“Huh—oh God!! No! Noooo!"
I jolted awake.
“Mom?!" Jumping onto my room's wooden floor, I could barely see through the foggy dark. “H-Hold tight! I'm coming!"
Darkness engulfed the house. It had to be past midnight, not long before I came back from my part-time job at the superstore. I peered around the corner of my bedroom and down the hall. I stepped forward as my tail trembled between my legs. Something felt wrong, very wrong.
Suddenly I could hear more pained moans. Growling, my footpaws ran across the hall and threw my parent's door open. Claws out and teeth bare, I expected to find a tall figure with a knife, or a burglar who came in the wrong room. In that moment, I wished I was right. By the bed, it seemed like a fur—maybe a wolf or tiger—until its hulking gram grew larger.
“You bastard!" I barked, only for my rage to quaver, “What-Who…the…hell…?"
I didn't know how to describe it. The…thing towered over my medium build, a colossal, black silhouette with tendril-smeared claws and metallic fur. It had bare skin patches along its bloodied chest, almost like it were burnt. The strangest thing though was that I could see through it, like it was a black, oily mist. However, I could never forget those red eyes, those eyes redder than my mom's mangled corpse on the bed.
So much blood. So much blood.
The creature snarled, and its black tongue hissed out a deep growl towards my presence. I could feel my legs tremble at the demonic force before me. From instinctual terror, I desperately ran down the stairs, hearing the tapping of claws on the wooden stairs. I didn't even glance back to the other rooms and see the other dark shadows over my dad and Ethan's shredded bodies.
Beside their tan coyote furs, I couldn't recognize them anymore.
“Dad!" I wanted to cry out, “Ethan! Run!"
Fleeing through the front door, I didn't bother grabbing winter gear and darted past the front yard. I almost tripped on my younger brother's tricycle, yet quickly regained my footing through the frozen snow. Wind howled in my tear-stained eyes while I tried searching. Aside from the moon being behind the clouds, there were no lights to be seen through the light February snowfall. No candles, no cars, no nothing. Even the street lights were out, and I almost turned to stone as screams, gunfire and demonic cries echoed around.
All of a sudden, one of the creatures from the neighbor's lawn appeared and slashed my arm. Screaming and shivering at the pain, I dodged the next lunge
“Go away! Somebody help!" I staggered.
In the blink of an eye, a large canvas truck emerged from down the street, and several uniformed furs jumped out. Some shouted orders while most fired with blazing guns and furious intent. To my amazement, a couple of soldiers fired flare guns towards the creatures, and I strained watching the monster before me screech and die.
“Come on, come on!" a deep-voiced wolf shouted to me over the gunfire and dying shrieks. He grabbed my paw and pulled me towards the convoy. “Hurry, in here! We're military, kid! You're safe."
Had it really been thirty years since then? Damn. I'm old.
Gasping myself awake, I rose from the bed and groaned at the mere memory from long ago. “Ugh," I sighed tiredly, “just…just a dream."
I stretched my knees onto the cold floor, then grabbed a pill bottle on the table before downing one in the bathroom. My world was on fire, or my heart at least. It helped that the black market managed to find some out there and think the pills were worth something.
My chest heaved from the medication. Belching out a deep yawn, I looked at myself in the mirror. I had saggy eyes among my graying fur, and the same green eyes that stared back at me every day. My headfur became pale as well, almost to the point of my tan fur being nearly the color of ash. Part of me always wondered why I still had a strong build and high metabolism at this ripe old age.
Maybe it's rotten luck? I mused, chuckling dryly as I looked out the barred bedroom window. Another day, damn.
I could see my breath shape as I walked down the hallway from the two bedrooms, into the adjoining kitchen and living room. It was only about five in the morning, giving me an extra hour of breakfast and listening to radio update.
“The temperature for today will be a mild 27 degrees Fahrenheit and a wind chill of seven degrees Celsius. All furs are instructed to keep warm heading to their work shifts. Otherwise, stay indoors and wait until further notice from the Chicago Council or the Chicago Divisions. In other news for today, the Council has decided to shorten ration station hours to 10 am to 3 pm on weekdays, excluding personnel working in Outpost O'Hare. Please wait until further notice, and remember to conserve power."
I drowned out the noise to continue staring at my coffee cup and hardened bread. The hot drink in my paw tasted well for stale rations, but it didn't soothe how tired I was. The sirens from last night still rung through my ears, and I could still hear my son's whimpering a room away.
A pair of footsteps echoed through the quiet apartment. “Morning Dad…"
Perking my ears up, I found a young coyote in a grey hospital uniform and long blue jeans underneath a blander coat. Though hard to believe from how thin he was, the boy turned eighteen a few months prior. He also held traces of wolf lineage from his mother with a wider muzzle and bushier tail, but otherwise carried the genes of coyote. In fact, he even sometimes looked like his late uncle as a cub.
A grin formed on my muzzle. “Didn't sleep well either, Ethan?"
He also had his mother's oceanic eyes, and they looked deadbeat tired.
“After last night's raid?" he asked across the kitchen table. “Nope." Sitting down, he talked with a pawful of bread. “So tired—for a split second—I was sure the candles went out earlier. Scared the shit outta me when Shade escorted me back here."
“Language," I murmured, intentionally ignoring the mention of that name.
Like almost everyone in Chicago, Ethan was afraid of the dark, and rarely liked it whenever a horde of Shadows tried breaking through the city's walls.
“You worry too much, boy," I spoke earnestly, placing a cup of the bland coffee beside him. “It's highly unlikely that we'll be having another raid soon, probably."
Ethan flicked his tail at my legs and smirked.
“Consider yourself lucky, Colonel Traven," he clutched the cup, “that you happened to be off-duty last night," he took a quick sip, “and didn't have to help with bandaging and helping wounded soldiers."
I groaned with crestfallen ears. “Again? How many were killed?"
My son was a nurse at one of the working hospitals near downtown, spending every moment working hard to be like his mother. I'd seen him prove his worth many times as a medic, but Ethan tried saving everyone he could. He overworked himself.
