DAY 1

Charlie was starting to wish he hadn't taken this job. It paid decently and had promised to be easy money - drive a bus full of cubs (and the two counselors) to the remote Wildfire Campgrounds, and four weeks later show up there to drive 'em back to the city. $6,000 total. The Polar Bear had a CDL that he'd never made use of...and six-k wasn't money he could just scoff at. It was a little odd, but he wasn't going to question the pay. All in all, it seemed like an easy gig, but he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he'd made a huge mistake in accepting the job. 

It was an eight-hour trip, deep into the countryside, along a route that seemed to be entirely windy back roads that sometimes skirted alarmingly close to sheer cliffs and valleys. Charlie found it nerve-wracking and challenging, considering his inexperience. Luckily the counselors knew how to keep the cubs occupied, because the route promised to be unforgiving of even the smallest distraction on the Bear's part.

Simon, the lead counselor, waited until a relatively straight stretch before tapping Charlie gently on the shoulder, "The halfway point is just up ahead, a truck stop. It’ll be on the right, so keep alert. We'll take a break there to let everyone stretch their legs and use the bathrooms if they need to."

"Sounds good," Charlie grunted, most of his focus on the road ahead. After a moment, he cleared his throat, "Hey, Simon, right? I've been wondering...um...[i]who pays six thousand dollars for this[/i]? This isn't some sort of...like...cubnapping ring or something, is it?"

The older Cheetah chuckled, darkly, putting on an evil voice, “We crossed a state line an hour ago, bucko. You’re in deep now, bwahahaha! No. The guy who owns Wildfire is this, like, eccentric billionaire. Multi-billionaire.  Money is like piss to him – he has more of it than he knows what to do with.” 

"Is the pay always half up front, half when we get there?" Charlie asked, risking a glance over his shoulder at the Cheetah, who nodded. 

"For the bus driver, yeah. So you can pay for gas or repairs if needed. Speaking of which, it would be smart to grab gas at the stop, looks like we're a bit under half. Getting it now would be cheaper than on the return trip."

Charlie groaned. Doing the math in his head, he was still essentially getting paid around $250 an hour after expenses, but he hadn't thought he'd be on the hook for gas and sundry repairs. On the other paw, the bus seemed to be in great condition, so gas was probably going to be his only expense, and he'd still be making a healthy profit.

The rest station was just ahead, as Simon had warned him, and Charlie gratefully made the pull-off into the lot. Ever since Simon had mentioned the bathrooms, Charlie had been increasingly aware of his full bladder.
Plus, after driving for four hours, he was getting eager to not be sitting for a bit. 

The rest area was indeed an old truck stop, and there were even a few semi-trailers, but the place was otherwise fairly empty. There was only one other vehicle that wasn't Charlie's bus or one of the rigs – he assumed it was the station attendant's. Charlie picked a spot midway between the building and the parked rigs and put the bus in park. 

Now that they were off the road, Simon stood and leaned over the divide between the driver's seat and the first passenger seat, speaking to Charlie while the other counselor addressed the cubs, "This station can be sketchy, so at least one of us has to escort the cubs to and from the bathroom. My thought is, we'll split the cubs into three groups. You take the first group, then you'll move the bus and get gas while Jamie takes the second group, and I'll take the third group, and then we can get going again."

Jamie, Simon's assistant counselor, turned away from the cubs when he heard his name, "Hey! Why do [i]you[/i] get the last group? Age should go before beauty, old tom!"

Simon simply smirked at the younger Wolf, "Exactly. I'm the [i]senior[/i] 

counselor, which means I'm the boss!"

"OK, then, Boss Cat - how're we splitting the groups?" The Wolf asked, "We have ten cubs that say they need to go, and three adults."

Charlie spoke up, grinning, "Well, since Simon's the [i]senior[/i] counselor, he ought to take the extra cub, and you and I should take three each."

The Cheetah glared at both the Wolf and the Bear, who were both grinning now. He threw his paws up in mock defeat, "Gang up on the Cat, I see how it is! That's OK, I'll get my revenge at a later time. Alright, cubs! Jamie is going to assign you each a number. Group one is with Charlie - that's the Bear here.  Group two is with Jamie, our noble Wolf/Dog thing.  And group three will be with me!"

Once the process was done, Charlie's group consisted of 12-year-old Charlie Rinner (a Labrador Retriever), 10-year-old Clifford Chesterfield (a Red Fox), and eight-year-old Bruce Miles (a Bloodhound). All three of them gaped at Charlie when he stood up from the driver's seat - at eight feet, seven inches, the Polar Bear dwarfed the cubs. The tallest of the three cubs was the other Charlie, and even he was only a little over half as tall as the Bear. 

The Retriever was the first to speak, "He's wearing a skirt!" 

Clifford smacked his friend on the shoulder, having to reach up somewhat to do so – the Fox was so small! Even at their adult height, Foxes were rarely much taller than the other three cubs, who were all in the range of four feet tall. Clifford, here, was just shy of three feet – tiny, compared to the Bear. 

"It's called a [i]kilt,[/i] numbnuts! Bears wear them 'cos they're too big for normal pants," Cliff informed his friend.

"I've seen Bears wear pants before. And it looks like a skirt!" The Dog protested. 

The little Bloodhound pup spoke up then, "I bet he's not wearing underwear underneath. That's the [i]real[/i] difference - you wear underwear with skirts, but you go commando if you're wearing a kilt." His voice was quiet, but the other two cubs clearly heard him, to judge by the mischievous look that sprang into their eyes.

Charlie cleared his throat, hoping to forestall [i]that[/i] line of thought, "C'mon, pups, let's not hold up the others."

Of course, just getting them out of the bus and heading towards the bathrooms wasn't enough to stop their curiosity now that it was kindled, "Hey, Mr. Charlie! [i]Are[/i] you going commando?" Clifford asked. 

Before he could reply, the young Fox darted forward and ducked his head under the back of Charlie's kilt, which was an easy feat at his height, "He is!"

"Hey!" Charlie barked, quickly getting the Fox out of there and glaring down at the three cubs. The cubs all looked suitably frightened of him, but as soon as he decided not to press the issue, they started whispering to each other, not realizing Charlie could still hear them. 

"He [i]is[/i] going commando!"

"Did you see his nuts? I bet they're [i]huge[/i]!"

"No, I didn't get the chance to really look. He's really musky, though."

"Well, duh. He's been sitting on his butt this whole time!"

"We'll probably get to peek if he pees while we're in the bathrooms. Unless he takes the stall."

"If he decides to pee, then one of us should take the stall! If one of us says we gotta crap..."

"How do we know [i]he[/i] doesn't?"

"He doesn't smell like it. I got under his kilt, remember?"

"Don't try that again! He looked mad enough, I thought he was going to [i]eat[/i] you!"

"So, we're agreed? But whoever takes the stall won't get to peek. We should play rocks-paper-scissors to choose who."

"Won't he [i]notice[/i] us doing that?"

"Shhh! He'll hear us! Anyways, we can pretend we all want the stall and play to decide who 'wins'. It's foolproof!"

Charlie groaned inwardly. Even knowing what the mischievous pups were planning didn't make it any better. He was debating just holding it until they reached camp, but he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it that long.

He still hadn't decided what he'd do by the time they reached the bathrooms. He held the door open for them to buy time, but once they'd all crowded inside and he entered, he knew he was screwed. 

There was one toilet next to a trough urinal that covered the rest of the wall. That style of urinal was favored by Anthros (and sports stadiums) but left no privacy for individual users. It was clear from the gaps in the paint on the walls that once upon a time there had been an actual stall around the toilet, and that the trough urinal had once been three human-style ones, each with dividers. Now, though, there would be no privacy for anyone. 

The cubs had all bunched up in the doorway, unsure. Charlie cleared his throat, "If anyone needs to use the toilet, the rest of us can wait outside until they're done. But we have to stick together, so you'll have to wait in here with the rest of us until [i]we're[/i] done. So, anyone need to number two?"

Though his nose told him the answer already, it was more polite to ask. The three cubs shook their heads. 

Charlie nudged Cliff, "You sure?"

The young Fox's ears flushed, "I-I can wait until after you guys go."

Shrugging, the Bear made his way over to the long trough and lifted his kilt. Charlie R and Bruce took up the spots to either side of him in a flash, while Cliff stayed awkwardly by the door. 

It didn't escape Charlie's notice that the two Dogs to either side of him were standing rather close. Bruce, in particular, was close enough that Charlie could feel the sleeve of the pup's t-shirt just above his knee. 

Knowing the cubs seemed determined to get a look anyways, Charlie ignored them and just focused on relieving himself. He had to angle his cock quite far out of his sheath to get the right angle, and he knew this would give both boys an eyeful. The strangled moan Bruce let out at the sight was oddly thrilling. 

Glancing down at the young Bloodhound, Charlie saw the cub's attention was fully on his adult penis. He'd even let his shorts fall around his ankles as he tentatively - almost subconsciously - began moving his paw towards the cock. The pup glanced up at Charlie, and their eyes locked. The Bear was surprised, not only at the pup's boldness considering how quiet he'd been so far but also by how brilliantly green the cub's eyes were. Dogs didn't usually have that kind of color. 

The adult's hesitation emboldened Bruce enough to actually take hold of his penis. Charlie let go of himself, letting Bruce hold him until he was finished peeing, never once breaking eye contact with the pup. Of course, Charlie R had to ruin the moment, "No fair! If [i]he[/i] gets to touch it, I should get to as well!"

The Bear groaned, "Oh, my god! Fine! But if any of you little perverts say a damned [i]word[/i] about this to Simon or Charlie, so help me, I'll [i]eat[/i] you!"

"Deal!" the young Retriever declared instantly, reaching over and putting his paw around the Bear's rapidly inflating member. Bruce actually [i]growled[/i] at the older pup, which was just adorable...until Charlie R's hackles started rising as well. A quick cuff to both of them - much more gently for Bruce than Charlie - put a stop to that. 

"If you're gonna fight over it, we're done here. Bruce, you should go pee. Let Charlie have his turn," the Bear admonished. Bruce definitely was disappointed, but let go of the Bear's meat. Charlie R, feeling victorious despite the rebuke, began working to get the Bear fully hard, which didn't take much at all. 

Charlie was considering letting the young Retriever get him off. On the one paw, it would prevent him from having to walk back to the bus with an awkward erection…but on the other paw, he already couldn't believe he had let things go this far. Actually letting the cub paw him off might be crossing the line. Reluctantly, he disengaged Charlie R's paw, laughing as Bruce immediately replaced the Retriever's paw with his own, not even looking up from the impressive stream of piss he was arcing into the trough. 

"Bruce..." was all Charlie needed to say before the pup let go with an audible grumble and hurt look. Charlie felt bad, and was trying to think of how to make it up to the pup when Clifford, whom Charlie had completely forgotten about, cleared his throat, "If you guys are done fooling around, can I use the toilet, now?"

It only took a little work to get himself back in sheath despite still being mostly hard - thank the gods Bears didn't have knots like the other Canids did! Turning to face Cliff, who had wandered closer when all the 'action' started, Charlie grinned sheepishly, "As soon as Bruce is done, it's all yours. Unless you want to get in on the...ah...fooling."

The Fox [i]did[/i] look tempted, but he waved it off, "Pass. I really gotta go, now."

"Thank god for that," Charlie muttered under his breath, making the young Fox grin. Aloud, he said, "C'mon, Bruce, Charlie. Let's give Cliff some privacy."

It was amusing how quickly Bruce finished up and got his shorts up, clearly jealous of letting Charlie R get the Bear to himself. The Bear ruffled the pup's headfur fondly as he ran over, and was already wondering if he'd be allowed to stay up at the camp instead of heading home until the pick-up date. Though he'd never had any interest in cubs before, there was something about the young Bloodhound that was almost magnetic.

Cliff took far too long in the bathroom, making Charlie wonder if the Fox was old enough to know about pawing off. Charlie R clearly did, and Charlie himself had started pawing at around Bruce's age, so it wouldn't have been out of the question. Either way, Cliff took long enough that Simon came over to see what was going on. Charlie explained the bathroom layout and that Cliff was using the toilet. Simon rolled his eyes and banged on the door, "Hurry up in there, Cliff! Don't keep the rest of us waiting!"

"I'm almost done!" came the Fox's reply, and sure enough, a minute later the door opened to reveal Cliff, whose shorts barely concealed his obvious erection. The eyes of both adults went to the poorly-concealed tent in the kit's shorts, then to each other. For his part, Cliff seemed to be trying to disappear with embarrassment. 

Even Simon seemed unsure what to say, trying instead to pretend he didn't notice the cub's problem. Charlie took the initiative, "Don't worry about [i]that[/i], Cliff. No one can see it from the bus, and it'll go down by the time we get over there, and these two won't say anything, right?" 

The young Fox squirmed uncomfortably, "Um...it's the knot, it's..."

Charlie groaned sympathetically. Sure, he didn't have that problem himself, but he'd grown up around Dogs and knew what a hassle having a knot could be, especially if you suddenly had to conceal a hardon. To Simon, he said, "I got this. Take Bruce and Charlie back and tell Jamie to bring his group. I'll help Cliff fix his problem."

Simon nodded gratefully. As a Felid, Charlie assumed he had almost no experience with knots (at least of the genital kind). As the Cheetah ushered the two Dogs back to the bus, Charlie took Cliff's paw and led him back into the bathroom. "Your dad never showed you how to undo a knot, huh?" he asked once they were back inside. 

Cliff's face scrunched up, "I'm adopted. My parents are both Otters, so they don't know [i]anything[/i] about this kind of stuff."

To cover his blunder, Charlie knelt and undid the Fox's shorts, his eyes widening at the cub's surprisingly respectable five inches that sprang to attention as soon as it was free. As he'd thought, the Fox's knot was nearly fully swollen, preventing his penis from retracting into his sheath. 

"Don't worry, I'll show you. But...um...I'll need to...kind of...touch you. Is that alright?"

The Fox nodded, "If it makes this go away, do whatever you have to. It's really uncomfortable. Was worse with my shorts on."

Charlie didn't beat around the bush,  but leaned down and swiped his broad tongue over Cliff's knot, causing the kit to yelp and slap both of his paws onto the Bear's head. Though in other circumstances the action could be sensual, even teasing, Charlie continued licking at the knot as though he was grooming himself, without care towards making it feel good. The assault of his tongue quickly deflated the knot enough that it slipped back into the cub's sheath. Even though he’d just been [i]licking[/i] the young Fox’s [i]penis[/i], he didn’t think of the act as being sexual in any way – for Anthros, this was more ‘grooming’ than anything else.  

When he was done, he looked up at Cliff, who was wide-eyed with shock. The Bear grinned sheepishly, "That was how my best friend's dad taught him, growing up. They didn’t know I was watching. Anyways, that’s the gentlest way, but a cold, wet rag against the knot works [i]much[/i] faster, though I hear it hurts a bit. Next time you have the issue, you can do it yourself - you know how to tongue-wash, right?"

Cliff nodded, still getting over having his privates licked by someone else, "Th-thanks," he stammered. 

They exited the bathrooms just as Jamie and his group arrived. Simon had apparently told Jamie what was going on, and the Wolfdog was grinning almost ear-to-ear when he saw them. "You use the wet rag trick?" he asked Charlie, whose hesitation in choosing a reply told the Canine all he needed to know. Jamie snickered but gave Charlie a thumbs-up.  As he held the door for his three cubs, Jamie dropped his voice to talk to Cliff, "We've all been there, Little Red. It's nothing to get embarrassed about." 

To Charlie, he said, "You ought to be a counselor, your other two cubs are both talking about you already, and with Bruce, that's saying something! Why not ask Simon if you can take a CIT spot?"

Cliff was in agreement, apparently, "Yeah! That'd be so cool! We never had a Bear counselor before!"

Charlie lowered his voice so only Jamie would hear, "You're not going to... report me?"

Jamie laughed and shook his head, "Dog, no! Ask any Canine dad, and they'll tell you they've done the same thing at one point or another. Awkward shit comes with the knot, it's normal. Look, I gotta get in there and keep an eye on my rascals. Think about it, though, yeah?"

When Cliff and Charlie got back to the bus, the Bear found that there had been a rearrangement of seats. Bruce, and his older brother, Thomas, had taken over Simon's seat right behind Charlie's. Simon shrugged when Charlie asked about it, "Bruce [i]begged[/i] me. He's usually more of the quiet type, like his brother, so I didn't have the heart to say no. You don't mind, do you?"

Glancing over at the pup, whose brother was patiently letting Bruce's tail whack him repeatedly with its eager wagging, Charlie shook his head, "I don't mind at all. Um...hey, Jamie mentioned a CIT spot?"

Charlie didn't need to see Bruce's reaction to his statement, he could imagine it from Thomas' annoyed bark, "Bruce! For Dog's sake, watch your tail!"

Looking over at the young Bloodhound, who was excitedly wiggling in his seat, Simon chuckled, "I think if I say no, Bruce might cry. There [i]is[/i] a trainee counselor spot open, but I'll have to make a call to the Big Boss before I can make you an offer. But, as long as he gives the OK, I'd be happy to have you. I've known Bruce since he started coming to Wildfire when he was five, and I've never seen him this excitable. As far as I'm concerned, that's good enough of a reference for me."

As soon as Charlie plopped down into the driver's seat, Bruce's voice was in his ear, "Can I sit with you, Mr. Charlie?" Looking behind him, Charlie was faced with two sets of green eyes, both silently (not so much in Bruce's case) begging him to say yes. Bruce's put-upon brother looked to be at his wits end with the normally quiet Bruce, and the younger Bloodhound clearly just wanted to be closer to his new favorite Bear. 

"Sure," Charlie answered automatically, unable to say no to those eyes, "But only while I'm moving the bus to get gas. Once we head back onto the road, you'll have to move back to your seat, and stop hitting your brother with your tail, OK?"

Bruce was very quickly climbing onto Charlie's lap, planting himself firmly against the Bear's sheath such that Charlie was practically hot-dogging him, with the boy’s shorts and Charlie’s kilt being the only things separating them. Charlie's sheath immediately started filling out again, a fact which did [i]not[/i] escape the eager cub's notice. He didn't [i]say[/i] anything, just gave Charlie his best shit-eating grin and wriggled his butt against Charlie's crotch. 

Charlie let his left paw rest casually between the boy's legs, not [i]quite[/i] on his sheath, but damned close. He focused on getting his burgeoning erection to go down, a task that Bruce seemed determined to resist. By the time Charlie had lined the bus up to the gas pump, results were mixed. His erection wasn't quite [i]gone[/i], but it wouldn't be as noticeable, hopefully. Simon noticed, though, but much to Charlie's relief, the older Cheetah just rolled his eyes, "Dogs. Want me to get gas so you don't have to move your [i]friend[/i]?"

Simon put just enough emphasis on the last word that Charlie thought for sure he'd been busted, but the older Cheetah just winked at Charlie's flustered stammering. Before he left the bus, Simon leaned close to Charlie's ear, "Don't look so worried - you should ask Jamie about the time I caught him in a [i]much[/i] worse position with one of the cubs."

"How much worse?" Charlie asked without thinking. 

Simon grinned as only a Felid could, "Let's just say, I’d have kicked his ass, but it was...uh...occupied...at the time. Gave me the opportunity to put something other than words in his muzzle. That was a fun night."

Charlie just stared at the Cheetah as he left to fill the gas. He couldn't help but think back to the strange email he'd received that had started all this - '...I believe you would be an [u]excellent[/u] fit for the Wildfire family, Mr. Hammond, and therefore look forward to your reply to this offer with great anticipation...'. Had the mysterious owner of Wildfire known something about Charlie that even [i]he[/i] hadn't until embarking on this trip? 

