The Lone White Wolf

Chapter Six

With the night fading and the daylight returning, the birds start to sing their morning song, which is unusual since there have not been the songs of the birds for a while even if it is Autumn.: so, I am guessing what we are doing is working and the peace is slowly returning. I wake up to see the boys still sleeping so I get up quietly to check on the beacon; when I enter the room, I notice that nothing has changed which is a good sign which means we can move on and put an end to this war. With the final check done I head back to the boys to see them awake with breakfast cooking on the fire.

“Well, it seems like this beacon is completely deactivated so we can plan our next route to the last building.” I say while approaching them.

“That is good to hear now why you don’t sit down for a cuddle while breakfast is cooking.” Robert suggests patting the spot next to him.

“Good idea.” I reply as I grab the bag of papers while I head over to Robert to sit down for a cuddle. I pull the map of the are out (I took it from the service station if you readers are wondering) and lay it on the ground in view of everyone so we can all plan the journey together. We finish our breakfast and pack everything up including the pillows and blankets we brought from the last factory as they will come in handy along our travels. With everything ready to go Derek breaks up the fire pit so it does not look like we stayed just like the last factory, cannot have people suspecting there are still people out and about the deserted county that is Durham.

***3 hours later***

We find ourselves on some farmland which does not seem to have any crops growing on them even naturally without the aid of humans. As we walk past them, I think to myself, I may purchase this land when this all blows over and if it is still up for sale when I managed to make enough money. Derek taps my shoulder which brings me out of my daydream as we near a house where we take refuge for a couple of hours to rest up and have something to eat. I will point out that I do mention a lot of stoppage for food breaks because we are constantly moving and burning calories, we need to replenish every so often. I set up the blankets and pillows in such a way that it makes the old kitchen benches comfortable enough for us to it on since the wood has slightly withered due to being slightly burned. Robert sets up a small fire in an old barbeque and places the meat on it once it was ready. With a few hours passing by we put the fire out and start to head off again before the night catches up to us and forces us to go into hiding. As we draw nearer to another building we duck inside as the darkness has managed to catch us, so we set up camp for the night. Just before we light the fire I hear footsteps not too far away, so I motion the guys to be quiet until they pass us by and head off into the distance. As the footstep gets closer my heart starts to beat faster and faster with each step which is not good as I feel the shift start and Robert starts to notice as well since he embraces me in a hug to try and calm me. The footsteps stop outside of the front door and a wave of panic strikes through me as the scent seems to be from one of the wardens (they give off this weird authority/threatening aura with their scent) not one of someone like us.

After 10 minutes the warden walks away and moves on to the next land for any more escapees. My heart rate returns to normal, but Robert and Derek look at me with a confused look.

“Guys what’s the look for?” I ask them.

“Erm….” Robert stammers.

“It seems like you have not changed back.” Derek points out.

“What do you mean?” I ask confused.

“Look in this place.” Robert states as I grab the plate off Derek and look into it to see that I am still partially shifted which is odd as I should have returned to normal. I will ask Kia about it later. Let us just hope that I shift back soon enough as I would rather not get caught like this. With this on my mind the boys are in the midst of preparing food for us; while I light the fire and set up our beds for the night, since we had to move everything as a precaution just in case the warden had come inside to check for anyone who is not yet in a safe camp.

After I make the beds, I decided to have a lie down as I try to figure out how to shift back as this will surely start to get annoying as time goes on. Robert comes over and places a plate in front of me along with a knife and fork before sitting down next to me with his own plate and cutlery; I sit up and dig into my meal and clear my mind as there are slightly more important things to deal with now. There were some old plates left behind if you are wondering from God knows when. Derek finishes his food quickly before heading outside, I presume for more food for the morning. Robert and I finish our food and I take the dishes over to the sink and get them cleaned so we have them ready for breakfast in the morning. I sit back down next to Robert and cuddle for extra warmth which leads to something further (I am sure you can work it out). Derek comes back just enough time to find us just laying-in bed cuddling as the fire had died down a bit. I sit up to see Derek putting more wood on the fire since we must camp here for a but as the wardens are doing their patrols. We all sit around the fire telling each other stories of what we each experienced before this war started to pass the time. After a few hours we begin to grow tired, so we let the fire die down and head to bed.

***12 hours later***

With the sun beaming through the windows, we all wake up to the birds chirping around us which is music to our ears; however, we still must deactivate two more beacons before we can fully enjoy the sounds of birds in the morning. We each prepare breakfast before we head out to find some more stuff that could aid us with the task ahead as it seems the further, we go the less coverage there is from the wardens, so we need as much gear we can find to help create a makeshift shelter even if it is just something to sleep under. With breakfast ready we each eat our share then head out carefully to find what we need to prepare ourselves for the next few days. Once we gather some tarps and metal poles, we head off in the direction we were going yesterday and straight for the last factory making sure to keep an eye out for any wardens that we may pass. As we get closer to the factory, I sense that we are not the only ones in the area; I motion the guys to stay where they are while I walk quietly ahead to see if I can identify who else is nearby. The closer I get the more fear rushes through me, but I keep a strong front as I peer round the wall to see three wardens guarding the factory; dammit it I think to myself. I head back to where I left the boys to tell them what I saw.

“There is a slight problem.” I whisper to them.

“What do you mean?” Robert asks with a quizzical look.

“There are three wardens guarding the factory, so we need to come up with a plan to get rid of them.” I explain.

“We could wait them out.” Derek suggests.

“That will not work as there is not anywhere safe enough for us to camp.” Robert says shutting that idea down.

“Well Robert and I could distract them while you Celeste sneak round behind them and knock them out long enough for us all to deactivate the beacon.” Derek then suggests.

“That could work I guess, don’t really have any other choice do we.” I state. With the only plan, we have we head out to embark it. The boys walk up to ask them directions to the nearest safe camp as they seem to have gotten lost; while I walk around back to come up behind them and use my abilities to knock them unconscious for the time being. I have been practicing between travels to find out what abilities I can do so far, I can light fires, knock someone unconscious, unlock doors and heal. With the wardens dealt with, we hurry inside and find the beacon to deactivate it. After about half an hour we find the beacon at the back of the building, and I slide underneath it to find the number pad and enter the passcode. I get out from underneath it and we wait with anticipation that this works otherwise we must battle off some wardens so we can have more time to figure out how to deactivate it another way.

20 minutes pass and the beacon glows for a moment then goes back to its dull grey colour which means that it has deactivated. With this being done we sneak back out and run back to where we were hiding to sit down and plan out how we are going to find the fourth one as there is a huge chance it will be buried. So, we pull the plans and maps out to see if we can work out where it is located on the local map. We decided on a route from the farmhouse we stayed at last night seeing as we are going to have to head back there for shelter. Once we have located the area roughly the final beacon could be in, we start on the four-hour trek back to the farmhouse. Every hour we duck into a bush for cover just in case a warden walks by as we cannot risk getting caught now.