Victernus - Chapter 2
When Namara could no longer feel his
body, an immense rush of light and sound filled his mind and then his heart
stopped. But, to his success, he was still conscious. He opened his eyes and
heard guns firing and bullets whizzing past him. Some hit the chairs that
towered over him, and the others flew by. He stood up in a somewhat clumsy
manner and flicked an ear. This is going
to take a little while getting used to...
The guns stopped firing. He knew
that the soldiers would be inside the lab at any moment. Looking down at his...
paws... he saw the same silver wristband that he was wearing earlier and then
tapped it with the side of his paw. The odd ghosting effect appeared around his
body again. Relieved, he stepped out of the stasis chamber and stood on the
cold metallic floor. The smoke was still clearing from the guns, so the
soldiers remained unmoved. He turned to the back door and trotted to it a bit
oddly. It opened when it sensed his presence, and he walked out.
Glancing back when the smoke
cleared, he saw Lynn enter the room and discover Namara's previous - and most
likely shredded - body. Lynn smiled and told the soldiers to dispose of it.
Namara turned away, disgusted, and ran up the stairs to leave the facility. He
flung the door open by pressing up against it with his head, but part of the
way, it collided with an unknown object on the other side. He froze as the door
bounced back a few inches and then opened wide. A guard stared down into the
stairwell. He pointed his gun first, but then lowered it in bewilderment.
Namara was breathless.
The guard dismissed it and grabbed
the doorknob to close it. Namara walked stiffly and silently out, hoping that
the guard would not notice the paw prints in the sand below. He barely made it
out without his tail getting stuck in the door, but he continued walking away
from the building slowly. When he was out of earshot of the guard, he ran
around the building to get to the main road. It was going to be a long trip
from his lab in Connecticut to the sanctuary in Colorado, but the trip would be
worth it.
When Namara reached the road, he sat
down and watched it silently. The breeze still blew softly, ruffling his fur
and the grass around him. Large trees that blocked out the afternoon sun sat on
both sides of the road. Fortunately, it was still early summer. But, he was met
with an overwhelming feeling as he gazed down the road. The mysterious paradox
he was given years ago - the Koanthanatus - was calling again. The weight on
him was a great one. If he could not escape it, then it would be true of him.
He would die before he beat it, and it would die with him, fulfilling its
meaning.
A dark blue truck appeared at the
end of the road, driving slowly towards him from the left - the facility's
side. When it passed him, he ran towards it and then jumped into the bed. He
sat facing backwards, waiting and watching. When they went around a bend in the
road where it was darker, he uncloaked himself. The truck stopped shortly
after. He heard the door open. A middle-aged man who was relatively plump stood
in front of him. He was wearing a brown fedora and some farmer's clothing -
which was probably what he was.
The farmer grasped the top of his
hat and looked back at the road, as if he was unsure how Namara had gotten
there.
Namara smiled with his tongue out
and tail wagging. He watched the man to see what he would do.
The farmer looked back and seemed to
decide something. He walked back around and got in the truck, starting it again
and driving away.
Namara suddenly thought about how he
would talk to anyone. He heard that one of his companions was working on
something, but he wouldn't be getting it any time soon. He looked to the front
of the truck. Perhaps I can write... in
dirt or something... Darn, I didn't think this through completely!
The truck pulled into a long, grassy
driveway. They made their way along the path and stopped in the front yard of
the farmer's house. Namara heard the truck shut off again and then saw the
farmer leaving the vehicle. He came around and opened the door to the bed,
patting his knees, "Come on, boy!"
Namara came forward and jumped out.
The farmer sighed and turned to go inside, beckoning him. A woman who was
wearing blue jeans and a white shirt opened the door for them and asked,
"What've you got there, Hector?"
He shrugged, looking back at the
wolf following him, "He just popped up in my truck on the way home from Granby.
Dunno where 'e came from."
Namara sat down before the front
steps and watched the couple standing next to each other. They seemed to be in
their forties - probably about twice his age - with a few wrinkles on their faces.
Hector waved for him to come in and he obeyed, walking between their legs and
then sitting down in the living room. The room had a couple of sofas and was
connected openly to the dining room and kitchen. The wooden dining table was
right behind one of the sofas and had a set of lights hanging over it.
