"I don't think leaving them is an option..." Cameron looks at you with steely determination, he's well aware of the fate you'd be leaving them to should you decide to walk away. You can't help but feel like a weight has been put on your shoulders, responsibility is a heavy burden to bear. You have to wonder, is this how your brother has felt all these years? You match Cam's gaze with your own, seeing the pride he has for you and the strength that has helped keep your family together all this time. You aren't going to let him down, you aren't his burden anymore, you asked for this and now you're going to prove your worth. Time to be a hero.
You make your way over to where Cass is waiting for your decision. You look into her doe-like eyes, "We'll help you out of here, we're gonna have to stick together if we want to make it, though." You can see her hard stare soften a little as she heaves an extended sigh, she slumps forward a little against the fencing. Her shoulders shake a little as you take a look at the large padlock on the gate.
"Ohgod, thank you..." Cass' voice has become shaky with pent up emotion, "I don't know how long we could have kept going in here. Some of us have already given up everything that made them human, they're practically mindless now, I can't imagine what the rest of the city..." Tears start to well up in her eyes as you experimentally tug at the lock, it's really big, you don't think you can force it like you did the one earlier. "Do you think I can find my family...?" You pause, you don't think the barely-audible question was directed at you, but it gets you thinking about what has been happening outside your own bubble, is the -entire- city like this? Or are you quarantined? Are the survivors out there crazy animals? Sane ones? Or, perhaps, still human? These are the questions you'll need to answer once you're out of the woods here, so to speak.
Anders walks over to you, he has recovered his handgun from the skirmish. You look back to see that all the members of the gang that had attacked you were incapacitated in one way or another. Their leader, Kenzie the hyena, growls a little as he struggles futilely with his restraints. Anders speaks, "Well now, Darien, it seems like you've decided on a course of action, but I don't think we can blow throw this lock with my gun, it'd be exceptionally dangerous and quite loud, though I'm not sure if that means much now..." The wolf's gaze moves up to a hole in the ceiling that was recently excavated by a shotgun not too long ago. "Still if we had-"
Amelia pipes up from behind you, "Heya, gramps! Think this will work?" She tosses something shiny towards the older wolf. You snatch it out of the air as Anders sputters indignantly about being called 'gramps'. You find yourself in possession of a small key.
"I-I am really not -that- old!" Argues the former, veteran cop turned wolf. Amelia giggles a little at this and bounds over to him to poke him in the chest.
"Yeah, yeah, sure, you're old enough to be my dad!... Assuming I have one? I'm not really sure, actually..." She scrunches up her face in a cute look of consternation, "Actually, I've never thought about anyone beyond my lab-mates as family... Now I'm curious whether I have parents!" Amelia's eyes light up at the thought of another mystery to solve, her unending enthusiasm for discovering the unknown makes you feel warm on the inside. Her curiosity is both endearing and kind of cute, you find.
Cam puts a hand on your shoulder, "So, does that key do what I think it does? Or are we just gonna sit around here and get philosophical about our predicament?" He gives your shoulder a good-natured squeeze and you grin back at him.
"Aright, alright, let's get everyone out of this cage," You fumble with the key a little, your claws don't facilitate holding onto small, thin pieces of metal very well. You manage to pinch the base of the key between the claw on your thumb and the claw on your index finger as you gingerly press the key into the lock. It slides in smoothly, "Like greased shit on ice..." You mumble to yourself, chuckling at your juvenile turn of phrase. You are rewarded with a satisfying *Clack* as the large tumblers turn and fall into place, releasing the latch. You open the gate.
Soon enough, most the creatures that inhabited the enclosure were out and standing in a group in front of you. You notice a few of them remain in the pen, too busy with their rampant copulating or too far gone to care about escape. Shaking your head, you take solace in the victories you've had up to this point, things -will- get better. Looking at each creature in turn you notice very few of them are willing to maintain eye contact with you, they would rather look away or down at the floor as you pass them by; whether this is out of embarrassment, submission or self-consciousness, you aren't sure. Of those that look you in the eye, you can see a strength and willfulness in them, what that means to you remains to be seen.
