Chasing Fate (Sentinel & Guide)

Chapter 7

If it had been summer, Jack would have made it out to the perimeter within thirty minutes. With the combination of driving wind and snow, he was forced to a much slower pace. Still, he reached a white-red-white blazed tree marking the south-eastern edge of the retreat by ten. Taking cover in the dense treeline, he stopped to gather his wits. Midnight would creep up on him if he just rushed around in the snow. The guides weren't going to move from wherever they'd holed up for the night. Sometime around mile three, he'd passed a small cottage where a hopeful guide had settled in for the night. In the distance on mile four, he'd heard the shuffling of a guide who'd decided to stake out in a tent. He felt the pull, and as an alpha, he wanted to go and help, but they weren't her.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus. He wasn't going to give up even if he had to stay out all night. He could feel the pull like a sneeze that was caught behind his nose. It wouldn't be relieved until she was in reach.

In the quiet of the tree line, he heard the distinct buzzing of a perimeter alarm. He must be near that neighboring acreage. From the sound, the nearest sensor was a mile away. There really wasn't any reason for a guide to be that far out. The painted trees were the very last notation of the edge of the land, and what looked like an old barbed wire fence extended around not a foot past.

It did look a bit in disarray. Some of the posts were down and it was apparent that a deer or two had missed a jump and taken out a few lengths of it. He still felt the pull tempting him further out past the borderline.

Had she wandered off into un-mapped territory? Jack felt his heart rate speeding up at the thought. The terrain changed beyond the hill from sloping trails to the steep and rocky terrain. Only skilled hikers could handle it, or people who knew the land.

This wasn't just pretending to be in danger anymore.

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If Breton wanted to avoid the perimeter alarm, he'd have simply climbed right over it. Instead, he walked right past it with a smile. The alarms were very smartly placed, they'd catch anyone of reasonable height but not trip because of a wandering deer. He stopped to admire the handiwork. The alarms stretched out for the entire border of what he supposed was her land.

Extending his hearing, he could decipher the annoying pinging sound of the alarm vibrating out from what appeared to be concrete. His smile brightened as he heard the accompanying groan and unladylike grumble as his guide crawled out of her safely fortified nest.

He wasn't such a terrible sentinel that he'd make her trek all the way out to the border. He'd meet her halfway, and after he inevitably convinced her of the truth he could call in and retire to the cozy little Earthship for some well-earned bonding.

He tested the sonic dog deterrent in his jacket pocket as he peered into the moonlit-trees to check the best path. Being sure didn't mean he wasn't going to stack the odds in his favor.

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Fate had trekked about a mile out when Beau began to lose his puppy mind. This wasn't his normal warning bark, but a distressed yowling. He only made this noise when he was in pain. She immediately hung her lantern on a tree branch and rushed to him, trying to calm him down.

"Beau-buddy? What's wrong? Did you step on a thorn?" she huffed as she checked all of his paws. He bumped his head into her and tried to hide beneath his paws. Was it his ears?

She clamped her hands over them and he immediately calmed down slightly, only to thrash and growl, his hackles rising as he looked over her shoulder. She turned around nervously and her eyes widened in shock.

"Cute dog you've got there," the towering sentinel said with an eerie smile. In one hand he held up her lantern, and in the other, a bright yellow sonic dog deterrent. This wasn't a lost sentinel.

He'd searched her out with a purpose.

Despite the warm layers of her clothing, Fate felt her blood run cold. "Turn that stupid thing off!" she screamed, her voice echoing in the near silence, "The camp base is that way!"

Breton's eyes flashed, "Playing coy will get you nowhere my dear. Now send your dog home, or I'll use something stronger than a sound."

Fate bit her lip. The dog was her best deterrent against sentinels. They were sensitive on the same wavelengths, and Beau's hundred pound frame could knock over even the burliest of attackers. But he wasn't a true guard dog. He was all show, and she didn't want him to get hurt. She'd deal with this herself.

"Go home Beau," she ordered in her best, non-wavering voice. Even if she died fighting off this sentinel, her dog was going to be fine. He didn't deserve to get hurt because of stubborn humans.

Beau whined and paced, only stepping back a few feet and reluctant to leave his distressed master.

"Beau! I said go home!"

The dog took off into the treelines, yelping and howling in distress the entire while. He was a good boy, but a stubborn boy too. He wasn't going to actually abandon her. Instead, he curved around and picked up a separate scent. He couldn't stay near Fate, but he could find this human and get help.