Wildlands (rskde & BurningWillows)

[BurningWillows]

"Hi Max," she purred, scratching behind his ear, as she looked at the handler beside her, "You never gave me your first name either, ya know. Or do you prefer just a code name like Shrake, or Red?"

 

[Risky]

"It's Kyle." He says to her while continuing to rub his dogs side. Kyle is surprised that Max hasn't done anything up to this point, normally he would have started to growl by now, but the dog was behaving himself around Arya.

 

[BurningWillows]

"Nice to meet you Kyle," she smiled, "And you Max. He's really good once he doesn't see you as a threat, huh? You've trained him so well."

 

[Risky]

Kyle laughs, rubbing the back of his head. "I think he just likes you, it's nearly impossible to train this one not to growl at everything that moves much less rip its throat out if it gets too close." He admits to her.

"But he is my pal, he refuses to sleep until I do and half the time he's awake making sure nothing hurts me." He explains to Arya.

 

[BurningWillows]

"He's loyal," she summarized, "It's a rare thing to find these days. I think you and Max will make it just fine on this team."

She pet Max's head again before standing, "My shift on patrol starts soon and I was hoping for a jog around the area, just to stretch my legs. Want to join? It'll only take an hour."

 

[Risky]

Kyle nods, smiling. "Thank you, Max seems happy here already." He says before considering her question, a jog would be nice. "Yeah, I think Max needs to stretch his legs too, he's not used to being cooped up for this long." He says to her.

"We can go whenever you're ready, Max'll just follow me at all times, no leash necessary and I've got my sidearm in case anybody pops out at us." Kyle says to Arya.

 

[BurningWillows]

They stopped at her room so she could change into more appropriate attire, having been wearing fatigues and a shirt. If they were leaving the hotel, she needed to be prepped.

Strapping her sidearm on they headed out for a long jog, showing Kyle and Max their new surroundings.

~~

Days past and Arya tried to make their newest team mates feel comfortable, spending her free time with them. Kyle was pleasant company, and Max was adorable once he wasn't growling and snarling at you. Arya seemed to be the only lucky one thus far. Everyone else remained getting cold stares and lip lifts from the dog if they got too close.

Three days later, Arya was in Shrake's office with a problem.

"I need supplies. Medical supplies."

She had been doing inventory and realized how much she had forgotten she'd used. Between the past several injuries she had used up a lot of her supplies, and never had yet to refill them. Material like bandages were almost out, and if they did another mission and someone got grievously hurt she could be in trouble.

"Please Shrake, I need medical supplies, and we are running low on food again. It might be time for another large supply run."

 

[Risky]

Shrake stands and watches her before nodding. "We have a couple of problems, then." He says to her while pacing around, thinking to himself. He stops for a moment and looks over at her, still thinking before nodding again.

"You and Wetsworth seem to be getting along nicely, we need three supplies. Fuel, medicine, and food." He explains to the doctor. "So, we'll get these things at the same time, Red and Winters can go out looking food, myself and Al will go looking for that medicine, and you and Wetsworth can look for fuel, his dog can sniff it out. Just remember that we need helicopter fuel, so go up to the roof with the dog and get the dog to sniff the fuel or whatever then tell Wetsworth to do his thing." He says to her.

"You have your objective, go inform the rest of the team." He says to her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya nodded, standing and taking her leave. She spoke to the others first, getting Red and Winters together and explaining briefly before sending them to Shrake with any questions. Then she spoke to Al, telling him they were doing a supply run and he was on Shrake's team. Finally she knocked on Kyle's door.

She was already bent low when the door opened, meeting Max at his eye level. It seemed to work better for the dog to recognize her sooner, instead of her looming over him like a giant. He was extremely intelligent and this time when he saw her he only showed his teeth for a few seconds before his tongue rolled out and he relaxed.

"Hey Kyle," she smiled, "Hi Max. Up for your first mission boys?"

 

[Risky]

The dog barks loudly and flips around, running back into the room as if going to get Kyle.

Max sits in front of Kyle, who is on his bed without a shirt on. He waves to Arya. "I'll get myself ready!" He calls over to her before reaching down to pet Max.

