บท 38: Belong to me
The road to the National park took about an hour from Greg's place, and with every minute there were more and more questions spinning in his head. What was Lana doing in this wilderness at night? And together with the children too? There should be some explanation to it, but nothing adequate come to mind. He found Martin in a car near the main entrance. It was already dark, and the gray, inconspicuous vehicle blended into the background perfectly. The face of Martin was gloomy, which was entirely in line with Greg's mood.
" So?"
" Nothing new. This situation is freaking me out. I saw a couple of cars driving in, but no matter from which entrance I tried, they chase me away each time. It looks like a private party or a gathering of some sort, but who would meet at night in the park? And why did your girl go there?" - He shrugged his shoulders, expressing overall bewilderment.
"Did you say the security here is at the highest level?" - Greg decided not to waste time on unnecessary questions.
" Well yes. But you know, nothing is impossible. It is a child play compared to some places back in the military... " - said Martin with confidence, - "Do you want to get in there?"
"Of course we're getting in!!!" - Tony exclaimed coming over after Greg. He was radiating with enthusiasm. Martin and Greg exchanged glances. They both were not happy about Tony's presence here, but it was impossible to convince this person to refuse participation in any adventure.
"Okay, but you'll stay behind. We do not know what's there." - Greg finally decided moving forward.
" OK OK. Mum. I will behave well." - Tony said with a playful bow.
They went around the Park and found a secluded spot, ideal for braking in. Fortunately, Martin was that kind of man in whose car trunk you can find everything from the rope to the bags for the corpses. Just in case. So it was no surprise to discover gadgets that allowed them to locally cut off part of the grid from the voltage and block the motion sensors, and some cutters to complete the task.
The thick forest began immediately from the fence. Greg mentally thanked the Almighty for the fact that it was a moonlit night and the thick branches gave way to the light to break through to the bottom of the trees. While Martin was working on the fence, Greg managed to get a few pictures from the satellite of the entire park area, so the first goal for them was to quietly make their way to the nearest cluster of buildings in the south. Even Tony, inspired by a general mood, padded without a sound, scanning surrounding. But he couldn't keep it up for long. Not talking was like a torture to Tony. It took him fifty minutes to exhaust his limits and caught up with Greg.
"Listen, what if they just went for some quiet family trip, and are sleeping now somewhere in a tent or roasting sausages by the fire? And we're panicking here. It' can turn out quite silly." - he whispered.
"I would very much like it to be so. Only the thing is, it's prohibited to camp or make fires on the territory of the Park." - Greg said tensely. He had already spent the past hour picking up all possible and impossible options in his head. Maybe they got it all wrong? Perhaps there is nothing in this. If it turns out that there is a simple and logical explanation, then he will surely feel like a fool. And what will he tell Lana? She will immediately guess that he put a tail on her, How else he found out where she went?
"We'll just make sure everything's all right and go home." - Greg said making a final decision.
"Greg, by the way, did you try calling her first?" - Tony asked casually.
This common question made Greg stumble. Call ... He didn't think about it.
Instead, all this month, everything that was connected with Lana completely knocked him out of his usual pace. Every time he saw her, he was either irrational, angry or horny. Or all three at the same time. Not really the best stat of mind. He didn't even think about asking for her phone number.
Greg tried to make his face as neutral as possible in the hope that Tony would give it up. But his friend won the most in poker between them not only because of his luck. As soon as Tony looked at Greg's face, his eyes narrowed. The man paused and looked at his friend questioningly.
"Greg?"
"You called her and asked her where she is, right?"
"Tony, what do you care if I called or not?"
"Uh ... Maybe because, as soon as you call her, she'll explain everything to you. And we won't have to skulk around the woods in the middle of the night like a group of stalkers."
"I had my reasons not to call her," - Greg snapped.
"Can I ask what reasons?" - Tony persisted.
" No!"
"Greg, is that you? Where did you hide my cynical, calculating friend who didn't even recognize his girls by names?" - Tony was horrified.
Greg stopped and looked directly into his friend's eyes.
"Tony, listen, we've known each other for more than ten years. And maybe now it looks hilarious and silly to you. But not to me. I don't care if we find them now and it turns out that they were sitting around the fire all the time and singing Kumbaya to the guitar. Because in any case, I will know for sure that they are okay. Call it madness. But no matter how cynical and selfish I was, I always care about things and people who belong to me."
Tony looked closely at his friend's face, trying to find something. He had never seen Greg like this before. Something new appeared in the eyes. As if in the depths of it there was a new flame and in the light of the moon the man no longer looked like a polished businessman, but rather a predator, dangerous and powerful.
The sudden warning shout of Martin made them turn around. He was walking in the rare and now stood two steps from them, listening intently.
" What happened?" - Greg asked, looking at Martin.
"I heard rustling in the bushes and maybe growl?" - Whispered the security man, peering into the distant. Tony wanted to say something, but Greg shut him with a gesture and urging him closer, bend down to pull out an army knife that he always cared in a secret sheath on his ankle. He just started to straighten up, as a big beast jumped out of the bushes a little to the left and rushed straight to them. He didn't even realize at first that it was a wolf, so massive was the beast.
Then everything happened as in slow motion. Combat training did not fail him, and Greg instinctively took the stance, looking for the best place to strike, ready to take on this thing. Another second and the beast leaped. Greg prepared for the collision, but the weight of the animal was much more than he expected. And though the knife plunged in somewhere between the ribs, the wolf knocked him down. Greg felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. The predator still got his teeth in his flesh. But he wasn't going to give up that easy. Greg kicked the body of the beast that was pinning him down with his knee, managed to pull out the knife and stab it again, feeling the sticky, warm blood between his fingers.
