Furball: Overtime (Furball Book 4)

Prologue

June 29, 2187

Pearlman stands from her bunk and looks around the cell. She walks over towards the sink and stares at the broken mirror above it. She pushes away the black fur from her face and stares into the reflection with her deep red eyes. She turns away from the mirror and faces the brick wall to her left. She raises her hand, covered in fur, and places one of her claws on the brick. She pulls her finger down and watches the brick fragments fall to the ground and etches a line into the wall. She backs away from the brick and looks at the wall. All along the brick are tallies which span all the way back to one starting date.

April 3, 2183.

She leans back and sits back down on the bed.

CRASH!

Pearlman turns her head and looks out through the barred door to her left. A cloud of smoke appears in the middle of the room and raises to the ceiling. She stands from her bed and makes her way to the cell door. Her large furry hands reach up and grab the bars of the cell.

Alarms begin to blare as red lights spin on the walls. The other inmates race to their cell doors as well to see what the commotion is.

The prison grows louder as they hear a gunshot and a scream from below. She then looks back at the smoke in the middle of the room, which started as a brownish-grey, but now has turned into a thick green. The smoke rises and inches its way towards the cells. She lifts her snout as the green smoke enters the cell and fills her lungs. She exhales and smiles.

She listens as the cheers from the cellmates turn to screams. The fog thickens and more gunshots ring. Then to her right, she hears howls. More and more howls fill the prison over the sound of the alarm. She continues to peer down the hall and sees a shadowy figure headed her way. The shadow moves slowly through the gas and grows larger as it approaches her cell.

"Hello Pearlman," the man says as he stops in front of the cell.

"Dr. Gas," Pearlman says and nods to the man.

She backs away from the cell door as Dr. Gas raises his arm. His hand turns towards the hinges of the cell and Pearlman watches as they rip away from the brick. Dr. Gas moves his arm backwards and the cell door floats towards him and above his head.

Pearlman steps forward and pats the man on the back. They both then quickly turn to look towards the floor below.

"HELLO! HELLO! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY!"

Dr. Gas moves his arm again and the cell door spins in the air. He lowers his arm, and the door goes flying through the air towards the voice.

"IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, CALL PRESIDENT B..."

The cell door strikes the man and sends him flying through the air. It slams him against a wall and pins him to the ground, unconscious.