In My Time of Need - Chapter 8
#11 of In My Time of Need
Chapter 8! :)
Good evening/morning/whenever my furs! It's time for the next installment of In My Time of Need! I would call it the new story but the new new story will be starting tomorrow so this story will affectionately be known as "the second story" from now on. I meant to have this up yesterday but surprisingly I ran into a bit of writer's block last night which led to the delay, but I was happy with how the chapter turned out anyways. But yes, I have the chapter here for you guys ready to read. Hope you enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom of the page! :D
"That wasn't your fault, you know that right?" I said quietly. The shepherd was silent, his vision pointed towards the cement ground. I bit my lip slightly before recalling the conversation we'd had earlier. "You know... I wouldn't mind taking that walk you offered earlier, help get my mind off things." I added hesitantly. Finally after a few more moments of silence Baron lifted his amber gaze to meet mine and nodded.
"Yeah, of course." He replied, getting up from his sitting position to join me in the doorway. I stepped out and nodded to Roy who was still stationed outside the door.
"We're going to walk around for a bit, make sure everybody gets some rest." Baron said to the older brown wolf who nodded in response, walking back down the hallway and around the corner. The laboratory was silent with the exception of the echoing voices of the group bouncing off the cement structure and the clicking of our nails as we walked around.
We stopped at one of the doors near the middle of the building that I recognized as the warden's office. Thankfully it wasn't locked, but the slightly musty scent lingering in the room told me that it had been a couple days since anyone had been in there.
"This was the warden's office, not my first time in here for sure. Every time I acted up or refused something during an experiment I was brought here. They usually threatened to do something to my brother if I didn't comply, knowing that was my weak spot." I informed Baron as I dug through one of the drawers on the desk for anything that could be of use.
When I got no response I lifted my head from behind the desk to find the shepherd flipping through a vanilla folder he'd picked out of one of the metal cabinets. Based off his facial expression I could tell whose it was but I joined him in looking through my file anyways.
"Most of the experiments were minor and had no side effects, most of the time it was just me trying different medications to see what I would react to. The worst thing that came from it was when I had some kind of allergic reaction to one of them and my throat swelled up which wasn't even that bad." I told him. While he continued flipping through the folder I did my own searching, sighing when I realized that my brother's folder wasn't there. "They must have taken his folder, it's not in here." I said sadly.
"Hey, is this you when you were younger?" Baron asked. He pulled out a small photograph, turning it around so I could see it properly. My heart clenched at the photo, it turned out to be a fairly recent picture of my brother who had striking resemblance to me.
"No... that's my brother." I replied, gently removing the picture from his paw.
"He looks just like you. Why was it in your file?" He asked curiously.
"Likely just for association purposes, I'm glad you found this though." I answered, still staring at the picture. He slid the file back into the cabinet before closing it. I followed him out of the room, and I winced slightly as I watched him close the door with as much care as possible.
"You don't have to do that, I'm fine now that I'm in." I informed him. He turned and smiled gently at me.
"I know you are, I wanted to though." He replied before facing his attention back to the hallway. We slowly passed by the unoccupied cells, the emptiness was slightly unnerving but I pushed through nonetheless. Finally as we turned a familiar corner I recognized the experimenting room causing me to freeze in my tracks, paralyzed with fear.
I backed up slowly, and I yelped slightly when I bumped into the tall shepherd behind me. He rested a furred paw on my shoulder and squeezed reassuringly causing me to glance back at him gratefully before moving forward once again. Baron guided me passed the room that brought back such awful memories with a paw resting on my upper back.
As we continued through the laboratory I couldn't help but feel safe with the hefty shepherd guiding me along. I recognized my cell as we passed by it, the bed still the same as I'd left it on the day of the escape, light blanket pooled at the bottom of the cot.
"Oh hey, the recess room. One of the only rooms in the place that doesn't give me nightmares." I joked darkly. I decided to step inside for a moment just to relive a few memories when the sound of foot fall echoing down the hall grabbed my attention.
"Hey Baron? Where did Aubrey say those tracks were again?" I poked my head out of the room to see Roy approaching us, apprehension etched across his face.
"Northwest why, what's wrong?" The shepherd replied.
"Baron, there are no tracks there. All the snow melted and the tracks are completely gone." The brown wolf informed us. Whatever hope I'd build up was destroyed at his statement, my drooping demeanor was evidence enough of the face.