“Five soldiers, maybe eight or nine. About thirty-six men and women wounded, including, let's see…four civilians." he muttered while yawning loudly like a feral creature under the moon. “I should get back there after last night. I need to see if Doctor Henderson needs more help…"
Ethan tried reaching for his coat, but I took a hold of his arm. I stood a whole foot taller, which required lowering my muzzle down to see Ethan.
“Oh no you don't, miracle worker!" Ethan's ears partly folded down, and I let him go. “I want you to have breakfast, then go to bed and sleep like the dead."
“Perfect word choice, Dad," my son replied deadpan. I looked at his paws and feet and they were trembling, not out of fear, but anticipation, like a racer before 'go' is shouted. “Now if you'll excuse me, I—"
“No." I grabbed his coat and flung it on the coat rack. “From a commanding officer to a civilian, I'm ordering you to eat breakfast and have a good day's sleep. Just because you're damn good with stitching doesn't mean I'll allow you to work yourself like this." I frowned at him, a part of me admiring his resolve. Almost. “Do it. Now."
Ethan backed himself away and sighed. “Fine…" he replied. His tail curling behind him, the young hybrid sat back down and started rummaging for other rations in the refrigerator.
Grabbing my own coat and set of keys to the apartment, I glanced back to Ethan.
“I love you," I added, “and I'm incredibly proud of you. For now…rest yourself."
“Yeah, yeah," he muttered, grabbing our last milk gallon from the fridge, “I know. Be safe, Dad, and…tell Shade to be careful."
“Don't remind me," I replied before closing the door.
The lobby used to be a beautiful façade for the once grand hotel that existed in the past. Now a militarized checkpoint for going outside, ll the windows were metal-plated to protect from Shadows, and the entrance furnished with a two-inch metal door. Along with me, a few dozen other furs gathered at the entrance to wait. By the time they opened, everyone flooded into the street outside, basking in the cold and warmth of the sunlight. And despite it being cloudy and the skies full of wind, the sun shone several hours' worth of sunlight for us.
Gorgeous sunlight, I thought, smiling across my broad muzzle. Morning to me.
Chicago slowly came to life, with people trudging through the snow and shoveling from building entrances. Citizens as old as me either trekked to their jobs or huddled inside, as younger furs hurried to the settlement's mandatory schools.
God, had it really been that long ago since the Ten-Year Birth Ban? That long since Lilith and I were given permission to have Ethan?
I trudged through the snow and made my way to a district of the city once called the 'Loop'. Passing through the Navy Pier and degrading Ferris wheel in sight, a part of me could even make out Willis Tower (now revamped as a watch tower/HQ for the Chicago City Settlement). Beyond the tall buildings, I couldn't still make out the windmills in the Park Gardens, but some of the collective rooftop farms stood visible through the white fog above.
A loudspeaker broke through the howling wind. “Reminder to all citizens that any suspicious activity, including suspected Silhouette worship, are to be reported immediately to any nearby Divisions soldiers."
Civilians and soldiers on-duty passed by me through the urban ruins, the freezing air littered with decomposing trash and distinct musks. My thoughts turned to Ethan, hoping he was sleeping like I ordered him to. By then I'd arrived at the Loop and nodded a sergeant or two as they barked orders to cadets in line.
The locker room was already hectic with the chatter of last night's raid. As I made polite talk with members of different squadrons, a voice came to my right.
“Colonel Colin Traven of the 21st?" it came from a dark-furred wolf named Sergeant Markus Jameson from the N. Kennedy Wall Patrol. We exchanged salutes, despite me still being in civilian attire. “Morning, sir."
“As you were," I nodded. “I take it something happened?"
The wolf's tail wagged but Jameson maintained his composure. “Command requests you and your team to head over to Outpost O'Hare and rendezvous with the 39th Squadron for an emergency joint mission."
“Really?" I couldn't hide my surprise, since we only often used planes and Ospreys for either important reconnaissance or flights to other settlements. Never for a joint mission. “Will my squadron need any special equipment?"
“No, sir," the Sergeant answered, “You'll need your standard equipment, but expect to use an Osprey flight. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you have an hour to prepare until your flight, sir."
“Thank you, Sergeant," I replied before turning to my still-sleepy comrades almost dressed. “Alright, boys and girls, suit up! You heard the Sergeant: we have a job to do!"
Like Seal Team Six of my time, the 21st Squadron was no petty fraternity. After everything went to Hell, we became legendary across the Midwestern region for being one of the few teams defending Chicago from outsiders. I remember starting off as a meek Private when we began protecting the workers building the walls. I maintained the turrets and spotlights, and even patrolled of both Outposts several years before I became colonel.
Defeat is a theory, but victory is a fact, happened to be our motto.
Me and my team suited up and grabbed the latest truck convoy from Checkpoint Goose to O'Hare's equally-fortified walls. The squad comprised of six furs, including myself. My second-in-command was First Lieutenant Leah Baker, a thirty-something lynx born and raised in the Iron Fortress (aka Manhattan). Though I could always count on her loyalty and equal passion for killing Shadows, I often wondered about life growing up in the Big Apple.
Next came a Warrant Officer with foxish traits everyone called 'Ghost'. Not because of his silent attitude or work in the medical field, but because of his white fur and tail. Then there were the cougar twins, Weapons Specialist Lukan and Corporal Lukan—one named Jacob and the other Jason. Jacob worked well with light weapons and explosives while Jason was great in surveillance. Both surpassed hypothetical tests in a Light Suit, though they loved listening to their own voices too much. Lastly, the 21st Squadron got a new guy, a twenty-something tiger named Private Darren Vale.
We arrived in only twenty-eight minutes, then escorted to a furnished Osprey with the rest of my team. Inside sat another team of Divisions soldiers, with one in particular that made my fur stand on end.
You.
I lightly growled sitting beside him, a tall, stocky lion with a medium build, mindlessly talking to another feline across from him. He held black fur with white dots around his neck, and blue eyes that locked with mine. And when they locked, the eyes went from calm to shock.
“Oh shit…" Shade nervously laughed, then cleared his throat before saluting me, “Good morning, Colonel Traven, sir."
