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It was noon the next day and the sun beat down upon Jacob's back mercilessly as he toiled at the trench. He didn't recognize the human on watch today, a young dark fellow who left his rifle leaning against the dugout wall instead of holding it like the others, so Jacob thought he could risk quiet conversation. "Joshua, do they keep females in the Pound with us?" he whispered.

The German shepherd shook his head. "They stay at the Warden's place. Probably to prevent... the kind of thing that happened last night. They work as house-servants."

Jacob had thought as much. "How much free reign do you think they get?"

Joshua was silent as he shoveled for a few moments, thinking. "A lot more than you or I at any rate. I know there's a bitch in there pregnant with Sam's child." the shepherd nodded towards the malamute Jacob had seen yesterday. "I've only seen her a couple times since..."

Jacob didn't ask since what, but continued to think as he dug. The morphs had made some headway with the trench since the day he had been set to work, they were now nearly to the next dugout. Jacob was idly wondering what they would be set to next after completing the trench when he heard the yell of "Water!" behind him.

He dropped his shovel like the rest and formed a line before man carrying the water jug, who Jacob noticed to be that John fellow. He waited in line patiently and he finally got a chance to get a good look at the man. He looked surprisingly younger without his leather armor and a rifle in his hands, for he now wore a simple worn gray shirt that stood against the shock of auburn hair that sat on his head and covered his chin in a goatee. Not a day over 25 Jacob guessed. When Jacob reached him at last, John looked around furtively before pouring water into the tin cup, filling it to the brim. "I'm not supposed to give you this." he whispered as he handed it to Jacob.

Jacob eyed John over the tin cup as he drank, perhaps this guy could help him. "A female morph was raped last night by four guards." he said quietly.

"What?" John looked stunned. "But... we're taught never to touch you, they say you're filth... why would they..."

"I heard her screaming for four hours last night, right next to my cell. We need help." Jacob said as he turned to go back to his work, he couldn't chance the guards getting too interested.

It was only after a long minute of standing and staring at Jacob's back before he returned to the Fort, leaving Jacob deep in thought as he shoveled away. He wondered if he could get John to blackmail those guards to get them to help in some way, remembering what Joshua had said about the Warden trying to prevent the female morphs from getting raped by his men. Jacob shook his head, that wouldn't work, the four of them would just beat John to a pulp. Still though, John could potentially prove to be a useful set of hands outside the Pound. Jacob thought long and hard, and by the time they were told to drop their shovels he thought he might have the beginnings of a plan.

After their shared meal of cold and overly-viscous porridge after sunset Jacob and Joshua sat together at the division of their cells as had become habit. "Do you think he'd keep his promise?" Jacob asked Joshua after explaining to him what the Warden had offered him the previous day.

"Hard to say..." Joshua replied. "On one hand of course he hates morphs and won't want to give you shit. On the other, he might want to show that good behavior is rewarded... Why do you ask though? I thought you said you had nothing to do with the NCR."

"I don't." Jacob said. "But the Warden seems determined to see that I do."

Comprehension dawned on Joshua's face, followed by a wide smile, and then a frown. "I'd hate to see you go..."

Jacob leaned closer to Joshua, even though the guard at the end of the hall probably couldn't hear them anyway or more likely asleep. "I'd be doing it to get us out of here." he whispered. "I think I might have a plan to get us out of here."The shepherd perked his ears and leaned close.

"There's a set of lockpicks and a stiletto in my boots, if I get them back and they're still in there I might be able to pop the door to that room and get into the tunnel you mentioned." Jacob said.

"How would that get the rest of us out?"

"For that we'd need outside help, and I think I know someone who just might help us. Remember that fellow who brought up the water today? He seems pretty disgusted with what goes on around here."

"Even if he sympathizes with us, he might not want to risk his neck."

Jacob nodded grimly. "Yeah. I know. But it's all I got." he said. "If we could set up a diversion somehow, it might give him enough time to break you guys out and run here and escape through the tunnel."

"It might, but it might not give you enough time to pick those locks." Joshua said and was silent for a few moments while he thought. "You asked about the girls earlier today, maybe they could get you the keys... But this all hinges on that human fellow. You have to get a hold of him somehow."

