with at the start. If the tranq didn't work, then they'd resort to more lethal rounds.

"We're returning." Grayson just shook his head, barely able to see in this storm. He wasn't about to risk his men this night despite what the "good doctor" had to say about it.

Out there, like this. They could be picked off one by one and he wasn't going to lose anyone else. They'd have to wait until morning and hope to hear something on the local news if nothing else before recovering the body.

With a salute, the other guard radioed it in, and the security detail began packing up. Grayson brushed a hand over one of the massive paw prints left in the mud, mulling his worries over before spitting them out. His hand looked so small in the indentation left behind, filling up with muddy rainwater.

Humanity was so small, fragile and helpless before these things. He couldn't afford to let even a single one of them live.

He could only pray to whatever gods there were, that the thing was dead.

"If one of those things got into a populace..." He feared for the worse as he turned towards the ride that drove up to get him. Without looking back, Chief Security Officer, Andy Grayson, headed back.

Without ever knowing just how much things would change without confirming the kill...