by Bobby Akart
Most of the minks died, as most animals that have been raised in captivity do. The released minks that were recovered were haphazardly thrown into cages, which disrupted their social groupings, eventually causing them to kill one another. Overlooked in the tragic ending was the fact that the minks were held on the pelt farm to eventually be killed for their pelts anyway.
ALF considered their operation a success, and it emboldened them to take on even greater challenges. Tonight would be their ultime victoire. Their greatest accomplishment.
Watson addressed the group. “We all know zoos to be nothing more than pitiful prisons! Those who operate these horrible places claim to be taking care of the animals and allowing their paying guests to enjoy them in their so-called natural environment.
“That’s bullshit and we all know it! They don’t live in their habitats. They live in cages. They’re no different from a collection of art or baseball cards. They’re possessions to be exploited by man!
“They’re not living, they’re merely existing. And what’s worse is they’re teaching the rest of mankind it’s okay to lock up these beautiful creatures where they are cramped, deprived, and controlled for the rest of their lives.
“Everyone, I’ve called you here tonight because we have an opportunity to right these wrongs. Based upon what we’ve learned, we can save all of the beautiful animals at the Brookfield Zoo from being murdered and barbarically slaughtered!”
The crowd of forty activists began to shout at Watson.
“No!”
“What’s happening?”
“Now what are they doing?”
“How can we help?”
Watson raised his hands to calm them down. “Freedom is a precious concept, and animals suffer both physically and mentally as a result of their captivity. But that pales in comparison to what Dr. Boston and her criminal cohorts at the Brookfield Zoo have planned.
“Let me remind all of you what happened to Marius, the young giraffe slaughtered at the Copenhagen Zoo. Killing healthy animals in zoos isn’t a myth, it’s business as usual, as we learned from what happened to Marius.
“Marius was sentenced to death because he couldn’t breed. Yes, you heard me correctly. Marius was an otherwise healthy young giraffe who was incapable of breeding. So the barbarians in Copenhagen shamelessly and unapologetically, and in full view of the public, killed Marius, dissected his body for the world to see, and then unceremoniously fed his remains to the zoo’s lions.”
Watson paused to wipe a tear that had rolled down his cheek behind his bandana mask. This story tore him up inside every time he told it, and tonight it was used as a tool to rally support among his ALF soldiers.
“But the murderers at Copenhagen Zoo weren’t done. Two adult lions and their cubs were killed shortly thereafter simply to make room for a mighty male lion that had been captured in Africa.
“Out with the old, in with the new! Why? Because it’s all about making money. Yes, the almighty dollar drives these greedy bastards to do what they do. And it’s about to happen again!”
“No!”
“They deserve our help!”
“Animals never harm anyone. Why are they locked up in prison?”
“We have to do something!”
Watson was on a roll. “We will. We absolutely will!”
He paused to allow the crowd to calm down.
“We have it on very good authority that sometime tomorrow, assuming President Houston announces that the power will be cut off, the zoo will order the zoothanasia of all the animals!”
Zoothanasia, as the term was used in the animal activist community, was nothing more than murder. It was not ethical or remotely humane. It was unnecessary and derided as a cost-effective alternative to returning the animals to where they belonged—at home, in their natural habitat.
The group was whipped into a crazed state of despair mixed with anger.
“Oh no!”
“We can’t let that happen!”
“I’ll kill anyone who tries!” shouted one booming voice from the rear of the room.
Under his disguise, Watson managed a huge grin. That was what he wanted to hear.
Chapter 32
Northwest Ontario
Canada
The guys slept fitfully as the wolves howled for much of the night. As the sun rose, Levi was the first to wander out of the close confines of the tail section to soak in its rays. It felt unusually warm on his skin, but it was welcome nonetheless. Moisture began dropping off the tall red pines, which in turn caused the snow on the forest floor to melt. If they were to travel on foot today, it would be through some wet, muddy conditions. However, a snowstorm like they’d experienced during and after the plane crash would’ve been worse.
Karl was the next to emerge. He had remained in good spirits despite the dire circumstances. “What time’s breakfast being served? Pancakes with Canadian maple syrup, right?”
“Sure, comin’ right up,” said Levi with a chuckle as he stretched to work the kinks out of his neck and shoulders.
“Grumpy’s still asleep,” added Karl as he created yellow snow next to a birch tree.
“Good, let him rest.”
Karl finished and zipped up his jeans. “I’m trying to give him a break because he got banged up so bad, but you also know how Eddie is. He doesn’t listen to what we tell him, and then he complains about the situation he’s put himself in. It’s like he never wants to take responsibility for his own screwups.”
Levi smirked and nodded. He was glad Eddie was asleep because he wanted to address the day’s game plan with Karl alone.
“Can I see the compass?” he asked.
Karl handed it to him. Levi held it level in his hand in an effort to steady the needle to determine true north. He moved slightly so that the direction-of-travel arrow reached N. It was pointed directly toward the rising sun.
Puzzled, he shook the brass compass and wandered away from the tail section of the plane into the clearing under the presumption that something was interfering with the functionality of the compass.
“What is it?” asked Karl.
