War Dog

Chapter 78

A/N: Sorry guys this has taken longer than normal, between christmas and newyears I've had writers block, and also been unwell. This one is a little shorter today.

I pulled up short in the doorway, relief almost making my legs sag underneath me. The vision that greeted me seemed like pure art. Others would disagree with me. Others would be wrong. My eyes found Ghost straight away hunched over a console as if the machinery itself was giving him pain. The bodies strewn about in their own pools of blood were decorated with knives Ghost had thrown with pinpoint accuracy. The walls looked like a Jackson Pollock painting. I admired the splatters for a brief moment and came to the decision that if I could have bought the walls with their blood splatters I would have paid very good money in that moment. A permanent reminder that my handler  was very capable without me by his side. My own hubris would embarrass me one of these days.

I stepped into the room, my breathing finally calm and I could hear past the blood rushing through my ears now that I knew Ghost was safe. "Wolf?" He said, and his voice sounded concerned and I wondered how many times he'd tried to catch my attention before I was able to respond.

"Sorry Ghost, you weren't answering the comms, and I could no longer hear you from above."

"Ah. Sorry, yeah the comms aren't working down here. I can't get through to the others either." He turned back to the computer and continued fighting with it to get the information that he required for us to find out where the test subjects were being kept. Soap and Price would come through shortly and clean the entire database. I made my way around the room and gather the knives Ghost had thrown upon entry. I clean them the best I can on clean spots of clothing of each of Ghosts victims and tuck them into the one pocket on my harness. By the time I'm done, Ghost stands up straight and stretches the kinks out of his back. He gives me an appreciative nod as I return his gathered knives and he pockets them back into their proper place. He slides the gun on it's tactical sling back around and positions it facing towards the ground, comfortable but ready for action.

"After you, Wolf." He nods towards the door at the opposite end of the room and I drop to all fours giving Ghost full clearance above my head to shoot freely. I push the door open, Ghost and I on either side of the frame keeping the centre clear. It turned out to be a good thing, as when the door opened shooting began. Bullets flew through the open door. When there was a pause, the soldiers behind it confused when no one appeared, I stepped out from around the corner and launched my body down the hall using the momentary distraction. With everyone's focus on me, Ghost stepped out shortly after and fired his own gun. The confusion in the hallway served our purposes perfectly as I launched at the last remaining soldier, his eyes wide and swallowing convulsively as fear took him. My growling grew louder as my teeth clamped around his throat and squeezed shut crushing his oesophagus and trachea in one fell swoop as we both fell towards the ground. I bounced off the body as he landed and took off down the hall smelling prey hiding around the corner. 

I turn the corner at speed and do the same thing, teeth crushing the throat without drawing blood. My aim today trying not to get too covered in blood. I swear I still smelled too much like wet dog from my bath and was not keen to repeat the experience. I hear the gunshot and realise too late I was in a bad position. Fortunately, so were they. The bullet flies wide in his panic, well and truly past me and I drop the toy I'm currently playing with and chase after the other soldier in the hallway who realised his mistake too late. My momentum on his back has him sprawled across the floor my teeth in the back of his neck. My teeth snap through his spine with a sharp crack and the body goes limp.

I sit back and wait for Ghost to slip up beside me before we continue clearing the rest of the floor we're on. 

"We have another two floors, Wolf. The test subjects are on the lowest floor."

I nod, letting him see my acknowledgement before I prowl forwards. We find the stairs without further incident and make our way cautiously down them. I can smell the soldiers long before we've seen them, their unwashed bodies sending out a stench that would topple even the most nose blind pup. I indicate to Ghost that we have ten, possibly fifteen soldiers waiting for us when we finally reach the floor below us. He nods, hoisting the rifle. We make it to the staircase door and we take cover just as we did upstairs. This time though, there's no answering gunfire. These soldiers were less twitchy. Unfortunately for us. Ghost leaned out just enough to begin shooting at the first line of soldiers giving me enough cover to duck out and take out the first soldier my teeth connected with. My appearance amongst the ranks sent them scattering with shock. 

Ghost took advantage of the opportunity and came out of hiding to take cleaner shots. Even as good as we were however, we were still only two people against fifteen. I felt the first bullet hit my vest. The second bullet hit Ghosts vest. I heard him grunt against the impact and I knew we were going to have matching bruises from the twin impacts. Fortunately, the bastards were panicking and had been thrown into disarray, not focusing enough to aim properly.

We cleaned up the rest of the soldiers in the hall and took a moment to take stock and make sure no additional harm had come to us through the bloodshed.

"Bit heavily armed for a laboratory, aint it?" I ask, sidestepping splatters of blood.

"After what we did in America, I'm sure they don't want any more of their resources destroyed. It's the Konni Group. I'm surprised they don't have more here to deter us."

"I never did get to ask, but who is the Konni Group?"

Ghost shakes his head. "Tell you later. Too much for now." 

"Alright, I'll hold you to it."

We make our way to the next floor, the rest of this one quiet. It seemed all the soldiers had gathered in force to greet us. As we make our way down one last time, I freeze, eyes going wide as my ears pick up something different.

"Ghost... I think we have a problem."