Chapter 10: Top of the Food Chain
Jake had seen wolves before. He enjoyed watching nature documentaries when he had downtime, especially the National Geographic and Discovery Channel specials that always transported him into the wild.
But it was precisely because of his knowledge of these animals that Jake had to be cautious.
Now, only one wolf stood before him. The frigid wind cut through the thin, gray wolf's fur, making it shiver. Although its fierce eyes were fixed on Jake, it lacked true ferocity, looking more like a malnourished stray dog.
The wolf's forelegs pressed against the ground, its head slightly raised, staring at Jake as if preparing to pounce, releasing a low, threatening growl.
Jake remained still.
He remembered clearly that there were four wolves in the movie. Wolves are pack animals; it was impossible for only one to appear now.
So where were the other three?
Gripping his knife tighter, Jake kept himself facing the wolf while quickly scanning left and right to guard against a flanking attack.
He quickly spotted three more canines crouching low to his right, moving into position.
How should he handle this?
If they sought refuge inside the cargo ship and stayed too long, the four of them would face an even worse situation: being flash-frozen by the ultra-low temperature air brought by the eye of the storm!
If they didn't take shelter, Jake knew he would be immediately swarmed by all four wolves and torn to pieces.
There was no way out; they had to fight.
In the original movie, the protagonists used their agility to navigate the ship's interior, using the narrow passages and windows to separate the wolves, but that resulted in injuries and even a death among their group.
Jake didn't want to follow the original approach—it relied on too many lucky breaks, and a slight misstep could mean all four of them dying.
Of course, Jake wasn't foolish enough to think he could actually kill four wolves with just a hunting knife.
While he was calculating his options, the wolf acting as bait couldn't resist any longer and lunged at Jake with incredible speed, like a gray blur!
So fast!
Jake's eyes widened, his heart pounding.
Sure enough, even though he had studied defensive tactics during his NZT-enhanced study sessions, he was still somewhat rattled in his first real encounter.
The wolf closed the distance in just seconds, its jaws snapping toward his throat!
This wolf had grown up in the Bronx Zoo, feeding on prepared meals, making it essentially domesticated with no real hunting experience, driven only by animal instinct. Even so, Jake barely had time to react, instinctively raising his left arm to shield his neck.
CRACK!
The wolf's teeth were razor-sharp, clamping down on the leather guard on Jake's left forearm, puncturing the material and leaving deep tooth marks!
Feeling that it had Jake's arm, the wolf didn't let go, holding on tightly, its full weight dangling from his hand.
The wolf weighed about fifty-five pounds, and hanging from Jake's arm, it prevented him from lifting it, pulling his left arm down instantly.
Smart animal! It first used its weight to pull Jake's left arm down, positioning itself to lunge for his exposed neck. Its predatory instincts allowed it to adapt its hunting strategy the moment it realized it couldn't penetrate the guard.
"Not today!" But a wolf is still just a wolf; it didn't know what Jake was holding in his right hand.
After a brief moment of shock, Jake reacted quickly. Seeing the gray wolf latched onto his left arm, he swiftly raised his right hand high and brought the knife down hard on the wolf's neck!
The twelve-inch blade, with its substantial weight, was designed for serious field work.
Wolves were known for having vulnerable spines despite their strength. Jake couldn't reach the wolf's midsection easily, but the neck was right there—and it was all spine.
THUNK!
A sickening sound rang out as the blade struck, and the wolf's jaws released.
With a single blow, Jake had severed the wolf's spinal cord. It wouldn't die immediately, but the wolf collapsed to the ground, whimpering pathetically, its lower body completely paralyzed.
In other words, Jake had taken down the wolf with one strike.
Looking at his left arm, he saw that the leather was nearly bitten through!
He hissed in realization of how close that had been. If he hadn't been able to neutralize the wolf immediately, he would have been in serious trouble. Even if he survived, his arm would have been shredded by those fangs, requiring immediate medical attention and rabies shots.
Now wasn't the time to relax, because the other three wolves were already charging!
What to do now?
Run, of course!
Jake quickly spun and rushed into the cargo ship, the three wolves hot on his heels.
Close the door!
Bracing against the door, feeling the three wolves relentlessly slamming against the metal hatch, Jake could only hold it shut with all his strength.
"What's going on, Jake?" Sam's voice came from one of the interior compartments.
"Did you find what we need?" With his shoulder firmly against the door, Jake turned his head and shouted back.
"Found it, but the supply locker's locked!"
"Then break it open! Don't tell me three grown men can't bust down a cabinet door!"
A loud crash followed Jake's response. Three or four seconds later, Sam and his two companions, each carrying armfuls of medical supplies, rushed toward the entrance. Seeing Jake bracing the door, they stopped and asked, "What's wrong?"
"I've got some bad news. Hope you can handle it."
Through the small round porthole window in the hatch, the three saw what was outside and exclaimed in shock.
Wolves!
"Oh, hey, I found something in the captain's quarters earlier. Thought it was useless, but now it might come in handy." JD, the rich kid, suddenly grinned and quickly ran back toward the captain's cabin.
He returned moments later, carrying a flare gun.
"I used to go shooting at my dad's club all the time. Leave it to me." As someone who'd grown up with every privilege, JD was surprisingly comfortable with firearms.
"Can you shoot through the door?"
"Of course... no, not really."
"Then what's the plan?"
"Open the door," Jake said, enunciating each word clearly. "Then we take them down."
The four men positioned themselves around the corner. Except for JD, who held the flare gun, the others armed themselves with metal pipes and fire axes they'd found, ready to prevent the wolves from lunging at them and overwhelming their defenses.
Facing wolves for the first time, these young men looked extremely tense despite their size.
After opening the door, the wolves burst in.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
JD didn't disappoint. After missing with his first three shots, he finally managed to hit the lead wolf's front leg with the fourth flare, the burning projectile causing it to yelp and collapse.
The loud noise and flash of fire terrified the animals. Faced with a choice between food and survival, the remaining two wolves bolted back outside.
Jake swiftly moved forward, delivering several more strikes to the downed wolf with his knife, blood splattering across his winter coat!
The medical supplies had been found, and one wolf was neutralized. Now their most important task was getting back as quickly as possible. Because Jake had been occupied with the wolves, Sam and the others had lost their sense of urgency while searching for supplies, resulting in much more time wasted than in the original movie timeline.
"Grab these two wolves and let's move!" After finishing off the paralyzed wolf he'd struck down earlier, Jake looked up at the ominously clearing sky and said urgently.
"You actually killed a wolf by yourself?!" JD asked in amazement, seeing the scrawny wolf that Jake had taken down at the entrance.
Brian asked, "Why are we taking two dead wolves back?"
"These wolves are pure protein. After removing the heads and internal organs, the meat's edible."
"Eat wolves?" The three stared at Jake, and one thought involuntarily surfaced in their minds: This guy's an absolute survivor—top of the food chain.
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