England
#2 of Lupine Assassin
"Now unloading British Airways flight 822..."
A tall wolf decked in black jeans and a black Rammstein t-shirt walked out of the docking passageway. He had a mid-sized camouflage backpack slung around his shoulder and his shock of neon green headfur shot out in odd angles from his head. Ears perked, he padded slowly past the gate portal and into the main terminal at Heathrow Airport, drawing a few questioning glances from passersby.
Auren sighed and shook his head as he caught the stares of people around him. Even in the current world where about one in four citizens were anthros, people still looked at him as though he was a freak of nature. With a shrug he increased his pace and followed the signs to baggage claims.
After waiting about ten minutes for the baggage to finally come out on the conveyor belt, Auren left with two rolling pieces of luggage, a handle in each paw. Padding slowly out of the terminal, tail swaying slowly behind him, he made his way to the long-term parking garage and fished out a keychain from his left pocket. Thumbing the unlock button on the keychain, he followed the double-chirp of the alarm until he stood in front of a jet black Lotus Carlton. He unlocked the trunk first and placed his luggage inside before slamming the trunk shut and making his way around the left side of the car and almost opening the door before remembering that he was in England. "Shit..." he said with a grin as he shook his head at his own absentminded action before he made his way over to the right side of the car and slipped inside.
The wolf smiled as he ran a paw over dashboard, letting his fingers trail over every nook and crevice as he half-closed his eyes, remembering the last time he'd enjoyed driving this car. He inserted the key into the ignition and was about to turn it when his cell phone started buzzing.
"Fuck," Auren breathed out as he turned to the passenger seat and fumbled around with his backpack until he found it and flipped it open quickly, pressing the receiver to his ear. "Yeah, what's up?" he asked before he heard the voice on the other end. "Auren? This is Alistair, are you on a secure line?"
Auren nodded his head, regardless of the fact that Alistair couldn't see him. "Yeah, I'm on my cell, where do you want to meet?" he asked.
"I'm at the hotel we'll be staying at 'til this whole shitty mess is cleaned up," was the reply. "I'll send you directions to it right now." Auren blinked as he heard a soft *click* as the call was disconnected, then quirked his brow as he received the directions almost instantaneously. Perking his ears, he twisted the keys in the ignition, smiling as the Lotus's smooth 6-cylinder engine purred to life before he slipped the transmission into 1st and drove out of the parking garage.
Twenty minutes later Auren stepped out of the Lotus and looked up at the gigantic hotel that stood before him. "Hell, Alistair wasn't kidding when he told me to expect good accommodations," he murmured to himself as he yanked his luggage out of the trunk and padded swiftly up to the lobby.
After receiving a few dark looks, and returning them happily, Auren checked into a room and, moments later, stood in the middle of it. The wolf rolled his luggage against one wall and flopped backwards onto the king-size bed in the room, staring at the ceiling for a moment before he groped around for his cell phone and sent a quick message to Alistair.
Five minutes later there was a quick rap on the door before it was opened and an arctic fox slipped inside the room and locked the door behind him. He stood about 5'7'' tall and, from the way his khaki slacks and maroon polo shirt hung, had a very lithe build. The fox's fur wasn't the reddish-orange of most foxes. Rather, it was a silverish hue that accented his neatly trimmed, shoulder-length black headfur perfectly.
"Alistair, been quite a while," Auren said as he stood up and padded over to the short fox, giving him a quick embrace. "So, what was the big rush in me getting out here?" the wolf asked before sitting back down on the bed.
Alistair shrugged off the backpack he had slung over his shoulder onto the bed beside Auren and unzipped it quickly, pulling a few manila folders and handing them to the wolf. "A few days ago we had heard reports that the terrorist group AUA might be planning a raid on the British Parliament," the fox said as he pointed to one folder. "That explains the Anthro Unified Alliance if you haven't heard of them. They're not too highly known outside of Britain, but they're a wide underground group of anthros who aren't happy with the status-quo and are working for general mayhem against the government. Anyways, we didn't know when it was going to happen, we had only preliminary verdicts stating somewhere around this week, hence why we asked you to come out."
