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Beginings

Chapter I

Beginnings

Ryan, a red wolf wearing green and gold scrubs, had just exited the transport. In front of him was the most beautiful building he had ever seen. He was absolutely speechless. The building, a hospital, had a courtyard with a garden, topiary, carefully arranged flowers, and a delicately carved fountain. In the middle of the fountain was a delicately and carefully crafted sculpture of a doctor with a scalpel in one hand and a pulse rifle in the other. This indicated that it was a military hospital. On a plaque at the base of the sculpture was an inscription. It read: "In dedication to all medics and doctors who lost their lives on the battlefield trying to save our men and women. We salute you." Around the fountain were wounded soldiers. This beautiful place was where Ryan would live for the next year.

To the side of the hospital were the barracks. Two armed guards, a young fox and an older panther, both in the green and gold Ristarian Defense Corps uniform,escorted him to the bunker. From the outside, it looked like a part of the hospital, but the inside was very plain. Each man or woman had their own room, except for those who opted to have a double's room. Ryan, room was quite a ways into the building. In the room, there was a fridge, a pantry, a stove, an oven, a bathroom that looked like it was out of a sci-fi movie, a dark green queen-sized bed, and a white couch. On the fridge he put a picture of his love, Karin, a beautiful skunk with deep green eyes, soft black fur, and a glossy white stribe that went up the middle of her tail and back. Her picture brought tears to his eyes. " I wish I were at home with you,Karin."

Against the wall was a computer and a desk. He went to the computer and decided to look around the hospital server. All he found were patient files, until he came across a folder labeled personnel. He looked through the folder until he saw his medical file. He knew about his physical exam, but didn't hear what they said about him in his psychological report. He opened it and read the file out loud. "Dr. Ryan Ricarta...Psychological Test results...dedicated, friendly, cautious, caring, loyal, stubborn, detests violence, optimistic, slow to anger...." His tail swayed uneasily. "...is only angered by and will kill for revenge of injury or death of friends and family. Documented occurance of anger on page 16. Suggest relocation to active combat duty as field medic." He went to page 16 of the report and learned why they want him in combat. "Damn, if only I hadn't of gone on that camping trip." As he read through the report, he reminisced baout the camping trip.

A few of his buddies at the hospital had asked him to go backpacking with them. Ryan always jumped at these occasions, because he loved nature and quiet almost as he loved to be in the O.R. He had driven to the trail head in the forest near the hospital that he worked at. The others were a bit late, so he decided to go ahead of the others. He called them to tell them that he was going ahead. He got their answering machine. "Hey, just calling to tell you that I'm gonna go ahead and start down the trail. Just meet me at the clearing just past the rope bridge. Ok, see ya later. Bye." He hung up. Ryan began to walk down the trail when, like always, he took out a notebook and began writing about what he saw. He had filled up half of his note bok by the time he reached the bridge. He sat down, took off his pack, and took a quick 15 minute nap. When he woke up, he saw the others on the other side of the bridge.

Damages

Chapter II

Damages

The group had crossed the bridge, and didn't notice Ryan leaning up against a tree. They were stopping for lunch. The group consisted of a polar bear, a white tiger, a bush kangaroo,an artic fox, a black bear, a penguin, and a hyena.

"This pack is killing me," Josh, the the black bear said. All the others took off their packs and sat down on the rocks.

"Finally, we can rest. Who's got the meat? I've got the bread," Zac, the artic fox said

Tony, the polar bear, said, "I've got it. Hey, where's Ryan? He said he would meet us here, right?"

He began speaking, which startled the others. "I'm right here. You guys tired already?"

"Come on, you don't need as much water as we do. Water is heavy," Andy, the bush kangaroo said.

"We could've just used the pump eack time we ran out of water," Collin, the white tiger said.

Ryan said, "Thats a good idea, but the pump is busted. Anyways, how about we set up camp here?" Ryan's comment got many cheers. "Aaa right. Go ahead and set up the tents. I'll get us some water."

