Jesse's grin was wide as they led the Thunder Run to the middle of town. He was riding shotgun in the lead Jeep with Donald and two other wolves, dressed in desert camoflage with an AR-15 on a single point harness it was just like old times for him. Frank was their contact with Salmon Pack and Luke with North Fork.
So far, the run had been easy, they had moved through the outskirts of town without opposition. As they got closer, some people came out to see what was going on. Jesse would scream "FREEDOM!" and they would raise their fists as they went past. It was time to rid the town of the infestation brought by the former inmates of the prison.
Things slowed down a little as they got closer to downtown, as there were more vehicles in the way. Donald had the Salmon pack warriors dismount and shift, sending them to each side of their convoy to make sure they wouldn't be ambushed. They steered around the stalled vehicles near the Bank of Montana, and finally had a clear path to the City Hall in the main square of the town.
"Looks like we won't hit any resistance," the North Fork warrior said.
Just then, a volley of shots tore into the convoy. Donald jerked the wheel left as his windshield was shattered by multiple rifle rounds, and the trucks behind him also broke the line and headed for cover behind parked cars. Donald's maneuver caused him to hit the curb, and the combination of speed and turn rate made the Jeep unstable, and it rolled on its side. Luckily, the Jeep body was between them and the snipers who were on the roof and windows of the three story building ahead of them. Donald freed himself from the seat belt, then looked around. "Everyone all right?"
Jesse popped his belt and rolled out, taking a position near the engine for cover. "I'm all right."
Frank freed himself, moving to the rear of the vehicle for cover. "He's gone," he said. Donald looked up, one of the shots had entered Luke's forehead and left a fist size exit hole on the back of his head, there was no coming back from that one. He grabbed the rifles and extra magazines, plus his bag of explosives, and joined Jesse up front.
"They have us pinned down on two sides," Jesse said. "I count a dozen shooters in City Hall, and three more on top of the building to the left." He looked around behind them, they had gone too far into the street to get cover from parked or stalled vehicles. They were truly on their own.
Donald moved over to where Frank was at. "Pass along to the Salmon wolves they need to circle wide and flank these guys, get in the buildings and take them out. Tell them we're pinned here."
Frank closed his eyes. "They are on it. The trucks are somewhat protected, the humans are spreading out. They've got a few with scoped rifles that will go after the shooters we can see."
The next five minutes were tough on the attackers. There were a few good shots among the bad guys, and they had good elevated positions to shoot from. They were smart enough to shoot and move, and that made it tough for them to take them out. Jesse was getting nervous, being pinned like this never ended well. "We have to break out of this, boss. Any ideas?"
Donald looked down at the bag he had brought with; the homemade Claymores were in there, but instead of detonation cord they now had fuses. Four of them could make a difference. He took two out, and put his pistol and extra magazines in his bag with the remaining two. "If we can get inside, these charges will clear out an entire room, then we go room to room for the rest. We have to knock out the guys from behind." He looked at Frank. "Any progress on getting at these guys from the back?"
Frank shook his head. "The parking lot behind the building is almost empty, no cover and too far to run. They've lost a couple already, they are still trying to figure out how to get in there."
Donald looked at Jesse. "You stay here and provide covering fire. Frank, put these in your bag and shift. Tell everyone to give us cover fire while we make a break for it. When we get inside, we'll both clear the ground floor, then you go to the second and I'll go to the third." As soon as Frank was shifted, he took his bag in his mouth and moved to the back of the jeep. They were just about to give the order to go when a loud thumping sound was heard, quickly approaching. Donald looked up, the helicopter was back.
The moon was bright enough that he could make out the Huey gunship and the door gunners leaning out the sides. The firing slowed as both sides tried to figure out what this was. Donald was spurred into action. "It's our diversion, go go go!" He shifted, grabbed his bag and sprinted around the front of the vehicle as Jesse opened up, along with a number of the others in their team. Donald sprinted for the front doors as Frank ran for a ground floor window, both ignoring the bullets slamming into the ground around them as they ran. The helicopter made a low pass on the scene but didn't interfere. Donald ran up the stairs, shifting on his final jump, and stood in front of the double doors. He opened it and jumped through, his pistol in his hand as he looked for resistance and found none.
