Awakening, dinner, lunch, breakfast, lights out. A new day, a new cycle. How annoying it all was, even when she had once enjoyed a fight with the security service or members of a rival gangs, it no longer had a kindling spark. Even now, being in her already native solitary confinement, another mess later, a red vixen dressed in a yellow jumpsuit named Fiona still could not calm herself down. The psyche demanded the satisfaction of a wild disposition, and there were not so many available ways of leisure here. If she were free, she would obviously find something to entertain herself with, but here?
Despite many unsuccessful attempts, Fiona still had few options in her head for another escaping from this hole called prison, especially after some of the staff had been withdrawn a day ago and half of the equipment had been taken out. Most likely, this was somehow connected with the recent riots in nearby cities, newly arrived prisoners sometimes told about the events taking place there, but few of those present here believed them. However, the task did not become any easier - strict instructions and enhanced security measures came to replace the departed ones and the things taken with them. On top of this, the volume of food portions given out has recently decreased significantly, which made the outcome of the hunger–weakened venture more obvious than ever - beatings, failure, and a loner cell again. But she wasn't going to give up so easily, since when could difficulties along the way make her give up? No, none of this was capable of deterring this persistent vixen. Neither strong walls, nor a strict security system. But it takes time to think through a good plan, which Fiona had plenty of.
Lying on the cold floor and looking at the ceiling of the cement box, she was mentally outlining the sequence of actions when the flow of her thoughts was interrupted by a noise from outside. A little later, incessant chatter began to emanate from the radio of the standing outside warden. Fiona couldn't make out any of the words, but their loud sounding made it clear the importance of the broadcast. Very soon it's receiver left the corridor in the direction of the stairs, leaving the yellow-suited prisoner alone with herself. It seems that someone managed to get ahead of her.
Jumping to the double bars of a small window on her third floor and clutching them with both hands, she watched as crowds of unknown people entered the courtyard from the entrance gate. They looked strange: ordinary civilians, completely unfamiliar faces, no bandages or noticeable marks hinting at belonging to any criminal group, as well as fabrics hiding their faces. It was thanks to this that the attentive vixen was able to discover something alarming for himself – their glowing red eyes and faces full of malice. Outsiders immediately began to rush at everyone they met. Perimeter guards and security personnel who arrived to help them, instead of the usual expected orders not to move, immediately opened fire upon all of those who approached. However, this did a little to stop the attackers - those who fell to the ground soon got to their feet and again rushed into a suicidal attack. Fiona could have sworn that she saw one of the crowd's member hands torn off, which, however, did not affected the victim's behavior at all.
Retreating personnel and the crowd chasing them very soon disappeared from her sight, while sounds of the struggle shifted somewhere to the first floor, and with them came the shrill screech of a siren and intimidating red emergency lighting. Going back down to the floor, red vixen began to think about what to do next, it was unacceptable to miss this unique opportunity to escape, but... The cell door is strong - can't break it down, the same story with the window, and even with success, there's nothing to do without a rope on the outside. The situation seemed hopeless, all that was left for her to do now was to wait for the rest.
A crazy idea popped into her head, Fiona got to her feet and looked at claws. Despite their weekly forced cutting, these incredibly sharp and unusually durable tips grew back quite quickly, which in the current situation was more useful than ever. Leaning on the claw of her finger on the nearby bed, she sharply kicked it off from the phalanx of her finger at the root. Burning pain went through her whole body with an unpleasant impulse, but only an angry exhalation left her lips – one of her methods to endure any torment. Loud noise of the confrontation that had previously existed somewhere deep below has now shifted to the second floor. She quickly began to rub the picked-up fragment of herself against the wall with one end, sharpening it middle to the shape of a straight screwdriver tip with which she could try to unscrew the bolts blocking the axial pin at the intersection of the door hinges, which she eventually succeeded. Now, the iron obstacle standing in the way of freedom could be removed with the use of brute force. But loud noise has already outstripped the savvy tailed one.
Someone on the other side of the solitary cell was desperately tried to get inside, showering the barrier with a heavy hail of weighty swings and a burst of angry growls. Whoever it was, such intentions were clearly not friendly. Under the pressure of the angered stranger, the previously twisted pins began to bend towards the yellow prisoner, threatening to crush with all the weight of the door they held. With the last push, the rectangular surface separating them fell on the yellow-clothed vixen that was waiting for it. With the opposite, and even stronger impulse she kicked it in the opposite direction. Unexpecting attacker was soon pinned down by so hated obstacle, from under which only twitching limbs with pointed fingers could be seen. But Fiona barely noticed this. Wasting no time in vain, she rushed to run along the corridor towards the stairs, around the turn of which the warden assigned to her had disappeared relatively recently. Going around the corner, she did not meet the password-locked gates she expected, instead there was a wide-open passage that allowed both to go down to the exit and climb up to the roof. Taking into account the sounds of battle that had not yet subsided on the lower floors, she beat off a rhythmic melody along the towering steps that marked the first step towards long-awaited freedom.