Alistair paced around the room slowly before he sighed. "The problem is they decided to launch their plan today. A few hours ago they infiltrated Parliament and sealed off all exits and, as far as we know, are trying to set up a live video feed inside for some kind of broadcast. What makes it worse is that we have no idea whether they want this to be a ransom bid, an execution tape, or something else...which severely limits our planning process beyond slipping in somehow and killing them all with limited to no casualties," the fox said as he scratched his head and glanced at Auren. "And that...is where you come in."
The wolf nodded his head slowly as he flipped through the folders quickly, skimming information before slapping them down on the bed. "Yeah, you want me to go in and clean this shit up so that you and MI5 don't get blamed if something goes wrong, such as the very likely chance a parliamentary member is killed," he said with a wry grin. "Sounds like an excellent opportunity to fuck my reputation up."
Auren closed his eyes and ran his paws over them before he yawned, the jetlag somewhat evident. "Ok, first off, I want blueprints of the building. Get them sent to my Palm Pilot as soon as you can. I've only brought my Heckler and Koch Mark Twenty-Three's with me, I didn't want to risk too much on the flight out, so is there any way I can get you to loan me an SA-80 and ten or fifteen clips, that should work," he said as he brushed a few strands of headfur out of his eyes, tucking it behind one ear before glancing at the grey fox. "Think that's manageable in the timeframe?"
Alistair nodded and started padding towards the door. "I'll make a few calls and come back with my SA-80, I think you'll find it much more suited for this kind of work than any normal one you'd find in the military," he said briskly before silently leaving. Auren kept his eyes glued to the fox's rump until the door was shut before shaking his head and raising a paw to smack his face. Get your mind off that, fucker...
Auren hopped off the bed and quickly unzipped both suitcases, digging through them furiously as he threw his clothes onto the bed in front of him and placed the plastic case containing his pistols on the floor next to his footpaws. He stripped off all his clothes except for his boxers and kicked them into the corner before he slipped into the black cargo pants he'd made himself to hold everything he could ever want. The wolf zipped them up and slipped on a tight, black t-shirt that showed off his form more than he liked, but was crucial for not getting caught on random objects. With a shrug, he sat down on the bed and yanked on two clean white socks before slipping his footpaws into a pair of boots and lacing them up. He stepped quietly over to the bed and opened up the plastic case and glanced at the two oiled pistols that gleamed up at him from inside. Auren grinned and grabbed all ten clips of ammo that he kept inside and shoved them in various pockets before sliding both pistols into rubber grips within paw's reach on both hips.
He glanced at his watch and was about to pick up his cell to call Alistair when there was a sharp rap on the door before the fox stepped inside. For a moment the vulpine's eyes lingered on Auren's t-shirt and what it contained before shaking his head and placing a suitcase on the bed next to Auren's other pieces of luggage. The wolf glanced at for a moment before he padded over and snapped it open, revealing a dull black SA-80 inside with five clips of ammo. Auren quirked his brow and glanced up at Alistair. "Only five clips?"
The fox nodded slowly. "That's all I ever carry around with me, so you'll have to make do. Just don't go Rambo on us and you should be fine," Alistair said with a smirk as Auren rolled his eyes.
The wolf strapped on a harness around his shoulders first and then reached into the case, removing the gun and checking for the safety first before slipping it into the harness. "Nice fit," Auren said before stuffing the five clips into more pockets and zipping them up, grabbing a trenchcoat from his bag and slipping it on before turning his gaze to the fox. "I look like a leper under this, don't I?"
Alistair snickered and handed the wolf a small chip. "Yes, you do. Here's the blueprint of the building for your Palm Pilot, we already have marked on it where you're going to be entering. Do with them what you will, just make sure none of the Parliament is harmed," he said before perking his ears. "One more thing, we're in the process of getting thermal images taken of Parliament, it's tough trying to work without AUA knowing we're doing it, but when we finally get it done, we'll be able to pinpoint your targets for you."
