Dominant Species Ch. 63-65

By the time they were done with these tasks, they could hear the fire line passing above them. The sounds of the house catching on fire scared them all, as they retreated to the corner and held each other tight. The roar of the wind and the sound of houses collapsing and beams falling was the only sound for the next twenty minutes.

They could smell smoke was starting to get in, so Donald pulled out his last trick. He got up and moved to the corner where a large compressed air cylinder was tied to the shelf. Cracking open the regulator, it blew air into the room and he stopped when his ears started to pop. "What's that for, Dad?"

"Positive pressure, Jacob. As long as this room is a slightly higher pressure than the outside, it will keep smoke from coming in." He sat down and embraced his wife again. The room was much hotter now, a hundred degrees by the thermometer by the door. He took a couple of bottled waters and handed them out. "Don't move, let the cool concrete under and behind you help. Take your clothes off if you want, we're all family here."

Derek smiled. "Yeah, werewolves don't have the same attitudes towards nudity that humans have. We can't, we'd shred too may clothes in the changes." They took their shirts off and leaned back against the wall. They tried to link Donald, but neither could. They reassured each other that he was too far away now, as they hadn't felt a bond break.

The room was filled with the sounds of the house burning and collapsing around them. They jumped and held each other as the roof crashed down on them. "Don't worry," Daniel said. "The room is plenty strong, it will protect us."

"I'm not worried about being crushed to death," said Ann as she poured a water bottle over her head, shaking it into her shoulder length hair.

"But it's a dry heat," said Jacob with a smile.

"Yeah, so's an oven." She smacked her son's arm and leaned back against the wall. "We're going to be here a while, guys. Why don't you guys tell us a story?"

Eric looked at her. "What kind of story?"

"I don't know, tell us about your mates. How did you meet them?"

Derek froze. "That's kind of embarrassing..."

"Even better," Ann said. "Now come on, help us understand. What went through your mind when you first saw her?" She held on to Daniel's hand as she looked at them.

"Well, she was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, even if she was unconscious, covered in blisters and suffering from radiation sickness. She was in a tent by the river with her friends, and all I could think about was getting to her and making her mine. We were in wolf form, we shredded the tent and scared the crap out of their friends."

"Oh shit," Jacob said. "They must have freaked out."

"They did," said Eric. "They screamed and got as far away from us as they could. It didn't help when we rushed to their friends, who were laid out naked on the sleeping bags, sniffed their... um..."

"Privates, then bit them on the shoulder." Derek looked down in embarrassment. "It saved them, though. We laid down next to our mates and let Doc deal with it."

They continued the story as the room went from hot to uncomfortably hot to unbearably hot. Daniel got up several times to let more air out of the bottle, but it did nothing against the heat radiating from the ceiling and wall. "One hundred thirty-two," he said as he sat down. "I'm beginning to think this was a bad idea. I'm sorry."

Derek shook his head. "It was the best idea among a bunch of really bad options. You gave us a chance." He looked around. "Do you have anything to write with in here?"

"Yeah, just a second." He got up and moved to a shelf, coming back with some pads of paper and pens. He handed each of the boys one. "What for?"

"If we don't make it, eventually they will come back here and find us. I want Bethany to know I was thinking about her to the end." He started to write, tears falling down his face and mixing with the sweat from his hair as he poured his heart into the goodbye letter. Eric was the same as he wrote to Britney. Even Ann started to write, letting her daughter know how much she loved her and wishing her happiness in her new life.

When it got too hot to continue, they set the notepads down and waited for death. Eric and Derek were praying silently to Luna, first for life and then for protection of their mates.

The sound of thunder pushed through the sounds of the fire around them. The five looked up at the ceiling as a stronger burst rattled the collapsed house. Minutes later, they could hear the downpour as the thunderstorm moved over the house. The hiss of the fire, fighting its own battle against the pouring rain, was music to their ears. Twenty minutes later, the room had cooled down slightly and they no longer heard the sounds of the fire outside.

"We have to let things cool down," Daniel said. "Try to get some sleep."

Their naps were fitful, but by the time sunset rolled around they were awake again. The room was back in the 90's now. They removed the scorched mattresses from the main door and felt it, sighing with relief as it was cool to the touch. "Be ready to close it again if the smoke is too bad." They pulled off the tape and Daniel moved the levers to open the door.

