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The AdvAnTAGE Project

By

Mantrid Brizon

Episode 31: A Proper Introduction

Walking through the long hall, Dr. Jose Chavez and his companion, Audrey, are squeezed between two men in security guard uniforms. With each man carrying an electron mace, one additionally armed with a tranquilizer dart pistol, they lead the prisoners through the hospital. It hasn’t been that long since Jose and Audrey were moved from the maximum-security psychiatric ward and into the observation wing, where they were given better accommodations. In his heart, he always knew that this wasn’t going to last.

What are they planning now? Will they take his mate away? It was only a few days ago when he and Audrey took the final step and the doctor claimed her virginity in their shared bed. Perhaps that’s what did it? Perhaps they’re being taken for testing or perhaps this was all just a sick game, and now that Audrey has become bonded to him, fused in body and mind for the remainder of her life, they’ll torture the both of them with isolation? At this point, Jose wouldn’t put anything past The Old Man.

Jose glances at Audrey, his eyes scanning her face. The five-foot-two and one-hundred-and-thirty pound red panda girl turns her vibrant orange eyes toward him. Her black nose twitches, her nostrils flaring as a smile graces her lips, curling upward around the corners of her snout. He sees her tail, bushy and striped with orange and black, swaying gracefully behind her. It’s clear that no matter where these men are taking them, so long as they’re together, she’s content. Jose takes great comfort in this, though he cannot help but worry.

One of the guards presses a hand to an ear. Just then, he glances to his companion and motions with his head. Suddenly, the men push the doctor and his AdvAnimal companion to the left, away from the maximum-security wing and toward the rear of the hospital. They walk toward the utility area, where clothes are washed, dishes are cleaned and the electrical wiring and plumbing can be more readily accessed.

“Where are we going?” A confused Jose glances back at his guards.

“Shh... Just act natural.” The bearded guard whispers, his hand on Jose’s shoulder as he gently pushes him along. “Look nervous and don’t stop. This’ll all be over soon.”

Staring at the bearded guard, Jose squints as he focuses on the man’s facial features. His eyes, his nose and especially his voice seem strangely familiar. That’s when it hits him. His eyes grow wide. It’s the same man he tried to help, the man he gave the hard drive to, several months earlier! Seeing his startled expression, the guard narrows his eyes, shoves his shoulder and motions with his head for his prisoner to keep moving. Jose shakes off the shock and continues, his heart racing with exhilaration.

Their uniforms, equipment and even the shackles; everything that Donnie and Jack have was collected from a modest armory inside of the hospital, using encoded card keys that Amanda had given them. Before they ever reached this armory, before even beginning their mission, Amanda had provided them with valid maintenance IDs, compact disguise kits and more encoded keys. She even had a card for the Sovereign Six Jeeps, which use a special card reader and push-button ignition. Whoever her source is, they’re a godsend for the group.

“Alright... That’s good. Now, pass three doors and then make a right.” Connor speaks into a radio, the encrypted transmission feeding directly into flesh-tone earpieces that fit inside of both Jack’s and Donnie’s ear canals. “Once you get through the laundry room, follow the blue piping along the ceiling. That leads to the maintenance room.”

Jack and Donnie follow their instructions, leading the prisoners deeper into the hospital. As they make their way through a set of double doors, heading for their pre-planned escape route, where Amanda waits for them in a commandeered Sovereign Six Jeep Wrangler, they pass two other guards. These humans, both legitimate guards, cannot help but glance back, furling their brows as the prisoners are led toward a section of the hospital where they have no business being. Clearing his throat, the guard nearest the group stops and turns back.

“Hey, buddy. Where are you taking those two?”

“Huh?” Donnie stops and glances back. “Oh, uh... Toward the offices.”

“Then why are you going this way?” The guard asks, thoroughly confused.

“Don’t panic. I’ve got this!” Connor exclaims in their ears, typing furiously as he looks for any valid excuse.

As they wait for an answer, the real guards raise their brows, silently showing their growing impatience.

“Well, we were told to come this way. Dr. Blackwell made it clear that he didn’t want them receiving too much additional stimulation.” Jack swiftly attempts to lie.

“What are you talking about? You just walked past the atrium! That’s all the light and sounds and people they could possibly see!” The second, genuine guard exclaims.

“Hold up. I want to verify this.” The first begins.

“Shit...”

Realizing that their cover is about to be blown, Donnie moves fast. He raises his tranquilizer gun and fires, shooting a dart full of powerful sedatives right into the first guard’s left bicep, just as he reaches for his shoulder mounted radio. The second guard, realizing the danger he’s in, fumbles with his own electron mace while beating a hasty retreat. He doesn’t make it far, however. Jack is right on top of him and bashes him in the neck with his electrified mace.

The power of its blue net of high-voltage current causes his entire body to spasm, dropping him to the ground. He groans as he rolls onto his side, overcome with pain as his muscle briefly tremor. Rolling onto his front, the guard struggles to rise as Jack zaps him in the back with the tip of the electron mace. Left without much choice, Donnie uses the key and opens the prisoner’s handcuffs. Jose and Audrey are no good to them in they’re unable to escape, and keeping up the facade is no longer an option.

With the prisoners no longer bound, Audrey dashes toward the guards. She checks the first, who is unconscious from the drugs coursing through his veins. The second, however, is wriggling on the ground, making an awful lot of noise. The red panda AdvAnimal runs, jumps and then lands on the guard’s back, before wrapping her forearm around his neck and getting him into a choke hold. Within seconds his face turns red and he falls unconscious, succumbing to the blood choke. However, Audrey doesn’t let go. With an angry snarl, she squeezes tighter.

“What the hell is she doing?!” Donnie quietly growls.

“Hey, lady... We don’t have time for this.” Jack speaks to Audrey in a hushed voice.

“Come on! Move it, guys!” Connor exclaims.

“We’re trying, damn it!” Jack growls at Connor, through the hidden radio.

“Audrey, sweetie, we need to leave.” Jose speaks warmly to her.

She’d ignored the others, but hearing Jose’s voice, she immediately glances back at her companion and lover. Audrey smiles but shakes her head ‘no’. She uses her short but broad snout to point at the guard’s radio. Her message is clear. If she doesn’t eliminate him, he can wake up and call out for help. Jose and Donnie, however, persist. They’re wasting precious time dealing with an already unconscious man when they could be escaping. Reluctantly, the AdvAnimal girl rises to her feet, coldly dropping the man as she does.

