Powerful claws sunder the ground beneath long, lupine legs as you find purchase in crags of untended asphalt, propelling yourself forward through the streets of Haven's Forbidden Zone. You've broken the pack's laws and joined your friends on a secret mission of discovery, but you weren't prepared to deal with the humans' capacity for cruelty. Youthful curiosity has given way to fear, and now the only thing on your mind is escape.
The military base looms dark and menacing on all sides, the waning light of the setting sun casting long shadows that grasp like claws, snapping at your heels as they chase you back toward the comfort of home. Your thick coat of fur bristles as you run, and hot breath heaves in your cavernous, bestial chest. We should never have come here.
"Don't move! Stay right where you are!"
Your paws twitch, and you duck low, dropping to all fours and picking up speed in an effort to distance yourself from your assailant, dimly aware of your three companions following your lead.
"I said don't move! Another step and I'll shoot!"
A sharp tug at your shoulder drags you to a halt. It's Tiva, her shrewd eyes narrowed and calculating, brown muzzle tight with worry. "Stay put. Shots will bring more soldiers."
"That's more like it. Easy does it." A mottled gray uniform camouflages the soldier against a backdrop of aging urban decay. Nerves crease the man's forehead, collecting small pools of sweat as he takes a step toward you and your friends. His hands tremble despite the fact that they hold a semiautomatic rifle, and he stinks of fear.
Were your mind not preoccupied with more pressing matters, you might wonder if the man has ever even seen a group of werewolves before. While transformed, you're adapted for both fight and flight, combining the advantages of lupine speed and agility with human adaptability. The result is a towering and deadly hybrid, equally at home on two legs or four. Your pack's feral forms terrify soldiers newly appointed to Haven, but veterans quickly grow complacent, underestimating you as little more than a gang of wild dogs.
A sharp whine catches in Dena's throat as the soldier shifts his weapon toward the four of you with a nervous jerk. "We were only curious," Dena whimpers. "We didn't see anything!"
But you did see something. Something horrible. And your world will never be the same again.
"We've got to do something," Tiva whispers. "He might have already radioed for backup. We can't get caught here!"
She's right, and you know it. Even if the humans let you go, there will be hell to pay with the pack elders for four adolescent werewolves breaking the codes of conduct and sneaking about on military territory. All you have to do is make it out, and you'll be home free.
Most humans can't tell one werewolf from the other in lupine form, although Lapu's unusual blond coat could prove a problem down the road. If you manage to escape, he'll need to lay low for a while.
Your eyes dart to each of the three other wolves, and Lapu gives a slight nod. It's time for action.
You run straight for the soldier, clearly the last thing he expected you to do. By the time he gets his wits about him and pulls the trigger of his weapon, you're close enough to duck down and bowl him over.
The man lands on his back with a sharp crack, and you worry for a second that you might have killed him. You take a moment to check his pulse and breathe a sigh of relief when you're certain that he still lives.
Lapu calls out for you as the other three wolves bound from barrier to barrier along the road back to the bridge on the way home. Not keen on being caught with the unconscious body of a downed soldier, you quickly drop to all fours and lope down the road, catching up with your friends as they race toward the bridge.
The bombed-out streets of the refuge of Haven stream by you in a blur as you race to keep up with your friends. A shiver runs through your body, causing your fur to bristle and stand on end. A human had pointed a gun in your direction, ready to kill if necessary. Today was a first for that, although it isn't unheard of for a wolf to get into trouble with the army from time to time.
For as long as you can remember, the adults have told you that the human side of the refuge is forbidden, despite the fact that most adults travel there almost every month. You have chafed at the restriction, as have your friends. Forbidden Zone, you thought. What a load of nonsense. Now that you know the truth, you can't blame the adults for trying to keep you sheltered.
Dena argued against the idea in the first place but insisted on accompanying you when your mind was made up. Lapu and Tiva needed little convincing, both always ready for adventure to break up the dreary monotony of life in the refuge.
You blink back a tear as you run. Just the sharp wind in my eye, you try to convince yourself. No amount of running seems to put any distance between you and the truth your curiosity uncovered today.
You're panting, leg muscles burning with exertion by the time you reach the base of the bridge. From here, the old concrete pillars rise, elevating the asphalt surface of the road in an elegant arc, eventually leveling out as it crosses to the other side.
Once there was a lower bridge that spanned the length of water, but it was lost during the Purge before you were born. Humans call the span The Q, and though none of the wolves in the pack know where the strange moniker comes from, it stuck, and The Q is the de facto endpoint to the pack's domain.
