Chapter 3
The next morning I get up just before the sun showed itself.  Pasha was barely still asleep as she shifted restlessly.  I slide out the broken window and rush back onto the alleys.  I needed to find Aguillo and inform him of my choice then I had to find Sax and Jericho and update them on their positions in this god forsaken mission.
Sax could readily supply fire power and second opinions I knew that easily.  Jericho could provide us with routes, from above, below, and within the place as well as providing cover from the technical problems.  The technology the EM’s had was limited and out dated most times but Jericho knew how to make the best of it.
“A decade old virus can bring down a state of the art computer, ‘cause it’s too primitive.” He always said, just as he had his power shut off unexpectedly. I would be assigned to being raw power and terror wrapped on fur, no matter how well technology can advance, nothing can beat primal instincts, and I got the best of what mother nature had to offer.
As much as I loathed the fact I knew we needed back up in case of trouble. I was not about to count on the newer recruits just yet, I needed experience and a lot of it and the only one I knew who could do that was Aguillo.  
I had to give him my answer or I was digging my grave deeper by the minute.  Sprinting back down the alleyways and from time to time, trudging through the canals trying to find where Aguillo’s was hiding now.  I almost headed back to the Blue Moon, before I realize he wouldn’t be there now.  So I start for an abandoned warehouse where he usually went to study the new recruits, which seemed logical, since we got a few more last night.
Shaking my fur from the last canal I crawled out of. I run the rest of the way to the huge facility.  The rust and mildew stained building has an overwhelming sick scent to me when I approach it.  Blood and sweat account for much of the comforting odors, but the rotted food, mold, and corroded metal linger with it at an overpowering rate.
I enter and the echoes of countless voices bombard me from inside the hollow interior.  Most of the personnel stop to look at who I was, but I don’t look at them, Aguillo isn’t going to be on the ground with them.
In the narrow catwalks above the training grounds I spot him, watching them like a hawk from his perch.  I nod to him, then quickly scurry up the stiff, rusted cables to meet him on his branch.  When I hoisting myself over the guardrail he finally seems to notice my presence for the first time since I entered.
“Yes?” Aguillo asks, giving me a stern glance, before returning to his watch.
“I’ve got your answer,” I give back gruffly, drawing myself to my full height. “I’m in.”
“I know,” He replies smugly, his eyes gleam triumphantly.
“If you knew,” I begin smoothly, “then why did you ask in the first place?” my chest rumbles with a short growl.
Cocking an eyebrow, Aguillo looks at me amused.  “I have my reasons, wolf.”
Snorting at him, I glance down at the training area again, trying to keep my temper and tongue in check.
“Fine, I’ll get my team ready,” I reply, giving him no time to question my decision, but I could feel his eyes follow me angrily as I left the training facility.
Once outside, I tried to shake the feeling of trouble off me again. Time to update Jer, and Sax.

For the second time in twenty-four hours I was tracking down those two again. Jericho said he would be at his home so that was the first place to start.  Jer’s home was located in the middle of everything, making it difficult for most to get to unnoticed. Which was not a problem for me.
The canals would prove the easiest route, the murky water and bridges would provide the needed cover and the current would supply the speed I needed.
So once again I was paddling though the dim current that passed near his home. Clawing for control of the rush, with my hind legs kicking fiercely the entire time with my stunted tail acting as a rudder  Pushing ahead of the flow as it propelled me ahead, steadily the bridges passed over me with their watery shadows, at times forcing my head beneath the water, nearly gulping in the sickening flood.  The sharp turns were made by grabbing the side of the old buildings with the remnants of my claws. The bridges were starting to tower over me as I passed under them, even with the current working with me, but it still took some time to reach Jericho’s crowded neighborhood. until I grabbed at one of the rust coated rails of the bridge. It whined at my effort to climb out of the canal, but the current was nearly dragging me under the overpass. After several minutes of struggling I emerged out of the water sopping, stinking wet. With as quick shake from muzzle to tail the excess water sprayed off my fur, now that I was nearly dry I dashed off to track down Jericho.
“Jer, you had better be there with coffee,” I snarled to myself when I finally reached his doorstep. Grabbing the doorknob ready to shove my way in only to be greeted with sparks and a shock that gripped my hand and held it there for a few painful seconds.
“Jericho, I’m gonna kill you,” I growl, when I rip my hand off the metal knob, I should’ve been used to Jer’s booby traps, but I was not I the mood to deal with his ever changing puzzle of entering his front door.
Flexing my numb fingers then kick the door in, the wires and revived car battery skid across the floor from the force of my strike.  I spotted Jericho was on the couch, sound asleep.
How could he have just slept through that? I wonder as I slink over behind the sofa and grab him by the collar, yanking him off of it then dropped him.
He woke up after landing roughly on the bare floor.
“What the hell was that for?” he shouts at me, picking himself off the floor.
“I could ask the same thing,” I give back, nodding to his recent booby trap.
“And to think you’ve learned already,” Jer  rolls his eyes, “alright, what’cha want?”
“An apology would be a good start,” I growl.
“An apology?” he repeats disbelievingly, “for what?!”
“You know what, Jericho.”
“Fine, I’m sorry for having a means of defense, and alarm on my premises on which you are trespassing on,” Jer states
When he put it that way, he did have a valid point, but still I wanted to be right.
“Hey, mouse, you’re the one who told me where you were going to be.”
Jer sighed, then plopped back down on the couch.
“But you gave no indication that you were going to dropping in.”
“Nor did I give any indication that I wasn’t” I shot back
“Either way Trent, you know that I have some sort of alarm/defense device at that door.” he gives, crossing his arms along with a firm glare.
“Fine, whatever.”
“I win,” he states cheerfully, before returning to his usual sober state. “Alright, what’cha want, Lobo?”
“Welcome to the team,” I answer brightly.
“Huh?” staring back at me in a confused daze Jer, just shakes his head. “Lobo it is too early in the morning for this, let me get the java grits.”
“Get me some too,” I call after him when he goes into the kitchen.
A few minutes later he returned with two packets of ground coffee, tossing me one of the packs he ripped his open and dumped the contents into his mouth. Jericho was born and bred on coffee, and ineffective without it, not to mention cranky.
“Alright what do you mean by ‘welcome to the team’?” he asked swallowing a mouthful of the flavored, dark gravel.
“The assignment, you’re on the team,”
“Okay, what for?” Jer replied suspiciously, before finishing off the bag.
“Technical support,” I answer “what did you expect?”
Jer gave me sharp glare before he replied, “With you, Lobo, I never know.”
“As soon as I get Sax filled in and get an update from Aguillo I’ll give you all the info I can give.”
“Whoa, hold it, Sax is in this too?” Jericho exclaims fully awake now.
“Yeah,” I remark slowly unsure if this was a disaster waiting to happen.
“Sax, the Sax that nearly made my system swiss cheese a few months ago, the Sax sleeps with a FN5.7?”
“Yes, that’s the Sax I’m talking about.”
Jericho grins, then leans back on the couch, “This is going to be fun.”
“Why do I get the feeling that this was a mistake telling you that?” I shake my head, then turn towards the door.