"W-what?" The question was laced with a sorrowful whine. Roy's gaze flicked over Baron's shoulder to me still standing in the doorway.
"Nathan... I'm sorry. The tracks are gone. We walked a couple hundred feet ahead to see if they'd just faded around the building but the grass has already started to grow over where the tracks would have been." The wolf explained. I could only stare at him, silently begging that this was some extremely cruel joke.
I let my head drop sullenly, the tears already dripping off the tip of my muzzle onto the cold cement floor. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Baron begin walking steadily down the hallway past the wolf who stepped aside. He offered a pitiful glance my way before taking off after the shepherd.
I decided after a few moments it would be best if I followed, lest someone have to come searching for me and risk getting lost. I slowly made my way back to the exit taking note that everyone had already cleared out of the building. I stepped into the sunlight that had fought its way through the overcast sky.
Glancing left I found the group standing off a number of yards ahead. Delilah was standing off to the side by herself and I decided it would be best to talk to her first. I walked up to stand next to her and she rested a tan furred arm across my shoulders once I was close.
"Not all hope is lost yet Nathan, we might have gotten lucky." The lioness started. "The snowfall that we had yesterday helped to cement the grass trails that were plowed over by the trucks that they used to escape." She continued, pointing off in the distance where the grasses on the plain grew higher. "With any luck, we should be able to follow the trail of grass. The only problem is once the grass recedes again we'll have to guess whether or not they changed directions to try to throw us off the trail." She finished, clenching my shoulder reassuringly. I nodded, praying that we would be track them. "Let's go join them, won't be long before we're moving again." She exclaimed.
"I thought we were staying here for the rest of the day." I commented as we approached the group.
"Change of plans, Baron wants to keep moving in case it snows overnight again." She informed me. "
Good thing I brought my sleeping bag." I commented. "Don't get too ahead of yourself, it's not your sleeping bag. It's a two person bag, share body heat to stay warm during the cold nights." She explained.
"Is there some kind of selection process...?" I asked hesitantly.
"Find your favorite cuddle buddy. Roy and I already agreed to share, so that leaves Jen, Perry, and Baron of course. Not sure how fond you are of being in close contact with guys, but then again Jen is a snorer so you might be better off asking one of the guys. Personally I would just ask Baron, I doubt he would say no and he has fur unlike Perry which'll make it much warmer." She exclaimed, adding a wink at the end for good measure.
"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." I said quietly, secretly nervous about asking Baron such an awkward question. Baron and Roy were once again discussing the next course of action as we rejoined the group, but the shepherd literally pulled me into the conversation by lightly grabbing hold of my wrist and tugging me next to him.
"Alright so the situation isn't as bad as it might seem." He told me.
"I know, Delilah explained most of it." I replied, throwing my head over my shoulder in the general direction the lioness had gone.
"Alright then, we shouldn't stay here for too much longer, I want to get moving again." He responded, nodding to Roy and I before addressing the rest of the group with his plans as well. A few minutes later we were on the move again and the further we got from the lab the better my mood seemed to get.
I decided to set aside the sleeping arrangement question for later when it really mattered, delaying the inevitable as long as I could. I'd decided to bring up the rear once again for the group, but upon seeing the otter waddling a few feet in front of me I figured I'd try to make small talk since the only talking we'd really done was during the panic attack.
"Hey, Perry right?" I began once I'd caught up to him. I was nearly a foot taller than him so he had to tilt his head upwards to address me.
"Yep, that's me. You doing okay, kinda scary moment back at the lab." He replied.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Not the first one I've had, although it has been a while. I didn't take you as somebody who would know what to do for that." I commented curiously.
"I used to be a paramedic, just something I picked up along the way. One of the only reasons they sent me on this mission because I know how to treat most minor and major injuries." He responded.
"Well I'm glad you came along." I told him.
"Hey thanks. So have you figured out who you're gonna stay with tonight?" He asked me.
"Not really. Delilah already told me she's sleeping with Roy so that leave me, you, Baron, and Jen." I informed him.
He grunted in response, "Well I'll do you a favor this time around and take Jen, you won't get any sleep if you're with her. Although I will warn you, Baron is a cuddler, hope you're into that kind of stuff. He might be a tough nut on the outside, but he's a real softie inside. He rarely shows that side to anybody though." Perry commented casually.
