Chapter 3: Chapter 2: Smoking is bad, Mmmkay?

Asheville, NC

Friday, March 11, 2022

3:25 PM, Breach Event Alpha +7 hours, 23 minutes

Galen faded into consciousness in near darkness, with a suffocating pressure pressing down upon him. A suffocating, furry pressure, he realized, as the moment of panic abated. He tried lifting it off of himself, but it was surprisingly heavy. "Um, a little help? Hello?"

The pressure above him groaned, and growled lightly, then rolled off of him, and he sat up, gasping. He looked around himself. He was in a forest, a very foggy forest. Wait… he took a deep breath. That was smoke. He turned toward the form beside him, his eyes widening as the mass of fur, claws, and teeth shrunk into a still tall woman, the grey mane reduced to long grey hair, keeping the wolf ears and tail, but otherwise looking like a slightly large schoolgirl. She had to be almost 6' tall and could have probably made the volleyball team back at his old high school.

"Okay, excuse my rudeness," Galen said, nonplussed, "but just what the hell are you and where did you and the hundreds of other monsters come from?"

The girl looked over at him, one hand on the side of her head, her red eyes looking him up and down before focusing on his own. "I am called a Lupina. I think. This morning I was a doggirl, but the feral rush overran my sisters and I and took my master from…" Her breath hitched, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "…I, uh, I suppose I evolved while I was fighting for survival?"

"Uh," Galen faltered, seeing the girl's shock and sadness at her obvious loss, "… I'm sorry. It isn't easy losing family or… a master? Did someone own you? Is there some sort of genetic slave trade where you come from?" This conversation, combined with his current circumstances, was giving him a sense of uneasiness that was rapidly shifting toward horror. He was unsure whether he wanted to hug the girl or run screaming into the extremely smoky forest.

"It's, uh, complicated, and not a conversation for now. We need to move. The ferals are likely scattered throughout this forest, and you are entirely untrained in combat and capture of feral pokegirls." She grabbed his hand and began moving in the direction of the smoke. Galen really hoped that wasn't coming from Asheville.

"Wait, where's James? and the other one who looked like you? And the… catgirl creature?" His eyes searched for evidence of the wrecked Jeep, seeing none. The momentum that ejected him from the vehicle and into the arms of his lupine savior must have thrown them far from the crash site. "We have to find them, they could be hurt, or worse!"

The girl stopped, staring at him, and shook her head. "Whatever became of your companion, your attacker, and my packmate, I have seen nor smelled any evidence that we are near them." She then began moving again, dragging him. "We have no time to search for them, either. This area is far too dangerous for us, we could easily be overwhelmed if a group of ferals found us here. The smoke is covering our scent, and to a lesser degree, our trail, but that is no guarantee of safety. Keep moving toward that village I glimpsed from the high road up there."

"I'm an Army Ranger, and James is my squadmate. I'm not leaving him behind!" Galen growled. "If you wish to run and hide, go on and do so, but I don't leave my team behind."

The girl stopped, the hair on her head raising slightly, a low growl sounding from deep in her throat. Her red eyes were slanted as they took him in. "Measure your words, human. Accuse me of abandoning my master or my team again, and I might well rip your throat out."

Galen pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, grimacing slightly at his still foggy head. He really hoped he didn't have a concussion. "Look," he said gently, "I know you're hurting, but we have to find my friend." He tried to fill his voice with compassion while also appealing to her sense of duty to the packmate she said was also missing.

She peered back at him, the anger in her eyes and stance slowly bleeding off as her sense overtook her indignation. "Fine, we'll search the area. But I'm not certain how far we were thrown, or in what direction."

Galen nodded, thinking. The obvious answer would be to backtrack to the road, search for signs of the crash and go from there. The danger there would be leaving the cover of the forest, and that dragon or other dangerous monstrosities from what the Lupina called the "feral rush" could be in the area still, perhaps hunting prey or marking new territory.

