Chapter 2
My name is Jeff I am 22 years old and I am a proud member of S under D’s recruiters. I became a recruiter because of my friend Benjamin. He escaped the life he was meant to live a few years ago. I was so upset when we were told he was still running. I will never know why he keeps running but he needs to stop and I am going to be the one to stop him. When I turned 18 I asked to enter the ‘Balancers’ who are responsible for keeping things in order and dealing with outsiders who discover us and spouses who have out lived their usefulness. I was trained for 2 years and enjoyed the missions I was given. It was not until recently that my new Father became a high ranking member. By new father I mean me and Benjamin’s dad. They were now married and his dad got promoted and now manages all members in his area. He pulled some strings for me and had me put on a special team that is tracking Benjamin.
I must say I did not expect ben to elude us like this. He managed to run for 7 years now but he must be stopped am I am going to be the one to stop him. I am getting closer last night I almost managed to get him put he has become pretty crafty but I scored a victory last night. One that probably turned this game of cat and mouse in my favor and now it is time to set another trap.
Hey Ben here. Last night was well strange I was kept up all night with this strange nightmare but when I woke up I couldn’t remember it. I knew that I had to keep moving now. I can’t believe the one person I trusted most is now the one hunting me down. This is going to get more difficult much more difficult. Jeff knows nearly as much about me as I do. I don’t know what to do right now but I know I have to keep running no sense getting caught now when I finally found a way to strike back.
I grabbed the few belongings I had and made my way out of the apartment I had rented I told the landlord I was leaving and never coming back and paid her for the rest of the month. She just looked at me with curiosity and then took the key from me. I made my way to the bus stop and caught a bus to the Amtrak station. I was going to try and buy a ticket to another state but when I got I saw a few of S\D’s goons patrolling the place. Something didn’t seem right in all the years of tracking me they never sent more than 4 furs at a time. There were at least 16 of them that I could see probably more that I couldn’t. Jeff must have pulled out all the stops to block the Amtrak station but I can just get a grey hound bus out of here. I caught a cab and made my way to the bus depot. When I got there my heart skipped a beat I was nearly recognized by a few S\D guys. What the hell is going on! There are at least 16 furs here covering the bus depot. Now I knew something was going on they never sent out this many furs out of fear of raising suspicions but they were out in full force today. I then heard some furs talking about a lockdown the city was in some alleged terrorist plot. They had extra security from private firms monitoring major parts of the city. The law enforcement was also actively searching for someone named Jake Taylor. I reached into my pocket and got the address where I was supposed to meet Jake at in a few days and realized I needed to go there.
Sure enough Jake was at the location waiting for me.
“Glad you made it I almost thought they got to you”
“They are out in numbers this time and I have a feeling it has something to do with you care to explain?”
“Well they are here for both of us. They are taking some drastic measures to make sure we don’t leave the city.”
“They sent more furs than normal”
“They sent at least 50 recruiters to the city”
“50! I had a hard enough time trying to elude 4”
“I think I should tell you why they have gone to such drastic measures”
“You should I need some answers”
“My name is Jake Taylor son of Jason Taylor one of the 6 highest members in S\D”
“Huh?”
“You don’t know? Even S\D has a hierarchy. At the bottom are the regular members. Above them are local leaders who control all the members and operations in that area. They are in charge of screening recruits and selecting potential members. Above them are the 5 Wing-men. They are in charge of regions and all local leaders have to answer to them. They are some of the most influential furs and they control the size of a local leader’s area. You see to gain reputation and power among S\D you have to gain control of more areas. The 5 wing-men have control of Continents. The final person is the boss himself. The big man in charge of everything he pulls the strings from behind the scenes but he is the most dangerous.”
“So your dad is one of the 5 wing-men?”
“No he is the boss”
“You’re the boss’s kid?”