Hector sat down on the couch and
turned the television on while Judy went to finish preparing their dinner. The
smell of freshly seasoned beans wafted into the living room, beckoning Namara
to the kitchen. He almost went, but the same reporter who he had seen earlier
appeared on the television screen. He pointed his ears forward and listened in
disgust.
"And another update on the raid of
the Transin facility: It seems that the fugitive, former-neuroscientist Namara
Galvarros, was shot and killed while attempting to sabotage his lab. Some
sources say that he escaped and has taken on a different form, but we have yet
to confirm this story. In his place, Doctor Alan Lynn says that he will make
Galvarros' research available to the public and claims that it will allow
immortality for all."
Judy brought the pots of food to the
table and set them down on hot plates. "Turn that off, Hector. I don't want to
hear about how they've disturbed that poor man any longer."
Both Namara and Hector shifted their
attention to Judy. Hector turned the TV off and went to sit at the table,
"Truthfully, I don't know what to believe. All the news stations say that he
hates the public or is some sort of terrorist, but I don't see what he's done wrong
other than be good at what he does... I just wish I could talk to the fellow
myself."
Judy sighed and they both sat down
to pray and eat. Namara came to the sofa
and propped himself up on it, watching them hungrily. After they prayed, seeing
him sparked sympathy within Judy, so she got up and made him a plate of his
own. She set it down on the floor beside her chair.
Namara came around the table and
then stopped at the plate of food. He sniffed it, and Judy asked, "Do you like
rice and beans?"
Well,
I do, but... He tried it cautiously but then proceeded to devour it. Nevermind... The benefits outweigh the risks!
Haha! He wagged his tail.
While he was eating, he overhead
them discussing what was going to happen next.
"What should we do with him? I get
the feeling that he's not a normal dog..."
"If he's a wolf... neither of us have
a permit to keep him here. Besides, he'd probably eat all our chickens."
"Still, it is odd for a wolf to be
around these parts. If we give him to the authorities, they might just
euthanize him."
Namara shuddered and lowered his
ears. The thought of being put down like an animal made him realize how
vulnerable he was and how the Koanthanatus had put him here in the first place.
Judy looked down at him and saw that
he seemed sad. She ran her hand through his fur and reassured him, "It's
alright, we won't do that to you..."
She raised her head to look at
Hector, a strange thought entering her mind. She took a look at Namara again,
and then turned back to her husband. They were silent for a bit too long, and
then Judy burst out, "No...!"
Namara raised himself on the edge of
Judy's chair to see them. Their eyes widened, and Hector asked, "A... are you
him?"
He nodded, and Hector continued,
"Impossible! We need a way to talk..."
Namara let himself back down and
trotted to the door. He looked back at the couple and motioned for them to go
outside with his head.
Hector left his plate unfinished at
the table and followed him. He opened the door so that they could both go outside.
Namara ran out and found a small
patch of moist and grassless dirt to write in. Using his delicate, unused
claws, he scraped various letters into the dirt. Yes, this'll work!
Hector caught up to him and saw
words carved messily into the ground. He spoke them out loud, "Need to go to
Colorado. Take me? We can talk then..." Once again, he grasped the top of his hat
in awe. Lowering himself to Namara's level, he asked, "Wait. Why do you need to
go?"
Namara wiped the dirt away and then
wrote "Friends there" in its place. He raised his eyes back up to meet Hector's
to see if he approved.
Hector sighed. "I see. I just... one more question. All of the
news channels say you are some kind of evil person who's out to get us. Are
you? What is the truth? What are you doing all of this for?"
He shook his head and stepped back a
couple times. Wiping the dirt down again, he wrote, "searching."
"For what?"
Namara shuddered and shook his head
even more, as if it was too overwhelming.
Standing up again, Hector ruffled
the silver fur on Namara's head and smiled. "It's alright. You can tell me
later if you want." He adjusted his hat, "We can leave tomorrow, at sunrise.
How about you come on inside and get some rest? You're gonna need it!"
Namara
nodded again and then followed him back into the house for the night. Settling
down in the living room, he sighed and smiled to himself. People like him are so rare...