Auren nodded and gestured towards the door. "Then lets get this over with, no use fucking around," he said as he padded off behind the fox and the duo made their way to Auren's Lotus outside.
The wolf smirked as he tossed the keys to Alistair. "You drive, I think I'd be more of a hindrance with all this shit on me, not to mention my preference for left-hand drive cars," he said with a chuckle as he opened the passenger door and ducked inside before the fox slipped in the driver's side. Fifteen minutes later they were parked outside of Parliament's rear gates.
Auren glanced at the fence and shed his trenchcoat, tossing it in the car before bending his knees and leaping into the air, barely grasping the top bars and holding on with a grunt. Hearing a snicker, he glanced down to see Alistair trying to suppress it. "Fuck off, I'm not nearly as limber as you!" Auren shouted with a smile as he boosted himself up over the top and automatically headed for the door posted on his Palm Pilot, a mere 50 foot stretch from the gate. He tested the lock, and when it didn't come undone the wolf reached into his right holster, pulled out his Mk.23 and fired a round from it, instantly disintegrating the lock with a slight puff from the silencer. "In we go," Auren said quietly as he opened the door and swung it shut behind him as he stepped into a nicely-lit stairwell.
The wolf took a quick glance around before digging in his pocket for his Palm Pilot and turning it on. "I'm here and I need to get here..." he murmured to himself before making a few mental calculations and bounding down the stairwell two steps at a time, the insulated soles in his boots minimizing sound.
After flying down three flights in near-record time Auren stopped in front of a door and eased the handle down slowly before very carefully opening it and peering inside. A few seconds later he heard footsteps and some soft murmuring, so he eased the door shut but stayed in the corner of the stairwell, getting down on one knee as he slipped out one of his pistols and trained it on the door. "Come on...get your asses out here," he whispered to himself.
Seconds later the door was swung back and Auren inhaled as he saw two figures stroll through with a laugh. One was a short, silver otter and the other was a mid-sized colt with glowing brown fur. Auren didn't have time to think and quickly aimed his pistol before pulling the trigger, a slight puff emanating from the weapon before the colt wobbled with a soft grunt as the side of his head cratered with the impact of the .45 caliber round, spattering the closing door and wall with blood and bits of bone fragment.
Auren leapt up from his crouching position and tackled the otter quickly before she even had time to audibly react. With a thud they both fell to the cold concrete floor just before the colt's body did, the sickening splat piercing the relative quiet of the stairwell. The wolf glared into the otter's eyes and forced his paw against one side of her chin and jerked his paw to the side, a wet crack sounding as the otter's neck was efficiently broken. Auren blinked twice as the otter's eyes slowly glazed over, flattening his ears against his head. "I'm sorry..." he murmured quietly as he ran his paw through the otter's headfur slowly.
With a sigh, the wolf picked himself up off the floor and replaced his pistol into the holster on his right hip, stepping over to the door and opening it, sneaking a peek in both directions before slipping easily into the carpeted hallway, his boots muffled better now. Auren flipped open his Palm Pilot and checked the diagram on the small screen before glancing around him for a minute, checking his bearings before padding forward at a quick pace, tossing his still-open Palm Pilot into his left paw as he slipped his right paw onto his pistol and pulled it out of it's holster, keeping it pointed roughly in front of him. "I should be heading this way to the main chamber..." he said quietly to himself as he rounded a corner, large double-doors at the end of it. "Thank you blueprints," he said with a grin as he kissed his Palm Pilot and closed it, slipping it into a pocket.
Auren padded up to the door and leaned against it, flicking one ear to rest on the deep oak as he tightened his eyes, straining to hear anything from the other side. Swaying his tail from side to side out of sheer curiosity, he was just picking up faint, muffled sounds before the insistent buzzing of his cell yanked him out of his semi-trance state of concentration. The wolf quickly darted into a side-corridor and slipped behind a tall potted mini-tree and flipped the cell on, bringing it to one ear with a scowl. "Fuck, what?! I could've just been discovered!" Auren hissed angrily into the receiver, wary to keep his voice low as he kept his eyes peeled for any unwelcome visitors.