If he weren't an ex-criminal, I'd tolerate Shade Lockwood. When Ethan told me years ago that he was attracted to his own gender, I wasn't one to judge. He was all I got ever since Lilith died, and he meant more to me than anything in the whole world.
However, when he told me that he was dating a certain black lion five years older than him, well…let's just say I didn't exactly approve. After all, Shade used to be a thief in his teens and served jail for stealing rations and injuring several soldiers, which somehow earned him a choice between banishment or enrollment.
“You? How can I be working with you—" I held a paw up. “Never mind. We'll talk later." My tail twitched as the Osprey hovered off the ground, and I glanced at the lion with a small whisper, “And we'll see if you can be with my son."
I kept my eyes out a nearby window as we flew down south, making me wonder what our mission was about. It had to be urgent for them to have us bring the lion along.
“Mfh…" Lockwood gripped the seating while keeping his head to the floor. Glancing back at him, the tense lion nervously chuckled. “Um…sorry, Colonel. N-Never rode in one of these before."
“Bet you haven't," I retorted matter-of-factly. A couple of his teammates laughed, and a few muttered 'welcome to the club'.
Shade, in response, ignored how much I didn't want to speak with the man sleeping with my son. “Yeah…so, what do you think this mission's about?"
On cue, two TV screens on opposite sides of the Osprey lit up. Commander Proctor—an aging grey wolf several years my elder—appeared onscreen.
“Attention soldiers," he spoke, “As you already know, the Shadows have become more aggressive in the past month. Just last year we've survived 184 raids and have lost casualties in the hundreds." He sighed. “And to add it all off, I've got some bad news. It's not public yet, but…well…St. Louis was attacked last night." He sighed in deep contemplation, and looked back up to us. “We lost it."
My eyes widened and my tail tensed, along with everyone else in the Osprey.
“My God…St. Louis?" Even though I knew it wasn't likely, a lingering sliver of me hoped that Proctor had finally gone senile after all these years. “Dammit."
“St. Louis…"
“…is gone?" Jason finished for Jacob.
“It…It can't be…" Vale muttered to Baker, “We…we lost St. Louis? I-I thought they had everything under control there?"
“They didn't, Private," the lynx replied. “Now all three of you shut up and listen."
“—hasn't been since Los Angeles seven years ago we lost a secured city before. However, let's mourn for the dead later. We have survivors and refugees to help get to us, but we don't have much time. Our last transmission from St. Louis was this several hours ago.
Next came audio comprised of screams and gunfire. “This is HQ! St. Louis is being overrun with Shadows! T-T-They came outta nowhere! I repeat: St Louis has fallen! If you can hear me Chicago, the evacuation planes are flying over to you in ETA. I repeat: evacuations have—" Everything became silent.
Incolae nocturnum, I seethed at their scientific word.
They were the documented creatures the city settlements and every other poor schmuck living in No Man's Land fought every day. The Australians (before their settlements fell and it became an abandoned, Shadow-infested continent with Antarctica) and the European Confederation called them 'stalkers'. The African Alliance referred to them as 'shetani', while the Chinese in the Asia called them 'demons'. The pockets of settlements in Baghdad have switched between 'djinn' or 'monsters', and so does South America regarding the latter term. Everyone in the North American Coalition called them 'Shadows'.
No one knew where they came from, or how we had managed this long against them for nearly thirty years. However, everyone knew incolae nocturnum as the perfect killing machines. They moved and lived like misty beings in the dark, like demons recruited to be predator to furkind.
We learned quickly that any form of intense light would not only open them up to bullets but turn them into dust too. We secured our cities into giant lighthouses, only turning on the lights when it was nighttime, and guarding our walls with turrets and spotlights brighter than the sun.
Commander Proctor told us that out of the seven evac planes to make it out of St. Louis, only one crashed in No Man's Land 109 miles south of Chicago. Our objective was to secure the area and keep any Shadows at bay from the site until the rescue planes arrived at 1600 hours. The planes were under repairs due to the weather, and by then it'd be about an hour after sunset when they would arrive for us and the survivors.
After the Commander signed off, everyone in the bay started chatting.
“Really? St. Louis is gone?" Shade hissed at me. I noticed him trembling again. “I-I thought it was in-indestructible?!" He seemed distressed, and to be fair, I was too.
“Do you think the survivors made it at all?" a young Bengal of the 39th asked. “I mean, h-how could they even survive a single night out there?" The tiger chuckled lightly. “I mean I couldn't!"
“You've never been out there, tiger!" another one of his men, a white wolf named Staff Sergeant Creswell, shouted back. “I've worked my ass and tail outside the walls, and it's not pretty, but it was only two hours outside I even saw a Shadow!"
“Shut up! All of you! That's an order!" I jumped a hair's length when I heard Shade unexpected command. Wherever he got it from, it quieted his team up good.
“Listen to me very carefully, you dumbasses," the black-furred lion spoke sternly with perked ears and narrow eyes. “Every single fur in this damn plane have been through training, especially me, but we shouldn't joke about it. Not all of us are veterans like Colonel Traven here. If you hesitate, you die."
While the rest of the soldiers around us murmured, I glanced at First Lieutenant Lockwood. “You did that pretty well for a guy who's never seen firsthand what a Shadow is capable of," I whispered in his ear. “I'm impressed."
The feline shrugged with a sigh.
“Just spoke the truth, that's all," he said with a wag of his rope-like tail. “But I guess that hardly made a dent in your disapproval, yes?"
I nodded, and we sat in silence. After forty-five minutes of flying, we landed in the empty parking lot of a decaying superstore.
“Welcome to No Man's Land, boys," the Osprey's female pilot announced on speakers. “There's too much distance for this baby to reach the site, so you'll have to walk out on foot. One of our drones left you a cache pod near the crash site several miles from here. I'll be heading back to O'Hare. Stay in the light!"
She took off, leaving us in the cold and abandoned world.
“Everyone's earpiece work?" I put a paw to my right ear. My ears turned to Shade on my right as he loaded his gun and the ammo fastened across his chest. “First Lieutenant Lockwood, can you hear me?"
