The door slammed shut and Tory was gone. The smell of blood was overwhelming as the beings in the awful cell panicked. Shelton was crying and screaming, Hi was no better. Ben was holding both hands against the bleeding hole in his friends shoulder, the temptation to smack Hiram almost irresistible. Coop was crying loudly, pawing at the door, while the rest of the wolfs and wolf dogs panicked, some trying to sooth Shelton, some Hi and a few were wailing at the door.

The noise was deafening, especially seeing as none of their flares would die.

"Shut up!" Ben roared, his irritation getting the best of his. "Hiram, get a hold of yourself and help me!"

Wolf dogs whimpered, unsure of what to do. Slowly, they formed a protective wall between the door, the one entry point to the cell, and the trio of boys. Their sensitive ears could catch little snippets of conversation going on outside the door, but it was muffled and hazy, unclear and impossible to make out full sentences or conversations.

It seemed like forever until something happened. The woman, the red haired bringer or food, rushed into the room. Her face was pale, too pale, and she was carrying a small kit in her hands. The wolf dog barrier growled at her, some barking loudly. She froze, backing up against the door. She help up the kit, holding it in front of her face.

"Stop. It's OK." Ben said slowly, trying to soothe the wall of canines. Slowly they parted, giving her a small walkway to get through. She didn't hesitate to rush through the wall of dogs with the little kit, and the defensive barrier closed behind her. Hi instantly took the kit from her shaking hands. It was full of medical supplies.

The woman opened her mouth as if there was something she wanted to say, but a very loud scream interrupted her. It was quite distant but still very loud. She flinched and burst into tears. It took the pack, the whole pack, a single second to realize the scream had come from Tory.

The red haired woman stood up, shaking, and made her way back to the door.

"I will tell you the same thing I told Tory. My name is Eliza. I promise, swear on whatever you want me to, my life, yours, God, the Bible, anything;I will get you out of here. All of you." She said, her voice hardened as if with a new resolve, a burning need. She knocked on the door, which opened for her as if in slow motion. A last glance in the direction of the line of wolf dogs and she had vanished.

Ben began to count seconds, while a drugged and bandaged Shelton babbled happily to himself before falling unconscious against Hi's shoulder. Exactly 392 seconds later Eliza returned, but now she was carrying Tory in her arms.

Time seemed to slow down as Ben moved towards her, his black hair falling in his face.

"What did you do to her?" His voice was anything but calm, but it was cold and even. Eliza flinched visibly and held the red haired girl out, like a peace offering. Tory wasn't conscious, and she smelled strongly of blood and something else none of the original Virals could put their fingers on. There were three reddish streaks running down the length of her face, all three of which were broken up by pale streaks running through them. She'd been crying.

"I-I only questioned her, I have no idea what they did to her!" Eliza was panicking, she was clearly upset, but she still spat venom at the mention of her co-workers. Ben carefully pried the girl from the red headed woman's arms, holding her close to his broad chest. His glare could have frozen an entire ocean.

"You say you're here to help us then why do you do this?" He hissed. Hi nodded in agreement, though neither or the other conscious people in the room paid him any mind.

"I can't stand these people, my fathers in this 'business' and I was forced into it. Please all I need is a little time!" She paused as there was a loud knock at the door.

"Miss Shars, is everything alright in there?" Someone, a man, called through the door.

"Just peachy. I'm just checking up on the boy as well while I'm here, we can't let the subjects die now. But it's your fault anyways you're the one who shot him!" Her voice was too cheery for her facial expression. Her expression was filled with hatred and anger. She turned back to Ben, and with a pointed glance at Hi, she began speaking in a very hushed tone, almost too quiet for them to hear while flaring even.

"I am not the only one who feels this way about this so called line of work. We will be doing our best to get you all out of here quickly, but I can't make any promises. We're going to do our very best though, and I really hope that whatever my father just did to Tory, he wont do it again." And then she was at the door.

"Lloyd, let me out. The smell of mutt and feces is quite horrible." The too cheery voice now came with a far too cheerful facial expression to match, but her eyes obviously held none of the supposed joy on her face. As the door opened she cast a quick look back and mouthed something to them.

'Protect her.'

Not nearly as long as I would have liked but I'm already starting the next chapter, so I hope you don't need to wait as long for the next update, maybe only a day or a few hours at the very least. I've just been struggling with a lot lately and I haven't had much time for really anything. Sorry D: