Chapter 3: W.O.L.F.P.A.C.K.
The WolfPack team lands in the haunted forest in Romania in search for the 12 Monkeys terrorist home base. The WolfPack encounters them and discovers something more sinister.
All eight of the WolfPack team members ride passenger in a large stealth military helicopter, excluding Em and the pilot who is manning the cockpit. Each soldier has come equipped with assorted weapons customized specifically for them. More importantly, they have been newly upgraded with the latest, most advanced, camouflage and telepathy tech. A military group enabled for such psychological dominance hasn’t been seen in this capacity since the roman days.
Getting close to their destination Shad calls to his team, “Listen up ladies and gentlemen! We’ve been honored with the task of infiltrating the 12 Monkeys complex and securing the location before they are able to carry out their most devastating attack. Failure of this mission involves the potential annihilation of all designated safe zones. Billions across the planet will die if we fail. Once we’re in that forest we will not allow ourselves to be caught off guard. There are countless stories of people getting confused, disappearing, or dying. This is going to be our most vital mission ever and we can’t take it lightly.”
https://youtu.be/Bl_HorXXpXY?t=2m50s
The group nods agreeing with his statement. Shad continues his speech waving his hands, “Civilization is in a state of panic right now. Imagine hordes of people lining up at safe zones around the world, trying to flee the chaos of the collapsing governments. This is giving rise to violence, and inviting anarchy in its darkest form. We now know that the 12 Monkeys have managed to insert nuclear warheads in or near countless bunkers. If they are able to operate any longer the death toll will be enormous. We are the best at what we do. We are WolfPack! Our job ladies and gentlemen! Is yet again, to save the world!”
With that, everyone in the group cheers a booming, “HOOOOHAAAA!!!!”
Shad moves up front next to Em and the helicopter pilot. He says to the pilot, “Alright Brody, land down there in that big circular clearing. That’s it, that’s the center of the Hoia-Baciu forest.”
Brody replies, “Don’t worry sir, with the stealth tech we have on board they will never know we’re coming.”
Cloaked by the night, the helicopter begins its descent deep into Romanian wildland.
Brody becomes agitated, commenting to Em, “I don’t like this. The closer we get the more interference I'm getting with my instruments. Look at this, nothing makes sense. I’m going to have to make a manual landing.”
During the landing descent they see dim lights in the distance which appear to be part of the 12 Monkeys base. Shad looks to Brody, then speaks, “After we exit I want you to circle around. Maybe you will see something that we won't. If anything happens, be ready to evac us.”
The WolfPack team exits the helicopter landing zone. It’s a strange large circle in the forest void of plants or any life. The helicopter dusts off when the team enters the first wave of trees. Shad calls to the woman to his left, “Tank, hang behind and cover our backs while we're in there.”
Without hesitation she pulls her Barrett .50 cal off her back, and takes a sniper's position behind them.
“Yes sir.” she replies.
The forest is dark, shaded from the moonlight. The strange feeling of being watched gives a collective ominous feeling to the group. With each passing minute they experience slight waves of nausea or dizziness. Although they refuse to mention it to each other, they can sense the collective feeling through the WolfChips.
Shad radio’s Arch back at command:
Shad: “Arch we’ve reached the forest line. No sign of life, over.”
Arch: “Roger that, proceed to the next objective, over.”
Shad: “Wilco Arch, out.”
Deeper in it becomes apparent there’s something, just not right with the vegetation. The trees are warped growing in a bowed fashion, and the tree stumps have a strange charring. A heavy mist clings to the ground getting thicker as they progress. Weapons drawn, they march through the forest towards the commune. They travel with the grace and silence of the darkness herself. With their armor concealing their presence, they move as if they are the living shadows of the forest, only to be revealed by the slivers of moonlight that slip past the thick cover of the trees above.
Each time they pass into a shadow they fade, then reappear in the moonlight looking as though they are jumping from shadow to shadow. Shad quickly maneuvers to the front of the group effortlessly. His team watches him pass, but in the dark of the forest he completely disappears making it hard for even them to follow. In contrast to Shad's team, tiny wisps of light emanate from his armor each time he shifts in between the moonlight and darkness. Only with the help of the WolfChips and the shimmering can the team even catch a glimpse of him.
The night is icy cold and deathly silent. Still no sounds of animal life can be detected. They maintain a healthy pace through the forest despite members of the party seemingly hallucinating faint lights flying through the trees. As soon as they think they see something, they do a double take, and the thing they thought they saw is gone. It’s frustrating for them, only making them more on edge.
