The Lure of the Pack (3 page)

“Did you hear that?”

“COME ON! ALL TEAMS MOVE IN, DOUBLE TIME, WEAPONS READY,
SHOOT TO KILL!”

“BUT WHAT ABOUT OUR ORDERS?”

“FUCK THE ORDERS!”

“GET BACK! GET BAAAAAACK!” The pilot fired at point blank
range but the wolf kept coming, its snout peeled back, its vicious canines
ready to tear, its powerful jaws ready to clamp down on flesh and bone. With a
hideous roar the wolf’s clawed hand reached down and grabbed the man by his
throat, slowly crushing his windpipe. As the Eurocopter’s pilot began choking
to death, his face just inches from the beast’s saliva-ridden jaws, he screamed
silently, the scream quickly becoming a gurgling sound as the wolf’s red eyes
scanned the twisted, terrified look on the face of its prey. Effortlessly,
without a hint of mercy, the wolf’s jaws opened wide and with a sickening,
crunching sound bit deeply into the prey’s face, its incisors tearing into the
prey’s helmet, then throat, its powerful claws holding the pilot’s twitching
body in a vice-like grip. The wolf roared bloody defiance then, with tremendous
force, threw the broken, blood soaked, lifeless corpse into the trees.

“Shit, what was that?” the VKE guard whispered to his
companion, “it sounded like some sort of animal.”

“I know,” said the other. The two of them, now twenty metres
apart from the rest, looked around as they continued to move quickly towards
the wreckage of the Eurocopter, the radiance of the full moon casting an
ethereal, spectral, silvery glow over the remnants of damaged forest.

“KEEP FORMATION, ADVANCE WITH CAUTION!” It was the burly
guard’s voice, still shouting instructions to his men and still confident of
success.

“No mercy,” Commander Hertschell’s voice was a whisper.

“None whatsoever,” replied the Colonel.

“Nick, are you alright?” Jean-Paul had noticed the look on
his friend’s face, a look of forlorn horror and deep sadness as Nick slowly
took off his thick-rimmed glasses and began cleaning them.

“I’m sorry Jean-Paul, I just feel a bit…sick, I…I just can’t
believe what Ash has done to that pilot, he’s…” Nick shook his head in
disbelief, “he’s murdered him.”

“Nick,” Jeanette Descard placed her hand lightly on the
tearful lad’s shoulder, “the creature we are viewing is not the Ashley Piper we
know. This is a werewolf, part man and part wolf. You have to accept this fact
Nick because believe me, there is more bloodshed to come.”

“Doctor Descard is right Nick,” said the Commander, “Ash is
now a wild animal utilising human intellect and cunning. The creature we are
watching is a natural predator and as you are well aware, Sergeant Piper is
highly trained in the art of killing, this makes the two together, a lethal
combination.”

Nick paused a while before speaking. “I understand sir,
but…” he sighed as he turned to the Colonel, “…what do we do now?”

Charles Mann gazed inquisitively at the large screen and the
thermal images of the guards moving ever closer to the waiting wolf. “It’s very
simple Nick,” he said quietly, “we let Red Haze hunt.”

1

LET US PREY!

“No Otto,” Helga Zeist pleaded, “you don’t understand,
please, no…”

“I do understand Helga, that is why Lana must sedate you,
now lie still and trust me.”

Otto Von Kurst cast an apprehensive gaze across the bedroom
as Lana Franke prepared the injection. “This is a strong sedative Otto; she
will sleep soundly for a day or so.”

“Very well.” 

“Please, NO!” Helga struggled as Von Kurst held her down. He
had to be careful he thought, show no emotion, not now!

“This won’t hurt Helga and you will feel much better when
you wake up.” Lana Franke walked slowly, almost gracefully towards her patient
and applied a damp swab over a small area of Helga’s right arm. As she gently
inserted the needle, Lana looked deeply into Helga’s blood red eyes, barely
attempting to conceal the malevolence in her own, “there now, sleep Helga,
sleep.”

“NO!” With an outburst of fitful energy Helga struggled on
the bed, tightly gripping Von Kurst’s arm. “Otto,” she said, as if in a
desperate attempt to speak urgently, “he…” she faltered, her speech slurring as
a helpless feeling of weightlessness overtook her, her body quickly
surrendering to the sedative. As thoughts of sleep entered her mind, Helga
gazed reflectively at the man she loved, her blood red eyes welling with tears.
In a pitiful, almost child like voice she whispered, “he will kill you…Otto.”
Helga’s grip weakened as her body slowly relaxed, Von Kurst gently lowering her
back onto the bed as sleep claimed her restless mind.

