Operation: Siberia

- 16 -

“Let me take him, Cap,” McCally said. “I can put two between his eyes from here and wipe that smile off his face.”

“Stand down,” Banks said. “But keep an eye on him, and take him if he moves. We’re not going that way anyway; we need to get through that lab. And we need to do it now.”

He was keenly aware that the light was fading fast now, and fog swirled above the does, making the gloom darker still.

“Wiggo, you’re with me.”

“Lovely,” the private said. “You and me and three dogs; it’ll be like that bar in Dublin all over again.”

Galloway and Waterston stood over their dead friend, as if determined to protect the body. Banks stopped as they were passing.

“We might have to run,” he said.

Galloway understood immediately.

“I’m not leaving him.”

“That’s up to you, but we might be a tad too busy to help.”

“I’ll manage.”

“We’ll manage,” Waterston added.

Banks nodded, and turned his full attention to the task at hand. The three wolves had barely slowed in their feasting in the doorway, seeming to be unconcerned at the presence of the men.

“How do we play this, Cap?” Wiggins whispered.

“Just follow me. The big lad buggered off quickly enough when I got close the last time. I’m hoping these three share his skittishness.”

“That makes two of us,” Wiggins said.

They took three steps toward the doorway.

The big female looked up again, as if to ask ‘Are you still here?’

Banks kept moving, although every part of him felt like jelly, and his hindbrain was yelling at him to run. He showed the wolf his rifle, and took another step forward. He was only ten feet from her now, and the two smaller ones looked up from their feeding, curious.

He’d hoped that they would have turned and run by now, but the promise of easy food had emboldened them, and they were not about to relinquish the meal easily. He pointed his weapon to the roof of the dome and let off two shots, the roar echoing for seconds afterward around them. Glass tinkled where it fell.

The wolves had seen enough. But his shots had the opposite effect from that he had intended. Instead of scaring them off, they leapt into an attack, all three coming directly for him.

He couldn’t get his weapon up in time. The female flew into him, knocked him aside like a rag doll, then kept on going. He fired a shot that went wild into the corridor ahead and then had to push back against the wall as the two smaller beasts followed their mother. More shots echoed around the complex, more glass shattered, and one of the younger wolves howled in pain, but kept running.

Banks smelled blood and piss and shite and wet dog, all at the same time, then the beasts were off and away past them, leaving a startled band of men in their wake. Galloway nursed an ankle that was bleeding badly from a bite, but if that was the only casualty, Banks considered they’d got off easily from a bad mistake.

I underestimated them. They weren’t in our way; we were in their way.

He bent to Galloway’s side, and helped put pressure on the wound while McCally applied a tourniquet.

“We need to get that seen to, Cap,” the corporal said.

“Aye. And we’ll do it, once we get to cover. Move it out. Right now.”

His squad moved to comply. Galloway stood, tried to put his weight on his leg, and almost crumpled. Waterston held him up.

“I’ve got you,” the older man said.

Galloway looked down at the body at their feet.

“We can’t leave him,” he said.

Waterston started to drag Galloway away.

“Yes, we can. Better him than us if those bastards get hungry.”

Galloway looked like he might argue, then put his foot down on the floor and had to stifle a cry of pain. This time, when Waterston took another step, he went along with it. Neither of them looked back.

Banks let Hynd and McCally take the lead. Hynd took the water bottles off Wiggins before turning away. Banks stood looking back over the aviary. There was no sign of the wolves.

“They won’t go far,” Wiggins said. “Not with this fresh meat around.”

Banks nodded, and kicked the body at their feet.

“Aye. And if this poor bastard keeps them from bothering us, then he’ll be doing us a favor.”

They waited until the others were deep into the corridor making for the lab before turning to follow them. Wiggins stopped after two steps.

“We cannae leave him, Cap. It’s not right, favor or no favor, he’s one of us, and not dog food.”

“I was hoping you might say that,” Banks replied. “Get an end each, we’ll see if we can get him somewhere safer in the lab.”

By the time they dragged the dead scientist to the lab, the others had gone on ahead toward the exterior door and the cave in the hill. Banks looked around, looking for somewhere, anywhere, to stash a body where it might be safe from predators. His gaze landed on a tall refrigeration unit. It only took a matter of seconds to empty it of its contents and strip out the shelves. They stood the man upright, leaning him against the far wall, and closed the door tight on his dead stare.

“He’s safe in there,” Banks said.

“Safer than us anyway, Cap,” Wiggins said with a whisper. “We’ve got company.”

The wolves were back, having followed them along the corridor from the aviary doorway. Now they stood between the two men and their exit to the rear of the lab. The big male was the closest, his mate just behind him. One of the two younger beasts hung farther back; this one breathed hard and heavy, its haunches trembling. Blood ran from a wound in its side; it had definitely caught a bullet in the earlier exchange, but Banks didn’t hold out that much hope of it having slowed the animal down much. The big male’s gaze was once again locked like a laser on Banks’ face.

And now it’s not smiling.

Banks moved, carefully and slowly, to fetch his rifle from over his shoulder. The wolf growled deep in its chest, rumbling like distant thunder. It crouched low, and sidled forward, its gaze never wavering. The others of his small pack came on behind him.

Banks took a step forward toward them, having to tell his legs twice before they agreed to move. He hoped to stop the beast’s advance, but the big male kept inching ahead; two more steps and it would be within range of a single leap, and Banks couldn’t allow that. The momentum of a beast that size would keep it coming, no matter how many bullets he put in it.

I have to put it down. And I have to do it now.

He knew Wiggins was right beside him, but couldn’t afford to take his stare away from the big male; this stand-off wasn’t going to last more than a few seconds, and maybe not even that long. The rifle felt like a natural extension of his hand as he swung it up, already firing before he’d got it aimed straight. Even then, the big male was too fast; it darted, sideward instead of forward, but Banks got lucky in another way, as three shots took the female full in the chest. The thunder of the shots rang in the confines of the lab. Wiggins joined in, spraying a volley into the two younger wolves. They went down in a heap beside their mother.

Banks turned quickly, looking for the big one.

It was already off and away; he only got a glimpse of a bushy tail as it fled, out of sight, back down the corridor toward the aviary.

Banks’ ears rang, and he felt the vibration hum in his wrist, smelled the burn from the barrel as he walked over to where the female wolf lay. She was still alive, barely, and attempting to crawl, not toward him, but heading for the place where her cubs lay, both clearly dead. She whimpered with every movement, leaving a trail of blood and mucus on the lab floor, inching painfully slowly. She let out a howling wail that was so full of pain and misery that Banks could only take it for a second before he stepped quickly over and put a single shot in her brain.

Out on the corridor, somewhere in the aviary, the big male responded with a howl of his own. The high wail of loss followed Banks and Wiggins all the way through the lab and outside to the cave in the hill.