Cass the doe is one of the stronger creatures of the group, you give her the task of keeping her troop in order as you proceed through the remainder of the school, not sure what to expect. Anders is back on point, covering your progress up the halls and Amelia disappears into the shadows and corners, reporting on anything she sees up ahead. She is quite stealthy for a creature that is clad in nothing but a thick white pelt, she has a curious knack for remaining unnoticed until she -wants- to be seen. Cam carries the empty shotgun with him, wielding it like a bludgeon.
Surprisingly, your escape through the school goes smoothly with little interruption from the rest of the occupants of the building which you know must number in the dozens, easily enough to surround you. However, every encounter you have plays out much the same as one another; you round a corner, see two or more of the combative creatures, get ready to fight and then watch them turn-tail and retreat further off into the school. You still don't fully understand what is happening here, but you press on.
Finally! At long last, you have reached the front atrium of the school, you practically burst through the front doors for the fresh air... of the inner-city. Well, at least it is comparatively refreshing to the suffocating stench of the gymnasium and the holding pens, there's much less pungency in the air. But you do smell something...
Right behind you, the group of captives you've rescued funnels out of the school and into the empty street. Some of them tumble over, having not seen the sun in the last two days, just enjoying the taste of freedom. Others are hugging each other, closely, the bonds they'd developed in captivity with each other showing through. You, yourself, feel like you can relax a bit as well, the sun is hanging in the mid afternoon sky, you're in good company, you've rescued your brother and have made new friends. Today went well, despite your set backs, but something still gnaws at the back of your mind. Mysteries on mysteries still cast a shadow over you and until you can solve them, you know your future will always be in question. You'll get your answers, one way or another. You cast a gaze over at Amelia, you watch her for a moment while she plays with a rabbit-like, former captive.
Anders approaches as you stare off into the distance, "Any thoughts on where we might take these people?" People, you think, maybe we're still -that- at least... maybe. You turn to him.
"Sounds like you have a suggestion?" you ask your wolfish companion, he nods a little before speaking.
"Yeah, the police station is not far from here, it's a small district HQ, but it will be large enough to shelter all of our followers." He gestures to the crowd forming up on the street, "On top of that, there should be provisions in storage there as well as some useful equipment and some of the offices make nice, private rooms..." He trails off with a little smile, hoping you'll agree to take him up on his suggestion and, perhaps, his invitation for something a little more. You smile back at the wolf.
Cam makes his way to you, shotgun slung over one shoulder, "Alright, where are we herding this group of civvies off to? Remember, my apartment is pretty close. I'm well stocked for food and water, too, space might be an issue though." He offers you another option to consider, you nod in acknowledgement. Finally, Amelia jumps up from behind you, landing on your back.
"Gwaah! Why do you do that?!" Your wings flare out to the side, instinctively trying to push off the obstruction they find themselves pinned under. You gotta learn to control them better.
"Wah! Haha! Gosh, you're taking on such a weird form! I can't help it when I see these insufferably adorable wings of yours! I gotta tease'em a little..." She hops off of you, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. You shuffle your wings back into place, folding them close to your back, it feels fairly natural and doesn't seem to tire out your foreign appendages. "Anyway..." Amelia decides to continue, apparently she has ideas of her own, "We should really think 'bout headin' back to my lab! It's probably a burnt husk by now, but I'm sure the lower levels are fine and will provide a lot of space for everyone here! Plus, we'd have food supplements and beds and we might even find some information on what was really going on with the program that got canned..." She looks at you with hopeful eyes, you recognize that she might also be feeling a little homesick. Even if 'home' for her was a lab.
So, what should you do? The station sounds like it could be a good base of operations, while Cam's apartment might be a little lower-key which will help you all stay unnoticed by other malevolent creatures. Still, there's the lab which gives you a hell of an opportunity to really figure out what is happening in this city, but you throw caution to the wind and hope that a burnt out building will offer sufficient shelter and resources. Also, you're hungry, where should you go?