Rural Warfare

Hollers, shots, and screams surrounded Brolath. Chaos ruled the humid fields of the trailer park.

Brolath didn't see where the gunshot came from, only that it had clipped Rorgh in the shoulder hard enough to slap the Lupiad to the ground, but not hard enough that it stopped him from getting right back up and drawing his own pistol.

Outnumbered by at least ten, Brolath mentally calculated the humans, who were kicking over tables and ducking behind vehicles to dig themselves in. Here to protect their comrade? Or perhaps they don't want him talking.

Only one way to find out.

In one quick moment, Brolath wrapped the claws of his left paw around Pat's neck and pulled him up, while also sweeping his pistol along the length of the road. Brolath alternated between the primary trigger of his pistol, which launched bursts of lasers only visible by sudden pop of scorched metal or fried flesh; and slapping the secondary fire button on the side with his thumb, which sprayed out a hailstorm of darts attached to powerful electrical cells.

Despite Brolath's aim being to suppress the combatants, he managed to get two of them taken out of the picture: a shirtless, tall human's face got the worst sunburn of his life when he stared straight into the invisible laser; while a chubby human caught one of the darts straight on his chest and fell to the ground convulsing until he went deathly still. The cell darts were designed to be less-lethal when used against Regulians, it was extremely likely that they were significantly more lethal against smaller and weaker humans.

Catching his arm around Pat's neck, Brolath slapped the still-hot barrel up against the human's temple, forcing him to scream as his flesh burnt slightly.

“Listen here!" Brolath barked to the remaining humans, still great in numbers and hiding behind their cover. “I am an officer of the Regulian Guard and we're taking this human in for questioning! We have no quarrel with the rest of you."

Brolath looked over to Rorgh, who was sticking out from a lamppost, sweeping his gun along the enemy's position. Brolath slapped his tail against the dirt with a sharp thump and Rorgh's right ear twitched. Quietly, Rorgh reached down to his tracking beacon attached to his hip and pressed the silent alarm.

“HE'S CALLING FOR HELP!" one of the humans shouted.

“Shit!" Brolath cursed quietly. “GO!"

Kicking Pat's legs out from under him, Brolath slowly dragged the human behind him as the shotguns drummed out. Rorgh darted behind his Captain towards a trailer while Brolath provided cover and fired a vicious stream of lasers that created a line of scorched metal across a pickup truck.

Behind him, Brolath heard Rorgh kick a door open, just barely audible over the wild chorus of gunfire.

“GET DOWN! HANDS ON YOUR HEAD!" Rorgh screamed from within the trailer as Brolath drew closer, dragging his hostage along with him. “Good! Now behave!"

Pat groaned as Brolath banged his legs against the short staircase leading into the trailer and slammed the door behind them.

If a Sirian real-estate agent was selling this trailer, they would describe it as cozy. All it had were two cots on one end and a tiny kitchenette on the other. Despite the small size, there was another door opposite the one they had come in that lead back out. Rorgh was standing by the cots, peering out the windows on both sides while two human children lay face-down on the cots, sobbing.

Slamming Pat on the ground, Brolath slipped up beside his partner and examined his shoulder wound, digging into it with his claws.

“Fuck!" Rorgh growled, slapping his Captain away just as Brolath pulled out a small pellet. “The fuck's the matter with you!?"

“About 8 millimeters in diameter," Brolath pinched the pellet and rolled it between his fingers. “The metal walls of this trailer should hold out until reinforcements arrive."

“Great! Assuming I don't die of lead poisoning or whatever humans make this shit out of!"

Wet green eyes looked up at Brolath from the cot and the child went back to hiding his face as soon as Brolath looked down.

“It's okay," Brolath hushed and patted the child on the shoulder. Brolath couldn't tell whether it was a male or a female. “We're here on behalf of the Emperor, here to protect his most vulnerable subjects. It's just like an action movie, okay? The good guys always win!"

“Captain!"

“Wha-!?"

The windows shattered as an automatic burst popped off. Brolath ducked over the child's body as he took cover, shielding him or her from the falling glass.