He falls face first, breaking his nose on the tile floor. Blood begins to pool beneath his head. Jack takes a moment to pull the battery packs from the back of their radios before leaving them there. Without a moment to spare, they start running. Moving through the laundry room, they attract little attention, as it’s all but deserted at this time of day. However, after making a right, following the blue piping, they burst through a set of double doors and find themselves staring at offices. Somehow, they’ve taken a wrong turn.

“What the fuck?! Where are we?!” Jack exclaims, growing increasingly worried.

“You aren't out, yet?!” A shocked Connor asks.

“You led us right to the offices.”

“Shit... Oh, shit! I meant the light blue piping!” Connor exclaims.

“You didn’t say that.” Donnie quietly snarls.

“I’m sorry! Can you double back?!”

BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP! An almost unbearably loud alarm fills the entire hospital with its noise. Jack briefly finds amusement in how similar it sounds to the Pescadero hospital alarm in Terminator 2.

“I guess not...” Connor whimpers.

“This is it, man! We’re already halfway fucked! How do we get out of here?!” Donnie demands, no longer continuing the ruse.

“Uhm...”

“Hurry up!”

“I’m trying!” Connor retorts.

The group begins racing through the corridor, further alerting the office workers. Just as they turn a corner, not even waiting for Connor to direct them, a secretary emerges. Before he can register who she is, and if she’s a threat, Donnie shoves her backward, forcing her into the door she’d just closed. She smashes the plate glass window with her body before tumbling forward and into the office.

“Hurry up, you son of a-!”

“Okay, I got it! Follow the hallway down, make a right at the junction and then keep going until you come to another junction! Make a left and head for the rear offices! There’s a security door that leads outside! Amanda?!”

“Yeah?”

“Go around the hospital to the rear security door on the northeast corner! That’s the new rendezvous!” Connor all but yells his instructions over the radio.

“Okay.”

Just as they reach the left turn, Donnie and Jack are horrified to see a security guard walking with a man wearing a lab coat. The man in the lab coat is much older than the guard. He turns and gasps at the sight of Jose.

“Dr. Chavez?! What’re you doing h-!”

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG! Without uttering a single word, Donnie draws his concealed Beretta 81BB pistol and opens fire. The compact handgun spits four rounds of .32 ACP down the hall, striking the guard in the back. One round goes wide, striking the man in the lab coat in his upper left arm. He whimpers and falls backward, scrambling away from the attackers as they quickly approach them. Donnie notes the lack of blood on the guard, who groans as he feebly reaches for his gun.

Without hesitation, he steps on the guard’s wrist as Jack swiftly disarms him, stealing his SCCY CPX-2 with red frame and black slide, as well as his spare magazines. BANG, BANG! Donnie fires two more rounds into the side of the guard’s skull. Jose cannot help but look away, instead focusing on the wounded doctor. The man watches in horror, his eyes wide and mouth agape as he clutches his bleeding arm. Dr. Gregory Blackwell turns his fearful eyes toward them, but Donnie doesn’t shoot. He looks back at Jose and Audrey and silently motions with the business end of his pistol.

“Come on. We gotta go.”

“I’m sorry, Greg. I truly am.” Jose says, stepping over Dr. Blackwell’s legs. “Give my regards to Timmy.”

He can tell from the way Gregory trembles and gasps that he may be reliving the incident at White Base, which he’d survived many years ago. However, now isn’t the time for sympathy.

“Do you think that guard was paired with an AdvAnimal?!” Jack asks as they race down the hall.

“No! If he was, she’d have been right beside him! They always travel in pairs!” Jose answers.

As they come upon the security door, they find it unsupervised but locked. Donnie takes out the keycard, hoping it’ll still work. He stares in horror, his eyes growing wide.

“Fuck!”

“What?! What’s wrong?!” Jack asks.

Glancing over his shoulder, his back toward the door as he holds the SCCY pistol and guards the hall, Jack looks back. Donnie steps aside and points toward one side of the door.

“This one takes a code!” Donnie answers.

“Are you serious?!” Connor exclaims through the radio.

“Dude, I’m looking at the fucking keypad!” Donnie reiterates.

“Shit!”

As they stand there and wait for Connor to find a way to bypass the door, the group can hear guards making their way toward them. They order others to stay inside and hide, until they’ve cleared the building of hostiles. Just then, to the right of the security door, another door opens. Emerging from another corridor, a male AdvAnimal wearing the short-sleeved scrubs of an orderly pushes a mop bucket, his clawed hands gripping to the wooden handle.

The red panda AdvAnimal stops in his tracks and blinks at the sight of the four strangers. He stares for a moment, and though he doesn’t appear surprised to see them, he looks unusually nervous. The embroidering on the left breast of his top spells out “Jeffrey” in cursive script. Glancing at the firearms in their hands, his bright orange eyes glance between their weapons and the keypad of the locked security door.

“Hi...” Jack murmurs.

Jeffrey waves. His rounded ears twitch and he turns his attention toward the oncoming guards. Realizing that these two guards are imposters and that their prisoners are, in fact, escapees, Jeffrey steps to the side. Donnie turns, preparing himself for the worst. According to Amanda’s source, even the lowest of the AdvAnimals, the least skilled of them all, endure grueling military training. Could Jeffrey be preparing to attack them or possibly flee with his inhuman speed and agility to fetch more guards?

Stepping closer, however, Jeffery moves the mop bucket aside and stretches out a clawed hand. His finger types on the keypad, which promptly beeps as the red light turns green. Pushing open the door for them, Donnie is quick to catch it.

“Uhm... Thanks, Jeffrey.”

“Hmm...” Jeffrey quietly grunts.

The AdvAnimal shows no emotion and seems rather indifferent, considering what he’d just done for them. Collecting his mop bucket, he backs away from the group he’d just aided. Jose and Audrey make their way through the security door, followed quickly by Donnie. Jack, however, pauses and turns back.

“Hey, Jeffrey...”

“Hmm?”

“Did you want to come with us?”

Jeffrey merely shakes his head ‘no’ before pulling out the mop from the bucket and plopping it on the floor.

“Oh... Okay... Good luck, then.”

“Hmm...” Jeffrey softly grumbles, glancing nervously toward the man as he watches him leave.

As soon as Jack has left, Jeffrey pulls the door closed and continues his work, paying no attention to the perplexed guards who arrive moments later. They hadn’t seen the group leave and begin to call out a description on their radios, as they dart down the hallway that Jeffrey had emerged from.