“What did she mean,” the tone in Lana Franke’s voice was
distinctly troubled, “he will kill you. Who is…HE?”

Von Kurst gazed piercingly at his mistress, “you will need
to clean her, Lana.”

“You haven’t answered my question Otto and you HAVE been hiding
something from me, haven’t you?”

Von Kurst did not reply as he walked over to the bedroom
door. He turned around, his gaze fixed on the angry looking woman who he knew,
required an explanation. “I am going to get dressed, then we will talk. Do what
you can for Helga.”

Lana Franke nodded as the bedroom door slowly closed. With a
look of sheer hatred burning in her eyes, her breathing heavy with sadistic,
violent thoughts, Doctor Franke looked down at her sedated patient. You
stinking, vomit-ridden piece of filth she thought, if you think you are taking
him from me, think again! Slowly, a malevolent smile formed on the physician’s
face. There is no one watching, she thought, and you’re so helpless, so weak,
aren’t you…my darling. Yes my dear Helga, it’s time for me to clean you…every
little, intimate part of you.

Lana Franke smiled again, her tongue slowly moistening her
lips. 

“My Fuhrer!” Claude Bescann ran up Feldtberg Castle’s main
hallway stairs.

“Claude, what is it?”

“The Tiger, it’s down.”

“WHAT!” Otto Von Kurst growled, his thoughts moving to the
lone wolf of his dreams, the lone wolf who now hunted him! “He is stronger than
I thought! Very well, leave him, let him go, the time will come when we will
meet each other, face to face.”

Bescann looked concerned. “But my Fuhrer,” he said, numbly.

“What?” Von Kurst felt uneasy. He knew the look on his
Standartenfuhrer’s face, it did not bode well, “don’t tell me the guards are
near him?”

“They have moved to the crash site, still with orders to
take the intruder alive. We did not expect this to happen.”

“GET THEM OUT,” yelled Von Kurst, “NOW!”

“Teams Two and Three stay with the two of us, we’ll check
the wreckage, the rest of you spread out across the area. If there is any sign
of movement let me know through your Com-links and remember…stay calm.” Split
in twelve teams of two, twenty-four armed security guards moved deeper into the
dense, moonlit forest.

“Shit, look at this,” whispered one of the men from Team
Two, who along with their colleagues had just arrived at the wreckage of the
Eurocopter. “Look…in the rear cockpit, the naviga…OH FUCK!”

The six men of Teams One to Three, including the burly team
leader, viewed the smashed cockpit, or what was left of it, their faces
grimacing in horror. “He’s lost his face and his throat, oh God, the blood…”
the guard felt like vomiting, “look at all the blood!” With their stomachs
tightening into knots, the men’s gaze moved from the bloodstained cockpit to
the broken, charred, landscape.

“Shit, this is unreal!”

As if adding to the surge of fear entering the men’s minds,
the main radio suddenly began transmitting, infringing upon the eerie quiet,
the handset being passed to the burly man. “Yes!”

Amidst the static over the airwaves, the message from the
main control centre was clear enough, “it is imperative you return to the
facility, forget the intruder.”

“WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN,” the burly guard yelled angrily,
“RETURN TO THE FACILITY? THE BASTARD’S JUST DOWNED THE TIGER! HE’S NEAR, WE CAN
TAKE HIM!”

“Negative, this is a direct order from Standartenfuhrer
Bescann. Return immediately, do you understand?”

The burly guard did not reply. Fuck the orders, he thought,
I’ll personally beat the shit out of the bastard when we find him.

“DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” The angry voice over the radio shouted
for acceptance of the order.

“NEGATIVE! WE’RE TAKING HIM, OVER AND OUT!”

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT, YOU DON’T REALISE…” Abruptly, the radio
was passed back, its line of communication closed.

“Are you sure about this,” asked a very nervous guard, “we
should go back, you are showing a lack of discipline, Standartenf….”