“Yes I am. On my 8th birthday when I was supposed to be turned I fell horribly ill. That Illness last a few years and it kept me from becoming an initiate. When it passed I was 15 and they were planning to have me initiated at my 16th birthday. I found out about S\D from my dad’s computer and when I found out what he was going to do to me I ran away just like you. They caught after my 3rd day. I didn’t have the knowledge to out run them. They took me to that prison they were taking you. While there I heard of your exploits and organized some of those who still not brain washed to break out. It took some doing but we broke free. 5 of us managed to escape completely but as I said before only 2 of us have not been caught yet.” I saw his posture change and his face showed a great deal of sadness.
“There are only 3 of us and their numbers are in the thousands. I cannot tell you how many times I have been nearly caught by them but I am sure you went thought the same thing”
“I did. I knew a few things that helped like some advanced chemistry and outdoor survival skills.”
“I had none of that but I did have tons of cash.”
“I realized early on that cash was huge help”
“We are going to have to find a way out of the city. It is only a matter of time before they find us.”
“Guess you being the boss’s kid grants the use of such force”
“They are not here because of me alone. Your dad has sent some of them here after you.”
“My dad?”
“Probably don’t know then. Your dad married some guy and got promoted to Local leader. He is in charge of the New York area including the city”
My jaws dropped to the floor my dad married a guy? And he is now some big shot?
“My dad is now some big shot? And he moved to New York?”
“More than you know as I said the way to gain rank in S\D is to control a big area. Your dad controls one of the biggest most populated areas making him one of the most important local leaders. He has nearly as much influence as the 5 wing-men.”
“That is the reason for such excessive force?  Just to get me back?”
“There is an election coming up my dad is going to appoint a 6th wing-man. Your dad is in the front running for the position but with his son still at large he could still lose the position.”
“My running away is hurting his election chances?”
“Yes. He got to be leader by the actions of your little brother. You probably have never seen a ‘cub party’ but depending on how well the cub performs the parent will get high praise.”
I got so angry at that statement. My dad was benefitting from how much of a slut he could turn my brother into. I think Jake took notice of my rising anger
“Calm down. If you want to stop this from happening then we need some information, information we can only get from S\D”
“What kind of information? They have law enforcement in their pocket. So what good would it do us?”
“Not all. They have a lot but not all. We just have to find the clean ones and then expose the dirty ones and bring S\D out into the public.”
“Easier said than done. I tried to contact a newspaper and they refused me and I tried to post something online. It was gone within 2 days and I was nearly caught”
“They are very quick to make sure no one finds out about them”
“Something has been bugging about all of this.”
“I can clear up some of the confusion” I heard a raccoon said approaching us. I forgot to mention that I met Jake at a café downtown. It was in a quiet neighborhood so we thought we were safe. I noticed the watch on the raccoon’s wrist and so I immediately made a move to leave but he stopped me
“Don’t worry I am not with S\D. this watch is just a way to detect when they get close”
“Guess you need an introduction Ben this is Jack the other escapee that I told you about”
“Nice to meet the famous first escapee”
“Glad to meet someone else who can outrun these bastards”
“You inspired us so we have to thank you”
“I got lucky”
“Jack what are you doing here anyway?”
“This lockdown of the city is trying to prevent me specifically from escaping”
“What did you do Jason?”
“I am so sorry you guys got caught up in this but I raided a lab where they make their ‘juices’”
“YOU DID WHAT!”
“I got a few samples and trying to get some to analyze them but I need to get them out of the city”
“Jason that was a stupid move. With all 3 of us in the city there is no way they are going to let us slip past quietly”
“I know I am sorry. I didn’t know you guys were in the city”
“Too late now you have some of their property and all 3 of the escapees are here they are going come with full force”
Just then my phone rang. It was my landlord.
“Hello”
“BENJAMIN! What the hell is going on? The cops just came here with a warrant for your arrest and totally wrecked the place searching for evidence.”
“The cops? What did they say I did?”
“They said something about a chemical weapon. And that you are a terrorist planning to attack the mayor”
“They said I was a terrorist!”
“I have known you for 6 months now ben. And I didn’t believe it when you said some guys from a weird organization were following you but this Jeff guy seems to fit the bill. Be careful Ben” That is when my landlord hung up the phone.
