Chapter 22

Story by RSM on SoFurry

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Red held his knife tightly as the wolves came closer, forcing him back towards the elevator, "B-Back off!" Red shouted, trying to scare them off. One of the wolves growled at him and came closer than the other wolves.

Red fell backwards. The wolf growled and pounced onto him. Red held the wolf back and pushed it off. He panted and pushed himself back, "NO!" He shouted.

He held the knife in front of his head as another wolf pounced on him. The knife impaled the wolf's eye. Red watched the wolf's body fall limp beside him. He pulled the knife out of the wolf and started walking forward.

"I'm not dying today..." He muttered to himself. As he came closer, the wolves stepped back. He held the bloodied knife tightly as the wolves backed off a little. Red took his chance and began running away from them.

The wolves growled and ran after him. Red panted and ran as fast as he could, almost tripping over a fallen wooden beam, "CRAP!" Red cursed. He turned back and looked up at the ceiling. It didn't look sturdy and it looked like it could collapse at any minute.

He cut the beam above him and dove out of the way as the roof gave way. The ceiling collapsed and tons of rocks began to fall. Red frowned as he heard the sound of bodies being crushed and the whimpers of the wolves. He looked up and noticed the beams leading towards him started collapsing.

"Oh, shit!" He started running the other way. Red clenched his fists and looked for the nearest way out of the narrow mine-shaft. After a few seconds, a flicker of light came into view. Red glanced at it and dove out of the way.

He looked back and noticed that the rocks had blocked his way back out. The bear grunted and winced as he pulled himself off the ground. He looked ahead of him and noticed that the flicker of light had vanished. He growled to himself and started walking forward, into the darkness.

He really wished he still had his lighter on him. Red whimpered and proceeded further into the darkness, not knowing what was ahead of him. He winced as he stood on something sharp. He stepped back and rubbed his foot.

He stepped back from the darkness and looked around for something to light a fire. He grinned as he noticed a lighter atop of a nearby table. He approached the table and snatched the lighter.

"Oh thank god!" His eyes came into contact with an old lantern. He picked it up off the ground and placed it on the table. He opened the lantern and flicked the lighter. The bear bit his lip and it the lantern with the flame.

He breathed a sigh of relief. The bear trudged back into the darkness, with the little light that he had. He lowered the lantern towards the ground and made sure that he stood clear of anything sharp.

He eventually ran into something. He grunted and raised the lantern to his face. He screamed and fell backwards, landing on some glass, as the lantern lit up a human skull, that'd been fused with the wall.

"Woah, woah, woah...!" Red exclaimed. He got off the ground, wincing as he felt some glass pierce his shoulder. He dusted himself off the pulled some glass shards out of his shoulder.

"Holy crap..." He muttered and raised the lantern up to the skull again, "Poor guy..." He muttered. Red paused as he heard footsteps approaching slowly. He gasped and blew out the light from his lantern.

Red held his breath and hid behind a nearby wooden beam, "Don't move don't move..." He whispered to himself. A figure dressed in what seemed to be mining clothes walked into the room.

"Dark in here..." He muttered to himself and lit a match. He walked over to a nearby wall and set something alight. Red bit his lip and shuffled away a little.

The room was lit up in a matter of seconds. Red slipped away from the wooden beam and ran off. He picked up speed and began sprinting down a dark tunnel, without any light to guide him.

He turned around and panted, "Crap..." He opened the lantern and lit it again. He walked through the shaft, being careful about where he was going and paying attention to any sounds that could result in Red being in danger.

Not before long, he ran into somebody. Red got back off the ground and raised the lantern to the person's face. It was another male dressed in a mining suit.

"What the...?" Red's eyes widened.

The miner raised a blunt object and tried to smash Red across the head with it. Red growled and kicked the miner in the chest, winding him. The miner coughed and fell to the ground.

Red looked behind him and saw the other miner from earlier, "BACK OFF!" Red exclaimed, holding the knife up.