"We would have to wait until we could get him away from the others, at least for a few moments to ask him to come here at night." Jacob thought aloud.

"That might take a few days. I suppose that might be for the better though, it would look odd to go to the Warden after resisting so hard just yesterday." Joshua said and then laughed quietly. "Even if this whole plan is ridiculously far-fetched, it feels good to have hope again. We haven't had any hope in a long time."

Jacob nodded and they said their goodnights before curling up to sleep. "We"... Jacob wondered how many morphs he'd be willing to leave behind to save his own hide, or if he could leave behind Joshua, the only friend he'd had since Daniel. He wondered how much of a soul he'd have left if he did.

Joshua was indeed right, it took several days before John showed up again, during which the prisoners had worked on the trench to the point where only about third remained. As Jacob and Joshua were led to the trench by some unfamiliar guard he noticed that John was on watch duty, this was his chance. As he picked up his shovel once more he tried to think of a way to get the man away from the other couple of lookouts he shared his dugout with, Jacob couldn't simply walk up to him with the lookouts there. Then an idea struck him.

"Let's see if we can get him to come over here if we give him reason to discipline us. Start talking loudly." Jacob said to Joshua, who nodded. They struck up a conversation much louder than they were normally allowed, while Jacob shot John meaningful looks over his shoulder. At first John simply appeared to be confused, and then, throwing a look at the lookouts behind him, stepped out of the dugout and towards Jacob. The lookouts didn't even look up from their game of cards.

"We need help, John." Jacob said quietly as John stepped up behind him. "I saw your face when Twitch beat me, and when I told you about the girl."

"Look. I don't like what they're doing here, but how could I possibly help you?" John whispered furtively, shooting glances back over his shoulder.

"We have a plan to escape. But it depends on your help." Jacob said calmly as he continued to shovel the dry earth.

"And what if I'm caught?"

Now Joshua spoke, "John, you're our only hope. Do you really want to see this suffering continue?"

When John stood there, his jaw working as he thought of something to say, Jacob continued, "We're not asking you to get caught, or come with us. If you want to help us, get to our cells in the Pound tonight, we'll tell you our plan then."

"Fine. I'll hear you out, but no promises!" And with that John turned and stepped back into the nearby dugout.

When night came Jacob sat in his cell near Joshua, wondering when John would show up, if at all. It had been about an hour since the guards had locked them in their cells when he heard the doors open at the end of the hall quietly. He perked his ears and listened, but the voice he heard did not belong to John, instead it seemed to be Chief again, and there were others with him. He couldn't make out their voices, but they went quiet as they approached. The clanging of iron echoed through the re-purposed offices, signaling the opening of one of the cells.

Five figures appeared around the corner before Jacob and Joshua, one was searching along the wall for a light-switch. He must have found it, for the fluorescent lights above Jacob's head struggled to life and continued to flicker, obviously not having been used in a very long time. Before his cell stood Chief, accompanied by two other guards, among them stood the captured feline girl and a feline male beside her. The girl had a tabby coat, mostly brown with black stripes, which still looked rather full and healthy, she even had her clothes still, even though they were torn in place. The male on the other hand had a thin and shaggy dark gray coat, telling of his treatment at the hands of the humans of the Fort.

"Out, wolf." Chief said as he unlocked Jacob's cell. "These two need it tonight."

"You could at least give them some privacy you monsters." Joshua growled suddenly. "Let them have the room next door."

"No can do, we need to see it happen, Warden's orders." Chief stated. "Now up, wolf. Don't make me drag you out."

Jacob scowled and stood. He walked out the cell door and through into Joshua's after one of the other guards had unlocked it, he sat down by the shepherd as the door was closed and locked again behind him. The felines stepped into the cell together and the door was shut behind them and they stood facing each other awkwardly.

"I'm sorry about this." the male said quietly. "What's your name? I'm Nathan."

"Get on with it." Chief growled abruptly.

"Samantha." the girl replied quietly. "I'm sorry too... just... please, be gentle."