The team stops simultaneously when Timber spots a polaroid picture nailed to a tree. The image telepathically transmits allowing each member to instantly see what he discovered. It’s an image of a suburban house, shot from the front yard. Just as quickly as Timber formed the question in his mind he received an answer from the hive mind.
Arctic can’t help but blurt it out non telepathically, “That’s my house! Why the hell is a picture of my house nailed to a tree in Romania!?”
“That’s not all.” says Husky pointing to more pictures nailed to nearby trees.
“One picture for each of us. It would seem, we were expected.” says Silverback.
“How do they know who we are?! We only just found out we were coming here!” exclaims Arctic.
“This means they know where our families are?!” questions Timber.
The thoughts of these images swarmed causing emotions to get out of control until a clear thought from Shad washed over them, “I’m not so sure they were expecting us.”
“Of course they are, they have pictures!” cries Arctic.
“Arch warned us about stuff like this. This place… You can feel it. It casts illusions in the mind. I don’t know if this is magic or what, but this isn’t real. Do you really think they know where our houses are? Of course not. We need to push forward.” Shad suddenly stops taking a knee.
Snow questions silently with the WolfChip, “What’s wrong?”
Shad replies in kind to the group, “I’m not sure… I’m hearing whispers. A female voice behind us. Don’t you guys hear that?”
They pause waiting in silence, straining their ears. Then without warning Shad vanishes in a flash of light. Thanks to their telepathy the team already knows exactly where he vanished to. They rush to a clearing several meters from where Shad was last positioned. Silverback reaches Shad first. He’s somewhat unresponsive in a state of shock. He has numerous wounds with fresh linear scratches like claw marks up his arms which had been protected by his nano armor. Shad’s armor quickly reacts by healing the wounds. After he recovered Silverback examines Shad's hand, questioning in a whisper, “What the hell was that? Did your armor glitch out?”
“No. That was something else. It felt like the wind just blew at me and pushed me across the clearing. How can something cut through my armor like that?!”
Snow chimes in, “Sir, I didn’t see anything like the wind. What I saw, well, for a split second before the flash I saw translucent hands reach from behind and pull you.”
Snow didn’t even need to finish his sentence before the image in his mind transmitted to the team. Husky’s thoughts reverberate through in response, “Holy that is some terrifying voodoo magic sheeiiit! Normally I’d be just fine thinking you guys are just seeing things in the dark, but now I get front row seats to what you guys see and feel.”
Snow replies in a sarcastic tone, “Now we collectively believe in ghosts. Juuust great.”
This paranormal phenomena creates a storm of conflicting thoughts blasting to and from the team. At first they came through as sarcastic jokes and laughter. Quickly though, the thoughts turn to an overwhelming fear. Fear bouncing and amplifying. Fear of ghosts, fear of the unknown, fear of the mission, fear of losing themselves in this deafening hive mind. Each member generating more into the collective. Their own thoughts, their own feelings, their own ideas. Each bit bouncing harder and harder and louder until each fleeting feeling becomes deafening shouts. Lastly the fear of being afraid manifests concentrating into taste, then color.
Once again Shad’s Alpha thought washes through all the others cleansing the loop, “Fear is the mind killer. Be calm comrades.”
The team falls to their knees nauseous but relieved. Shad speaks out loud this time, “Sorry guys. I needed a bit of time to figure out how the AlphaChip works. Em told me I’d have more control but it’s not like he gave me a manual.”
Tank thinks to the group, “Well I don’t know about you guys but I literally never want to taste fear again. What was that onion mixed with motor oil?”
Husky replies, “And that dark purple metallic after taste.”
With faces of disgust the seven other members all echo with a resounding “Yep.”
“Don’t worry guys I won’t let something like that happen again. I’m in control now.” says Shad, taking control of the thought comm. “Let this be an indicator of what we’re dealing with here. These are not tricks, this place is dangerous, our enemy is dangerous. This enemy has been hiding in the shadows for too long. We will not be taken by surprise by whatever they throw at us, and we will not fail this mission. We are the team that can accomplish anything. Now let's finish this!”
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Quickly they find the edge of the forest. The trees open up allowing the team to see the 12 Monkeys HQ in more detail. First thing they notice is the large Dracula-like castle looming above the smaller huts surrounding it. After getting off the radio with Arch, Shad telepathically communicates to the team, “We’re go-ahead for inner-cordon. Weapons free. Take control of the smaller structures first. Then we’ll converge on the castle.”
The WolfPack spreads through the perimeter with grace. Systematically they secure the huts looking for the 12 Monkeys members.
“In position, over.”
“Moving in for entry, over.”