When the barrage was finished, Brolath could hear something over the ringing of his ears that sounded very similar to their rental car, except larger and angrier.

Carefully peering out the remains of the window, Brolath's heart sank. A large truck, looking almost like some of the pre-invasion Earth military vehicles, kicked up dirt behind it and started rumbling towards the trailer.

“MOVE!" Rorgh screamed, beating Brolath to the punch.

Holstering his pistol, Brolath scooped up the two children, hoisting the tiny creatures over his shoulders while Rorgh kicked the rear door open and lead the way, dragging Pat kicking and screaming along.

As soon as their boots landed on the dirt, Brolath veered to the left, towards the woods leading into the swamp while Rorgh turned right and took cover behind a mobile home.

“GO!" Brolath screamed as he put the children on the ground. At first they stared blankly but after roaring and baring his fangs, the two kids ran off into the woods, screaming.

The truck crashed deafeningly as it slammed into the trailer, flipping it over and causing it roll until it collided with another trailer down the line. Brolath was lurking behind a tree with his pistol drawn when the truck's occupants came into view: two humans, both holding sub-machine guns and reeling from the truck's airbags slapping them in the face.

Brolath took down the driver, igniting his neck with a laser blast, the flames spreading across the airbag. Rorgh did the honors on the passenger, whose clothes it turned out, were very flammable, and he instantly ignited into a raging inferno.

Darting out from cover, Brolath unleashed a line of fire at where he assumed the humans still were, leaping behind the car-wreck and rejoining Rorgh behind his cover. A bullet ricocheted off the dirt a mere second after Brolath took cover.

An annoying vibrating sensation started to hum against Brolath's hip, his datapad. Ignoring it in favor of the popping of bullets against their cover, Brolath took over hauling the hostage and led the way beside the flipped over trailer and along behind another home.

An enticing home greeted them. It looked like a particularly paranoid individual had kitted out his mobile home with steels plates and had it placed in a small lot surrounded by other homes that would prevent another siege truck from charging it. The surrounding homes would give the humans additional cover but reinforcements were on the way.

“There!" Rorgh barked as he fired behind them, covering for Brolath as the Regulian made his way to the door.

Naturally, the doors was locked but Brolath had an emergency lock-pick on him in the form of his laser pistol. One pull of the trigger and the latch popped off with a tiny explosion.

Kicking the door open, Brolath swept the area with his pistol. His keen eyes spotted movement, a hand reaching for a rifle laying on a table, and Brolath fired. A brief scream and the smell of burnt flesh filled the home before giving away to a quick moment of silence.

Except for that damned datapad vibrating.

Rorgh shut the door behind him and barred it shut as best as he could with a chair. Pat sobbed as he banged his head against the floor and the acrid smell of urine began to waft up from his pants.

The vibrating of the datapad soon changed into a specific pattern.

Brrrrrt. Brt. Brt. Brrrrrrt. Brt.

Cursing sharply, Brolath pulled out the datapad and flicked it on. Proclath appeared on the screen, wearing a white Guard uniform that matched his fur and a round cap atop his head with a black visor.

“Captain Brolath! What the hell are you still doing in that trailer park!?"

“Getting shot at! We've got the suspect and we need those reinforcements at once!" Brolath shouted.

The air hummed as Rorgh fired his own laser pistol out the window.

“By the Emperor, cub! You're getting a shit-ton more than that, get out of the AOE immediately!"

“What!? We're under fire here!"

“King Hrolar got word about a gunfight in Louisiana and he's mobilizing the Kingdom of Earth's air force for a suppression mission ASAP!"

“What!?" Rorgh turned away from the fire-fight with his maw hanging open in shock.

“Order him to call it off, this is Regulian Guard business!" Brolath roared.

“We can't!"

A chill ran down Brolath's spine. A suppression mission was, on paper, about maintaining order but the Regulian military tended to do that through the use of firing lasers and shells from lift-copters until all signs of enemy combat stop. Under normal circumstances, the Guard can act on behalf of the Emperor and override any lesser noble's orders, but only if said delegation is declared in advance or comes with an official writ.