The guard was savagely cut short by the outburst from the
burly man. “I AM SHOWING COMRADERY, AND I AM IN CHARGE! OUR PILOT IS MISSING
AND THE BASTARD WHO DID THIS IS GOING TO PAY, NOW FOLLOW MY FUCKING ORDERS!”

Suddenly there was movement over to the right, away from the
wreckage as Team Four appeared through the treeline, their moonlit silhouettes
looking distinctly surreal. With a trembling, fearful voice one of the team’s
guards spoke, “you’d better come and see this.”

“He’s just toying with them,” Jeanette Descard was
mesmerised with the view on the main overhead screen.

“Yes,” said Colonel Mann, “fear is Piper’s main weapon at
the moment and he knows it.”

CEATA’s Senior Command team continued to watch the
fascinating events unfolding in the forest as Jean-Paul spoke, “they’ve just
found the pilot’s body.”

“ASH IS MOVING, LOOK, HE’S HUNTING,” Nick yelled, his
fearful emotions getting the better of him. 

Jeanette slowly shook her head in amazement as she viewed
the overhead satellite’s imagery of the large wolf on all fours moving closer
to its prey, it’s powerful, furred, magnificent form low to the ground. “My
God,” she whispered, “they don’t stand a chance.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Me neither! The poor bastard’s been ripped apart, but look
at the position of his body,” the guard glanced back at the mangled wreckage of
the helicopter and the traces of blood and flesh strewn across the dirt and
broken branches. “No footprints and no signs of him being dragged either, it’s
my guess he was thrown over here.”

“What! But that’s around ten metres, who the hell could do
that?”

“We need to go,” another guard said, “let’s clear out!
There’s nothing more we can do here.”

The burly guard looked at his men, the horrifying, sickening
scenes at the crash site bringing him to his senses. “I think you’re right,
this is shitting me up too, okay, let’s…”

“Look! Look here,” another of the guards shone his
high-powered torch at the forest floor, “look at these prints, FUCKING HELL,
LOOK!”

A sense of tension enveloped the teams, wrapping around them
like some hideous, invisible noose, for the canid paw prints they all
viewed…were overly large.

“This doesn’t make sense, these are a dog’s prints,
but…shit, the fucking thing is walking on two legs,” the guard who spoke looked
terrified.

“They’re not dog prints, they’re too large…they’re a
wolf’s!”

“What,” said the burly man, “are you sure?”

The guard nodded his head, his throat feeling tight as he
muttered his reply, “definitely.”

Once again, in the eerie glow of the moonlight, the men
nervously scanned their surroundings. Now, they were genuinely frightened!
“THIS IS TEAM SIX, WE HAVE MOVEMENT, I REPEAT WE HAVE MOVEMENT, APPROXIMATELY
FIFTEEN METRES AHEAD OF US IN THE TREELINE. THE DOG’S ARE GOING FUCKING CRAZY!”
The voice on the guard’s Com-link sounded anxious.

“Hold position Team Six, we are returning to…” The burly
guard was interrupted.

“THIS IS TEAM EIGHT, WE ALSO HAVE MOVEMENT, OVER TO THE
LEFT, APPROXIMATELY…NO! IT’S GONE,” There was a pause over the Com-link, then
the same guard’s voice whispered, “what the hell was that?”

“Say again Team Eight, say again,” there was no reply. “I’m
recalling the teams, let’s get back to the warehouse and…” the burly man’s
sentence never finished as the sound of machine gun fire and terrible screams
sliced through the forest.

“HELP US, HEEEEEEEEELP!”

“TEAM EIGHT, TEAM EIGHT, DO YOU COPY?”” the burly man yelled
as static invaded his Com-link. There was no reply! “SHIT! ALL TEAMS, CONVERGE
ON TEAM EIGHT’S POSITION, REPEAT CONVERGE ON TEAM EIGHT’S POSITION.” Hastily,
the men ran further into the dense canopy of trees. “TEAM SIX,” shouted the
burly man, “LET THE DOGS HAVE HIM, REPEAT LET THE DOGS…”

There was something behind them, something large and
powerful, “BEHIND YOU, LOOK OUT!”

The guard standing behind the burly man froze in terror as
the four-legged beast hurtled into him like an express train, biting and
clawing its way through his flesh. The man screamed like no one had ever
screamed, the wolf biting hard into his leg as it upturned him! “FOR FUCK’S
SAKE, HELP ME!”

