Greykin Valley

| 88 | The Lab

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| Jackson |

There were cadejo everywhere. Hundreds, maybe even thousands looming around the lab like a sea of groaning, suffering corpses. But their sheer numbers weren't what had the pack on edge; there were prowlers and brutes among the ocean, more than any of them had ever seen in one place.

The lab, an imposing structure with obsidian-tiled walls stretching over a mile in diameter, sitting at the bottom of the hill that the pack were standing on. Every window bore protective shutters, glistening silver under the moon's glow. Towering layers of metal fences, adorned with sinuous coils of barbed wire, encircled the compound. Sentinel guard towers loomed on each corner of the hexagonal enclosure, overseeing the formidable expanse.

Two helicopters occupied helipads visible from Jackson's position, and the ground below bristled with the presence of tanks and gun-mounted jeeps neatly arranged in the parking lots. It struck him more as a fortress, reminiscent of a prison, than a medical facility. But then again, it was Lyca Corp., and they'd require this kind of security with what they got up to, wouldn't they?

"So...we gotta go through that?" Wesley questioned uneasily.

"It's a lot more than I thought," Tokala said hauntedly.

"We've got a plan," Raphael snapped dismissively. "See that watch tower right there?" he asked, lifting his paw to point to a tower two hundred feet away and on the outskirts of the sea of corpses. "That's where we'll wait out the turrets. Those things are made of mungdenite; no metal is getting through."

"Something tells me those huge fucking guns are gonna get through," Wilson exclaimed.

He had a point. Those guns were massive—each turret on the triple turreted weapons was bigger than a wolf walker. "The bullets have gotta be like mortar shells," Jackson agreed.

"That's 'cause you're looking at the canons," Amos told them. He directed the pack's attention to a deep dent in the building wall. "That's where the turrets are. We gotta get the power on to get the shutter to come down."

"Okay, so why not just use the mortars?" Lalo suggested. "Blow the fuckers up."

"Because the mortars are meant for long-range attacks; setting one off here would not only kill us even inside the tower but would also blow up half of the lab," Elias answered.

Raphael then snarled irritably. "We're wasting time. Sebastien, take Wilson and get those guns online."

Sebastien nodded and turned to face Wilson. "You ready?"

"Sure," the muto mumbled and shifted into his human form.

"You got this," Julian assured him.

"Yeah," Jackson agreed with a nod. "You know more about computers than anyone else I know."

Wilson responded with an awkward grunt and faced Sebastien. "Let's go."

Jackson watched as the winged hound took off, grabbed Wilson with his front legs, and then carried him up into the sky. His heart raced even faster as his angst increased; he was afraid that something might happen to his friend, but he had Sebastien with him, and they were both capable of doing what they had to do.

"Are you all ready?" Raphael then asked the pack.

Everyone shared the same anxious expression, even Damon. But the Alpha quickly adorned a vacant stare and glanced around at his packmates. "We all know the plan. We reach the tower, and we wait inside until the security system is up and running and firing at the cadejo," he told them.