Unfortunately, the guard’s body armor is too strong. My claws scratch off fruitlessly and my teeth don’t puncture it. I jump off the guard and see Gnash and Drario are facing the same problem.
I try, again and again. Going for the back of the neck. Attacking the arms. Swiping behind his knees. All while dodging bullets. But nothing seems to break through the armor.
I howl to my friends and we quickly retreat behind cover. Bullets crash into the cover but we should be safe for now. Judging by the look on the wolf faces of my friends, they’re also at a loss of what to do.
“Hiding, are we?” Rovas laughs. “You’re only prolonging the inevitable!”
We stay in our wolf forms, this way we can come up with a plan without any humans overhearing. But what could that plan be?
“Our claws and teeth are too weak against that armor,” Gnash’s wolf form whimpers.
“And, I keep getting grazed by bullets,” Drario’s wolf form adds.
“I think I have it.” An idea forms in my head. “We need to work together. Alone, we can’t hurt them. But together we might be strong enough to pull apart their armor.”
Gnash and Drario look nervously at me but ultimately nod. It’s the best option we have and they trust me. The three of us start to prepare to jump out again.
“I can hear them barking at each other!” Rovas shouts. “Someone go over there and shoot them already!”
The shooting stops and a single pair of footsteps approaches. I look at my friends, it’s time to put this plan to the test. The guard rounds our cover and we all pounce.
Three pairs of paws dig at the edge of his chest plate as he screams. In no time, it comes loose. He doesn’t even get a chance to fire his gun by the time three wolf maws tear through the soft fabric beneath and into his chest. The plan works.
“DON’T JUST WATCH!” Rovas is furious now. “SHOOT THEM!”
The gun fire resumes but the three of us are too fast. We’re charging at our next opponent. All three of us pounce, this time the force is strong enough to knock the guy over. When he hits the ground, his helmet cracks and falls off. As Drario goes for the kill, Gnash and I leap onto the next guard.
This method works great for a while. The three of us are like a well-oiled machine. Seeing how we move in unison, you’d never guess the history between our clans. Once again Insignys guards have underestimated us, and it’ll be the last thing they ever do.
“Shoot them!” Rovas shouts as we attack the next guard.
“But sir,” one guard responds. “We might accidently hit-”
“I DON’T CARE!”
One of the guards takes the order and fires, the bullet misses all three shifters and hits the guard we pounced on. The bullet goes through the armor and he falls to the ground dead. We swiftly move on to the next.
Now, they’re too afraid to fire when we’re attacking a guard, making our job a lot easier. After about half the guards are killed, I let myself think we might win this fight. But Rovas has other ideas. He pulls a flash bang off the belt of a guard and tosses it at us.
In an instant, I’m deafened and my vision is blurry. The only positive is the guards must be too, because I haven’t been shot yet. Through my blurred vision, I see Rovas walking towards me.
He’s not wearing any armor. I can end all this right now. I charge.
I leap through the air just as he raises his own gun. I don’t hear the gun go off, but I definitely feel it. I crash onto the ground back in my human form. Blood starts to leak down my body from the new hole in my shoulder.
My vision starts to clear just in time to see two guards use the butts of their guns to knock out Gnash and Drario. Fuck. We were so close.
“Hmm.” Rovas stands over me with a smirk and a gun pointed at my head. He looks at the guard. “You’re all dismissed. I want to do this myself.”
“But sir-'' One guard starts to protest but quickly stops. In a moment, they’re all gone. All that’s left in the room is Rova, Gnash and Drario’s unconscious bodies, a couple dead guards, and myself.
“Mace, right?” He presses the barrel of his gun against my temple. “I hear my daughter is fond of you. How disappointing. I think it’s time you join your friend in death.”
“Do it. I’ll die with pride and honor. Unlike you. You’ll be responsible for deaths of shifters all over the nation.”
“Nation?” Rovas laughs. “Try the world. Did you really think we’d only make two vats of this compound? There are over 500 in every country. We’re taking no chances. It’ll be glorious. I’m just sad you won’t get to see your kind exterminated.”
Rovas digs his gun harder into my head. I look Rovas in the eyes and wait for the end. He’ll have to look at me while he does it. But the shot never comes, instead a different sound rings out.