Jacob turned away like Joshua, disgusted with the humans and wanting to pay the felines some respect. Again like Joshua he covered his ears to the grunts and moans behind him, but a slight flicker of movement on the edge of his vision caught his eye. He turned his head to see a figure outside the window staring in at the spectacle behind Jacob with mouth agape in shock; with a jolt the wolf realized that it was in fact John, he had come after all. John tore his eyes away from the copulating felines and slowly and silently mouthed to Jacob, "I will help you. Tomorrow night."

The next night Jacob waited in his cell for John to arrive. It was late, so late that moonlight no longer filtered into the room, making it difficult for him to see even with his good night vision. So instead he strained his ears, waiting for some sound to indicate John's presence, and when he heard a creaking at the window his heart began to pound in his chest. The wood of the window frame creaked agonizingly loudly before it popped open slightly, and a hand slowly pushed it up and a crowbar wielding John clambered through the small opening.

Jacob and Joshua stood and padded to the front of their cells quietly as John slid the window shut. "Thank you." Joshua whispered.

"Thank me after you're all out of here." John whispered back, glancing surreptitiously to the lit room at the end of the hall where the guard sat around the corner. "Now what's your mad plan?"

"I plan to turn myself in to the Warden, where I might be able to access a tunnel that leads from his office and out of the Fort. I figure if we can get a big enough distraction going, you might be able to spring the rest of the people here and I could help you slip into the tunnel and out." Jacob explained.

"How am I going to cause a distraction that big? And I don't plan on hurting anyone!"

"I'm not asking you to." Jacob thought for a moment. "I assume that this place has some sort of fuel dump? If you can rig it to go up somehow, you can be waiting to get these people out. Do you have guard duty here any time soon?"

"In a week, I think." John said after thinking for a moment. "But how am I going to rig it? And how are you going to get out of the Warden's place?"

"The girls are kept there, they might be able to get me the keys I need. If not, I have a set of lockpicks hidden in my boots, we just have to hope I'm not too rusty. As for the distraction... look in the Fort's armory, maybe you can find a small time-delay explosive."

"The armory is always heavily guarded..." John began to say.

"Look, if you can do it without breaking into the armory then do it." Jacob retorted. "I don't care how you set it up, but you have to be here when it goes off so you can unlock the cells before anyone shows up."

"Then you can go back to help put out the fire, Jacob can lead us to the tunnel. No one will notice you being a little late." Joshua said.

John seemed to think things over as he looked at one morph and then the other, and then thrust his hand through the bars at Jacob. Jacob eyed the man's hand, he hated relying on others, but he had no choice here. He grasped John's hand with his paw and shook it. "I'll turn myself into the Warden tomorrow." he said. "Will you be able to get ahold of me while I'm there? We'll need to make sure we're all on the same page.

"I think so." John replied. "I should get out of here now." Jacob nodded and the man turned back to the window and slid it open and clambered out again. "Good luck." he whispered through before sliding it shut.

"Wolf! Get back on your feet!" Sarah yelled from the dugout after Jacob fell over in mock exhaustion under the assault of the midday sun. There was a crunching of boots on dirt as she approached where he lay, followed by a smart kick to his side. "Get up!"

"I want to see the Warden." Jacob croaked as he looked up at her.

She stared back down at him with a shrewd face for several long moments before finally speaking, "Fine. Now get up, you either walk yourself or you go back to work." she turned to the men in the dugout as Jacob struggled to his feet. "Keep an eye on the animals, I have to take this one to the Warden." And with that she led Jacob along the ridge and down the path and to the Warden's residence. They passed the woman in the flowery pink dress he had seen his first time here and went straight to the door of the Warden's office, which Sarah pushed him through. "He wanted to see you." she explained as the Warden turned to them. "I expect he's had enough." she added with a smirk.

"Well, well, well, finally seen the error of your ways have you?" the Warden said with a smile. "Now, let's hear it."

"You were right." Jacob spat in a reluctant voice as he began to recite the story he had planned. "I was a forward lookout for the scouting party behind me. I was put in disguise to avoid drawing attention to myself and was supposed to contact them every 48 hours so they could confirm my safety and that the way was clear."

The Warden wore a triumphant expression on his face, obviously pleased that his hypothesis had been correct. "And your mission?"

Jacob was relieved that the Warden hadn't asked why he hadn't been carrying a radio, he probably wanted to believe his own conjecture so much that he didn't think it could be wrong. "To scout a second route to New Vegas." he said stonily.