“Get in!” Amanda exclaims, just as her stolen Jeep Wrangler comes to a stop. “Woah, wait a minute! Who the hell is that?!”

“Oh, that’s Audrey.” Jack replies, ushering the AdvAnimal and Jose into the back of the vehicle.

“What’s with the AdvAnimal?! Aren’t you a prisoner?!”

“She’s my companion. Sort of a reward for my compliance or so they’ve said.” Jose answers.

“... WHAT?! Since when do they pass out AdvAnimals to prisoners like candy?!”

“It’s a long story.” Jose sighs. “Can we discuss it later, after we’re safe?”

With a frustrated grumble, Amanda shifts the Jeep into gear and takes off. With Donnie riding in the passenger seat and Jack, Jose and Audrey in the back, more or less concealed by the canvas top, they drive toward their exit, the same grate they’d used the day before last to scout the base.

“Be on the lookout for two men dressed as security guards. White males, black hair, bearded. They’re accompanying two prisoners, Dr. Jose Chavez, middle-aged and bearded, with salt and pepper hair and a tanned complexion. He has a female AdvAnimal that answers to the name of “Audrey”. Breed, red panda.” A woman’s quasi-robotic voice calls over the Jeep’s radio.

“Well, that’s not good.” Amanda murmurs. “What the hell happened in there?”

“Connor got us tripped up, is what happened.” Jack grumbles.

“I knew I should’ve stayed in the bus to guide you. I never would’ve made such a rookie mistake.” Amanda sighs, shaking her head.

“But then one of the girls would’ve had to drive and we could never have gotten away with that.” Donnie retorts.

“I know, but still, I could’ve-”

“There they are! Spotted them! They’re driving one of our Jeeps!” A man’s voice suddenly comes through the radio.

“How’d they get one of our Jeeps?!” Another voice exclaims.

“I don’t know. They’ve got another accomplice, too. White female brunette with glasses. Looks young, and veeery busty. Damn!” The first voice replies.

“Hey!” Amanda growls as her face flushes.

Turning back in their seats, they’re horrified to see three more Jeep Wranglers, all painted black and with red pinstripes, chasing after them. They move in from all sides before creating a line behind them.

“Hold on!” Amanda shouts before whipping the steering wheel to the right.

The tires screech as she turns a corner so sharply that the vehicle briefly tilts to the left, the right wheels rising ever so slightly off of the ground. The pursuing Jeeps manage the turn and continue the chase, calling out the group’s movements. Soon, however, they spread apart and begin boxing them in. Not willing to be captured, Jack whirls around, rests his arms over the back of the seat and starts firing, straight through the canvas and at the nearest pursuing Jeep.

“Oh, shit! They’re shooting at us!” A voice calls out over the radio.

“Permission to break out the MP7s!” Another voice exclaims.

“Negative! We have our orders! Take them back alive, especially the doctor and his AdvAnimal!” A man on the radio insists.

As the Jeeps close in, Jack reloads. The metal grinds and the plastic chips as the vehicles bump each other, forming a tight row of three. The fourth Jeep tries to slow them down by racing around the front, driving over the lawns of several city buildings. Slamming on the brakes, Amanda breaks free. She briefly loses the other Jeeps by heading through the city, toward the residential area. As they begin to catch up, however, they swarm around the group’s vehicle in a jagged and confusing pattern. Just then, a familiar and terrifying craft speeds by, its whirring engine screaming like the world’s loudest dental drill.

“Oh, no... Oh, fuck! Drive faster!” Donnie exclaims.

“I’m trying! This is a Jeep, not a Corvette!” Amanda snarls, her foot mashing the accelerator.

As the four Jeeps weave between each other, moving forward and back and trading places several times, the Agent inside of the SCRM-R tries to follow the target car. It’s made more difficult by the fact that all of them have their canvas tops attached, preventing him from seeing who’s inside.

“We’re reaching the perimeter, sir.” The Agent begins, speaking through a special radio, which bypasses Telivima’s security.

“Damn... We absolutely cannot let them escape. Stop that Jeep.”

“Sir, I cannot tell who is who. How should I proceed?” The Agent asks in their trademark monotone voice.

“Shoot them... Disable their vehicle.”

“Which one, sir?”

“... All of them.”

“The chances of striking one of our own men could be significant, sir.”

“We cannot take the chance of Dr. Chavez getting away! Do it!”

“Yes, sir. Engaging.”

With his hand on the stick, he rests his thumb against the mini-stick, at the top of the controls. Partially depressing the trigger with his index finger, the three barrels of the SCRM-R’s 20mm XM301 electric cannon begin to spin. The Type-C, the latest version of the SCRM-R, was specifically designed to engage any light vehicles which could potentially breech the walls of Telivima. Racing behind the speeding Jeeps, which clock nearly 70 mph, the Agent prepares to sweep the targets. He finishes the pull, the trigger clicking as it bottoms out.

A burst of nearly fifty rounds flies out of the barrels as his thumb pushes the mini-stick to one side. The SCRM-R shakes and slows from the immense recoil of even such a short burst. The four Jeep Wranglers, which weave between each other, suffer tremendous damage. Tires pop and a rim explodes, sending the leftmost Jeep careening toward a tree. It’s flattened front tire smacks the curb with such force that the front axle breaks, the Jeep jumping up as the wheel flies away. The mangled Jeep lands on its right side and slides over the grass of a resident’s front yard.

It only comes to a halt when it smashes into a tree, sending the occupants flying from the vehicle. The Agent had fired low, purposefully avoiding harming them, but at these speeds, any crash could be fatal. The second Jeep loses both rear tires, one of which falls off completely. It tips, startling the driver, who promptly rolls the Jeep. It tumbles again and again, throwing a security guard from the rear seats, straight through the torn canvas roof. He briefly tumbles from the force. Lying still, the man is but a bloody heap on the pristine asphalt.

The third Jeep catches fire, an exploding 20mm shell having damaged the fuel line. Three men leap out just as it explodes, leaving one man to tumble over the street while encased in flame. The fourth Jeep swerves to the right, struggling with a flattened tire and a nearly obliterated rear axle. As the metal grinds beneath the Jeep, it turns sharply. It heads toward a nearby hangar, just at the edge, where the residential district meets the city proper. The Agent stops his SCRM-R, looking over the wreckage of the mangled vehicles, trying to see who is who.

