by Abby Tyson
The Zuun returned fire, breaking up and attacking from both sides. Marley held them back, but called out to Lila that they needed to go. She ignored him, screaming at the Zuun, "This is for Kofi!"
Just as Marley ran out of ammunition, a group of Alter security guards appeared behind the Zuun and began firing on them. The Zuun gave up trying to get to the three of them and scattered.
One threat was replaced by another as an Alter soldier appeared in the hallway that Marley had been covering. Marley slammed his body against him as Lila took on another guard that was on the heels of the first. As Marley fell to the ground, he saw Glenn running back in the direction they'd come from, with a third Alter on his tail.
Struck from both sides by the hard floor and Marley's bulk, the guard lost his breath on impact, making it easy for Marley to take both of his guns and tranquilize him. Lila's guard wasn't going down so simply, but with Marley's help they were able to knock him out, and escape with only a few bruises.
As Lila started to move forward, Marley asked, "What about Glenn?"
"He knows the way," she said, running up to the next intersection and peering around the corner. "He might even meet up with Ren."
"What's Ren doing?" he asked, chasing after her.
"If all goes according to plan -- which it's not already -- he should be getting Karis out right now."
An angry wolf materialized in front of them. Marley fumbled for his tranquilizer gun, but he hadn't even loaded it before Lila fired two shots. It collapsed to the floor, dead.
"These are people," protested Marley. "We can't kill them."
Lila's face was hard and frighteningly stoic as she said, "Pity won't keep you alive." The words were heavy, weighed down by an old pain, as if this wasn't the first time Lila had drawn on them for strength. In that moment, Marley saw Lila not as the invulnerable warrior in front of him, but as the child she'd told him about, living under a bridge, fighting for scraps among the homeless, without anyone to care until Kofi entered her life. He'd caught glimpses of that girl, and wondered how much of her was left beneath the cloak of toughness that Lila wore tight around her.
His guilty thoughts were interrupted by a fresh wave of gunfire nearby, and he skulked after Lila, keeping clear of the firefight.
"What's our part in this plan of yours?" he asked, as a closed iron door in the outer wall came into view.
"None of this is my plan," Lila scoffed. "We're supposed to go into Berto's office, get Karis's wolf, and confirm that Karis is no longer in her cell. That's the control room," she said, nodding to the door. "On the other side is the elevator. That's where we're headed."
They crept across the hall and took up positions on either side of the door. With a nod from Lila, he slammed the door open, and they burst in with guns at the ready. Two Zuun guards were standing at the far end of the room, but moments later they were both lying on the ground with the rest of the dead Alter guards. Marley stared at all of the bloody bodies, strewn across computer screens and keyboards, unable to turn away from the carnage.
"Marley!" Lila called from in front of the elevator.
Running to her side, he asked, "Shouldn't we take the stairs?" He gestured towards another door with a staircase icon on it. "Since the power's out?"
In response, the elevator doors opened, revealing two more dead guards on the floor. Stepping in and punching the button for the second floor, Lila hardly seemed to notice the dead men. Marley tried to do the same.
The elevator brought them up to a small square threshold, with a set of stairs to the right.
"In here," said Lila, opening a door directly across from them. Inside was a room full of glass cases and dead animals.
"Is this a museum?" he asked.
Lila pushed past him and walked across the room to a large desk. The hurricane that had been passing by unnoticed underground was in full effect up here. The windows rattled from driving rain, and the whole building was creaking and even swaying at times from the roaring wind.
"It's Berto's office," said Lila, "according to the Zuun, anyway."
She started to sit behind the desk when she stopped in front of a large cage. A silver wolf lay on the floor. Its glassy eyes made Marley think it was just another taxidermy statue. But then he noticed the red circle in its chest, and the blood on the floor.
"Must have been the Zuun," growled Lila. "This room was their entry point." She jumped behind the computer and started typing.
"At least the password they gave us worked," said Lila.
"You're working with the Zuun?"