“Aye, Colonel," the lion grinned like a fox before turning to his squadron. “Listen up. Follow the Colonel and keep your eyes open."
We began trekking through the snow and the carnage of the abandoned town. According to intel, the crash site was just several miles east of here. The Commander mentioned the plane, an old Boeing 737, had been damaged during take-off and made a landing on a freeway. Luckily it didn't break up, and survivors were spotted from the reconnaissance drones.
Oh God. Seeing the town we were in, seeing the sun a few hours from the horizon, it brought back memories. Okay, I didn't grow up in the exact town, but it made me remember my life before. I remembered my first date with a vixen in a mall similar to one we passed, the time me and some friends compared cars in school, and the times I thought about becoming a starving poet before college.
However, the nostalgia was short-lived. We traversed beside a hollow store filled to the brim with death. And from the fresh Shadow tracks in the snow dunes, it looked to be a breeding ground. Instead of staying to find out, everyone quickened their pace.
“Colonel Traven?" Private Vale asked me after a while. “How much farther?"
I saw his tail nervously twitching so I checked my tablet arm.
“About five miles to go until we find the survivors," I spoke to him and the rest of my team. “Baker, Ghost, keep your eyes open on our flanks. Lukan boys, Vale, I want you right behind me and Lockwood's team." They followed swiftly to their positions as we crept through the empty streets.
“Think the survivors are still there, Jason?" Jacob asked his brother behind us. “I mean, how can civilians survive out here?"
“There are some damn emergency supplies on the planes, Jake," Jason groaned in annoyance. “Don't you remember, kid? We used to help build those years ago."
“I was talking about whether or not the civies could compete with the Shadows, kid," Jacob emphasized the last two words. “You think they survived the night?"
“We don't know," Baker spoke up. “We can just pray."
“The drones spotted survivors this morning. How they survived I wanna find out," Private-FC Weston—a slim wolf of the 39th—commented. “I mean t-there's some shit out here you can't imagine…"
“Think Shadows are bad? Imagine the Silhouettes," the younger Bengal tiger of the 39th added his two cents. “This chick I know escaped a camp of theirs west of Minneapolis. Says they kill anyone who even looks like a nonbeliever. Don't even get me started on what they do to a hybrid—"
“Everyone," Lockwood interrupted for us, part of me thankful he stopped the dumbass from mentioning what the effing Silhouettes did to hybrids. “It's safe to assume because the evac plane has survivors, the plane itself is intact."
“He's right," I confirmed. “Though the wings and engines would be scrapped, the evacuation planes are reinforced in case of a crash. It's as solid as a rock." I didn't know that exactly, but I had to keep their hopes up.
“Excuse me," that voice came from the medic of the 39th Squadron, a female fennec named Vanessa Warrens. “Colonel Traven? Lieutenant Lockwood? Permission to ask a personal question?"
“That depends," I answered, keeping my eyes and ears alert. “I don't know many who would ask me these kinds of questions."
Even with my back turned, I heard Vanessa clear her throat. “It's probably nothing, sir…it's just…" she sighed through her earpiece. “Sir, I've been listening to mere rumors, but…isn't the Lieutenant…with…your son? I mean with with your son?"
I stopped in my tracks and turned to scowl at Lockwood. The damn lion stood grinning nervously at me and folded his black ears.
“Wait a minute," Jacob turned to me along with his twin.
“This guy here is dating your son?" Jason gawked. “Sir, isn't Ethan—"
“Yes he is," I still glared at Lockwood. “To answer your questions, no I'm no bigot. We all know this isn't the era to have prejudices anymore. However," I turned around, giving a long glance at the lion in the cold air, “I don't find it okay that his partner is a soldier whose five years older than him, an ex-convict who got seven soldiers hospitalized-"
“I resent that!" the lion growled. “I didn't want to hurt them, and I joined the Divisions years ago because I wanted a second chance. I only stole the food because I was starving on the streets! How would you know about that?!"
“And a temper," I finished, straightening my tail. “And you're telling me I don't know what it's like to starve? I lived through the end of the world! So don't go and compare…" I quit speaking and listened.
“Listen to me old man," Lockwood growled. “I don't care if you hate my guts, but I love Ethan. If you—" I placed my paw over his snarling muzzle, to which everyone stepped forward.
“Colonel Traven!" Vanessa barked in alarm. “What're you—"
“Quiet! Listen." I hissed at everyone. After he quit struggling, I gently loosened my grip on Lockwood's muzzle and placed a paw to my left ear. “Hear that?"
My team and the 39th listened. It sounded…harsh, but more soothing and like empty breaths of air. I crooked my neck towards the strange noise, finally hearing it echo from a stale warehouse beside the road. What caught our attention was the large, gaping hole that used to be the front doors.
“Creswell, Justin, Weston," Lockwood ordered, “cover me and Traven."
I followed him along with Baker and Ghost while the rest of my team allied with Lockwood's soldiers. We lifted our guns and narrowed our eyes inside. We could barely see, but the noise was definitely emitting from there.
I held my paw out to Baker, who immediately handed me a flare. Its red glow quickly grew equivalent to the dozens of red orbs staring at us.
“Oh shit…" There they were.
There had to be dozens of Shadows huddled together in the darkness of the warehouse. Their fur shone metallic and matted as they glared back at us, their forms in the blackness clearly on the verge of starvation. However, it was their ability to be one with the dark that scared me. I could smell the decaying death on them, and feel it prickle on my fur.
“Everyone," I murmured, “let's move."
Even if we provoked the Shadows, they'd attack regardless of there being sunlight outside. And the last thing Chicago needed were two teams and a plane full of refugees eaten by those…demons.
However, this meant we were in their territory. My hindsight was correct a mile or so later when we came across an ungodly sight: Shadow defecation in the middle of a suburban street. A couple of our men gagged at the refuse and decaying skeletons. Meanwhile, I tried looking away by eyeing the houses, the abandoned cars, to anything a marauder or hunkering Shadow may hide. When those distractions didn't work, I had to bite my lips and feel blood dribble to prevent myself from tasting my own bile. This worked until we passed the horrific massacre a block later.