"Good to know, thanks." I replied, mind swirling at the otter's remark. I could feel the butterflies stirring in my stomach at the idea of being in such close contact with the shepherd once again, but they were good butterflies as far as I could tell. I let myself drift back to the end of the line where I was left to my own thoughts once again.
The rest of the trip was silent with the exception of the short breaks we took where everybody chatted lightly. Once the sun started to go down Baron finally made the decision to call it a night. We were still in the middle of the plains where the wind was free to flow as at liked, making for a very cold night ahead.
Roy dug a premade fire kit from his bag and set it up in a spot where less grass was growing. The last thing we wanted to do was set the field on fire, and with the dry conditions it wouldn't be difficult to do. I found it a bit odd when we began passing around a hare that had been freshly cooked, unsure what I was supposed to do with it.
"Take a bite and pass it on, this is dinner." Delilah explained, licking her chops hungrily at the grey rabbit. I stared at the hare hesitantly before taking a chunk out of it and passing it to the lioness who promptly did the same. We each were able to get another small bite out of the hare before it was gone, leaving me strangely unsatisfied but I ignored it knowing that would be the norm for the next few days. I could gorge when I knew my brother was safe.
We all sat around the fire chatting with one another, sharing stories about the times before the virus. Roy and Delilah did most of the talking since everyone else was younger and didn't have very many memories of before.
I felt like a child again listening attentively and absorbing every detail they had to add in, doing my best to visualize what it would have been like. I had brief memories now and then of what I looked like before the fur came along, but they were so vague that I wasn't sure if they were true or not.
Finally once the cold was simply too much to bear any longer Roy and Delilah retreated to their sleeping bag, as did Jen and Perry, leaving Baron and I as the only ones left.
"Well, looks like we're sharing, hope you don't mind." He commented with a chuckle.
"Not like we haven't shared a bed before." I replied grinning, remembering the morning before when they'd gotten warm under the blankets.
"True, but sleeping is different than being awake. How do you feel about spooning?" He asked casually. I'd heard the term used before but I was still unclear on the concept of it, so I shrugged my shoulders in response.
"I've never done it so I wouldn't know what it's like." I confessed.
"That's okay, we don't have do if you don't want. Back to back is comfortable too, just not as warm." He replied, a hint of disappointment creeping into his voice.
"I never said I didn't want to try it silly." I said matter-of-factly, bopping the end of his nose.
"Hey that stings! My nose is cold!" He remarked, though his tail thumping against the cold ground alerted me that he was just joking around.
"Come on, it's freezing out here." I told him, crawling to the sleeping bag stationed a couple feet away. I undid the zipper and slid inside, joined quickly by the german shepherd who was lying face to face with me. I blushed at the close contact; it was certainly going to be a warm night. "So... how does this work?" I asked hesitantly.
"Well, since I'm bigger that means I'll be the big spoon, and you're the little spoon." He explained.
"So what do I do?" I questioned, still somewhat confused.
"Just roll over on your other side." He instructed. I nodded and did as he told me. Once I was in position I blushed again as his strong arms pulled me back into him. He let his arms rest around my midsection which was surprisingly comfortable. "Not so bad right?" He exclaimed.
"It's... different. But in a good way." I added, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. "If you get uncomfortable just let me know." He told me, removing an arm from around my stomach to zip the zipper up before returning it to its original position.
"I will, no worries. Good night." I replied.
"Sleep well." His response was consumed by a yawn, causing me to chuckle slightly. I sighed contentedly, letting myself relax in the shepherd's strong yet comfortable grip. I let the day's events cycle through my mind a few times before I finally closed my eyes.
And as the stories of the night around the fire filled my mind, I fell asleep to the peaceful drone of the shepherd's breathing in my ear.
Aaaaand that's all for tonight! Wanted to throw in a little bit of fluff seeing as how that's like my favorite thing to write about (and the only thing I'm good at writing). Anyways I've got a busy day tomorrow so I'm gonna trot off to bed. Hope you all enjoyed, and don't forget to keep an eye out this weekend for the first chapter of my new story, Stranded! If you haven't read the teaser be sure to do so, you never know, it could be something you may enjoy! Cya! :D