He was gone! Dragged into the night!

“OVER THERE! IT’S TAKEN HIM,” shouted another, “OPEN FIRE,
OPEN FIRE!” Molten lead sprayed into the forest, a forest echoing with screams.

“CEASE FIRE YOU FUCKING IDIOTS,” the burly man yelled,
“YOU’LL SHOOT YOUR OWN MEN.”

Clamping its jaws around the man’s throat, the wolf bit
deep, tasting the blood of its enemy. With a muscular shake of its overly
large, muscle laden, canid form the beast ripped the man’s head from his torso,
the prey’s blood spattering across several already shattered tree trunks.

Another down!

Amidst a myriad of panic stricken yells further shooting erupted,
the guards’ MP44s spewing bullets at the wolf, but to no avail, the beast’s
body and senses being naturally attuned to the bullet’s flight. Licking its
blackened, gore ridden lips with anticipation of the next kill the wolf kept
low, streamlined, running swiftly then launching itself at another guard. The
prey wailed in pain as his right arm was severed, the jaws of the animal
crushing the man’s muscle tissue, bone and arteries.

How he screamed for his colleagues thought the wolf, but not
for long, the beast’s bloodied canine teeth biting deep into the man’s throat
as air hissed from his vocal chords. Blood, thought the wolf, my enemy’s blood,
my enemy’s flesh. Hunt again! KILL, KEEP KILLING!

“ALL TEAMS CONVERGE ON TEAM ONE AND CLOSE IN! ALL TEAMS, RESPOND!”
The burly man yelled once again down his Com-link as outright, gut wrenching
panic set in.

Hurriedly, pitifully, the surviving VKE security guards
joined up, their faces radiating fear, like frightened children. The facts were
now all too obvious, their situation having been totally reversed. The overly
large, nightmarish beast was now hunting them…one by one! “WHAT THE HELL IS
THAT THING?” The man’s yelling was terror stricken, his question, in a
way…unanswerable.

“How many of us left?” said the burly man, his terrified
voice struggling against his chattering teeth.

“Twelve of us.”

“What!” The burly man couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Another guard fell to his knees, whimpering, “it attacked
the rear teams…tore them to pieces! I saw Dieter and Klaus fall. They were
screaming in agony, I couldn’t help, the thing just ripped them apart. OH GOD,”
he yelled, “IT’S EVIL, PURE EVIL! WE’VE GOT TO GET AWAY!”

“SHUT UP DAMN YOU, JUST SHUT UP!”

“WAIT, HERE’S KARL!”  Out of the night another, bloodied man
came running towards his colleagues. “At least we have another gun hand!
Quickly Karl, we’re over here! OH NO, KARL, FOR FUCK’S SAKE RUN!”

The guard named Karl had seen his colleagues in the
torchlight, but had not seen the wolf. It was ten metres behind him, running
through the treeline, five metres, three…

“RUN KARL, CHRIST, RUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!”

Snarling with savage intensity, the wolf leapt at its
terrified prey, the others screaming in horror. “OH GOD PLEASE,
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

In a bloodcurdling scene of savage, unbridled ferocity, the
wolf eviscerated Karl in seconds, the bloodied beast vanishing from view like a
carnivorous spectre into the ethereal, moonlit silver blackness of the forest.
Panic stricken, the men fired their weapons, “YOU FUCKING BASTARD THING,” but
to no avail.

“CEASE FIRING! CEASE FIRING! CONSERVE YOUR AMMO!”

“WHY? THE BULLETTS DON’T DO ANYTHING, WE’RE FUCKING DEAD!”

“I TOLD YOU TO SHUT UP!” Tempers were rising, fear quickly
embedding itself into every man’s thoughts, the fear of death, a savage death,
agonising and vicious!

“Where are the dogs?” the burly man shook the guard next to
him, “WHERE ARE THE DAMNED DOGS?”

“They’ve gone…ran away!” The fitful guard was shaking with
cold, intense fear, “THEY’RE AS FUCKING SCARED AS WE ARE!” The young man was
distraught. At only eighteen years of age he had wanted to join the grenadiers,
to fight against the immigrants, to be a soldier trained to Waffen SS
standards. But this was different! This was horrific, terrifying! Oh God, he
didn’t want to die! As he continued to cry, the young man’s bowels suddenly
emptied.