"If you're wondering if he was implying what you [i]think[/i] he's implying, the answer is 'yes'," a voice behind him said, breaking his reverie. He twisted around to look at Thomas, unconsciously moving his paw against Bruce's crotch as he did. 

"Have you...? I mean, does he really...?" Charlie asked, his mouth suddenly dry as he realized what the cub was saying. 

The ten-year-old shook his head, making his floppy ears flap briefly, "Not with Mr. Simon, he only 'plays' with cubs of his own House. But I've fooled around with Mr. Jamie and Mr. Kallen - that's the cook up at Wildfire - a few times. There are only three rules: the youngest gets the final say in any fooling around, don't make it so obvious that Mr. Simon [i]has[/i] to fire you or kick you out, and nothing unsafe, insane, or that violates the other two rules."

"That's...sensible," Charlie replied, his mind still reeling from the revelation. 

Cliff sidled into the seat next to Thomas, "I think you broke him, Tommy."

"He's trying to decide if he can get away with boning my brother on the rest of the trip," Thomas replied, making Charlie do a double take. That had been quite close to the mark. Grinning, Thomas leaned forward over the seat to whisper in Charlie's ear, "If you do, just be warned that he gets [i]noisy[/i]. He does whenever [i]I'm[/i] doing him, anyhow."

The mental image of the brothers having sex brought Charlie's cock instantly to full hardness. Bruce seemed happy enough about that, alternately wiggling his rump against Charlie's erection and practically humping the Bear's paw that was still in his crotch. 

Even knowing he was vaguely OK with it, Charlie couldn't help but guiltily snatch his paw away from Bruce’s pants when Simon got back onto the bus. The Cheetah only quirked an eyebrow as he passed, though that might've been because little Bruce was proudly showing off the small tent that was now in his shorts and in general making it very clear that he very much wanted Charlie to 'plant his tree in his backyard', as the saying went. 

Simon was about to say something when Jamie and his cubs returned to the bus, "All right, second group: done! It's your turn, Old Tom!"

In almost the opposite reaction as a moment ago, Charlie put his paw over Bruce's tent, feeling embarrassed on the pup's behalf. Jamie had already seen, though, and was grinning widely. As he got his cubs back to their seats and helped Simon's group out of the bus, the Wolfdog spoke loudly to Simon, "Did he ask about the open CIT slot? I think he'll be fun to keep around."

"He did, but I couldn't get a signal to call Big Boss, and I don't feel like digging the other phone out. We might get to talk to BB in person when we reach Wildfire, but until then it's an open question. Make sure he knows the rules while I'm gone, though," the Cheetah replied before leading his group to the bathrooms. 

"Hey, boys, mind if I squeeze in here for a minute?" Jamie asked, moving to sit next to Thomas and Cliff. The boys didn't seem to mind, and Thomas helpfully said, "I told him the big three already."

"You did? Great! Look, Charlie, there's no getting around it at this point. We all fool around with the cubs. That doesn't mean 'anything goes', and we [i]do not[/i] tolerate anything that gets a cub hurt...but no one at Wildfire will judge you otherwise, if whoever you're playing with doesn't seem scared, in pain, or coerced. Like Bruce, there. The only other thing you need to know is that Big Boss absolutely will not tolerate any prying into his real identity. Our previous head counselor tried that, tried to get blackmail on BB...and he's currently doing thirty-to-life for something BB managed to dig up on [i]him[/i]. We call him BB - Big Boss, and that's exactly what he is. If he says jump, we don't even ask 'how high', we just jump."

"What Tribe is he?" Charlie asked, figuring it would be pertinent information if this BB held so much power. 

"Human, believe it or not. I think he's English or something? I don't know how their Tribes are split. He's one of the pale-skinned ones, in any case."

"They call themselves 'white', I think," Cliff added helpfully, which made Jamie's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

"That can't be right. They're more of a really pale tan. At least BB is. A sort of cream-ish color," The Wolfdog said, "Now, [i]Charlie[/i] I'd call 'white'."

"I'm just saying what I'd heard, is all!" Cliff said defensively, "It's not my fault they don't know colors right!"

The rest of their conversation was cut off by Simon's return with his group. Jamie gaped at him, "How'd you get them done so quick?" 

"Because I don't waste time fooling around like you do!" Simon replied, swatting Jamie's pointy ears. Turning to Charlie, he said, "Get us going, now. There was a fellow who came into the restroom that I didn't like the look of."

Hearing the concealed tension in Simon's voice, Charlie wasted no time in getting the bus moving and out of the lot, using his free paw to keep Bruce braced on his lap. 

Jamie had heard the Cheetah's tone as well, "What's got your fur up, Simon?"

Hanging onto a seat as the bus got underway, Simon replied, "The guy came in wearing a [i]gimp hood[/i], James. And he just [i]stood[/i] in the middle of the room. I hustled everyone out of there as fast as I could - the guy gave me real bad vibes."

All three adults were uneasy after that statement, and the nearby cubs picked up on it as well. Except for road noise, the bus was quiet for the next hour. Even Bruce seemed subdued, though he was clearly thrilled to have gotten to stay in Charlie's lap.

An hour and a half from the gas station, a glance in his side mirror made Charlie's stomach tie itself in knots, "Simon. We have company."

Both Simon and Jamie looked out the rear window to see what Charlie had spotted - a blacked-out SUV with bull bars was aggressively gaining ground on the bus. The road was single-lane, so letting it pass wasn't an option. Hearing the click as Charlie brought his seat belt over himself and Bruce, and hearing the bus' engine grow louder as Charlie sped up, Simon stood up and addressed the cubs, "Seatbelts, everyone! Right now!"

After making sure Thomas and Cliff were belted, Jamie pulled out his phone, "There's no pull-off for another three miles, and there's a hairpin turn just before that you'll have to be real careful with, Charlie. After the gradual turn up ahead, though, you can punch it - there's a straight section. We've got a bigger engine than he does, we can stay ahead of him."

"We're also hauling five times the weight he is!" Charlie growled in response, focusing everything on gaining ground against the SUV without losing control. Even without the strange incident at the rest stop that Simon had described, the SUV was giving Charlie 'real bad vibes', as Simon had put it. 

They almost made it. They were at the apex of the wide curve Jamie had mentioned when their pursuit SLAMMED into the inside corner of the bus. Charlie roared every curse he knew as he fought to keep control as the rear kicked out, but he threw the weight wrong and the bus veered through the guardrail...and went straight off the cliff.

For a few moments, all Charlie could hear was his own terrified heartbeat and the cubs' screaming. He wrapped both arms around Bruce to give the pup as much protection as possible, just seconds before the bus slammed nose-first into the ground. It stood there briefly on its nose until the loose scree shifted and the bus toppled onto its side, skidding the rest of the way until a tree blocked it from sliding any further. Charlie blacked out. 

Charlie woke to the sound of someone crying, and the sound jolted his brain into full consciousness as he remembered what had happened. The bus was at the base of the cliff, against a tree, lying on the driver's side. Bruce was...unconscious in his arms, thankfully unhurt, it looked like. The person crying was...

"Thomas?" 

"Mr. Charlie!? Help! I think Mr. Simon is...he's not waking up!" 

Charlie hurriedly undid the seatbelt, gently rolling Bruce onto his side against the wall of the bus, then scrambling out of the driver's seat. The bus was in complete disarray, and already Charlie could see that some of the cubs hadn't been belted when they'd crashed, and he hoped those limp forms he could see were just unconscious.

Simon was one of those limp forms, and Charlie only needed a glance to tell that the Cheetah's neck was broken and that he wasn't breathing. Charlie had no experience with accident triage, but he at least knew he couldn't afford to waste time trying to save a dead guy. One thing at a time. Keep calm. 

He focused first on Jamie, who was slumped against Cliff, who was squashed between the Wolfdog and Thomas. Of the three, Thomas looked to be the only one injured, with a nasty cut on his forehead from his head hitting the window. It looked like Simon had been thrown against the driver's side, nearly headfirst, unfortunately. 

Gently patting Jamie's cheek until the Wolfdog woke, Charlie spoke softly, "Hey. Jamie. C'mon, Wolf, we gotta help the cubs. You can't be sleeping just yet. C'mon, wake up!"

Jamie roused with a jolt and an incoherent noise, looking blearily at Charlie and around him at the state of the bus. He yelled when he saw Simon's body laying across the windows, and made a panicked effort to undo the belt before Charlie stopped him, "He's dead, Jamie. I need you focused, not panicking, all right? Do you feel like anything's broken? Can you move?"

Closing his eyes for a moment, Jamie nodded, though he seemed to have lost all his normal energy. "Good," Charlie began, trying his best to keep his voice calm,  "I'm going to undo the belt. Try not to squash Cliff more than you already are. Once you're loose, start checking on the cubs in the back. It looks like some of them weren't belted. They might be...they might be in bad shape." 

With a shuddering look at Simon, whose neck was very obviously - and disturbingly - angled wrong, Jamie nearly started hyperventilating. Charlie spoke forcefully, trying to nip that in the bud, "Jamie! You need to stay calm. Focus. Your cubs need you, Wolf! I can't do this by myself."

Jamie screwed his eyes shut, whining softly, "This can't be happening!"

"I know. But it [i]is[/i] happening, and you need to stay strong for the cubs, OK? OK?" 

The Wolfdog set his jaw and nodded. Then he showed his fangs, "If we ever find that bastard in the SUV, I'll rip his fucking throat out!"

Charlie took hold of the Wolf's forearm as he undid the buckle and hauled him to his feet, "You and me both, Brother. Let's see to our pups, first."

The next hour was a nightmare for both adults, not to mention the cubs. Out of the twenty cubs on the bus, six had died during the crash. Simon was dead. And almost everyone else but a pawful of cubs and the two remaining adults had minor injuries of one kind or another. Jamie was inconsolable - every single one of the dead was someone he'd known. All of them had been 'his' cubs, cubs he hadn't been able to protect like a 'good Wolf' should. Charlie had to push him to keep moving, to focus on the cubs that were still alive, but it was hard for both of them. 

They got everyone out of their seats and - after some brute-forcing the back door, which had been wedged against another tree until Charlie forced it off its hinges - out of the bus. While Jamie stayed outside with the cubs, comforting, soothing, and dealing with their injuries as best he could,  Charlie had the grim task of getting the bodies out of the bus. 

Other than Simon, nearly all of the cubs who'd died were from the smaller Tribes - two Foxes, a Mouse, an Otter, and two other Cats besides Simon. Charlie brought each one out and laid them on the ground as respectfully as he could. He hadn't known any of them, but all of them were so pitiful that Charlie almost couldn't take it. He didn't react quite the same way as Jamie, though, who was barely holding himself together. Each cub he brought out made Charlie imagine Bruce in their place, and the building rage in his heart from that thought was what helped him keep a stoic outer appearance. 

Arthur. Ambrose. Peter. Stuart. Francis. George. 

Simon.  

When he'd brought the last one out, Jamie stood and walked over to Charlie. He didn’t look at the bodies, clearly not wanting to break down just yet, "What do we do now? Make our way back to the road or...That guy might still be up there."

"That's my thought as well. Can we get a message to Wildfire? We might be able to call up a rescue. One with cops and feds and anyone else with bear armor and big guns," Charlie replied, taking a glance at the cliff they'd fallen down, "Besides, there's no way we're managing to climb [i]that[/i] with fourteen cubs in tow. Not without help from up top. How're the injuries?"

"Mostly small cuts and scrapes. Bruises. Jack's is the worst injury – he broke his arm. It’s not poking through skin or anything, but it’s definitely broken. Of course, they're all pretty scared and shook up," Jamie replied, indicating the cubs in question with his muzzle, "As far as contacting Wildfire, my phone's busted, but maybe one of the cubs has one that's still intact. I'll ask. Um...Simon...had a satellite phone in his pack but..."

"But?" Charlie prompted. 

"It's in the driver's storage, along with my pack and the emergency kit. The little first-aid kit in the bus doesn't have everything we need, and if it survived the impact, we'll need that sat-phone."

Charlie grinned, startling the Wolfdog, "Not a problem. Get everyone away from the bus a bit. I'll get it."

To his credit, Jamie didn't question him, just did as he was asked. Once he and all the surviving cubs were at a safe distance, Charlie approached the bus. Up close, he wasn't sure he could make good on his boast. The bus probably weighed at least several thousand pounds more than he did, and Charlie's dad had taught him that under most circumstances, even the strongest Bear could only lift two to three times their own eight. For Charlie, that limit was around 1,800 to 2,700 pounds - enough for a light car, but far too low to lift the bus on his own. He'd need at least...four more Bears, maybe five or six more to be safe. 

After a few moments of thinking, Charlie came up with a better plan. The driver's side storage was located on that side, just behind the front wheel. With the bus on its side, the whole chassis was exposed, including the storage. Which, as Charlie had expected, was just an oblong metal box bolted to the frame. It only took a little work (and a lot of venting his frustrations on the metal) to wrench the whole thing free. 

When he came back around the bus, Jamie was smiling, at least. As he got closer, the Wolf called out, "The cubs all thought you were going to lift the bus by yourself!"

"I was," Charlie answered honestly, "But I realized that was dumb. This was faster. Let's see what survived the crash."

Most of what had been in the two counselors' packs had survived, along with the emergency kit. The satellite phone, however...

"I can't believe Simon didn't make sure it was charged! He...he...he was always so...he always [i]yelled[/i] at me for not being prepared, made me feel like I was letting the cubs down! And then he...he let the...goddamn satellite phone die, the [i]one[/i] time we fucking [i]needed[/i] it!" Jamie broke down, covering his face with his paws and crying. If Charlie hadn't taken the phone off him during his rant, he probably would’ve thrown it into the woods. Charlie didn't say a word, just let the Wolf get it out, but when the Wolfdog's head tilted back, though, Charlie quickly clapped both of his paws around Jamie's muzzle.

"I know you're grieving, but do [i]not[/i] howl right now. If that creep is still up on the road, he'll hear it, and he might come down to [i]finish us off[/i]. There are only two of us, and fourteen cubs. We [i]cannot[/i] afford undue attention unless it comes with a potential rescue, you got that?"

Jamie stubbornly didn't reply, and Charlie shook the Wolfdog's muzzle back and forth to emphasize the control he had over the Canine's head, growling, "Got it!?"

Grudgingly, Jamie nodded as much as the Polar Bear's paws allowed. Charlie let go of him. Embarrassed to have cried in front of the cubs, Jamie quickly dried his eyes and did his best to regain his composure.

"If we can't call for help, we're going to need a plan. But let's splint Jack's arm and see what we can do about Nick's muzzle, first."

The emergency kit was of the kind Charlie imagined combat medics used - it was practically a whole field-surgery kit. Many of the glass vials of medicines, painkillers, and the like had broken during the crash, but a few were salvageable, along with the syringes, gauze, various scalpels,and other assorted tools. The real prizes were the two mint-green spray cans whose labels only had one word in almost every major language: Bio- foam. 

Biofoam was a medical miracle. It was a thick foam - almost like shaving cream - that jump-started the body's healing processes and supercharged tissue regeneration. With Biofoam, even major amputations could be repaired if one got to it fast enough. It was hideously expensive, though, and usually only found in military equipment and maybe the largest major hospitals. The discovery of the two small cans in the kit started an argument between Charlie and Jamie almost immediately.

"We could use it on some of the others! We don't know if they can't be revived - this is Biofoam!"

Charlie shook his head vigorously, "They're [i]dead[/i], Jamie. This stuff can't fix death. We'd just be wasting a resource we have very little of. Now, Jack's arm - [i]that[/i] we should use this on. If we make sure the bones are set right, this will fix it. It would only take a little squirt."

"But how do you know it can't!? Don't we owe it to them to try?" The Wolfdog argued. 

"Even if it could, none of them have been breathing for the last half hour at least! Even if Biofoam could bring them back, they'll be brain-damaged or worse! That's beside the fact that, again, Biofoam can't fix death!"

Jack's quiet whimpering from the pain his arm was in finally got Jamie to relent. Everyone crowded around to watch as Charlie forced the young Cougar's arm bones back into position and Jamie sprayed two dabs of Biofoam into the wound. Less than a minute later, the Cat's arm was perfectly intact and whole, except for the bare fur where Charlie had carefully cut with a scalpel to give a way for the Biofoam to interact with and mend the injury internally. 

"Now, take it easy with the arm for the next couple of days. Though it might seem instant, Biofoam takes a couple of days to finish working. Try not to put too much strain on it until it's fully healed," Charlie cautioned the Cougar, who nodded. 

Jamie and Charlie next tore apart the two counselors' packs. As Charlie might have expected from the short time he'd known the Cheetah, his pack contained a few more surprises. The first was a large survey map of the area around the Wildfire complex, showing terrain elevation and to as accurate of a scale as possible. Charlie estimated it covered 150 square miles in every direction from Wildfire, and was detailed enough that Charlie had no problem pinpointing their rough location with ease. They were nearly at the edge of the map, however.

The second surprise Simon had left them was a sturdy machete made of Bear-grade steel. Even in the modern era, "Bear Steel" was prized for its strength and unmatched durability. Not that his Tribe was particularly known for their metal work (though some of the most famous smiths Charlie knew of were all Polars), but "Bear Steel" was reputedly Bear-[i]proof[/i].

"Why did he even [i]have[/i] this!?" Charlie exclaimed, marveling at the exquisite weapon, "Did he carry it around to show off, or something?"

Jamie shrugged unhelpfully, "I didn't even know he [i]had[/i] the thing! But if I were to guess, he kept it for the Ferals around Wildfire."

[i]That[/i] was a conversation-stopper. About one in every six Anthro births were...throwbacks, for lack of a better term. 'Four-leggers' was the polite way to say it, but they were most commonly simply called 'Ferals'. Though much less common in modern times than it used to be, some parents still abandoned these cubs to the Wild. Such cubs, if they survived the relentless pressures of life in the wilderness, grew up to be dangerous - and completely, well, [i]feral[/i] - predators. Unlike their competition, Ferals had full intelligence, and knew how to strategize and plan attacks.  Though sometimes if caught they could be rehabilitated, they rarely managed to fully reintegrate into Anthro society. Usually, they ended up dead if they encountered their modern counterparts. 

Putting the machete back into its sheath, Charlie tossed it to Jamie, "You take it. The handle's too small for my paw." 

Other than some personal effects, Simon's pack didn't have any other goodies. Jamie's on the other paw, had a completely different set of surprises.

The Wolfdog just grinned when Charlie pulled out the bulk-size bottle of 'K9 Convenience sexual lubricant' (with a pump lid!), the set of leather cowboy chaps (which Charlie instantly wanted to see the Wolf in), and the leather collar with permanently attached leash and matching paw-cuffs. But when Charlie reached in again for the next item, the Wolfdog tried to stop him once he'd realized what was coming next. Charlie easily overpowered the Wolf and pulled out...an eight-inch [i]Ursine[/i] dildo, in red and pink rubber. 

As soon as he realized what it was, Charlie dropped the thing, letting Jamie hurriedly stuff it back into the bag. Charlie couldn't stop laughing, much to Jamie's embarrassment. "Is that from a live cast?" he asked, still giggling, "I've never seen such an accurate Bear dildo before! No wonder you were so eager to get me for that CIT position!"

Jamie mumbled something inaudible, clearly humiliated.  

Wiping the tears that had sprung to his eyes, Charlie leaned forward and put his paw on Jamie's shoulder, "Listen. [i]You[/i] wear those chaps, and [i]I'll[/i] make sure you don't need the dildo. The collar's kind of hot, too."

The Wolfdog's tail instantly started wagging, "Really?"

"Sure. I'd thought you were cute as fuck the moment I met you," Charlie admitted, much more confident about admitting [i]that[/i] part of his sexuality.