“Smells worse than the food we eat," Jacob joked between coughs. The moment he began to chuckle at his words, his brother punched him in the shoulder. “Ow!"
“Thanks, Jason," Lockwood remarked.
I smirked at the dark feline, then glared a disgruntled Jacob. “How the hell can you joke at this?" I growled at him. “People died there, Lukan, and I'll think of adding another body back there if you say something again. Are we clear?"
Jacob's curled his tail. “Yessir, sorry Colonel."
A while later, we turned right on a large intersection and went around a block of ruined buildings. According to the map, the evac plane landed somewhere on a highway. Digging through the snow and past more structures crushed under their weight, I had managed to spot black smoke in the distance.
“Keep going!" I barked. “We're close!"
And around a house, we found the wreck. “There they are!" Lockwood shouted.
We spotted other furs clustered near the wreck, most of them waving to us.
“Let's move, soldiers!" I barked louder. “Come, let's go! We haven't got all day!"
The loss of life wasn't as bad as we thought. Out of 153 furs onboard, less than seventy survived the following morning. While we gave out warm blankets and food from the nearby cache several yards away, the 21st and the 39th did perimeters while Ghost and Vanessa went to work as the medics.
“W-We were right behind…behind the o-other evacuation p-planes," the pilot explained while Ghost helped patch him up, “when-when we lost control o-of the c-craft…we didn't have enough fuel; didn't have any time to…to fill up before St. Louis…became overrun."
“You did everything you could," I told the pilot, my eyes wandering between him and Vanessa as she checked a father and his daughter. “Did you see any Shadows?"
The German shepherd's body continued trembling, but he managed to nod.
“Y-Yes," he gasped between sobs as Ghost put a new bandage on his cut leg. “T-They started attacking n-not long after…after we crashed." He paused for a moment. “We lost about…t-twenty-three l-last night." He turned to the bloodily covered bodies behind us, one of them a cub no more than seven. “One-one of them was my b-brother."
I lowered my muzzle. “I'm sorry," I spoke sincerely. “I…I know how you feel. I lost my family too, years ago..." My tail curled by my leg as the few memories I had with little Ethan passed through my eyes. “It'd hard."
“D-Does the p-pain go away?" he asked, his paws shaking from the rubbing alcohol and bandages. “D-does it?"
Looking at the pilot momentarily, I simply said, “No."
Later as I circled the site, meeting the occasional eye of a grateful survivor and even a hug and 'thank you', I checked the ground for the tracks left behind by the demon creatures. Just from the disappearing dents in the snow, it looked like they were circling the fallen craft, even damaging the iced wings. Damn Shadows were smart too.
I met up with Lockwood on the southeast end of the plane wreckage, in the interior hull where the seats were. And on one of the seats, I was surprised to find the black lion calming a tiger cub as he helped stitch his arm. It wasn't critical, though still needed attention soon.
“It hurts," the cub whined between his greasy tears. “It…it hurts."
Lockwood soothed the boy calmly by petting his icy headfur.
“There, there, I'm almost done," he whispered. Right next to the tiger sat a tigress holding his paw in her own. “And…I'm done." He pulled his claws away with the needle and string, pulling the tiger's shirt sleeve down before patting the youngster on the back. “Your son's brave, ma'am, but I suggest getting it checked out soon by Ghost or Vanessa outside."
“Bless you," the tigress smiled gratefully. “Come, Tommy." She pulled her son up from the seat and exited the craft to join the line of survivors waiting medical attention.
“I learned this from Ethan, by the way," Lockwood said to me without looking behind. Though I could tell by his flicking tail and voice he was indifferent. “Ethan gave me lessons on stitching and bandages. He figured they might be useful on the field."
I sat down by a seat beside him.
“Yeah, my boy sure is great at medicine," I commented, not noticing I had a smile. “He's so obsessed with helping people that he works too hard."
Lockwood turned to me with a (somewhat nervous) grin. “Let me guess," he asked, “after last night's raid, he worked overnight and tried to make an excuse to make it back to Northwest Memorial?"
“Yeah," I confessed, wagging my tail against the cold floor. “I had to order him to bed and eat, for God's sake." I shook my head and sighed. “He reminds me of his mother, you know?"
Lockwood twitched his ears. “Her name was Lilith right?" he asked. “She used to be a nurse at Northwest?" I nodded to him with confirmation. “Ethan told me that she passed away several years ago." The lion hesitated nervously. “I'm really sorry."
I laid myself back in the recliner of the seat, stretching my footpaws and cracking every knuckle in my paws. Despite wearing an exosuit designed to keep me strong, warm and fast, I felt very cold. I never even noticed before that my ears constantly twitched in the wintery atmosphere while all the survivors gathered together.
“You know I love him, Colin," Lockwood spoke up after several quiet moments. “I wanted to say that to you before, but I love Ethan. I love him so much." He turned to me with an expressionless muzzle. “Ever since I met him several months ago, there hasn't been anyone that has ever made me smile and made me want to be a part of this world." He chuckled. “I can't believe I said that."
I raised an eyebrow to the lion, somehow calm.
“Quick question, Lieutenant?" I asked with some curiosity. “Exactly how did you two meet in the first place again? I know you were injured in a hospital, but Ethan didn't give any…specifics…when he came out."
Lockwood hesitated for a moment. “I…broke a knee during sparring practice with a big guy, and your son was in the right place at the right time while I was recovering." He started staring further into space. “We had a few conversations, talked about our…tastes, our likes, our lives and…yeah."
Before I had the chance to comment, our ears perked up straight to the sound of a roaring engine above us, followed by a crashing noise and some shouts. Quickly grabbing our guns, we ran outside to see something had landed several feet from the site. It was metallic, shaped like a giant wardrobe, and it didn't take us long to realize.
“This is Commander Proctor speaking to Colonel Traven and First Lieutenant Lockwood of the 21st and 39th Squadron, can you hear me? Do you read, over?"
“Yes, I'm here sir," I spoke in to my earpiece.
