Ares waited until the vehicle disappeared around the bend.
He did not leave.
The white medical case still sat on the riverbank where the woman had left it.
Ares moved closer, tested its weight, then carried it several meters into thicker cover.
He turned it over once, checking the seams and the underside for anything that looked out of place a light, a seal, a device that did not belong to the samples inside.
He found nothing.
He did not open it.
He found wet mud and worked it across his clothes, arms and face until the smell of earth covered most of his own scent.
Then he climbed a large tree overlooking the river and settled on a thick branch hidden by leaves.
The case rested beside him.
Below, the sedated wolf still slept.
Time passed.
The light faded.
The first howls came after dark.
They were close.
Ares pressed flat against the branch and watched.
Shapes moved out of the trees.
Five.
Then seven.
Then more.
Giant wolves, the same size as the ones that had surrounded his tree nights earlier.
They approached the sleeping animal slowly, heads low, noses working the ground.
One nudged its shoulder.
Another circled behind it.
No attack.
No growling.
The wolves waited.
The sleeping wolf stirred.
Its eyes opened.
It lifted its head, unsteady at first, then stronger.
The others stepped back.
The large wolf pushed itself upright and shook.
Its legs trembled for several seconds before holding.
One of the wolves disappeared into the trees and returned carrying fresh meat.
It dropped the meat in front of the recovering wolf and stepped back.
The wolf ate.
The pack waited.
When it finished, the animals moved closer again and remained together for several minutes.
Then the largest wolf raised its head and gave a short howl.
The pack turned and disappeared into the trees together.
Ares stayed where he was.
He did not climb down.
The wolves might still be close enough to hear a foot touch the ground, and the branch hid him better than the forest floor would.
He shifted his weight against the trunk, kept the case wedged between his knees, and let the night pass around him in small, patient increments the cold settling into his hands, the sounds of the forest changing register as deeper darkness came on, then thinning again as the sky above the canopy began to grey.
He did not sleep.
He watched the tree line for the shapes to return, and when they did not, he watched it anyway.
Grey light came slowly.
Then an engine.
Ares went completely still.
The same dark vehicle rolled back along the riverbank and stopped.
Two soldiers stepped out.
Both wore masks.
They went directly to the place where the case had been.
Nothing.
One kicked through the grass.
The other checked between the rocks and along the water.
Minutes passed.
The first soldier pulled off his mask.
“Pointless.”
The second hesitated, then removed his.
“Find the case.
We leave.”
“She’s not going to like this.”
“No.”
The first soldier searched beneath a fallen branch, then straightened and glanced toward the trees where the howling had come from the night before.
“Whatever moved it, it’s not still standing around waiting for us.
And I’m not staying out here till dark again for a box.”
The second man didn’t argue.
He was already backing toward the vehicle.
“Month of samples.
And the Green Gene was in there.”
“She said run it again next cycle.
Five weeks, maybe six.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
“No,” the first soldier said.
“It’s not.”
They kept searching, more carelessly now, eyes going to the tree line more than the ground.
Finally the first soldier stepped back.
“We tell Doctor Hana it was already gone.”
The second nodded.
They put their masks back on and returned to the vehicle.
The engine started.
Ares watched them drive away.
He waited until the sound disappeared completely.
Then he looked down at the case beside him.
Five survivors.
Forty-seven tested.
And something called Green Gene.
He placed one hand on the case.
He still did not open it.
He wanted to know why they were willing to come back for it.
And what Doctor Hana would do when she learned it was gone.
Ares climbed down once the sun had fully cleared the trees and the forest had settled into its ordinary daylight sounds.
His legs were stiff from the night in the branch.
He drank deeply at the river.
Then he checked the case’s outer pocket without opening the main compartment and found a handful of sealed specimen bags, empty and unused.
He filled two, knotted them tight, and packed them against his side where they would not burst.
It was not much, but it would get him through the day.
He started back.
The walk took most of the day.
He kept to the tree line where he could, the case wrapped in cloth and buried at the bottom of his pack, and stopped twice to listen when the woods went quiet in a way he didn’t like.
Both times it was nothing.
By the time the walls came into view the light had already turned toward evening, the sun sitting low over the fields he had crossed the day before.
He came through the east gate with an empty pack apart from what he was carrying hidden.
The young man entered a few minutes later, also empty-handed.
The two men who had taken the other route were already inside.
Between them hung a large deer, legs tied, body still warm.
People gathered almost at once.
The animal was big enough to feed the camp for several days.
Someone laughed.
Someone else called for the cooks.
The mood shifted quickly.
People had been waiting for food.
Now they had it.
Ares stood near the gate and watched.
No one came toward him.
No one asked what he had found.
The young man stood a short distance away, eyes on the deer, then on the people carrying it.
His face stayed tight.
One of the hunters noticed them.
“You got nothing?”
The young man shook his head.
Ares said nothing.
The man shrugged.
“Rules are rules.”
The deer was carried toward the preparation area.
Ares and the young man remained where they were.
Both understood what the rule meant.
They had gone out.
They had returned with nothing.
They would receive none of the meat.
By evening the smell of cooked deer filled the camp.
People sat together around the tables.
Voices were louder than usual.
Everyone had food.
Ares stayed away from the mess area.
The young man disappeared toward the barracks.
Ares returned to the small room that had been given to him, closed the door, and sat on the edge of the cot.
A soft knock came a short while later.
He opened the door.
The girl from the wall stood outside.
She held a large piece of cooked meat in both hands and looked once over her shoulder before stepping closer.
She held it out.
“For you.”
Ares looked at the meat, then at her.
“You shouldn’t.”
She pushed it toward him.
“Don’t tell them.”
He took it.
The girl seemed satisfied.
“You were hungry.”
Ares gave a small nod.
“I won’t tell.”
She turned and ran back toward the mess area.
Ares watched her disappear, then closed the door.
He set the meat on the small table and stood there for a moment before removing his pack.
He wrapped the case in the same cloth he had used to cover the ammunition and pushed it beneath his spare clothes at the bottom of the storage box, where a casual look would find nothing but fabric.
He checked it once more before closing the lid.
It was still there.
He pushed the pack beneath the bed.
After that he reached into the storage box beside the cot and pulled out the old notebook.
The cover was worn, the corners bent.
He sat and opened it.
The first pages held names, locations, and fragments he had collected over the past weeks.
He turned to the page he had marked earlier.
DOCTOR HANA
He looked at the name for a long moment, then added new lines beneath the existing notes.
Military research still active.
White suits.
Working vehicle.
Animal testing continues.
Green Gene sample confirmed.
Next test cycle: five to six weeks.
He checked the case again before he wrote the next line.
No tracker found.
He stopped, then wrote one more line.
47 human subjects.
5 survived stabilization.
Ares closed the notebook and set it aside.
Outside, people were still talking.
The smell of cooked deer drifted through the corridor.
He picked up the piece of meat the girl had given him and took another bite.
Then he looked toward the storage box, at the shape of the case beneath the folded clothes.
Doctor Hana would want it back.