"Hey! No fair! This is Wildfire, you aren't supposed to have the hots for [i]each other[/i]! What about [i]us[/i]!?" One of the cubs yelled, to a whole chorus of agreement from the others. That got both adults laughing for a good while, breaking the fear and tension that had filled them all up to that point. 

Finally, the sound of several stomachs rumbling reminded Charlie and Jamie of their biggest issue - food. 

"Did we have any food on the bus?" Charlie asked, already knowing the answer but hoping he'd get surprised. Jamie shook his head. 

"No. We would have been having Wildfire's welcome dinner right about now, if we hadn't..."

That gave Charlie hope, "So, what's gonna happen when we don't show up?"

Jamie thought about it. After a moment, he said, "If BB is there in person...actually regardless of who's there...they'd try to reach Simon's or my phones first, then yours, then the sat-phone, if they know about it. Once they were sure they couldn't get hold of us...if BB's there, I could see him mounting an S&R right away. Otherwise, someone will call BB, and [i]then[/i] the S&R will be called in. So we're looking at...maybe three more hours at most before they'll be looking for us."

"So we just gotta hold out here until then!" Charlie said hopefully, "All the wilderness survival guides say to stay near the crash, anyways, so that's what we'll do. Maybe someone will notice the guardrail? No, that SUV was the only car I saw on the road since we left the suburbs. It might be days before anyone else comes up this way."

"Except Mr. Gimp Hood, or whoever that was in the SUV," Jamie added darkly.

Charlie had to agree. Changing topics, he said, "Look, why don't you see about getting the cubs to gather kindling wood for a fire? I can knock down that tree over there,  but without a saw, I can't turn it into logs or anything. I might be able to rip some of the larger branches off, though."

Jamie was skeptical, "Is this gonna be like the bus?"

The Bear laughed, "No. That was dumb, but this I can do. You just kinda shove at it until the big roots come loose, and then down it goes. Sometimes, my weight alone can do the trick. That tree looks small enough that it shouldn't be a problem."

"We still have fourteen hungry cubs and no food. And the two Cats need meat - they're obligate carnivores. Fruit and berries, assuming we can find any, won't cut it for them if we end up waiting here too long. Then there's you. I don't even wanna [i]know[/i] how much food [i]you[/i] need."

"Let's get a fire going for now, and figure that out later," Charlie said, though Jamie's points [i]were[/i] weighing heavily on his mind. If rescue took too long in coming, they'd need to figure something out. One thing at a time. 

It was always fun for a Bear to get the opportunity to use their full strength without restraint, and the tree Charlie had selected offered just enough resistance to be challenging to knock down. Of course, in the end, it toppled, and Charlie took a moment to catch his breath. 

While he was standing there, he felt something slip under his kilt. Almost immediately afterward a small muzzle planted itself between his asscheeks. He didn't need to look to know it was Bruce. He chuckled and let the pup have his fun. He even braced himself against the felled tree, giving the cub more access. He definitely heard a moan as the pup planted his nose right against Charlie's tailhole. Moments later, he was surprised to feel the pup's dextrous tongue lapping at - and even [i]into[/i] - his hole. 

Glancing in the direction of Jamie and the other cubs, who all seemed to be focused on their task, Charlie came to a decision. "Fuck it," he muttered, undoing the straps holding his kilt in place and letting it fall to the ground. A glance showed that it [i]was[/i] Bruce, who was eagerly working Charlie's hole with gusto. The cub had also apparently ditched his shorts completely.

"Having fun there, Bruce?" Charlie asked the boy. 

"Mhmm!" came the muffled reply. 

Hesitating only slightly, the Bear asked, "Wanna have even more fun?" He was surprised at how husky his voice got when he spoke. 

Bruce removed his muzzle from Charlie's ass to look around the Bear's rump at him, "Really?"

For some reason, Charlie was having trouble with his voice. "Yeah," he croaked. Bruce's nose was wet with his own saliva and Charlie's less-than-stellar hygiene. Charlie stood and turned around, letting the tip of his arousal tap the pup lightly on his muzzle. Just before Bruce could get the cock into his muzzle, Charlie picked the young Dog up, spun around, and set him on the tree.

They paused, then, staring into each other's eyes. Bruce's adorable little paws moved to either side of Charlie's face. Tentatively, at first, then more forcefully, Bruce pulled the Bear's head towards him, and then their muzzles met. 

Though he was young, Bruce clearly had at least some experience. His tongue warred expertly with Charlie's, and that moment seemed to break both of their inhibitions. The Dog's paws roamed over every bit of his Bear he could reach, and Charlie's huge mitts couldn't seem to get enough of the young Bloodhound's body, either. After a make-out session that lasted several minutes, they broke the kiss, panting lustfully. Neither cared anymore who could see them or what the consequences might be. As far as Charlie was concerned, he didn't care if the entire FBI sprang out of the woods and arrested him right there. It was worth it. Bruce was worth it. 

Before he could lose this chance, aware more than Bruce was of how hard their little group's next few days might be, Charlie dropped to his knees and took the young Dog's painfully erect cock into his muzzle. His tongue was more than broad enough to engulf Bruce's maleness, and the little paws that roamed through his headfur and the eager moans of pure delight were all Charlie needed to know that Bruce was enjoying the attention. 

He kept his nose pressed into the Dog's sparse pubic fur, only lifting away when he needed a breath. Mostly, he let his tongue do all the work, swirling and slurping, sucking, lavishing attention on the cub's knot, and making sure all the while to do everything he could to make this moment last as long as possible. Of course, under such an experienced tongue, little Bruce didn't last very long at all, howling and shuddering through a dry orgasm. 

Charlie had just let Bruce's now-oversensitive penis flop out of his muzzle when a voice behind him nearly scared him out of his fur, "Need some lube for the next part?"

Charlie looked up to see the thirteen other cubs, plus Jamie, all standing around him and Bruce. Nearly all of them were grinning, and several of the cubs had opted to go pantsless as Bruce had. 

Though Jamie himself was still fully dressed, he held the bottle of lube suggestively. Charlie also noticed that Jamie was wearing the leashed collar. The other end of the leash was held by Jack, the young Cougar cub whose arm they'd recently repaired. When Charlie raised an eyebrow at this, the Wolfdog shrugged. "It seemed like an easy task I could set him that wouldn't risk the arm. I might just...wander off without supervision, you know," he said with a wink.

All of the cubs were jostling to get the best view of whatever action was about to go down, and a few of them were openly pawing themselves. In the case of Cliff and Thomas, that was pawing each other. Clearly, everyone expected to get to watch him have sex with Bruce, which wasn't something Charlie was really ready for. He'd never had an audience during sex before. He couldn't say there wasn't a certain naughty thrill to the idea...but he didn't want to have to put on a show just yet. 

Looking at the leash in Jack's paw, another idea came to the Bear, "Actually, I've got something else in mind, but we might still need the lube. Gimme the leash, Jack. Bruce, hop down for a minute."

Charlie grinned evilly at the Wolfdog once the two cubs did as he'd asked. "First of all...," he growled, reaching for Jamie's Wildfire polo, receiving no resistance from him as he tugged the shirt up and off, only spending an extra moment to slide the shirt off the leash itself. Jamie probably knew where this was going, judging from his tail wags. Charlie took a few moments, not just to build anticipation, but to admire the Wolfdog's body.

Jamie clearly kept active, and had had his fur trimmed to show off the crisp definition of his chest and abdominal muscles. His fur itself was somewhat spectacular as well, a speckled mixture of almost every coat color seen in Dogs or Wolves, but with black predominating. His upper body and his back was a mix of the darker hues, while his front, starting at his sternum and following the curve of his ribs, was mostly white and cream with little specks of red and light brown, as were his lower legs. Charlie was very curious as to what the parts of the Wolfdog covered by his shorts looked like, but he was a patient Bear. There were other things to do, first. 

He halved the length of the leash, forcing Jamie to stumble forward, nearly dropping the bottle of lube. With casual ease, Charlie knelt and hefted the fallen tree up just enough to run the leash [i]underneath[/i] it and back over the top, this action roughly forcing Jamie onto all fours. Before Jamie could protest, Charlie looped the long end of the leash through the paw-loop, and quickly affixed this to the Wolfdog's muzzle. Any tugging against the loop would only tighten the noose around his muzzle, and the tree itself prevented Jamie from getting enough slack to get it off without assistance once Charlie let it settle back into place. Though he whined pitifully, the pitched tent and growing wet spot in the counselor's shorts attested to his thorough enjoyment of this treatment. 

"Hey, Jack? Can you bring me those paw-cuffs I saw in his bag earlier?" Charlie asked the young Cougar, smirking as Jamie's eyes widened and he tried to speak through his tied-shut muzzle. He didn't do the easy thing, and simply unbuckle the collar and then use his paws to free himself, and when the young Cat returned and gave Charlie the paw-cuffs, he put up no resistance as Charlie locked the cuffs around the Wolfdog's wrists and then clipped them in turn to the collar, completely preventing Jamie from freeing himself on his own. 

Now that most of his preparation was done, it was time for the main event, "Bruce, get his shorts off."

The young Bloodhound was pretty eager to do so, the mischievous twinkle in his eyes showing that he had sone idea of what Charlie was planning. Bruce first crawled underneath Jamie and undid the counselor's shorts, teasingly nuzzling his fully erect cock as he tugged on either side of the shorts to pop the tail strap's button and letting the shorts fall naturally around the adult's knees. Jamie's muffled moan was loud enough that several of the watching cubs giggled. With a single lick to Jamie's engorged knot, Bruce crawled out from under him and finished the job of getting the Wolfdog naked. 

Charlie had to admire the view. The darker part of Jamie's fur split at the base of his tail, traveling onward down to the Canine's knees, but leaving a narrow trail of tannish fur along the crack of his ass. The contrast between his darkly-colored haunches and the lighter fur of his taint and balls really made the latter stand out when viewed from behind. Finally, there was the impressive slab of meat hanging between the Wolfdog's legs, nearly ten inches long and currently leaking precum like a faucet. 

"Bruce, why don't you come over here and get me ready? Meanwhile -- whoah!"

Charlie had expected Bruce to settle for the hold-and-lick method, or even to slather lube on and give a pawjob to spread it, but as soon as the invitation was made, Bruce appeared in front of him and took his entire length into his warm muzzle in one go. Seven-and-a-quarter inches of Bear meat disappeared down Bruce's throat, without the slightest indication of difficulty. Charlie couldn't help but moan loudly. 

The expertise Bruce had shown with his tongue earlier was applied to his new task, and Charlie had to quickly pull out before he came too soon. "You're [i]way[/i] too good at that! Why don't you prep Jamie while I...[i]whuff![/i]...calm down?"

Bruce grinned at the compliment, and eagerly got down on his knees behind Jamie and got to work. A couple of the other cubs sniggered at Bruce's wagging tail, the loudest of which being Charlie R, who called out, "Brownnoser!"

He was immediately punched in the shoulder by Bruce's brother, hard enough to make the Retriever stumble backwards, "Hey! Only [i]I[/i] get to call him that!"

When Charlie stepped towards them to intervene if it turned into a fight, the young Retriever backed down, holding his paws up, "Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!"

After a full minute, during which Jamie squirmed around as much as his bindings allowed, Bruce pulled away from the Wolf's hole. Still holding onto his tail as he stood up, Bruce slapped Jamie square on his butt, "Don't you ever clean up after you take a dump? Even Tommy is usually cleaner than you!"

The cubs all laughed at the Wolfdog's clear yelp, the only unmuffled sound he'd made since Charlie tied him up. Jack called out, "He doesn't! [i]¡Es un Perro muy sucio![/i]" 

Gently moving Bruce out of the way, Charlie took hold of Jamie's tail to look at the pup's handiwork. The Wolfdog's hole alternated between tensing up and relaxing, as Jamie tried to anticipate whatever Charlie planned next. Bruce, meanwhile, positioned himself so he'd get the best view of what was coming without blocking that of the other cubs, which was absolutely perfect for what Charlie had planned. 

Watching carefully and waiting for the moment Jamie was the most relaxed (thereby maximizing the anticipation), Charlie lined himself up and shoved himself balls-deep in one smooth motion. The Wolfdog actually [i]squealed[/i], at first making Charlie worry he'd been too rough. His conscience was soothed as Jamie started making muzzled sounds that [i]definitely[/i] weren't pain. Charlie hoped for his friend's sake that the Wolf wasn't about to cum already, considering what he had planned. 

With gentle, easy motions, Charlie worked himself in and out of Jamie's hole, making sure to take it slow and avoid bringing either of them too close to 'finishing'. When he felt himself getting too close, he pulled out roughly and stood back, smirking at Jamie's confused whine. "Who wants the next go while I cool down?" he asked their audience. 

Before anyone else took him up on the offer, Jack raised his paw eagerly, "[i]¡Yo, señor![/i]"

At thirteen, Jack was the oldest of the cubs. Appearance-wise, he had the standard Cougar coloration, though seemed to speak both Spanish and English well, making Charlie suspect a mixed heritage. He couldn't deny that that accent was sexy as all hell. The cub was one of the few at this point that still held a semblance of modesty, but he apparently felt no shame in dropping his shorts once he was in place behind Jamie, revealing his five-inch Feline member. That wasn't much compared even to some of the younger Canid cubs, and wasn't likely to grow much bigger considering his House, but it made up for what it lacked in size with the little nub-like 'barbs' that ringed the head.

Charlie leaned in close to the teen's ear, pitching his voice so only the Cougar would hear,  "Go as hard as you like, but try not to let [i]him[/i] cum. He's got twelve other cubs and a Bear to get through."

The Cat nodded and teased Jamie's hole, making the Wolfdog feel those barbs for a moment before they were even inside him, and then slammed into him with little finesse. Jamie moaned and began rocking himself back and forth against Jack's thrusts. For his part, Jack wisely slowed down whenever he thought the adult was getting too close to the edge, eventually cumming himself after only a couple minutes. The teen pulled out and stepped around the Wolf to wipe his cock off against Jamie's trapped muzzle. Already, Charlie could tell that the edging was driving Jamie nuts, a couple times already he had heard the Wolfdog make pleading noises whenever Jack slowed down. 

Charlie took the third turn, again letting neither himself nor Jamie hit the finish line, though this time he pulled out only to shove his cock into Bruce's surprised, but eager muzzle.

By unspoken agreement among the cubs, it was decided they'd go in reverse order by age, making Rauf - a twelve-year-old Pharaoh Hound who dyed his fur black and used gold eyeliner to emphasize his supposed Egyptian heritage (and do a pretty good job impersonating Anubis, at that) - next in line. Charlie had already seen the young Dog cum once,  with energetic spurts that had nearly hit Jamie in the face from several feet away. He didn't seem to have a problem going again, however, though Charlie figured it'd be a while before Jamie took the kid's knot.

Rauf didn't take it easy on Jamie, either, pounding the older Canine ferociously and knotting him in record time, to scattered cheering from his peers. Just in time, too, as Bruce's able tongue was getting close to making Charlie go over the edge.  He had time to settle himself before Rauf's knot deflated enough for him to remove it. The Dog wasn't old enough yet to have a long tie, but the pull-out was apparently enough to end Jamie's prolonged teasing. As soon as he saw Jamie's balls tuck up, and the first shudders begin, Charlie was quick to dart forward and grab onto the Wolfdog's balls before he could finish. Jamie howled in frustration and uselessly kicked at Charlie's thigh in an effort to shove him away. The Bear barely felt the blows, patting Jamie's rump patronizingly, "Not so fast there, champ. You still got a while yet to go." Jamie growled something incoherent, glaring as best he could at the Bear.

Adding insult to injury (and to give himself more cooldown time), instead of mounting Jamie again, he knelt down and put his tongue to work instead. Even though Jamie's hole was now slicked more with watery cum than anything else, Charlie couldn't help but add an additional dig, pulling away briefly to exclaim, "Bruce wasn't kidding!" before returning to his work. He felt Jamie trying to pull away from him, and he backed off, not wanting to go too far with his friend. 

He moved around to Jamie's front and undid the makeshift muzzle he'd formed with the leash, "You good, big guy?"

Jamie's glare could've melted steel, "I'll get you back for this, you know."

Worried that he'd pushed things too far, Charlie hesitated and was about to undo the collar and let Jamie go when he felt the Wolfdog's tongue pull his cock into his muzzle. He moaned, then grinned, waving the next cub over. 

Next up was Charlie R, who showed surprisingly good technique as he thrusted hard and fast to get Jamie close to the edge, then slowed down to an agonizing crawl to bring him back down again. When Charlie pulled away so he wouldn't cum just yet, Jamie looked over his shoulder at the cocky Retriever, "I should never have taught you how to do this!"

Charlie R grinned evilly, "I practiced at home, just like you said. I can last almost an hour if I try hard enough!"

Behind them both, Charlie could see Bruce and his brother doing something with the otherwise forgotten bottle of lube, with their backs to him. When he saw the boys turn around with the copiously-lubricated Bear dildo, he started laughing even before they teamed up against the other Charlie. First, Bruce lifted the older pup's tail away, then Thomas drove the dildo home just at the apex of one of the Retriever's thrusts. 

"Oh, fuck!" the pup cried out, unable to stop himself from fully knotting Jamie in what looked to be a truly mind-blowing orgasm. After the first few spasms wracked his young body, Charlie R just slumped onto Jamie's back, lost in the afterglow. 

Charlie - the adult Charlie - walked around behind the two Canines and lifted the Retriever's tail to watch the pup's tailhole twitch around the decently thick dildo in time with the spurts of cum he was pumping into Jamie. When he reached down to remove the rubber cock, the young Dog jolted back to life, "Don't pull it out! Oh, god! Oh, god, this feels so good!"

Bruce had moved around towards the pair's front, and when Charlie R lifted his head to see what the young Bloodhound was doing, Bruce slapped him full-on across the muzzle, "[i]That's[/i] for calling me a brownnoser! The dildo was just 'cos it was funny."

Neither Charlie nor Jamie had the heart to scold Bruce for hitting the older Dog. Jamie even as much as told the Retriever he'd gotten what he deserved which, if it was intentional on Jamie's part, it was effective in getting the pup's knot to deflate.

When he slipped free, Charlie R forgot about the dildo. He tried to stand, grunted in pain, and nearly collapsed. Luckily, Charlie caught him before he could hit the ground. Seeing the tears in the young Dog's eyes at the humiliation - first getting the dildo shoved in him and ruining his boast, then getting slapped by an eight-year-old - Charlie just cradled the pup, using his bulk to shield him from view of the others in case he started crying. The cub seemed grateful for it, giving him a brief hug before drying his eyes in the Bear's chest fur and meekly asking assistance in getting the dildo out.

When Charlie was about to pull the dildo out right there, the pup stopped him, stammering, "I-I...um...it m-might...be...m-messy. I don't wanna...not in front of everyone..."

Charlie nodded sympathetically, "Can you walk with it in, or do you want me to carry you?" 

"C-carry me...please. It feels weird when I stand straight."

The Bear simply scooped him up and called over his shoulder, "Whoever's next can have my turn. We'll be right back."

Bruce started to follow them, but all it took was a stern look and subtle shake of his head for Charlie to stop him in his tracks. 

Once they were out of sight of the others, Charlie gingerly laid the Retriever down on his back and lifted his legs into the air like he was changing an infant's diaper. He was particularly careful removing the dildo, and thoroughly checked the cub for any injury he might've incurred having it shoved into him like that. When he was certain Charlie R was alright, he let the pup use his shoulders to shakily climb back onto his footpaws. Sensing that the other Charlie wasn't quite ready to walk, Charlie just knelt there, letting the young Dog use him for support. 

After an awkward few moments of silence between them, Charlie quietly asked, "Do you have something against Bruce?"

The Retriever shook his head, "It's just not fair!"

"What's not fair?" Charlie asked, cocking his head. 