“Go, go, go!” Donnie yells as they bail out of their Jeep.

“Did you see that shit?! He shot at all four Jeeps!” Jack exclaims in pure terror.

“Yeah, I was there! Just keep running and don’t look back!”

Having rolled out of sight and toward the hangar, they hope that the screaming spherical tank won’t track them down. They can hear the whirring of the craft as it darts around, searching for the fourth Jeep. Just as it turns a corner, however, they reach the side door of the hangar and slip inside. Thankfully, the door isn’t locked. Once safely inside, they find an M1083 five-ton military cargo truck. Painted black with a red pinstripe, the armored medium tactical vehicle sits on a special hoist, undergoing maintenance or repairs.

Directly beside it is a series of five more Jeep Wranglers, identical to those they’ve already seen. One of these Jeeps has the hood raised. It's the closest one.

“Does that keycard work on other vehicles?!” Jack asks, racing around the front of the Jeep.

“Yeah!” Amanda pants, her hands on her knees as she struggles to catch her breath. “It should have clearance for all low-tier vehicles!”

“Good, because we’re gonna need another-OOF!”

Falling to the ground, Jack swiftly pushes himself up. He’d just run into someone, who now sits on the concrete floor across from him. The male AdvAnimal glares at him as he rubs his lower back, visibly perturbed by the sudden intrusion. With rabbit-like features but the coloration of a Siamese cat, the bunny man wears a mechanic’s jumpsuit, which is thoroughly covered in engine grease. Working gloves, with cone shaped additions for his claws, cover his hands and are also smeared in grease.

“Jack?! Are you alright?!”

Racing around the Jeep, Donnie stops in his tracks and points his Beretta 81BB pistol at the AdvAnimal. The AdvAnimal doesn’t seem to notice. Pushing himself up from the ground, the bunny man brushes himself off, only to hold out a hand toward Jack. On his left breast is an embroidered name. After a brief hesitation, Jack reaches out and grabs the greasy, gloved hand.

“Thanks, Adrian.” Jack murmurs, as the bunny man pulls him up with considerable strength.

“Hmm!” Adrian smiles and passes him a clean rag, to wipe his hand.

As Jack cleans off the grease from his palm, Adrian turns toward the opened hood of the Jeep, going back to his work. He never once looks at Donnie or the pistol that he points at him. After looking between each other for a moment, Jack shrugs and heads for the next Jeep.

“Let’s see if one of these will work.” He remarks, stowing the rag.

Hearing this, Adrian’s tall, perky ears twitch. He whirls around and grabs Jack’s forearm.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Raising a hand, his fingers horizontal, Adrian sweeps his fingers from side to side, over his own throat, then points to the remaining Jeeps.

“You mean that none of these are drivable?!” Jack asks, his eyes wide with horror.

Adrian nods his head.

“Well, that’s just great.” Donnie grumbles.

“I’m sure we can come up with a solution.” Jose remarks.

“What about this one?” Amanda asks.

Hearing the feminine voice, Adrian glances over his shoulder. His big, blue eyes widen and his jaw slowly drops at the sight of the buxom human, who moves into view. She stops in her tracks, staring apprehensively at the AdvAnimal as she sheepishly adjusts her glasses. Closing his mouth, he flashes a warm smile and turns toward the engine compartment. After reconnecting the battery, the bunny man closes the hood and takes a step back. He removes his gloves and waves a hand, as if presenting the Jeep as a gift to Amanda.

“Oh, thank God!” Jack chirps. “Come on! Climb in!”

“What about this guy?” Donnie turns to Adrian.

“What about him?”

“...”

Donnie glares at Jack, who stands half in and half out of the Jeep Wrangler.

“He seems about as harmless as that Jeffrey guy. Let’s just go.” Jack urges.

“What if he turns us in? Maybe we could use him?” Donnie asks, once again raising his pistol and pointing it at Adrian’s head.

The AdvAnimal looks quite surprised, his eyes scanning Donnie for a moment.

“Use him how? Like a human shield? Er... You know!”

“Maybe...” Donnie narrows his eyes.

He takes a step closer, his weapon exceedingly close to the AdvAnimal’s face. Adrian shares Donnie’s expression for a moment, carefully scanning the human, studying his body language. Without hesitation, he swiftly grabs Donnie by his wrist, moving the barrel away from his head, locking his arm beneath his own and swinging his whole body; Adrian throws Donnie into the front end of the Jeep, disarming him at the same time. Just as Donnie’s back slams into the bumper, before he loses his grip on it, the handgun discharges.

BANG! It doesn’t even phase Adrian, an ear flopping over and partially covering one of his eyes as he steals Donnie’s gun and takes aim at his head. The human lay on his side, in front of the Jeep’s bumper, briefly stunned by the swiftness of the AdvAnimal’s attack. The room is still and everyone looks between each other for a moment. Donnie gulps. A heavy fog of awkward silence envelopes the entire hangar for what feels like an eternity.

“Oookay...” Donnie begins, slowly raising his hands into the air. “I-I was just thinking out loud. You know? Weighing my options?”

“Put the gun down.” Jack adds, his hand slowly reaching for his now-concealed, 9mm SCCY pistol.

“I was just being cautious.” Donnie continues. “You’d do the same thing if-”

“Freeze! Hold it right there!”

Everyone in the room stops and turns their attention toward the demanding and masculine voice. Standing near the side door, a human security guard stands with his pistol drawn. Directly beside the human, who maintains a proper Weaver stance, is a female AdvAnimal. The feline with milk chocolate colored fur and long, straight hair with neatly trimmed bangs, wears a tightly fitting black bodysuit. They’re all aware of her skills, as it’s no secret that only the top tier females are granted such distinctive garments.

“Drop your weapons and line up, in front of me!” The security guard demands.

Though he turns his attention toward the security team, very obviously a mated pair, Adrian continues to hold his weapon on Donnie. The security guard steps closer and glances toward Adrian. Jack keeps his hand on his pistol, hidden in his waistband, covered by his untucked security shirt. As he stares at the bunny man in the mechanic’s jumpsuit, the security guard suddenly trains his weapon on Adrian.

“That means you, too, pal...”

Adrian is stunned. He’s never been treated like this before. He may not have earned a score worthy of a high position, having failed ‘The Catechism’ alongside the other low-tier AdvAnimals, but he was always part of the team. To suddenly be ordered around by security like he was a criminal is appalling. His stance softens, but the weapon remains firmly in his grasp. Donnie pushes himself up from the ground, using the front end of the Jeep to brace himself.