"Auren, calm down, I've got good news for you...we finally got the thermals up, use your Palm Pilot to determine where the AUA members are...and hurry, we haven't got too much time. AUA has already hacked into the broadcasts around and are starting to prep whatever it is they're planning," was the hasty reply from Alistair before he hung up, leaving Auren with a click before the monotonous dial-tone emanated from his phone. With a quick glance around once more, Auren whipped out his Palm Pilot and flicked to the program Alistair's chip had installed.
"Nifty lil fucker, you are..." then wolf breathed with a grin, his bad mood instantaneously evaporated as his 3D blueprints now had thermal signatures on every floor, with the highest concentration on the ground floor where Parliamentary members gathered. Auren checked in his immediate vicinity for any signatures and smirked as he saw, not to mention heard, someone coming down adjacent hallway. The wolf dropped to one knee and replaced his Mk.23 in it's holster as he reached over his shoulder and carefully removed Alistair's SA-80 from the harness, flicking off the safety and peering through it's 3x scope at the corner, keeping a digit trained directly over the trigger as he slowed his breathing. "Come on asshole...come to daddy..."
Moments later a tall grizzly draped in ammo rounds lumbered around the corner, a bandana tied tightly around his head, a huge M60 machinegun hanging effortlessly in his enormous left paw. Auren gulped at the sight, his grip becoming slightly unstable on the SA-80 as he wondered if it had enough firepower to take down the giant that stood before him. Fuck this shit.
The wolf scowled and trained the crosshairs between the grizzly's eyes and pulled the trigger quickly, a slightly-muffled series of cracks emanating from the SA-80 as the ursine's skull seemed to crater, stunning the beast for a moment, causing it to wobble and fall against the wall. Auren smiled and stood up from his crouch, about ready to turn away and check his Palm Pilot once more before he was almost deafened by a roar behind him. Turning, his jaw went slack at the sight of the bear, blood dripping freely down it's muzzle as it raised the M60 and aimed it at the wolf. "Motherfucker..." Auren breathed as he moved to dart away, slipping on the carpet in the process as the bear opened fire, bullets whizzing just inches over the lupine's head as he fell to the floor.
Auren felt a white-hot sting slice over his shoulder as he hit the carpet, his paws already gripping the handles on both his Mk.23's as he pulled them out of their holsters and trained them on the enormous bear, squeezing both triggers as quickly as he could, pocking the walls behind the ursine with more bullets than actually lodged in the bear's frame. Hearing the dual clicks of his pistol's as they hit empty, and seeing the giant bear smirking down at him from the barrel of the M60, Auren felt fear for the first time in a while. "Fuck me," he whispered as he leapt up and ejected both spent clips from his Mk.23's, digging his boots into the carpet and sprinting down the hallway, wincing as the bear opened fire behind him, bullets whizzing past his ears as they lodged in the walls beside and in front of him. The wolf took a quick left, glancing to his right at the double-doors he stood in front of not a minute earlier, not very surprised to see a female lion and male collie standing in the now-open doorway, both packing M16's.
"SHIT!" Auren shouted as he zigzagged down the corridor, bullets from not only the M60 but two M16's tearing around beside him. The wolf darted into the stairwell he'd come in from and piled the corpses of the otter and colt in front of the door seconds before the bear charged into it, slowing the beast down momentarily, allowing Auren barely enough time to lunge up the stairs two at a time, furiously trying to reload his Mk.23's. He crouched in the corner of the stairwell and slammed both clips home, flicking the slides forward and training both sights on the door below him, which was finally shoved out of the way as the bear burst through it.
"Fuck you," Auren said as he squeezed both triggers, making sure his aim was locked on the ursine's throat. The dual force of the .45 caliber rounds knocked the bear on it's ass as they ripped through it's spine, the ruptured jugular instantly painting the stairwell in jets of blood as both the collie and lion leapt over their comrade, only to be cut down from the rain of bullets Auren let loose upon them, instantly draining his 2nd pair of clips. The wolf shook both clips out of his pistols and shoved two more in, training them on the stairwell door once more, breathing erratically as waited for more AUA members to come. Where the hell are you?