“Clear!”
“Clear!”
Shad looks back at the path they came up. A large muscular man carrying a minigun waddles his way up the path. Shad waves to him sending a thought comm, “Hurry up Husky. Try to keep up.”
“You try to keep up while hauling this thing without special super armor.” he replies aloud panting and with a bit of sarcasm.
After a dozen more buildings cleared and nothing found, Shad pauses sending a thought comm to his team, “Something’s not right. It's too quiet out here... It has been since we got here. I mean just listen… It’s pure silence. I don't hear any crickets. I don't hear any sign of life at all. Tank, do you have eyes?”
“Nothing yet sir.”
Shad radios to Brody, “Do you guys have eyes on anything?”
“I’m having trouble picking anything up on the sensors. I can’t get too close or else the electronics get scrambled. I might as well be flying blind here. I’m not seeing anything with any of the sensors. No animal life, no nothing. They must be hiding in the castle.”
The members of the WolfPack stop. Shad comms again, “Everyone converge on the castle.”
With the order Shad becomes stunned, his vision blurs. A 12 Monkey cultist dressed in a red hooded robe bursts through the castle door. He thrusts his hands up while murmuring a strange language, “Muri in groapa de sarpe!”
Shad’s suddenly weightless falling down a vertical pit. He lands with a hard thud with the impact lessened by his armor. Confused, he checks his body for broken bones. I must have fallen forty feet. What the hell just happened!??
“I know this sounds crazy, but I swear that guy just cast a spell!” comms Arctic.
“It’s an ambush guys! More are materializing around you!” comms Tank from her sniper position.
Shad’s attention quickly turns to the venomous snakes materializing in the pit. With hisses they lash out exposing their teeth. They successfully bite Shad, but his armor is too thick to penetrate. He pulls out his knives slashing the snakes. Timber arrives at the pit within moments, “Take my hand I’ll pull you out!” he calls, extending his arm down to Shad.
Another cultist materializes next to the pit. He shouts, “Mingea de flacara!” A terrible flash produces a red hot fireball in his hands. He thrusts it at Timber, igniting his shoulder. Without skipping a beat Snow pulls out his automatic shotgun countering the assailant. He blasts the cultist away with one shot. Timber rapidly completes a stop, drop, and roll motion before steadying himself.
Shad sends a thought comm to the team, “I’ll figure something out. You guys need to fall back into the darkness and regroup for the counteroffensive. Arctic tried to argue but found that she couldn’t due to the WolfChip. More red robed cultists continue to materialize throughout the encampment as the team retreats into the shadows of the forest.
Shad attempts to climb out of the pit but stops when he hears a couple voices of the enemy approaching. Knowing that if he gets out now he will be killed on the spot. Instead he decides to rely on the power of his armor and take cover in the dark. He lays down pulling his hood over and covers himself with snake corpses. The assalents approach the trap aiming their flashlights down onto Shad.
His armor changes into the perfect camouflage. They look into the pit, yet all they find are slithering snakes. The armor had not only concealed his presence, but also made the snakes appear to be alive. The armor taking the initiative, responded to his subconscious creating a deterrent for his enemies.
The two cultists begin to bicker amongst themselves. Through their argument they keep shining their lights back into the pit in disbelief. Shad was sure if translated the argument went something like:
“There’s no one in there, let's go.”
“No, I know I caught someone in there. I know it!”
“You’re obviously an idiot. There’s nobody in there. Look for yourself!”
The pair, frustrated having found nothing, ultimately decide to leave continuing their hunt for WolfPack members. Shad remains frozen still cautious of straggling assailants. He allows his pulse to settle before slowly raising and letting his camouflage flow down from his shoulders. Having an idea, he uses the flat of his blades to milk several of the dead snakes. He discovers an odd reaction. His blades make a sizzling sound and produce a bit of vapor.
Did the nanobots travel it to my blades? Are they absorbing the poison?
With venom dripping at his sides, he coils his leg muscles readying himself to jump. He feels the tension in his legs rise as the nanobots strain his muscles to their limits. With a sudden release he shoots halfway up the pit wall. He slides down the dirt wall hard into the ground, gnashing his teeth on impact.
Dazed and more determined he tries again with a running start. Once halfway up the wall he kicks. The force sends him soaring up allowing him to clear the mouth of the trap. He lands after successfully pulling off an incredible backflip. Shaken from the exertion he stumbles before regaining his balance. A few meters away a surprised assailant awkwardly tries to stutter a spell, “Mm Min, Mingea de -”
His words are cut short as an electrifying crack shakes the air next to Shad’s head. Shad turns to see his enemy, standing too close for comfort, life fading from his eyes. After what feels like an eternity he finally crumbles to the ground. Shad spins his head, but before the need to even ask what happened he receives a flood of information from his team’s hive mind.
