Dominant Species Ch. 07-11

Josi ran back to the tent, thankful that it was tucked next to the cliff overhang and was in the shade. She could hear the cries of pain from Britney and Bethany before she got there. When she opened the tent screen, she saw that Willow and Cheyenne were tending to them, keeping their foreheads damp and trying to keep them cool. "The guides went for help, and I got the first aid kit. How are they?"

Cheyenne looked distraught as she reported what they had found. "They both have first degree burns over about half their body, with some of that being second degree. We're already seeing blisters forming on the bad areas."

"Don't pop those, just leave them alone." Josi had done the most work in first aid, even taking wilderness first aid courses.

"We know. We've been treating them by keeping the burned areas cool, using river water and soft cloths. It isn't working well, though. Both girls are running a temperature, I don't know for sure but it feels high."

Josi put the back of her hand gently to each hip, knowing that the burned skin would be flush and wouldn't show their real temperature. They were hot, probably above 102. She could already see the swelling beginning on the hands and feet. "How about their eyes?"

"Bethany can't see anything, it's all black. Britney can still see but it's all fuzzy, she can't make out anything."

Josi opened the first aid kit, at least it had some ibuprofen. "Give them each two of these, maybe it will take the edge off for a while."

Cheyenne laughed. "This is a fart in a hurricane, they need real medical care. They are in bad shape." She looked back at them, they were trying not to move but the pain was so bad they almost had to. "When will we get help?"

"Probably not until after sunset. Our guides have to climb back to the road and run eight miles back to the landing. Unless they get lucky and get a ride, it will be a while." She thought for a while. "Rose's cellphone didn't work, and mine didn't either. Can anyone get their phone to work?"

Willow shook her head. "Nope, I checked all of them, they won't do anything, not even turn on. It's weird, why would all of our phones break at the same time?"

"I have no idea."

They did what they could to keep them comfortable through the evening, but they were getting worse by the hour. Willow brought in the stew that was simmering by the fire, but the girls had no appetite. They were having difficulty swallowing the bottled water Josi insisted they drink. Their throats were dry and scratchy, their lips chapped and turning black.

It was starting to get dark, and none of their flashlights worked.

They collected some driftwood and moved the cooking fire closer to the tent so the flames could give them a bare minimum of light to allow them to keep treating their friends. It would also help them be spotted by a helicopter if they used one, and Josi anxiously listened for the sound of someone, anyone, coming to help them. All she heard was the river. Even the insects were quiet.

As it got dark, she took charge of them again. "We need to get some sleep; we don't know how long it will be until help arrives." She didn't want to say IF help arrived, but she had a bad feeling. "Cheyenne, you take the first shift. Keep the fire going, monitor the twins and do what you can. I'll take second shift, wake me up in a few hours. Willow, you have the late shift until sunrise." She looked at her friends, she had to stay strong for them. "I know this is tough, but we have to work together to get them to help. All right?"

The other two girls agreed, and soon Willow and Josi were curled up in their sleeping bags, hoping to get some rest.

It was the coughing that woke Josi up. The hard, cough a lung out kind of attack. She looked over to Bethany, who was starting to convulse. Quickly, she was out of her sleeping bag and next to Cheyenne.

"Shit, she's coughing up blood." Cheyenne used a cloth to wipe it from her face, but more was coming up and she was starting to choke on it. "Quick, help me roll her onto her side." Working together and trying hard to avoid the burned areas and blisters, they rolled her onto her left side and placed a rolled up towel under her head. She continued to cough, and her breathing was becoming difficult.

Josi was running out of hope. Her friends belonged in Intensive Care at a burn unit, not in a tent with no supplies and no lights. What they needed was help, and they needed it fast.

She didn't want to say anything, but she knew that without treatment her friends would not make it until morning.

---

It was just past sundown when they finally got going from the North Fork pack shelter. While Marcus was gathering supplies and packing, a number of the men were trying to get a vehicle running without success. All of the cars and trucks had electronic engine controls and fuel injection, and it appeared all of those were fried. The only thing left was an old tractor, but that wasn't making the trip.

After shifting and getting his leg and backpack on, they left the small town and turned for the road towards Salmon. Eric and Derek set a good, even pace, a little slow for them but something that Marcus could keep up with. It was when they got to the main road by the landing that everything changed.

