As much as you'd like to try the serum now, it just doesn't strike you as prudent to inject an experimental drug while you're this deep in forbidden territory. If you were to black out or experience substantial negative side effects, you could get captured by the human army or worse.
For now you tuck the syringe into your belt pouch, careful to make sure that the needle remains covered by its thick plastic sheath.
Escaping the building is almost as easy as it was to break in, although in your overconfidence you nearly blunder into a trio of doctors wandering the first floor hall.
You sneak out the same way you came in, the odor in the garage thick with gasoline fumes. Feeling somewhat lightheaded, you stumble into the nearest shadowed alley between buildings where you shake off the effects of the fumes.
Next
Looking up at the sun, you realize with a start that you're almost late for your rendezvous with your friends at the massive warehouse to the east. Any other areas you hoped to explore will have to wait for subsequent adventures.
The warehouse is situated on the far eastern end of the complex, and while it doesn't eclipse many other buildings in terms of height, it positively dwarfs them in girth. From north to south, the giant building covers the better part of a half mile, its spartan exterior winking dully in the light of the slowly setting sun.
You find your companions right where they're supposed to be, patiently waiting for you to arrive by the southeast corner, hidden among a cluster of rusted barrels whose contents have long since been drained away by the humans' machinery.
Tiva fidgets anxiously while Dena's head swivels left and right as though she expects the group to be discovered at any moment.
"So, one last bit of exploration before we throw in the towel?" Lapu says, nodding toward a small door on the eastern side of the warehouse. "It's way too late to chicken out, guys."
Not that you would; the warehouse is the subject of many and varied tales among the werewolf youth, all of which are exciting and mysterious. Claims of vast wealth, macabre horrors, and experimental weapons are just the tip of the popular speculation iceberg.
The worst part is that the adults have been here and refuse to tell you what's inside. What better reason could there be for a group of wolves on the verge of adulthood to sneak in and have a look? It's time to discuss your plan to get in and explore without getting caught.
A pragmatic approach is always the best idea when dealing with a situation you can't possibly control. The best plan is to move with caution but adapt on the fly. You caution the others to keep quiet and low to the ground before heading into the warehouse.
The four of you emerge into a large room, partitioned off from the rest of the building by corrugated metal walls. The room is filled with piles of scrap metal in varying states of disrepair, most of it covered with rust. Not a promising start.
Crouched behind one of the piles, you discover a narrow hallway leading down along the length of the warehouse. Waving the others forward, you travel through the side passage for several minutes before you hear something that sounds disturbingly like a moan of pain.
Tiva elbows you. "Why'd you stop?"
"Listen," you say, and she cocks an ear, grimacing at what she overhears.
"I don't like the sound of it," she says, "but we can't stop now. I need to know what's going on in here."
Dena whimpers from the back as you start moving again. This time, you're more cautious, your movements deliberate while keeping to the pads of your feet.
Eventually the corridor's wall disappears, replaced by a large rectangular opening at chest level, which might once have been a window before the walls of the warehouse were expanded. Crawling underneath the gap, the four of you hear a cacophony of strange and terrible sounds that will haunt your dreams for years to come. If you live that long, that is.
You have to know, and it appears that you're not alone. As one, the four of you slowly raise your eyes to the window.
Next