They pushed it open a few inches before it hit something. The basement was ruined, full of debris and wood, and they could see the sky when they looked up. "Fire's out," Daniel said. "It's blocked, though. Let's try the hatch." They moved to the other side of the room and he climbed the ladder, unlocking the hatch, but he couldn't push it up.

"Let me try," Derek said. He changed places with him and put his shoulder into the hatch, applying his werewolf strength. There was some creaking before it moved, pushing the debris aside as he popped it open. He looked around; there wasn't much left of the neighborhood. "It's all right to come up."

They grabbed their go-bags and went up one at a time, carefully moving off the concrete and onto the burnt area by the house. The storm had moved on, leaving behind a mix of ashy puddles and still smoldering wreckage. "We need to move south, Donald said they would meet us in Corvallis." They started moving in a line, the young werewolves leading the way and picking out the safe path in the early night. The clouds blocked the moon, leaving only the eerie glow from embers still burning as they moved through the town.

-

Reggie closed the bus door and accelerated out of the lot as soon as the two were aboard. Alpha Calvin had left ten minutes earlier with a full bus of people, some returning to their homes to the south, others fleeing in fear. Linking with wolves on that bus, he verified they were clear of the fire area and were on their way to Corvallis. He looked quickly in the mirror, Donald was working on the two that had just joined them.

Christine was sitting up, coughing from the smoke as an older woman rubbed her back. She was looking around with wide eyes at the people stacked like cordwood in the bus; every seat was full, and most had someone on their laps. The standing room only crowd had pushed towards the back to give them room in the aisle. Brian had shifted back, and Donald was working a pair of shorts up his legs as he was passed out in the aisle. The bus windows had been covered by blankets secured in the cracked open windows, casting a weird glow on the group as they sped south.

The fire chased them out of town, passing behind them as they crossed the Clark Fork River bridge on Highway 93. The river wasn't wide enough to stop the firestorm, as the flaming embers easily passed over and started fires around them as they drove on. By sundown, Reggie thought, there might not be anything left of Missoula.

He drove on, peering through a slit in the blanket that covered most of the windshield, dark sunglasses on to protect his eyes as best he could. The mirrors on the front corners of the bus showed the red glow behind them as they fled. He pushed through his Pack bond, they had to know. "I need all Salmon pack members to check in and report your status. In the other bus, ask Alpha Calvin to do the same." He mentally kept tabs as his people checked in, none were injured, thank Luna, except those from the fight. A few minutes later, he got the reports from the other Alphas. All present and accounted for in Donald's pack as well, but Calvin wasn't as lucky. All had made it out except Eric and Derek, the recently mated twin brothers, who had gone to save Silvia's family.

They were on their own.

There was nothing else to do now, the Alphas agreed, except return to Corvallis and seek shelter until sundown. By the time they reached the small town of Lolo, he had caught up to Alpha Calvin's bus and they pushed on through. Their visibility was so restricted and their minds so focused that they didn't see the people in the houses waving, some even braving the sunlight to rush out towards the passing buses. They pushed on through the sun and smoke until they reached the city.

Calvin had linked Pack members ahead and they had used the underground tunnels from the city hall to the Public Service building, where two garage doors in the back were disconnected from their electric operators and manually opened. The buses pulled straight in and shut down, while Pack members raced to pull the doors down. In moments, the garage was dimly lit by the sun peeking through the garbage bags that had been taped over the windows. The tired and scared riders filed off the bus, and were led to the sleeping area for a needed rest.

Duane reached out for Candice, but Henderson was too far away for his new mate bond to reach. He settled into the cot, visions of her filling his sleep as he awaited their reunion.

-

Marcus opened the door to the office in the clinic quietly, trying not to disturb Raven who was sleeping on a mattress in the corner. He always woke up at noon or so to do midday rounds, and often was woken at other times when needed. His residency and military training helped him here, he had learned to fall asleep whenever and wherever, within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.

The Pack members had removed all the desks and furniture from the small room and replaced it with a twin bed and single mattress; Marcus as the resident Doc had practically moved into the clinic. The steady flow of new turns required monitoring during the fevers and the change, plus the newly changed wolves were prone to injury as they explored their new forms and started training.