Derek froze, his nose high in the air sniffing frantically. Eric ran up to him and started doing the same. They took off down the driveway to the river outfitting company, barking and trying to trace the scents. Marcus sat at the road for a few moments, wondering what the hell was going on. With no Pack link, he had to watch and wait until one of them would shift and explain.

The wolves circled the small shop building, paying particular attention to the area in front with the picnic tables. They followed the scents from the parking lot to the building, but they finally ended up in the sand at the river bank. Both were frantically sniffing footprints leading to the river, then howling in frustration as the trail went cold at the river.

Marcus trotted down, figuring they were done and would explain now. They didn't.

The twins looked at each other, looked down the river, and took off down the trail. Marcus looked at them, his body language saying "Hey, wrong way" but after a minute his shoulders shrugged. Go back and report to the Alpha or stay with the brothers on their detour? Their excited yelps as they ran along the river convinced him to follow. He stood up and followed, his artificial leg making a clacking noise as his other three paws worked almost soundlessly to carry him along the dark path. There was a three quarter moon just rising, with his wolf eyesight he had no problems with the path to follow. His nose told him he was on the right track. He tried to sort through the lingering scents along the river but couldn't figure out what it was that had set the boys on this path.

After five minutes of running, he was suddenly upon Erik's wolf, who was staring down into a canyon by a bend in the road. Looking over he saw Derek coming back up, shaking his head side to side as he looked directly at Marcus.

Moving to the edge, Marcus looked down to see two humans, a young man and a woman, laying broken at the bottom of the rocks. He took a deep sniff, the blood was hours old and he could already smell the decay. He moved along the road to the other side, his nose to the ground picking up their trail. He followed it as they walked straight, despite the road curving sharply to the right, until he was at the edge of the cliff. He could see the stains of their blood from where they had struck rock on the way down. It was a bizarre double death; why would two healthy looking humans just walk right off a cliff? He shook his head and shoulders as the boys caught up to him.

Derek shouldered him gently, pointing him to continue down the road as Eric's nose pulled him further downstream along the river canyon.

Soon their wolves were back to a comfortable pace, and they ate up the miles quickly. Eric's wolf suddenly sniffed the air, followed by Derek. Letting go a celebratory howl, they sped off into the distance and left Marcus behind.

They were close enough now that the scent was fresh and strong, and they honed in on the source like the efficient predators they were. The twins stopped at the top of the canyon wall and looked down. They could see a large tent and a smaller one along the river, and their quarry was in the large one.

With an excited yip, Derek walked along until he found a rockslide that would allow him to pick his way down to the riverbed fifty feet below them. Eric followed closely behind. Both had their ears straight up, tails high and senses tuned as the closed in. Once they had reached the sand, they sprinted back upstream along the canyon wall to the large tent shrouded in darkness.

Derek growled as he picked up the scent of fear and pain inside. Reaching up with his large paw, he shredded the mosquito netting and pushed his way inside. He ignored the scream of one woman, then the noises of another two waking up in sheer terror as Eric pushed into the tent as well.

The three girls backed as far away as the tent would allow as the two huge wolves moved next to the injured and unconscious twins lying naked on the sleeping bags. The wolves started to whimper as they looked over the girls, smelling first their legs and licking their burned legs. They then stuck their cold, wet noses into the crotches of the two, taking a long sniff and a few licks at the small area that was not burned. Finally, they moved up to their necks, sniffing and licking at the junction between their necks and shoulders.

Through it all, the girls remained unmoving and unknowing of the danger they were in. It was a small blessing as their tortured bodies were incapable of resisting the wolves.

Suddenly, Derek howled to the stars, causing the girls to shriek in fear. He had his mouth open, sharp teeth exposed to the dim light and before they could look away he struck. His teeth bit deeply into Bethany's shoulder and neck, and he held her in his jaws tightly as her blood coated his teeth and muzzle.

Eric then lunged forward, deeply biting into Britney's shoulder, as the girls screamed in fear and Cheyenne tried to get out of the tent. A loud growl from outside stopped her in her tracks.

