Chapter 1: Prologue

Mount Mitchell, North Carolina

Friday, March 11, 2022

7:59 AM, 3 minutes to Breach Event Alpha

Galen Hardin peered over the edge of the highest peak of the Appalachian mountains as he waited for James O'Rourke, his trail buddy and fellow Army Ranger to arrive so they could hike the Deep Gap Trail to Mount Craig and back. From there they would drive into Asheville, where a pair of ladies they had been chatting up online in their downtime had promised them a private tour of the historic city during their 72-hour leave. He wasn't certain if the stories of the Grove Park Inn, where they had reservations, was truly haunted by The Pink Lady, but he was hoping to hear some moaning overnight all the same.

The sound of an engine made him turn his head, and he gave a short wave as James' white Jeep Wrangler pulled into the parking space beside his Harley Davidson. He walked over to the driver's side, popping his head through the space where a window would be if James didn't have the canvas top off and stored in the small trunk area of the vehicle.

"What's up, man? I was starting to worry that your infamous internal compass had finally failed you there!" Galen grinned at his obviously flustered friend. "Naw, man," James drawled in his thick Louisiana accent, "my damn tire went flat on me, took me near about a half-hour to change the damn thing with that scrawny jack they include with these things these days. Gonna pick up a two-ton model when we get back to civilization."

"Well, shit, man, you should've rung me up, I'd have backtracked and helped you out." Galen walked over and unstrapped his hiking pack from the back bar of his Hog.

"Naw, I handled it." James grabbed his own pack, slinging it into place on his back. "You ready for a gentle hike before we put the weekend into high gear?"

"yeah ,man, I…" Galen swung his head toward the trailhead they were about to head down. It felt like the air pressure had rapidly changed, like when an airplane takes off. "…did you hear that?"

James nodded, his attention drawn to the same area. "does that sound like rumbling to you?"

"Yeah, kind of like a stampede of horses back on my pop's farm…" Galen quirked his head to the left a bit, trying to discern the direction of the sounds. His eyes were drawn to the treetops, sensing movement from the furthest line he could see. Even from their vantage point at the peak, they couldn't see what was shifting the trees, but he could see one thing. "Whatever it is, it's headed this way, fast."

"Galen, hop into the jeep. We'll come back for Betsy." James was already halfway to the driver's door, his keys in his hand. Galen gave his Harley one longing look before sprinting to the Jeep and hopping into the passenger's side. The engine roared to life, but Galen barely noticed it as his jaw dropped open at the figures clearing the trees in front of him. "Are those… humanoid cats?"

James didn't respond, shifting into reverse and jamming the gas, the Wrangler lurching backward. Once he cleared the parking spaces, he turned sharply and rammed the shifter into drive, squealing tires. Galen stared back at the ever-increasing number of creatures pouring through the treeline behind them. "There are so damn many, and they aren't just felin…" his voice was cut off as something heavy slammed into the rear of the Jeep.

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"The fuck was that?" James shouted, before realizing another presence was climbing into the cabin with them, He cursed himself for not leaving the top on. Out of his peripheral, he saw Galen duck into the floorboard as a clawed hand slashed the seat back where his throat had just been. He slammed on the brakes, hard, the momentum shift throwing whatever the fuck that was into the windscreen.

He lashed out at it, his right hand connecting solidly with the figure. He immediately yelped in pain, it was like hitting a brick wall! The figure turned toward him, and he could swear there was an amused smirk on it's face. "Catgirl", it said, and slammed his head into the steering wheel. It startled as the horn sounded and the jeep swerved wildly. James felt blood spurting down his face, he assumed his nose was broken. He gripped the wheel, trying desperately to regain control of the car.

Suddenly the creature was lifted up and out the top of the Jeep as Galen, in a rush of adrenaline, tried to throw it clear of the vehicle. It didn't quite work, the feline grabbing the roll bar and swinging into the back seat. "Catgirl" it said again, sounding much more irritated than the last time. Galen lifted his pack and threw it at the creature, hoping to fend off another attack. The feminine creature cocked its head to the side as it easily blocked and caught the bag. It looked at it as if fascinated, then forced the pack open, suddenly uninterested in the duo in the front. "Catgirl?" it said quizzically.

Galen stared in awe as the, well, he assumed it was exactly what it kept repeating, the catfirl began rummaging through the pack. He glanced at James, who had fought back control of the jeep and was driving as fast as possible toward Asheville. "Are you seeing this shit?"

"A little busy!" James yelled back. "Contact right!" Galen's head shot to the right just as something heavy slammed into the side of the Jeep. Galen scrambled to pop open the glove box, retrieving the Glock 19, quickly checking the mag before he swiveled it toward the new threat that was pacing the vehicle. "The fuck is THIS now?"

Loping alongside the vehicle was what Galen could only describe as a werewolf. His brain tried to reject that, those certainly didn't exist in this world, but the evidence was right next to him, staring at him with red eyes that contrasted with it's grey fur, the claws of it's left hand reaching out and grasping the vehicle as it lept onto the footbar, growling. Galen raised the gun and fired, the shot going wide as the Jeep lurched left from the sudden weight of something else attaching to the left side of the Jeep. The Wolfen creature reached in and grabbed the gun out of Galen's grasp, shaking it's head at him like a disappointed parent scolding a child.

A sudden roar from behind them caused the lupine head to jerk around, staring behind them. "Faster," it growled out. A glance behind him told Galen that the catgirl was staring out the back as well, before shrinking down into the back seat as low as she could go. Galen got his first real look at her. Orange fur with a white spot near the base of her neck that ran halfway down her back, her orange tail nearly in his face, the white tip jerking back and forth in what could only be fear and anger.

As he looked back forward, he saw that another of the werewolves was riding the left side, it's head nearly in the window as if whispering into James' ear, James had his whole attention on the road ahead, fear written all over his face as he pressed the accelerator to the floor as he tried to outrace whatever the hell was behind them. Galen turned back toward the wolf-girl on his side, then past her, seeing others of her kind breaking away into the treeline. He winced, knowing that was a very steep embankment, they were running toward. The one at his window caught his eye again, smirking at him as it handed the gun back to him. He accepted it, looking down at it blankly.

Another roar sounded out, closer and above them. Something slammed into the top of the jeep, hard, and attempted to lift it off the ground. Galen looked up in shock. "Uh, James… we've got a goddamn dragon…"

"Well shoot the fucking thing!" James responded, and Galen raised the pistol, firing at what he assumed was the stomach of the orange and red creature. The shot rang true, and with a roar, the dragon released the jeep, careening away from the vehicle. A jet of fire enveloped the ground right behind the vehicle, barely missing them as James careened onto the offramp from the Blue Ridge Parkway toward Asheville.

They rounded the curve in the road, and Galen let out a sigh of relief as the city stretched out in the valley below them. Almost th…"

A sudden feeling of weightlessness overcame him as the jeep was lifted from the right rear corner and flipped over, rolling down the embankment. Something grabbed him as he was ejected from the tumbling vehicle, he felt warmth and fur envelop him, and then a jarring impact, and then darkness.

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