Chapter 5- Rescue and Escape

Shadow’s eyes slowly raised from blackness, the shadows over his eyes lifted. What greeted him was that of a metal cage opening. It only took him a few seconds to figure out what had happened to him. He could feel the cold metal floor of his cage against his shaking paws. He lifted his arms searching for any scratches and cuts. He was clean, just covered in his fur. “No blood”. He sighed to himself. His bag of rocks had been removed and the pressure from them gone. Shadow stood up and pressed against the metal bars. The room outside was lit up and two humans were wandering around. He noticed one pick something off a table and he strode out the doorway. The other human looked up and followed him out before clicking the light switch on the wall. The lights went black and the room darkened instantly. Shadow heard a voice nearby. “Their finally gone”. It was Raves; he must have been hiding out in his cage. “Shadow, Crystal you alright”? Shadow called back. “Yeah I’m fine”. Followed by Crystal’s “Yeah, I’m good”. Shadow sat back down. He didn’t know where Raves was but from the sound of Crystal’s voice, she was right next to him in the other cage. Among all the other voices another one rang out. “Newcomers? I was wondering if anyone else was alive in here”. Shadow looked up at his cage’s ceiling. The voice came from above him. Raves barked a bit abruptly. “Who are you? State your species”. “I’m a wolf, just like all the others”. Raves apparently laid down as a loud metal clang like thud rang among the other cages. “If anyone here cares, my name is James”. Shadow’s eyes shot up at his cage ceiling in surprise. “James”?! The wolf above clicked his claws on the cage floor. “Yeah, that’s me, what’s your problem”? Shadow wasn’t sure what to say, he was over come with joy and surprise. “Dad, it’s me, your son”. James in the above cage twitched his ears. “What are you talking about? My son is dead”. Shadow shook his head. “Dad it’s me, Shadow”. James still seemed unconvinced but thoughtful as he paced in the cage. “How do you know his name”? Shadow sat down on the steal floor. “Because I’m Shadow, your only son”. James clanged against the cage door above. “I won’t be sure until I see your face”. Raves called out. “Ram it harder, maybe you can knock it over and break it”. James rammed it again and the whole cage toppled over onto the white floor in front of Shadow. The heavy metal box rattled as James attempted to lift it off him. “Try to be more quiet, those humans will be back”! James thruster the cage off himself. “I tried”. His eyes surveyed around before falling upon Shadow. “Shadow… my son, you’re alive”. Shadow pressed against the metal bars and extended his paw outward. James eyed him for a moment before running forward and grasping his paw tight in his. James’s paws were bloody and cut his face was darkened like soot. “But I thought- “Never mind what you thought, all that matters we are here together now”. James released his paw from Shadow’s. “Ill get these cages open”, James fiddled with the cage door before it suddenly swung open. Shadow leaped into his father’s arms. Shadow closed his eyes leaning against his father’s soft fur he so remembered from his puppy hood. Raves began growling. “Hey, uh I hate to break up the moment but I’d like to be free again”. Shadow turned to the cages and began opening up Raves’ cage.

 

 