"First, Cliff, and now you! I can't win against those Bloodhounds!" The Dog snarled, kicking at a clump of grass. 

The Bear couldn't make any sense of that, but he figured Charlie had more to say, if prompted right. "What do you mean?"

The young Dog started sobbing, quickly putting his free arm over his eyes like he was trying to hide, "I...I like Clifford, okay? Like, [i]like him[/i]. But, 

he and Thomas have this whole...gay Romeo and Juliet...thing...and Thomas is my best friend, so I don't...and then [i]you[/i] show up, and I think you're really hot and...cool, and...and you clearly like [i]Bruce[/i]! It's not fair!" 

Charlie wasn't sure how to respond to that. Deciding to go with his gut, he gently pried the Labrador's arm away from his face,  and lifted his chin so he was looking at him, "Hey, I'm new to all this. This...Wildfire stuff. I don't know what Bruce wants out of...or even what [i]I[/i] want out of...me and him. He might just have a thing for Bears, you know? But, I never meant to make you feel bad, Charlie. You're a cocky little bastard, but I think you're pretty cute, too. I wouldn't mind 'playing' with you, if you wanted."

The cub sniffled, and then threw his arms around the Bear and hugged him tightly. Charlie reciprocated, placing one paw on the pup's rump. When he felt something warm and wet there, he drew his paw away and sighed, "Dammit."

Charlie R fell over himself apologizing to the Bear for practically shitting in his paw, but the adult waved it off after making the cub squat and finish the job, "It's not uncommon to lose bowel control after having a dildo like that in you for a bit, then pulled out, especially if you're not used to it and already had to go. Look, I wiped it off in the grass and we're good as new! Thank the gods we're not as sickness-prone as the humans are, or I'd probably haveta wash my paws a few times. I'm not mad, Charlie, stop saying you're sorry."

By the time they returned to the others, Jamie was just finishing up with cubs number four and five:  Kaleo - the only Otter who'd survived the crash - and Henry, a Corgi. As the two Charlies walked up, both cubs were obviously in the middle of cumming. Apparently, with his muzzle free, Jamie had suggested a spitroast while the Charlies were gone. Someone had dragged a rock over for Henry to stand on behind Jamie, and Kaleo had opted to sit against the tree while the Wolfdog sucked him off.

As soon as he saw them, Bruce hurried over, looking all sorts of jealous. His hackles were even raised. Charlie R surprised both Charlie and Bruce by apologizing as soon as Bruce was close enough, "I'm sorry for calling you names, and I'm not gonna get between you and Charlie, if you don't want him playing with me."

The statement took the wind out of Bruce's sails, and he stopped in his tracks, now on the metaphorical back footpaw. After a few awkward moments, Bruce managed to speak, "Well...I mean...it's not like he's my [i]boyfriend[/i], or anything...even I know that would get him in all kinds of trouble, outside Wildfire. You can...you can fool around with him, if you want...but [i]I[/i] get first dibs!"

Charlie R managed to regain his trademark evil grin, "Seems like Jamie got first dibs." Bruce scoffed. 

"Jamie doesn't count, he's a grown-up, too. Andre said it already, this is Wildfire!"

They laughed, and just like that, it seemed they'd settled the issue. They both followed Charlie as he headed over to see how Jamie was doing. When they got close enough, the Bear gawked at the young Otter's six-inch penis as it slid out of Jamie's muzzle, "Holy shit, kid! Where were you hiding that!?"

Drowsy from his orgasm, the Otter smiled tiredly, "It's a Tribe secret, Mr. Charlie."

Charlie chuckled and looked down at Jamie, who was shamelessly licking his chops, still occasionally quivering with pent-up arousal, "How you doin', Wolf? You still got nine more to go. You cum, yet?"

Glancing up at the Bear, Jamie shook his head, "It's easier when I have to focus on two fronts, and this lot cum quick if you know what you're doing. I can handle them. You gonna take another round?" 

Charlie shook his head, "Nah. I'll save it for the big finale. The sun's getting ready to go down, we ought to get that fire going soon."

Jamie shrugged, grinning, "Your loss. After these two, no one else is gonna last as long."

"Don't get cocky. If my guess about their ages is right, you've got five Canids in a row, next. Young or not, all those knots might make you lose your cool."

Jamie just grinned more widely, showing his full set of teeth, "I'll bet you that you'll cum before I do, if you don't cheat and take Bruce's cherry."

Charlie patted Jamie's head like he was a pet, in lieu of a pawshake, "You're on, Wolf!"

Charlie left Jamie to it, and headed back near the bus where the Wolfdog had had the cubs stack the wood they'd gathered earlier. Because everyone had obviously gotten distracted by what he and Bruce had been up to, there wasn't much gathered, but it would be enough to get a fire going, Charlie figured. 

The real question was the method. Charlie didn't know any of the less modern ways to start a fire, other than the classic flint-and-steel method, and though the bus could provide them with plenty of the latter, Charlie realized to his embarrassment that he didn't even know what flint [i]looked[/i] like compared to any other rock. But, thinking about the bus gave him an idea. 

The battery for a school bus is usually on the driver's side, underneath where the driver sits. Since that compartment was used for storage on this bus, Charlie started there and then hunted through the underside near the engine until he found it, thankfully intact in a clever little compartment hidden beneath the stairs at the front. Looking like three regular car batteries joined together, the battery was quite heavy, but not at all an issue for Charlie to carefully remove.

 After moving the battery itself near to where he'd be starting the fire, he next spent a few minutes ripping out a few of the cables that had fed power from the battery. Lastly, he inspected the bus' gas tank. It had managed to survive the crash without leaking, but Charlie knew that diesel wasn't like regular gasoline as far as combustion went. Still, they had a lot of it, having filled up shortly before the crash, and the spark he'd be generating with the battery would hopefully be enough to get things going. With some finangling he managed to soak all of the wood (and his paws) thoroughly in fuel. 

Though most of the others had stayed to watch the fun going on at the knocked-down tree, a pawful of cubs - including Bruce, of course - had come to watch Charlie make fire. He set most of them to gathering more wood, and had Bruce and Thomas start digging a small hole they'd be using to keep the fire under control. Both boys were naked from the waist down, and Charlie could tell that he wasn't the only one who was admiring the view of their rears as they enthusiastically dug a hole that was a bit wider and deeper than it really needed to be. 

By the time they had everything as ready as it was going to get, Jack jogged over to Charlie, "You won the bet, [i]señor[/i]! He painted the grass just now! He wants to know if you'll come let him out, now."

Charlie whooped and laughed, "Yes! I knew he couldn't do it! How many did he get through?"

"[i]Tres[/i]. Ezra and Tashi each took a long time with his tail, back and forth, you know? But then it was Aaron's turn, and [i]señor[/i] Jamie wasn't ready for it," the Cougar reported.

Getting his wood-gatherers to stack what they had and follow him back to the tree, Charlie told Jack that Jamie could wait a little longer. Jack saluted and ran back to inform the Wolfdog. Charlie couldn't help but laugh when Jamie's affronted "You fucking [i]bastard[/i]!" rang out when he got the news, obviously directed at Charlie. 

Charlie purposefully took his time getting the battery, the soaked and non-soaked wood, and the wires all arranged before he ushered everyone back to the fallen tree for the big finale. When they got there, Charlie got to witness young Aaron - a chubby Newfoundland pup of eleven years - ass-to-ass with Jamie, making exploratory tugs on his knot to see if it could come out yet. Charlie caught the tail end of what Jamie was saying as he walked up, "...n't believe your knot's this big, Aaron! By the time puberty really gets hold of you, you'll have a frickin' [i]monster[/i] between your legs! There are adult Canids who'd be overjoyed to have a knot like this!"

"You guys actually stuck? Like, stuck stuck? Holy shit!"

Jamie looked up at Charlie and nodded, a bit shamefaced, "Yep. I was [i]not[/i] expecting him to be so well endowed! We're knotted good, Charlie, probably for another ten minutes at least. Please, for fuck's sake, at least let my paws loose! I've been half-knelt like this for at least an hour already! I wanna take some of my weight off my knees, if you don't mind."

Charlie agreed to that, simply unlatching the whole collar and then freeing Jamie's individual paws so the whole thing stayed together as one piece. This allowed both Canines to freely flop onto their temporarily collective sides, both looking fairly worn out from their exertions. 

Everyone wanted a good look at the tie, and Aaron obviously was quite willing to comply, wiggling just enough so that everyone could see the little slab of pink joining him with the counselor once Charlie brushed their respective ass fur out of the way.  When he saw the knot Jamie's hole was currently spasming around, Charlie let out a low whistle. Jamie wasn't lying when he'd said there were adults who'd be jealous of what Aaron had packing. Charlie could imagine what the young Dog's cock would be like when he was fully grown, and 'monster' definitely fit the bill. 

Fifteen minutes later, Aaron had softened enough that he just slipped free, gingerly getting first back onto all fours and then simply dropping onto his rump and doubling over to lick at the remainder of his erection and get it back in sheath. Jamie, finally able to stand again, still needed help from Charlie to get back onto his footpaws, making a couple of false starts before he let Charlie helped him. 

Once he was on his feet, Charlie told Jamie the fire was ready, "...but [i]you're[/i] going to have to start it. I got a bunch of diesel all up in the fur of my paws. Don't wanna risk it. As it is, I'm gonna be smelling that shit for days. I don't think burnt fur will really add to the aroma."

"Aren't you guys fireproof? I think I heard somewhere that was why Polars make such good smiths?" Jamie asked as he unsteadily took a few steps on his own with still somewhat numb legs. 

Charlie rolled his eyes, "That's a myth. Our fur [i]is[/i] harder to catch fire than, say, yours, but it'll burn like anything else. Bears who get into smithing in general tend to be good at it mainly because we're stronger than anyone else. Other than that, the stories about our amazing metalworking powers are overblown."

"What's the thing with 'Bear Steel', then? Just hype?"

The Bear caught the Wolfdog as he stumbled and nearly fell, and shook his head, "The first Bear Steel was human-made, actually. The term originally meant armor that could protect a human from a Bear's paw swipe without deforming too much. It took them awhile to figure out we could still rip limbs off, armor or no. That's how we managed to take over Russia so easily, though there were some allied humans we had that had brilliant tacticians and such among them, as well."

Jamie was quiet for a minute, just focusing on getting blood back into his legs and not falling. He spoke up again once they reached the fire pit, "I remember in school, one of the other students - a Brown Bear - accidentally tore another cub's arm off. It was a complete accident, some knucklehead tripped him and he happened to grab onto one of the other students' arms as he fell. It just...came off, like it was nothing. There was so much blood!"

Charlie swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat while Jamie told the story, "What happened after?"

"Well, the cub whose arm it was died on the scene - he bled out too fast for anything to be done. Nicky, the Bear, took murder charges, but was acquitted. He had to change schools, though. And there was a rumor going around that while the trial was still going on, he'd been committed to the psych ward because he'd tried to kill himself out of guilt."

Charlie nodded sadly. That wasn't the first such story he'd heard. Bear parents tended to use those kind of horror stories to drive home the importance of always, [i]always[/i] being careful around other Tribes. Their strength was definitely both a blessing and a curse. Even right now, as he was helping Jamie walk, Charlie was hyper-conscious of exactly how much pressure, how much force, he was using at any moment. He couldn't afford anything less, if he didn't want to hurt anyone. 

To get them off the morose topic, Charlie told Jamie the plan for fire, "So, about half of these little sticks and whatnot are soaked in diesel, the other half are dry. You're gonna take these wires, and kinda tap 'em together to throw sparks over the whole thing, and once it catches, we'll need to blow on it to get it going. We'll add on some of the bigger pieces once it's fully caught."

Charlie had positioned their fire pit nearer to the front end of the bus, away from where they'd laid out the bodies (which Charlie knew they'd have to do something about before too long, but he kept up hope that their rescue would be soon and that the dead could be properly laid to rest before they really started to decompose). The Wolfdog was obviously nervous with the wires he was handling, almost daintily sparking them together and quickly separating them, leaning back as if the pile of loose twigs and kindling would explode in his face. Finally, Charlie suggested that he try getting an arc - a small one - going between the wires and getting [i]that[/i] to touch the wood. 

Whether because of the diesel or simply from the arc alone, that did the trick, and after some careful blowing and coddling, they soon had a decent fire going. Just in time, too, as the sun was just falling below the horizon by the time they'd gotten it burning strongly. 

The cubs had all gathered excitedly around the fire, and Charlie and Jamie had to be firm in enforcing a 'no closer than a Tail' rule, which kept them roughly a meter back. They were wary of the young Anthros carelessly catching themselves, or each other, on fire. The two adults took up positions exactly a Tail from the fire, at 'ten' and 'two' o'clock if the crushed nose of the bus was 'twelve'. Fairly quickly, the cubs gravitated to sit with their favored counselor. Jamie seemed to get most of the older cubs - Jack, Aaron, Kaleo, Ezra, Henry, Tashi, and Ivan. That made sense, they'd probably known him for longer. On Charlie's side were Bruce (taking up the apparently prized spot on the Bear's lap), Thomas, Cliff, Charlie R, Carlos, Andre, and Rauf.

They all chatted about various things, making sure to avoid the topics of the crash, their homes and families, or the dead. Everyone was in a fairly good mood until both of the Cats' ears perked towards a sound in the deepening darkness outside of their fire. Carlos mentioned it, first, "There's someone out there."

Silence fell across the group. Gently rolling Bruce off his lap and onto his brother's, Charlie looked closely at the Ocelot, "You're sure? Don't be pulling our tail about this kind of thing."

 "He's not lying, [i]señor[/i]," Jack spoke up, "I heard it, too. Footfalls."

Charlie cast his nose to the air to confirm for himself, but this close to the fire, all he could smell was smoke. "Jamie, where's that machete?" he asked slowly getting up and trying to force his eyes to see despite the fire nearby ruining his night vision. 

"By the packs, at the other end of the bus," the Wolfdog replied.

Charlie nodded to confirm that he'd heard, then sat back down. In a hushed tone, he spoke to the cubs, "No one block me from being able to get up in a hurry if I need to. If it's that guy from the truck stop, or anyone else I end up having to fight, I want you all to stay close to Jamie and - and this is very important - [i]stay out of my way[/i]. If I'm in a life-or-death fight, I won't be able to keep track of where everyone is. One of you could get killed if you get under paw. Does everyone understand?"

He looked to each one of them to make sure they understood. As he leaned back into his spot and allowed Bruce and Charlie R to cuddle against him again, Carlos asked, "You're not going to go see what the noise was?"

Charlie shook his head, "No. With this fire, whoever is out there can see us already. They'd see me coming before my eyes fully readjusted. It's better to let [i]them[/i] come to [i]me[/i]. Plus, most Ferals aren't crazed enough to try and take on someone of my Tribe. That's why I stood up, just now - so whoever's out there knows I'm here. If it's a person, they'll want to try and take me out first, so the rest of you are less defended. [i]That[/i] plays into my paws. If it's a Feral, they might've been scared off, which is also good. You two Cats keep your ears up, though. The fire has the rest of us noseblind, and our ears aren't as good as yours."

To relieve the tension that had returned to the cubs, Jamie started talking about some cub who had once been at Wildfire, and whom Jamie had recently found out was now a famous (or relatively famous) young actor. The younger cubs were delighted, apparently they'd seen some of the movies the young star had been in, and clamored to know if Jamie had 'played' with him before he was a star. 

"Well...no. I was BBB at the time - Big Boss' Bitch, we called it. I took his calls, took notes for him at meetings he had at Wildfire, ran errands for him, stuff like that. I didn't interact with the cubs at all. Since I was a former Wildfire cub - and quite a troublemaker - but now staff, BB wanted me on a short leash for my first year. I only remember that Aiden was there because I handled the paperwork when we found out he had gotten fleas somehow." 

Nearly everyone cringed at that. For Anthros, especially cubs who tended to run around outside a lot, getting fleas at least once in their life was almost guaranteed. Charlie had never had them himself, but he could remember being turned away from going over to play by his friends' parents because the cub in question had gotten themselves fleas. Apparently, the special shampoo that was the treatment smelled horrible and left one's fur feeling sticky for [i]weeks[/i] afterwards. 

"Wait, you were a Wildfire cub? How does that happen, anyways? I never even [i]heard[/i] of Wildfire before...uh...'BB' sent me an email saying he'd accepted my application for the driver position - an application I don't remember submitting, at that," Charlie asked, now curious. 

Jamie chuckled, "It's always like that. BB works in mysterious ways. Some of the other cubs I knew thought he was some kind of god. In my case...well, my dad won't ever be winning 'Father of the Year', let's say that much. One day, BB himself showed up at our door, told my dad he was from Cub Services, and bullied him into signing me up as a full-time resident of Wildfire or face jail time for...I'd rather not talk about that, actually.  Anyways, BB took me away to Wildfire that same night. That was when..."

He trailed off, looking away. Everyone, Charlie included, leaned forwards, waiting for him to continue. Finally, he finished the sentence, "That was when I first met Simon. Heh, he was the same age then that I am now, a greenhorn CIT that BB had hired, maybe even in the same way he'd hired you, Charlie. When we got to Wildfire, BB almost literally dumped me in Simon's arms and ran off to some big meeting or other. Despite the fact that he runs a whole camp for cubs, children in general were never BB's strong point, and I had literally fought him the entire plane ride. He was probably grateful to make me someone else's problem."

Charlie and the others could see the tears running down Jamie's face as he remembered his mentor, whom Charlie now suspected had been more of a surrogate father figure. Charlie wanted to comfort him somehow, but was at a loss as to what to do. The cubs around the Wolfdog all moved closer to him and cuddled or nuzzled him, and after a moment Jamie laughed and gathered as many of them as he could into a tight hug, disguising wiping his tears with nuzzles of his own. Everyone was silent for a while, until Tashi - the eleven-year-old Dhole cub who rarely spoke at all - said he needed to 'go to the bathroom'. His English was very poor, though passable. Like Jack, he had a noticeable accent, in this case some variety of Asian. Charlie had learned earlier that the Dhole was an exchange student from somewhere in Asia. How he'd ended up in Wildfire, Charlie could only guess. 

The cub's statement caused some quick discussion between Charlie and Jamie as to how to handle it. Charlie felt uneasy about letting Jamie escort the cub by himself - not if there really was someone, or some[i]thing[/i] waiting out in the dark. Not that he doubted Jamie's ability to handle himself. But, he also didn't want to leave Jamie with all of the cubs. Jamie seemed to agree for the most part, even commenting outright that when the group split up or left the safe areas was always when people started dying in horror movies. 

They ended up deciding that Charlie would escort Tashi, but that he'd be taking him no further out than was necessary for privacy. They told the rest of the boys that, if they needed to pee, they would have to do it against the roof of the bus, and 'within sight of the whole pack', as Jamie put it. For Anthros, particularly males, public urination was hardly unheard of, so none of the cubs had any issue with this. Going 'number two', however, was still generally considered private and tonight they'd have to be escorted. A few of the other cubs stood  to use the bus as Charlie and Tashi headed around the nose of the vehicle and into the woods a ways. 

Tashi was reluctant to do his business with Charlie watching, which the Bear wasn't particularly inclined to do anyways. He gave the cub his space, but kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. Now that he was away from the fire, Charlie could see into the darkness a little better. Not quite as well as a Cat, or even other members of his House, but well enough that the woods weren't really 'dark' to him. He couldn't see any sign of what Jack and Carlos had heard earlier, but he didn't relax his vigilance in any case. 

Finally, Tashi was done and awkwardly groomed himself - toungue-washing was what Anthros called it, and it was a skill fewer and fewer cubs learned at all, what with all the conveniences in that regard that modern life provided. As they returned to the others, Tashi complained about the taste that was still on his tongue. Some of the others overheard and teased him, but good-naturedly. Jamie even complimented the young Dhole for being brave enough to do it on his own. 