Kyle stands and walks over to his gear, slipping his BDU t-shirt on, but he doesn't grab any Kevlar to speak of, instead grabbing a slash bandolier from his things and slipping it on over his t-shirt. He then reaches down and grabs a standard issue U.S. Special Forces helmet, putting it on firmly over his head. He also grabs a bandanna and a pair of combat glasses, putting both of them on to his face.

He grabs his rifle and puts it over his back before filling his bandolier full of ammunition for the journey along with some simple rations and two bottles of fresh water, both inside of Marine Corps canteens.

Shrake gets Al and they both get dressed into their combat gear. Al gets his sniper rifle and Shrake grabs the M16A4 he's always using before the two head out, walking towards a cartel controlled town to the East.

Within a few hours they are easily able to raid an abandoned hospital for medication and other medical supplies and they are able to return by 3 AM. They both get back into the hotel at that time before waiting for the rest of the team to bring back their supplies.

Kevin really can't stand Red.

When he was told he'd be stuck with him, an audible groan sounded as he gets dressed and gets his gear in check. Once he is finished sorting through his gear and bringing plenty of ammo and supplies, he goes out of his room to retrieve the redheaded sniper.

"Let's go Red, we've got a lot of ground to cover." He says to the sniper before beginning to walk downstairs, expecting Red to follow him.

 

[BurningWillows]

He followed Snowy downstairs itching to go somewhere. As they hit the tree line Red smiled, nudging Snowy in the arm.

"Nice to do a mission after so long eh?"

Arya couldn't help but blush seeing Kyle shirtless, and quickly excused herself to get ready. With her ops gear on and her gun strapped she returned, leading the man and his companion to the roof.

"We need Max to sniff out some fuel," she explained, "Otherwise this helicopter is no good."

 

[Risky]

He leads Max over to a fuel box, allowing him a quick sniff before taking one of the fuel containers and commanding loudly. "Max, search." He says before the dog starts keeping a jogging pace down the stairs and out of the lobby, beginning to lead them up the road.

He shrugs. "Honestly, I'm okay with everything being quiet." He admits to the redhead before continuing on through the treeline.

He walks towards the city lights in the distance, it seems like a four hour walk, if they're walking of course. He begins jogging towards the city lights, keeping the pace constantly.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya keeps up, jogging at Kyle's side as they follow the dog. She's not sure where they'll end up, but she's impressed at Max's nose.

A couple hours pass and they slow their pass as Max slows, obviously getting closer. But all Arya could see was trees.

"There must be a hidden base around here somewhere," she murmured looking around, "Hopefully the cartel, so we can pop a few heads."

 

[Risky]

Kyle shrugs, keeping his rifle ready as he looks around for enemies.

Max moves forward a little, sniffing around before running off towards a road that was hidden behind a brush. The road leads to a gas station, where there are several trucks armed with mounted machine guns on the back, members of the Cartel occupy them.

Kyle runs forward and grabs Max, pulling him back into the trees and keeping his hand over the mutt's mouth.

He looks back at Arya, motioning for her to look towards the gas station ahead of them.

 

[BurningWillows]

Nodding, she surges forward slowly, keeping low and out of sight. Coming up behind a tree she canvases the area, seeing what they had seen. Then she backtracks to them, keeping her voice low.

"We need a game plan. Suggestions?"

 

[Risky]

Kyle looks around before spotting something around back of the station.

"Regular gas stations don't carry Aviation fuel, it's stored around the back of the station.. So, if I could lob a grenade in just the right fashion.." He starts to say before making a fake explosion sound with his mouth and a signal with his hands to indicate an explosion.

"It'll take out the men and those Technicals that'll go towards the Cartel's rein of terror."

 

[BurningWillows]

She shook her head.

"Gas station," she whispered, "You throw a grenade and that entire place will light up. We are risking the aviation fuel getting caught in that too. It would be a smart plan, if we already had the fuel with us."

She thought for a few more seconds, "If you can buy me some time, I'll loop around to the back. Distract them while I grab the fuel, then once I'm out of the danger zone, light em up."