The Salmon pack had turned turns into a production line; each step monitored and directed for maximum efficiency. So far, two hundred and eighty-seven people had entered the line. Only five had been lost, three because they were too far gone even for the wolf change, and two who changed but showed undesirable characteristics, and Josi had to put them down.

Pulling his scrubs off, he lifted the covers and slid in behind Rachel. He moved until he was spooning her, his hand naturally draping over her rounded belly and his fingers splaying to cover it. At four months, she looked more like a six-month pregnant human as werewolf pregnancies were only six and a half months long. He buried his nose in her dark hair, his wolf relaxed and satisfied after the activities of the last night. His manhood started to stiffen against her athletic butt as he smiled and thought of what had happened last night.

He had been working almost non-stop for days, and Alpha Josi noticed it. "Doc, when was the last time you shifted?" He had tried to get out of the interrogation, but she was having nothing of his stubbornness. She called in the big gun- Rachel. Staring down the two, she told them that they had four hours to themselves and she didn't want to see them anywhere near town until dawn. Rachel grabbed his hand and pulled him back to their room, where he shifted into his wolf and she helped attach his artificial back leg. She led him outside, where she shifted into her wolf. "Let's run," she said.

He followed her up into the hills, following the trail to the springs. They had shifted and soaked in the hot water, not too long as it wasn't good for the baby, and then made love tenderly in the grass around it. They cuddled until their time was up, then shifted to wolf form and headed back down. His arousal didn't abate in wolf form, and soon a game of chase ensued that ended with him mounting her and taking her again. Tired and sated, they took a different trail back down.

The blur of movement ahead of them caused Rachel to react instinctively, and she leaped forward and snatched up the rabbit in her jaws. Just before she was going to clamp down and decapitate it, Marcus shouted over the bond to stop. "It's alive... it's the first animal we've seen alive. Don't kill it, we need to take it back."

"Why?"

"If there is one, there will be more. We can raise rabbits for meat since there aren't any deer or cattle or large animals left. We can't survive on canned food forever." She held the scared rabbit in her jaws the whole way back. He had linked ahead and a Pack member was waiting with a cage taken from the local vet. Tomorrow, Josi promised, they would scour the woods for more. Fresh meat was a huge thing for the future of their Pack. Marcus didn't know why this rabbit had survived, but suspected it had stayed in its burrow and was somewhat protected during the day.

Thoughts of the sex from before caused Marcus to be fully erect, and the rod pressing between her butt cheeks was enough to cause her to wake. She moved her hips, encouraging him, and he moved his hand down and slipped a finger in to her moistening slit. She moaned in pleasure as his thumb teased her clit, and soon he had two fingers working her to a frenzy. "Marcus, wasn't I enough earlier?"

"I can never have enough of you, love." He shifted his hips down and replaced his fingers with his mushroom head. Slowly, tenderly, he pushed up into her as she moaned in pleasure. When he was fully seated, he stopped and kissed her. "I will never tire of this." He started to withdraw, dragging out the pleasure, then pushed slowly back in.

"Faster," she demanded. He started to thrust harder and faster, driving them both to a peak of pleasure. He twisted her sensitive nipples as he slammed as deep as he could, his seed surging forward and filling her, and the combined sensation set her off as well. She jerked in his arms, her eyes closed in pleasure as her body rode the waves, and then it all went wrong.

She felt a stabbing pain in her stomach, causing her to scream out. He immediately withdrew, and got up on his hands and knees to check her out. Her hand was on the right side of her stomach as she cried; her body fought through the contraction, but her mind quickly figured out what was going on. She had assisted on enough miscarriages to know the signs. "Our baby," she cried.

"Mom?" Raven was up, holding her hand as she breathed through it. "What's going on?"

"Come on, Raven, we need to get Mom to a treatment room." Picking her up, they almost ran through the halls and into the room. He placed her on an exam table and pulled out the stirrups to put her legs up. "Raven, go get Tammy, tell her it's an emergency." Raven raced out of the room as Marcus pulled on gloves and used a towel to clean up. The towel was streaked with blood.

