You're about to make your decision when you hear a dull thud to your left. Snapping your attention back to your brother, you see Cameron has collapsed to the floor, his breathing is shallow and his skin is very pale. "Shit, shit, SHIT!" You can't stop yourself, your heart is hammering, your body is shaking like a leaf and any time you have left to escape is slipping through your fingers like grains of sand. "We gotta get him out of here! Where can we go?!" You look at Anders for an answer, hoping the older wolf has some insight you can use to get you out of here, this isn't how it was supposed to end!
Your lupine companion has a grim expression on his face as he kneels next to Cameron, "We wont be able to make it back the way we came, not with your brother in this condition. He's going to need medical assistance to pull through here, so whatever needs to be done -has- to be done here and now..." You shake your head, tears pooling at the corners of your eyes, you've gotta think of something. Think! You glance around the gymnasium, which is mostly clear of anyone now, quickly scanning the various rooms. Then you see something.
A flutter of movement and a flash of white are momentarily visible behind one of the closed doors that exit the side of the gym before it is flung open, Amelia stands in the archway with a triumphant grin. "Heya, guys! Over here! I found somethin' crazy! Bring your brother!" She waves at you and turns into the room behind her, letting the door close again. Well, if there is any way you can save Cameron, you'll take it. You'd rather live in captivity than watch your brother die as you tried to escape; is this bravery or cowardice? Goodness or selfishness? You dragged your new friends down here for you and your brother, they owe you nothing, but risk everything. Why? You don't know, but right now you have to trust them and they, you. You move to your brother.
"Come on, let's get Cam over to Amelia," You motion for Anders to help you, he appears by your side. You wrap your arms under Cam's, linking them across his torso. You try to ensure you don't gouge him with your spiky, scaled right-limb, but you don't extend yourself the same caution and end up with a few fresh scrapes where your right hand grips your left forearm. Anders moves to the opposite side and grips your brother's legs, you lift him easily from the ground. You are impressed by your collective strength, between you and Anders, your brother feels like he weighs nothing at all! It's easy to get him to the room where you saw Amelia disappear.
You enter a sterile-smelling room that is brightly lit and sparsely furnished, there is some kind of bed in the center of the room and several conspicuous crates stacked haphazardly to one side. This must be the school nurse's office, guess it makes sense to have it near where students are most likely to hurt themselves, lucky break. Amelia is by the bed, "Come one, come on! Get'im up here! His heartbeat sounds really shallow!" You and Anders do as she says, getting Cam into a comfortable position on the cot. Amelia immediately begins unwrapping the makeshift bandage around his chest with slightly uncoordinated tugs, tearing some of it off with her teeth. You start having second thoughts about letting Amelia do this.
"Hey, do you have any training with this kind of thing at all?" You find it hard to believe that a former lab-test subject would have any formal medical training. She just smiles your way, a gesture almost as sincere as it is calming, you aren't sure why she has that effect on you.
"Nope, I got no training whatsoever!" She replies in her chipper tone, your calmness vanishing faster than you can say 'panic'. "But give me a sec, I have -some- experience with this which is better than any kinda 'training.'" she says with dismissive air-quotes. Somehow, her declaration doesn't make you feel better. You look back at Anders, who is busying himself by barricading the office door while maintaining a look out through the window. Turning back to the bed, you can only watch on as Amelia pulls away the last of the bandages. "So, you wont believe what I found!" She goes on as if she was just pruning a rose bush while gossiping with you, "Ya see those crates over there? Those were hijacked from my old place!" She says as if talking about her last apartment instead of a laboratory, "Like how could they get here after that fire, right?" You looks at the suspicious crates and note the strange logos on them.
"Yeah, those don't look like they belong to the school..." You trail off, the implication ringing in your mind. You look back at the arctic fox, who echoes your sentiments almost exactly while heading to one of the crates.
"Exactly! So these must have gotten here before the explosion! And whoever did -that- must be connected to whatever happened that night!" She's almost giddy with satisfaction over her conspiracy theory, but it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine this whole thing having been planned out. "And it seems we're in luck! It's the salve they'd use on us to help us recover from the 'Pit'. I never needed any, but I seen plenty others get this treatment..." She pulls out a canister of a colorless, clear-ish liquid, it looks rather viscous. You're confused.
"I don't think that salve is going to be enough, we need sutures or stitches or something! Cam's cuts are massive!" Amelia looks at you bemused for a moment before moving to your brother's side.
"Pfft, we'd only need stitches if he was still bleeding! This stuff basically replaces skin as well, so no need to sew him up either!" Amelia illustrates her point by gesturing to Cam's wounds. She's right, they aren't bleeding. Your incredulity turns to fear that his heart has stopped beating, but you are somewhat relieved to see his chest heave with a shallow breath, at least he's still alive if only barely. "Now I'm goin' to apply this sticky-stuff to the wound and it should close him up, but I'll also need to give him an adrenaline shot, his heart is too slow for what's goin' to happen next..." She looks at you with some concern.
"What's going to happen next?" You ask her, your heart sinking a little knowing what she's about to say.
"Well..." She starts, "He's going to turn into...something, much like all of us and everyone out there. It's part of what this mutagenic stuff does, it scrambles the DNA of whatever it touches. Nothing seems consistent about the kind of form something takes, except for one thing, everyone changed by it produces the mutagenic chemical in their skin... I think." Your mind can't really keep up, how can this be possible? What kind of mad science is this? You wonder if any explanation for what has happened the last couple day would be remotely believable. Amelia seems to be thinking really hard, as if trying to remember the answer to a particularly hard question as she rubs the filmy substance over your brother's injuries, "The mutagen spreads faster, the higher your heart rate is. Vigorous exercise, stressful or scary situations, passionate love-making..." She looks up and winks at you, your cheeks feel like they're on fire, she continues, "Are all effective ways to speed the mutagen through your system. Since your brother needs to change so that he can recover from his wounds quickly without dying, he'll need a boost to get'im over the proverbial hump."
You're not sure how you feel about this, but it looks like you'll just have to go with it for now. You see Amelia pull a needle off a nearby tray, it has got something in it, you assume it's the adrenaline. "Okay, now hold him down..." Wait. What? Amelia gives you next to no warning before plunging the needle into Cameron's arm. You quickly grab hold of his upper arms as he begins thrashing, you are thankful for your increased strength at this moment, but it's hard to keep your claws from cutting into Cam's arm. You readjust, still maintaining most of your body weight on him. He calms down soon enough, but the effect of the adrenaline becomes quickly apparent. You look down as his gashed chest starts to knit itself back together, scar tissue forming in seconds what should have taken months.
As soon as the wounds were closed, another development quickly began to occur. You look on in awe as lots of thick hair begins to sprout from the location of the wound. In short order, you're looking at a splash of animalistic fur in the shape of the gashes that used to be on his torso, the pattern of it reminds you of...