17

Bly grunts. "Feels off to me too. But we don't have time to think about it now. If we survive we'll have plenty of time to puzzle it out."

A few dozen wolves join the rampaging horde from your left and Inferi howls a greeting. "Leaving without us?"

Bly's muzzle ripples in distaste. "I still haven't gotten used to those idiots yet," she says. "But they'll be"—she pauses to pant—"useful. We're coming up on the checkpoint now. Get ready, this is gonna be one hell of a fight!" She leans in to nip at your ear as you run. "I ever tell you how much it turns me on to watch you fight?" Her laugh is muffled by a wall of howls baying for blood.

Blood Roils

Werewolf and human forces collide, their clash echoing throughout the underground halls in waves of sonic bedlam. At first the humans desperately activated their shock devices, hoping to quell the rebellion as soon as it had begun, but to their horror they discovered that Maker made good on her promise to Sonoma: the equipment had been jammed and the humans would have to rely on a more traditional means of prisoner suppression.

Sonoma led the charge with you and Bly following soon after, your movements a blur of flowing red fur and claws. You make good on your decision to limit the killing of humans as much as possible; your foes fall before you, wounded but still breathing. When other wolves get carried away in their feral rage, you do your best to limit the extent of the damage they do, pulling them aside and pointing them at a new enemy rather than allowing them to savage a human already removed from the fight.

Between the unexpected ferocity and skill of your force's attack, the checkpoint's defenders fall back in a matter of seconds. Many of your numbers are wounded, some grievously so, but by the time the soldiers' reinforcements come the wolves will heal back to fighting condition.

The last of the remaining guards inevitably fall beneath the weight of superior numbers; the dead and the dying littering the cold floor like hastily-discarded puppets, eyes wide with shock as their strings were cut. Despite your best efforts, many of the humans lying at your feet will never get up again, but your numerous interventions saved many lives, and you'll have to take what comfort you can from that knowledge. Sonoma stands over the bloody body of her final kill, a long, red strip of gristle hanging from her gaping jaws as she pants heavily. You can't smell her over the tangy copper of blood in the air, but you know that if you could she would positively reek of exhilaration. She sniffs the air, searching for more immediate prey, but none presents itself. It would seem you are safe for the moment.

You join a few other wolves searching through the human bodies for usable weaponry, but find surprisingly few firearms. It seems that the humans put far too much stock in their ability to use the shock collars to put down a rebellion here on the ninth level. Rifles and handguns are few, perhaps because they feared an armed werewolf rebellion. You sniff in distaste—if that was their intention then their fears were certainly justified.

"We need a plan going forward," Bly says. "We can't just keep running ahead without thinking."

"We should stay put for a moment and let our forces heal up to full strength for the next confrontation."

"There's no time for rest! We need to press on immediately, charging upward before the humans can mount a proper defense."

"We should continue on, but at a slower, more cautious pace."

Next

Sonoma spits a long string of pink drool to the floor with a disgusting splat and picks at chunks of human flesh caught between her fangs. "As long as we're moving, Holstein. But we won't stop. Not now, not ever! Any humans who try to hold us back will die in the attempt!"

The hallways after the main checkpoint lay barren, disturbingly silent and cold. You sniff the air, canine nostrils flaring as you sift through dozens of distinct smells in search of a nearby enemy. Nothing.

"I don't like this," Bly says, giving voice to your own sentiments.

"We need to speed this up," Sonoma says, fur bristling in irritation. "We need to move faster!" She drops to all fours and prepares to run before you reach out and catch her by the scruff of the neck, pulling her up short. "What the hell?" she snarls and pulls herself out of your grip.

Your blood goes cold and you point ahead of you to a nearby corner. "Look at the floor."

"What are you talking about?"

"Shit," Bly exclaims. "He's right. They mined the hallway!"

Cautiously slinking forward, you detach yourselves from the main body of prisoners to get a closer look. You peek around the corner, expecting to lock eyes with a squad of soldiers and their readied rifles, but strangely no humans seem to be present.

"Maybe they just expected us to blow ourselves up?" Sonoma says, raking her hind claws along the floor, desperate to get moving again.

"You almost gave them what they wanted," Bly says with a snark. Sonoma stares daggers at her. "What should we do now?"

"I'll try to search for a way around the mines. The rest of us should stay put for now; there's no way to know what other surprises they've left us."

"You should look for a way around the traps. I'll explain the situation to the rest of the prisoners. We can't leave them in the dark."

"We should go back and look for another way around. They probably want us to get stuck here trying to get past the mines."

Next

"Sounds like as good a plan as any," Bly says with a shrug as she takes off on her own, examining the walls of the corridor. Sonoma trails her, muttering to herself.

You return to the prisoners, many of whom are still wearied from the battle at the checkpoint. Time to break the bad news; best keep it simple. There's no reason to lie to people when their lives are on the line. "The humans rigged the floor with explosives," you say. "We're looking for ways around it now."

A red light flashes on the wall to your left and you almost throw yourself in the opposite direction before you realize that it's not an explosion, but a bright light-bulb fixed overtop a small, round speaker. Before you can decide how to react, a familiar voice echoes from the speaker's grille.

"Sonoma, you're in a tight spot, but I think I can get you out of there."

"Maker?" Sonoma growls. "Show yourself! What kind of game are you playing?"

"No game," the voice from the speaker says. "I made it to one of the guard rooms from my lab—I can see you on their cameras. I also saw the surprise they left for you."

"Why didn't you warn us about the mines, then?" Bly yells, clearly not amused.

You can hear Maker's exasperation in her voice. "It took me several minutes to learn how this control panel works. Be grateful that I'm in a position to help you at all."

"Can you tell us how to get out of here?"

"Are there any humans close to us? We need to be ready if they plan to box us in!"

"Why didn't you tell me that there was another exit from your lab?"

Next