Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Hey kid." Jarek said softly, somewhat tired but also relieved. It kinda...irked him she was calling him "momma" but at the moment, he could care less. She certainly was a tough little tyke; Cripes, she had taken a a bullet to the head, been put under stasis conditions that even adults could barely handle, and god only knew what she had had to suffer under those devils hiding beneath the guise of "scientists"...

He eyed the stubs of horns with something akin to curiosity and apprehension. A product of some strange experiment, or something far more sinister? Her durability was definitely not normal... Only time would tell what she would become...

Remembering where he was, he got wearily to his feet. "Come on now," he nudged her with her nose, trying to make the mood lighter despite the grimness of the reality, what with the fried Altered nearby serving as a blatant reminder. He set his pack on the ground gesturing for her to get in. "Sit tight. Uncle Jarek's gonna get you outta here, alright?"

He had to try to reach the surface, to see if the Altered still held sway, though he was already pretty well convinvced they were... and to escape out into a different world.

"That's right. Yer name's Glass. Gluh- aass." he smiled, a odd warmth filling him, then gently lifted her into the bag, strapping her in securely. "Don't touch them things." he warned, glancing at the grenades that also took up the confines of the pack.

He may not have ever been a parent, nor could he remember his clearly, and he was not the most "safe" oriented wolf, but even he realized that having a baby around explosives (albeit, explosives that were unlikely to go off if you didn't know what notch to click with a fang,) was probably not the safest bet.

But judging by the Altered still twitching as electricity coursed through its dead body, it was better to have them and not need them, then to need them and not have them.

He opened the pack once more, glancing at his little passenger. "I'm serious now, Glass. Do. Not. Touch them." he made his face grow stormy, to better influence the order. "You touch 'em wrong, they get mad, and beep, then go BOOM. So you keep that nose and them paws clear." that being said, he set the lid back down.

Sidling it back up on his shoulders, he proceeded to the door. A solid few minutes of hacking opened it and he quickly trotted through as they slid back behind him, leaving him in total darkness.

That in itself was not a good sign. The fact that the power grid had apparently been completely knocked offline was a huge red flag. Cautiously a series of lights flared on his arm, illuminating the path. What he saw made his fear complete. The thick, almost skin like spread of Corruption had penetrated even here, in the bowels of the city. Going to the surface would be pointless. The Altered had won.

He glanced back at the bunker that had kept them safe all these years and felt some pity. It had apparently been luck that had awakened them in time before the Corruption had penetrated their safe haven. There was nothing he could do for the sleeping humans except pray the door would hold...

At least there were no Altered he could smell, though that would be difficult with the strange musty scent of Corruption all around. He heard a faint rustle and giggle, and turned his head sharply. "Hey now, lay quiet. Don't make a sound."

He made his way down the now dingy metal halls of the underways, following his inner sense in hope it would lead him out to something...

oOo

They had been traveling for awhile when he suddenly realized two things. One, the hallways had started to branch out less and less and begun to slope back upwards, and two, the smell of the corruption and sights of the sickly, skin like creep had all but vanished. Renewed hope filled him as he found a tall, ancient looking stairway leading upwards. He trotted upwards till it seemed even his trained body would give out when suddenly he was confronted with a small room and a metal door. But even more then that, he caught a whiff of fresh air

There was no panel to access; this one last barrier blocked his way to freedom after a nigthmare of traveling in underground tunnels, never knowing if he would run into an Altered or some other horror in the cavernous, twisted metal darkness.

Like hell it was going to stop him.

"Hold tight Glass. Plug your ears." The markings of the mainframe below his skin flared with orange-light now tinted red as he used his last reserves that had been slowly powering from his body heat.

He charge the door, slamming it full on with his head- He felt nothing, like a tank as the metal burst before him, screeching and crashing noisily from its hinges.

He immediately turned off the charge and hissed as pain flooded his body. Berserker had its benefits, but it sure sucked when it was gone...

The metal shack stood alone alongside a small industrial complex, the ground cracked and dry but mercifully free of Corruption; in the distant he could see the ruined city, now dark and silent under the night sky. It appeared by fate or luck alone, he had found a service tunnel safely coming out far from the outskirts.

They were free.

So much had happened as emotion which he had shoved aside ever since he had found this small ball of fur rolled up in the base of a tree, since he had gone from suicidal, to such willful desire to survive...

He was exhausted beyond measure, hungry and depleted, filled with a malestrom of feelings of bitterness, releif, pain and too many others to name but he was outside and at least here, there was a chance.

They were free.

With his last bit of energy, he trotted out from the shack and into the main courtyard, set down and opened the pack so she could experience this moment with him. He had done it. He had gotten her and himself out of the city he had thought was to be his grave. It was a miracle.

"Look button. Its the sky." It seemed far too simple a phrase, and she seemed to young to fully understand its implications for this moment, this mood. But somehow he hoped she would understand. "We made it. Were free."

Without even realizing it he had curled up around the pack and was already nearly asleep. Before sleep took him however he realized two things once more.

His job was not over. They may have escaped the nightmare of the city, but survival was still not done. It might be even harsher out here then he could imagine. And two, they were still two odd-ball wolves in the middle of a strange new world held under the sway of a man-made apocalypse gone wrong. Things looked grim, but not even these thoughts could extinguish the flame of hope and determination to do everything in his power to ensure her survival.