The first of an unknown set. The second turned out to be the blue-armored warden standing in the middle of the corridor. Before their gazes crossed, with a sparkling blow of an electric baton armored jailer knocked out a prisoner who were trying resist and, seeing a new target, immediately changed electric charged steel to a plasma blaster and ordered her to lie down on the ground. But instead of the expected submission, received only a sly grin. Even through the opaque visor of protective helmet, Fiona could see an expression of confusion. This one obviously new here, anyone else who knew her would have opened fire right away knowing how dangerous she is. That's her chance to act.
Short moment of confusion turned into a lightning-fast rolling of the red-tailed target towards one of the lead pipes, followed by an equally rapid separation from the water supply system. Belatedly aimed blaster managed to make only a few close-to-hit shots before being knocked out of hand by an oblong object that cut through the air and caused deadly weapon to fly several meters away. Leveling the chances, Fiona were now rapidly closing the distance.
Swing, dodge, somersault and now warden knocked down on the floor, pinned down by a nimble vixen. Small grin shining on her only widened at the sight of the disarmed opponent, satisfied gaze fell on the electric club lying out of reach of the former owner, such ironic outcome of his current situation suggested itself. But the subject of satire himself could hardly understand this, having barely recovered from the stunning, jailer only managed to notice the outlines of suppression instrument towering above. A moment to counteract.
Warden's left elbow protection reflects the attack, quick swing of the right fist forces red vixen to roll backwards, dropping the weapon.
Incessant noise from the lower floors is only getting louder, but none of the moral barricades sides paid any attention to it. Staring at each other, they prepared for a new round of confrontation, stretching limbs and examining surroundings. Red paw picks up the earlier throwed lead, blue glove returns it's lost iron. Both opponents are now waiting for the right moment. Light bulb, weakened by energy fluctuations, like a starting pistol gives both of them a signal to start, with the last flash of light and plunges the corridor into low-pitch darkness. A second later, the dull thud of approaching footsteps is replaced by ringing blows from the participants of the conflict who crossed their weighty arguments that, with the sparkling contact of hostile intentions casted shadows of the blue warden and the red prisoner circling in a dangerous dance were carved on the uneven surface of the walls. While the nimble vixen confidently dodged every lunge aimed at her, the armored jailer steadfastly blocked each of her lightning attacks. Despite their increasing fatigue, none of them could afford to stop, just as any decisive blow.
Suddenly, a cellmate, who had been lying unconscious before, came to the vixen's aid. She couldn't see the face, but the physique alone was enough to remember who it was - a weak coward who often did the desired job with a simple snap of her fingers. Pouncing on unsuspecting warden from behind, he knocked his enemy to the floor and, like a madman, began pounding helmet-covered head into the crackling surface of the floor.
'Where did he suddenly got so much strength and character from?' Fiona thought as her pride took its toll.
Even though fumes of heated air were still coming from her lips, she was sure that she could have handled it on her own, and therefore, having replaced her hitherto gambling grin with a displeased expression, red vixen began to scold her uncalled ally for completely unnecessary help. But her indignation was interrupted by a familiar facial feature. Through the darkness surrounding trio, a pair of red glowing eyes with barely noticeable dot pupils stared at her, radiating materialized anxiety. In response to the rebuke, only a guttural growl sounded, as if passed through a broken dictaphone. It echoed down the dark corridor from which rapidly approaching and heavy stepping footsteps now continuously came by the side of the stairwell that had once been left behind. Someone who seemed to be one of her own, having risen to his feet, now turned all his furious attention from the motionless body to the dumbfounded vixen. Instantly released into the blood adrenaline turned the following moments into a creepy slideshow. Gleaming angular teeth. An ineffectual blow. Sharp fingers on a lead pipe and a full of hatred face getting closer and closer, stopping centimeters from her frightened own. With back pressed against the nearest wall, Fiona could only try with all her might not to let herself fall to the floor, simultaneously dodging the sometimes particularly strong attempts of the overly aggressive attacker to cling to her with his sharp fangs. However, each passing second only exhausted the remaining reserves of endurance more and more, while the noise from the stairwell grew more and more menacingly louder and clearer scary. If not for her titanic efforts of will, the muscles aching from hostile pressure would have weakened their resistance long ago, giving her former ally the opportunity to tear the exhausted victim apart. But she held on, at least until the overstressed tendons will begin to rip one by one.
When the sweating fingers seemed about to slip off the only oval barrier separating them, the head of the red-eyed monster, with a flash of bright blue behind, shattered into flickering in the weak light fragments. It immediately let go of the red-tailed vixen and fell on it's side, twitching and writhing, trying to grab a more nonexistent brain. Startled, sky-blue eyes fell on the only possible source of the faded glow - previously lying warden. With one relying hand with an electric baton, jailer rested on the floor, and in the other a trembling blaster, through a hole in the cracked visor of the helmet, a half-closed orange-yellow stared at dumbfounded prisoner.
Behind, at the stairwell checkpoint, pushing each other, crowds of red-eyed monsters, similar to those who drove the guards into the building, had already caught up.
"Run… Please..." The only thing that former opponent could squeeze out before collapsing to the ground.