At the same time, the quiet was ripped first by one, and then by a second shot. The wolf howled and jumped aside, freeing Greg. Not paying attention to the pain, he immediately rolled away and tried to stand up, assessing the situation.
Martin stood nearby, clutching a pistol in one hand, and an impressive machete in the other. Where the hell he was hiding it? Directly opposite him on the paws rose the second wolf no less in size than the one who now stood with a menacing growl near Greg. Tony, on the other hand, held a little behind with a usual smile plastered to his face. His arms were outstretched in each wolf's direction and there were two guns in each of it. Judging by the haze from the barrel, it was he who shot. Even Tony's relaxed pose said that he was doing it not for the first time.
But Greg did not have time to wonder, his opponent again ducked to the ground, ready to pounce. Seeing this Tony shot three more bullets into the side of the animal without aiming. But the wolf appeared not to feel it, only slightly swaying and immediately rushed to Greg.
He was already prepared to meet the predator, although the pain in his shoulder became more unbearable with every second. At the last moment, when Greg had already lifted his hand with a knife to strike, something white burst into his field of vision.
Another wolf, much smaller in size, literally knocked down his attacker body in motion. They rolled, clinging to each other, growling and scratching.
Following this white beast, two more black wolves leaped from the bushes. One, a little bigger, immediately rushed to the gray wolf who had already sunk his teeth into Martin. The other, the smallest, but still almost the same size as a normal wolf, began to spin around white and brown beasts, who was the wriggling on the ground. Losing no time, Greg turned to his companions. Tony ran to Martin and now dragged him further away to the trees. Greg followed, now and then looking back at the fighting wolves.
Tony managed to hide his pistols and now hastily tried to bandage Martin's wounded forearm. The security man only gritted his teeth, watching the battle between predators from the corner of his eye.
"Greg, we must go." - Tony said shortly over his shoulder. - "Martin can have an artery torn; blood does not stop. While these are busy, we must escape."
Greg turned around again. Their unexpected allies were clearly no match to the two attackers. Something didn't let him just walk away. A squeal full of the pain of a white wolf slashed his heart, in reply to it a smaller wolf, actually still a puppy, rushed to the brown one, trying to save his kinsman.
"Tony, give me Martin's weapon and drag him to the car. I'll follow you shortly, " - Greg ordered. Tony turned around, not understanding what his friend was up to.
"Hell, Greg, your whole shoulder is bloody." - Noticing Greg's wounds, Tony immediately jumped to his feet, but Greg did not let him get close.
"Tony, I said go. Now! I'll deal." - He snapped in a tone that didn't allow any protest. Anthony stopped, staring at his friend, then took out both his guns and handed it to Greg.
"You have five minutes. If I do not hear you catching up to us, then I'll come back for you and Martin will lose more blood than he can afford." - Tony minted and no longer uttering a word, headed back to the wounded comrade.
Greg picked up the weapon more comfortably. The left shoulder and hand began to grow numb, and the fingers did not obey him well. Two contradictions seemed to clash in my head. The voice of reason shouted that it was necessary to leave, but something else said that he must help, that it was impossible to leave them like this.
In the meadow in the meantime, the confrontation continued. The bigger black wolf and the gray one could not figure out who was stronger. Both were weakened, but the gray one was also shot by Tony and Martin managed to cut his back a couple of times. Greg did not cease to marvel at the strength and endurance of these massive beasts. What kind of wolves are these? Black was also wounded, but not as much as the opponent. Although he looked much younger and not as massive as his enemy, he was evidently much smarter. Noticing the shaking of the other wolf's legs, he abruptly changed tactics and began circling him, exhausting, confusing and, moreover, and at a time seizing a moment to bit into the paw or tail.
Greg left them, seeing that the black was coping well, but the white wolf had almost given up. On a surprisingly light fur, here and there, there were large spots of blood. The she-Wolf, as Greg immediately realized, fought with the last strength. The brown wolf seemed not to notice many wounds and attacked furiously again and again. The black puppy still somehow distracted attention, but it jumped too close and each time risked getting hit. As if reading Greg's thoughts, the brown beast seized an opportunity and at the last moment chomped at this puppy's hind leg. A painful howl cut through the forest. Without realizing the reason for rolling anger, Greg picked up both guns and shot the brown wolf again and again. Two bullets pierced the chest and neck, one passed by, only hitting the ear slightly, but the latter got straight into beast's muzzle, forcing the wolf's head to swing back and release the unfortunate wolf kid from the jaws. Hulting only for a second, the wolf swayed and fell to the ground.
All around froze. Even the fighting pair bounced off from each other and stared in astonishment at the defeated wolf. The silence was broken by half squeal half bark from the pup, it did not hesitate to fly up to Greg and squeeze into his feet. Grey one at the same time jumped aside and disappeared into the bushes.
The white she-wolf struggled to her feet and looked first at her black ally, as if trying to make sure he is alright and then headed to Greg, too. He watched in wonder at this beautiful animal. Only now Greg started feel dizzy. He tried to shake himself, but the world around him lurched at the sudden movement, and the ground rushed towards him. Through a viscous fog, he somehow felt someone's hands catching him and Lana's soft voice, calling his name.
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