That brought up a discussion about tongue-washing itself, which none of the American cubs except for Bruce, Thomas, and Cliff knew how to properly do. Jack and Carlos, as Felines, used the method instinctively, and Tashi and Ivan had both been taught it during toilet training in their home countries. The rest of the cubs were all used to either human-style toilet paper or the bidets that most modern Anthros used, and had never had to use their tongues for anything but food or a cock. When pressed by the cubs, Jamie admitted that he did it, which had earned him some incredulous razzing by Bruce and Charlie. "Hey," Jamie exclaimed defensively, "At the truck stop, I had had to be quick about it, and I wasn't exactly expecting to have someone else's tongue up there before I'd had a proper shower!"

The cubs next forced Charlie to admit that he tongue-washed as well, but only when a bidet wasn't handy. He explained that he'd grown up in a very traditional household, and that he'd first encountered modern plumbing once he'd started going to school, "I remember I had to ask someone to show me how to use the toilet and stuff, my first day at school, because at home we'd just go outside and do what we needed to do. I'd never had a shower until then, either. I still don't shower often. I prefer keeping it a special, once-in-a-while thing. Hot water is amazing!"

As was not too uncommon with such a large group of Canids, the conversation then turned to smells in general. The cubs made a game of describing a scent and challenging the rest to guess what it was. Charlie and Jamie, with the most experienced noses, refrained from the game out of fairness, and the three non-Canids simply listened with bemused expressions. 

"I don't understand the fascination you guys have with smells!" Kaleo commented, "What's the big deal?"

Between burying his nose in Cliff's fur and making the Fox slightly uncomfortable with the public affection, Thomas fielded that question, "It's hard to describe...um...well, let me put it this way - your Tribe is known for being amazing swimmers, right? I bet there's a whole lot of details about water and currents and whatnot that the rest of us just wouldn't [i]get[/i]. For us Canids, it's like we get to experience a whole different world than the rest of you do, because our noses are so much sharper. Sometimes it's not so good --"

"Like when someone farts in a room, and even after they've gone the scent is still so strong you can [i]taste[/i] it for hours afterwards," Rauf chimed in, making all the Dogs present nod and make faces. 

"-- yeah! Like that. Or when another cub in class needs to take a dump, like, even just a little - or just [i]did[/i] take a dump - every Canid in the room can smell that. But we can also do really cool things like track someone for miles, just by scent alone. I even heard that Doctors who're of our House get so experienced that they can diagnose diseases and stuff just by sniffing their patients."

Kaleo squirmed, imagining it, "That sounds awful! It has to be so awkward, to know all that about everyone you met!" 

Every one of the Canids laughed. "It's just how things are, for us, Kaleo," Jamie said, "You wouldn't [i]believe[/i] the personal details we pick up about others that we just don't say anything about. In Canid culture, like Charlie said, it's considered rude to talk about something we only know because of our noses. For instance, and I'll break custom just this once for this one - I apologize in advance: By scent alone, I can tell that you had fish for breakfast. Sushi, to be precise. Alaskan salmon with watercress, wrapped in seaweed, wrapped in [i]sumeshi[/i], to be even more precise. You had it with a black tea, imported from India, though I can't tell the brand. Your father smokes 'Camel' cigarettes - about a pack a day, I'd wager. He uses 'Ivory Wonder' bar soap - which you do as well - and your mother just went into heat. She gave you a big hug just before you left, and a small bit of her scent's still on you."

Kaleo covered his ears, sticking his tongue out with a grossed-out face, "Ewww! I didn't need to know that last part!"

The rest of the night was spent in idle conversation, seeming for all the world to be any ordinary group of cubs out camping. Even the fact that by this point nearly everyone was either fully or partially naked wouldn't have raised an eyebrow. When they weren't around humans, Anthros weren't nearly as strict about nudity. Even the occasional groping of themselves, each other, or their counselors could have just been attributed to boys being boys. 

As they ran out of wood and the fire died down, the cubs slowly began settling down to sleep, forming a 'dogpile' of limbs and fur between Charlie and Jamie. Finally, only the two adults were still awake. 

"You know, you promised me a 'big finale', and you never did come through on that," Jamie said, smirking. 

Charlie chuffed, "Dude, I've got Bruce and Charlie both using me as a pillow right now. If you want your 'finale', you're gonna haveta come over here or wait till morning."

"Fair enough. So how'd you like your first day with Wildfire?"

Glancing at the overturned bus, Charlie chuckled darkly, "It could have been better, I'll admit...but I loved it. I won't say it's not a bit weird to me, to be open about...ah...what we do. But these guys are amazing and I don't think I'll be leaving Wildfire anytime soon. As long as BB doesn't fire me for crashing the bus and getting all those cubs - not to mention Simon - killed."

Jamie was adamant, "Charlie, you tried your best. Me and Simon have been complaining for years that the route back to Wildfire was too dangerous, and we'd just been talking about the road itself, not creepy,  psychopath humans with big cars! No one's gonna blame you for what happened. [i]I[/i] don't, and Simon was...it sounds horrible, but I'd trade all these cubs just to have him back, in a heartbeat. I'm really gonna miss him."

"The parents might blame me," Charlie noted. 

Jamie shook his head, "I forgot you didn't know. Again, it sounds really terrible, but we kind of lucked out in that regard. Of the six that died, only one of them wasn't an orphan. These summer camps at Wildfire are always partially filled with 'disadvantaged youths' and the like, 'cos BB has a soft spot for 'em. Besides, I'm certain that once he's heard what happened, BB will side with you if you get sued, and he'll do it with all the expensive, high-priced lawyers he has at his disposal, which is a lot, let me tell you. The paperwork regarding their stipends was a nightmare, I remember."

"How old is BB, anyways? You said he'd taken you to Wildfire almost thirty years ago. Was that when he was first starting Wildfire?"

Yawning, Jamie shook his head, "No. A couple years back, we had a big celebration for Wildfire's 75th year. A few of the pictures BB brought out showed him around our age at the original ribbon-cutting ceremony, back in 1988."

"So he was born around, what, '58, '59? That makes him...whew!...about 106 years old," Charlie said, whistling appreciatively, "That's pretty old, for a human."

Jamie yawned again and laid his head back against the bus, "He doesn't look it, I can say that much. Look, anyways, I feel like we ought to keep a watch, but I'm bushed. Can you..."

Charlie waved his free paw that wasn't cradling Bruce and the other Charlie, "I can stay up a few more hours. Get to sleep, Wolf."

DAY 2

Charlie woke with a start several hours later, realizing he'd dozed off and didn't wake Jamie for a turn at watching over their group. After a quick tail-count (and a second one just to be sure), Charlie slumped back with a relieved sigh. No one was horribly murdered or missing. He debated waking Jamie and finishing his own rest, but it was already just before dawn, and he had already gotten enough sleep for his needs. 

He felt a certain little paw squeeze his sheath, and looked down to see Bruce staring up at him from his position half-draped across the Bear's belly, grinning mischievously as he gently squeezed the Bear's sheath once more. He'd probably been woken up by Charlie's own sudden waking, and was apparently in the mood for some play. 

Looking over at the pile of sleeping cubs, seeing no one else was up yet, Charlie spoke quietly, "C'mere, you."

Bruce eagerly climbed fully onto Charlie's belly, giggling softly as both of the Bear's huge paws clapped themselves onto his rump and dragged him further up, where he intensely kissed the Ursine as soon as he was close enough to do so. Charlie would have been content to just enjoy the making out and the soft-yet-rough sensation of Bruce's fur against his pawpads as he ran his paws through the fur of the pup's backside, but he wanted to make the most of this chance to be relatively alone with the young Bloodhound. "Do you know where that lube got to?" he asked quietly after breaking their kiss.

The enthusiastic expression on Bruce's muzzle made the Bear chuckle. "I think it's still by the tree where you tied up Jamie, but we won't need it! Tommy never uses lube, he just, like, leaks his peep against my butt until it's slick enough, then barges right in. Even though you're...bigger... it shouldn't be a problem."

"Still," Charlie said, dragging Bruce further up his chest so he was practically straddling his neck, "I don't want to hurt you, so I'm going to make sure. Lay back."

The cub eagerly did as he was instructed, even lifting his legs up and moving his tail aside to give Charlie more access. Charlie dove right in, making sure to get as much spit on - and in - the cub's hole as he could. The lewd act got the rest of him 'awake', so to speak, and he was fully hard by the time he was satisfied Bruce wouldn't have much issue, if he was mounted by his brother as regularly as he'd implied. 

Once Charlie was done, he instructed Bruce as to their next steps, "Get yourself in position and lower yourself - carefully - onto my dick. I'm too heavy to mount you the normal way, so you're gonna stay on top, okay? This way, you'll have full control over the pace. Don't get too eager and hurt yourself, but we can go as fast or as slow as you want."

Bruce nodded and moved himself into position. Despite his desire to keep from waking anyone, Charlie moaned loudly when Bruce sank himself onto the Bear's cock. Bruce's tailhole was deliciously tight, but he managed to slide Charlie's relatively thick penis all the way in without
much issue. He did have to pause at that point, though, panting lustfully as he let himself get used to the Bear's length and girth. "Ohhh, this is awesome! You're so big!"

Charlie's paws made their way onto the pup's body again, as he reveled in the tight warmth his cock was buried in, "You're okay with it, though? It's not too big for you?"

In response, Bruce leaned forward and then let his ass drop back down into Charlie's length, making his favorite Bear moan again, this time much more loudly. Loudly enough that Cliff and Thomas, on the other side of Charlie R from the Bear, sat up to see what was going on. Charlie had his eyes closed, so he didn't see theirs widening as they saw the younger pup start fucking himself on Charlie's cock. 

It didn't take the Bear long to start thrusting up into the pup in time with Bruce's own movements, only reopening his eyes when he heard Cliff cry out. 

He looked over to see the Fox being pinned onto all fours by Bruce's brother, who made no preparation before mounting his lover, causing Cliff to squeal and then whimper as Thomas bit down on the Fox's scruff before beginning to pound him like the Dog he was. Cliff didn't seem to be having such a good time at first, what with Thomas essentially raping him. Charlie could see that the Bloodhound had pinned the Fox's wrists under his paws, and with how brutally the Dog was thrusting, he would've stopped what he was doing with Bruce to intervene, until his mind registered the content of what Cliff was whimpering, "Ahh! Fuck, Tommy! Oh, fuck! Harder, Dog! Make me your bitch properly this time, why don't you!? Fucking [i]harder[/i], Tommy! Ohhh!"

Thomas released the Fox's scruff to take one of his ears between his teeth, gnawing lightly on the sensitive appendage and growling dominantly, not caring if anyone else woke up and heard him, "I'mma do you so hard, you'll get [i]puppies[/i], Cliff! I love you so frigging much!"

With the raw sex the two cubs were having less than an arm's length away, Charlie felt surprisingly competitive and took hold of Bruce's hips to take control of their own rutting. Bruce didn't seem to mind at all, squealing with delight every time the Bear slammed his thick cock home. 

Charlie outlasted the two cubs, but not by much. With a loud cry of Cliff's name that woke up half the group, Thomas forced his swollen knot into his boyfriend, which in turn caused Cliff to moan just as loudly and start spurting milky cum in long ropes onto the ground beneath him. 

Charlie himself, having witnessed this incredible sight at close range, shuddered and [i]roared[/i] as he came in Bruce's eager ass. What felt like gallons of hot semen coated the pup's insides as the Bear unloaded his balls, the sensation of which drove Bruce over the edge and caused him to cum as well, clearly shooting watery cum all over Charlie's belly and chest. This didn't escape Cliff's notice, "Bruce! You jizzed! Tommy! Bruce came!"

Thomas had turned so he and Cliff were facing opposite directions, and he awkwardly tried to turn himself (and thus Clifford) around to get a look. Neither Bruce nor Charlie paid much attention, both awash in the bliss of their respective orgasms.

Charlie's roar had woken everyone else up, and he quickly found himself surrounded by cubs, all of them congratulating Bruce on his first wet cum. Even Thomas had managed, with a lot of patient cooperation from Cliff, to crawl over to his brother and raise himself up so he could hug and nuzzle him. Bruce seemed both proud of himself and uncomfortable with all the attention, stiffly thanking the others for their congratulations and cheers. 

Finally, Jamie came over and broke up the crowd that had formed, telling the other cubs to 'give everyone having sex some privacy', and ruffling Bruce's headfur as he gave him his own congrats before following his own advice. During all of this, Charlie had been laying back in a daze as he let his orgasm fade, but he soon leveraged himself onto his elbows to take it all in. Thomas soon flopped onto Charlie's belly, making Bruce giggle and play with his brother's ears as the older Dog rode out his own, much more prolonged, orgasm while Cliff waited patiently on all fours behind him, still firmly tied. Charlie reached over and took the Fox's cock into his paw, gently squeezing the knot and eliciting a moan and a few more spurts of young Fox-seed. "Will you need help with this one as well, kit?"

The Fox let out a short bark of laughter, remembering Charlie's assistance earlier, "No. I'll be fine."

Using Thomas' head for leverage (and eliciting halfhearted  protests from him in the process), Bruce slid himself off of Charlie's meat, and reached behind himself to gingerly feel at his tailhole, wincing, "I can see why you like the rough stuff, Cliff, but [i]ow[/i]!"

Charlie looked at him concernedly, "Oh, shit! I didn't mean get so carried away! How bad is it?" 

The young Bloodhound clambered over his brother to gave Charlie a big,  wet lick across his cheek, "You did great! I'm not bleeding or anything, just a little sore. I'll be fine. Cliff took Tommy like a pornstar, though!"

Muffled somewhat by Bruce's butt, which was right in his face, Tommy growled, "You still should have used lube if you didn't wanna be sore! I don't smell any back here, so don't try to tell me you did!"

Bruce harrumphed and sat himself directly into his brother's face, "I didn't ask you! Besides, Charlie gave me an amazing rimjob beforepaw. I mean big Charlie, not the other Charlie."

Thomas could be heard cleaning his brother's hole of the mess Charlie had made in (and of) it, while Cliff spoke up, "Spit doesn't [i]last[/i], Bruce. It's okay for me an' Tommy to do a lick-and-go, 'cos we have practice, but [i]you[/i] don't, despite what you and Tommy like to imply."

Charlie glared accusingly at the Bloodhound pup, "I [i]thought[/i] you were a little tight!"

Bruce chuckled nervously, "Tommy [i]has[/i] done me before, but it was only a couple times, before our Dad found out and put a stop to it. It was actually what convinced him to sign Tommy up for Wildfire's summer 
program, so he could 'fool around with other cubs his age' - but Mom made him sign me up, too, so I wouldn't be left out. I think [i]Dad[/i] knows what goes on here, but he couldn't say no to me coming along without telling Mom about Wildfire and how much sex goes on here. She would've nixed the whole thing, probably."

"Well, thank Dog for Tommy's libido, then, or we'd never have really met. It's weird we were in the same homeroom at school for so long, and never talked before Wildfire," Cliff said, testing his tie and finding it just as strong as before. 

Done with his business with Bruce's rear, Thomas lightly nipped the pup's ass cheek, causing him to yelp and scoot forward, giving his brother breathing room, "Yeah! Meeting Cliff was the best thing ever! He's the only one that'll let me do this--"

The young Bloodhound cocked his right leg slightly and, made a satisfied groan. With their sharp noses, Charlie and Bruce could tell immediately that Thomas was peeing [i]in[/i] the Fox.

They would've found out from Cliff's reaction, in any case. "Tommy, no! You bastard! No pee stuff in public, I've told you that!" Cliff yelped, slumping his shoulders to cover his face with his paws. 

To defend his friend's honor, Bruce turned and smacked his brother's muzzle, "Bad Dog! That was mean!"

Thomas scoffed, "Oh, please. He'll get over it. It's not nearly like that time I--"

Cliff tugged [i]hard[/i] against Thomas' knot, causing the boy to yelp and interrupting his sentence, "Don't you dare! You are [i]not[/i] telling that story!"

Sensing that he was getting onto thin ice, Thomas backtracked, "Look, Big Charlie won't judge, and Bruce is into [i]way[/i] dirtier stuff! And no one else was around to see it!"

That earned him both another slap from his brother and another tug on his knot, which was successful this time in separating the Fox and Dog. Cliff collapsed into his front, groaning and tensing his ass so everyone wouldn't get to see Thomas' jizz - and piss - pour out of him. At this point Charlie cut in, "That wasn't the point, Thomas. You should just apologize to him before you dig yourself any deeper of a hole."

Realizing Cliff might actually be mad at him, Thomas was quick to get off of Charlie's belly and scramble over to the Fox, ignoring his still partially erect penis that made it awkward to walk, "Don't be mad, please! I didn't mean to embarrass you! I thought it would be hot!"

Not willing to let his boyfriend entirely off the hook, Cliff scowled, "You still should've cleared it with me first!"

"I'm sorry! I won't do it again, I promise!"

Cliff sighed and relented somewhat, "It [i]was[/i] kind of hot. But I'm still mad at you for it! I already get made fun of enough for my scent without needing to smell like a urinal, too! You do realize [i]everyone[/i] will be able to smell it, right? For [i]days[/i]."

Slightly missing the point, Thomas showed his teeth, "Who makes fun of your scent!? I'll bite 'em for you!"

That made Cliff laugh and prop himself up to give Thomas a kiss on the cheek, quickly getting himself into a seated position,  "Not everyone has a thing for musk like you do, Tommy. Except Bruce, I guess, and Charlie R. Actually, now that I think of it, I never get made fun of at Wildfire, just at school."

"Is it that butt-hole Tiger at school? Lee Roy the bizillionth or something? Aw, man, I've been dying for an excuse to get suspended for beating [i]him[/i] up!"

Cliff laughed again, "Don't. He'll claw your face off and you'll be all scarred and hideous."

Thomas' tail wagged anyways, "But you'll still love me, right? Besides, I wouldn't be hideous, I'd be all [i]masculine[/i], with cool battle scars!"

Glad that they weren't going to have a spat after all, Charlie finally nudged Bruce off his chest, "Okay, enough sitting on me, it's getting weird to breathe. We should go see what Jamie has the others up to, now that most of us are presentable. Cliff, do you want some privacy to...er...empty out?"

Cliff thought for a moment, then nodded. When Thomas stood up to leave with Charlie and Bruce, though, the Fox grabbed him by the tail, "Not so fast, buster. [i]You're[/i] helping me clean up! And you'd look like a goofball trying to walk before that prick of yours goes back in where it belongs. I don't know how you stand it."

Thomas tried to pose, saying, "Because I'm [i]masculine[/i]!" But his boyfriend ruined it by grabbing at his exposed penis, the feeling of a rough pawpad on his dried-out member making the young Dog yelp and fall back down onto his butt, "Okay. Point taken. A little help, here...please?"

With the sun only an hour or two from peeking over the horizon, Charlie wasn't too worried about leaving them some private time. It wasn't as though he and Jamie would be far, if something did happen.

However, it seemed that Jamie and the other cubs had all vanished from view. Charlie followed his nose, and found some of them with Jamie at the other end of the bus. As he and Bruce came around the corner of the bus, Jamie jogged over to them. "Nothing disturbed the bodies, thank god, but we did find traces of our visitor last night. We'd left the machete and sat-phone out here, like idiots, and they're both gone, along with both my and Simon's packs, [i]and[/i] the big medkit," he told Charlie, first thing. 

"Fuck!" Charlie swore, "The map was with that!"

Jamie shook his head, "No, actually. You'll be happy to hear that your Canine counterpart had folded it up and put it in one of his shorts' pockets, in case it blew away. Whoever was here didn't bother any of the clothing we've scattered around, so at least there's that."