Orange eyes glanced at the little furred head peeking from the pack, so suddenly this task had dropped into his lap, so soon. But he knew the burning in his chest. He loved her. As soon as he had seen her frail little form still so trusting after all she had suffered, still so frail, yet so strong he had. He would protect her with his life.

Yeah, the open world up here probably sucked now. But he welcomed it anyway. He would face it head on.

He thought he was dreaming for a moment as he felt the afternoon sun making his circuitry thrum enthusiastically but no- The events from the night before came rushing back. That, and something fuzzy appeared to be blocking his nose. He moved to brush it away when he saw it to be little Glass burrowed closely into his neck fur.

Tenderly he m,oved out from ehr so as not to disturb her sleeping and stretched, surveying their surroundings. The station was badly damaged from exposure to the weather and lack of care. The courtyard was devoid of any green life, not even weeds, and the soil was dry and cracked.

A rumbling in his stomach reminded him he hadn't eaten in...years, so to speak. He had a small stash of ration packs in his bag, but it would at most last them a few days, even less without water...

They would have to move and pray that they reached some source of water; he was half a mind to go back down the tunnel when the thought of how the Corruption had eroded the sweage ways; probably any water sources there were contaminated by now...

He nudged the little pup with his nose, feeling the hit roll of the black top, stifling, but also in someway comforting. "Up and at 'em, champ."

They had been traveling for quite a bit when he heard her fall and he turned. A loud grumble came from her stomach and he frowned. He had to remember she was just a kid, not conditioned as he had been, though he was getting pretty hungry...

"I'll carry you. Here, eat this..." he dragged out a small container and ripped the foil open. Rations weren't particularly tasty, but they were filled with nutrients at least.

When she had finished eating, he edged her into his pack, setting her in the straps loosely. He finished whatever she had not been able to eat and turned towards the south, the sun setting on his right.

There was nothing but empty wilderness before him... But despite the humans attempt to shield information of their whereabouts, he knew there was a subservient R.C.A somewhere to the South... with luck, he might be able to find it.

Praying to whatever deity watched over the wulven-kind, he went off at a steady gait into the unknown.

oOo

Four days he had been traveling, and he was running out. He could feel his muscles groaning from the relentless use. His food supplies was running low; he had been abstaining from it in order to preserve the little pup, but it was starting to affect him...

Then as if out of nowhere, he found it.

A dust storm had been blowing up nearly blinding him and he was beginning to despair, when suddenly he nearly collided with a twisted scrap of metal. Excited, he pushed past it till he found the ruins of a road and some great ominous looking wall of steel like some huge beast rising from the dust storm's sandy view.

He managed to find a old sewer grate on the outside and tore it open with his fangs before leaping down into the stench y darkness.

Out of the storm, he tried to cough the dirt from his lungs, setting the lights on his arm on. "You alright, Glass? Uncle Jarek found someplace to stay..." he wheezed, looking about. The water had long since dried up, but the hieous smell was still prevalent. Overhead the winds shrieked and he pressed a little further into the darkness, towards the city...

Glass stayed quiet in the bag this time. The darkness scared here. Never in the lab had it ever been so dark. She whimpered once but stopped herself. Changing her attention to a small metal thing she began playing with it within the carrying bag.

Whenever they would stop once Jarek lets her out he might be taken back. Blood covered the white fur on her head as the bullet scar would be split open and her playing with the object. Also both horns would have broken skin and be little sharp points above her eyes.

A loud bang awoke Rail. His eyes shot open and he jumped back. "What was that?" He asked quickly. The white bird flew threw the air to the area the noise came from. A form stood up and ran not noticing the bird. Rail was to high up and couldn't make out what it was. He turned to leave the small room and went to the halls to make his way down a few floors.

Colt snapped at the tail of the running wolf seeing he wasn't altered and therefore pinning him as safe. The bird didn't have enough of a mind to think of the dangers this could cause. It flew a little higher than the wolfs head and fallowed them. It attempted to lead them to the lower parts of the building it knew so well.

Finally reaching the second floor he smashed in a door and went to the window. His eyes searched trying to find the escaping form but he couldn't locate it. He reached down the mental link to Colt and placed the order to come back in it's head.

With a loud squawk the bird made a quick turn and flew up the side of the building. It perched on the window's ledge and twerked its head at Rail.

Rail still unable to see what Colt was looking towards glanced out at the roads. Many altered were pounding down the road in the direction of the manhole. Maybe the fleeing form would be safe and they would not come this way. Rail lowered himself to the ground and slowly moved to the door. Any movement could trigger a corrupted and send the whole group this way.

Making it to the stairway he peaked through the human things (couches, fridges, tables) trying to see if something had come into the building.

Colt stayed on the outside of the building for a moment while Rail moved away but quickly went to investigate the sound once more with the other altered. Even though Rail controlled his mind most the time he still had urges to join the other altered.

Rail had finally worked up the guts to go to the first floor. With Colt's scent on him as long as he stayed a good distance away the Altered wouldn't bother with him. Just as he poked him head through a small opening and came nose to nose with a large male creature. At first whiff it seemed like a normal unaltered but Rail quickly pulled his head back and fled back up stairs whimpering and tail tucked between his legs.