Zac asked, "Aren't you going to set up a tent, Ryan?"

"Nah, I prefer to sleep outside. I just helped Aaron and Sarah carry their tent." Aaron and Sarah were the penguin and Hyena that were madly in love.

"We'll set up our tent," Aaron said.

"Yeah," Sarah said, "we can take care of that from here."

"All right, I'll be back in a bit." Ryan grabbed a few pots and walked down to the water.

About thirty minutes later, after he had filled all the pots, he said, "That should be enough for the rest of the day. I wonder if they've finished setting up camp." Ryan returned to the campsite to find it in total dissarray. The tents were slashed, the packs were all ripped open, and there was blood on the ground. Ryan extended his claws and searched the campsite. "Hello? Anyone here?" He saw a trail of blood. He followed it to Aaron and Sarah's tent. He walked up to it and heard a soft moan. "Who's in here?" Ryan said.

"It's Aaron. I'm hurt."

He opened the door to the tent and walked in. He saw the source of the blood, a large gash across Aaron's stomach. Ryan examinied the wound and said, "This is bad. If we don't get this bandaged, you could bleed out. I'll get the first aid kit." He got the first aid kit out of his pack and began to bandage Aaron's wound.

Aaron pushed Ryan away and said, "No! Yu're not treating me, I am. You have to go get the others." Ryan was puzzled.

"What happened here, Aaron?"

"We were attacked by three wolves. They slashed at me and, thinking I was dead, took the others." He curled up into a ball. "They took Sarah. You have to get her back."

Ryan put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll get her back." Ryan stood up. As he was walking out of the tent, Aaron saw that Ryan had the fires of hell in his eyes. Ryan wanted revenge.

Ryan took off and followed the scent of blood. Someone with the wolves was wounded, but there was no blood trail. "The wolves must be excellent hunters," Ryan said. The wolves had covered their tracks, unbent every blade of grass, but they forgot about the leaves. There was a path of broken leaves that the scent of blood followed. They were trying to cover all traces of their existence. The path forked, and the scent went down both paths. "Damn it,which way?" He followed the scent where it was thickest. He sprinted down the path, to find a puddle of blood at the end. Ryan began to swear and ran back down the path and went the other way. He found a cave at the end of this trail. Ryan went in and found Sarah, tied up and gagged. She had four long slashes across her chest. Her eyes were closed, and she was quietly crying.

"Sarah, what happened?" He took the ropes off her and then took off the gag. She began to sob softly.

"They took the others somewhere else, and hurt me to make sure that you didn't pick up their trail. The cuts hurt so bad." Her sob gradually changed into a cry. "I think they killed Aaron."

Ryan gave her a hug. He said, "He's not dead, he hid in your tent after they left. He told me to get you and bring you back to the campsite. Can you walk?"

She shook her head and said, "No, I can't."

"Then I guess I'll have to carry you." Ryan picked her up and put her over his shoulder.

By the time Ryan got her back to the campsite, he was exausted. He put Sarah in the tent with Aaron, bandaged them both up, then collapsed. When he woke up, it was almost sunset. Aaron and Sarah went to sleep after he bandaged them up. "I have to get back to the trail head. If I don't...No! I have to get there." He left a note for Aaron and Sarah, then took off.

He got to the ranger's station in about thirty minutes. He told the rangers that his friends were hurt and need medical attention soon. They began to gater some gear. They loaded up flashlights, medical equipment, ropes, and harnesses onto a 300 year-old UH-60 Blackhawk. They still use this ancient piece of technology because it isn't as harmful to the forest as the new ion engines are. They got to the campsite quickly. They sent down two litters, one for Aaron, and another for Sarah. The two were airlifted, along with Ryan. to the nearby hospital, the one Ryan works at. They had sent a SAR team into the forest and found the rest of the camping group in a cave near the lake, about a mile from the campsite. The three wolves were never found

Copyright Ryan McLoughlin. All Rights Reserved