“This is embarrassin”, Cillian whiop Boriss’s shoulder.

  “Don't whi’s your fault for being so out of shape.”

  “Da,” Boriss agrees, “for short rade, you are like heavy potato sack. Is good for training.”

  “Ughhh.” Cillian groans.

  “Shush,” I excim, “We’re almost there. I want plete silence.”

  When we reach the top floor, I am met with a locked door. A very incredibly disappointingly locked door. I reato my hip arieve a dagger. Then, I slide it dowweerike pte and facepte. I hear the deadbolt click.

  Onlocked, I move my ear to the door and listen. I hear the squelg sound of meat- the exact same sound I’d heard on the main floor. I tinue listening for another half mihout any new sounds.

  I lift a single finger and point at the door.

  Boriss nods. Slowly and silently, he puts down the sack of potatoes and prepares his hammer. While he prepares, I uhe one of my poisohrowing daggers for a test.

  I open the door quickly. The Fenriromorphs hears the new sound and raises its head in my direy hand flickers and the dagger strikes through one of the six eyes. The Fenriromorph roars in both surprise and pain. It attempts to dislodge the dagger from its eye, but all that does is cause more pain.

  While it screams, me and Boriss move into the room and wait to see if the poison is effective.

  The Fenriromorphs, still growling, gres angrily at us. It steps forward, and then staggers. The Fenriromorphs bestial anger disappears and is repced by fusion as it struggles to stand properly.

  “It’s w much faster than I expected.” I ent.

  “Da, like coffee and poop.”

  We tiaring at the Fenriromorph as its struggle tinues. It sways more and more until it falls on its knees and begins whimpering like a puppy.

  “Um… you gon suffer like that?” I hear Cillian ask.

  “Yes. Da.” Me and Boriss a the same time.

  “But it's whining,” Cillian excims. “This is animal abuse.”

  I raise an eyebrow at the Scott, and then I look at the Fenriromorph with human blood still dripping from its maw.

  “I’m fih animal abuse when said animal killed a human and then started eating its corpse.” I point at Herman Toftloy’s ope.

  “rade Quasi,” Boriss warns.

  “What the hell?”

  Smoke wafts from the Fenriromorphs fur. The color slowly shifts from dark brown to plum. The injury on its eye sizzles as the dagger is pushed out. Then, the injury starts regeing and knitting itself back to normal. Finally, a sed set of longer hro its head.

  “Well, shit.” I curse.

  The Fenriromorph opens its maw and saliva leaks out of its mouth. The smell of Phenol quickly permeates the room. A sweet, acrid odor- the same chemical used in the poisons of my daggers.

  “They fug evolve. Of course they do. It 't just be normal demon werewolves.” I shake my head. I reay bad untch my zip-rifle. I take aim and then pull the trigger.

  The Fenriromorphs regeing eye explodes as the bullet travels into the monster's brain.

  It falls dead to the floor.

  “Couldn’t you have dohat sooner?” Cillian asks.

  “I could have,” I lower my rifle, “but I’m trying to save bullets. They arely a reusable resource.” I walk to the Fenriromorphs corpse and kick it a few times to make sure its actually dead. I’ve seen too many times where something that looks to be dead actually isn't.

  “Alright, let's find a map. I’ll check the desk. Boris, check the body. Cillian, keep lookout.”

  I walk to Hermans’ desk and open the drawers. I find another empty book of rules; A notebook with prisoners' names; Dots pertaining to funding and guard rotation. When I get to the st drawer, I am met with a dusty old rotary phone. On the side of the phone is a small booklet of numbers.

  The names and numbers are as follows.

  Gold Blockleiter

  0005

  Silver Blockleiter

  0004

  Bronze Blockleiter

  0003

  Bck Blockleiter

  0002

  Aufseherin/Aufseher

  0001

  “Find anything, Boris?” I ask.

  Boriss grins and points at his feet. “Good Boots.”

  I raise an eyebrow at the corpses missing shoes.

  “Right… no map I presume?”

  He shakes his head.

  Damn.

  I look back to the list of numbers.

  I guess I could try to make a call.

  I dial the st number on the list and then pick up the phone. I hear ringing for nearly ten seds. Just as I’m about to put the phone down, I hear a click.

  “Warum hat der Anruf so nge gedauert?” I hear a sharp no-nonsense voice from her than the woman who likes to py golf.

  “Herman Toftloy is dead.” I state.

  There is a pause from the other end.

  “How did he die?” she asks.

  “Fenriromorph.” I answer.

  Another pause.

  “Who is this?”

  “Quasi Eludo- Summoned Hero extraordinaire and professional monster syer. If you’ve followed the news, I’m sure you’ve heard of the crazy guy who talks about gods and warhe world about these tests.” I answer.

  Another long pause.

  “I have… what you tell me about this situation?” she asks.

  “It’s bleak. We’re probably no longer oh and nobody is ing to save us. If we stay in Downside, we die. Our only choice is to escape via the maior.”

  “SCHEISSE,” I hear her curse, “that is not possible. One of those things- bigger than all the others, is guarding the elevator. All of my guards there are dead, and what few I have left with me dont have any equipment capable of killing it.

  “I have explosives.” I state.

  Another pause. Lohan the rest.

  “What do you need?”

  “I’m currently in Herman’s office. I need either a map or dire to get to the elevator.”

  “Downside is under emergency power. Emergency power is not supplied to any elevators other than the maihe only way to get up here is to climb the elevator shaft in the tral yard.”

  “Fuck. Annoying, but I think I get it done. Anything else I o know?”

  “Yes. Access to the elevator shaft is blocked by a right-hand ser. You will need Herman’s hand to access the elevator.”

  I g Herman’s corpse and thankfully un-mauled arm.

  “Once we scale the elevator, what then?”

  “I will meet you up there.” She answers.

  “Good. Then I’ll head to the elevator now.”

  “Viel Glück.” I hear her say followed by the click of the phone.

  I look at Boriss and Cillian.

  “We’ve got our marg orders. We’re heading to the ter of the yard to escape. Boriss, I need you to cut off Herman’s right hand and bring it with us.”

  “What? The yard? Isn’t that suicide? We’ll be sittin ducks passin through there.” cillian says.

  “If we leave now, there should be plenty of other surviving prisoners creating a distra.”

  I hear the crag and squelg sound of Boriss breaking bone and ripping an arm off a corpse.

  “Da, we move like sneaky mouse, then fight like bear. Is good pn.” He waves the bloody appe me, “I have hand.”

  “ it in something a Cillian hold it. We have to move fa- Aghhhh.” I feel pain radiate from the scraty right arm. My arm shakes as the pain works its my shoulder.

  SUBMIT!

  I hear a loud distorted voice ring in my head. An inhuman voice that demands only obedience. A mental order to give up and surrender.

  “rade Quasi?”

  The pain in my arm subsides, but the mental pressure tio resonate like an open wound. The pressure demands me to give into it.

  Fuck!

  “I’m fine, but our timetable just moved up. Let's head out.”