The Ferrymans Daughter

THE DOGS OF WAR

  Tiffany awoke to sounds of chatter coming over the emergency channel on the radio. The storm damaged part of that city and they were calling every available emergency unit to respond. As she looked up she realized she had fallen asleep in his arms. Bob looked down, smiling at her.

"What time is it babe?" He asked.

"It’s midnight" she answered as she looked at her watch. Really he wanted to say "lunchtime!" and push her head down. Then he decided to just lay back and enjoy the moment as she raised her hand to slowly run her fingers through his hair.

  "One more minute before we go, just one more." she thought and there they both realized that this was more than just a thing.

  Outside the unmarked car, the Beast paced back and forth, The pack was silent in the scrubby undergrowth, waiting for their leader to give his command. Bob and Tiff got dressed as they felt the after effects of the drugs, Tiffany made a note of this in her mind for later. After they put their clothes back on, the two pulled their firearms to the ready.

  "Let’s go get this fucker, finally!!" Yelled Tiff as Bob started the car.

  The vehicle fired up with a rumble and Bob put it in gear. The driver’s wheel was flat and stuck in the dirt. Reversing, he stepped on the gas but the back tires just sank deeper into the mud until eventually the cause became hopeless.

  He shut off the motor and smacked the steering wheel. Tiff got on the airways and put out a distress call before they abandoned their ride. Tiff reached over and picked up the microphone.

  “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” She cried,

  For a short time she listened for a response. All that returned was static over the airwaves so she threw the mic back at the dash inside the car, then exited their ride and walked in the dark to the back of the car. 

  The lights flickered as they popped open the trunk. Bob grabbed the bag full of emergency supplies and opened it.

  "I’ll take all I can carry Babe, looks like we are on foot." Said the policeman.

  Unseen shadows lurked behind them, just beyond the light from the trunk. While they sorted out their supplies they were unaware of the danger, close.

  “Did you hear that?”Whispered Tiff as she quickened her pace.

  She grabbed extra cartridges for her glock and shells for his shotgun. While he loaded their guns,Tiffany handed him the rounds.

  "looks like we are good to go, locked and loaded." Said Bob as he used the strap slung the shotgun over his shoulder.

  Then he handed her the glock and she put it into her holster along with a few magazines in the holder on the side.

  Bob bent down as Tiff shone the light upon the flat wheel and he took a closer look.

  "It’s toasted all right! We buried it." Bob said with dismay.

  Tiff turned off the flashlight and set it on the hood. Suddenly she caught a glimpse of the shadow that earlier had eluded them. There it felt as if the darkness was alive around them. They were about to find out that something was very wrong.

  "It’s breathing, getting louder, louder. What is that?" She questioned quietly as she almost felt blind.

  The devilish fiend had crept closer to them. The beast was ready to pounce, hungry for some fresh blood to feast upon.  Just before the creature to could reach out and use the element of surprise, to their amazement, off in the distance a brilliant light shot down from the sky and struck the ground miles somewhere in the forested valley. The Beast was caught off guard and unaware. The Creature turned toward the interruption.

  " No! no! nooooo!, He’s activated the alter. Sneaky cheat, I’ll show him! How could I have been so blind and take his bait?"
Screeched the vile Demon and it became furious.

  The fire in its eyes quickened and it grew in size as its anger raged inside.

“What the fuck?” Gasped Tiffany as they both drew their weapons. As their eyes became accustom they could finally see their foe, the Beast of Hell could do nothing but stand there  in awe as he was caught off guard.

  It seemed as though they were spared, the Mighty Creature barked out its orders and its minions moved in to surround them but Tiff and Bob were ready as they stood side by side with the car at their backs.

“Ever heard of a shotgun wedding? “Bob chuckled

  The sounds of canine feet could be heard running upon the ground towards them swiftly.

  The Dogs of War charged in for the attack. The bbs tore through their skin as they ran full on towards Bob and Tiff.with their firearms at the ready, they had already opened up upon the crowd.The slaughtered wolves leapt around twitching and dying on the ground. Blood spewed into the air from their bodies.

  Fire and sparks flew from the end of their guns, Bob repeatedly pumped his shotgun and fired as Tiffany loaded her pistol. Each took a turn covering one another as the slaughter began to peak.

  A wolf jumped upon the hood of the car, but Tiff grabbed her flashlight, slugging the mutt. It flickered on and off and died After, she put two rounds through its head.

  Falling, the animal slid down off the front of the vehicle and landed in front of it. Bullets flew as the enemies descended upon them, they now stood back to back fighting for their lives.

  One by one their foes hit the ground as the Beasts underlings were no match for the skills Bob and Tiff possessed as they shot repeatedly.

  What was left of the battered and bleeding pack retreated, into the night. Licking their wounds they scurried away as quickly as they came. Suddenly, howls were heard upon the winds but then it became silent.

“Are you ok baby" Bob said in a concerned voice as he checked over her body.

"Yes, so far, where the fuck did they come from?" She replied as her adrenaline pumped.

“Maybe that has something to do with it.” He said as he pointed to the faded light, far off in the distance.

They turned back to the grizzly scene. Tiffany picked up her broken flashlight and gave it a couple of thumps on the side which caused it to spring back to life. She shone her light about looking around, the ground was stained with blood. Tiff felt great sorrow and pity for them as they seen their last day. She started to lose control of her anger which until now she had done a good job of concealing.

"There, look." Bob said, snapping Tiffany out of her thought before she could act.

He pointed to fresh tracks leading off in the direction of the light. They grabbed what was left of the ammo from the wreck and abandoned it to investigate the strange occurrence.

  The two of them hurried fast to try and catch up, but the fleeing pack was one step ahead. Through the bushes and upon the sand they ran hard for a time, stopping occasionally, they took quick breaks to catch their breath. Suddenly the great light in the sky had grown more brilliant. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared altogether, but they knew by now they were only moments away.