Charlie let out a sigh of relief. "At least there's that," he repeated, "So, where's everyone else? You're missing...four, not including Cliff and Thomas."

"I have Jack, Ezra, Carlos, and Aaron foraging for...well, whatever food they can find. The two Cats have their claws, and both Aaron and Carlos have been instructed to howl if they run into any trouble. I told them to stick together, and not to go out of sight of the bus, but to do their best and bring back [i]something[/i]. All four have at least some hunting experience. These other rascals, I have digging, as you can see. I figure we're gonna have to bury the bodies today. Even if BB arrives with the cavalry today, I don't want to risk some hungry beast scavenging off the bodies. We can't watch both the cubs and the dead."

Charlie nodded, "I remember there was a creek or small river not far from here, on the map. If I'm right, we might be able to relocate down there and catch fish. I'm sure the cubs would like to swim a bit, too."

Jamie called Charlie over, who had put his shorts back on to keep the map on his person. He was very proud of himself for having inadvertently saved the important document. Charlie even praised him for his foresight, which set the pup's tail wagging happily. 

When they laid out the map, Charlie and Jamie saw that the Bear had been right - there was a blue, squiggly line less than two hundred and fifty Tails to their south, marked 'Maul Creek'. Jamie traced it with his claw, following it through the valleys until it came within a thousand tails of Wildfire itself, "I know this creek! It's the same Maul Creek we sometimes hike the cubs to, at Wildfire! It'd be a long journey, but if we don't find a food source or get rescued soon, we might wanna think about following it home, or at least to here - Monton. Actually, Monton's the smarter idea, we can get help and call Wildfire from there, and it's only...ugh...sixty miles away?"

"Probably more on paw, if we're to follow the creek. But it does seem to be our best bet," Charlie agreed, "For now, let's get these bodies buried, and we can hike down to the river afterward."

As a sort of reward, they let Charlie R continue 'guarding' the map. Once Thomas and Cliff joined them, the group of cubs and two adults made quick work of digging the large pit they'd be using as a mass grave. It was a respectable five feet deep by midday, and though everyone was ravenously hungry, and now fatigued from hours of hard labor, no one skirted doing their part in the work. Even Kaleo and Henry, the two smallest cubs in the dig group, worked hard to pull their fair share. 

It was when they were taking a break in the midday heat that they got some good news. Carlos ran up, sweaty and out of breath, at first making Charlie and Jamie think something had happened with the foragers. But the Ocelot was smiling as he told everyone that the four of them had [i]felled a deer[/i]. A [i]big[/i] deer, going by the description. 

Since Charlie was going to be the only one who could drag or carry it back to the others, he left with Carlos to go collect it. Though he wasn't expecting much - what might seem like a 'big deer' to a cub could easily turn out to be half the size they claimed - as it turned out, Carlos hadn't been exaggerating much. 

"That's not a deer, pups! That's a goddamn Elk!" Charlie sputtered, gaping at the large animal the cubs claimed to have taken down themselves, "How'd you-- How the [i]fuck[/i] did you-- This thing's almost as tall as Jack!"

The four were quite eager to relay the tale. Aaron did the honors, "So, Ezz and I scented it first, and we found it up [i]there[/i], near that big bush thing. We wanted to make you an' Jamie proud, so we came up with a plan: Jack climbed this tree, while me and Carlos got into position, [i]there[/i]. The plan was for Ezz to sneak around to the north of it, then charge at it, barking up a storm and throwing rocks and stuff at it, to make it bolt towards me and Carlos. When it got close to [i]us[/i] we popped out and startled it again, making it run by this tree where Jack was waiting. He dropped out of the tree onto its back, sank his claws in so it couldn't buck him off, and ripped into its neck with his teeth until he could get at its spine, and then it was game over."

Charlie looked incredulously at each cub in turn. Four buck-naked Anthro cubs who had successfully brought down an Elk with just their wits and fangs. He couldn't blame them for looking quite proud of themselves. Jack, who had actually made the kill, looked particularly smug, grooming the blood from his face and paws. Finally, Charlie laughed, "You boys did good! You did great, in fact! This'll be enough to feed everybody!"

He noted approvingly that - other than the chunks of meat Jack had ripped from the Elk's neck to get at its spine, none of the four had tried to dig into it yet, despite probably drooling with desire for food. When he asked them why they hadn't, Jack answered, "Since it was my kill, [i]señor[/i], I made the others wait. It didn't seem right to gorge ourselves before bringing the food back to the others, and I thought it might be easier for you to carry if it were still intact. I knew we couldn't get it back by ourselves."

The Elk weighed only a little less than Charlie did, but he had little issue hefting it onto his shoulders in one powerful motion. It was slow going, and the four hunters had wanted to stay with him as he slowly carried their prize, but he made them go on ahead, "Jamie and the others are getting ready to bury everyone who died in the crash. Go, pay your respects. I'll be along, if slowly."

Thinking of an easier idea, before they left, Charlie called out, "Wait! I've got a better plan. Tell Jamie that, after the funeral, to lead you all down to the creek. He'll know which one I'm talking about. I'll meet you guys there, it'll be a shorter trip, for me."

They nodded and headed back to the others, while Charlie turned south and headed down towards the creek. 

It turned out to [i]not[/i] be so short of a trip. The terrain sloped gently as he neared the creek, and with the Elk on his shoulders, Charlie was putting an additional six hundred pounds on his footpaws. He had to step carefully, and that slowed him down. Several times he nearly fell - and one time he [i]did[/i] fall, which was not fun - but he managed in the end. 

Through the entire time he was carrying the damned thing, his stomach was begging him to rip into the carcass himself and eat his fill - which the 'hungry bear' part of him seductively reasoned would lighten his load somewhat, he refused to give into the temptation. He knew that once he'd started, he'd gorge himself, and probably devour most of the four cubs' hard-won kill. It would be selfish, he told himself. Unconscionably selfish. He'd be betraying the cubs. 

Still, the temptation was very great, and once he'd found an obvious spot near the creek where the Wildfire group would easily spot him, he also refrained from starting the butchering, worried he'd not be able to help himself. He didn't bother starting a fire to cook the meat, as they didn't have a single human in their group. As long as they ate it before it started to rot, all of the Anthros would have no problem with eating the animal raw.

To distract himself from the six-hundred-pound hunk of temptation, Charlie wandered around a bit while he waited for the others to arrive, though he kept a wary eye out for opportunistic scavengers trying to steal the kill. He'd chosen a wide, relatively flat, area right next to the creek. It was mostly grass and a few scattered bushes, and was the only clear space by the Maul, which Charlie hoped would make the spot a natural target for anyone coming downhill towards the creek. He especially hoped that he'd estimated the distance right. He thought he could see the bus from where he was, as he doubted there was anything in nature that was that big [i]and[/i] that yellow, but he still was nervous they'd still miss him completely, somehow. Maybe he [i]should[/i] start a fire, a nice smoky one. 

As he moved around the little clearing, he started to notice things. A boot-print in the mud of the banks here, another less prominent one over there. Most disconcerting was the spot, at a natural point for a human fording the river and then needing to climb out onto the bank, where the person had obviously slipped and fallen against the raised section of dirt there. Impressed into the soil, clear as day, were the words 'Capitoline Arms'. 

Capitoline was a weapons company, considered dependable for both military and civilian use. They made rifles, both of the assault and hunting variety, and catered mostly to humans. They were well-known for the prominent branding on the stocks of their weapons. 

All of the signs were recent. Very recent. Their visitor last night had been armed, it seemed, and with a rifle of some kind. Charlie nervously wondered what had stopped them from killing him, Jamie, and all the cubs with it while they'd been sleeping. He took the time to sniff at each spot, hoping to catch some scent, but all he got was leather and metal. 

The signs he had found made Charlie do another, more thorough, check for ones he'd missed. Whoever it was, they were good, having left only a few clumps of mud where they'd scuffed clean their boots once they were on the bank proper. Other than that, they were a ghost, and the terrain got less and less likely to take prints as one ascended towards the road. It made Charlie uneasy. He was very aware of how much the whiteness of his fur stood out. Even though all the digging earlier had stained large portions of his naked body with mud and dirt, he was still an obvious and easy target for anyone with a hunting rifle. 

When the large group of cubs - and Jamie - arrived, Charlie made a beeline for the Wolfdog as the exhausted cubs sat or laid down around them, too tired from the burial and then the trek to even rouse much excitement for the food, yet. A few of them, Kaleo especially, climbed down into the creek to swim. 

"We can't stay here," Charlie told Jamie quietly. Quickly, and making sure the cubs didn't overhear, he explained what he'd found.

Jamie looked troubled, "You think it's related to Mr. Gimp?"

"What else [i]could[/i] it be? First that gimp guy and the SUV, then our supplies getting stolen, and now this? It sounds like a slasher film," Charlie replied.

"How do we tell the cubs? They ought to know of the potential danger, I think. They're not stupid; if they know there's a good reason to be vigilant, 

they'd be less likely to do stupid things on their own. Also, [i]that's[/i] what Jack and the others took down? That thing's a monster compared to them!"

"Aren't you Wolves known for taking down prey three times your size?" Charlie teased. 

Jamie shook his head, "Yeah, but that's with a whole pack - eight to twenty full-grown Wolves, not four cubs! Well, one cub did the actual kill, but it was a team effort, from what they said."

"They really came through on that forage, I'll give 'em that. Let's get to it, then?"

Charlie got all the cubs gathered around, with Jack positioned at the rear of the carcass. Already, everyone was eagerly drooling after having gone almost two whole days without food, but none of the cubs - or Jamie, for that matter - knew what the next steps were. Charlie had to walk them through it. First, he maneuvered the Elk onto its back, using his knee to keep it propped up for the Cougar. 

"OK, Jack. We don't have any knives or proper tools, so we're gonna have to dig in Feral-style. Since it was your kill, you should get the first meat from it. We'll start at the weakest spot. Bite its balls off, Jack. Try to get as much in your mouth as you can."

"[i]¿Sus cojones, señor?[/i]" The Cat asked dubiously, the meaning obvious from context. 

"Yes. The skin there is usually pretty thin, and your jaws will have no problem tearing 'em off. Try to make as big a hole as you can," Charlie encouraged.

The other cubs watching tittered as Jack got into hits knees, leaned down, and took both of the Elk's testicles into his muzzle. Their snickering stopped as, with an instinctive [i]wrench[/i] of his head, Jack tore them away, not even bothering to chew before swallowing. The Cheetah sat there, overwhelmed by the heavenly taste of blood, before lunging back down and ripping another chunk away. Charlie made him stop after a few bites, and the Cougar puffed his fur up, snarling instinctively before his mind caught up with who he was snarling [i]at[/i].

Charlie chuckled, "I know you're hungry, and Cats aren't used to sharing meat. But there're all these other cubs who want a turn, so let's open things up a bit more." 

He reached both paws into the gaping hole Jack had created in the animal's crotch, feeling around inside until he found the front of the hip bones. With a grunt, he first hopped his weight into the hips with both front paws, then [i]ripped[/i] the now broken hips apart, opening up the abdomen as though unsealed with a zipper. Blood sprayed onto both Charlie and Jack, igniting both of their instinctive food-jealousy around another predator. Charlie had expected this - neither Cats nor Bears were good at sharing their meals - but Jack was overwhelmed by instincts he'd never had triggered before. Despite all rationality, Jack yowled and lunged at the Bear, fangs and claws flashing.

Not having expected that, but as always perfectly in control of himself, Charlie caught the young Cat's outstretched arm, the same arm they'd had to mend with Biofoam after the crash, squeezing it just tight enough to remind the cub that that arm was still healing as Charlie pulled Jack across his lap and smacked him hard on his ass. "You attack me again, and I'll beat you so hard, your great-grandcubs will be born with my pawprints on their ass!" the Bear snarled dangerously. 

The pressure on his bad forearm and the spank took all the fight out of the young Cougar. "[i]¡Entiendo! ¡Lo lamento![/i]" Jack squealed before remembering to speak English, "I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!"

Charlie sighed, releasing the whimpering Cougar, "I know. Go sit back there for a bit until I'm done here. You'll still get first meat, I promise."

The rest of the 'butchering' was a matter of brute force, and was quite messy as a result. Many of the cubs couldn't reconcile their stomachs' craving for meat with the gory act they were watching. Some of them moved away from the carcass to dry heave into the grass. By the time he broke open the ribcage, after methodically disarticulating the main limbs with a combination of his teeth and brute strength, Charlie's arms, face, muzzle, and chest were all drenched in blood, quickly staining into his fur. The assembled cubs had just seen Charlie ripping apart a very large animal as though it was nothing, not even appearing to be even fatigued from the work.

He pulled out the liver and heart, and took them to Jack, who accepted them gratefully. The other three hunters got either a kidney or lung apiece, plus a limb. For himself,  he took the last limb, the right rear leg. Jamie took the head and neck, sickening almost everyone as his powerful lupine jaws crushed the skull in with ease. 

Kaleo, who wasn't confident in joining the frenzied - almost Feral - scuffle of Canids he could tell things would devolve into, instead began hunting fish in the river, which were apparently plentiful. For everyone else, it was a free-for-all, filled with much snarling, growling, and jockeying for good spots around the dismembered beast. Jamie and Charlie didn't interfere, knowing there was no reasonable way to stop the dominance fights that broke out. They both knew that Canids - even ones as young as their pups here - could be quite savage, at times. Even Jack, still hungry after the prized organs he'd devoured, was unwilling to try and sneak in among them to steal seconds. If they smelled a Feline at 'their' kill, they'd gang up on him in a flash. 

Though he'd intended on leaving the Cougar a little shorter on meat than the others as punishment for lunging at him, he felt bad enough for the poor Cat - who after all had [i]provided[/i] this feast - that he shorted his own meal and tossed the remnants of the leg to Jack, warning, "I want the big bone back when you're done, but otherwise dig in. You earned it."

He then went over to watch the others fight over the remaining meat, breaking up any scuffles that seemed likely to actually draw blood. Remembering Jack, and seeing Charlie soaked in dried blood, not one of the cubs was foolish enough to repeat the Cat's mistake. Charlie was unquestionably the Alpha, and they'd retreat with what they'd gotten so far without protest, if he decided he wanted the remaining meat for himself. 

Though the leg he'd partially eaten was by no means enough to fully satisfy him, Charlie refrained from stealing from the pups. Instead, he allowed himself to revel in the feeling of power that came from their acknowledgment as the leader. Even Jamie, who by rights should have been in charge, was deferring to him, now. Though it did nothing to fill his stomach, the ego boost was quite satisfying in a different way. 

Every pup got as much of the meat off the bones as they could. Even the stomach, intestines, and various remaining viscera were consumed. The whole process from carcass to bloody skeleton took barely an hour. A human would've been horrified by the sight. 

Even those who didn't manage to win against the older or stronger cubs didn't go hungry. Once he had eaten his own fill of them, Kaleo brought up several more fat, juicy fishes from the river for the others. The river was quite full of them, and the dumb creatures were no match for the young Otter's skill and cunning. 

The worst thing that happened, happened after the kill had been all but picked clean. Bruce and Charlie R got into a fight, a real one with fangs in each other's fur and everything. Jamie broke it up quickly with Charlie's help, but both had suffered injuries. A chunk of the young Retriever's left ear was missing, and Bruce now had a set of four parallel slashes in his cheek that had just barely missed his right eye. 

"What the fuck is wrong with you two!?" Charlie bellowed, furious, "A little meat and you two are both acting like you're top Dog? Actually [i]fighting[/i]? I don't even care what it was about. Charlie, come here."

Crying, the Labrador pup shakily came to stand in front of Charlie. Growling, the Bear bent the cub over and forced his tail to stand straight up in the air, "If you lower your tail even a fraction, I'll double the number."

With that warning, Charlie started spanking the pup. Though he was, of course, careful not to do real damage, he wasn't holding back much. The rest of the group watched as the young Dog's tail instinctively tucked between his legs against his efforts not to after the first swat, and then repeated to do so, making the young Dog sob harder as each time his tail acted against his will, prolonging the beating.

Despite his threat, Charlie didn't want to really hurt the pup, so he stopped at twenty. Terrified that the Bear wasn't quite done with him, Charlie kept himself bent over with his paws braced on his knees and his tail straight up until the adult knelt down next to him, "You're gonna apologize to Bruce after I'm done with him, and then we're going to use Jamie's paw-cuffs to lock you both together. If you two can get over whatever caused that fight just now, [i]without[/i] starting another fight, we'll let you go. Until then, he's your new best friend. For now, just keep that position until I tell you otherwise."

Tearfully, Charlie R could only managed a faint, 'Yes, sir."

Next was Bruce's turn, and if he thought Charlie would show favoritism, he was sorely mistaken. Charlie made sure to deliver exactly the same number of hits to Bruce's rear as he'd done with Charlie, though he had to take hold of the pup's tail to keep it in place. Halfway through, Bruce's knees gave out. Charlie dropped down with the young Bloodhound, throwing him across his knee and continuing the beating mercilessly.

When he was finally done, he dragged Bruce over to the other Charlie, and cuffed their wrists together with Jamie's fetish gear. Both cubs were still sniffling and crying from getting spanked so brutally, and whimpered as Charlie locked the cuffs. He next spent several minutes licking their wounds, which wasn't exactly sanitary, but it was a small comfort. After apologizing to each other, if a bit stiffly, they both threw themselves into Charlie's arms, sobbing and saying they were sorry. Charlie just hugged them both, gently licking their heads and making sure they knew the beating had been a punishment, and didn't mean Charlie loved them any less. 

Jamie got the other pups to go for a swim-slash-group bath once Charlie was done. Chained as they were, the two cubs had to sit out. Charlie kept them company, continuing to soothe their hurts. He had to take up a spot behind them, as both cubs were sitting as far from each other as the cuffs allowed. After a few minutes of jealously watching the other cubs playing in the creek, Bruce looked over at the Bear, "Um...I know me and Charlie are being punished, but can we...maybe..."

"It wouldn't be safe, you both could drown. Once the others are done, I'll take you two in and help you wash up, but you said it yourself - you're being punished. You're not getting to play in the water, today," the Bear answered firmly. 

Disappointed, Bruce nodded. Next, it was the younger Charlie that spoke up, "Sir? Will you separate us if one of us needs to go to the bathroom?"

"No. You're both staying like that until you find some way to make up. You're gonna watch each other shit, if that's what it takes. If Jamie hadn't been so quick to pull you apart, you both could've ended up really hurt! What were you [i]thinking[/i]?"

The cubs looked guiltily at each other, and several minutes passed without either answering. Eventually, Charlie R timidly spoke, "We were fighting over you, sir."

The young Dogs flinched and shied away as Charlie growled, "Fucking morons, both of you! Bruce, I remember you saying earlier you didn't mind Charlie getting some time with me as long as you got me first. You got that, and I remember Charlie was [i]right next to us[/i] this morning, and he didn't say a word or try to butt in. He kept up the deal, why were you going back on it? And Charlie, I'm not excusing what Bruce did - not at all - but it's never easy when two people like the same other person, I'm sure you understand that. You're the older pup, though, I expected more maturity out of you than to get into a brawl [i]with an eight-year-old[/i]! And for both of you: I'm not a hunk of meat for you two to fight over! If you two are gonna act like this every time I fuck either of you, then how about I play with [i]neither[/i] of you?"

Both boys protested that last statement loudly, but quailed and fell silent under Charlie's glare. After a moment, Charlie R said, "Yes, sir," a statement quickly echoed by the Bloodhound pup.

Charlie felt bad for having to take the hard line, but in the group's situation, they couldn't afford to have cubs fighting like [i]that[/i]! Even the scuffles around the elk carcass hadn't been much more than nips and growls, which was why the adults had tolerated it. 

The young Labrador spoke up again, the embarrassment clear in his voice, "I do...uh...need to...crap, though."