“Come on. Hand it over, before you make me make you... And you! Get out of that Jeep and line up! Get ready to search them, okay, Alyssa?” The guard glances at his mate. “Come on, people! The party’s over! ... Did you hear what I s-”

BANG, BANG! Without a moment to lose, Jack draws and fires, both rounds striking the security guard in his chest. Swiftly turning her head, her hair flying, the cat woman in the bodysuit glares at Jack for all of a millisecond before leaping into action. With wild eyes, she hisses as she jumps toward him, springing off of her large, paw-like feet. Leaping nearly six feet from a standing position, she lands against the Jeep as Jack throws himself backward, across the seats and toward the passenger side.

He hastily retreats through the door as she reaches out for him. Meanwhile, her partner and lover falls backward, thoroughly startled by the rounds that struck his bullet resistant vest. He lands on his buttocks and drops his issued handgun, a Glock Model 31, chambered in .357 Sig.

“Ahh, fuck!” He exclaims. “That fucking hurt!”

Without a moment to spare, Donnie reaches out and snatches the .32 ACP Beretta pistol from Adrian’s clawed hands, only to turn the weapon toward the security guard. He realizes all too late the danger he’s in. BANG! With a single shot, Donnie executes the security guard, who falls limp. The AdvAnimal swiftly turns her head, her eyes wide in horror. Lying only feet away, her partner and mate bleeds from the bullet wound in his forehead, with brain matter falling from the modest exit wound at the back of his skull. It lands on the concrete floor with a soft splat.

“AAAHHHH!!!”

Her anguished cry is deafening. It even startles Adrian, who flinches and reaches up to cover his perky bunny ears. Ignoring Jack, who takes aim a second too late, the cat woman races over to her partner, only to dash past his body, her head on a swivel and trained on her lover. She turns her attention toward the others, seeing the older human and the red panda girl, the wincing bunny man, the horrified human female, whose hands cover her gaping maw, and then the pale, bearded human holding a smoking gun.

It’s obvious who’s responsible for killing her lover, the man she’d worked and lived with. She snarls and narrows her eyes, and without ever slowing her pace, she turns and races toward him. Her eyes are fiery and filled with rage, her lips peeling back and her canines gleaming. Donnie turns toward her, quick to defend himself, but she moves so fast! In the time it takes for him to face her and raise his pistol, she’s already closed nearly twenty feet of distance. Hissing loudly, she bares her teeth as she leaps.

Flying through the air, the feline AdvAnimal tackles Donnie, who drops his father’s Beretta pistol as he falls backward. It lands by Adrian’s feet. Dr. Jose Chavez and his companion, Audrey, move around the Jeep, joining Amanda as they prepare to steal it while the AdvAnimal woman is distracted. Lifting his arms, Donnie tries to shove the cat woman off of him, but she claws at him like a rabid beast. Her claws shred his disguise, cutting through and down to his leather jacket, which he’d worn to bulk up his otherwise slim frame. The violence of the struggle causes his glued-on beard to shift.

He cries out in fear and wriggles beneath her, trying to buck her off as she swings her arms wide, like a pair of baseball bats. Slash after slash, she continues her vicious, animalistic assault. Jack stumbles from the Jeep and takes aim. After managing to punch the feline AdvAnimal in the face, she hisses and leans forward, grabbing onto Donnie’s throat. Just as she does, Jack pulls the trigger. BANG! He misses, shooting just behind her upper back. She turns her head, grabs a nearby wrench from the floor and throws it with the precision of a ninja, all in the span of a second.

She won’t be distracted from her vengeance. Jack turns just in time to save his teeth and nose, the metal tool slamming into the side of his face and leaving a nasty gash. He falls backward as he cries out in pain, nearly dropping his SCCY pistol. He sets the weapon down and grabs onto his face with both hands, lying on his back. Climbing out of the Jeep, Amanda and Jose both render aid to Jack, while Audrey slips the keycard into the port and presses the ignition button. The Jeep roars to life and begins to idle.

Meanwhile, Amanda glances over her shoulder at the horrifying sight of the cat woman assaulting Donnie. Adrian stands like a living statue, watching the very one-sided battle. Grabbing Jack’s fallen gun, Amanda takes aim and steps closer. Someone has to save Donnie! Moving closer and closer, the buxom human’s hands shake. Amanda has never aimed a firearm at a living creature before, let alone fired one; all of her boasts were merely blustering.

“S-Stop! L-let him go! I’m warning you!” She stammers her commands.

Ceasing her assault, the feline AdvAnimal turns her head and eyes Amanda.

“I-I mean it! I’ll fucking shoot you right now! I sw-”

Before she can finish her threat, the cat woman reaches out, grabs the pistol by the barrel, yanks it from her hands and throws her off balance! As Amanda tries to steady herself, she’s blindsided. Her glasses break at the left hinge and she falls to the ground as the AdvAnimal pistol whips her in the face. Adrian’s eyes grow wide and his mouth hangs open. He’s in shock as he witnesses the feline woman smack Amanda a second and then a third time, before callously tossing the bloodied gun away, as if it were trash.

During the brief lapse in the attack, Donnie somehow manages to get a leg around her waist and shoves the cat woman off. She stumbles back as she’s forced to her digitigrade feet, but she’s determined. With his arms bloodied, he rolls over and tries to crawl away, scrambling on his hands and knees. He slips on the crimson fluid that now stains portions of the polished concrete floor, blood from both himself and Amanda. Seeing the SCCY only a few feet away, he knows it might be his only hope. He has to get to that gun before this AdvAnimal kills him!

The cat woman arches her back as she nearly falls backward, but with the aid of her tail she quickly regains her balance. With her arms outstretched and her fingers curved like little scythes, her bloody claws drip and gleam in the amber light. Where does he think he’s going? She’s not even close to done with him! Once again, the AdvAnimal leaps from a standing position, flying several feet through the air and landing on Donnie’s back. With wide, tactless swings, she batters his back, slashing his clothes and striping his flesh beneath. It’s almost as though he were being lashed.

For all of her training and all of her natural abilities, the sight of her mate lying dead on the concrete floor erases everything. The only man she would ever enjoy is no more. The beast emerges, suppressing her human traits. She’d paired with that man, given him her virginity and felt the unimaginable pleasure of having him inside of her. She’d accepted his seed and now carries his child, but because of this pathetic, whimpering human, whom she attempts to slash and claw to within an inch of his life, she has no mate. She has no future.