As the mission was meant to go under the nose of the Claw and Brolath had ditched his planned meeting with Minister Shalth, Brolath had neither of these.

“Get the Emperor on the line with him!"

“The Emperor is performing his imperial duties in the harem and cannot be disturbed!"

A news notification flashed across the datapad announcing that the Emperor would be showing imperial dominance to an Equuleian soldier captured in battle tonight. Full details would be released after the mating.

Proclath cleared his throat, “Your captive is getting away!"

Looking away from the datapad, Brolath caught sight of Pat shoving the chair aside and throwing himself out the broken door.

“Shit!"

Brolath charged out and tackled the human into the dirt a few feet away from the trailer. A barrage of gunfire rang out and Brolath felt a cloud of shot whistle past him.

“COVER!" Rorgh screamed as he stormed out to join his Captain, firing his pistol wildly at two humans that ducked behind trailers. Rorgh helped Brolath up to his feet and then continued providing cover as Brolath secured Pat and dragged him into the maze of mobile homes again.

There it was, that awful pink mobile home again. Brolath slammed Pat up against a neighboring trailer and peered out from behind cover.

Something flashed by the window and Brolath nearly fired before confirming the target. Thankfully, he did not.

The old woman from before stuck her head out from the kitchen of the mobile home and screamed, “You boys be careful with those BB guns, ya hear!?"

Brolath noticed the woman's eyes were staring off to the right. At first, Brolath thought it might have just been her poor eyesight but in a flash of realization, Brolath charged around the corner.

“Oh God, no!" a young man was there, armed with a bolt-action rifle. Faced with the physically powerful Regulian mere inches away, he could not bring himself to fire before Brolath's fist crashed into the side of his face.

As the first human hit the ground, Brolath saw another one across the road with a shotgun and fired a dart that struck him and discharged right as he fired, slicing open a wide hole in the tail of Brolath's coat and cutting the side of his leg.

Hissing, Brolath continued forward as Rorgh followed up behind with Pat in tow. The green car, the “Cirrus," was waiting for them, seemingly unharmed by the recent chaos. Brolath took cover behind the vehicle and fired wildly, until his pistol started to overheat, while Rorgh threw Pat into the back and got in the driver's seat.

Brolath hopped in the side as Rorgh struggled to use the key, the car making that horrible wheezing noise as it tried to start. Leaning out the window and firing for cover, Brolath noticed a few dots of flames emerge from behind a trailer that his laser did not create.

“Adjunct, get us out of here!" Brolath barked as he shot a human wielding a bottle with a lit rag sticking out of it .The bottle flew a few feet towards them and burst into flames across the pavement.

The car finally roared to life and Rorgh hit the gas, skidding out as he tight a tight u-turn. One of the bottles exploded just behind them as they charged away from the battle.

The Imperial Anthem was humming across the skies, announcing the incoming arrival of the air force. It was a standard suppression tactic to do this, the public reason was to install patriotic loyalty to obedient citizens and to strike fear into the heart of disloyal rebels and make them throw down their arms in fear. In reality, it was a way of saying, “We're on our way and there's nothing you can do to stop us."

Brolath sighed with relief when the sign for Lafayette Gardens was behind them. Shortly after, a fleet of ten lift-copters floated by, ignoring the crummy green car far beneath them in favor of their target.

“Look at all this trouble you caused us!" Brolath sneered at Pat menacingly as empty trailers flashed by. “If you don't help us out, you're looking at some hard time!"

“Oh God, oh God, oh God, oh God..." Pat chanted desperately.

“Oh, a proud Regulian came marchin' down the street,"

“Long live the Emperor, kneel and kiss his feet!"

“But he tucked his tails and ran, lest he end up dead,"

“When he came across the Southern Militia, led by Major Ted!"

The crowd of rebels raised their canteens for a toast just as the truck skipped over a pothole in the road. Abel took a chug in honor of his comrades and their dream, it was just coffee but it tasted sweeter in the occasion.