Tank’s voice echoes in Shad’s head, “You’re covered sir. I found a pretty good overlook of the area. You need to make your way down the path then take a right.”
Shad has a waking vision where he can see from the eyes of his team. They are gathering on the north side of the compound about a half klick from his position. Despite the cultists ability to seemingly materialize out of thin air the WolfPack has been easily dealing with surprise attacks due to their superior telepathy and camouflage. Their minds acting as one, covering any blind spots. The confused enemy has resorted to spreading out to try and find their prey.
Seems they weren’t ready for our type of magic. Shad thinks to himself.
Following the sounds of scattered gunfire Shad follows the path discovering a group of five cultists. Thinking tactically he sticks to the shadows. His armor changes to a piercing vantablack. He maneuvers past them effortlessly. He thinks to himself, Well that was too easy. This armor upgrade is really top notch. I might as well take them out now.
Inaudibly he advances behind the group of insurgents. Now moving out of the shadows his armor reacts. His form fades into view, allowing his skull mask to be the first thing seen. One of the men points panicking, “O fantoma!”
Shad commences his attack pulling out his combat knives. In a rush of melee moves he quickly knocks them to the ground. He stabs them with his venom infused blades. Immediately they start to convulse or become paralyzed.
What the hell kind of venom combo is this?
A sharp pain pierces his mind. What?! What just happened? Timber? He clutches his head sensing Timber has been injured. Shad focuses using the WolfChip to see the battle through his comrades' eyes. Timber is badly hurt. One of the dark magicians had summoned a giant worm-like creature. Once Timber stepped into the wrong spot the creature released its trap. It sprung out of the ground exposing its thousands of teeth. Its large circular mouth clamped down onto Timber’s foot. Using the motion of a snake it swiftly began to lurch up his leg. With each lurch hundreds of large teeth slice into his leg locking into place.
With each pull to get free the teeth act as a chinese trap slicing deeper into Timber’s leg. Grey and Silverback promptly arrive on scene with guns a blazing. Both unloading their dual uzis, Silverback annihilating the cultist, Grey killing the worm creature.
Timber howls out in pain, “You shot my leg too!”
The conversation switches to a much faster thought communication. Grey points to his temple, “I feel your pain. No literally I’m feeling it now, and if you know my thoughts and I know yours, then you realize that you are going to bleed out before we get that thing off you.”
“No! You can’t take my leg!”
“Too late, it's already lost.”
Silverback applies a tourniquet to Timbers leg while Grey pulls his samurai sword from his back. Grey readies, then in one fell swoop severs his leg releasing him from the creature's hold. The pain was blinding to the team. Once again Shad’s Alpha thought kicks in.
Sleep Timber, sleep…
Shad reaches the rest of the group sending a thought comm, “What’s the SITREP?”
Arctic replies, “Tank has been picking off the ones who have been foolish enough to stay out in the open. We’ve already cleared the castle. We believe we’ve been able to neutralize most of the cultists. We found if we can stop them from speaking or using their hands then they can’t use their magic. The rest dematerialized once they realized they couldn’t see us and we took control. We captured some of the men, including one we think is in charge. He’s gagged and bound him in the basement of the building behind you.”
Shad turns heading to the building. He can hear groans echoing from inside. He opens the door to see Timber placed on a table. Arctic is struggling to keep him still while she bandages his leg. Shad moves closer in support. She stops him motioning for him to go downstairs.
“Don’t worry I’ll take care of him. Grey is down stairs waiting for you.” she says.
Shad nods without saying a word. Before going down to the basement Shad closes his eyes to peer through Grey’s. He’s in a dark room lit by a lone dangling light. Only good for storage, the room contains empty shelves on a dirt floor, and a large safe door towards the back. Grey stands guard in front of a man in a red robe bound to a chair with tape over his mouth. Grey rips the tape off of the prisoner's mouth before interrogating.
“Who are you? Tell me your plan!”
“Nu-ti voi spune nimic!” replies the prisoner in Romanian.
Grey slaps the man, “I know you speak english. I heard you speaking it earlier. Now who do you work for!?”
Bound and hopeless, the prisoner uses the only ability he has, silence. Shad slowly opens the door leading down. The wooden stairs groan from the pressure of his steps. Despite the sound Shad enters the room undetected by the prisoner. The poor lighting conditions allow Shad’s suit to disappear against the wall. Grey, slightly surprised by the fact that even though he knew Shad entered the room, never saw him come in.