"I'm losing it, aren't I?" Rachel was near hysterics as Josi came into the room along with Tammy. Josi went to her head, holding her hand and lending the comfort of an Alpha as she was tended to. Marcus was moving his stethoscope along her belly while Tammy prepared a speculum. Never had Marcus wished he had all his medical devices as much as now, but they were all expensive trash after the solar flare and had been tossed in the dumpster.

"There's still a strong heartbeat, love. He's still fighting." The heartbeat was faster than normal, as the fetus was clearly stressed. They did an internal check, the cervix was still closed tight, and the bleeding had abated. Another contraction came ten minutes after the first. He gave her magnesium sulfate to help stop the premature labor. When he was done, he put her legs down and sat next to her and held her other hand. "All we can do now is wait. If the contractions and the bleeding stop, the baby can progress normally. Worst case, the bleeding worsens and the baby becomes unsustainable. You're on bedrest for a week, we can't risk anything causing the bleeding to restart."

"Can we deliver?"

"It's still too early, his lungs aren't developed enough yet and we don't have the equipment to support a birth this early. I'm sorry, love. I should have left you alone."

She pulled him down until their noses were almost touching. "Don't you EVER apologize for loving me, Marcus. I know if you thought there was any danger to me, you wouldn't have done it." She let him go. "Why did this happen?"

"I can't know," he said. "Stress, abnormal development, even damage from the flare. I know you were underground most of the time, but developing fetuses are vulnerable to radiation."

"So we wait." He nodded.

"And we pray," said Josi. "We're all here for you." She leaned down and pressed her cheek to her, then got up and left; she would set up a rotation to ensure there was always someone in the room with her. No one would let her lift a finger for the next week.

-

Derek led the column south in wolf form through the ruins of the once vibrant town, carefully avoiding still burning debris and hot spots. Darkness had brought with it its own set of challenges. The wind and rain had helped with the smoke, but there was enough out there to make it uncomfortable. He also knew that as soon as it dried out, fires could reflash. The town wasn't safe.

Daniel, Ann and Jacob followed him, go bag backpacks on. Jacob's wolf vision was helping him out here, he could see easily in the dim light so his Mom held onto his pack and his Dad on to hers. Eric trailed the group. They couldn't move faster than the old couple could walk, so he was a little anxious. He wanted to get out of town quickly.

They moved along, over the Clark Fork River bridge and past the burned out buildings of the University of Montana. Continuing south, they moved from industrial to residential ruins until they joined Highway 93. The south side of the river hadn't fared any better, even the Southgate Mall and Cabela's were burned out shells. The fires had spared nothing.

They passed two golf courses, their trees burned away, before they reached the bridge over the Bitterroot River. Moving along the open lane in the center, the group crossed except for Eric, who had gone to investigate the Cabela's to see if anything could be salvaged. It was lucky he was alone, because he was the only one who heard the soft cries coming from below the bridge.

"Derek, someone's alive under the bridge, I'm going to investigate," he sent to his brother.

"Need help?"

"No, you guys keep moving. Keep an eye out for anything still driveable; an old car, truck, hell even a lawn mower. I'll keep you posted." Derek passed the direction on to his group, now that they were south of the river the damage wasn't as bad. Outside the city, the lots were bigger and the area had some large commercial sections.

Eric moved between the cars and jumped over the guardrail into the burned grass. Moving down the slippery mud to the riverbank, he picked his way along to underneath the bridge where he scented two humans. The adult was on her back, her torso still in the water, while a toddler was sitting next to her and crying. She couldn't have been more than three years old. "Momma! Momma, get up!"

Eric shifted and pulled on shorts from the bag he was carrying. "Are you all right?" He knelt next to the girl and pulled her into a hug.

The young girl looked up at him, her face was covered in soot as well as her clothing. She coughed a few times, then nodded. "Mommy sick." He looked at her, she was in her early twenties and would have been an attractive woman, but her current state wasn't good. Her hair was singed, she had burns on her face and neck, and her clothing was scorched and muddy. She was breathing with difficulty. Her eyes widened as she saw the half-naked man above her, she tried to speak but her throat was swollen and nothing came out. She was dying and she knew it. Taking a burned hand and grabbing his, she moved it to her daughter. She mouthed "Take her," before she closed her eyes.