Page 91 of Stray Omega

CHAPTER 33: ORWEN

Orwen and Smoke crouched in the shadows of an alleyway across the street from a massive skyscraper. It had taken them several hours to reach the upper tiers of the city hive. Smoke had led the way, never once losing confidence in the fact that he knew the right way to go, and Orwen trusted the dog’s instincts.

Just as Taliesin had said, the tiers of the Outsider city became cleaner and nicer the higher they climbed, although the air was still freighted with the scent of pollution, and the thin rain that had begun to drizzle out of the sky was black with ashes.

The city hive was an ugly place, and Orwen would be happy to leave it far behind.

But he wasn’t going anywhere until he had rescued Embla and his pack brothers. And based on the signals that Smoke was giving him, they were somewhere inside the building that towered in front of them.

The question now was how to get inside.

They had already scoped out the front entrance of the building, and it was a definite no-go. The spacious glassed-in lobby was swarming with armed guards. It would be impossible to make it through the entrance without being seen, and a direct assault seemed unwise. Even a full-grown alpha in his prime couldn’t take on a small army like that.

So instead, Orwen and Smoke had circled around to the rear of the building, and that’s where they were now.

Ahead of them lay a loading dock. There was a wide concrete pad with stacks of metal crates and a large gantry crane for loading and unloading the cargo trucks that drove in and out of the facility. Beyond that lay the back side of the skyscraper and a big mechanical door leading inside.

The whole area was surrounded by a high chain-link fence topped with concertina wire. It was enough to deter any normal human intruders, but an alpha like Orwen would have no trouble jumping straight over.

There were just a couple of problems.

For one thing, Orwen wasn’t sure how to get the big metal door open. It seemed to work based on a retinal scanner set into the wall nearby. What’s more, there were two guards stationed by the door. They were clad in heavy body armor and equipped with large assault rifles. Even if Orwen did manage to take them out before they gunned him down, they would probably set off an alarm, alerting the rest of the facility to his presence.

“Shit,” the alpha grunted.

Well, he couldn’t just wait out here forever. Sooner or later he would have to make a move. And the longer he delayed, the longer his friends would be subjected to Source-knows what kind of torture inside that facility.

He decided to go for it.

“Come on,” Orwen whispered to Smoke. “We’re going in.”

The dog seemed to understand what his master had in mind and jumped into Orwen’s arms.

Carrying the dog, Orwen sprinted across the street, jumped over the fence, and crouched behind and big pile of crates.

“Be very quiet,” he whispered to Smoke.

The dog flattened his ears.

Moving very slowly and cautiously, Orwen peeked his head around the edge of the crates. The guards were still in position by the door, but it looked like they had not spotted him.

That was good, but he would still have to figure out some way to get past those bastards.

But how?

Just at that moment, the crane spontaneously moved. A malfunction of some kind? Orwen wasn’t sure. Whatever the cause, it worked to his advantage by creating a distraction. The crane hook slammed into a pile of large metal containers, toppling them with a great crashing sound.

Smoke whined softly, his ears still flat with anxiety.

Orwen peered out from the hiding place again.

The guards by the door were moving. With heavy, trudging steps, the two armored figured crossed the loading pad to inspect the accident with the containers.

This was Orwen’s chance. But there was still the problem of getting through the door.

That problem was instantly solved when the door suddenly opened. There was no apparent reason. Nobody was standing inside. It was just an empty corridor.

It just…opened.

Between the crane and the door, Orwen sensed that something very strange was afoot. He felt a chill tingle up his spine, and the hairs on the back of his neck bristled. Smoke’s much bushier fur was doing the same thing.

Was this some kind of trap? It certainly felt like it.

Orwen hesitated for a moment, unsure what to do.

Smoke made the decision for him. Moving on silent paws befitting his namesake, the gray dog bolted across the loading pad toward the open door. The guards and other workers were on the other side of the area, and they were focused on the knocked-over crates, so they didn’t see.

“Source damn it,” the alpha muttered under his breath, and he sprinted after the dog.

---