She forgets about the others in the room, overwhelmed by grief and rage. She doesn’t even notice as Adrian picks up the dropped Beretta pistol from the ground, the small handgun audibly scraping against the concrete floor. She couldn’t focus on the other potential threats even if she tried. All she wants to do is tear her mate’s killer limb from limb. Nothing else matters. As Jack lay on the ground, helped up by both Jose and his companion, Audrey, he struggles to find his pistol. He has to save Donnie, before it’s too late! Where’d it go?! He left it right there!

BANG! Ceasing her assault, Alyssa looks down at the blood that runs from her chest. It isn’t Donnie’s blood but her own. BANG, BANG, BANG! Each round bores a hole from her back to her chest, ripping through her lungs while the last destroys her heart. Falling over, the AdvAnimal lands on her hands and knees, before rolling onto her right side as she goes limp. She’s now a lifeless mass of quivering bone, tissue and fur. Donnie turns his head, panting and gritting his teeth through the fear and pain, only to jump. The cat woman’s lifeless eyes stare right at him, her fury still evident.

Turning toward his savior, Donnie is amazed to see Adrian holding the smoking gun. As soon as their eyes meet, Adrian lowers the weapon and races toward Amanda, promptly kneeling beside her. She groans as she lifts herself up, aided by the bunny man. With blood streaming from her face, her ponytail broken and hair frizzy and wild, she shivers and spits blood from her mouth.

“Fucking AdvAnimals...” She murmurs.

Someone helps her to her feet, standing behind her and lifting her by her armpits. Just as she’s about to thank whoever it is, she looks back and see’s Adrian. His lips curl around his snout as he flashes her the warmest of smiles, only to look quite surprised as she shakes her upper body, wrenching herself from his grasp. It doesn’t bother him, however, as he takes another clean rag from a pocket of his jumpsuit and presents it to her.

“Oh, god... I look like I went through a paper shredder...” Donnie quips, his arms shaking as he tries to push himself up from the ground. “She fucked up my leather jacket, and I can feel some cuts underneath!”

“Come on. We have to get out of here. They were likely on patrol, but more people would’ve heard those shots.” Jose says, helping lift Donnie from the ground.

“I hope that death ball isn’t waiting for us outside.” Jack murmurs, picking up the SCCY pistol from the floor.

“If it is, it won’t matter. Come on.”

Jose ushers everyone into the Jeep, only for Amanda to claim the driver’s seat. Just as Audrey and Jose are about to help the shaken Donnie climb in, Adrian steps up and does it for them. Once they’ve all climbed aboard, the bunny man in the mechanic’s jumpsuit hops in as well, startling the group. Jose looks between Adrian and Amanda, whom the AdvAnimal stares at, though she pays him no attention. Pressing a button on a built-in door remote, the hangar opens and she speeds out, only to turn a corner and pass a stationary SCRM-R.

“Target acquired.”

The spherical tank whirrs like a giant power drill as it gives chase, quickly catching up to the group that overcrowd the stolen Jeep. The barrels begin to spin, just as they reach the furthest edge of the residential district.

“Hold on!” Amanda shouts, blood dripping down her chin.

Everyone grabs onto the roll bars and Amanda swiftly turns left. BRRRRRRR! A short burst of 20mm rounds whiz by, landing right where the Jeep used to be. Unable to hold on in his weakened state, Donnie nearly falls out, but Adrian reaches out and grabs onto him. He’s incredibly strong for a man of his build! The SCRM-R’s rubberized treads screech and scream as the vehicle tries to slow itself, missing her turn. The Agent reverses and tries to catch up, just as she turns another corner, this time heading right, toward the outer field.

Smashing her dainty foot onto the accelerator, she pushes the Jeep up to nearly 80 mph. As the spherical tank comes into view, they slam into the curb and everyone bounces nearly a foot into the air. They scream as they hold on tightly, the front wheels quickly losing air as the force of the strike had bent both rims. Amanda doesn’t stop. She can’t. They crash into the tall grass, plowing through it at freeway speeds, and though it swiftly slows them to a crawl, they make it to the shorter grass on the other side, just behind the concrete wall.

The SCRM-R follows close behind. It pushes into the grass, but the density and awkward shape has a unique reaction. Creating a ramp, it lifts the craft off of the ground and without traction on its tracks, which are nearly flush with the hull, they spin and spin, throwing bits of grass into the air but going nowhere. The Agent and his spherical tank are thoroughly stuck. With the front wheels now flat, Amanda struggles to control the Jeep, yet somehow, she manages to turn it and drive alongside the wall.

After barely a minute, they approach the culvert, where both Victoria and Alessandra wait for them. The nude females, who refused to dirty their clothes, poke their heads above the grass like prairie dogs emerging from a burrow. Their eyes light up at the sight of their distant lovers. It was quite a chore to get them to remain behind, but they knew it was the only way to accomplish the mission, and their men wouldn’t be gone for very long; it hasn’t even been an hour.

As the Jeep skids to a stop, everyone jumps out. Victoria and Alessandra approach, startling Audrey, who promptly grabs onto Jose’s hand and glares at them.

“It’s alright...” Jack gains her attention. “They’re with us.”

He motions with his free hand between himself and the wounded Donnie, his other hand pressing firmly against the bleeding wound on his face. Audrey, realizing that they’re mated pairs, begins to relax. The girls pay no attention to her, Jose or Adrian, the latter of whom climbs out of the back of the Jeep and helps the wounded Donnie. Upon seeing his wounds and smelling his blood in the air, Victoria races closer, moving with inhuman speed. She pushes Adrian aside, snarling at him before turning her attention toward her mate.

“Go easy on me, babe, and him, too. He helped me.”

Donnie groans as she helps him up, and she cannot help but nuzzle and kiss him. Comforting him is one of the few things she can do for him, at the moment. When he struggles to walk, a bloody arm draped over her unclothed form, Victoria simply carries him. She scoops him into her arms and holds him with ease, ensuring that the fetid water never touches his wounds. As they make their way through the culvert and toward the other side, Adrian stands beside the Jeep. He watches them for a moment, then begins to approach.

