Chapter 40: Blaze of Glory

Monongahela Delta Rick Carlton’s POV

Approaching Two Harbors

I looked in the rear-view mirror as I drove at high speed away from the Arrowhead Pack and that disaster of an attack. The screams were distracting me. “Take the pain, warrior. Push it to the side of your brain and isolate it,” I told the man in the back seat of the Suburban. Another man was holding a battle dressing to his hip, where a rifle shot shattered his left hip.

“He’s losing a lot of blood,” his buddy said.

“Well, fucking stop it, because it’s not like we can drop him at the emergency room!”

“Why not?”

“Guys, we need to make some decisions quickly,” I sent to all the Monongahela survivors, scattered among three of our vehicles and one Katahdin car. “Nathan, pass everything I say onto the Katahdin survivors. First off, is there any ranked member higher than Delta left?”

There wasn’t. “Fine. I’m in charge of this group now.” I slowed and moved to the edge of the road as a Sheriff’s cruiser, followed by an ambulance, went past us towards Arrowhead. “How many seriously wounded do we have?”

“Katahdin has one,” Nathan replied. “Gutshot. He’s unconscious, not much time left.”

“We could get them medical care, but we risk capture, and the injured will be under arrest after being saved. You’ll spend the rest of your life in a cage, unable to shift.” It was a terrible fate for a werewolf to spend his life that way; his wolf would slowly go mad.

“Fuck that, I’ll make it,” the warrior sent.

I had to pull over as more police zipped past us. “We need to get off the road and bury the bodies. We can’t drive for 24 hours with them in the back.”

“Ground’s still frozen, Delta.”

“We’ll have to find a rock cliff or ravine we can use to cover them with rocks. Brian, do you have those explosives handy?” We had explosives in case we needed to force our way into the Pack House or the Safe Room.

“I’ve got three blocks of C4 and timers,” he sent back.

“Get them ready, and I’ll watch for a remote place.” The Katahdin Pack vehicles had a much longer run, needing to circle the lake to get back to the road heading to Two Harbors. “Tell the Katahdin guys to do the same. Get the bodies buried and hide. Don’t go back to your Packs right away, wait until things calm down and we know who the new Alphas are. Clean up and patch up your cars as best you can so you don’t get caught. Better yet, abandon them and get new ones.” Money was going to be the big issue with that plan; Kirk controlled it, and he was dead now. I hope he had something in his bag.

It took a few seconds before Nathan came back with their answer. “Good luck, Rick. Katahdin is heading west for a bit, avoiding the main roads. I’ll make my way home eventually.”

I didn’t know if we’d have a Pack that would welcome our return. Our Alpha and Betas were all dead, and Alpha Rori could seize control of the Pack. I didn’t see anyone else from our Pack who was able to step up and take the job other than me, and I wasn’t dominant enough to hold it. “All right then. We’ll bury our brothers, then split up and make our way home, staying within link-range of each other. Everyone good with that?”

“Yes, Alpha,” one of them said. Soon the others replied; I was the only leader left, so I was Alpha until someone took it from me.

Three Duluth police cars were coming at high speed, and we pulled over to let them pass. This time, they didn’t keep going; it was like they suddenly recognized what we were. Braking hard, they spun their cars around and turned their lights on. “FUCK! LET’S GET OUT OF HERE!” I gunned the engine and pulled back out as the cruisers came back up behind us. “Slow them down,” I sent to the guys in the trail car.

I could hear the gunfire as men leaned out the windows, firing their rifles at the pursuing squads. It would be difficult for them to hit anything, as we were doing over eighty on the twisting two-lane road. It did get them to back off.

We had to lose them fast, or we’d never escape. Police radios were bringing every cop within a hundred miles to us. “Guys, pull ahead of me. Brian, get the C4 ready, timers at three seconds. We’ll use them like grenades.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the others replied. I stayed right as the second SUV accelerated past me into the lead position, while Brian started working on the explosives in the third-row seat. The trail car passed, the firing stopping as their car tucked in in front of me. The three police cars had become two after gunfire knocked one out of the chase.

“SHIT!” The shout in my ear made me look back to the road, where our lead car was rolling in the ditch, and the second car was in a full skid. I stood on the brakes, stopping just before I reached the spike strips. My men were firing at them, and the police and SWAT teams who set the trap were firing back. Their shooting was more effective than ours, and our big vehicle started taking fire.

I put the Suburban in reverse and accelerated away from the kill zone; the two cop cars behind me were now the weak spot. There was nothing I could do for my other Pack members now, not with their cars disabled. “NO SHIFTING with humans around,” I reminded them. They’d have to fight it out as humans. “Window down, Brian, toss the first grenade at the police car as soon as I get them out of the way.”

Busting through a roadblock wasn’t something done at high speed. We were doing maybe fifteen miles an hour in reverse when the rear end of the Suburban hit between the two parked cruisers. The impact spun them away as I gunned the engine, pushing my way through. The officers were firing at close range, and I took a round through my left arm as we broke through. The explosion followed three seconds later.