Charlie climbed to his paws, groaning. His knees were awful sore after carrying the elk, but he ignored the feeling. To the pups, he said, "Well, c'mon!"

They got in each other's way, getting to their paws, and reluctantly followed Charlie over to the cluster of bushes he and Jamie had marked for their latrines. The younger Charlie actually begged the Bear to let him and Bruce separate for just a little bit, because he couldn't do his business with the Bloodhound standing literally an arm's length away. His older counterpart refused.  

Desperate, Charlie R turned to Bruce, "Could you, please, turn around?"

Rolling his eyes, Bruce complied as best he could, "It's not like I won't smell it, you know. At this close, you might as well be shoving my nose in it."

Charlie R squatted and began emptying his bowels, apparently no longer caring that Charlie was watching. He whined, "It's not like I'll have it much better, when [i]you[/i] need to take a crap! And it'll be awkward to clean myself, with us like this!"

Bruce glanced down at the other Dog, causing him to whine and look away,  shutting his eyes tightly to imagine that Bruce wasn't so near. The young Bloodhound shifted his feet, actually staring at Charlie R, before he said, "I'll clean you up, after. I...uh...I'd like to."

Big Charlie's ears twitched at that statement, "Bruce...do you have a scat fetish?"

The young Bloodhound was instantly embarrassed. "I don't know what that means! But...if it means I like...um...licking people's....butts, when they're...dirty...then...maybe...a little...yes," Bruce admitted, his voice getting smaller and quieter as he went on, taking a deep breath and adding, "Okay, maybe a lot."

The two Charlies were staring, and Bruce was clearly mortified to have admitted it in front of them, though he hadn't stopped his brother from heavily implying it on many earlier occasions. There was an awkward silence.

To say Charlie was surprised was an understatement. He'd never expected a pup of Bruce's age admitting to liking [i]that[/i], especially a Bloodhound, whose noses were almost as sharp as a Bear's. Oddly, the other Charlie was unsurprised, "I already knew. Your brother told me. I think it's really weird, but...um...if you want to help me out...I guess you can get me clean."

They had to awkwardly move away from where Charlie R had done the deed, and then figure out how to arrange themselves, but once they'd gotten a good position, Bruce was lapping thoroughly at the Labrador's soiled hole, and didn't bother trying to keep his tail from waggjng. 

When he was finished and sat up, Bruce was 'showing pink', and more than a little of it, and so were both Charlies. This time, it was the older Charlie who said something, "Well! Nice to see that you two [i]can[/i] cooperate! Keep this up, and you'll be let loose in no time!"

"I'll lick his tailhole [i]right now[/i] if it gets us out of this punishment," his counterpart replied instantly. 

The Bear wasn't about to let them off that easy, "I can't make it look like I let you off easy 'cos I'm a pervert and you two are my favorites. So, tell you what, you two stick it out and play nice until this time tomorrow, and I'll let you free. Deal?"

Of course, they missed the point. Speaking almost at the same time, they shouted, "We're your favorites!?"

Not able to take it back now, Charlie grinned, "Yes. Fine. You're my favorites. Happy? Before we head back to the others, one last thing, though. Charlie? Bruce told us something he obviously wouldn't like the others to know. To make it even, why don't you tell us something similar about you?"

The Labrador stammered a bit at first, but agreed, "Hokay, so, it's not as... weird...as what Bruce is into, but...and don't make fun of me for it!...I...think that collar Jamie wears around is really hot. I think I'd...um...get a thrill, being someone's...er...another male's, I mean...like,  their pet. I thought about it a lot last night, and woulda pawed off, but I didn't want either of you to notice me doing...that."

The Bear couldn't believe his ears, "Scat and petplay. Wow, Wildfire teaches you cubs all kinds of kinky stuff, huh?" Both of them blushed and made weak denials that their fetishes were from being Wildfire pups. They probably weren't, just quirks of their individual sexualities, but Charlie figured being exposed to so many different sex acts couldn't have helped matters. He wondered what kinds of stuff the others were into. 

Making a mental note to ask Jamie for that leash-and-collar, because it would be [i]so[/i] hot, Charlie got them moving back towards the others. As they exited the bushes, both young Dogs were trying to get Charlie to tell them [i]his[/i] dirty secret. 

"It's obviously that I'm into having sex with underage cubs," Charlie replied flippantly. They didn't buy it. 

"Oh, come on! That's not anything like what me an' Charlie told you! This is Wildfire! Of course you like cubs!" Bruce complained, "There's gotta be something...well...juicier!"

Charlie laughed and shook his head, "The cub thing is the only one I wouldn't want anyone outside of Wildfire knowing. All the rest of my kinks, I'm pretty open about. BDSM, for one, like what I did to Jamie yesterday, though it covers other stuff, too. Watersports - that's what it's called when you get aroused by peeing on or in someone, or by being the one on the receiving end - I'm of the former category. Let's see...uh...I learned yesterday, and this morning as well, that I really like having sex in front of other people - that one's called exhibitionism. Other than that...I can't think of anything else."

The boys both agreed they wanted to do all of those things with Charlie, making him roll his eyes, "It would feel wrong to tie either of you up during sex, and you're still being punished, so I'm not doing [i]anything[/i] with either of you, anyways, until your punishment's over."

They rejoined the others, who were now all mostly laying in the grass, letting the sun dry their fur after playing and washing in the creek. Jamie was sitting on a small outcrop of the bank, where he could keep an eye on all the Wildfire pups. He seemed to have Jack's head between his legs, and there was no secret to what the Cougar was doing there. 

They weren't the only ones having some 'fun'. Thomas and Cliff were brazenly rutting on the raised part of the bank, and Kaleo was doing something in the creek with Ezra that involved him ducking underwater for long stretches between coming up for air. From the young Coyote's facial expressions, the Otter was probably giving an underwater blowjob, and a really good one, at that. 

Charlie stopped for a moment, still amazed at how open the Wildfire cubs were about it all. Thomas seemed to be chatting with Aaron and Carlos [i] while screwing his boyfriend's brains out[/i], and though both other cubs were showing mild arousal, neither seemed to think there was anything odd about watching their friend getting fucked in front of them. Jamie was talking with Andre, the Spotted Hyena cub, all the while getting a blowjob from Jack, and neither batted an eye at this. 

Charlie and his two pups made their way over to Jamie, who was giving his Felid lover some pointers on Canines, "...gotta pay attention to the knot. It's the most sensitive part, and the right kind of attention there will get whoever you're playing with off, [i]fast[/i]. On the other paw, if you're wanting to drag things out, you can focus mostly on the shaft and tip, especially with that tongue of yours." 

Jack pulled off the Wolfdog just as Charlie neared, "What about [i]taking[/i] the knot? It looks painful. I don't think I could do it."

"It's part of Canine mating, cub. But, even if you're not ready to get tied, you can grab hold of his knot just before he gets it in, and with a firm grip, there won't be much difference as far as he's concerned. Not that he won't [i]notice[/i] the difference, but in my experience, the pleasure's the same either way. Oh, hey Charlie! You give our two prizefighters there another spanking? I looked up and you guys were gone."

Charlie sat down next to Jamie, "No, Charlie needed to take a shit, so I took 'em into the bushes."

Pulling Jack's muzzle back onto his cock, Jamie cackled, "You made 'em stay cuffed while Charlie did his thing? I bet [i]Bruce[/i] was happy with that situation."

Quietly, the younger Charlie nudged Bruce, "See, everyone knows already. You're not exactly subtle."

Bruce squirmed, blushing, "That's not-- It's embarrassing, and I don't want the others to think I eat crap or something!"

The Labrador looked at him sideways, "I mean, you [i]do[/i], technically."

Jamie leaned back to look at both pups, "Bruce, none of us are gonna judge you for what you like. How's the face, by the way? Charlie gave you some nasty slashes there."

The pup cringed as he gently felt at the cuts, "They're not that deep, actually, and they're already scabbing over. They still sting, though. It's not as bad as what I did to Charlie."

The older pup tried to play it off, "It's not that bad, honest! It's just a little piece. I think one of your fangs just caught it."

"Still," Bruce said, genuinely contrite, "It probably hurts a lot! You were already crying when Charlie started spanking you, and I've noticed you're wincing every time your ears move."

Sitting forward again, Jamie nodded approvingly at the Polar Bear, "Your plan with the cuffs seems to be working. Too bad that bastard thief last night took the medkit, or we'd be able to patch them both up, easy."

Charlie sighed, looking around at their cubs getting some much-needed relaxation after the previous day's events, "What's our plan about that, anyways? I don't think the cubs would be up for another hike, either back to the bus or along the creek. But we're so exposed, here. If we camp here tonight, you and I will have to keep watch. For real, this time."

The Wolfdog nodded, "I agree, on all counts, but there's something you're forgetting - BB won't be too long in finding us."

"We hope," Charlie replied. 

"We [i]know[/i]. Since we started the hike down here after the burials were done, the Cats both have told me they can hear a helicopter flying around, somewhere in that direction. Can't see it yet, but if I yell at everyone to shut up for a minute, I bet you we'll hear it, now, too! Rescue's coming, Charlie. We might just have to hold out one more night."

Nodding more to himself than anything, Charlie said, "Once you and Jack are finished up, let's gather everyone. If we have to make a camp here, let's make sure everyone knows what's up."

Twenty minutes later, mostly because they had waited for Cliff and Thomas to get unstuck again, fourteen cubs were gathered around the two adults. Charlie did the talking, "Listen, pups, Jamie and I are expecting the search teams might find us soon, either during the night or tomorrow. We don't know if they'll be Wildfire-affiliated, so from now on, everyone needs to be fully dressed, OK? No more sex in the open, and Jamie and I won't be fooling with [i]any[/i] of you until we're all safe at Wildfire. Now, we're going to make camp here by the creek tonight, but I'm sure you all 

remember our visitor last night. Before you guys got here, I noticed signs that that visitor used this spot to ford the creek, so we're going to be extra cautious tonight! No one - [i]no one[/i] - is to go off alone, not for any reason! Most importantly, this guy was armed with a rifle. This is why it's absolutely critical that, should [i]anyone[/i] catch a body-scent they're not familiar with, to raise the alarm. Howl, yowl, bark, whatever - just make enough noise to alert everyone else! Only myself, Jamie, or Jack are to actually engage him. If you see or scent a stranger in our camp, run away! Raise the alarm as you do, but get your tails [i]away[/i]! Not in a straight line, however! Zig-zag, get into the trees, do whatever you can [i]not[/i] to be an easy target! We honestly don't know what his intentions are - he might've just been a thief! - but I don't want to have to bury another cub, come morning. Not any one of you."

"How can we tell the difference between this guy and someone from the rescue teams?" Someone, it sounded like Henry, asked. 

Jamie fielded that one, "S&R has a very distinctive, hi-vis uniform, with scent ribbons. The ribbons smell of cinnamon, and very strongly - they're coated in a laboratory-made scent designed to be easily recognizeable at a distance, even by a human. If you're close enough, it's strong enough to make your eyes water, I can tell you from experience! Also, if they find us during the night, there'll be a big helicopter, with a searchlight! From the few traces of this creep we've found, he tries to minimize his scent, like a hunter. Most humans use special soaps and powders for that purpose, but each of those have their own scent as well, and those don't smell natural at all!"

"Shouldn't we have another fire, to be more visible?" Carlos asked. 

Charlie shook his head, "Normally, yes, that would be the right thing to do. But last night taught us that a fire ruins our night vision, makes us noseblind, and most importantly, makes us a target. We decided we'll stay dark, tonight. From what Jamie said, BB won't let S&R rest until he's either found us, or our bodies. They'll spot the bus, first, and when they see the grave and that the bus is abandoned, they'll make it the center of their search area in the morning. We're pretty visible from the air, here, so come dawn, we'll be easy to find."

There were no more questions, and in the last few hours until the sun went down, the Wildfire group settled together in a tight, nervous cluster, though still chatting and playing games made up on the spot. The scent game made several rounds. 

Charlie was nervous as hell, feeling instinctively that - whether it was a rescue or a life-or-death fight for survival - something big was going to happen that night. Jamie showed the same nerves, not hiding them nearly as well as Charlie, and Jack - who'd argued convincingly to be included among the fighters - was compulsively checking and sharpening his claws so they'd be at their deadliest. The thirteen year-old definitely was keyed up, but he looked determined to do his part defending his friends, if it came to that. 

Because of a law forbidding combat-worthy claws on Anthros who worked with children, both Jamie's and Charlie's own claws were blunt and rounded off, so pretty much useless. Charlie was still dangerous without them, and Jamie had assured him that he was proficient in human-style martial arts that focused more on fists than an Anthro's natural weaponry. 

Bruce and Charlie got some teasing about being cuffed together, and Thomas especially gave them a hard time, "I can't believe you two did that! It was so dumb! What were you even fighting about?"

The miscreant pair did not want to answer that, as their actual reason for it was seeming more and more stupid by the minute. Bruce tried to change the topic, "What about you!? Aren't big brothers supposed to be [i]protectors[/i]?"

Thomas shrugged, "Your little bitch-fight was over before I could do anything, and if you're talking about the spanking, I wasn't about to put my neck out. You weren't gonna die from a few smacks on the ass, and you guys [i]had[/i] been fighting. If we'd have been up at Wildfire, you'd have gotten way worse than what Charlie did! Remember the pillory in front of the mess hall?"

"I thought that was just for, like, bondage play," Charlie R said, "And for the record, it was more than a 'few' spanks."

Cliff snickered, "It's only mostly for that. Last year, me and Tommy snuck out after dark and he let me lock him up in the thing and bone [i]him[/i]. That was a fun night, though we got in trouble with BB for breaking curfew. He only let us off the hook 'cos 'our young love touched his heart'."

Bruce stared at his brother, "But you [i]never[/i] let him do you! I never get to see you on bottom!"

Thomas looked embarrassed, but was also grinning, "It was his [i]birthday[/i]! And I'm willing to let my sexy Fox on my back once in a while, if he wants. We did agree afterwards that we like our normal roles better, though."

Cliff readily agreed, "Yeah. Being on top is such a hassle! Being the bitch is easy. So, anyways, I heard you finally admitted you like to get your nose dirty, Bruce. Not that everyone didn't already know, but me an' Tommy had a bet going on when you'd actually admit that you're a Brownnoser."

The young Bloodhound was indignant, "How did you hear that! Neither of the Charlies would've told you, and I've had one of them cuffed to my wrist!"

The Fox did one of those classic knowing smiles his Tribe was famous for, "I'm afraid I can't divulge my sources. Just know that I'm very pleased and am willing to offer you a favor at some point, for helping me win the bet."

Bruce whined, "C'mooon! It's gonna drive me crazy trying to figure out how you heard! Hey, wait! Make [i]that[/i] my favor - I demand to know your 'sources', Fox!"

Cliff pretended to hem and haw for a few moments, drawing it out, but his eventual reply was cut short by a series of loud, surprised barks, followed by Aaron charging out of the latrines bushes, stumbling with his shorts half around his ankles, "Snake! Big, big snake! It almost bit me in the balls!"

Jamie moved over to the frightened Newfie, and calmed him down while Charlie casually went into the bushes. The others heard a series of swear words and the sounds of Charlie moving. A minute later,  he came out with a long, mostly black snake wrapped around one arm, grinning. He had the snake's head in a firm, but not crushing, grip, "It was just a garter snake! I think it might even be a Giant Garter, which is kinda neat. These guys are pretty rare!"

"Is it dangerous?" Jamie asked. 

The Bear shrugged, "Not particularly. Their bites hurt, and can give an human a nasty rash, but their little fangs are meant for softer critters, and can't usually pierce an Anthro's hide. Did Aaron get bit?"

The cub said 'no', and Charlie shrugged again, "They don't usually attack bigger creatures unless startled. See how, if I let go of its head here, it just tries to get away? They're harmless. Usually, they're found in wetlands, but I guess this one's found the hunting pretty good here, near the Maul. Makes sense, considering all the fish in it."

The pups all watched with morbid fascination as Charlie easily kept the snake endlessly coiling around his arm every time it tried to spiral off of him and back onto the ground. The Bear was perfectly calm and even seemed a little excited about the find.

"You're really good at handling it, Charlie. You like snakes?" Jamie asked. The Wolfdog obviously didn't share Charlie's confidence, shying away from the reptile nervously. 

"Oh, yeah! Snakes are cool! My cousin kept a few when we were cubs, and I learned a lot about them every time we'd go over for the holidays," the Bear replied, "She would be ecstatic to have found this little guy, though. They're endangered, mostly 'cos the wetlands are getting smaller as humans and Anthros take over, and they're not well adapted to other habitats."

Charlie spent a few more minutes holding the snake, letting the cubs check it out while Aaron went back into the bushes - this time with Jamie along to keep watch for him - to finish his business. When the pups were done ogling the reptile, Charlie released it near the creek, where it quickly fled into the water. 

After that false alarm, everyone was more relaxed as they settled down for their second night outdoors. Though the atmosphere was much less tense than before, the two adults didn't forget about their plan. It would be Jamie who took the first watch, Charlie second, and Jack would keep watch during the pre-dawn hours. 

Charlie - and everyone else - ended up waking just before Jamie would've been waking Charlie for his turn. Though the cubs were confused and frightened at first by the bright light and all the noise, a ragged cheer went up from them as they realized the sound was coming from the two S&R choppers that were now hovering over their camp.

Already, S&R members were rapelling from the one helicopter like black-ops soldiers, and the other one was moving away uphill, towards the bus. 

The leader of the S&R team, a short (to Charlie anyways) human with dark skin, made a beeline for the Polar, assuming he was in charge. Against the noise of the chopper, he shouted, "Are there any injuries or medical emergencies that need urgent attention?"

Charlie groggily shook his head, "Two of our pups have minor injuries, but everyone else is fine. Thank the gods you guys got here tonight, though! We would've had to try making it to Monton tomorrow, if you didn't show up. Hunting around here's pretty scarce if you don't count fish, and we've had problems with some of the locals."

"Locals, sir?" The human asked. It did amuse Charlie how polite and respectful humans tended to act around him, like they were terrified the wrong word might cause him to knock their heads off. They probably were, too.

He explained how the crash had happened, and about their 'thief' the previous night. The S&R man nodded and spoke into his radio, then turned back to Charlie, "We can get about half your group, plus the Wolf, into one of the helos, and my team will stay here until our other chopper can refuel and come back out. But, and I know it's a bit rude to ask, how much do you weigh, sir? With helos, weight can be an issue, especially in rough conditions like we're expecting. A storm's rolling through in the next couple hours."

"Nine hundred, give or take maybe ten, pounds," Charlie answered, "I'm actually considered to be on the light end, for males of my Tribe."

The man nodded, "If we put all the heavier cubs on the first trip, you should be fine to ride with the second. Can you climb a rope? The lift basket's only rated for four-fifty, and the ground here slopes too much to land." Charlie confirmed that he could. 

Things got hectic after that, with Jamie working with the search team to get the older and heavier cubs into the first helicopter. With the lift basket - normally only used for sea rescues - only able to safely carry two at a time, with one of those spots taken up by one of the S&R crewmembers, the process took awhile. 

The first drops of the storm began falling just as the first chopper was leaving, but by this time the S&R team had erected several tents and were passing out MREs to the grateful cubs. Though nearly everyone had eaten their fill of the elk earlier, they were all still fairly hungry. Once the noise of the other helo had faded enough for normal conversation, Charlie made introductions, "I'm Charlie, and the Bloodhound boys are Thomas and Bruce. The Fox is Cliff. Then there's Kaleo, Carlos, and Henry - Otter, Ocelot, and Corgi."

The leader of the rescue team shook Charlie's paw firmly, giving his own introductions, "Well met, sir. With me, I have Ellis - the blonde guy over there who's making your cubs all cry..."