Alternatively, they could search the immediate area, moving in an ever-widening circle until they find the crash site. The smoke was fairly thick, though, and they could well miss signs of the wreckage and end up chasing their, ahem, tails if they weren't careful.

Or, Galen thought, didn't wolves have a pretty significant olfactory sense? Perhaps the lupina could track the scent even through the smoke and lowered visibility?

"You're a wolf type breed, right? Can you track scents? Maybe we can find the Jeep that way." Galen glanced at the girl.

"Lupinas were bred for battle, not as bloodhounds, but we do share heightened senses. I'll try my best." The girl lowered herself to the ground, seeming to search the area they were in with all her senses. After a few minutes, she stood back up.

"Well?" Galen asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Smells like smoke." The girl said, shrugging. "I see where we were laying, smells like us. And funny thing, this forest is made mostly of trees."

"Is there another kind of forest?" Galen asked, his brow creasing. The girl shrugged.

Galen frowned at the wolf girl. "Fine, if you're not going to take this shit seriously, let me show you how it's done." He crouched down, eyeing the flattened area where he and the Lupi… no, wolf-girl. He wasn't gonna stumble over that word in his brain anymore. He saw a small divot in the ground from the initial impact, at the western edge of the flattened area, and looked up in that direction. Ah, there. Five meters away he could see some broken branches and what looked like fur, that had to be the trajectory of their impromptu flight from the crash.

Galen stood up and walked over to the spot, picking the fur off the branch, and handed it to the wolf-girl wordlessly. She grimaced slightly as she took the evidence she had missed. He began tracking the now obvious trail of their decent, and further back, signs of the arc of their fall. Twenty meters further, a path of broken trees and wreckage marked the path traveled by the rolling Jeep. He followed that away from the road, breaking into a run as he spotted a jumbled mass of white metal and red lights nearly buried in the remains of a copse of trees.

A blood trail led from the driver's side of the wreckage, leading north into the forest. evidence of another body and another, smaller blood trail lead to the east. Footprints, or rather paw prints, straddled the smaller trail, as though whoever that was carried something heavy on it's back or across it's shoulders as it walked. He wordlessly pointed the two trails out to the wolf-girl.

Galen then turned his attention to the remains of the Jeep, hoping beyond hope that James had come as prepared as he usually did. He tried to force the rear hatch open, but it only budged slightly with a squeal of metal on metal. The wolf-girl pushed past him, effortlessly unjamming the hatch, flinging it as open as it would go. Galen watched her face as she stepped aside for him.

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He peered into the back, gathering first the canvas bag that he hoped carried the AR-15 and 30.06 rifles and their ammo, as well as James' sidearm and holster. He slung the AR across his back, clipped the holster to his belt, put two spare mags in his right front pocket, and handed the 30.06 to the wolf-girl. "Carry that," he said, "for when we find James." The girl nodded, slinging the rifle across her back in the same manner he just had with his own.

The next thing he did was pull out the luggage and rummage through it. He pulled out a shirt and handed it to the girl. "Why are you giving me this?" she took the shirt hesitantly.

"Put it on," Galen said. "I'm sick of pretending you're not naked." The girl blushed, unslung the rifle and handed it to him, then slipped the plain white t-shirt over her head. Once she had it on, it fit her like a short dress would, just long enough to hide everything. Galen reached back into the suitcase and pulled out a black leather belt, wrapped it around her waist, tightened and fastened it. The girl's blush intensified. "So it doesn't ride up on you." He handed her back the rifle.

"You know, you haven't given me your actual name. I'm Galen." He peered at her as she slung the rifle across her back. "Master called me Tessa. But he is gone, and I'm unsure I'm worthy to keep it."

"Well, for now, that's what I'll call you." Tessa nodded mutely and turned away, making a show of scanning their surroundings. Galen took the time to do the same thing. He had the unsettling feeling of being watched, but if there were a presence out there, it wasn't making its presence known.