The Warden nodded slowly, kneading his chin in thought. "What will the scouting party have done after your failure to contact them?"

"They probably searched for me, they might be still." the Warden's face darkened. "But orders were to continue, minimal losses were deemed acceptable." Jacob added.

The Warden frowned. "We would have seen them, we've been patrolling the highway and the countryside constantly."

"NCR Rangers are very resourceful." Jacob said with a snarl of mock indignation.

"Yes... they could have slipped through at night, especially considering your night vision..." the Warden said, more to himself than to Jacob. Then he looked at the wolf pointedly. "Now, what to do with you..."

"I gave you what you wanted." Jacob growled angrily, balling his fists.

"This is true, you did show good behavior, and the Warden rewards good behavior. I'll have your possessions returned to you, although, you must understand that, despite our considerable stockpile, weapons are always needed." the Warden said as he indicated the wall behind him. Jacob looked up to see his prized M4 carbine resting in brackets attached to the wall, and then as the Warden patted something on his desk he saw his father's 10mm resting under the evil man's hand. "Otherwise, everything else is yours. And I must also insist that if you are to be residing here, that you will have to be cleaned up." the Warden wrinkled his nose as he said this. "Sarah, see to it that the wolf here is given the opportunity to clean himself and that he is given back his possessions and taken to his quarters."

"Yes Sir." Sarah said unhappily. "This way, wolf." she commanded without lowering her rifle. As he followed her out he noted the two dead-bolt locks on the door, there was no way he could knock it down or pick it in a hurry. He followed her to a small bath on the first floor where she waited outside, a scowl on her face. He stepped into the small shower set into the wall and turned the handle and blessedly cool water washed over his fur, probably piped in from some stream in the desert somewhere. The water that ran off his fur was muddy brown as the dust and dirt was washed away, leaving him feeling cleaner than he had since beginning his long journey through the Mojave. Once he had thoroughly cleaned himself he shut off the water and dried himself as best he could, still not able to work the dampness out of his fur. God it felt good to be clean though.

Sarah wrinkled her nose in disgust before saying, "This way." She led him up the stairs and past a bored looking guard who sat in a rickety chair facing down the hall and to the room with flowery peeling wallpaper he had seen days ago. All of his things were laid out as they had been. "The Warden said you are permitted to move about this floor, except the girl's room at the end, said if you touch them you'll go back to the Pound. Your first work starts tomorrow." Sarah said as Jacob went to the bed and picked up his rugged black cargo pants, cleaner now than it had been in ages. "He must be pretty pleased with himself to let an animal like you wander about. Mark my words though, I'll be keeping an eye on you." And with that she left, slamming the door behind her.

Jacob pulled on his pants and shirt, glad to be clothed once more, and then immediately went to his boots. He pulled out the insole and grinned triumphantly as he saw his picks and knife sitting in the niches he had cut out for them. He replaced the insoles and pulled them over his feet, feeling much more confident as he laced them up firmly. He smiled as he picked up his worn yet rugged duster, checking its pockets, which indeed held everything that should be there. He checked his bag as well, finding the only things missing were his water, food rations, and spare ammunition. This was much better than he had expected, he was sure the Warden's men would have rifled through it and stolen most of it.

Jacob left his duster on the bed, deciding he didn't need it indoors, and stepped out into the hall, very pleased with the soft thumps his boots made against the wooden floor. The guard at the top of the stairs didn't even look up from his copy of "Milsurp Review" as Jacob strode across the hall and into a room that sat opposite across his. He smirked as he surveyed the room. Against the wall stood an old sofa, before it a long low table with a couple of chairs to the side, and against the opposite wall stood a big old fashioned radio. He was pleasantly surprised when he turned the dial and one of his old favorites began to play through the scratchy old speakers.

He went to the window which was set behind a row of iron bars like that in his room. He did manage to open the window however to air out the stuffy room and stared out over the compound, quite pleased with himself. He felt a twinge of guilt at the thought of Joshua working hard up at the trench, but he'd have his freedom in a week's time. "If he doesn't slow me down, that is." Jacob thought bitterly. In the end, Jacob thought, no matter how much you care about someone, your own survival came first. That mantra was what had kept Jacob alive over the years.