"Get him...!" One of the miners exclaimed. Red turned around and ran as fast as he could, while dodging a few objects that the miners that were pursuing him were throwing at him.

Red looked over to his right and noticed the elevator from earlier. He noticed a wire leading from the top of it, to the surface. Red looked back and noticed the miners coming closer.

He made a beeline for the elevator. He jumped off the ledge and onto the top of it. Red's eyes burnt a little as he looked up at the surface. He rubbed his eyes and started climbing the wire.

The two miners growled and started throwing whatever they could find at Red. Red climbed faster, dodging most of the obstacles. A rock hit him square in the face, almost knocking him off.

He growled at them and climbed up faster, "God-damn it!" He cursed. One of the miners jumped off the ledge, to where the elevator had stopped for Red earlier.

He pulled a lever and the elevator began to move down. Red cursed to himself and started climbing as fast as he could. He felt like he wasn't going anywhere, but he was moving a little bit.

As soon as he got the top, he jumped for the ledge leading to the surface. His claws grasped the top, but he nearly slipped, due to the snow. The miners cursed and screamed at Red as he pulled himself to the surface. Red whimpered and panted as he pulled his whole body out.

He looked back down through the hole. He looked around and noticed that he was in the middle of nowhere. He whimpered and started trudging through the winter forest. He looked up and noticed that the sun was nearly setting.

Red holstered his knife and started running for the forest. He winced and whimpered as a surge of pain went through his shoulder.

Red's eyes widened when he noticed a road in front of him. He made a beeline for the road and tripped just before he got there. He laid down in the snow, unmoving. He heard a car stop beside him.

Red looked up and noticed a woman get out of the car and kneel beside him, "Sir!? Sir!? Are you alright!?" She exclaimed.

"Help..." Red whimpered. The woman helped Red up and put him in the car. They turned around and started driving away from the forest. Red felt his vision become heavy. He closed his eyes slowly and eventually passed out.

His eyes shot open quickly, as if only a few seconds had passed. He looked around and noticed that he was in a hospital. He whimpered and tried to sit up, but a strong pair of paws held him down.

"Calm down, little brother..." Red heard a familiar voice.

Red smiled, "Thanks, douche-bag."

"I'm so glad you're alright..." Freddy hugged him tightly.

"You better be," Red winced, "I saved your ass..."

"What the hell happened?" Freddy asked, "How'd you survive the fall?"

He coughed, "Aiden broke my fall...he got the worst of it."

"The police said they found a knife wound in Aiden's head..." Freddy said, "Aiden survived the fall too...?"

"Yea," Red responded, "He...he woke up after me. He tried to tell me that he was sorry but..I just needed to finish him off."

"That's crazy..." Freddy muttered, "What happened after that?"

"I stumbled through the forest for a while...I ended up finding this mine-shaft. Before I could turn back, the damn shaft collapsed, blocking my way out..." Red explained.

"I ended up eating a few dead wolves to survive..." Red continued, "After a long time of wandering around in the mines, I found this elevator...it stopped near the surface. I got attacked by these wolves, the mine started collapsing..."

"And?" Freddy asked, interested by Red's story.

"I came into contact with these...weird people, dressed in mining suits," Red rubbed his eyes, "I managed to climb to the surface and I found a road eventually."

"Wow..." Freddy muttered.

"Yep," Red nodded, "How long till I can leave?" He glanced at him.

"As soon as he deems you well again..." Freddy said.

"How are the others...?" Red asked, his eyes widening, "Are they alright?"

"They're all alright..." Freddy smiled, "Clyde was injured, but he's alright now."

"Am I gonna get arrested...?" Red asked.

"Nope." Freddy grinned.

"Why not...?" Red glanced at Freddy.

"Never you mind, that," Freddy responded, "Get some rest, I'll be back to check on you in a few hours."

Red nodded and watched his brother walk out. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes. After all he'd done to his big brother, Freddy still loved him.

"Thanks, brother..." Red muttered.

THE END