 

[Risky]

Kyle grabs a grenade from his vest and a small detonator, he holds it down and primes the grenade. "Listen very carefully, take this with you and throw it over into the station when you're ready and then get back here. This detonator is a dead man's switch, if I die then they still die, that's the idea." He says to her.

"Now go, I've got you covered." He says to the doctor before grabbing his FN45 from his holster and jogging up the tree line with his dog at his side.

"Alright Max.. You see that guy taking a piss over there? Sic him, boy." He says quietly. The dog dashes forward without making a noise before pouncing on the man, ripping his throat out with his powerful teeth.

Kyle takes aim at one of the gunners on the Technicals before firing a single shot, the gunner falls to the ground, all eyes are on Kyle.

 

[BurningWillows]

Slipping through the trees, Doc keeps her gun cocked and ready. She gets around the back, spotting three cans of oil, marked like the ones she'd seen before with the helicopter. Sneaking up, she realizes she can't grab both with the grenade in her hand. Tossing it through an open window she quickly grabs two, hefting them well into the trees.

We could really use that third, but what if someone notices me? Well...they are still watching Kyle and Max.

Setting them in a bush, Arya jogs back and looks around. Still no eyes on her. Racing forward she grabs the last can just as the sound of footsteps slap past the window.

"Hey...what the hell?"

She looks up in time to see a man with tattoos covering his neck and a shaved head holding the grenade. With the can in one hand she shoots at him with her other through the window, but misses.

"Kyle!" she yells into her radio, as her gunfire pulls way more attention then needed, "Kyle detonate the grenade! Quick!"

Turning she runs, hoping she can out run the blast.

 

[Risky]

Kyle lets the detonator fall to the ground, the gas station then explodes in a gigantic fiery blast, taking out everything within a two hundred meter radius.

He watches the explosion envelop Arya before he takes off towards where he last saw her, Max is at his heels. He looks around at the rubble, a sense of panic striking him.

 

[BurningWillows]

Arya hugged the can and ran, but she didn't see the root ahead. Her foot caught and she fell, the can dropping feet away from her. Even as she got up she heard the blast, fumbling with the can as she looked over her shoulder.

The blast would hit her, no doubt about that. With her best aim she threw the can ahead; if the blast hit the fuel can she'd be dead in seconds. Even as she bolted, turning and running diagonally through the trees away from the can and the blast, she could feel the heat lick her back and suddenly she was flying through the air, the blast hitting her with enough force to send her straight into a tree. She felt the hit...and then everything blacked out.

 

[Risky]

Kyle runs forward and grabs the Aviation fuel, kneeling down and offering it to Max. "Find her, boy." He says to the dog, hoping to find her body to get the dog tags he knew would be on her.

The dog moves around the rubble with his nose to the floor, he finds Arya under a pile of debris and beings to bark at the pile.

Kyle runs to the pile and lifts off the debris a piece at a time, uncovering the doctor from her tomb. He checks her heart rate before lifting her over his shoulder, grabbing the fuel can and walking back towards base with Max at his heels.

 

[BurningWillows]

She woke halfway back, her head lolling and her stomach on fire from the hit. Everything hurt.

"K-kyle?" she coughed, blood spewing from her lips.

Shit...internal bleeding.

"K-Kyle, your shoulder..." she coughed more blood, "It hurts."

She could feel it digging into her stomach, which felt like someone had dug a knife into it. If he didn't put her down soon she'd black out from the pain again.

 

[Risky]

He nods and quickly kneels down, setting the doctor down on the ground. He kneels next to her, looking over her body worriedly.

"Is there anything I can do?" He asks her as he watches her.

 

[BurningWillows]

Her eyes flutter open and shut, fighting unconsciousness.

"You need...to carry me-" she coughed harder, feeling her ribs cry in protest, "Carry me to a hospital. N-not the base, no one...no one has surgical training. M-max can bring you back to...the fuel later..."

More coughing, more splatters of blood on her hand as she pulled it from her mouth.

"I'm...internally bleeding Kyle. Help me."