I accelerated up to about thirty in reverse, then turned the wheel hard left then hard right as I shifted into drive. The J-turn got big SUV spun around until we were facing forward again, then I accelerated back towards Arrowhead. The C4 had exploded under one of the cruisers, sending it flying into the ditch, accompanied by a huge fireball from the gas tank lighting off. “Nice toss, Brian. Get another ready. Check the navigation and find me another way out of here. The rest of you, load up and find a firing position.”

I tried to link with the men in the other cars, without luck. They were busy, or more likely, dead. I could see one police car hanging well back from us, not trying to close. Explosives will put a little extra caution into your pursuit, I thought with a smile. We had to shake him, or they’d all flock to us again. I counted the time from when we passed a tree until he did. “Ready another charge, six-second timer,” I told him.

“Right turn in a quarter-mile,” I heard.

Perfect. “As soon as I make the turn, drop the charge out the back,” I said.

“Ready.” The intersection was coming up quick; I braked hard, then accelerated into the turn. I heard the crack and ping of a rifle round going through the frame of the SUV.

“OW! FUCK FIND IT,” Nathan said. No. He couldn’t have.

State Patrol Trooper Eric Johnson’s POV

Helicopter Approaching Arrowhead Lake

The radio gave us the assignment. “Suspect vehicle is black Chevy Suburban, late model, currently westbound, five miles east of Arrowhead Lake on Country Road 87. At least four suspects inside, heavily armed, including explosives.”

“Air two-one-five, roger that location, one minute out,” the pilot replied. I was riding in the right seat, with my scoped sniper rifle at the ready.

“Air Two-One-Five sniper, you have a green light to take out suspects if the opportunity presents and civilians are not endangered,” Command sent.

“10-4, Captain.” I made sure my rifle was securely tethered to my body, and my safety harness was on and attached to the airframe before I slid back the door and locked it open. We were about two hundred feet above the ground and flying at eighty knots. I unbuckled my belt and turned until I was kneeling in the seat. The harness let me lean out the side, but not enough to fall out. I set the scope on minimum power; this would be a close-range shot.

“Visual contact,” the pilot said. I looked forward and saw a cruiser in pursuit of a black Suburban on the two-lane blacktop.

“Bring us up on the left side,” I said. This was a good place to take them out, with nothing but trees and frozen fields around. I chambered the .308 round and took aim as we came up fast.

“He’s turning right,” the pilot said.

“Stay with him.” As he made the turn, I squeezed the trigger and sent a shot at the driver. I knew it was off as soon as I fired, so I chambered another round and fired again.

The Suburban exploded in a brilliant fireball.

“BREAKING LEFT,” the pilot said. I got tossed roughly back into my seat, holding on as the helicopter turned away from the smoke and flames. He steadied it out, circling back in a slow turn as he checked his instruments to make sure nothing was damaged. “What the fuck did you hit?”

“I don’t know,” I said. I keyed the radio. “Command, Air Two-One-Five sniper, suspect vehicle exploded. No survivors in sight.”

“Ten-four, unit is on scene. Nice shooting.” There was a pause. “Air Two-One-Five, commence air search for vehicles last seen on the west side of Arrowhead Lake. Suspect vehicles are dark blue Ford Expedition and light-blue Chevy ten-passenger van.”

“Air two-one-five responding,” the pilot said. I kept the door open as we flew northwest across the lake.

Warrior Roger Dahlgren’s POV

West of Arrowhead Lake

“Anyone following us?” I was driving the lead of two vehicles, a 2010 Ford Expedition, as we fled from the Arrowhead secondary entrance.

“Not seeing anyone yet,” Wes said from the passenger seat. “Turn left in half a mile; we need to head south and pick up the wolves from the west end of the territory.”

“And then what?”

Nathan, the lone Monongahela wolf in our group, looked up from the back seat. “My Delta said to make our way home as best we can.”

I snorted. “We’re fifteen hundred miles from home, we’ve got a bunch of bodies in the back, and we’ll have every cop in the country looking for us,” I said. “Best we can isn’t going to be enough.”

Thomas sent to me alone; he was driving the Chevy van. “Roger, we have to get Kevin to a doctor soon. He’s not going to make it to Duluth, much less home.”

I let out a breath. I was in charge since I was the oldest warrior, but being in charge wasn’t something I sought. Everyone else was dead. “We can’t go back to Arrowhead, not with the police all over. They have a Pack Doctor in Oxbow Lake. We need to get Kevin there and beg for asylum.”

“They are staunch allies of Arrowhead!”

