{"sf1_id":913487,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 26","author":"Baumarius","words":1348,"posted_at":"2015-09-22T16:16:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913487-victernus-chapter-26","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/913487","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=913487\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"            Namara found his group of friends\nsitting at the entrance to the tunnels. Gala was with them, holding hands with\nAthius, and the others were sitting against the walls. Around them was a large\nstone gateway that was carved with words of warning, saying that it was\ndangerous to go back up. Beyond it were a series of tunnels and stairs that\nclimbed upwards in a long spiral. The forest of palm trees was behind them, and\nthe loud screeches of the creatures inside echoed out towards the tunnel.\n            Mahalia checked her watch and asked,\n\"Hey Namara, did you do it?\"\n            He nodded, \"The power has been out\nfor a while now. The lights in the city are down. I didn't see anyone on their\nway out though...\"\n            She sighed and stood up, coming\ncloser to him, \"Yeah, that's what I expected... It's been over an hour, and\nstill, nobody has shown up except for Gala here.\" As she neared, she asked, \"What's\nthat on your face?\"\n            Namara brought his hand to it and\nheard the faint, calm voices again. He dodged, \"It's nothing important... Just\nknow that the power is out, and Lynn isn't coming back.\"\n            While they were speaking, they saw a\nsmall group of Selanians coming towards them. Mahalia waved to them, and they\nwaved back. She smiled, \"Oh, some people decided to come after all! I guess\nsome people are still in there after all this time...\" Before she could finish\nher sentence, she felt the ground vibrating slightly. She asked, \"Do you feel\nthat?\"\n            Athius stood up, pulling Gala up\nwith him. He warned, \"Guys, I think there's a sweeper nearby. They send them\nout from the lab every now and then... They're very dangerous.\"\n            Namara felt a vague memory returning\nto him. His ears and his tail twitched as the vibrating increased in power. He ordered,\n\"Go into the tunnels. I'll wait for the Selanians.\"\n            Athius paused and then took his\nrifle off, handing it to Namara. \"This has a flashlight - you can use it when\nthey get here\"\n            He nodded and took it, \"Thanks.\"\n            Mahalia agreed with his plan and\ndirected their group inside. Theo, Kyon, Athius and Gala followed her into the\nstony tunnels. She activated the light on her rifle so that they could see. She\ncalled back out, \"Stay as long as you can - we'll wait for you at the top!\" and\nthen started jogging.\n            He acknowledged her silently and\nthen waved his hand to the Selanians, motioning for them to come urgently. He\ncalled out with his mind, Please hurry!\nThere's a sweeper coming!\n            When the group started running, the\nsweeper emerged from the palm trees near Namara - and it headed straight for\nhim. The light on the front of it shined down at him brightly. He ran his hand\nthrough the fur on his head, took one more glance at the group, and then ran\ninside the tunnel. Darn it, they were too\nlate!\n            As he backed into the tunnel, the\nsweeper continued its approach. It entered slowly, cutting the group off from\ntheir escape. The vibrations worsened as they boomed forward into the tunnel.\nSmall cracks formed on the ceiling, grooving into each other and getting\nlarger. He pointed his rifle at the sweeper and fired, but the blast\ndisintegrated before it managed to come in contact with it. Growling, he threw\nthe rifle down and ran the opposite way, heading up the tunnels. Great... just great. More people I can't save.\n            The vibrations lessened as he loped\nup the tunnels, and it ceased completely when he heard rocks crashing down\nwhere the sweeper was. A small blast of wind shot past him. The path was\nblocked off. He stopped and looked back in the darkness. What humanity had\nbecome was now sealed off in a giant tomb. There was no escape, and there was\nno going back. He sighed. Not only were they sealed, but so was his past. The\nthought, to him, was sobering.\n            After a few minutes, he turned back\nto the path and ran. The ground was moist and the air was stuffy. He could\nsmell the traces of his friends, but he could not hear them yet. The only sounds\nthat filtered into his powerful ears were of his breathing, his footsteps, and\nhis heartbeat.\n            The corridors stretched only short\ndistances, and the stairs were long and steep. He remembered that he hadn't\ncome through this way - and then he wondered about exactly how he made it down\nin the first place. He only remembered waking up in the lab. For some reason\nunknown to him, he couldn't remember what happened. There was something he\nremembered seeing, but for some reason, he couldn't visualize it with clarity.\n            Before his thoughts overwhelmed him,\nhe felt the air getting warmer and far fresher than it was before. The feeling\ncleared his mind and sparked a new kind of excitement within him. He ran\nfaster, on all fours, up the next set of stairs. When he got to the top, he saw\nhis friends waiting for him outside of a big, empty chamber. One last corridor\nstood at the end. He could see the bright light of the sun shining down just\noutside of it. Smiling, he jogged out and felt the sun on his fur again. He\ngrinned, \"We did it, guys!\"\n            The others were sitting around a\nsmall courtyard, resting from their journey in a dreamy-like state. The ruins\nof Washington D.C. were around them, but they were okay. Mahalia was sitting on\nan old metal bench that faced one of the broken buildings, and she said, \"Yeah...\nwe did.\"\n            Namara went down a few steps and\nthen came to the bench on his right. New thoughts rushed into his mind as he\nspoke excitedly, \"That's it! We can live freely now. There are so many things we\ncan do, too! And there's no one else here...\" He turned to Athius, who was\nsitting on a bench with Gala on the other side. \"What do you think?\"\n            Athius laughed, \"I don't know! This\nfeels kind of awesome.\"\n            He smiled and focused on Theo and\nKyon, who were lying on the ground, bathing in the sun. Theo got to his feet\nand said, \"Well, we shouldn't rest here long - there's a bit more we have to do\nfirst.\"\n            Namara agreed, \"Yeah, there's a lot...\nI'm assuming you don't want to stay near one of these cities? I certainly don't.\"\n            Theo chuckled and shook his head, \"I\nhad something else in mind.\"\n            His ears pointed forward and showed\nhis curiosity as he asked, \"Well, what is it?\"\n            Theo glanced towards the ruins,\nlooking for a certain building. He smiled, \"Just follow me... I'll show you. Come\non, guys.\" He started walking through the rubble and past the trees that had\nsprouted up in the street.\n            Namara looked at Mahalia and tilted\nhis head. He asked, \"Is this related to that project he was working on?\"\n            She stood up and beckoned Athius and\nGala to come. \"I don't know, but I think it might be safe to think so. He spent\na lot of time working on it.\"\n\"I guess we'll see what it is when we get there...\" Namara\nwaited for Athius and Gala and then walked behind them, beside Mahalia. He\nwatched the trees sway in the light breeze and followed the group across the\nbroken paths. In the roads, smashed hovercars were sprawled out on the ground.\nHe noticed that it was very similar to how Denver was when he woke up from\nstasis. Thoughts of the stories that would be told of this time surfaced, and\nhe couldn't help but feel glad that he made it through. After he put his arm\naround Mahalia's shoulders, he joined his friends in drifting off to his own\ndreamy wonderings.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913286-victernus-chapter-25.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/915164-victernus-chapter-27.json"}