She looked back, and wondered what was going on. The two wolves were licking the remains of the blood off the twin's shoulders, having laid down alongside them. Josi was still backed into the corner while Willow had moved to hold Cheyenne tightly by the torn entrance netting. The girls were too scared to move, and too confused to figure out what was going on. The wolves that had been so aggressive and threatening before were now treating the girls with a gentleness they had only seen from a well trained dog.

Finally, Cheyenne and Willow looked out to where a large wolf was staring at them. The wolf pulled at his rear leg, they heard the sound of Velcro then his leg fell off. Cheyenne was biting her lip to avoid screaming and it wasn't working well. The two watched in awe as the sound of bones snapping filled the air. The wolf fell to the ground, and stood up as a man.

Stunned into silence, they watched as he reached into his backpack and took out an artificial leg and stepped into it, then pulled an eye patch out and placed it over his face. They didn't look away as he pulled out a pair of shorts from his pack and pulled them up. It was only when he started to walk towards them that they snapped out of their state.

Cheyenne got her wits back first. "Josi... Josi come here. There's a man out here. He was a wolf, but now he's a man. He's a wolfman."

"He's a werewolf," Willow said.

"Good evening ladies, I'm Doctor Marcus Mendez. I'm a werewolf. And so are Derek and Eric in there."

"Boys, get out here. We need to talk." The two wolves looked at the unconscious women below them, then at each other before they lowered their heads and pushed their way through the torn screen out of the tent. Marcus had retrieved the packs they had dropped at the top of the cliff face and reached in them to grab a couple pairs of shorts. He tossed them to them, the girls watched as they caught them then ran back until they were hidden by the canyon wall. A few moments later, the twins returned.

"Sorry, Doc. We smelled our mates and our wolves kind of took over." Derek looked sheepish, then continued. "We've talked to our Alpha, he's aware of the situation. He told us you are in charge and we are to do whatever you say."

"For now, I want you to stay here. Get that fire going so I have more light, and try not to scare the ladies any more than you already have."

Marcus turned and walked back to the tent. "As I said, I'm Doc Marcus. My friends Derek and Eric won't harm you, in fact I would appreciate it if you would go sit with them. They can explain some of what is going on. Meanwhile, I need one of you to give me a history on what happened to these girls."

Cheyenne huffed. "A couple of big fucking WOLVES bit the shit out of their shoulders!" She looked down, then looked again; the bites had already healed over, the blood had been licked clean. If it wasn't for the shiny scar tissue, they wouldn't have known they had been bitten just a few minutes ago. "What the..."

Marcus looked at her, hoping he could calm her down. "The girls are fine; the bites did not hurt them, in fact they will help them heal. I know it's difficult to handle, but it's best if we do it all in a few minutes after I'm done here. All right?"

She nodded, and Willow led her out to the fire ring. They were hugging each other as they went.

Marcus took a deep breath, happy that the scent of fear was starting to go away in the tent. Marcus knelt down between the two girls and felt for the pulses on their necks.

Josi moved forward out of the corner as he started to examine her friends. "I'm Josi, I've been caring for them."

He shook her hand.

"Yesterday afternoon we had just stopped, and the girls went to get some tanning done after the tents were set up. That was just before the sky got crazy." She looked down at her friends. "They weren't out there that long, maybe twenty minutes before they noticed they were burned, and I mean badly burned. Then Bethany," she pointed to her, "said she couldn't see anything. It wasn't long after that Britney's vision went too. We got them in the tent, tried to cool them down, but we don't have anything to treat these burns with. After dark they started running a high fever, then they were coughing up blood. It's bad... I'm worried about them."

Marcus gripped her shoulder. "You did well with what you have." He finished examining both of them. "The problem isn't just the sunburn, although that is pretty bad. The real issue is the radiation exposure. They are both suffering from radiation sickness."

"Radiation sickness? From what?" Josi looked shocked. "From the sky?"

"I think so. Whether it was a huge solar flare or an attack, the result is the same. The ozone layer is stripped away and radiation is streaming down from the heavens. Since they were in direct sunlight, they got it really bad. Radiation affects growing cells the most, so it has a big effect on the skin and the digestive system. How much time did the rest of you spend in the sun after the sky changed?"