“Who do you work for?!” questions Grey once again with a bit more force.
Again the man remains strong in his commitment to silence. Shad sends a thought comm to Grey.
“I’ll handle this.”
Grey whispers in the prisoner's ear with a bit of anger, “You think your group is considered the ghosts of this world? You haven't seen anything yet. You better start talking now while you can. Our captain will be here shortly to deal with you...”
“I’m not scared of you or your captain!” retorts the prisoner in english.
Grey leaves up the stairs slamming the door behind him. The bound man looks around the room for an escape. He strains his arms in an attempt to squeeze free. No use, it's too tight. Footfalls echo off the walls. Unnerved he feels a falling sensation in his stomach. Shad approaches, still fully cloaked. A black silhouette of a man slowly forms in front of the prisoner. Shad reaches out touching the bound hands.
“What the! What the hell! Who’s there?!” yells the panicked man.
Shad’s ghostly skull mask slowly forms into focus inches in front of his face.
Shad whispers, “What’s the matter? You look as though you’ve seen a ghost.”
The man struggles to break free. He screams, shaking his head back and forth forcing his eyes shut. Shad continues in a whisper, “Do you know what kind of snakes are in the magically appearing pit, how do you say, something, groapa de sarpe? Ah ha, your look says it all. It just so happens that I infused their poison onto my blades. Now can you tell me what the effect would be if the poison entered your bloodstream?”
“No! No! Don’t do that! That’s a torturous, painful death! Let me go and I’ll tell you what you want!”
“Oh now you want to talk? I will haunt your dreams. Just to make sure you are going to give me everything we need to know… Here!”
From the silhouette in the darkness rises Shad’s blade, “If I am not satisfied with your answers I won't save you.” says Shad in an even lower whisper.
Shad uses his blade to cut a deep incision down the prisoner’s face. The man screams out in horror. Shad’s black figure shimmers back into the darkness.
“Where did you get your nuclear weapons?!” questions Shad harshly.
The prisoner tries to answer but sounds like he’s already falling under the spell of the poison, “We- We were able to acquire the- Them over time. Most of our resources came from- We purchased them from falling governments. When Soviet Russia’s economy- Their weapons were sold to the highest bidder. We have a stockpile of nerve agent also. In one of our warehouses that we haven't used yet. Now please untie my hands so I can reverse the poison!!”
“Honestly I’m surprised you haven’t fallen into a full paralytic state. The other guys I used my knives on went down instantly. Now stop wasting both of our time and tell me what I need to know! Where are the locations of the nukes?!”
“We infiltrated- We placed them- snuck them in with the construction of the bunkers. All around the world! In every country! It’s too late! Please now!”
“No! Tell me how to stop the bombs from going off!”
“There isn’t a way! It’s too late!”
“What do you mean there isn’t a way?!”
“It’s all auh- Automatic they- They are on a timer, there’s nothing you can do!”
The man hysterically breaks down in a combination of laughter and sobs. The side of his face becomes numb giving the appearance that he’s having a stroke. Shad holds his knife to the man's other cheek interrogating, “You’re holding out! What are you not telling me!?”
The prisoner glances over at the large safe door to his right. He gasps a couple gulps of air, then looks back at the dark figure in front of him, still not able to see him fully.
“Yes- Yes there is no way to stop the bombs in time. That’s it, they are set to go off in maybe an- an hour- synchronized around the world. But I will give you our secret! Our most valuable secret! It’s- It’s through the door to my right, in the room, is our history, our knowledge. That is our most sacred treasure- and- and the true reason for our existence, our power! The combination is six, six, seven, eight, three, three, nine. There! I gave you our most precious secret! Now please let me go!”
Shad slowly fades into view walking towards the door. The hopelessly bound man screams, “Hey you- you said you would let me go if I told you everything I know!”
“No.. I said if I was satisfied with your answer then I would save you. I am not satisfied in the least bit.”
Shad turns off the light then enters the safe leaving the man to himself. The prisoner turns hysterical. He’s just laughing, sobbing, already feeling the effects of the poison, utterly abandoned, and destined to die. Shad flips on the lights discovering a bookshelf full of dusty books, and a desk with three large ancient stone tablets on top. The tablets portray etched images of something that could only be described as demonic. The closest tablet depicts an altar with a child atop. The next, the child with a demon floating above it. Lastly an image of what looks like the boy transforming into a giant monster. Shad sends a thought comm to his team, “Keep guard, I need to investigate further.”