Frank took a running leap through his chosen window, landing in a large office area. He shifted, ignoring the cuts on his body from the glass as he did so. He pulled the pistol out and grabbed the bag of explosives with his left. Moving to the doorway, he opened it quickly and knelt down. A man with a rifle was running his way, sighting quickly he squeezed the trigger twice and the man fell. He ran over to him, pulling the rifle away and slinging it over his shoulder. He heard firing from a room down the hall, so he went that way.
Donald had moved down the hallway to his left, finding no one he reached the emergency stairway and climbed up to the third floor. His level and the roof had most of the snipers. As he reached the doorway, he heard the helicopter coming back, but this time it had started firing. He could almost feel the machine gun fire as it slammed into the building and burst through the windows, but he ignored it as he entered the long hallway. He heard firing from a conference room to his left; pulling the first charge from his bag, he cut the fuse down to just a few inches before lighting it. He opened the door, tossed it in and ran down the hall towards his next target. The explosion rocked the building, and the firing behind him stopped.
Frank moved to the stairway as he didn't find any more resistance. Running up a floor, he could hear several people yelling in the hallway behind the exit door. Smiling, he pulled out a charge and lit it. When it was nearly done, he opened the door and tossed it down the hall, then raced down the stairs to the landing. The explosion didn't disappoint, the fire door caved inwards from the blast and was penetrated in several places. He didn't wait for his ears to stop ringing, he just ran back up and through the door. The hallway was shredded, he counted four men dead and the fifth he shot dead as he ran past.
He had made it to the west hallway when a door opened ahead of him and a rifle fired four times. He felt pain in his chest and his right arm as he dove to the side, his pistol falling to the ground as his hand couldn't grip it any more.
There were shouts down the hallway as he pulled himself to a sitting position with his good arm. Ignoring the pain and the blood he was coughing up, he pulled the last charge out and lit the fuse. He could feel the life draining from him as he watched the fuse burn down. When it was almost there, he used the last of his strength to push himself forward and launch the bag down the hall with his left arm.
The explosion silenced the noises in the hallway, and he smiled as he bled out onto the worn carpeting. "Second floor clear... take care of my family... tell them I'm sorry... I..."
Outside by the trucks, Reggie felt the pain of the bond breaking as he processed the last words of his Pack warrior. He pushed aside the pain, the battle was still going on. The attack run by the helicopter had done serious damage to the men on the rooftops, and he needed to end this now. He ordered his men to attack. Instantly, wolves rushed forward through the empty parking lot, this time only sporadic fire greeted them. They entered through multiple doors and windows and kept going, shifting only when they needed to open doors or windows.
The battle only lasted a few more minutes before the wolves had taken down all the resistance. Reggie and Calvin moved to the area in front of the steps, the humans with them, as they met the warriors in human and wolf form who were now coming out of the building. They were being updated on the situation when Donald walked out the front doors, limping slightly as he moved.
The helicopter was now circling the square, so Reggie took his white T-shirt off and waved it over his head. "Put your weapons down," he told everyone and they quickly complied. The Huey circled once more, then landed on the roof.
There was no sound as the dead and wounded were carried one by one to the waiting trucks; in addition to Luke and Frank, two other fighters had been killed and another six were injured. Humans and werewolves alike stood to honor the fallen as they went past, and to encourage the wounded. Reggie had them all return to the trucks while the three Alphas stayed in front of the stairs at the front of the partially destroyed building.
It didn't take long for the men from the helicopter to join them. Three men, all armed with rifles and wearing flight suits, emerged from the doors as the helicopter waited for them above. The leader looked around before he walked down the stairs and stood in front of the three, while the other men stayed by the door.
"Welcome to Missoula, Captain." Donald recognized the double bar insignia and the Montana Air National Guard patches on his suit. He also recognized something more surprising- his scent. He wasn't human, he was a werewolf. "I'm Alpha Donald Ross of the newly formed Bitterroot Valley pack. This is Alpha Reggie Wolfe of the Salmon Pack, and Alpha Calvin Pierce of North Fork. What brings you here, Captain?"
He looked at the three and smiled. "I'm Beta John Kennedy of the Helena pack, but right now I'm representing the Air Guard under Colonel Michael Kent. I was doing my weekend duty when this hit, we managed to survive and get one of the old helicopters going. We were contacted by a ham radio operator who told us this town was under the thumb of a criminal gang, so the Colonel sent us to investigate. I take it that is why you guys are this far north?"
Donald nodded. "My mate's family is from here, and we ran into those assholes down in Corvallis as they were getting ready to rape some women. We rallied the towns and came up here to get rid of them. Thanks for your help, by the way."