Lockwood replied, “Commander. Permission to ask why you sent us another cache drop?"
“There's been a change in plans. Our intel has gathered there's a storm coming this way and the rescue plane will not make it in time. With the number of Shadows harbored in the area…we've decided to go Plan Ascension. A large cargo plane codenamed 'Archangel' will pass over exactly three hours from now and pull you out of there via the plane hull. Good luck! Stay in the light! Commander Proctor out."
As soon as it was static, me and Lockwood quickly opened the cache.
“Colonel," Lockwood asked, “what the hell are these Ascension grapplers doing here?"
I looked up in the sky to find darker clouds gathering toward our location, and we had only thirty minutes until sunset. I looked to the cannons, then back to the survivors gathering around us.
We don't have long, I growled. This has to work!
“Baker, Vale! Set the devices up on the hull of the aircraft!" I ordered before shouting to the others, “Everybody listen up! Get inside the plane and buckle up in a seat until further instructions."
“Screw that!" a survivor yelled. Several other furs shouted in unison. “We wanna know what's going on!" More barked and started pushing, so I shot my pistol in the air.
In the shock and silence that followed, everyone just stared at me.
“Listen up," I barked, “Chicago Command can't pick us up due to the storm coming this way, so we have to go with a different plan. The devices that were dropped here are called Ascensions, and they're our ticket to getting back home. If you want to be in a warm bed tonight, then follow our orders!"
While everyone gathered the supplies and all the survivors seated themselves in the hull, I quickly explained everything. Ascensions were machines originally used to carry heavy equipment to and from secured cities without using ground forces. Several cannons would magnetize themselves to the cargo and shoot cabled flares in the air. A larger aircraft would come along with a highly magnetized hook, catch the flares like a fishing rod, and pull the cargo out of the area.
“You're saying that Chicago is having us flown outta here?"
“Yep," five minutes until sundown. “Luckily for us, this was a smaller plane."
An orange glow descended on the highway. I heard the cubs crying in fear next to their guardians, along with praying, and others simply cowering in their seats.
Meanwhile, most of the 39th were situated with the survivors while me and the rest stood outside in a perimeter. There were Jacob and Jason on the roof guarding the set Ascension devices. Ghost, Vanessa, and Lockwood guarded the south end while me, a praying yet concentrated Baker, and Sergeant Creswell kept vigilant stands north of the armored hull.
Four minutes left, and we set up flash bombs every ten feet apart.
Three minutes. Baker quickly checked the hull of the plane to see if the survivors were ready. I asked her what the commotion earlier was, and she explained that some of the cubs panicked, so a couple of the men went to calm them down. I wondered what Lockwood taught them to be sympathetic.
One minute to go. Lockwood talked to me over the radio, and the lion asked what Plan B would be if the Ascensions went south. “Seriously, Colonel," his voice crackled in my earpiece. “What do we do if there's too many of them?"
“Trust me," I replied. “We're gonna see Ethan again, I promise."
At last, the sun fell beyond the horizon.
There was a reason many furs were afraid of the dark. It wasn't because of child's night terrors, a sense of the unknown or even how you couldn't see. It was the big question about what roamed in the darkness, and when it would drag you away.
The icy air relentlessly kissed my nose and muzzle, nearly freezing my tail off if it weren't for the exosuit. I tried ignoring the cold, so I bit my lip again. I needed to stay focused and protect my team.
My eyes darted towards a black form emerging in the distance. “This is Colonel Traven," I whispered. “I've spotted a targer. Lukan, you two have the cannons set?"
“Yessir," Jason grunted. “Armed and ready."
“Roger, Colonel," Jacob added, “Wait a minute. Me and Jase spotted three southeast toward the downtown buildings."
“Me too. No, wait—six about a dozen yards from our position," Lockwood replied quietly. “How do you want to proceed, Colonel? Wait for them to come closer?"
“Precisely," I explained. “Take aim and have the flash bombs go off when the horde sees us, then start shooting until we get radio contact for the plane."
“Does anyone have any questions, soldiers?" Lockwood asked.
When no one replied, we stood our ground and waited.
The Shadows slowly appearing and surrounding us were in great numbers, maybe around the dozens. They slowly kept looking at us like stalkers on the prowl. As they surveyed our encampment of the wreckage, I could see their forms better. Their heights ranged from five-foot-five to six-foot-three, their eyes still red as blood. The Shadows looked like actual shadows in the darkness, casting auras like a fog in a swamp.
Then…
“They're charging!" Lockwood hollered. “Open fire!"
I turned back to find a horde charging at our flanks. “Baker, set them off now!"
Bright light engulfed around the fallen aircraft, the screams and unnatural shrieks of Shadows ringing all around us. Even as the flash bombs vivified, I aimed for the dark forms trying to make it through. We must've gotten a good chunk of the hordes when the light slowly died away.
“Everyone aim! Kill any that come and use the flash grenades!"
“Colonel! Your right!" Baker shouted. I ducked slightly as the lynx threw a flash bang at a couple of creatures, and a glance confirmed to see them turning to motionless corpses of dust. “Lukans, what's the situation up there?!"
“We've got more incoming!" one of the twins shouted. “You too, Lockwood!"
Towards the road leading from downtown, I saw dozens and dozens of red eyes running to us. With flares in our paws and a firm stare, me and Creswell bolted forward while Baker covered our flanks. I got three by melting them partially with the lit flares and shooting them in the head.
“Colonel!" Seeing two Shadows maul Creswell, I threw a flare and shot one dead.
“Lockwood, we lost Creswell!" I shouted.
Lockwood didn't reply, though I heard screams of anger and the feral cries of several Shadows. Followed by a few more flashes behind me, I dodged a Shadow's attempt to claw at my muzzle and shot him between the eyes. Two came to my right, but Baker shot them stunned and I stabbed at them with the flare in my right paw.
Lighting the flare up, the body under me hissed softer and softer. “You bastards," I stumbled shooting at these things. “I'm low on ammo!" I quickly glanced at the closed-up airplane hull and shot three more charging Shadows.