The well-built human waved cheerfully when he was mentioned, despite his leader's comment. He was about as tall as Jamie, making him the tallest of the four. He smelled slightly of sweat, and was the team's 'ribbon-carrier', so there was a wide berth around him, as none of the Anthros were willing to get close to the overpowering scent that stung their noses. Even his teammates didn't seem to want any closer to him than necessary. Jamie had been right - it [i]was[/i] eye-watering!

"...Next, there's Sascha - that's the red-haired lady who looks like she ought to be working in a library instead of jumping out of helicopters..."

She was a petite little thing, though Charlie could tell she could handle herself in a fight. Maybe not against [i]him[/i], but any human who tried to mess with her would likely have a bad day. She was the one handing out food, and the cubs all seemed to like her instantly, making Charlie a little jealous. 

"...and last-but-not-least, there's Sam - the only Anthro on our crew. He's only been with us for a couple months, so far, so I don't have any snarky things to say about him yet...and I'm Captain. Yes, that happens to be both my rank and first name, I've already heard all the jokes, please."

The Anthro in question was a youngish Lion, maybe barely eighteen if Charlie read his scent right. Unlike most Lions Charlie knew, this one kept his mane buzzed short, as though he were trying to keep to the human appearance standards in the military, despite Anthros being exempt from those regulations. He was the only one of the four besides the leader who was armed, with a standard-issue assault rifle. He carried the weapon casually, as though it was just another extension of his body. The way he carried himself in general told Charlie the guy must've been military-trained.

The captain himself was almost the complete opposite as his Feline subordinate - he was armed only with a revolver, and was not at all the 'military' type. He gave Charlie more 'cowboy' vibes - all he'd need was the big hat and boots. 

"Not [i]all[/i] of the jokes, sir," the redheaded female said, smirking, "Me and Ellis have been working on some new ones for you."

The search captain sighed and waved his hand, "Let's hear it. You two will be giggling behind my back for months, if you don't get 'em out of your system."

The woman shook her head, "Nope! We agreed they were for special occasions only. Or if it looks like you might be about to be promoted."

Changing the topic, Charlie asked, "So where are the others getting taken? Back to Wildfire?"

Cpt. Captain nodded, "Yes. The old man's got quite the setup, there. They have a fully-staffed hospital and everything, right on the grounds, but I supposed you knew that, already."

"Actually, I didn't," Charlie admitted, "This is my first year with Wildfire."

The man grinned, "So you're a new guy? You meet the old man, yet? He's a piece of work, I hear. Been driving headquarters nuts since you guys didn't arrive on time."

"I haven't met him, yet. We only communicated by email so far, but Jamie - the Wolf who left with the first group - had said that the guy is...eccentric...and really rich. Other than that? I really don't know."

The human female spoke up, eyeing the sky, "Storm's picking up, sir. The second chopper might be delayed if it gets any worse."

Captain frowned and spoke into his radio. Charlie could overhear both his query and the reply, "Rescue Two, this is Rescue One. What's your status? Over."

"[b]Rescue One, we're refueled and ready to go, but we don't have takeoff clearance. Control is worried about the storm, apparently. Winds are pretty rough out there, we hear. Over.[/b]"

"Roger, Rescue Two. We'll sit tight for now. Does Control have an estimate of when the storm will pass by? Over."

"[b]Negative, Rescue One. I know it's not a sanctioned source, but the little weather app on my phone says the rain's supposed to stop in a couple hours, if that helps. Over.[/b]"

"Thanks for the info, Rescue Two. Let us know if things change on your end. Over."

"[b]Wilco, Rescue One. Rescue Two, out.[/b]"

Turning to Charlie, the man said, "You heard all that? So how do you wanna split the tents up? I'm sure you and yours will be grateful for another couple hours of shuteye, but we'll have to split everyone up."

Charlie thought carefully about that. Though he got the impression that all of the Wildfire cubs knew the importance of discretion, he didn't want to risk a stray comment or action on their part to arouse suspicion. The three tents were moderately big, but as Captain had said, not nearly big enough for everyone. And he knew it would be rude to make the humans stay out in the increasingly torrential rain, as they were less hardy against the elements than Anthros. He decided to play it safe, "If Ellis there takes off that damn ribbon, I'd say we should let the pups split the other two tents, and us adults take the third. How does that thing [i]still[/i] smell like that, in this rain? I don't know how he stands it!"

The big man laughed, "You get...what do you guys call it?...noseblind to it, after awhile. I can say that we draw lots at the beginning of a shift to decide who has to wear it. Here, I'll hang it over there, where it shouldn't bother anyone."

He moved a little ways towards the river, unclipping the scented ribbon and hanging it from one of the trees there. While he was gone, Charlie assigned Cliff, Thomas, Charlie and Bruce (whom Jamie had unlinked quietly during the confusion when S&R arrived, but who had been staying together as though their punishment was still effective) to one tent. Kaleo, Carlos, and Henry got the second. Charlie realized that no matter how they split it, the tents could only fit four each. Though inclined to join the second tent, when the young Lion offered to take that spot, claiming to want to spend time with his House-mate - Carlos - Charlie couldn't see any way to refuse. 

So, that was how Charlie ended up in the third tent with Captain, Ellis, and Sascha, trying not to take up too much space and also strongly resisting the urge to violently shake the water out of his fur. He was extremely grateful to the big blond guy when he pulled out a large, wool blanket from his backpack and suggested Charlie use it to dry off. 

"So, forgive me if it's rude to ask, but what did Sam mean by House-mate? I know for a fact that he lives alone," the blond asked, making his teammates groan. 

Sascha, especially, gave the big man a hard time, "You grew up in this part of the country, and you don't know what the Houses are? How do you manage to be so clueless?"

"I was very sheltered, growing up, okay? I never even [i]saw[/i] an Anthro until college!"

Captain snickered, "I bet [i]that[/i] was an eye opener. Mr. Charlie, it would probably be best for you to explain it. We'd probably get parts of it wrong."

Perfectly willing to explain Anthro politics to the human, Charlie cleared his throat, "Ah, okay, so you know what the Tribes are, right? What you guys call our 'species'? That's not strictly correct, by the way, but it's a whole complicated thing, and not part of your question. Anyways, there are five...I guess you might call them 'confederations' of the Tribes, mostly grouped depending on similarities among the different Tribes. The main thing about each House is that we each worship a different ancestor-god, for which the House is named: there's my House, Canid, which includes all of the Bears, Foxes, Wolves, Dogs, and assorted other Canines, plus some of the Hyenas. Then, there's Felid House, including all of the Cats - Lions, Tigers...Ocelots, et cetera. Felid also includes the [i]rest[/i] of the Hyenas, and [i]that[/i] whole business is its own subject...Next is Mustela, which includes Weasels, Ferrets, Badgers, and the like. Otters are part of Mustela. Then there's Rodentia, including Rats and Mice. Lastly, there's Procyon House, of which only Raccoons are part."

Sascha spoke up, "I had heard a little about the Hyena thing. That split was all politics, depending on whether a particular Hyena group sided with Rome or Egypt in ancient times. At least, that's what I heard."

Charlie nodded, "That's my understanding as well. The Hyenas now part of my House joined up with Rome against their countrymen, and those now part of Bastet's House fought against the invaders."

They talked about Anthros, Humans, and their differences and similarities, the discussion mostly driven by Ellis' curiosity. It seemed S&R didn't usually get called out to rescue Anthros, who were usually more at ease in the wilderness than humans. The captain himself confirmed this, "You folk don't usually do [i]stupid shit[/i] in the wilds. You wouldn't believe some of the calls we've had. There was one I still remember - this guy had decided he'd go hiking the high Sierras. He wasn't a mountaineer or experienced hiker, nothin'. Just a regular guy who one day decided it would be great to go climb some mountains. He ended up in a ravine, and would have died there if some other hikers hadn't found him and called us in. The man had two broken legs and a cracked skull for his troubles, and it took us nearly sixteen hours to get him stable, out of the ravine, and lifeflighted to a hospital. Until this one, the worst call I've done for an Anthro was when a little Dobie pup - maybe three or four years old - wandered off into the woods around Yellowstone when his family was vacationing there, and even then your folk did most of the leg work. Nearly a hundred Dogs in the nearby area volunteered to help with the ground search, while my team mainly served as eyes in the sky and coordinators. We did find him, in the end, but not in the woods.  Turns out he had gone to pee, and gotten lost for a while. He'd eventually followed his nose back to where his family's camp was, and the poor thing had waited there [i]all day[/i] while practically the whole county was out looking for him - including his parents! Oh, man, was his daddy [i]pissed[/i]!"

The captain's radio squawked just as he finished the story, "[b]Rescue One, this is Rescue Two. Do you copy?[/b]"

"Go ahead, Rescue Two."

"[b]We just got cleared for takeoff! ETA one hour and change. It'll be just me and my pilots, so we should be able to pick up all of you on this next trip. Over.[/b]"

"Well, hallelujah. Sounds like the storm's still going strong, though. Over."

"[b]It's blowing away from us, Rescue One. We'll be behind it the whole way. By the time we get there, it should be clear where you are. Unfortunately, we'll not be collecting overtime on this one, Captain, we still got five hours left on the clock. Plenty of time to pick you guys up and get over to the Wildfire Campgrounds. I can make a stop somewhere, if you want to run the meter up. Over.[/b]"

The S&R leader rolled his eyes, "As tempting as that is, I didn't know we were a taxi service! Let's get these folk home, Declan. Over."

The voice on the other end laughed, "[b]My pilot's telling me I can't paint his bird yellow, anyways. We're just about to take off, so hold down the fort for just a bit longer. Rescue Two, out.[/b]"

That was great news! They were almost safe! Charlie went to go tell the cubs, starting with the nearer tent. At the entrance to the tent, though, he paused, hearing something inside that set the Bear’s adrenaline going.

“Now, you’re going to be a good kitten, right? If you’re not...well, I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to stick [i]this[/i], and you won’t like it one bit. You two, if you make any noises, or try to call for help, I’ll kill him.”

Charlie barged into the tent, freezing as his mind took in the scene. Gimp-Hood. The back of the tent had been sliced open, and the young Lion – Charlie honestly couldn’t remember his name right now – was already dead, his throat cut by the military ka-bar now in Gimp-Hood’s hand. Carlos was naked, his clothes apparently having been cut away, trembling in the grip of the strange man in the disturbing fetish gear. Gimp-Hood’s grip on the young Ocelot’s throat looked pretty painful. Carlos was frozen in horror, not able to look away from that [i]very[/i] large knife. 

Gimp-Hood looked up at Charlie when he entered, and immediately moved the knife so the tip of it was pressing against the young Cat’s rib cage. Charlie could see a small bit of blood bead onto the tip, quickly turning into a steady trickle down the Ocelot’s side. It was just skin-deep, but the young Cat pissed himself in terror. 

Charlie and Gimp-Hood stared at each other. Charlie was thinking quickly. The strange assailant likely thought Charlie wouldn’t dare make a move that could get Carlos killed, and he was indeed hesitant on that account...but...Sascha had Biofoam in her medical gear. And Gimp-Hood was well within Charlie’s arm’s reach. If he was fast enough, a knife couldn’t do anything that couldn’t be fixed. 

Still, it was tense, and Gimp-Hood seemed to be willing to let the impasse drag on for as long as it might. He didn’t say anything, made no threats or demands, just stared. Finally, Charlie spoke, “Let him go, and you won’t get mauled.” 

The sneer was evident in Gimp-Hood’s voice, “You do anything, and I’ll cut him open, Bear. You’re in no place to make demands.”

Charlie vaguely noticed that the Lion’s rifle was laying right against his footpaw. If he could grab it...a plan started forming. 

Pretending to have backed down, Charlie raised his paws into the air, dropping down onto his knees, “You’re right. If…if you’re looking for pelts, mine’s of much higher quality than the [i]children’s[/i].”

It not having occurred to any of them that their [i]fur[/i] might have been what the masked man was after, the three cubs in the tent started crying. Charlie felt bad, but  it was part of his plan to get Gimpy distracted. 

Gimpy snickered, “Taking pelts is [i]far[/i] too much work. Maybe after I’m done with the humans and I have some peace and quiet. I’m here...simply to kill animals.” 

The bluntness with which the man had said it shocked Charlie, but only for a moment. He watched carefully, seeing the ka-bar against Carlos’ ribs loosen slightly, “Humans, animals...you’re all the same kind of vermin to be eradicated. Luckily, I’m a very good exterminator.” 

Good. Well, not good, the man was clearly psychotic. But he was talking, and thought he had the upper hand. Charlie had to make sure he kept thinking that right up until the bullet landed in his skull. “So you’re just a serial killer?” Charlie asked, never having expected to refer to anyone as ‘just’ a serial killer. 

Gimp-Hood took it differently than Charlie expected. He snarled, “I am [i]not[/i] some mundane killer! I am pain and death incarnate!” 

With that declaration, he drew the knife away from Carlos’ ribs and, before Charlie could enact his plan of snatching up the rifle and shooting him, jammed the knife under Carlos’ tail. The young Cat’s agonized scream was nearly deafening, though Gimpy dropped the young Anthro onto the ground contemptuously, showing no other reaction. 

Carlos’ scream galvanized Charlie, and he’d snatched the rifle up, bringing it to his shoulder. It was meant for humans, that much was clear, but it was a gun. All one really needed out of those was a projectile and a way to launch it into your enemy. He didn’t have time to bring it up to aim, though. Gimp-Hood had turned and bolted out of the sliced-open back of the tent. 

He was soon scrambling back [i]into[/i] the tent, confronted with Captain, and the man’s revolver aimed between his eyes…well, in the spot of the hood where his eyes would be. The rescue leader was calm as a cucumber as he said to Charlie, “Get the boy over to Sascha, hurry! Kids, go with him – do not stay here!”

Charlie let the rifle drop and simply scooped up the yowling, screaming Cat, got to his paws, and hurried out of the tent. The cubs followed him, but as soon as she saw what Charlie was carrying, she spoke quickly, “Ellis, keep the kids outside, Charlie and I will need room for this!” 

She got Charlie to lay Carlos down on his front, and quickly opened her medical kit, muttering to herself as she read through a card that was pinned to the outer flap, “LPS...MGS...MKT...MUS...OCE! E-5!” 

Having found what she’d been perusing the card for, she practically tore the kit apart reaching the relevant compartment. Despite the screaming, writhing Cat not a paw’s width from her, her hands were steady as she pulled a small vial out of that section of her kit, and carefully measured a dosage into a syringe from it. She moved methodically, the urgency of the situation only showing on her face, not in her process.

“Scruff him,” she ordered brusquely once she was done.

“Huh?” 

Her tone became a little sharp, betraying her stress, “Pull the skin of his scruff away from his neck! Gently!” 

Charlie did so, putting a paw on Carlos’ back to stop him from moving around so much. Charlie was sure the boy’s writhing – though understandable given the pain he must’ve been in – was only making things worse. 

Almost immediately after Sascha had injected whatever drug she’d selected into the skin of Carlos’ scruff, the young Ocelot went completely limp, the yowl he’d been making turning into a kind of vague moan. 

Sascha took a moment – only a moment – to breathe a sigh of relief, “Okay...better...I might’ve given him a bit too much, though. He...[i]should[/i] be fine. Now, we can fix that knife. What the fuck happened in there, anyways!?” 

Charlie explained what he knew as she moved the young Cat’s tail aside to assess the damage. Gimp-Hood’s aim had been perfect, if one could call it that, lodging the knife directly into Carlos’ anus. There was so much blood, Charlie worried the kid would bleed out, but Sascha was perfectly calm, “This is gonna be tricky, but we can do it. First, I need you to take that knife out when I tell you to. Let me get the ‘foam ready first.”

Charlie wasn’t so sure, “I thought you were supposed to leave it in! Won’t he bleed out?” 

She sounded frustrated as she hunted through her kit for her Biofoam, “Normally, yes. Right now the knife itself is keeping the wound from bleeding too much, and yes, pulling it out is generally a bad idea. Which is why I’m getting the ‘foam ready [i]first[/i] and we’re just gonna have to be [i]super quick[/i] about it, OK? Just try to take it out in one motion – we don’t wanna make the injury worse.”

After affixing a flexible nozzle and tube onto the Biofoam canister, she turned to Charlie, “Okay, so, cliff notes: You take the knife out as carefully and quickly as you can, I swoop in with Biofoam administered directly to his rectum and anus, and then – and this is the part no one remembers to do – you’re going to roll him onto his back.”

Charlie nodded. Though he was quite nervous to be just...yanking the knife out of little Carlos...the actual thing was quite surreal. Carlos’ body reacted, but limply, and the Cat himself made no sound indicating pain. Sascha did her part, and when Charlie rolled Carlos onto his back afterwards, the Bear could see that the young Ocelot was clearly stoned out of his mind – his irises had vanished, consumed by his pupils, and he didn’t seem to really be aware of anything. It was rather creepy, actually, as though the Cat were dead. 

“He’s gonna be okay, right? He looks so…”

Now that she had time to answer questions and fuss, Sascha was considerably calmer, “The drug I gave him is a military grade field-surgery drug, normally used as an anesthetic. It’s...not strictly safe to use, but it’s effective, if you need to keep someone still and quiet while you do surgery on ‘em far away from a hospital. He’ll be like this for at least another half hour, maybe an hour, tops. The drug just paralyzed his skeletal muscles and gave his brain such a trip that he won’t have felt any of what we did. He’ll be pretty loopy for a day or two afterwards, though.” 

“But he’ll be alright?” 

Sascha nodded, “Yeah. The anesthetic doesn’t have many side-effects other than the...ah...loopy-ness. Biofoam in the rectum is a different mater. He’ll need a diaper for about a week, ‘cos he’ll have almost no bowel control for that time. It’s the only side-effect Biofoam has listed on the can, and only if you...ah...deliver it anally. In this case, we didn’t have a choice.”

Carlos’ not-corpse was still rather creepy, but Charlie soon became fascinated with how the Ocelot didn’t – or couldn’t – respond to anything. He limited himself to stroking the boy’s cheek and head, making soothing noises. 

Ellis poked his head into the tent, “We have a lifeflight from Wildfire coming out, and Captain has the attacker detained in the--” 

A gunshot rang out, startling everyone. Ellis didn’t look surprised, though. “Correction, he [i]had[/i] the attacker detained.”  

It took until the lifeflight helicopter arrived for Carlos for Charlie’s – and the rest of the cubs’, for that matter – hearing to come back after that unsilenced gunshot. It turned out that Gimp-Hood had, at first, pretended to surrender. Not being a cop, Captain had no way to secure him, however, and Gimpy had soon taken advantage of that to lunge for the dropped rifle. Captain then had blown the masked psycho’s brains out, naturally. 

Charlie felt rather numb as he and the remaining cubs got onto the other S&R chopper when it arrived. He was also dreading having to explain how six cubs, one counselor, one Search and Rescue member, and one presumed human had ended up dead, and one cub seriously injured. They were presuming ‘Mr. Gimp-Hood’ was human because of the shape of the mask and his lack of tail, but no one wanted to strip away all that leather to find out for certain. Even in death, the psychopath exuded a strange aura of doom. 

Captain had simply collapsed the second tent and used it to wrap the strange fellow’s body. They’d moved the Lion’s body to the medical tent, alongside Carlos, who wasn’t aware of anything anyways. To make him less disturbing to the other cubs, Charlie had shut Carlos’ eyes to make him appear sleeping. 

Hours later, they landed at Wildfire’s helipad, exhausted and emotionally spent. They were quickly hustled into the hospital, but not before an older man in an impeccable suit stopped Charlie before he could be herded into a hospital bed, “Welcome to Wildfire, Mr. Hammond. I’m sorry it wasn’t under better circumstances.”