Broken Bonds - A Piggy AU

Chapter 4 - The Catastrophe

"THERE'S AN INFECTED IN THE REFINERY!"

Kitty's yell rang throughout the building. Tigry looked up from his egg salad sandwich to see her on the bridge above the cafeteria. A couple tables away, Willow jumped up from her seat. "What happened?" she called up to Kitty.

Kitty was breathing as if she had been running. She spoke quickly. "The door was unlocked...Filip is locked in a room, Pony and the other guy we met- Brayden, I think- locked him in there and freed the prisoner. She got infected. I hit her on the head with my shovel so she should take a little extra to reach us."

Willow's expression turned from surprise to anger. "Those idiots..." She rounded on him. "Tigry, you were supposed to be on head guard duty! And you let them go all the way to the basement?! What is wrong with you?!"

"I tried my best. You know Pony, he already knows the place like the back of his hand-"

"That's no excuse. If you really want to try your best, go fight the infected by yourself. The rest of you," she turned to her table and the table next to it, "evacuate the factory." Willow then looked up at Kitty. "Where's Felix, by the way?"

"I told him to stay in the locked room. It's pretty safe and secure."

"Alright, meet you at the emergency evacuation area."

The other members all headed for the door. Willow looked back at Tigry. "Get to work." she snapped as she followed them.

Tigry turned and began to walk toward the kitchen where the other entrance was, pulling out his dual daggers. Alright, looks like I'm the only one who does anything around here.

But I failed them today. I'm no better than any of them.

That's why I have to do this. I have to show that I am just as good as them.

He entered the room and the mole prisoner ran at him. Tigry took his left dagger and jabbed it into her eye, throwing her back. She has some sort of monocle on her other eye...if I just break it and stab her in the other eye, she won't be able to see, and I can kill her, like Willow asked.

The infected prisoner was petite. Perfect. Easy to knock over. Tigry slammed the mole into the wall and used his right dagger to break the monocle's lens and pierce the eye. He threw her to the ground and stabbed her in the left of her chest, where her heart was. Blood began squirting out of the wound. Tigry backed up and watched her as she struggled to rise, dying from the blood loss. He felt bad. If one day, cures were developed, she could have been saved if we kept her safe in the prison. But I killed her. I stabbed her.

This was never supposed to happen again.

But- but this is different, right? She was infected.

Tigry felt that it wasn't different after all. She was just alive until, what, half an hour ago? She was a living being. Almost just like how it was with him. She looked so pathetic and small with the wounds from the infected they trapped her with.

Hold up-

He felt the other infected land on his back, his powerful claw raking his upper arm. Tigry reared and tried to throw him off. Tigry turned around to face his attacker.

It was the polar bear prisoner they had taken near the start of the infection. Although he was growing in age, the former cop retained a muscular and strong body. Tigry raised his daggers to protect himself. This one's going to be more of a fight. Thinking fast, Tigry looked around the kitchen for something to help him win the fight.

I have to get to his blood flow. Otherwise he won't die. Willow will kill me if I don't finish him off. Just then, he had an idea. "FILIP!" he called. "BE AS LOUD AS YOU CAN!"

Tigry then sprinted into the back room, slipped into the medical storage room, and shut the door. He could hear Filip yelling and banging on the metal door of his locked room. He opened the door a crack to see the infected polar bear attempting to break down Filip's door, his back to the rest of the room. Tigry saw his chance, and took it. He sprinted out of the room, grabbed the cop by the shoulder and stabbed him in the throat.

"Wait there, Filip. I'm going to notify the others that the situation is clear."

Tigry decided to go the long way around, up the back staircase. He didn't want to pass the dead mole again. His mind wasn't focused on his surroundings, and he tripped up the top stair. He managed to grip the pole to regain his balance, but a wound on his arm caught his eye. The bloody marks were reasonably sized punctures from claws.

Crap.

No.

I've survived so much for this?

Tigry took a deep breath. It's fine. It's not like I'm leaving anyone behind. They won't care. They won't care at all.

Maybe I'll find Rash. We'll be infected together.

He decided that the group didn't need to know of this. He took a small rag from a shelf and wiped the blood from the wound, pressing down on it to stop the bleeding. He adjusted his shirt sleeve to cover it, although it didn't really work, being short sleeved. Taking another deep breath, he made his way to the outer yard.

Willow and the group were waiting for him there. "So? Did you clear it?"

"Yeah. They're both dead. Filip is alright, he's still inside."

"Good. Now, while you were gone, we came up with a plan to get revenge on Brayden, Pony, and whoever else is in that rancid gang." Willow told him as the other members began returning inside. Tigry was silent for a moment.

I could lose my mind any day now that I've got the infection on me, right?

I'll make the most of it.

He took a breath, ready to try and convince her otherwise. "Willow, I think you should let it go, what they did. Why are you mad at Pony for leaving if you said he was useless anyway?"

"Are you questioning me?"

"You know what, I am. He had a point, you know. About this group going too far for things that happened years ago."

"Tigry, I don't think you understand. Well, not that I expected you to, anyway, stupid tiger. He's a nasty traitor. He left us. He left us for Officer Brayden. Doesn't that say enough about how he deserves everything coming his way?"

"This is what I mean, Willow. That happened years ago. He was just doing his job-"

"He took my family. He took everything from me. All because I tried to survive in this cruel world."

"I understand, Willow, but-"

"No, you don't." Willow grabbed him by the neck, digging in her claws. "You will never, ever understand, useless tiger. You never had your family taken away from you. You didn't even have a proper family to begin with, because no one cares about you, and no one ever will."

Tigry didn't move, didn't try to shake her off.

"Wasn't this group supposed to be like a family, Willow? Didn't you ever care about me, back at that street, with the one part of your cold heart that actually felt anything?"

Willow slammed him into the tree behind him. Tigry was unresisting. He let himself slump to the ground, wiping the new blood off his neck.

"You think this group is a family, Tigry? A 'loving family' to replace the one you never had?" Her voice was mocking, but it returned to seriousness in the next sentence. "This isn't about family, Tigry. This is about survival. This is about vengeance. And if you can't accept that, then I'll just kill you right here and now. No one would bat an eye."

Tigry looked up at her, locking eyes. "You'll miss me when I'm gone, Willow. Mark my words."

Willow's eyes widened slightly in confusion to the way he phrased his words, as if he would die within the next weeks. Her eyes examined him, and they seemed to widen a bit more as she did. Without a word, she turned away, walking through the entry gate, back inside.