Raves peaked around the doorway and sniffed the air cautiously. “So, against all odds, you’re here to save me”. Shadow smiled. “Yeah”. Crystal tapped Shadow’s shoulder and he turned to her. “Shadow, now that we have your dad we should focus back on Chanoue”. Shadow turned his head to his father who stared at him. “Chanoue is not your problem, we should go home”. Shadow had explained about their adventure and run-in with Chanoue. Shadow looked up at him. “We have to stop him; I can’t let him do this”. James’s shook his head. “You saw what they did to me, they tortured many wolves; humans aren’t worth putting ourselves at risk for”. Shadow grabbed James’s shoulder as he turned. “But dad, their more than that, you may not understand but not all humans are bad”. James stared into his sons eyes. He felt a surge as though Shadow was right. “Either I’m crazy or this is true”. Shadow smiled a bit surprised though. “I’m staying with you though; you and I will take this Chanoue down together”. James quivered slightly. Shadow looked at him. “Are you alright”? James nodded. “Just a breeze; anyway I’m coming along with you”. Shadow stared at his father for a moment without words. “No, I can’t put you at risk, this is my fight not yours”. James shrugged past him. “This is my fight too, you must trust me”. Shadow followed after his father who stood against the tile wall. “You know something I don’t”? James looked back to his son sadly. “Just trust my judgment for now”. Shadow looked confused. “Alright”. Raves turned to look at them. “Well if you’re done debating, we should get moving”. Shadow followed Raves to the doorway. “There’s a tunnel the humans use to transport bodies to the outside, its just few halls down. We should make a run for it; the humans will be looking for us very soon”. Shadow called to Raves silently. “Won’t they see us”? Raves still looking back shrugged. “It won’t matter; it’s a one way streak”. Shadow watched as a shadow shined past the wall around the corner. “Then we best run as fast as possible; where is this tunnel”? Raves peeked around the corner again. “It can’t be far”. Shadow looked down at his paw which itched. As he looked, he noticed something shiny and red on the floor. A blood stain shined up at him. His eyes followed the stain; it led in a trail across the floor. His eyes met its end around the corner behind them, it was dark and no noise other than short gusty wind blows filled the passage. Shadow closed his eyes and sniffed. The cent of fresh cold air welcomed his nose with an intoxicating feeling of freedom. Shadow’s eyes snapped open. “This way”. Shadow said moving towards the dark corner. The other turned to look at him. James twitched his head. He smelt something, like cold air. “He’s right; I smell something like fresh air”. Raves grumbled a bit annoyed that his idea of where to go was shot down. Shadow looked around the corner. A white hallway that split off into a dark tunnel was ahead. Shadow slowly walked forward while the others followed slowly behind. “We’re home free”! Shadow called and he ran forward. Suddenly a red light flared around him and a loud obnoxious beeping rang out. The band of wolfs slapped their paws to their ears in discomfort. “What in the blazes is that”!? James screamed. Crystal shook her head and started running. “It’s an alarm, they know we escaped”! Shadow pulled his paws down and ran with her. “Let’s go”! The James and Raves quickly looked at one another and began running. Shadow looked back. Inevitably, two humans had given chase. “Their escaping”! One shouted from behind. James ran past Shadow. “Raves hurry up”! Raves looked up panting. “I’m not as young as I was”! Shadow tripped over several bodies. The stench in the tunnel flamed his nostrils but the cold fresh air cent kept him going. The tunnel suddenly shook and the wolves tumbled over. Shadow saw them all fall over and he looked back; the humans had done the same. James grabbed Shadow’s paw and lifted him up off the ground. “Come on lets go”. Shadow looked back again. The humans were getting to their feet. “What was that”? Shadow called out. “Earthquake”! Raves yelled. Shadow kept running with the others at his side. Another shake came though. Shadow tripped over another wolf body on the ground. He landed into a pile of bodies. Shadow shifted among the dead. The humans were just about to reach him. Suddenly, Raves jumped into the human, locking his jaw onto his hand. The human screamed. Raves grabbed the other human’s leg and pulled him down. “Go Shadow, go”! Raves pushed Shadow up. “I’ll hold them off just go”! Shadow stared for a few seconds and began running again. The gate to the exit was just ahead. “Come on you disrespectful freaks”!  Raves snapped his sharp teeth over the human’s face. He pulled back and kicked the other one with his leg knocking the other one down again. The wall behind the human came down over his foot and he screamed. Another rock in the ceiling collapsed and crushed the human’s skull. The one next to Raves followed with a rock collapsing over his chest but also locking Raves’ paw in. Raves growled in pain but he looked up. Shadow and the others were now just escaping out the gate into the open world. Raves smiled; in his final moments he had saved their lives. The ceiling slowly collapsed around him. The open world was sitting before him. He had played his part. The rocks encumbered his frail body and silenced his peaceful moment.