Page 87 of Stray Omega

Now that he could see the interior of the city, all of Orwen’s sense of awe disappeared, and all that was left was disgust.

All around were crumbling buildings in a far worse state of decay than anything inside the Central Ruins of the Quarantine Zone. Besides their vehicle’s headlights, the only illumination came from the flickering orange glow of random barrel fires. Scrawny, sickly humans dressed in tattered rags huddled around for warmth and eyed them suspiciously as they drove past. The air was thick with the combined stench of petroleum and rotting sewage.

Orwen wrinkled his nose.

“Source, is the whole place like this?”

Taliesin shook his head as steered the vehicle in and out of random piles of rubble and burnt-out old cars.

“No, this is the underhive. It’s the poorest and most dangerous part of the city. The Outsiders never tear anything down, they just keep building new layers on top of the old. The upper tiers of the city are wealthier and cleaner. But still terrible in my opinion.”

Orwen had no doubt that his opinion would be the same as Taliesin’s.

At last, they pulled off the road and parked in the shadows of a dark alcove.

“We’ll have to leave the vehicle here,” said Taliesin. “We’d be too conspicuous on the upper tiers.”

“So we go on foot?” Orwen asked.

“No other choice.”

Orwen felt a sudden surge of panic rising up in his chest. He had not expected this rescue mission to be easy, and he was more than ready to do battle to save his friends. But simply locating them within this towering maze of rockcrete and steel seemed like an insurmountable task.

“Where the fuck do we even start?” he muttered.

Suddenly Smoke perked up. The dog’s hackles bristled, and he started to bark urgently.

“What’s the matter, boy?” Orwen asked.

The dog whined and bounced on his paws impatiently. He yelped again, as if begging to be let out. When Orwen opened the passenger door, Smoke raced across his lap and jumped out of the cab.

“Hey!”

Smoke started to run toward a big ramp that led toward the upper tiers of the city. For a moment, Orwen feared the dog was going to run away. But after a few paces, Smoke stopped and turned, barking again as if calling out for the alphas to follow.

“What’s he doing?” Taliesin asked.

“I’m not sure. But it seems like he knows where to go.”

“That’s impossible,” Taliesin grunted. “There’s no way he could pick up their scent in this giant city.”

Smoke barked again, this time sounding a bit annoyed.

Orwen rubbed his chin, thinking.

“You’re right, but…”

“But what?”

“Taliesin, I’ve spent my whole life out in the wilds of the Zone hunting with dogs, and I’ll tell you, I swear by the Source those animals are equipped with extra senses we alphas don’t have. And that little omega, well…she’s got some kind of special bond with the dogs that I don’t understand.”

“You’re telling me that dog can actually sense where she is?”

Orwen looked at Smoke. The dog flattened his ears and whined. It almost seemed to Orwen that the dog was trying to express the urgency of the situation.

“Right now, I think it’s all we’ve got.”

Taliesin shrugged and sighed.

---