There was a quiet "Oh!" behind him and he turned to see the husky girl that Joshua had mentioned, and if he hadn't said she was pregnant he wouldn't have been able to tell. It must have been recent. Her fur was a healthy white and black and wore a simple white dress and she had a lovely hourglass figure; Jacob hated to think how many human males had forced themselves upon her. "I'm sorry, I didn't know they had brought you up." she said.

"It's alright." Jacob said. "Is Samantha here?"

"Oh yes, I'll go get her, poor thing. My name is Anna by the way." she said before hurrying down the hall. She was gone less than a minute before she returned with Samantha. The cat's clothes were no longer torn, replaced with a tanktop and shorts, but she seemed quite timid and fragile from her recent experience.

Jacob stuck his head out the door and thankfully the guard was still engrossed in his magazine, so he closed the door behind the girls quietly. They had sat together on the couch against the wall and Jacob sat in the chair nearest them, leaving the radio on to mask their conversation. "My name's Jacob. I think I might have a way out of here." he said quietly.

Samantha's head snapped up immediately. "Really? Please, tell me we can escape!" she cried.

"Quiet!" Jacob snapped in a hushed voice. "Do you want the guard to hear?" When the girls sat quiet he went on to explain his plan to them. "So, do you think you can get the keys for the Warden's office and the trapdoor?"

"Possibly." Anna said. "I do clean his quarters, and I might find a key there, although I suspect that he might keep the trapdoor key in his desk."

"You're probably right." Jacob nodded. "That means all you need to get is the key to the office door." he said and stood. "I should probably leave before the guard comes in here." With that he opened the door quietly and stepped back across the hall to his room. He left the door agape and opened the window in hopes of letting in a breeze before laying down on the moth-eaten sheets of his bed. With luck Anna would be able to get the key and John would be able to set up a distraction, with luck all the enslaved morphs would be able to escape. Luck. Jacob didn't believe in luck.

Two days passed before Jacob saw John again, two days he spent unloading trucks and other such tasks. When he was led back to the upper floor of the Warden's residence in the evening the guard at the top of the stairs whispered his name and Jacob turned to see John sitting there, a grin on his face. John nodded to Jacob's room and followed the wolf through the doorway. John closed the door behind them as Jacob lit the oil lamp that sat on the table, casting dancing shadows on the walls.

"So, how's the distraction coming?" Jacob asked John quietly as they sank into the two chairs by the table.

"Surprisingly good actually. Don't ask me how I got past the guards, that was scary as all hell. But anyway, I did manage to find enough explosives to just set up the fuel tanks at the back of the compound but not do any more damage than that, and I did manage to rig them with a time device." John replied, his face full of dancing shadow. "I just have to rig them to the tanks."

"Excellent. When exactly will you be on guard duty? And when will the explosives go off?"

"Five days from now, on Sunday night, 3 AM. Everyone will be asleep and the guard is at it's lightest then." John said and then sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this. If I get caught they'll probably kill me."

"If you get caught you come with us." Jacob said simply and then added, "And I'm going to have to ask you another favor."

"And what's that?" John asked guardedly.

"The Warden has my rifle in his office. If we all get out we'll need a weapon if we're going to have a chance at survival in the wastes. I can grab it when I'm in his office, but I'll need ammunition."

John swore quietly and was silent for several moments before speaking, "M4 right? 5.56?" Jacob nodded. "Alright, but you owe me." John said and stood.

"One more thing: you'll have to break into the Pound again and tell Joshua, the German shepherd in the cell next to mine, about when this is all going down." Jacob said.

John nodded. "Shouldn't be too hard, compared to breaking into the armory anyway." he said and with that opened the door and stepped back into the hall, closing the door quietly behind him.

Jacob sighed and slumped in his chair. He hated owing people.

Each day Jacob waited he carefully scanned the encampment, whether he was working or through the upstairs window, memorizing the layout of the buildings and guard positions and their sight lines. He figured that the best way to go would actually be under the scaffolding that the men guarding the walls stood upon, it would put them out of their view and they would be behind buildings most of the way, concealing them from the people rushing to put out the fire at the other side of the Fort. The nights he spent double and triple checking his gear, making sure everything was ready to move.

