Salty Fur [BOOK 2] (BB Werewolf fanfic)

Carcass (8)

"Howlarp! Hey...Can we talk somewhere away from the door so nobody hears us?" Kikmee asked. Howlarp rose a brow.
"I suppose so. Follow me." He flicked his tail for them to follow but neither of the Lost Bots could see where he went. They didn't have night vision after all.
"Hey, Howlarp!" Kikmee called out. The wolf bot turned back around, a little annoyed.
"Talk where nobody can hear us, eh? What is it?" He growled slightly.
"We can't exactly see in the dark. Have anything to help us?" Just as Kikmee finished her sentence, Howlaro tossed something towards the two. She caught it and both her and Clogstopper looked at it. It was some sort of plastic container with a bright light inside of it.
"Use that to follow me. Be careful you don't trip on anything." The wolf bot instructed them, walking forward again into the shadows. Clogstopper looked unsure.
"I'm not too sure about this...I'm not scared. I just don't wanna fall into any mysterious pits in the walls." Kikmee looked at him confused.
"What?"
"You said there was a tunnel downstairs that led up here, right? How do we know if there's more or not?" Kikmee grunted in slight agreement. Clogstopper was right. How would they know if there were pits to fall into or not? But then she shook her head.
"There are only tunnels in the walls I think. If Howlarp went through just fine, we should be able to as well. Now cmon." Kikmee held up the Lantern and walked into the shadows, Clogstopper following behind her.

As soon as they reached the little den Howlarp had taken Burgertron and Bonz-eye to, Kikmee and Clogstopper seemed impressed.
"You built all this yourself?" Clogstopper asked mesmerized. Howlarp looked like he was thinking for a moment.
"Not exactly. Some other bots helped me build these before I went into hiding. Now sit down and tell me what you wanted to talk about." Kikmee sat down and looked at Howlarp nervously.
"It's about DimLit. He was with me when we came through the tunnel the other night."
"Your Flashlight friend? I see. Go on." She looked down at that moment. Why was she so scared about asking Howlarp for help?
"Well when you attacked him, what exactly did you do?" Howlarp looked confused.
"What did I do? Well I clawed his chest. Pretty hard too. Then you came and thats all I did." Kikmee looked up at Howlarp with obvious terror in her eyes.
"Howlarp, we came to tell you that you infected DimLit with the scratch. We don't know what to do. Burgertron and Bonz-eye don't know what to do. Neither does DimLit." Howlarp went wide eyed with fear as well and leaned forward.
"INFECTED HIM?! Oh no...What have I done...I've caused too much infection so far! If I hadn't been so selfish and had just been sensible..." His words drifted off as he mumbled something the two couldn't make out.
"What are you talking about?" Clogstopper asked. Howlarp didn't look up at him.
"I don't want to talk about it..." Kikmee stood up angrily. All this was so much! Burgertron getting infected, Bonz-eye willing to get herself infected. Spud coming back and exposing them all. The Half Moon. Burgertron and Bonz-eye being secretive. DimLit getting clawed. All of this! Too much. She had finally snapped.
"Dont want to talk about it? Talk about what?! Burgertron and Bonz-eye said you kept bringing up random things about infection and missing her and whatever, but you never explained it to them. Now it feels as if you're doing it just so we'll cha get the topic! Howlarp, now is not the time to MOPE so you can get out of this. Tell us what you're talking about. Now!" She yelled at him. Howlarp didn't seem phased, but sighed.
"Fine then! I'll tell you...It all started-" Suddenly he stopped and got up, sniffing the air. "Strong stench...ugh, vile too...what...blood...blood! A carcass!" He ran out the den and out the store. Kikmee peeked out the hole.
"Hey! Get back Here!" She yelled. He was just trying to avoid the conversation again. But Clogstopper looked at her with concern.
"Maybe we should...I dunno...follow him? What if there actually is a carcass? Someone could be hurt." He told her calmly. Kikmee looked at him and then looked back at the entrance with a sigh. Clogstopper was right. Maybe someone was hurt. But she knew she would get answers from Howlarp somehow. One way or another, she wanted to know how this all started. She ran out the den, following the light from the entrance as Clogstopper trailed behind her.

Eventually they caught up with Howlarp on the bottom floor of the mall. There was a dead bird on the ground, one of its wings ripped off. The poor things expression was terrified, like its death was so quick they couldn't take another breath. Howlarp looked at the limp body with disbelief.
"Who would do such a thing? Who did this anyway? No bot could have done it...it had to have been a werewolf or just a wild animal in the vents somewhere." Clogstopper looked at the body as well.
"Maybe it could have flown into something?" He guessed. Howlarp looked unamused.
"Clogstopper, this couldn't have been an accident. It's obvious something or someone did this on purpose..." Kikmee went to the other side of the bird and shuddered. It was bleeding onto the ground, a cracked bone sticking out the side of its body. But then she noticed something else. A hair? She took it off the bird, trying her best not to puke. This was disgusting! She went back to the other side to the others with the hair.
"Guys, I found a hair on the other side of the body..." She told them right before Howlarp gently grabbed it and inspected it. He nodded to himself and clutched onto the small piece of evidence.
"It's a werewolf hair alright. The only thing that could've killed the bird would have been something like a wild animal anyway." Howlarp said. Kikmee went wide eyed with fear once again. They would have to interrogate their own friends to see who killed the bird! Oh boy, this would be a crazy ride.