It was not glorious, crammed in the back of a tiny cargo truck with several other people, including his friends from back home, but this was how the war was fought. Despite the high Abel was getting for putting his life on the line for a better world, he was exhausted and so were Gure and Hada, the latter of whom was barely managing to stay awake, leaning against her upright rifle while sitting down.

They were supposed to be in bed tonight, the actual operation not occurring until after the tournament was over. However, Remy had picked up chatter that talked of a serious gunfight occurring in a trailer park about a hundred miles in the opposite direction and the local forces were being diverted there to maintain the peace. As a result, the operation would likely encounter minimal resistance and Red was sent to the hotel to wake Abel's crew up and get into a truck parked around the back entrance with the guns.

Lobo was in the front, just past a curtain and driving the truck. Checkpoints didn't question Lupiads as much as humans or Vulpeculans.

Arthur and Arnold were sitting on one end of the truck, lost in some inside conversation between the two, while Slick was with Gure and Hada, trying to teach them a thing or two about explosives.

Red, on the other hand, was sitting next to Abel, sniffing him intently.

“You're scared, smoothy," she whispered low enough so that the other round-ears couldn't hear.

Abel burned as she did this, feeling a little awkward being judged for something that he had no control over.

“Stop that," Abel grunted.

“Stop what?"

“Sniffing me."

Laughing, the Vulpeculan popped her black, wet nose against his cheek and took a deep sniff. Abel pushed her away as she chuckled.

“It's rude!" Abel snapped. “I don't need you rubbing it in, okay!?"

It was embarrassing to admit, but Abel was flashing back to his childhood again. Of games played with his classmates, the majority of which were Regulians, cubs of Generals and nobles who took parts of Earth and its populace as their war trophies; which revolved around scent or tracking something down by scent, which naturally, Abel and the other humans around would always lose.

It was the first time he realized what the Regulian order meant: demeaning humans until they knew their place as lessers. Even as an adopted member of nobility himself, Abel would never truly be part of them.

“I'd trade our sense of smell for your sight any day," said Red as she waved her fingers in front of Abel's eyes. “You guys all call me Red, but I don't even know what that color looks like."

Any sense of inferiority Abel was feeling diminished and made way for the same awkward feeling he had around Red when he first met her: of an alien that truly was equal to him, not beaten down into inferiority nor had delusions of superiority. Despite the feeling being a positive one, it still confused Abel.

“They have surgeries for that," Abel whispered as the back of his neck burned, “my Father had them done."

“Too expensive and my former Master didn't see the need of his pretty, little Vulpy to have such a thing, so long as she laid in bed when he asked of it and spread her legs."

A lump formed in Abel's throat and his thoughts went wild. He couldn't imagine what she had been through, here he was angsting about being born in a rich, occupier's family and she was a former slave. What could he, a spoiled rich kid, say to help her?

“Since you're wondering, I killed him," Red said casually.

“I wasn't-!"

Red tapped the tip of her nose. Abel sighed.

“I don't mind talking about it, really. He was a Regulian and he was so proud of getting a Vulpy of his own with a bonus he got for being an officer in the invasion of Earth."

“I'm sorry," what else could Abel say? He felt sorry for the Vulpeculan and as much as he had been demeaned as a child, he'd never had anything like that happen to him.

“I told you, I don't mind talking about it. Any pain he caused me was undone when I chopped his cock off."

“What!?"

Red adjusted her flatcap and winked, “Made sure to show it to him before I slit his throat. He was too petrified to even scream and I was able to sneak out of his manor without alerting the guards. Just happened to meet up with Arnold at a bar I was hiding out at the next day and he recruited me."

“That's..." Abel cleared his throat, “...I hope if I was in the same situation, I'd be as strong as you."

“Really, it's nothing," Red took out a serrated combat knife and ran her fingerpad down its blade. “Once you ruin a monster like that any attempt they have at terrifying you is comical. I have no bad dreams, no flashbacks, and if I were to find out this is all a dream and I'm still chained up next to him in his bed, I'd chop his cock off again and this time for real."

“So, lets make a deal?" Red chuckled. “I'll stop sniffing you and you stop thinking I'm some delicate, wilting flower that will get traumatized at your obvious attraction."