The naked Victoria reemerges and stands by the opening, having already helped Donnie through to the other side. She holds tightly to the grate and prepares to roll it back into place but sees him standing there and stops. The mare AdvAnimal cocks her head and furls her brow. Glancing over her shoulder, she recalls Donnie’s words, then turns her attention toward Amanda, who slowly staggers toward the exit and back to the salvation of their getaway Bronco. Looking back at Adrian, Victoria hesitates for only a moment before waving him through.

He doesn’t have the same reservations, darting toward her and racing through the opening. He stops and turns, eager to help Victoria close the grate, as a gesture of good faith. He takes hold of the bars but just as he pulls, he’s nearly forced headfirst into the water. Victoria moves the massive grate all by herself, and with so much strength that it throws him into the ground. Even Adrian is amazed and a bit unnerved by her raw power. She covers her mouth with embarrassment as the bunny man pushes himself from the water, coughing and spitting out muck.

“Come on, Vicky! We gotta go!” Donnie’s voice echoes throughout the culvert.

“Oh!”

She pushes past Adrian, shoving him into the metal wall with a loud thud, eager to return to her mate. He shakes it off and follows behind, the last to emerge from the culvert. He’s briefly awestruck by his surroundings. The field and chain-link fence is all that separates him from the world of the humans and his home of Telivima. Just beyond the fence and sticking out of the woods is the back of an unfamiliar vehicle. The others race toward it, so Adrian joins them, quickly catching up to the humans.

After making their way through the large hole, which is just big enough for the now clothed Victoria to squeeze through, they scramble into the Bronco. They bounce and jostle about as they all but fly over the old trail at speeds that unnerve even the most skilled among them. Adrian grips to the interior as though his life depended on it, as it very well may.

“Uhm! About those implants!” Jose remarks, holding tightly to the seat.

“We’ll get to it! First, we need to rendezvous with the others!” Jack replies.

“It’s alright, Doctor! We’ve got it all planned out!” Amanda replies in a somewhat panicked voice.

Taking a handheld radio from inside of the glove box, Jack sends a cryptic message, only for a man’s voice to respond in code. Finally reaching the end of the trail, the Bronco kicks up dust and debris as it speeds down the dirt path.

“Faster... They have helicopters.”

“We know!” Amanda retorts.

Reaching a junction, they take a right, and then a left. Soon, they emerge from the forest trails and onto a road, where the short, yellow school bus is parked. As they bail out, Victoria and Alessandra pick up strange devices from the back of the bus. They appear to be industrial pesticide dispensers. They spray down the entire interior of the Bronco, which begins to emit the familiar scent of bleach, before racing back into the school bus. Within a minute of abandoning the Bronco, they’re all inside, and Samara, who sits in the driver’s seat, slams her paw-like foot on the accelerator.

As the school bus races away, Jack hastily collects a set of tools, removing and unraveling a canvas cloth to reveal sterile surgical equipment, still packed away in the wrappers. Coming upon a stretch of straight, level road, Jack motions to Dr. Jose Chavez.

“You’re first.”

“Are you serious?! We’re still moving and you could damage my-”

“We don’t have time, doctor! Do you want to get away or not?!” Jack snaps, interrupting him.

“Rrrr...” Audrey steps forward, snarling at him.

“Easy...” Jose says, resting a hand on her shoulder and giving her a gentle squeeze. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

Leaning over a makeshift bench that’s been bolted onto the backrests of two seats, forming a crude table, Jose takes a deep breath and grits his teeth. He winces as Jack makes the incision, only to remove the pill-shaped tracker from his neck with sterile forceps. Once it’s removed, he places gauze on the back of his neck and passes the tracker to Connor, who promptly inserts it into a small plastic tube. As Jose moves away, Jack motions to Audrey. She turns toward her companion, and Jose nods his head.

“It’ll be okay, darling. It has to be done.” He speaks softly.

Taking him at his word, she ensures that her long and thick hair, already pulled into pigtails, isn’t blocking Jack’s scalpel. Using a new set of surgical tools, Jack waits until Samara has turned the next corner before beginning his work.

“Mmrrmm!” Audrey whimpers, biting her bottom lip.

“Sorry... Almost there... You know, we weren’t expecting you to have company, doctor. You’re lucky we planned ahead.” Jack remarks, as he makes the incision with the clean scalpel.

Removing the tracker from the back of her neck, he once again passes it to Connor, who slips it into the same plastic tube. Jack then turns toward Adrian, only to pause.

“So, what’s with this guy? Is he tagging along or something?” Jack asks, taking the final set of clean tools from the canvas roll.

“Well, he didn’t shoot me when I put a gun to his head and then he saved me from that Freddy Krueger wannabe. If he wants to come, then by all means.” Donnie replies.

“He helped us before. Should we really turn him away?” Connor asks.

“... Fair enough! Alright, buddy. Bend over.” Jack replies, lifting the scalpel.

“Don’t forget the lube.” Donnie chuckles.

Adrian’s ears perk and he swiftly turns his head, startled by the remark.

“Shut up!” Jack smirks, shaking his head. “He’s just jealous of what we have.” He further teases the bunny man.

“...”

With one final stretch of straight, level road ahead of them, he makes swift work of Adrian’s tracker, removing it and passing it to Connor. Once they’ve all been freed of the devices’ invisible chains, leading right back to Sovereign Six, Jack dumps the tools into a container that reeks of bleach. Meanwhile, Connor collects a drone from a large Pelican case and inserts the small plastic tube into a compartment.

“You know, you were rather swift with that knife.” Jose remarks.

“Thanks, doctor. We’ve had some practice.” Jack replies with a little smile.

“Yes, I can see that!” Jose exclaims, looking around at the other undocumented AdvAnimal girls in their care.

“Shit... They’re here!” Amanda shouts, peering through the back windows.

Glancing back and toward the sky, they can see a tiny black dot following them. It grows larger as it comes closer and closer.

“What kind of helicopter do you suppose that is?” Connor asks.

“Depends.” Jose shrugs.

“On what?” Connor turns to him.

“On if they want me back alive or if they think it’d be easier to simply kill us... ... They do have attack helicopters there.”

“Lovely!” Donnie facetiously chirps. “Is everybody ready?! Do we know what we’re doing?!” He turns toward the front.

“Yeah.” Jack gives a thumbs up as he refills the pesticide sprayers with an unmarked bottle.

“Are we nearly there?!”

“I see the tunnel.”

“Thank God for small favors.” Donnie murmurs. “Alright. Spray it down. We’ll have to move fast.”