“Me too!" Ghost shouted through the radio. “T-They just keep coming!"
“Don't falter! Keep your position until Archangel gets here!" Lockwood's voice ordered. He threw a couple of ammo clips over to the Lukans and they tossed them down to me. “If we don't keep together, it'll be a massacre here and No Man's Land will be our graves!"
I looked up to the sky and prayed Archangel was close. Lockwood was right; the survivors inside wouldn't stand a chance if we failed.
The minutes dragged on. Instinct took over while killing as many Shadows as I could. It was a simple instinct built in coyotes, to be swift, vicious against prey and predators after us. That's what I did. That's what we all needed to do.
Lockwood and I didn't stop as group after horde of Shadows came across the plane wreckage. Some of them lingered and waited, others charged in and forced us to shoot and throw light sources after it. The 21st lost Private Vale that night, who didn't even have the chance to scream before one of the Shadows dragged his corpse away.
My memory went back to the night it all started. I was all alone in the world. I lost my mom, my dad, my little brother. As I continued shooting, I glimpsed back to all that we lost. I looked to the buildings of stone and wood lost to time, to the skulls crushed under the Shadows' claws and to the dark creatures themselves.
Lockwood and I are not gonna die here!
“21st and 39th Squadrons, this is Archangel reporting!" a voice came from my mic. “I'm northeast of your position and ready for the cargo."
“About damn time!" Lockwood laughed beside me. “This is Lockwood of the 39th and we're taking heavy resistance and casualties. We need you now!"
“Roger that! Get inside the cargo and launch the Ascensions! We're ETA two minutes out and the wind is getting strong out here! Archangel out!"
Before I could argue with him to come faster, the damn voice disappeared.
If he doesn't get here soon, I growled bitterly between shots, I'm gonna find that bastard and butcher him like a Silhouette!
“You heard him, soldiers!" I hollered over the chaos. “Clock's ticking so get inside! Go! Go! Go!" I dodged a Shadow trying to flank me and shot it dead. “Go!"
With just a few large sprints, I got to the door of the plane hull and writhed my way inside with everyone else. Ghost had managed to pull Creswell in and cover him with a blanket, while the Lukan boys crawled through the doors.
“Civilians," Lockwood barked to everyone inside. “Stay in your seats and do not get up. This is going to be bumpy!"
All the survivors did exactly as said, and we shut the doors while lighting flares out to ward any loitering Shadows. The cubs were restless, but the tiger cub from before remained confident.
“Ready, kid?" I asked.
“Y-Yes," he nodded, turning to his rigid mother. “Mommy?" She whimpered and gripped her paws.
“Alright then!" I ordered. “Launch them, Lukan!"
With the press of a button on Jacob's arm screen, the Ascension flares ejected from the cannon as expected. The cables hissed through the cold air, and from a nearby window I spotted them blinking like stars in the sky.
Then something growled.
I backed away before raising my pistol. The snarling eyes of a Shadow and several more caused some of the refugees to scream. Lockwood reassured them the glass was strong if it could survive a crash, but I wasn't sure how long.
“21st and 39th," the deep voice appeared again. “I have the flares in sight and I'm coming from the south. Brace yourself, ETA thirty seconds!"
I widened my eyes and shouted, “Hold onto something! Now!"
As soon as the other soldiers grabbed onto anything bolted down, I started counting. Twenty…nineteen…eighteen…seventeen…sixteen…fifteen…
“Ready, Colonel?" Lockwood shouted to me.
While I clutched onto a bathroom door, Lockwood stood across the hall and shut the cockpit's emergency doors.
Twelve…eleven…ten…
“Ready!"
“Ready, sir!"
Nine …eight…seven…
“Keep tight! Don't move!"
Six…five...four…
I simply grinned at the lion and shouted, “Yes!"
My ears caught the sound of an engine in the distance. This was it.
Three…two…one!
I felt a sudden tug, and hallelujah reigned as the plane's hull ascended in the air.
We momentarily felt weightless from the sudden jolt. Screams, shouting, the cries below us and the shuffling of snow and ashes. After several seconds, I regained my senses and felt my fur bristle as freezing air flew out of holes in the hull. Everyone shrieked at the fact we were dozens of feet in the air. Others prayed while hanging onto their seats.
The cargo plane's engine roared above us like a lion.
“…is Archangel. I've caught you!" the voice laughed like a lunatic. “I got ya, I got ya! Everybody, we're going home!"
“Roger that, Archie!" Lockwood laughed like a lunatic too and patted my shoulder. “Colonel Traven, we made it!"
As the adrenaline in my veins leaked away, my eyes traveled to see blood gushing down his leg. And before I knew it, the black lion collapsed to his knees.
“Shade!" I rushed over to him in the teetering hull. “Ghost, soldier down!"
Ghost pulled Shade's shirt off while fumbling in his kit. “Oh shit," he cursed. “What the hell happened, Lieutenant?"
The feline breathed heavily and gulped back several coughs.
“I was…was lashed at earlier…" Shade inhaled trough his nose. “…didn't know it was-was serious…until now."
I pat his headfur and gently helped him lay down before letting Ghost tend to his wound. “It's alright, Shade," I told the soldier. “Just hang in there. Hang in there..."
'Hang in there'? That's what I heard right after blacking out.
“Sonny, hang in there! You're gonna be okay!"
I gulped. the pain stayed unbearable as I trembled on the gurney.
“Damn it, it hurts…"
Any moment now, I would wake up in my bed. But I had to convince myself I wasn't home. I was on a gurney. I was in a safe zone from those…shadow creatures I found in my neighborhood. I'd been injured on the way there, slashed from my ribcage down to my thighs. I blacked in and out of consciousness.
“We need an ER stat!" a doctor shouted. The she-wolf leaned over me and checked my twitching eyes. “I need you stay with us, sonny. You're gonna be alright. The gash ain't too deep, so you're gonna be fine!"
I didn't know if I ever was gonna be fine. Memories flashed right before my tearful and panged eyes. My family, my little brother, my parents. They were all gone. They were dead. I still saw the blood all over them, and the pained horror frozen in their eyes.