“Oh!" Abel gasped, his face turning red. He felt like a fool, needing his own strange emotions explained to him. “Shit, was I doing that?"

“Water under the bridge," Red shrugged, “even Arnold treated me with kid's gloves at first, right?"

“Damn straight I did!" Arnold nodded. “Don't underestimate her, kid!"

“So yeah, don't be afraid to try out your moves on me, cutey," she punched Abel lightly in the shoulder, “Vulpies are tougher than we look. Maybe I'll show you one of these days."

She winked at Abel and he was left even more confused than before. He was attracted to Red, he could admit that now, but his moves were fairly lacking. Regnath was right earlier, he was a virgin and his dating experience was just as lacking, having difficulty connecting to people in an intimate manner. Most humans, aside from the ones in his program, were alien to him to the point where Abel sometimes felt like an oppressor just like the Regulians; while dating an alien meant either submitting to a more powerful alien or taking a slave; the Regulians loved their power dynamics.

It was made even more confusing by his bisexuality. Humans tended to like pigeonholing people into one or the other, being a largely monogamous species whether straight or gay. Regulians, on the other hand, were strictly polygamous, having one primary mate and expected to mate prodigiously with other mates and consorts, regardless of gender. Even though there were plenty of bisexual humans, Abel had a fear of being seen as Regulian for expressing his sexuality that way.

But right now Abel was feeling stronger. Red was giving off signals, wasn't she? This was his chance.

“You..." he exhaled sharply, voice squeaking, “...can smell me. It's sexy."

The entire truck burst out laughing, Red included. Abel felt a little small and leaned back against the wall, wishing he could just disappear.

“S-sorry! That was mean of me," Red managed to blurt out between fits of laughter, “I'm going to have to teach you some lessons, smoothy."

Red tapped her nose against Abel's cheek, ending the conversation and leaving the young human more confused then ever.

Thankfully, a sharp ringing noise broke the tension and there was a click beyond the driver curtain. A shriek of harsh static cut through the air, forcing everyone to wince in pain.

“Hon!" Arthur cried out above the noise. “Run the decryption key!"

“Fuck!" Lobo growled over the static and began punching several buttons. Eventually, the awful noise abated.

“Lokralich here," Lobo grumbled.

“Lobo!" Remy shouted over the radio. “I've been calling for a whole minute, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

“Sorry, forgot about the decryption key," Lobo snarled, “what a pain in the ass."

“You want to get captured? We can switch over to an unsecured line," Remy somehow manage to audibly sneer over the radio.

“No, Remy."

“Then stop your fucking bitching and get used to the goddamn decryption key!"

Slick reached over and tapped Abel on the arm.

“Know how Arnold said Remy's only a pain in the ass while working?" Slick whispered.

“Yeah."

“Well, Remy never stops working."

“I HEARD THAT!" Remy shouted.

“Alright, alright, knock it off!" Arnold shouted and then leaned past the curtain. “Go ahead, Remy."

“Union Biotech's manifest sheet has been updated, the truck left an hour ago."

“What!?" Arnold got up and pushed past the curtain, grabbing the radio receiver from Lobo. “Where is it?"

“Probably going down the same planned path, in which case you're estimated to intercept in about ten minutes."

“Shit! Pull over there! Everyone out!"

The truck bounced violently as Lobo swerved to the side. Abel slipped a black baklava over his face, as did everyone else, before leaping out the back into the humid night air.

“Captain, there's no time to prep the explosives!" Slick shouted.

“Plan B!" Arnold barked back.

“Aye Captain!" Slick saluted, grabbing a chainsaw from a box in the back of the truck and pulled the cord, walking down the street toward a patch of trees.

“Abel, Red, Lobo! Take position on the other side!" Arnold continued dishing out orders. “Everyone else, hide the truck and get ready!"

Gure and Hada began throwing green ghillie nets over the truck, making it look like one of the many weeping willow trees in the swamp on the side of the road. Meanwhile, Abel was following the two aliens across the road, ducking into the foliage.