Auren replaced the Mk.23 in his left holster and took out his Palm Pilot, anxiously glancing between the screen and the doorway, noticing that all the heat signatures in the main room were now gone. "Shit, no! Get back here you fucking cowards!" he shouted as he saw they were now in the other wing of the building, moving quickly in the opposite direction. The wolf picked himself up off the concrete floor and bounded down the steps, flying down the hallway through the double-door partition, across the Parliament floor, and then through to the other wing of the building. "Where are you fucks going?" Auren breathed to himself as he checked his Palm Pilot once more, noting that the signatures weren't on the ground floor anymore, but in the stairwell on the fifth floor.
Auren was interrupted from his tracking as his cell buzzed in his pocket. The wolf picked it up at full sprint and brought it to his ear as he rounded a corner and spotted the stairwell door at the end of the hallway. "What is it?!" he panted into the receiver.
"Auren, what did you do? The broadcast feed from Parliament was interrupted and we heard gunshots!" Alistair replied hastily. "Not only that, but we're tracking the hostages, it looks like they're being lead up to the roof."
"No shit, Sherlock!" Auren shouted as he shoved the stairwell door aside with his shoulder, leaping up the stairs. "I dunno what they have planned, but this is my territory now. If they're scared enough to ditch broadcasting, they must not have many members left!"
"Nevertheless, be wary, if they get cornered this will likely turn into an even worse situation. Do NOT let them get a chance to kill Parliament members!" Alistair growled into the phone before hanging up.
"Easier said than done , fucker," Auren panted as he bounded up another flight of stairs, noting on his Palm Pilot that all the heat signatures were now clustered on the rooftop around the stairwell exit he was on. "Fuck this, I'm taking the back door," he muttered as he burst through the 4th floor exit and tore down the hallway, thankful that it was one large, long corridor from one end of the building to the other. Finding the east stairwell easily, Auren lunged up the flights of stairs once more, stopping for a breather as he reached the rooftop door. He checked his Palm Pilot once more and breathed a sigh of relief at the cluster of heat signatures remaining on the west side of the building.
Auren slipped out the door and instantly dropped into a crouch behind a small pile of bricks, tugging his SA-80 out of it's harness and training it's barrel due west to peek at the cluster of figures on the west side of the building. Quickly sweeping from side-to-side, the wolf noted that there were only 5 anthros in the crowd of about fifty and that two, a weathered-looking leopard and a middle-aged hyena, were decked in considerably nicer-looking clothing than the rest.
Keeping one paw on the machinegun to hold it steady, Auren dug his other paw into his side pocket and yanked out his cell, speed-dialing Alistair and pressing the receiver next to his ear. "Alistair! You have to tell me right now, how many are there of us in Parliament? I see two anthros in the group that look different and I want to make sure I'm not being lead to a false conclusion."
"Shit...give me a few minutes," was the hasty reply as Auren heard papers being riffled on the other end of the phone. "From what I see, only one is a member of Parliament, a senior member, in fact. He's a leopard that has be-"
Auren flipped his cell shut and instantly sighted through the scope, taking a second head-count of anthros in the group, not bothering to hear the rest of Alistair's brief. He glared down the scope at the remaining four in the group: the hyena, a rather lithe panda, a red vixen, and a snow leopard. Squinting his eyes and observing the group once more, he noted the snow leopard's apparent authority over the group. "Gotcha, fucker," the wolf breathed as he checked on all the enemy positions once more before he tucked his SA-80 away on his back and glanced at a half-wall that ran across the entire expanse of the roof, apparently a relic left behind from previous construction. It stood about 5 feet tall and was completely solid save for a few missing bricks.