Levi tried again. His hands were shaking slightly, so he gripped his right wrist with his left hand as he leveled the compass. Once again, the needle found its way “north”—pointed directly at the sun rising through the pine trees.
“This thing has to be broken,” replied Levi. “It’s showing due north in that direction.”
“So?”
“Well, the sun still rises in the east, right? I mean, since we all got Garmins, compasses became old school. But north is north, and the sun rises in the east. According to this thing, the sun is rising in the north.”
Karl approached him. “Let me try.”
After a minute of following the same process that Levi had employed, Karl tossed the compass in the snow. “Piece of junk. The old guy probably carried it around for good luck or something. Look what that got him.”
Levi walked over to the snowdrift and retrieved the compass. He wiped it off on his shirt and shoved it into his pocket. “Well, I guess it doesn’t really matter. The north pole can move to wherever it wants, but the sun’s still gonna rise in the same place. It’s not like the Earth decided to turn sideways or upside down or something.”
“True,” said Karl with a sigh. He faced the sun to warm his face. “I think it’s a waste of time to sit around here waiting for help. We’re gonna have to hoof it out of this godforsaken, cold-ass swamp.”
Levi walked toward the sun and then spun around to survey their surroundings. “We need to find your gear and Eddie’s too. It’s warming up, so we should be able to travel.”
“It was warm in Thunder Bay when we arrived there yesterday, and we were in a blizzard a few hours later. Weird.”
“Yeah, but we can deal. Let’s get Eddie up and dressed in something other than his goin’-to-McDonald’s outfit. I know his left arm is busted up, but he needs to carry a rifle, too. Heck, if for no other r
eason than to let us shoot it instead of having to reload.”
“You’re expectin’ trouble, aren’t you?” asked Karl. He pulled the sleeve down on his fleece hoodie to wipe the moisture off his hunting rifle.
“You never know. That moose was crazy last night. It was beatin’ its head against a doggone airplane. I shot at it, which should have scared it off, yet it kept on comin’.”
“They don’t normally attack, do they?”
“Not that I know of unless they’re threatened. Somehow, he knew we were in the plane and decided to charge it. Either way, we’re in their territory now. We’ve got to be ready.”
Eddie emerged from the plane. “Ready for what?”
“Ready to hit the road,” replied Levi.
“You found a road?” he asked.
“No, dumbass. That’s a figure of—jeez, forget it. Listen, hang tight. Levi and I are gonna search for our packs and your guns. Then we’ll talk about what to do.”
“Sounds good. Say, Levi, now can I drink the snow? You know, since the sun’s out and its warmer.”
“Sure, Eddie. Just make sure it isn’t yellow!”
Karl and Levi exchanged high fives and began slogging through the melting snow toward the rest of the wreckage. Eddie rolled his eyes and found a tree to add his morning contribution to the yellow snow. In his still slow-to-awake state of mind, he didn’t notice that he wasn’t alone.
Chapter 33
Northwest Ontario
Canada
The trio had walked for hours toward the south, using the sun as their guide rather than the compass, which the three guys considered to be defective. After much debate, they agreed they couldn’t definitively state whether the pilot had missed Smoky Falls to the west or the north. In the blizzard-like conditions, and with no visible landmarks during the ordeal, they had to simply operate on a hunch as to where the closest settlement was. In the end, logic dictated to head south back toward the United States and the more populated areas of Quebec. North toward Hudson Bay would require them to trudge through increasingly damp and potentially colder conditions.
“I gotta say, I appreciate the firm ground,” said Karl as he shook the last of the mud off his boots. After half an hour of searching, the guys had located their backpacks and Eddie’s weapons. They changed into dry clothes and provided Eddie a rifle to sling over his shoulder. Karl and Levi divided up his belongings and stuffed them into their backpacks.
“How much farther, do you think?” asked Eddie for the third time since they left the wreckage.
“Anybody’s guess,” replied Levi, who was showing far more patience than Karl. Levi finally pulled his friend aside and asked him to ignore Eddie and his complaining. His broken arm was beginning to swell, and he was probably hurting more than he let on. He didn’t need to feel worse by Karl snapping at him. “We’ll keep working ourselves south until we can find some ground that’s high and dry. We’ll set up camp and get a fire going. At the very least, the Canadian Forest Service may come around and see what’s up.”
“Why can’t we just stop now?” asked Eddie.
Karl rolled his eyes. “Just keep movin’. All this talkin’ will just wear you out. I know it’s draining my energy.”
“Screw you, Karl. I’m hurtin’ back here.”
“Come on, guys,” begged Levi. “Just another couple—”
Levi cut off his own sentence as the howls of wolves suddenly surrounded them. They echoed off the trees, raising the sound of their voices to a crescendo.
“What the hell?” shouted Eddie. “Shit, one’s comin’!” He began to run ahead of Karl and Levi, deeper into the woods, until he got tangled up in the underbrush.
“Eddie! Stop! Don’t run. You’ve gotta stay still.”
Levi recalled a conversation he’d had with his grandpa when he first learned to hunt. He was warned to never run from wolves if he ever encountered them. If you run, you’re dead meat, he’d said. The best thing to do was stay still. Stand your ground. At least you’ll have a chance.