"Not really," she said. "They got us in, but there's no way in hell we're leaving with them. And obviously that --" she nodded towards the dead wolf, "-- wasn't part of our deal. Turn the TV on," she ordered, nodding at a screen on the wall and handing him a remote from off the desk.
Marley did as he was told, and an empty cell in the prison popped up on the screen.
"Keep changing channels," she said.
"I'm looking for Karis?" he asked, flipping through different video feeds from the prison below.
"Yeah. She should be the only kid down there. They said there's a map," muttered Lila, "and it corresponds with what's showing on screen, but I don't see --"
"Savi!" Marley cried, looking at the screen in horror. Savi and her mom were with Baxter, standing in a hallway between cells. Baxter was firing down the hall at an unseen assailant.
"They're not supposed to be down here," said Lila.
"Where is that?" he asked.
Lila clicked on the mouse, staring at the computer screen.
"Where are they?" Marley demanded.
"I'm looking!" she snapped. "Here -- it says that's cluster thirteen, right outside the training room, near the center of the prison."
Even in the weak light, Savi looked more frightened than he'd ever seen her. Marley had to go to her. Maybe if he rescued her, if he finally lived up to her vision of him as a superhero, maybe then she'd forgive him.
"Umm, this says girl," said Lila, drawing him out of his daydreams. She clicked on something, and Savi disappeared, replaced by a girl about the same age as Nissa. Her cell door was open, but she simply sat on her cot, rocking back and forth.
Lila swore at the screen, then gave a heavy sigh of resignation. "Okay. She's in cell #64, towards the back of the prison."
A gun went off behind him, and Marley whipped around, thinking Lila had been hit. But it was her who was holding the gun, aiming at a tall man with dark hair who was trying to sneak through a door in the corner of the room. Lila had missed, and feathers from the stuffed owl she had shot were fluttering to the floor. Jumping over the desk, she chased after him.
"It's Berto!" she yelled, firing again at what had been a door but was now a wall.
"You get him," Marley shouted after her, "I'll get Savi."
"Wait!"
Skidding to a stop, he turned towards Lila. She had reached the hidden door, but instead of following Berto, she was standing in front of a square display case mounted on the wall.
"What is it?" Marley called to her, desperate to go back and help Savi.
"Marley." Her voice was oddly calm and quiet, and she still hadn't moved.
"Are you okay?" he asked, running over to her.
She didn't turn from the glass box on the wall, her eyes glowing with awe. Inside was a necklace, with a simple twine strap and an ivory charm. The charm was the rear half of an animal that might have been a dog, with a jagged edge -- although weathered smooth by time -- down the dog's middle. The twine was wrapped around the charm, as the loop where the string would go must have been on the front half.
"That's it," she whispered. "That's the missing half."
It took a moment for Marley to remember what Lila had shown him back in Roanoke.
"No," he said, shaking his head and stepping away. "It's a myth."
Lila gently pulled the glass box off the wall, reaching tentatively for the necklace. She tenderly ran her thumb over
the charm, and glanced up at Marley with joy, but quickly looked back down, unable to keep her eyes off of the treasure. "It is," she said. "I know it is. It's Kofi's dream. With this, I can make his dream of uniting all coywolves a reality. You can help me."
The dream tugged at Marley, reminding him of the sense of brotherhood and purpose he had experienced with Kofi. But there were other, more immediate concerns right now. "Yeah, definitely," he said awkwardly. "After we get everyone we can --"
"This can't wait," she said, shaking her head. "I'm leaving now."
"What about Savi?" he asked, "and Karis?"
"This is bigger than one person -- bigger than all of us. Just think: no more living alone, in fear and pain, no more trying to fit into the human world or the creature world and being rejected by both. We can be a family -- a real family for every coywolf on Earth."
Lila's eyes were wet with victory, making her lovely face even more beautiful in its vulnerability. Marley wanted to go with her. He wanted everything she was saying. He wanted to be with her, to open his heart to her as she so clearly wanted him to.
He stepped away.
"I need to help Savi," he said.