Fiona first thought was to do so, but…
Despite the obviousness of the decision and her bad attitude towards law enforcement and heroes in general, something made her hesitate.
What had happened here did not look like at least one of the prison riots she had ever seen, why would strange-looking civilians suddenly need to break into a correctional facility and attack the first people they met? And why did the cowardly cellmate she knew suddenly attacked the warden, almost smashing protected head with his weak little hands, and then, with a wild roar, at her herself while looking indistinguishable from "uninvited guests"? There are too many questions and very few answers. Something was clearly wrong, and if that "wrong" was happening in the outside world, then she had to know as much as possible. But to her great regret, the only available and, perhaps, the last source of information was former opponent lying on the floor, whose interrogation is possible only under the condition of private and personal communication for which she will have to take risks. However, is this idea so bad? If an electronic lock or, chaos forbid, a retinal scanner turns out to be on one of the doors ahead? Such a mistake would be fatal.
Besides, in the current state of affairs, it wouldn't hurt for her to have at least some kind of help. Even such as this one.
No matter how much Fiona hated them, she still couldn't help but recognize their sometimes even sacrificial selflessness, which, not without a drop of long-suppressed regret, she often used for selfish purposes and cunning plans. If they were not on different sides of the barricades, then everything could well have been different, because she's truly respected the dedication of which her sworn enemies were known and which was very often not enough for accomplices in criminal activities. It would be very useful to have such an ally. Moreover, in the event of a meeting with another attacker, her chances of fighting off alone will be quite low, and with a companion in misfortune they will become somewhat higher. At least for a while, unless later it becomes necessary to use that "ally" as bait for her own salvation.
Is it reasonable? Fiona didn't know. Anyway, the decision has been made, she will have time to hate herself later, but for now…
A pipe darted into the shapeless crowd and knocked down the first one of them, causing the rest to fall like skittles. In two jumps, reaching the warden, the red-tailed vixen threw heavy arm around her neck, and intercepted the plasma pistol with the other.
"On your feet, I'll need you!" She hissed.
On legs wobbly from floating in agony mind, the carried one rustled along the surface vibrating from the trampling, while Fiona, in a half-turn, began to settle the nearest of her pursuers with a plasma pulse, briefly increasing the distance with a periodic flash and gradually approaching the fire door at the end of the corridor. So close, only half a dozen meters. One, two, three…
Too-frequent footsteps behind attracted all her attention. With a quick movement of her hand, she managed to shoot offhand the stomping threat, who turned out to be her recently headshotted cellmate. How is that even possible? Fiona didn't know, and she wasn't in a hurry to find out. All she cared about right now was the saving red rectangle at arm's length. Opening the heavy door, she roughly pushed warden inside onto the stairs and pulled the handle. The impotent blows on the other side of the barrier sounded like a victorious triumph.
Leaning against the wall, the red-tailed vixen slowly slid down, lowering her hands to her bending knees. Finally, a break.
Survived duo spent some time in relative silence, gradually recovering their lost breath while the faint red light was getting weaker.
"Why…?" Slightly raising its head, a tired look asked through a cracked visor of bended helmet.
"I need information, as much as possible. And you..." Fiona glanced at the badge "Gadget, going to tell me. One way or another."
Red vixen casually showed plasma blaster that now belongs to her, wordlessly hinting at a different way of interrogation from the verbal one.
"I'll... I'll tell you. Just..." He paused to take another deep breath, but fell silent.
After waiting a few seconds and getting no response, Fiona waved her hand.
"Hey!" Red vixen hit the cement floor with the handle. Weakly, but loud enough to bring her interlocutor's attention. The latter only twitched slightly "I'm still waiting."
"Do me... A favor. Take off that helmet..."
A simple, unremarkable request, despite its simplicity of execution, still aroused Fiona's suspicion – why wouldn't he do it himself? Was it just an attempt at deception disguised as weakness, or did he really get hit SO hard? There was only one way to find out.…
With her hand extended under the visor, she snapped the groped clasp and abruptly took off protective gear.
Red vixen immediately retreated a few steps and pointed the weapon at the head of the moving body, waiting for retaliatory actions from the recent opponent. But got nothing, instead of the attack, there was only a relieved exhalation.
"Thank you... Very much."
Realizing that her suspicions were not justified, Fiona sat back down.
Only now, having passed the moment of tension, she could fully see the face of her soon-to-be companion in misfortune.
The once defeated blue-armored warden turned out to be a red wolf with long pointed ears that had a green mono headset with a microphone, amber eyes and tanned skin. On his muzzle, distorted from not yet passed pain, black glasses with, apparently, recently cracked glass twitched slightly.
While Fiona was waiting for an answer, the muffled bangs on the door and the noise of confrontation coming from somewhere in the distance became fainter, which seemed to suck the last remnants of electricity from the fading red staircase lamps.
"So tell me. What's going on outside of this place?"
As if trying to get ahead of the answer, with a buzzing, one floor after another, the lights began to turn off. The creeping darkness was slowly but surely creeping up on the only heat carriers.
"It's a nightmare out there..." With the last spoken word, the space around them finally descended into impenetrable nothingness.