Two days after Jacob's last encounter with John he was sitting by the table in his room, sewing back together some of the small tears in his duster by the lamp's dancing light, when there was a knock on the door. He stood as the door opened and found John standing in the doorway with a small sack in one hand. John shoved the sack into his paws without a word and disappeared from his room before Jacob could ask how he'd gotten past the guard at the stairs.

Jacob closed the door as quietly as he could, gritting his teeth as it creaked loudly, and sat on his bed and peered down into the bag, finding about six or seven rectangular packages wrapped in coarse fabric. He pulled one out and pulled the wrappings away to reveal a standard 30 round magazine, no doubt John had wrapped them to keep their metal from making unwanted noise. Jacob inspected the magazines by the lamp, turning them over in his paws, they looked brand new, probably in storage since the War, untouched. He looked over the magazines he had set on the table. 180 rounds, enough to last him to New Vegas as long as he didn't get into any protracted firefights. He sat back down and took one of the magazines in his paws and began to pull out the rounds one by one, setting them down on the wooden table noiselessly. He would spend the night unloading and reloading them to wake sure they were in working order.

Two days later Jacob was woken by the sound of muffled yelling almost directly under him in the early morning. He slid off his bed and to the floor, careful not to make a sound, and pressed an ear against the knotted wood. "I can't believe this!" that was the Warden's voice, yelling in a rage. "I can't believe you fools are so incompetent that you let someone right into our armory, right in the middle of the Fort!" Jacob's insides turned icy cold, had John been caught? "What's missing?" the Warden snapped after a few moments.

"Um, uh... we think one of our mortar tubes and some ammunition are missing, Sir." a feeble voice answered tentatively.

"A MORTAR? YOU LET A MORTAR WALK OUT THE DOOR?" the Warden thundered. When the other man tried to sputter out a reply the Warden roared, "GET OUT!" A door slammed a moment later.

Jacob sat up, deep in thought. From the sound of it the thief hadn't been caught, if he had the Warden wouldn't be chewing out a guard like that. He wondered how John could get a mortar to fire on a time delay, but he supposed that didn't matter as long as it worked. He spent his day scrubbing the inside of one of the guards' barracks, dreaming up different ways a mortar could be made to fire remotely and found himself appreciating the cleverness that John must possess. In the evening Jacob was sitting in the other room, listening to the radio as he lounged on the couch, when Anna stole into the room.

"Here, I managed to find a key in the dresser in his room." she said quietly and handed Jacob a small scratched key as he sat up. "I don't know if it's for his office but it's all I could find..."

"It'll have to do." Jacob said and stuffed the key deep in his pocket. "Listen, when the distraction starts I'll wait a moment for the guard at the stairs to head down, then I'll follow and get into the Warden's office and grab my rifle and open the trapdoor. That's when you come down and I'll send you through and I'll go get the others."

Anna nodded. "I'll tell Samantha to be ready. Thank you, you're saving us all." she said and laid a paw on his shoulder before turning and exiting the room. Jacob sighed under his breath, he was tired of everyone treating him like some kind of hero.

When the sun dipped below the horizon Jacob switched off the radio and went to his room where he laid down on the bed without turning on the oil lamp. He tried to sleep, knowing he'd need it for the next few days which he was certain he'd have little opportunity to get any, but thoughts about what could go wrong kept nagging at his mind, keeping him awake. When he did manage to fall asleep he was plagued by nightmares, making him turn and toss until he woke again.

He sighed as he woke up yet again from another disturbing dream. The moonlight was strong tonight and poured in through the window, making it easy for the wolf to see. "This time tomorrow, I'll be free." he thought to himself after checking his watch, its hands reading a little after 3 o' clock. He rested his head back onto his pillow and stared up at the ceiling, listening to quiet creaking of the old wooden building.

Jacob perked his ears suddenly as they caught a very faint noise, barely audible. He froze and held his breath. There it was again, a soft "thump", and several seconds that another "thump". He sat completely still as the noise sounded from somewhere in the desert: "Thump". "Thump". "Thump." Then complete silence.