"Savi doesn't care about you the way I do! She takes you for granted." She closed the space between them. "You felt it the instant I did -- when we first saw each other. We're meant to be together." She held out the charm to him. "We're meant to do this together."
Marley felt himself being drawn to her, to the destiny she promised. He reached out, allowing himself a single touch of her velvet braids. Lila grabbed the back of his neck and pressed her mouth to his. The kiss was hard, passionate, demanding, like Lila herself. Bursts of poetry exploded inside of him, sparkling fireworks of words about love and sex and desire, all yearning to be made true.
But he was destined for Savi, to protect her and make her whole again like no one else could. He'd believed in her for so long -- he couldn't throw that dream away for some broken necklace and an old story, no matter what lies Second told him.
Wrenching himself off of her, Marley staggered back, his hand pressed to his mouth in an effort to either hold the memory of her lips or to block it -- he couldn't be sure which.
"I can't. I made a promise..." He searched his sluggish brain for the reason he was here. "...to Nissa. I have to help Nissa."
Lila's eyes hardened, and she spun around, shoving against the wall and opening the hidden door. "You know where to find me," she shouted without looking back, and ran into the howling night.
Chapter Forty-Two
Hettie was going to kill Savi's mom.
Chloe had doubled back and was running towards the tranquilizer gun, but she was no match for a wolf and Hettie would be on her in seconds. Savi's legs wouldn't move fast enough as she spun and raced towards Hettie. Savi had to reach her first -- not only to protect her mom, but for Hettie's sake as well. She would be forever traumatized if she found out she'd hurt Savi's mom, let alone killed her.
Dropping to the floor, Chloe scrambled for the gun. Hettie was a stride away.
"Hettie!" Savi screamed. "No!"
The second that it took the wolf to look over its shoulder was enough. Savi dove on its back, making Hettie's legs buckle as Savi's arms wrapped around the wolf's neck. Chloe cried out in pain, and Savi could feel her mom's legs underneath both of them. Savi wrenched her body to the side and rolled onto her back and off her mom, trying to lock her legs around the wolf's stomach while it flailed and twisted above her in her arms. Savi couldn't see anything with Hettie's head wailing and writhing on hers, but she knew if she let go she'd be dead. The wolf snarled, barked, and howled, clawing at Savi's arms with its back legs. If Hettie wouldn't be able to live with herself if she killed Chloe, what would she do if she killed her best friend?
Savi held tight, her hands deep in Hettie's fur, waiting for her mom to tranquilize the wolf. Then, as they had with Glenn, her hands adhered to Hettie's skin, and the rush of energy began passing through her. The wolf continued to squirm, but it was no longer clawing at her, and its deadly fangs were safely hidden.
"Don't shoot! Wait!" she shouted.
Unlike Glenn or Warren, whose fur buried itself beneath their skin, Hettie's fur detached and joined the hairs around them, forming long tendrils that snaked up her body towards her head. And instead of feeling the bones breaking and shifting beneath Hettie's stretching and undulating skin, everything seemed to magically reshape itself until Savi's body was wrapped around not a wolf, but a human girl.
Savi's hands released at the same time that Hettie's voice, strong but confused, said, "Mrs. Claudie?"
Laughing with relief, Savi let Hettie roll off of her. "What's going on?" she asked, bringing her legs up to hide her naked body. "Is it morning?" Catching sight of the long, bloody gashes on Savi's arms, Hettie cringed. "Did I do that?"
Chloe found some gym clothes, and Hettie put them on as Savi quickly explained. She expected her best friend's scientific mind to focus on Savi's unexplained and intermittent ability to unalter by touch, but instead, Hettie started crying.
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I can't believe I almost... I knew we didn't keep our human consciousness, but I guess I always assumed I'd never hurt anyone -- especially someone I actually care about."
"We're okay," said Chloe, giving her a big hug.
With everything that had happened, the chaos of the prison had been forgotten. Now the cracking sounds of gunfire and howling wolves forced itself back into their awareness.
"What's happening out there?" asked Hettie.
"We'll explain on the way," said Savi. "Let's get out first."
