42

You stand in the mouth of the alley, transfixed by the wriggling forms of three soldiers dangling from a horizontal bar like a pendulum swing. The force of each man's struggles brings him to bear against his brothers, the squad in a state of perpetual motion. Hesitating for a moment, you look closer at the ground below the suspended humans, spying five more looped metal cords lying in wait of further victims.

Whoever set this trap wasn't taking any chances. Heavy chunks of rebar-lined concrete provide a counterweight, more than heavy enough to keep several adult-sized humans trapped until either the cord snaps or someone releases them.

Is this part of Ahote's plan? It doesn't seem like his style. It's been over a week since the elder's resistance efforts began, and you're on a scavenging mission. You didn't expect to encounter anything like this.

One of the soldiers spots you and cries out, more of a moan than words. "Help us! Please! My leg is broken and my head feels…there's so much pressure!"

You search the alley for any sign of the wolf who laid the trap, turning up nothing. Either the trap was set up to strike patrols at random, or someone has led the soldiers into it and left them here to die. Either way, the results will be the same if you don't intervene.

"Please! I feel like I'm going to pass out. I don't want to die like this!"

"Wait!" one of the men calls out as you turn to go. "You can't just leave us here! If we can't get down soon, we'll die! We need your help!"

You briefly consider turning around, showing mercy. But the images of human crimes flash before your eyes: torture, murder, and enslavement. They can rot.

Emerging from the alley into a small green, you catch a flicker of motion out of the corner of your right eye and dash toward it. You grab a thin arm protruding from behind a low wall before its owner has a chance to know they've been seen. You pull the culprit out of hiding, and your eyes go wide.

"Tiva?"

She blinks as you let her arm go, the scars on her face twisting as she frowns. "What do you want, Decaarr? I thought you were a soldier who avoided my traps. Why were you chasing me?"

"I wasn't chasing you," you stammer, still surprised to see her. She's been reclusive for well over a month now since she was attacked by the first pacification squad. You imagine that taking the life of a fleeing human changed something inside her. "So you set those traps?"

She nods. "Bastards have been tracking me for days. Ever since I killed that soldier, I haven't been able to go home or stay out in the open for too long. Lapu's been sneaking me food. He's been really good to me lately, I don't know what I'd do without him. The same squad cornered me in a building the other day. If you'd heard the things one of them said to me, you'd have strung them up to die, too."

The tension seems to drain out of Tiva, and she sags in place, falling into a slouch against the rubble of a nearby wall. "So what brings you out here, Decaarr? I assume you're not out hunting the hunters?"

You were on your way to the scrapyard to the north, hauling materials for Ahote's secretive resistance efforts. You feel like Tiva might be trustworthy with such sensitive information, but she's been reckless lately. Trapping those soldiers on her own could have ended in disaster.

Tiva looks you over with an appraising eye, and she must like what she sees because she breaks out in a smile. "Damn right, Decaarr. Give those humans something to fear! Ahote's tactics may be soft, but that doesn't mean we all have to follow his lead. I still can't believe they shut the school down. As if the elders would really use it to indoctrinate the youth against the 'American government.' What a load of horse shit. Something's gotta give, and Ahote's hit-and-run tactics aren't gonna do it, especially since he's not killing anybody. What kind of message does that send? Weakness, that's what."

"You and Haken would get along perfectly these days," you say. "He says the same thing."

"Yeah, well…sometimes an old wolf knows what they're talking about. I still don't want to die in Haken's 'glorious' battle to the death, but sometimes I think it would be better than fearing for my life every minute of the day."

You look off in the direction of the scrapyard, suddenly anxious to get moving. Tiva notices your distraction and waves you on with the back of her hand.

"Go on. I'm sure you have things to do. I'll be fine. Do check in on me sometime though? I'm staying in the basement of the old redstone house four blocks west of here." She pauses. "By the way, you didn't mess with my catch of the day, did you?"

"I left them back there," you say grimly. "Do you plan to let them die?"

"It's what they deserve."

"Are you sure that's what you want to do?"

"I'll think about it, Decaarr. It's my decision to make."

Tiva may be right. Those men stalked her in her own home, and if you understood her correctly, they had nastier things on their mind than mere capture.

"I'd better get going," you say. "Be safe, Tiva."

She waves a halfhearted farewell, and you take your leave.

You weave through the labyrinthine side streets and alleyways of Haven, avoiding two pacification squads along the way. The humans are easy to hide from, and not for the first time, you find yourself wondering if their presence in the city is designed to scare the pack into submission rather than actually capture wolves roaming around the outskirts.

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