You start off strong, grunting as you haul yourself hand over hand up the swaying rope, but it isn't long before Tiva pulls ahead of you and stays ahead.
You pull yourself up over the lip of the overpass mere seconds after her, but the winner is clear. Tiva grins at you, a playful sense of self-satisfaction radiating off her in waves. She nudges you as you both crane your necks over to mark the progress of the others.
"So. Tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. sharp! Hope you get some good sleep tonight, cause you're gonna need it. Razor's been falling behind on the military's orders lately, and she's not kidding around. She's been pushing us hard. It's about time I finally got a break!"
Next
Tiva paces nervously, muttering to herself until the tip of Dena's brown snout crests the lip of the bridge and finally all four of you have reached the top.
"No time to rest," she says, her eyes shifting back and forth, looking for patrols. "We should get across as soon as possible."
When the humans set up Haven as a refuge for your pack, they cleared a path on the bridge just wide enough for a truck to drive comfortably across. But the bridge was originally constructed to accommodate up to ten vehicles side by side, leaving you and your companions plenty of room to scurry among the debris as you make your way to the other end.
You reach the opposite landing half an hour later, miraculously without meeting any human patrols and narrowly avoiding contact with an unexpected minefield hidden on the northern edge of the bridge.
Tiva eyes the checkpoint leading off the span and into the human compound warily, sniffing at the air.
"Nobody's here, and I don't think their surveillance system is activated," she says, placing a paw against one of two tall, dark monoliths at either side of the landing. "No humming, no crackle of electricity. Let's go for it."
Enter the Human Compound
Four young werewolves enter human territory for the first time, slinking forward nervously until they're under the cover of a nearby side street. Afternoon is waning, and the stink of human is thick in the air.
At this point the group splits, each investigating an area that strikes their individual fancy. Later, you'll meet farther into the zone at the large building to the east. Until then, you each have an hour to do as you please.
Using a map the four of you sketched out from memories of overheard adult conversations, you made your plans weeks ago. Your skin crawls with excitement to finally see places you've heard whispers of since you were a pup.
The human military have built this small section of the refuge up over the years—bleak unornamented buildings in row after row used for everything from food storage to scientific research, if the rumors hold true. The base's uniformity is not all-encompassing, however. Some buildings from before the Purge still stand tall in stark contrast to the new expansion of efficient yet ultimately soulless architecture, and you find yourself inexplicably pleased that the humans allowed the old growth to remain—beacons of life breaking up the monotony of military precision.
Which section of the complex did you plan on visiting?