After ushering everyone to the front of the bus, Connor destroys the computer with a powerful magnet, only to set a thermite bomb atop the case, a timer counting down from three minutes. Victoria passes the second sprayer to Audrey, who helps her in spraying down the interior of the school bus with bleach. Upon reaching the tunnel, which the crew had blocked off with what appear to be official county blockades and barrels, Connor and Jack jump out and pull them aside. They hide them in the tunnel, just out of sight of the helicopter.

Thankfully, the nearby towns didn’t question the blockades, made easier by the false work order that Connor created after hacking the county’s civil service computer network. They climb back into the school bus and Samara drives them through the two-lane tunnel, only to approach another vehicle. A short touring bus sits in wait for them, hastily painted yellow, to match with their current vehicle. Taking their gear, they race out of the school bus and into the touring bus, carrying everything in only one trip. As they evacuate the school bus, Victoria and Audrey spray down the front half of the bus with bleach.

Upon entering the touring bus, Amanda takes the driver’s seat. Jack opens a window and holds out the drone while Connor activates the remote. As they drive away, the thermite bomb detonates and ensures that no one will ever use the computer or search its hard drives. Once the propellers begin spinning, Jack lets go and Connor pilots the drone in the opposite direction; while they drive out of the tunnel, back the way they came in, the drone continues on the school bus’s path.

“I hope this works.” Jack murmurs, sliding up the tinted window and leaning back.

“If it doesn’t... It’s been a helluva ride.” Connor remarks, a little smile on his face.

“Aww... You two should kiss for good luck.” Donnie teases, glancing back at them.

“Shut up, man! You can go to hell!” Connor snarls.

“Heh...”

Emerging from the tunnel, they can see the distinct outline of an Apache attack helicopter fast approaching. Everyone crosses their fingers and holds their breath.

“I see a bus, sir, but it’s moving in the opposite direction.” The pilot says over the radio.

“Say again, Captain?”

“The bus is moving toward me, sir.”

“And the trackers?”

“They’re still moving through the tunnel. Please advise.”

The pilot waits for a moment, slowing his pace as the yellow bus passes beneath him and down the road. It never speeds or drives erratically, and in every way seems unsuspecting, especially from several hundred feet in the air.

“Alright, Captain, if they’re still moving, that school bus might be legitimate. That tunnel is too small to turn around in, anyway. Follow the trackers.”

“Affirmative.”

With that, the pilot continues his mission and the Apache flies clear over the hill, following the drone with the trackers inside and ignoring the yellow touring bus as it drives away. Though they’d like to breathe a sigh of relief, they aren’t out of the woods yet.

“How fast can that thing fly?” Donnie asks, finally removing his now crooked, fake beard.

“Fast enough to catch that drone in about two minutes.” Connor remarks, his attention focused on the screen in his remote control.

“I think we’re in the clear. You’d better step on it.” Jack turns to Amanda.

In short order, they speed past the junction, where the trails meet the road, and toward the nearest town. Just as Connor estimated, the helicopter flew over the drone, only to call in the strange readings. After circling back, the helicopter began to investigate. Connor flew the drone into the woods for about a minute, until the yellow touring bus finally moved out of range and Connor’s controller ceased to function. Within five minutes of leaving the tunnel, they reach their final vehicle, a newer GMC Yukon XL that’s parked behind an old, abandoned barn, which teeters dangerously to one side.

Once again, they spray the touring bus with bleach before climbing into the SUV, which is a tight fit, considering the two additional bodies. This doesn’t bother the girls, however, who prefer to sit on their lover’s laps. Connor wraps his arms around Samara’s waist, while she nuzzles and kisses him. Alessandra does the same to Jack, while the towering Victoria eagerly slides onto Donnie’s lap, cramming herself into the corner and pushing the air out of his lungs, briefly forgetting about his untreated wounds.

“Babe... Air...” He wheezes.

They all but bypass the cabin, stopping just long enough to collect the leftover gear they’d kept there, which they’d already packed and placed in a neat pile beside the door. They then flee in the stolen Yukon XL, just long enough to find another vehicle; it’s too long of a ride back to the manor to be so uncomfortable. In short order, however, they find an older camper van with two rows of bench seats. They dump the Yukon XL, spray it down with bleach and climb into the 1989 Ford Econoline E-150, which Jack hotwires in under 30 seconds.

“That’s better!” Donnie sighs, leaning into Victoria’s open arms as they relax in the back of the van. “All in all, that was a pretty good mission. I need a new jacket, though...”

After typing on her phone, her hands just above Donnie’s head, Victoria shows him the screen.

“Pretty good?! Look what happened to you! I was worried sick, and you came back looking like you went through a cheese grater! >:[”

“I meant we made it out alive and we got the doctor and his friend... And also that guy...” Donnie begins, tilting his head back and looking up at his mate. “The jacket took the brunt of it, and those cuts don’t feel too bad, babe. All in all, it went pretty well.” He reiterates.

“Yeah, and besides, it could’ve been worse.” Jack adds.

“How?” Jose asks.

“I could’ve been raining!”

Jose cannot help but chuckle, slowly shaking his head at his saviors’ jovialness. Donnie looks toward Dr. Jose Chavez, who sits beside Audrey, an arm around her waist, her head on his shoulder and his head against hers.

“Well, you two look comfortable.” Donnie begins.

“So do you.” Jose retorts.

“Yeah. She’s my girl!”

Smiling as he looks up at Victoria, she leans forward and gives him a loving kiss on the lips. One kiss becomes two, then a dozen. Audrey and Jose watch them for a moment, only for her to look up at him. He smiles and caresses her furry cheek, pressing the tip of his nose against hers. Donnie returns his attention to the doctor and the red panda girl.

“And she’s yours?”

“Yeah.” Jose speaks softly, before kissing her tenderly on the lips.

“Uh-huh...”

“I take it you have questions.” Jose remarks, his eyes closed as he nuzzles Audrey’s face.

“Oh, yeah! ... But we’ll save that for later. I’m Donnie Harper, by the way.” He replies, holding out a hand.

“I thought you looked and sounded familiar. The man from the alley, right?” Jose asks, reaching past her and shaking Donnie’s hand.

“Yeah.”

“I’m Dr. Jose Chavez, as if you didn’t already know.” Jose says with the faintest of smiles.

“It’s still nice to be properly introduced.” Donnie smiles back.

“So... What’s your plan?”

“I’m glad you asked, doctor!” Amanda chirps, turning back and leaning over the bench seat directly in front of them.