Arriving at the base of the bridge first, Lapu pauses and sniffs the air, a low whine rumbling in his throat.
A great wall was built in front of the bridge sometime after Haven fell, and access to and from the pack's home is limited to a small walkway, barely wide enough for two wolves to pass abreast. A pair of great black monoliths stand at either side of the pathway, and they emit a subtle hum barely audible even to your superior hearing as electricity flows through them.
"They weren't on when we came in!" Lapu groans as he paces back and forth, looking for another way onto the bridge.
"Maybe we should just run through?" Dena says, staring up at the dual standing stones, neck craned back to take in all twenty feet of their bleak uniformity.
Tiva sniffs and digs a furrow in the loose asphalt with her hind-paws. "I heard my pa talking about these one night when he thought I was asleep. The pillars ID each wolf as they come through. It lets the humans know who's moving through the checkpoint. If we just run through, they'll know we were here for sure."
Before you can decide how to get around the obstruction and onto the bridge, you hear the sound of shuffling feet approaching from a nearby cross street. Tiva hears it, too, and her ears flatten along the back of her skull.
"We've got company coming," she says, nervously clicking her claws together. "We're running out of time."
A nearby building provides adequate cover, and you point it out to your companions, rushing into hiding without a moment to spare as the soldiers near the bridge. You hear the patrol walk past you, their footsteps measured and precise. As they approach the bridge, you risk a peek out from an empty window, its glass long since shattered and swept away. The soldiers fan out, searching through the nearby buildings for any sign of intruders.
"We've got to get out of here!" Lapu squeaks, and Tiva puts a finger to her lips to shush him.
You burst forth with a feral roar, drawing the soldiers' attention as Lapu and Tiva close in from behind. You reach the men first, slashing at their weapons, intent on disarming them as quickly as possible and forcing them to flee.
Before Lapu and Tiva can close in, the soldier nearest you manages to fire off several rounds in your direction. You throw yourself to the side in a desperate attempt to dodge the incoming fire, but as fast as your lupine form makes you, you're no match for the speed of a bullet.
You hit the ground hard, a sharp burning pain lancing its way through your shoulder as you roar in pain and anger, your eyes glazing over, bloodshot and feral red. You roll to your feet and launch yourself at the offending soldier in a single graceful motion, striking at his chest with your claws, barely remembering to pull back at the last moment.
Focus. You meant to frighten these men, not kill them.
Divested of their firearms, the soldiers back away as you advance menacingly, clacking your lethal claws together loudly. The man nearest you reaches a trembling hand to his belt sheath, pulling out a serrated combat knife that seems almost ludicrously inadequate to the task at hand. The soldier's companion pulls him back and shakes his head before they all break into a run back to their headquarters, proverbial tails between their legs.
Tiva's body shakes, and at first you worry that she may be crying until her face splits with uproarious laughter. "Did you see them?" she howls, slapping her thighs as tears stream from her eyes. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do something like that!"
Dena emerges from hiding alongside the road and examines your wound. You wince at the prodding as Tiva and Lapu walk back to the bridge.
"You're lucky," Dena says quietly, lips quirked up in a wry smile. "The bullet passed right through, and since you were in lupine form, it will heal in a few minutes. I thought for a moment that you were going to kill those men. I'm glad it didn't come to that."
Tiva calls out from the bridge. "We're in luck! One of the bullets damaged the scanners. The field is down! We should cross while we still can!"
You flee on all fours, your digitigrade legs and extended arms covering ground far faster than any human could ever hope to match.
The cracked surface of The Q Bridge is worn and battle-scarred. During the years of the Purge when the werewolf packs of the northeast had dug in here in a defensive position, The Q was the site of several deadly battles as the human ground forces attempted to drive the wolves out from the city and into the sea. It was rumored that hundreds of werewolves had lost their lives defending this very span.
You're so wrapped up in your thoughts and the heady glee of freedom that you're shocked senseless when an explosion under your feet throws you and Tiva into the air.
Time slows to a crawl, and through a red haze of pain you wonder why Lapu and Dena are upside down. Your ears are ringing…everything smells like burnt hair.
The minefield! In your haste you'd forgotten about the minefield! You twist and turn, seemingly weightless, plunging down toward the water's dark surface below. Falling…falling for the second time in as many hours. Your mind, shocked by the sudden detonation and sharp descent, plays through recent events in slow motion, and you briefly wonder if it might be for the best if you disappear beneath the cold waves forever.
No, you decide moments before you hit the water. It doesn't end here at all. This is only the beginning….