Auren ducked and sprinted across the short open expanse between his former hiding place and the wall, hoping that nobody saw or heard him. He slid to a crouch as soon as he reached the wall and flattened his ears against his head, venturing a quick peek over the wall to see if he had been noticed. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, as if a hostage situation was any normal situation. Breathing a sigh of relief, Auren reached down to his ankle and fumbled around in a pocket on his pants, pulling out his hunting knife and gripping it's black plastic handle tightly in his paw, flipping the knife so the blade was pointed towards his arm instead of directly out in front of him. The wolf took off at a sprint, keeping in a half-crouched hunch so that he was always covered in the wall's shadow. While it was tempting to drop to all fours, Auren reminded himself he was currently hampered with clothing and weapons, which would hinder his mobility, the only advantage the position took.
The wolf continued his low, loping stride as he broke free from the wall's shade, leaving himself completely without cover for about 150 feet before he reached the edge of the group. Auren closed his eyes and whispered a quick prayer as he reached the halfway point between the wall and the outside ring of people. Opening his eyes, the wolf widened them as he saw the hyena on his end aim what appeared to be a P90 in his direction. "Oh, fuck!" Auren panted as he started to dart to his left, fumbling his left paw over the holster on his hip when his attention was caught beyond the group at a chopper slowly starting to hover closer to the action.
Glimpsing the brief shine of reflection on a camera lens as the chopper started to turn, Auren saw the side painted in a soft blue color with a large white '9' painted on the side, surrounded by a red square. The wolf smirked for a moment as all attention in the group was focused on the chopper for the moment before he dragged his attention back to the hyena. Now only twenty short feet away from the now-looming shadow of the male, Auren's smile faded as the hyena turned his attention away from the news chopper back to the wolf; too late, it happened to be.
Auren leapt up from his crouching lope and pounced on top of the male at full speed, instantly flicking his wrist across the hyena's throat and wincing at the spray of jugular flow as it coated his muzzle. A second later they both fell to the ground with a thud as the wolf leapt off the spasming hyena, plowing through the crowd and noting that, fortunately, the vixen and panda had stayed rooted to their original positions. Except now, they weren't stiff with shock, both females had their AK47's trained on the news chopper and were about to release fire upon it.
"Yo, bitches! Cut that shit out!" Auren screamed at the top of his lungs as he parted through the crowd at full speed, hoping to at least temporarily distract the pair. The two swiveled and now aimed their rifles at Auren, and the forty-some politicians surrounding him. Oh...fuck...
The wolf ripped out both his Mk.23's and leapt forward, momentarily flying through the air spread-eagled as he squeezed the triggers on both pistols as quickly as he could. The first volley ripped through the panda with ease, cutting deep red holes in her camouflage shirt and knocking her on her ass. The vixen was quick, unfortunately. She leapt to the side and missed the first round aimed at her entirely, cutting instead into an elderly human that happened to be standing directly behind her, the second barely grazing her thigh as she fell to the rooftop.
Auren braced himself as he fell chest-first onto the hard concrete with a thud, knocking the wind out of him entirely. Gasping for breath, he aimed at the vixen once more, only to find her nowhere in sight. The wolf leapt to his paws and shifted around furiously, trying to catch sight of the vulpine before a light weight attached onto his back. Auren yelped and shifted his weight to the right, trying to shake off his attacker as he felt white-hot sears of pain rip across his chest before he screamed in agony as the vixen's jaws clamped on his neck. The wolf frantically groped on his leg for his knife and found it in his ankle pocket. He wrapped his paw around the warm plastic handle and slipped the blade along his wrist and forearm as he jumped up and leaned back. The vixen had no time to react before their combined weight drug them back to the rooftop, the lupine's staggering 210 pounds crushing the much smaller vulpine against the concrete. Auren growled as he brought his paw out and then jammed it against the vixen with all his strength, hilting the blade of his knife in the female's torso.
The vixen's yelp was cut short as he twisted the blade, slicing a half-moon in her side, her beautiful umber fur slicked with the darker shade of red as blood seeped out and pooled on the rooftop. Auren yanked his knife out of the vixen and got to his feet slowly, groaning as the scratches on his chest and tooth marks on his neck welled with blood. A single bullet was enough to startle him as the round buried in his left shoulder blade, knocking the wolf off balance and causing him to fall to his knees. Auren glanced up and swiveled around to see the snow leopard standing before him, one arm holding an elderly woman close to him as his other arm pointed at Auren, a Beretta in his paw, smoke still drifting from it's barrel. "Well done, excellent job in dispatching my friends, but you won't win. Not here, not now. Not with this lovely lady by my side, at least," the male feline laughed as he flicked his tail behind him. "Come on, join us, why don't you? You obviously are much better trained than the ilk I had under my command, even Davina there," the leopard said with a smirk as he motioned with a nod towards the vixen.