The late afternoon sun cast an eerie, pale yellow light through the stands of pines. Levi wiped sweat from his face and readied his rifle. His heart beat against the inside of his chest as adrenaline coursed through his veins.
Karl shouted, “Come back, Eddie! We need to stick together!”
Levi and Karl stood back-to-back, rifles raised, scanning the dense forest of pines and evergreens through their scopes. They stood in a slight clearing, which provided them thirty feet of clear sight should the wolves attack them. That wasn’t a lot of time to react, but both of the guys were good shots.
Eddie raced across the clearing and arrived back next to the guys. “We should hide somewhere.”
Levi calmly responded, “They’ll hunt us with their sense of smell. We have to stand our ground and scare them away. It’s the only way.”
“You ready, Levi?” asked Karl as he dropped his backpack and gun case to the ground.
Levi did the same. “Yeah, buddy. The pack leader will come at us first. It’s always the big, aggressive critters who are fearless.”
Eddie raised his rifle in a third direction. He rested it on the makeshift splint created by Levi to immobilize his arm. He might miss, but he could frighten them off with a few well-placed shots.
The chorus howl began in earnest. The wolves were everywhere, or at least the echo effect of the forest made their numbers seem enormous.
“Get ready.” Levi spoke in a hushed tone in an attempt to calm his nerves.
The first wolf broke cover, moseying along the edge of the tree line, stalking its prey.
“He’s huge!” exclaimed Eddie. “Aren’t you gonna shoot him?”
“No, not yet,” said Levi. “Let him make his assessment. Stay cool and don’t show your fear.”
“I’ve got my eye on him,” said Eddie.
Levi corrected him. “Fine, but don’t stare him down. He’ll see that as a challenge. You gotta remember, they’re afraid of us, too. Animals are fearful of us and try their best to avoid crossing our paths.”
Another wolf emerged on the opposite side of the clearing. One by one, paw by carefully placed paw, several more emerged until the guys were being circled as if they were in the midst of Custer’s Last Stand.
Levi encouraged his friends. “Stay cool, guys. We can handle—”
BOOM!
The sound of Eddie’s rifle reverberated through the air. He’d fired upon one of the wolves and missed wildly. This only served to agitate the animals, which were now poised to attack.
“Dammit, Eddie!” shouted Karl, who began firing on the animals. His first shot missed, but the second took down one of the second wave of wolves that entered the clearing.
Levi spun around to weigh his options. There was an incline that led to a rock outcropping to their south. If he could blaze a path for them by shooting at the wolves in their way, they might just be able to scale the rocks and get the high ground.
“Follow me!” he shouted as he moved methodically toward the rocks. “Karl, take the rear and back ’em off.”
Levi took off at a steady, brisk walk with Eddie right on his heels. Karl was able to walk backwards and keep pace, periodically firing as the wolves feigned an attack.
“Levi, there are dozens of ’em!” shouted Karl.
Levi picked up the pace without running. Every fiber of his being told him to race for the protection of the rock outcropping, but he felt they still had a chance to back the wolves off without getting killed.
As the rocks came into view, Eddie panicked. He shoved his way past Levi and broke into a sprint. Disregarding the pain in his broken arm, he crashed through small trees and underbrush, hell-bent on getting to safety.
“Shit!” shouted Levi. “Come on!”
Eddie had a twenty-yard head start as he tore through the forest. He was hustling up an incline when a gray flash of fur leapt through the trees and tackled him.
“Edddieee!” shouted Levi as he f
ired his gun in the air to distract the attacking wolf. But it didn’t make a difference. The wolf was ravenous, tearing at Eddie’s flesh despite Levi’s gunfire. Finally, on the third shot, Levi found his mark, tearing a hole in the side of the beast.
“They’re comin’!”
Levi ran to Eddie’s side and slid to his knees on the pine-needle floor. He didn’t have to check for a pulse. Eddie’s neck was gone.
Karl ran past and grabbed Levi under the armpit to lift him up. For the first time, Levi looked down the hill behind him.
The wolves were a swarm of ghostly gray apparitions winding their way between the trees. They made no noise. There was no howling or barking. Only the silent, methodical stalking of their prey.
Karl and Levi had one last chance. They tore up the path toward the rock outcropping. It wasn’t much, but it was a way for them to avoid certain death.
Chapter 34
Northwest Ontario
Canada
A blackish-gray wolf suddenly appeared in the path between them and the rocks. He stood there defiantly, lowering his head as he prepared to lunge toward them. His eyes were as yellow as the setting sun, a monster of a beast that weighed nearly a hundred pounds.
Karl stopped abruptly in his tracks. “Levi, we’ll never make it.”
Levi walked into the back of his friend. “They don’t respect weakness. We gotta take the fight to them.”
“Let’s reload,” said Karl calmly.
The two guys reached into their jeans pockets and shoved several more rounds of .308 ammo into their guns. They stood back-to-back and took aim. Within seconds, they were surrounded once again.
The wolves began to mingle in the clearing, merging together and then spreading apart. Unlike before, now they were snarling, teeth snapping, and growling. Several began a series of staccato bursts of threatening barks.