That night flew by in a chaotic blur of questions. Who knew how much time the two prisoners had left? What horrible things would The Hunter do to the deceased Pat? How would they escape?
Escape. The sheer idea had barely even occurred to Fang the whole time! Oh great, now he was starting to act like Pat.
I'll have to think about escape later. I'll bet their security is extra tight during the AM.
The facility was deathly still. Not a single animal snored or stirred; for they knew if they made any loud noise…there would be dire consequences.
"Asher?
Don't you feel like you are being watched?" Fang whispered to the
wolf lying beside him.
"Not really. But then again, I've been
here longer than you." Asher brought himself to his feet and padded
over to the corner of the cell. "Except I could never figure out
what this thing was. I always get chills whenever I look at it." He
gazed up toward the ceiling, where a tiny white orb was drilled into
the stone.
"It's probably just an alarm." Fang shrugged. "Just a guess."
"I'm not sure…it keeps blinking for some reason and frankly, it's creeping me out right now." Asher cringed back, and gave a pitiful whine. It seemed unlikely that such a brave wolf would be so scared of a miniscule instrument!
"Let me check it out." Fang kicked his food bowl over to the corner, knocking it upside-down with a loud clang.
"Shhh! Do you WANT us to get in trouble?" The wolf scolded, and watched intently as Fang stood on top of the bowl.
"Hmmm. You know, this thing looks an awful lot like a camera." He tapped the orb suspiciously, and watched a little red light blink on and off. "See, that's the record light. Someone IS watching, Asher, and I think they have plans in store for us…"
---
"Damn right I do, weasel."
There he was, sitting on a giant jet black swivel chair in his own personal office. It was a tight space; hundreds of papers were crammed into the filing cabinets in the corners, trophy animal heads decorated the walls, and the constant flashes of the dozen television screens nailed into the wall could have easily made someone blind.
But it didn't seem to bother The Hunter much.
"Yes…you and your little 'Asher' will soon be mine." He glued his eyes to the television screen, and watched Fang's curious antics with the camera.
"You think he will be able to see me do this?" Fang looked down at Asher, and then returned his attention back on the camera. He pulled up his gloves, and intentionally raised his middle finger up at the recording light.
"WHAT?" The Hunter angrily pounded the desk with such force that it made an indention in the wood. "HOW DARE THAT BASTARD FLICK ME OFF!" His face turned a cherry red as he glared at the screen and the weasel on it. "JANE!" The Hunter bellowed for his assistant.
"Augh, what NOW sir?" Jane appeared in the doorway, irritated that she was being summoned during her break time.
"Jane, as my right hand man er…woman…, I can trust you to carry out an important mission for me, right?" The Hunter spun his chair around to face her.
"Uh, sure whatever." The woman quickly stole a glance in his direction, and went back to staring at the ground.
"Fine then. I can't leave any of this to the other employees, so you had better listen closely. I'm not going to repeat this scheme again." The Hunter rolled his chair over to Jane, and looked her straight in the eyes.
"Here is what we will do…"
---
The dawn's light shined through the small windows in the hallway, slowly rousing the animals from their sleep.
After playing with the camera the rest of the night, Fang was quite tired. He had hoped that whoever was watching him had caught the gesture.
"Oi, I wish there was coffee here…" Fang sat up against the wall, and sighed. "But that stupid Hunter guy can't give us a break."
"Coffee? Isn't that a human drink?" Asher stood by the door of the cell, and stuck his snout through the bars.
"Screw human talk! Listen Asher, haven't you ever wanted to get out of this hell and be free again? You know, run around without any worries?" Fang joined the wolf at the door, and grasped his hands around the bars. "Without any bars blocking your way?"
Asher sighed, and stared out at Pat's empty cage across the hall. "It is useless, Fang. I'll never hear freedom call my name again. Escape is near impossible around here. Just look at what happened to Pat!"
Fang said nothing. Had Asher truly lost hope this fast?
"Well, you said near impossible. That means there is still a chan-"
Footsteps thundered in the hallway, interrupting Fang mid-sentence.
"It's Jane!"
Indeed, the woman was racing toward them, a silver pistol clutched in her hand. Her face wore a very pissed off expression, like she was going to shoot someone.
Like she was going to shoot them…
"Asher, get in the corner!" Fang motioned for his friend to step back, but the wolf refused to move. His hair stood on end, and a deep growl sent small tremors through the ground.
"Asher!" Fang persisted, but pleas did not convince him.
"No! I'm staying right here to fight!" Asher watched as Jane stepped right in front of their cage, and aimed her pistol at the two of them.
"I saw what you did to my boss last night, punk! Don't try anything funny with me!" Jane's hands were white from squeezing the gun. She grit her teeth so hard that it looked like she would snap them in half. "My boss sent me to make sure you two were dead as a doornail!"
"Oh really, GI Jane? Then let's fight fire with fire!" Fang pulled out his own pistol off of his belt, and aimed it right back at the woman.
Jane had been foolish enough to step that close to the door. She didn't have much time before Asher stuck his muzzle out of the bars and snapped at her side, his teeth latching onto one of her pockets.
It was just the distraction Fang needed. He aimed at Jane's chest, and whispered one little word…
"Boom."
He pulled the trigger.
Jane staggered backwards, and fell to the floor with a thud. She moved no longer. Animals from other cages around quickly stuck their heads out, and turned to stare in Fang's direction.
A bewildered elk across the hall cocked his head, and shouted in awe. "Did YOU do that?"
Fang blew on the smoking end of his pistol and smiled, his fang glistening with a triumphant shine.