“Warm your guns up," Red whispered and slapped Abel on the rear, “that means you too, cutey."

Gulping, Abel checked his Ruger Mini and pulled the charging handle. Red was using a loaner that Abel had smuggled to the tournament, an SKS, while Lobo had some kind of carbine that looked like a metal box and had its magazine laying on top of it, just underneath the sight rails.

“Nice gun," Abel whispered to Lobo.

“Liberator 77," Lobo rubbed his paw along the side of it, “the last rifle made by a free Lupus."

“Nice."

“You think you can use that thing, human?" Lobo whispered. “On a something that's not made of cardboard?"

“Yeah," Abel swallowed. It was very easy to fire at targets, but something moving was a different story. Still, Abel had been preparing for this day, “gotta do it to free our home. Good people need these Smart Antibiotics, don't they?"

Lobo's hackles raised, sticking up like little black needles in the night.

“Wouldn't normally take orders from Glass, but..." Lobo cut himself off with a sigh, “...yeah, the resistance needs them too."

“Glass, who's that?"

“Never you mind."

Distant headlights veered towards them, down the road. Slick silenced his chainsaw, ran away from the pile of tree trunks he left on the pavement and slipped back into the shadows, joining Arnold and Abel's friends.

“Follow Lobo's lead, smoothy," Red whispered as she slipped on a pair of non-reflective sunglasses to hide her reflective, predatory eyes; which Lobo followed suit with. “Don't fire unless we say so."

A large semi-truck came rumbling down the road, the nightly shipment of medical supplies for the war effort. As soon as its headlights spotted the fallen trees across the road, its engines squealed when its brakes were fired and the truck came to a screeching halt.

“Alpha, go!" Lobo hissed and took point, emerging from the foliage. Abel and Red followed close behind, keeping their guns ready as they approached the truck. Abel could just barely make out the shadows of the other team going towards the driver's side.

Two Regulians were in the truck cabin, both of them looked female, lacking manes. They didn't notice the rebels approaching, not until Lobo smashed open the truck window and threw a small grenade in.

Abel winced and feared seeing nothing but a pile of gore left after the bomb burst, however the Regulians looked fine, just a bit shocked as the Lupiad pulled the passenger out. An awful scent filled the air and Abel realized that the grenade had been a stink bomb so they couldn't record their scent. It smelled something like licorice and Abel could only imagine how bad it smelled to the aliens.

“No sudden moves!" Lobo barked and shoved the Regulian against the side of the truck. Red slipped a pair of plastic ties around her wrists and dragged her over to the side of the road, planting her on her rear in the dirt. Abel kept his rifle trained on her the entire time until he was convinced she wasn't going to resist.

Hada grabbed the driver while Arnold ordered them to open up the back. Abel kept watch down the road as Lobo began rooting around in the bottom of the cabin, searching for a tracker to replace with a clone that would mislead anyone paying attention.

The bushes rustled with the wind, but Abel's mind kept playing tricks on him: seeing triangular ears poking out of the woods, a tail sweeping out from a bush, anything that would lead him to believe they were surrounded by Regulian forces. His heart felt like it was going to stop any moment and he wanted to be done with the mission.

A metal door flung open and Hada suddenly cried out, “Captain! We've got a problem!"

Abel left his guard post and slipped around back just as Arnold joined Hada, who had a pistol aimed at the back of the Regulian's skull.

Arnold aimed a mag-lite into the back of the truck and Abel's blood went cold as the cargo was revealed. There were cardboard boxes that proclaimed to be full of Smart Antibiotics, but they were sandwiched between metal cages.

Their worst fears were revealed when they stepped up into the container and the crown of an emaciated human popped into sight. There were eight of them, all stuffed into small cages and they were groggy, not quite realizing we were there.

“What the fuck is this!?" Hada screamed at the Regulian, cocking her pistol. “What the fuck is this!?"

“Can I speak?" the Regulian driver calmly spoke. Her face was as cold as ice, even for a Regulian.

“Best have a good explanation for this," Arnold hissed, wrapping his fingers around the bars and looking down on the human with pity.