“Guys the just searched my apartment for me I think we have a problem”
“That new guy Jeff is behind it. Jake I have a friend who can get us out of the city but it is going to cost us a pretty penny and I don’t have that kind of cash.”
“How much?”
“1500 per head”
“That is outrageous!”
“It is reasonable at the moment since we need to get out of town. With road blocks and facial checks at every highway and transportation we have no way of getting out cleanly without some help.”
“So how is he going to smuggle us out of the city?”
“In a bio-chemical truck”
“What?”
“Think about it. They have dogs smelling for the chemical compounds I stole at the lab what better way to get out of the city than in a bio-chemical truck”
“You have a point. Do you have a suggestion of how to get the money needed?”
“I can get the money we need I have this guy at a bank who helps me get money from my account discreetly” I interjected
“Well what are we waiting for?” The 3 of us made our way to a local bank where a guy knew helped me draw the money we needed off of an account I opened under a fake name. It was all going smoothly until he reported a problem with the account apparently they needed some kind of confirmation from the bank’s manager. It struck me as suspicious but I trusted this guy since he helped me before. But I was so badly mistaken.
Jeff here. I was just recently alerted to a Ben’s latest move. He is trying to withdraw money from an account he hid. Unluckily for him the person he trusted with the information has already turned on him. I asked one of the hackers on my team to hack the security cameras of the bank and sure enough there was ben but to my surprise on different camera angles I could clearly see the 2 other escapees. I knew this was my chance to catch them but I decided to take a more conservative approach.
“Get me a nice cute little toy and give him some the tracking powder. I have an idea”
“Yes sir”
It was time to make set bait and lead them into a trap from which there is no escape. 
The bank manager managed to hold them up long enough for me to get everything set. I got 2 fox cubs to help me. I gave them a bag of what appeared to be glitter but was something totally different.it was actually a magnetic powder that would electronically charge the fur on them to give off a specific signature that could be traced by our satellite. I told them to act as if they were fighting each other with the glitter and accidentally throw it on the my 3 targets. I watched as they did just that. The 3 of them totally unaware that they have already been caught. I smiled as they just dusted off their clothes as the fox cubs pretended to say sorry. I just left there and then. 
After a few hours my tracker had finally gotten everything up and running now we were tracking their movements. Somehow they have managed to get out of the city despite the lockdown. Now they were riding east. I am going to get them one by one as they split up. I know they won’t risk staying together long. 
It takes a few hours for them to reach their destination a small town on the edge of the next state. I checked the area and found out we had recently inducted a coach of the local youth soccer team. We were starting a new local network there. Then it clicked! They were no longer running they were going to out us by trying to bring our organization to public light. If they were able to out the coach and connect him to us in a community like that it would be troublesome. I needed to update ‘my’ dad on this. So I pulled out my cell phone and made a call.
“Hey dad”
“Hello Jeff, how is the hunt for your brother going?”
“Good I managed to get him and the other escapees covered in the magnetic trace dust”
“Excellent! How long before you capture them?”
“Not long but I have let them go for now”
“Why? You should have captured them”
“They got information on our latest start-up area. I need to know how they got that information.”
“Hmmm? That worries me a bit. Could there be a leak?”
“I doubt it but I think I should try and figure out who they involved before we make a move. I know Jake and Jason would not be content to continue to run they would probably fight back and now Benjamin is working with them to do just that. I will stop them but I am going to this thoroughly and make sure no loose ends can come back to haunt us. I already took care of a few of Jake’s associates. “
“Seems like your step father was right to put you on the case. Jeff you will be coming home for the independence day festivities right?”
“Yes I will and hopefully Ben will have completed his programming by then”
“Great I am sure Josh is really looking forward to seeing his brother again. I have some business to attend to now Jeff. I will talk to you some other time Okay?”
“Okay dad”
He hung up on me and I can’t blame him. He was probably busy dealing with the opening of the academy that will happen in a few months. Now to contact the coach and find out how many potential recruits he has found. These next few days are going to be real interesting for me. 