They jogged to the back door Baxter had directed them to, but when Savi turned the handle, it wouldn't open. "It's locked," she said, banging on the door.
The door that led to the rest of the prison burst open, and they spun around to see Baxter running in and slamming the door behind him. He leaned against it, shouting, "What the hell are you doin' here? Who's with you?"
"It's locked," shouted Savi, as they all ran to meet in the middle of the long room.
"Locked!" When he recognized Hettie, he gave her a startled look. "How are you human?" Then he took in Savi's scarred legs and arms. "Did she bite you?"
"We don't have time to explain," said Chloe. "We've got to find another way out."
Baxter pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Savi. "Hold this," he said, and ran to the back door. He tried kicking it, throwing his weight against it, even shooting the handle, but it didn't open. "Bastards!" he cried, jogging back to them.
"Who?" asked Hettie.
"All of 'em!" he snarled.
"What's this?" asked Savi, holding up the rectangular object he'd handed her.
"That's the cartridge the Zuun are supposed to use to taint the water supply with your blood," he said, taking it back from her. "The plan was for them to take it to the utility room, and then all the wolves'll be hollowed when they drink it. I found it on a dead Zuun when I took his gun."
"What's the nearest exit?" asked Chloe.
He took a gun from his holster and held it out to her. "You take this and try to find the edge of the prison," he said. "That's the easiest way to the main entrance -- that's the only other one I know of. I'll take the cartridge to the utility room."
Fearfully eyeing the gun in her hand, Chloe asked, "Is there a safety I need to turn off if I use it?"
Baxter reached over and flipped a lever at the back of the handgun. "All set."
Chloe seemed even more afraid of it now, but she held it like cops do in the movies, with two hands and her arms bent so it was aimed at the ceiling. They all went to the main door and listened. The sounds of battle were ever present but distant, so they opened the door and Baxter snuck into the hall, with Chloe, Savi, and Hettie close behind.
Footsteps sounded nearby, and Chloe jumped in front of Savi as a shot rang out. Baxter dove against the wall on one side of the nearest hall. It was only after Savi had taken co
ver with Hettie behind the opposite wall that she realized her mom was lying on the floor.
"Mom?" Savi called. She tried to go to her, but another gunshot forced her back behind the wall. A shadow bloomed and began to spread across her mom's chest. "Mom!"
Still she didn't move.
"Baxter!" screamed Savi.
He fired down the hall and reached for Chloe's arm, dragging her unmoving body beside him.
"Baxter!" Savi screamed again, the hall swimming before her.
He put his fingers on her neck. "She's still alive, kid." He fired a few more times down the hall, then pulled the cartridge out of his pocket. He slid it across the floor to Savi, then slid the gun Chloe had been holding as well. He started yelling at them, giving some sort of directions, but Savi couldn't understand a word he said. Everything around her was muffled, hazy, and unreal. Her mom's limp body and the giant red blotch on her shirt were all that mattered -- all that would ever matter.
Savi started to crawl across the hall, but Hettie's hand pulled her back before another bullet could find her. "Baxter!" she yelled, trying to find the words to distill the overwhelming swirl of thoughts and emotions, but all that would come out was, "That's my mom!"
He gave her a knowing nod and said, "I'll get her topside, I promise." Holstering his gun and tucking his hands under Chloe's arms, he looked up at Savi and Hettie one more time and shouted, "Go!" before disappearing around the corner of a nearby cell.
Hettie put the cartridge in the pocket of her baggy sweatpants, picked up the gun off the floor, and took Savi's hand. Hardly seeing the world around her, Savi let Hettie guide her through the endless steel corridors. The times that Hettie stopped running and pressed her against a wall, Savi had no idea whether the threat she was hiding from was human or wolf.
My mom can't die.
It was the only reality she could accept right now -- not the shooting, or the wolves, or the prison walls.
My mom can't be dead. She can't be.
"Savi!"
Hettie's panicked voice broke through Savi's trance, and she looked around to see walls covered with pipes, switches, and wires surrounding them.