“They're test subjects for a new form of Smart Antibiotic specially trained to seek out human pancreatic cancer," she said, not looking up from the floor of the truck at any point, “we're sending them to Regulus so that they can be tested, examined and the drug approved. They're saving lives."

“Did they volunteer?" Arnold asked. “The Imperial government plan on letting them go after those tests?"

The Regulian took a second to reply, “Their families were well-compensated."

“Good," Arnold nodded before smashing the cage lock, the door swung open slowly. “We're letting them go."

“Captain!" Slick hissed as he came into view. “We don't have enough room for them and the drugs!"

“Quit complaining and get these poor sons of bitches in the truck!" Arnold cursed as he went around unlocking the cages.

Slick didn't object, hopping in and helping the first human lean on his shoulder as he pulled him out of the truck. Gure and Arthur joined in to help while Abel and Red stepped back out.

“You're going to regret this," the driver hissed, finally showing some emotion.

“You're lucky I don't blow your brains out," Hada growled as she threw the driver onto the side of the road, next to her friend. Hada kept a close watch on the two of them, training her pistol back and forth between the two.

Lobo slipped out of the truck cabin, slamming the door behind him and quickly stepped over to the truck they drove in and grabbed Slick's chainsaw, revving it up and sinking its blade into the fallen trees.

“Give me a hand over here!" he shouted to Red and Abel.

The two of them joined the Lupiad and helped roll the remains of the trees off to the side of the road, eventually making the road look somewhat normal.

By that time, the test subjects had been loaded into the back of the rebel's truck and Arnold approached the three.

“We're gonna have to split up. You guys drive this truck back to the safe-house in Metairie."

“Fuck!" Lobo cursed, throwing the chainsaw back into the truck. “Are you serious, Captain?"

“Dead fucking serious," Arnold's eyes looked like intense white beads in the night, “I'm not about to chose between the drugs and the people, we need to save both. Besides, you've got the dummy tracker in place, yeah?"

“Yeah, just don't trust those things," Lobo kicked his boot against the truck's tires.

“Any objections?" Arnold looked over to Abel and Red.

Red was already halfway into the truck, her fluffy tail darting into the cabin.

“N-no sir!" Abel stammered out.

“Good," Arnold patted Abel on the shoulder, “you did a good job. Not bad for a first time, alright?"

A fierce shriek rang out, quickly followed by two loud pops. Arnold wasted no time in shouldering his rifle and jogging over to the source, with Abel and the others close behind.

“Hada!? What the fuck did you do!?" Abel heard Gure scream before he saw him grabbing Hada's wrist, the very same hand that carried her pistol.

“She...she...they attacked me!" Hada shoved Gure to the ground and fired another round at the dirt.

Arnold's flashlight revealed two still Regulian bodies, one with a shot straight between the forehead and the other with two bullet wounds in the chest. Yellow flames reflected in their eyes from the beam of light, almost as if they were still alive, like their souls were still trapped inside.

This was the first time Abel had seen a dead body, let alone one that one of his best friends had created. One second they were alive and defiant, the next they were gone.

One less oppressor, Abel thought to himself dismissively, but he had trouble breaking his eyes away from the corpses. A lump, a strange sensation of guilt was building up in his chest.

“What a waste," Abel muttered to himself.

“Fuck," Arnold cursed and pointed towards Abel, Red, and Lobo, “you three, get moving. Take the freeway back and don't stop."

“But what if-" Abel began.

“No time for questions!" Arnold barked, pointing to the shadows around them. “We're in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, but who knows who heard that? Get moving!"

Abel nodded and ran towards the truck, swinging himself up and sitting in the passenger seat. Lobo was already in the driver's seat and Red was laying down casually in the sleeper cab. Abel stuffed his rifle in the back, behind his seat.

“What a shit-show," Lobo spat as he started up the truck.

Something tapped at the driver's window and Lobo rolled it down. Arthur poked his head up and kissed Lobo on the side of his muzzle.

“Be careful, hon!" Arthur said before disappearing into the shadows.

Lobo said nothing and put his foot on the gas.