Auren smirked a little and sat back on his haunches a little, cocking his head at the feline's antics. "You honestly think I'd join you...to do what, exactly? Bring more pain and shame on our heads when these little missions of yours fall through?" the wolf asked as he slowly hid his knife back behind his right paw, covering the action with a spasm of his left arm as he winced in real pain before glancing up at the snow leopard once more. "No, I'll take my chances with the government this once...I think I've finally found someone more insane than they are, actually."
The feline's face twisted into a scowl and he raised his arm, taking aim at Auren. "Have it your way, you piece of shi-" was all the feline could get out before the wolf flicked his paw forward, sending his knife out at lightning-quick speed, the blade whizzing through the air before burying itself in the leopard's throat. Auren smirked and stood up as the feline fell to the ground, his weakened grasp letting his captive pull free and run shrieking into the middle of the crowd.
The wolf padded slowly over to the leopard and knelt beside the spasming form. Auren swept the Beretta out of the male's grasp and placed his paws on his knife as the feline gurgled beneath him. The wolf leaned close to the feline's ear as he started to pull his knife slowly out of the male's throat. "You made a lethal mistake there, cat," he spat. "Never, ever take your gun off the hostage if you've got one."
With that, Auren pulled back and yanked the knife completely out, wiping the blade on the feline's chest to clean most of the blood off it. The wolf blinked a few times, then glanced around; first at the still-hovering helicopter with it's never-ending reel of live footage, then to the group of politicians that huddled not more than twenty feet away from him. The wolf got to his feet slowly and slipped his knife back into his pocket as he took a few steps towards the crowd, only to have them cringe and back away from him. Auren lowered his head, perturbed by the response. Fuckers...save 'em all and they still think I'm something to be afraid of...
Auren glanced up, peering at the group between lime strands of his own headfur before sighing and turning on his heel, limping off in the direction of the stairwell, slipping quietly past the steel door. The wolf padded slowly down the steps one by one, wincing at every drop of his left footpaw, the shock seeming to travel through his entire body up to his shoulder, which was now seeping blood freely. The flow dotted the floor beneath him with every heavy step he took, painting a path for those that wanted to follow him. The wolf continued his slow, steady pace, following the path he took into until he was clear of the building, stopping only to peer at the fence which he'd jumped over not an hour before. "Fuck this..." the wolf whined as he latched his paws onto the welded iron and pulled himself up and over the gate.
As soon as he dropped onto the other side Auren was welcomed by the soft grumble of an engine and a shriek of tires as a car stopped behind him. The wolf wearily grasped one of his pistols and swiveled around, ready to drop anyone trying to stop him. At the sight before him, though, he instantly dropped the gun as he swayed a little, overcome with a case of vertigo. Alistair was already out of the Lotus and knelt down to pick up the Mk.23, tucking it in one of his trenchcoat pockets as he sidled up beside the larger male and supported him to the car door, easing the wolf into the passenger seat. Auren blinked a few times and leaned back against the head restraint as his vision grew blurry. The wolf blinked a few times, letting his head drop to see his black shirt, now dyed a dull crimson from his own blood. His hearing seemed to fade in and out with the blurry sight; keeping his eyes peeled on the road, he heard a deep, rhythmic thrumming. The wolf turned his head to stare at the fox blankly. He could see Alistair talking, and it matched the patterned thrumming in his head, but he couldn't make anything out. Auren tried to keep his eyes open a few more seconds before his willpower evaporated. His lids closed and he was welcomed by blackness. The thrumming slowly faded, he felt himself go numb, and it felt...peaceful. Shit...done this before...don't...don't...give up....