"Only a minute or two, just long enough to get them to the tents. Our tent was set up in the afternoon shade."

Marcus looked at her face, eyes and arm. "That was fortuitous for you. The cliff walls shielded you from the worst of it." Taking his stethoscope out, he checked the girls again. Their condition had improved noticeably already, they weren't wheezing and they didn't cough up blood. "They are starting to heal now. I think the worst is over."

Josi looked at him. "How? You didn't do anything?"

"Their mates did." She looked at him like he had two heads. "Come on, we should all talk. They will be fine for a few minutes; I will hear if anything changes with them."

He led the way out to the fire, which the boys had stoked with fresh wood to provide more light and heat. He sat Josi on the log to his right, the other girls to his left while the twin boys sat across the fire. He could see that the other girls were checking them out, they were young, strong and good looking, but they didn't return any interest. Their eyes kept going back to the tent where the Killer B's were still resting.

Marcus looked at the group, they were not terrified but they weren't comfortable either. He figured he'd just come out with it. "As I said, my name is Dr. Marcus Mendez. My pregnant wife and daughter are at my home in Salmon. Let's get the introductions out of the way, shall we?" They went around the circle, giving their names and where they were from, and that's when he learned the girls were all close friends from their Girl Scout troop. Eric and Derek introduced themselves, they both worked as lumberjacks in the summer and as ski instructors in the winter.

Willow was first to bring up the questions. "Doc, what happened out there?"

"I was up at a clinic in North Fork, checking on a pregnant mom, when the lights went out. I'd seen TV shows on what an electromagnetic pulse attack could do, and that's what happened. Everything electronic fried, all power lost. When I saw the sky, I told everyone to head underground."

"Why underground?"

"Well, it doesn't matter if it was a nuclear weapon or a solar storm, both destroy the ozone layer and release large amounts of radiation. The loss of the ozone layer is what caused the girls to sunburn so badly, and the UV can affect the corneas resulting in temporary or permanent loss of vision. The radiation effects were more extensive. It attacked the mucous lining of their stomach and esophagus, and their lungs. The result was the bleeding you saw in their mouths. The fever was a result of the severe burns. You guys did well, given what you had."

"Are we going to be all right, Doc?" Cheyenne had a look of panic on her face.

"So far I don't see you with any symptoms, but we'll have to wait a few days to make sure. You did better than most." He looked at the fire. "Did you send anyone to help?"

Josi nodded. "Our guides, they left in the late afternoon."

Derek shook his head. "I'm sorry, they didn't make it. They walked off the road and fell down a cliff; we found them before we found you." The girls didn't take the news well. "I'm sorry, they probably lost their vision and didn't see where they were going. Anyone who stayed in the sunlight was in danger."

Josi started to cry. "I asked them to go... they are dead because of me."

Marcus shook his head. "You had no way to know. You did what you were trained, you treated the injured and sent for help." She leaned into his shoulder and started to cry softly; he put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. "Sometimes bad things just happen. Trust me, I know."

They all sat there for a few minutes before Josi sat up again. "So. The werewolf thing. Explain."

Marcus sighed. "All right, so you've seen that werewolves exist. There aren't a lot of us, and we went to great lengths to keep our existence quiet. My Pack in Salmon has 21 members, their Pack in North Fork about double that. We look like normal humans, we just have the ability to change into wolf form and back when we want."

Cheyenne looked at the three. "So you carry the Wolf Spirit inside you?"

"You might say that. Our wolf is a part of us; more primal, more instinctual but still us."

"So you don't lose control to your wolf and go attacking people?" Willow was staring at the twins.

Derek looked down at his feet. "No, we don't." He looked up again. "We found our mates, and they were hurt and in pain. Our wolves acted to help them, we could never hurt them, they are our everything." The girls were unconvinced. "You know wolves mate for life, right? Well, we believe that we have one other person out there who is our other half, our soul mate if you will. When we hit puberty, a scent was burned into our minds, the scent of our mate so we would recognize her and claim her. When we left last night, we weren't thinking of our mates; we were making sure Doc got home safe. When we got to the landing where you left from, we caught the scent of them. It was faint, but it was there. Our mates were out there on the water, and we knew it wasn't safe. We... uh... "