The only advantage we had in this situation was that the massacre taking place was ahead of us, and not behind. The visual stimuli of around twenty hulking were-cats shrieking and roaring and descending upon each other had all the chaotic violence of a thunderstorm.

The cats had lost their minds the same way Holly and Adam had. This also meant all of the would-be revolutionaries were that much bigger, broader, furred, and ferocious. Each newly transformed were-cat-beast was either fighting with another of its kind, mauling, tumbling, biting and clawing in their madness; or they were in the midst of attacking the mice at the facility, the unfortunate teenagers that had no part in the revolution.

I found myself rooted in place staring in numbed awe as one the girls-turned-were-cat-beast, looking to be some kind of hulking-tiger-were-cat, bounded down from the table stage and onto the back of one of the fleeing mice. The were-tiger-cat-beast pulled apart the back muscle and sinew and spine of the helpless mouse pinned down under their hulking legs the way a child rips apart the wrapping of a birthday present.

This was just one moment of sheer horror amid all of the carnage flourishing in the cafeteria.

Can't save them, I thought, Not without being slaughtered ourselves. Got to escape. Got to get away.

"To the exercise area," Sophie shouted above the sound of the carnage and the classical flute music playing from the speakers.

Walter and I moved at a jogging pace behind Sophie who led the way down the corridor. The way she was leading us was going to be the long way round to the exercise area. Maybe that wasn't the best way forward. The alternative was to attempt passing by the were-cat-revolutionaries. That was a no-go for me. I knew how deadly even one of those cats could be; I had felt Holly's claws driven into my stomach and shoulder; pain which throbbed even now as a constant reminder. There was barely any time to think and no time at all to second guess ourselves.

Despite having moved away quickly from the mayhem the were-tiger-cat-beast had quickly finished tearing apart the mouse under her grip and had taken notice of us. The speed with which the beast thundered down the corridor in pursuit of us was sickening. A creature so big should not have been able to move so fast and efficiently. The beast was mindless but there was also a calculated intelligence to every step its pawed feet took to close distance between it and us.

The furious face of the tiger-were-cat-beast intent on nothing else but us, its maw, and claws, and sections of its ripped overalls caked in blood; all combined to instill in us a primal fear.

The were-cat-tiger-beast's wide-open yellow eyes, snarling mouth filled with long, sharp, yellowish teeth, made me pine for the days I was staring down the barrel of a Pied Piper officer's gun.

I did the mental calculation for how I might even have a remote chance of surviving this monster.

Running was pointless because it would catch up, even if I was in the coiled state pushing myself to my limit.

Standing my ground and fighting seemed equally hopeless. The brute strength of the were-cat-beast-revolutionary was going to far outmatch my coiled state prowess.

I formulated a plan A and a plan B on a near instinctual level of thought and took action before it was too late.

I can't die here, I thought to myself, I refuse.

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I entered into a power stance and let out a scream. Entering into the coiled state had become familiar to me, like putting on a comfy pair of slippers. The unlocking sensation felt good for a half-instant as my body began to bulk up with muscle, at first enough to enter into the first coiled state, and then into the second. Although I managed this as quick as I could manage, the were-cat-tiger-beast was nearly upon the three of us. It was close enough that the sheer madness in the beast's yellow eyes told me that it was in control. It was a primal force of nature and I was just a helpless child playing for time. To think anything I might do against it had any worth was nothing short of a joke. It wasn't flinching in the face of me coiling up and screaming in the slightest.

We'll see! I thought.

The pain in my shoulder and stomach climbed as my muscles bulked up considerably. The stinging was met also with the wet sensation of leaking blood; my stitches had popped loose.

Whatever, I thought.

Bulb-up! I thought, willing my arms from my hands to my elbows to build with intense heat. Right away the hot, golden glow sprang like a glorious beacon from both my arms.

The were-tiger-beast would be on me in the next instant. It was too far gone in its madness to understand the threat of my burning arms just yet.

But there was more to what I wanted to try with this power. I had toyed with the idea ever since I saw Walter using his power to make his arms vibrate; something which he had combined with a piece of wood he had ripped from the exercise area door-frame to become a vibrational-stake; it had worked well enough for him to drive it clean through Holly's muscled throat.

I didn't know what kind of inner will I needed to engage with to make the same vibration kick into gear in my arms, or even if it would mix well with being in a coiled-up state in tandem with my arms bulbed up; I merely imagined what I needed on top of everything else and hoped for the best, focusing on the subtle unlocking sensation I had come to know whenever tapping into my powers.

I wasn't quite prepared for the intensity with which my bulbed up arms would start to vibrate. My arms became golden blurs, shaking so much I had to concentrate on merely keeping my arms stretched out in front of me (like an extreme version of holding onto a hose blasting water at full power.)

The were-cat-tiger-beast was on me then. It made an effort to move to one side of my arms (it's intelligence at work despite the madness that had taken hold of it). But as fast and as smart as it was there was no way something as big as the were-cat-beast, its feline movement and grace notwithstanding, could hope to avoid my arms.

For a single horrible moment my bulbed up vibrating arms refused to move. Had I inadvertently locked my arms in place, able to vibrate them but not move them? Maybe that was the price to pay for being able to vibrate my arms to such a degree, something which Walter might have known about and warned me to consider if I had taken the time to ask him about his use of the power.

After a half-second delay my glowing, vibrating arms moved like a whip towards the were-cat-beast. The impact of my fists against the were-cat-beast was immense. It wasn't just a momentary burning the way it had happened when Holly had attacked me. This time, thanks to the additional vibration, my arms were carving into the were-cat-beast. The delayed movement made it seem as if there was considerable weight behind the impact of my joint fists slamming sideways into the were-cat-tiger-beast.

The beast howled in pain and the smell of burnt flesh and fur and blood rose up all of a sudden. The beast staggered and slammed hard into the left-side white wall. It wasn't just hit, ready to spring up like Holly had done back in the exercise area. The impact of my fists burning and vibrating with the extra impact weight behind it had done far more than I intended. Somewhat to my horror I saw a good chunk of the were-cat-tiger-beast's head was burned away, revealing brain, skull bone, and charred flesh.

Without meaning to, I had killed the were-cat-tiger-beast with a single strike. The regret and melancholy of what I had just done in self-defense struck at my heart despite the circumstances. It was the first time I had ever killed another human being.

In the wake of taking down the were-cat-beast in a single effort, time stopped seeming as if it were slowed down and elastically snapped back to the present moment.

The white corridors leading to the cafeteria were awash with blood, as if all the beasts were intent on little more than painting every inch of the cafeteria in the blood of the mice. There were maybe a handful of mice left with several were-cat-beasts dead on the ground, but the majority, maybe fifteen or so were-cat-beast revolutionaries, finished with their latest kills and were seeking their next target. All at once it seemed as if the eyes of the were-cat-revolutionaries locked onto Sophie, Walter, and I.

We were next.