“Arrowhead let us go, and Alpha Rori didn’t have to do that. We beg asylum. We were under Alpha orders, they won’t blame a warrior for following his Alpha, and none of us killed anyone or entered the territory. We have a better chance with a Pack than the police.” I thought about how we could get out of this and not have it blowback on the Pack. All of us had fake identifications, and our fingerprints wouldn’t show up in any government files. I had no mate, she had died thirty years ago, but most of the others did. “I need a volunteer to sacrifice their life for their brothers,” I said. “The police will need to think they got us all if any of us are to escape. I need a driver for the van.”

“You’re going to let yourself get captured?” Thomas was shocked.

“We can’t go to prison; they’d see how we age differently. I’m going to take the fight to the cops and die a warrior’s death.”

There was silence along the links. “I’ll do it,” Chris said. “Pick us up, and I’ll drive. We’re at the road, dressed and ready.” Chris was one of the newest warriors, an orphan with no mate.

“Thank you.”

“We will honor your sacrifices, warriors,” Thomas said.

“I want you to survive and get back to the Pack when you can. I pray to Luna that you get a better Alpha than the one who led us to this. Go through the pockets of the dead, remove all identification and anything else that could lead back home, and put it in the backpacks. Oxbow can help us dispose of it; leave nothing for the cops to track.” We reached the warriors, and the six men quickly loaded in the back with their packs. “The cops won’t know about you six since you would not show up on cameras,” I said. “You can request asylum or make your way back home on your own.”

“We will see how Oxbow receives the others,” the senior man responded. “You should warn them so we don’t get shot at on the way in.”

He was right. There was a burner phone in the glove box, and Wes knew the number of the Pack House. He dialed it and handed it to me as we drove their way. “Oxbow Lake, Michael Ulfson’s office,” a woman’s voice answered.

I hated using cellphones, so I was careful about what I said. “I have an urgent asylum request for you,” I said. “My men will be arriving in two vehicles at your north entrance is five minutes. We are requesting an asylum hearing and medical support for one of us.”

She must have been linking. “You will wait at the gate, and only you may leave to petition him. Any others who get out will be assumed hostile.”

“Understood, thank you.” I hung up. Wes broke it in half and tossed the pieces into the ditch.

“Do you think this will work?”

“I hope so. Even if they have the video, most of us didn’t do anything but sit down.” We reached the turnoff for the Pack, heading between the pines until we reached a clearing. There was a cattle gate across the road, and armed men waited behind it. I turned off the ignition. “No one do a fucking thing except sit down and shut up, no matter what they do to me,” I said.

“Yes, Alpha,” they responded.

I opened the door and got out slowly, keeping my hands visible. I walked towards the gate, where I recognized Alpha Michael from the videoconferences. “What do you want,” he asked.

“I am Alpha Roger Dahlgren of the Katahdin Pack. I was part of the attack on Arrowhead, though I did not cross their border or fire on them,” I said.

“Your power is not that of an Alpha,” he said.

“I’ve been Alpha for all of twenty minutes; every member of the leadership of my Pack died in the attack. They are in the back of our vehicles, and I need help in ensuring the police are satisfied they have gotten the bad guys. I am also requesting asylum for the surviving warriors, and medical care for a warrior who has a gunshot wound.”

“With me,” Michael said as he walked towards the vehicles. Six warriors surrounded him as he looked in the open windows. “Your vehicles will be escorted to the Pack House. You have asylum until we can determine the facts in your cases.”

“Thank you, Alpha. I need to take the vehicles with me now. The police will be searching for them, and they can’t find them on your territory.”

He nodded. “How are you handling it?”

“I’ll get as far away as I can, then leave the police nothing they can use to lead them back to our kind.”

He thought for a moment, then nodded and motioned to his men. “Take the injured man to the Clinic. The rest of you, grab your stuff and follow us.” He turned back to me as the men filed out. “What do you need?”

“Gas can and a flare,” I said. He had them brought forward; I had all the dead bodies in the back of mine. I soaked the dead bodies with the gas, then left the open can upright between the pile and the wheel well. “Thank you, Alpha. I go to do what I must.”

“May Luna guide you,” he said.

Chris got into the van as I got back in the car, the windows down to avoid the gas smell. We turned and drove back onto the road, heading east to where the County Road connected to Highway 61 south of Two Harbors. “How far do we need to go,” Chris asked.

“The farther, the better. When we make contact with law enforcement, either kill yourself or make them kill you.” We couldn’t be captured alive.

We made it to Highway 61 and turned south before they found us. A patrol car heading north crossed the median and headed after us with lights and sirens. “Keep going until they block the road,” I told him. We pushed the vehicles up to the limits of their engines, almost a hundred miles an hour. We were approaching Duluth when I saw the waiting patrols and the spike strips. “May Luna accept our souls,” I said. Placing the flare between my legs, I ignited it and dropped it behind me on the floor. The soaked carpeting caught fire as I turned hard, crossing the oncoming lane and punching through the guardrail. There was a moment of pure peace as the big vehicle sailed through the air.

I closed my eyes and enjoyed the feeling of flying until the rocks at the base of the cliff ended me.