44

"Yeah, well," Tiva says with a grunt, "I'm doing my best here."

An abrupt slam from the opposite end of the corridor draws your attention as a black-furred wolf enters the hall at a dead-run. It's Bly!

"Holstein! Get back the way you came!" she howls as a barrage of bullets spray through the open door behind her. "Whatever's down there can't be as bad as what's coming behind me!" She flings herself forward, knocking you back into the room just before a concussive blast rips through the hallway and shards of shrapnel fly through the air. Bly slams the door shut behind her and picks a sharp piece of metal from her backside, accompanied by some of the most creative swearing you've ever heard. "Fuckers stabbed me in the ass!" For a moment it looks like she's about to rush back out the door to confront the HSM soldiers, but self-preservation instinct changes her mind quickly and she searches for an escape route. "Down the stairs!" she cries before racing past you.

"Down to the basement?" you ask, breathing hard as you try to catch up. Tiva huffs and puffs behind you, but so far she hasn't lagged too far. She catches your gaze and nods to show that she's okay for now.

"We're cut off from the others," Bly says as she pounds down the stairs two at a time. "No one seems to know where Sonoma is, but at this rate we'll be lucky if she's alive at all. Onyx said there was an outside access door to the basement to supply the lab they have down there. Not sure how the scout missed it." Shouts echo down the stairwell as the humans follow you down. "Not all bad news though," Bly says between huffing breaths. "We killed a shit-ton of them, and I saw a few running. Only the hardcore zealots are still coming for us. Don't seem to care if they live or die!"

A single metal door confronts you at the bottom of the stairs and Bly smashes through it into a wide-open room beyond littered with lab tables and computer equipment. Several humans in white lab-coats cower in the far corner. "I'll check the other rooms," Bly says. "Secure this room and I'll be right back."

I grab one of the human scientists and use them as a human shield as I escape.

I search for another way out of the basement. Time is of the essence—bothering with the humans will only cause delay and leave me vulnerable.

I wait by the door to ambush the HSM soldiers. They'll be easy to kill if they come down the stairwell bunched up in a row.

Next

Your eyes only linger on the human scientists for a moment before you dismiss them. Delaying here could cost me everything, you think. Priority is to get out of this hell-hole.

Tiva prods a rack of test-tubes. "I'll never be able to look at this kind of shit without thinking of Haven. And to think when I was a pup I wanted to be a scientist." She shakes her head.

"Hey, Holstein!" a voice calls from behind you. It's Bly. "We've got to move!"

"But where are the others?" you ask, swallowing down the feral panic trying to rise in your belly. Things are moving too fast. Out of control.

Bly shakes her head. "I don't know. It's every wolf for themself at this point."

"I can think of worse company," Tiva says with a shrug as she massages her wounded leg. "Between the three of us we can take on whatever they throw at us."

Next

You scout ahead through the basement laboratory, Tiva and Bly close behind you. The air is disturbingly still, and you catch a whiff of something strange wafting out of the room ahead.

"There are two other rooms in the lab," Bly whispers. "Neither of them have exits. This is the only way I haven't checked yet, so it's this way or we're pretty much fucked."

You take a sharp left and find yourself in a large concrete-walled room filled with duct-work, water heaters, and a furnace. By the far wall a hatch double-door is locked with two deadbolts, emblazoned with a prominent exit sign. A large wolf is bent down in front of the duct, busying herself with an unseen burden. Despite her back being turned to you, you're fairly certain that it's Sonoma. The screeching of a metal grate being pulled open masks the sound of your arrival. It looks like you've arrived before Sonoma could complete her strange task. You can't help but wonder why she's down here messing with the building's central air when her raiding party is struggling without her guidance up above.

I call out to Sonoma so as not to startle her by getting too close. Accidentally surprising her could prove a deadly mistake.

I've arrived fast enough that I may be able to interrupt whatever Sonoma is doing. Something seems wrong about this.

I try to sneak to the other side of the room so I can see what she's doing before making any rash decisions.

Next

Sonoma gives a start as you call her name, her head snapping around to attention even as she keeps her paws busy with her task. From the look in her eyes, you're glad you decided not to get too close before letting her know you're there.

"I was wondering who would make it down here first," she says, her breath slowing now that she knows you're not an enemy. "Didn't think it would be you. How has the fight gone?" She continues tinkering as she talks.

"How do you think it's gone? You abandoned us! You were supposed to be holding the entryway!"

I stare at her suspiciously. "Are you trying to distract us, Sonoma?"

"The battle's gone poorly, but we still seem to be winning out."

Next

"And my squad should have done exactly that," she replies with a huff. "Though if things have gone as badly as you're implying, perhaps I should have stayed with them."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Bly yells. "Of course you should have! It was your plan!"

"My plan is to do what must be done. What no wolf seems to have the stomach to do."

Bly steps forward, her muzzle a rictus of anger. "What do you mean, 'doing what must be done'? You could have been up there fighting, but instead we've been getting the shit kicked out of us! What the hell are you even doing down here?" She points at a metallic cylinder by Sonoma's side. "What is that?"

"I've had wolves working on this for years now, looking for the perfect way to strike back against the humans. That canister is the result."

Bly stalks forward; she smells of uncertainty and apprehension. "A poison?" she asks, disbelievingly. Her face is slack with shock. "I thought we were better than that!"

Sonoma shakes her head. "No. Not a poison. A gift. I'll turn each and every one of these HSM bigots into werewolves."

"You can do that?" Bly asks, stunned.

"The mutation isn't as stable as I'd like, but with testing on this large a scale, we should be able to perfect it."

Bly's fingers curl, claws digging into her palms until blood drips from her fists in a steady pattern to the concrete floor below. "This sounds an awful lot like the kind of experiments Williams did on us in Haven."

"This is a bad idea," Tiva says, almost pleading. It sounds strange coming from her. "I mean, I get why you're doing it, but…"

"Williams acted out of hatred," Sonoma says. "He hated who he was and his people hated all of us. They still do! I'm doing this for justice! What worse fate could I inflict on these bigoted zealots than to turn them into what they most despise?"

"I'm not letting you do it," Bly says, slowly advancing on the packleader. "This is too much!"

Sonoma growls. "That's what General Rivera said too. You've all become too complacent—forgotten we're at war! After all the work Rivera contributed to this project, she chooses to side with the genocidal human supremacists!"

Tiva stays put, rooted to the floor with indecision.

This is crazy—Sonoma has to be stopped! I join with Bly and rush her, attacking if that's what it takes to stop her plan.

Sonoma is right; maybe this is the only way to teach the HSM what it's like to live as a werewolf. I try to convince Bly to let it happen.

Sonoma is right; I stand between her and Bly, holding my ground until Sonoma is done. If I have to fight Bly, I will!

I have to convince Sonoma to stop this! I explain how the elders and her political rivals would use her actions against her, stripping her of power.

I try to appeal to Sonoma's intellectual side—this isn't an experiment, it's a slaughter! More rigorous testing is needed before deployment.

Next