The next thing I knew, mine opened slowly to white. I found myself in a room with several full beds and commotions outside the bright window. I turned my muzzle down to feel it parched and dry, along with seeing dozens of bandage layers on my sides.
With the morphine pumping into my arm, I hardly noticed two canine figures enter the room.
“Alright then, your name is Colin D. Traven," one of them, a beautiful she-wolf my age, spoke to a middle-aged lioness. Both of them wore white uniforms and looked down at me with empathy in their smiles. “Glad to see you're awake. You're a…coyote, right?" I slowly nodded and the she-wolf wrote it down on her tablet. “Nurse Fi, how many vials of morphine is he using?"
“Not much," the lioness checked me. “Alright, that's it. I'm glad you pulled through, kid." She patted my headfur. Nurse Fi suddenly checked her ear piece and nodded. “Listen honey, we need to go."
The she-wolf nodded. “Okay."
“No," I gasped and grabbed her paw, but only gently. “P-Please…" I started to feel tears run through my cheek fur, and I saw the slight distress in her blue eyes. “C-Can you s-stay here…for a little while longer…?" I stared into her eyes and winced slightly at the pain on my side. “I…I don't want to be…alone."
The she-wolf's ears were folded lightly, and she turned to the nurse. “Don't worry, Nurse Fi," she said. “I'll be back to help with the reports. Can I stay here for a moment with our guest?"
The lioness looked to me then her, sighing.
“I'm pretty sure I can handle it," she said. “But be back in fifteen, okay?" Nurse Fi turned out the door and closed it, leaving me and the she-wolf along.
My eyes traveled down her chest to see her name.
“Lilith," I attempted to smile through the pain. “That's a l-lovely name…" I saw her tail wagging behind her, which had to be a good sign. “What's happening…?"
“Did you hear what the soldiers have been saying?" she asked me curiously. “I saw one of them talking about these 'Shadows' causing all the chaos outside. Oh that reminds me," she looked at me, “there's no need for you to be afraid, Colin. We're in a secure part of downtown."
I smiled.
“I'm…not afraid," I said, my paws still trembling. “I just…so much h-happened today and…" I started to sob, breathing heavily, “my family. The…Shadows got them, and I couldn't do a g-goddamn thing." I broke down. I buried my muzzle in my paws and let the dam break.
“Shhh," Lilith lean forward to hug me tightly. “It's okay. It's okay, you have me." From the way she spoke, I was surprised by her crying as well. “I promise that everything is gonna be okay."
You kept your promise, Lilith. I loved you for it all these years…
It was almost 3:15 in the morning when I saw the lights of Chicago, and I never thought I'd see them as beautiful as then. They were a lighthouse compared to the black ocean surrounding it, and we were the ship in a storm.
I sat down beside Shade and pat his headfur. “We're here, kid."
While wincing at his bandages, the black-furred lion chuckled. “I-I thought we wouldn't make it…" he said with a noticeably wagging tail.
Archangel was kind enough to softly land us in Outpost O'Hare despite the rough blizzard. After exiting onto an empty tarmac littered from years of battles, all the survivors were led to the terminal of paramedics. Meanwhile, snow fell as I could hear the sounds of gunfire and screeches along the walls nearby.
Yep, we were home alright.
As soon as me and Shade limped our way inside the terminal, a familiar voice rang our ears. “Shade! Dad!" he rushed over to us in his medical uniform and was shocked at Shade's condition.
“He'll be alright," I calmed the boy down, sighing as Ethan meticulously checked Shade's bandaged leg over. “Hey, didn't I tell you to stay at home, Ethan?"
“Well, when you're told that your dad is coming back from a extremely dangerous mission," Ethan ran his paws along the feline's sides, maybe to check if the bandages were applied well, “and a poor and innocent soldier is injured, you don't exactly relax."
“Hey," Shade barked between coughs. “Who are you calling 'poor and innocent'? I just saved the lives of nearly eighty people, ya know."
Ethan placed a paw on Shade's cheek.
“And you were brave, Shade," he smiled, and then gave a small kiss on the cheek before turning to me. “How'd the mission go?"
I raised an arm to the survivors pouring inside.
“See for yourself," I chuckled. “Aside from your boyfriend's complaining all the way back, he makes a good Squadron Colonel." Before I could listen to Shade's next playful comeback, a voice came from my earpiece. “I'm sorry, can you repeat that?"
“Colonel Traven, congratulations on finishing your objective," I recognized that old wolf's voice anywhere. “I heard First Lieutenant Lockwood's under medical attention, so I'll discuss the mission later when he's recovered. Are you able to meet me in my office at Willis Tower to discuss promotional opportunities?"
I widened my eyes and glanced back at all that was said and done. “Yes sir, Commander. Over and out," I tuned my earpiece down.
The 21st Squadron met up soon in the middle of the crowd, and as I finished talking with them on having a drink after it became less hectic, I noticed something. My eyes glanced over to Shade lying on a nearby stone bench. Ethan was sitting in front of him, checking the lion's wounds and bandages on his leg.
“You know, you should work on your fingers, ah!" Shade gritted his teeth. Ethan was working on his leg with a needle and chucked at Shane. “Ah, easy there!"
My son smirked at him. “If you could survive all of this, I'm pretty sure you can handle a small needle," Ethan stuck it in again, and I tried keeping a straight face at Shade's expression. “Alright, we'll take a small break then, okay?"
Their eyes locked with each other. I thought back to Lilith, and I saw her eyes in Ethan's. I really ought to tell the Commander about giving these…promotional opportunities to that boyfriend of his too, I mused, and chuckled. Dammit.
Passing through the other paramedics, I walked over to them and smiled.
“Listen you two," I spoke firmly to them. They broke off and looked to me nervously. “Commander Proctor needs to see me in the Loop. Ethan, I want you to finish up here and take your boyfriend to Northwest ASAP, alright? That's an order"
“Yessir."
“And Lockwood…" I turned to the lion and smirked, “you're a good soldier."
Walking away, I swore I heard Ethan whisper, “Did he just call you my boyfriend?"
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