The Afterward

Chapter Seven - The Dilemma

TUNDRA POV.

Parth leads me to a dark alleyway, and we lean against the walls of the buildings on either side of us. "That was lucky," I say with very obvious sarcasm. Parth nods. "Tell me about it. We have to get to the Rebel Base, tell them that we've been compromised. The Force needs every helping hand we can get, and losing animals isn't an option."

"How do we get there, then?" I ask, shivering. It's cold out here. "We're gonna have to convince someone to drive us. Since we've been marked as rebels, help is gonna be very hard to find." I thought for a moment we could steal my police car, but it wasn't safe to go back to the casino to get my car back. I didn't really have many other friends that weren't completely obeying the law.

"We'll walk tomorrow," I say finally after a few minutes of deep thought, "That sort of thing sounds like a 'tomorrow us' problem."

"I guess," Parth says after a pause. He sits down heavily and then we hear footsteps, hasty ones. I reach for my taser and then take my hand away just as Kitty sees us, trying to act like I wasn't about to taser her head off.

"Foxy got hit with a grenade trying to help your dog friend," she says, panting, "I couldn't find them anywhere."

Oh. Oh no. And all that happened because of me and how I was stupid enough to--

"Wait! The tracking chip, I still haven't gotten rid of it!" I grab at my belt and attempt to pry out the chip, Kitty coming over to help me. She unsheathes her claws and we toss the chip into a nearby dumpster. "We've got to move." she said with determination. "That was lucky," I say again, less sarcastic this time,  "Where would be safe at a time like this?"

Kitty's on her phone, scrolling. "There's actually a power plant not too far from here. It'll take a good forty-five minutes to get there, but it should be empty. The soldiers that used to have an outpost there got cleared out and sent home." Parth nods. "That's why I don't work as one anymore."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" I ask. "Let's get out of this place!"

"Hey, let's not forget," Kitty says, "What about the Wall?"

Oh, right. The giant wall around the city. Crap, where's a helicopter when you need one?! 

"Are there any other Citizen's Force members here that could help us out?" Parth asks, fiddling with the end of his shirt. "We could call for backup..."

"There's only one animal that could help us at the moment, but she's a bit... inaccessible." I didn't know what she meant, and she sits down with a heavy sigh. "No one's meant to be out during curfew, so any other members are laying low. And by morning, our faces are going to be everywhere on wanted posters, making finding help even more difficult." I feel really helpless at this point. There wasn't any help whatsoever. "Okay, so... the plan is...?" Kitty shrugged. "We're going to have to hide in the city, maybe even in plain sight." So we had to get to the Rebel base, or hide in an abandoned Power Plant, but only if we can find this lady and escape the city. The wall has one way in, and one way out. Spoiler alert: they're both the same heavily guarded gate.

But so what if we risk it? There's got to be some way we could find that lady, whoever we're looking for.

10117 POV.

The Sergeant points to a picture of this fox guy I don't recognize. On the board with it is a series of photographs from the Casino attack they started a few hours ago.

"That one. That one's the ringleader. His body's been found, yes?"

"No, sir. No body found." Keep your head low. Don't speak too loudly. "And the rest escaped?" Pause. Don't sound too happy about it. "Yes, sir."

He slams a fist on the table. "And they said it was going to work. Have they identified any other rebels that might have been there with him?" 

"Yes, sir. The pig, a cat and one of the police. She was traced to the casino."

"I know about that police officer," he grumbles with clear disappointment, "She's not cooperative; we'll have a bounty on her by sunrise."

"Wait," says the Lady, who is sitting in her chair at the table, and silencing him with a wave of her hand. "What about this one? You can't afford to have them figure out anything else. They probably regrouped. Send this one out, and then you can analyse the performance and work out any of the... defects." She points at me.

Me? Why me? She looks at me and I flick an anxious look at the board. Of course. She wants to see how well I can do. Nod back, keep quiet.

The Lady seems satisfied with this and waves me off. The Sergeant huffs and he gives me a dirty look, supposedly upset he didn't get to do anything himself. "Well? Get geared up, soldier. We want her here by the next five hours."