The Apocalypse Scenario

Chapter 5 - The Kat among the wolves

Setting off from Trust, I once again climbed from roof to roof until I was far enough that my presence would present no danger to Eve and the kids. Stepping off onto the cold pavement, I tucked my cloak away and blended among the bustle of people out for the Sunday market. Sunday market was always a big deal where I live; after all you will never really know when the little shops will be burned to the ground by a stranger.

It seemed my generation was too fond of fire.

The Dawkins territory was very big, probably bigger than any inside the Gates. They were definitely the most influential pack around, that’s for sure, and trespassing on their territory without an official invite was . . . suicidal.

It’s a good thing I have a death wish, then.

The moment I was within a mile of their territory, I could smell them: the pack. The smell of adrenaline and sweat was a very overpowering smell; after all, the werewolves were a very aggressive species. They were not as hostile as the bears but then again, nothing on this earth is as aggressive as the bears.

It’s the shame this earth was not the only one.

The problem in sneaking into a territory is that they can smell their lunch before they ever get anywhere near you. But you see, fate is a bit of a bitch; it creates a weakness for all of us. For the poor wolves, its name is Aconitum . . . you probably know it as Wolfsbane- the devil’s helmet.

With a vein full of the plant I can stand in front of a wolf’s nose and he can’t smell me. You would think with that, the Were’s would be attacked every day, but you see, the wolves are not stupid- far from it. They purposefully grow blue Wolfsbane around their territory. Its presence in their homes might affect their sense of smell slightly, but it affects those stupid enough to eat it. You see, blue Wolfsbane is a poison. It is known to kill all life forms.

Now here is the trick not a lot of people have figured out yet, there is another type of Wolfsbane, yellow Wolfsbane. Granted, it’s not as effective as deadly Wolfsbane, but believe it or not it’s completely harmless.

Taking the small yellow flower from my pocket, I began to chew it as fast as I could. The longer it was in my system the better.

I could feel the Wolfsbane start to work as my nose started to itch, and my skin felt a bit tight.

“Atshoo!” as the gust of air escaped my mouth, I had to reevaluate my earlier statement . . . yellow Wolfsbane might be better than its deadly counterpart, but it was not harmless. My nose felt plugged, and my skin heated. Sweat beads appeared on my forehead, and my eyes watered, but I knew these effects were not deadly- just irritating.

I smiled, remembering the first time I took Wolfsbane. I had ended at Zen’s, panicked and convinced that I was finally going to die, but as it was, the symptoms of yellow Wolfsbane was nothing more than that of the common cold.

Something I had never had before.

Standing outside their gated territory, I paused and tried to visualize how I would get to the main house— but with no floor plans or maps I was flying blind. From the tears still leaking out of my eyes, I guess that was literal. Jumping in unprepared was probably going to get me killed by some rookie and to be honest, I don’t really want to die today.

Slowly, I made my way towards the gates making sure I dodged any guards that were stationed outside. Half an hour later I found a weakness in what seemed like an infallible defense, a crack in the Great Wall of China, quite literally in this case.

The crack in the concrete wall was thin, nothing more than a hairline fracture but for those like me, it provided enough of a climbing ledge. Making sure I was not spotted by a guard, I began to climb. Already I could feel the effects of the Wolfsbane fading, and I knew if I wanted to get past the wolves I had to move fast.