Now the question was, which trail did they follow? Whoever left that large trail was definitely injured badly, and likely in need of immediate medical attention. But those headed to the east, at least one of them was also injured, and the one being carried could have been carried against their will. Of course, he and Tessa could split up and follow both trails, and then meet back once they found the sources of these trails.

Galen shook off his uneasiness and wordlessly pointed toward the large blood trail. Tessa nodded, and they headed into the treeline. The trail looked like someone dragging themselves along the ground, away from the wreckage. Twenty yards deep, the gloom of the encroaching trees dimming the available light considerably, Galen thought he could make out a figure on the ground.

He stepped forward, going toward the body, and felt himself grabbed and flung backwards, landing a good ten feet back, as a figure landed right where he had been standing. A frustrated growl sounded out, and Galen looked past the tense and suddenly much larger and hairier figure of Tessa to see an orange and black striped humanoid feline crouched and peering at him, it's left paw buried in the dirt almost to it's palm. Jesus, Galen thought, that was almost my skull!

"Tigress," the figure said, in a soft but menacing purr. Galen went for the rifle on his back, swinging it around and aiming it at the feline. The fur on Tessa's back bristled, a low growl in her throat as she awaited the Tigress' next move.

Galen aimed down the rifle and… hold on, there. "Catgirl?" he said, incredulously. Was that the same cat that had attacked him in the Jeep earlier? Tessa grimaced.

"Well, looks like evolving from battle stress is going around today." In her attack form, Tessa's voice was more of a growl than the slightly sexy melody she'd had when she wasn't in a fighting mood. 

"Okay, you're definitely a werewolf," Galen said playfully.

"Do you always kid around like this?"

"Only after near-death experiences brought on by anthropomorphic killing machines." He replied.

The tigress cocked her head, confused. "Tigress?"

"I don't know either," Tessa replied.

"Wait, you can understand her?"

"She's trying to decide if she wants to eat you or fuck you."

"Well, I know which one I would choose, if those are my only options," Galen said wryly.

The Tigress slowly moved toward Galen, stopping beside Tessa and looking at her as if asking permission. Tessa nodded, apparently sensing that the girl's aggression had been replaced by some other, more complex emotion. The Tigress moved up to his side, tentatively reaching out and taking his hand. "Tigress," the feminine feline said, gently pulling toward the form that Galen now knew she had been protecting when she attacked moments ago.

He let her lead him to the prone form. As he got closer, he lost most of the sense of hope he'd had for the person's survival. There was a sickening amount of blood pooled beneath the body. He bent down and slowly rolled them over as gently as possible. Another catgirl, he mentally noted as he turned her on her back. He glanced back at Tessa, almost imperceptibly shaking his head. Tessa frowned and nodded to show she understood the hopelessness of the situation.

"Was this one hit by the Jeep as it crashed?" Galen asked the Tigress.

"Tigress." She nodded as she spoke. So she'd dragged this girl away from the crash, either in hopes of saving her, or through some sense of duty to a sister catgirl breed. Galen searched for the wound that was causing the most bleeding, and found it rather quickly. A large gash in her stomach had nearly seen her disemboweled by the careening Jeep. The girl, somehow gathered the strength to move her head toward him, her glazed over eyes staring nearly lifelessly into his own. He took off his shirt, trying to tie off the wound and slow the flow of blood enough that they might have a chance to make it to Asheville and get her medical attention.

"Tessa, see if you can find two sturdy branches and some cloth that we can make into an impromptu stretcher. We might have just enough time to get her to the hospital in Asheville."

Tessa nodded hesitantly and went searching. Galen hoped they had time to save this poor girl, she didn't deserve to die a painful death in a foreign land. Then, a noise drew his attention past the girl, to another form curled into her side. "Shit," Galen cursed, there was a… a cub, grasping to the girl's body, crying little mewls of fear and sadness. Galen reached out gently to the smaller form, gently checking it for wounds. He was surprised and happy to note that besides some bruising, the smaller feline seemed to be okay. It was half the size of the cat girl, and only a third the size of the tigress, this must be some kind of kitten.

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