“This is embarrassin”, Cillian whines atop Boriss’s shoulder.

“Don't whine. It’s your fault for being so out of shape.”

“Da,” Boriss agrees, “for short comrade, you are like heavy potato sack. Is good for training.”

“Ughhh.” Cillian groans.

“Shush,” I exclaim, “We’re almost there. I want complete silence.”

When we reach the top floor, I am met with a locked door. A very incredibly disappointingly locked door. I reach onto my hip and retrieve a dagger. Then, I slide it down between the strike plate and faceplate. I hear the deadbolt click.

Once unlocked, I move my ear to the door and listen. I hear the squelching sound of meat- the exact same sound I’d heard on the main floor. I continue listening for another half minute without any new sounds.

I lift a single finger and point at the door.

Boriss nods. Slowly and silently, he puts down the sack of potatoes and prepares his hammer. While he prepares, I unsheathe one of my poisoned throwing daggers for a test.

I open the door quickly. The Fenriromorphs hears the new sound and raises its head in my direction. My hand flickers and the dagger strikes through one of the six eyes. The Fenriromorph roars in both surprise and pain. It attempts to dislodge the dagger from its eye, but all that does is cause more pain.

While it screams, me and Boriss move into the room and wait to see if the poison is effective.

The Fenriromorph, still growling, glares angrily at us. It steps forward, and then staggers. The Fenriromorph’s bestial anger disappears and is replaced by confusion as it struggles to stand properly.

“It’s working much faster than I expected.” I comment.

“Da, like coffee and poop.”

We continue staring at the Fenriromorph as its struggle continues. It sways more and more until it falls on its knees and begins whimpering like a puppy.

“Um… you gonna let it suffer like that?” I hear Cillian ask.

“Yes. Da.” Me and Boriss answer at the same time.

“But it's whining,” Cillian exclaims. “This is animal abuse.”

I raise an eyebrow at the Scot, and then I look at the Fenriromorph with human blood still dripping from its maw.

“I’m fine with animal abuse when said animal killed a human and then started eating its corpse.” I point at Herman Toftloy’s open chest.

“Comrade Quasi,” Boriss warns.

“What the hell?”

Smoke wafts from the Fenriromorphs fur. The color slowly shifts from dark brown to plum. The injury on its eye sizzles as the dagger is pushed out. Then, the injury starts regenerating and knitting itself back to normal. Finally, a second set of longer horns grow atop its head.

“Well, shit.” I curse.

The Fenriromorph opens its maw and saliva leaks out of its mouth. The smell of Phenol quickly permeates the room. A sweet, acrid odor- the same chemical used in the poisons of my daggers.

“They fucking evolve. Of course they do. It can't just be normal demon werewolves.” I shake my head. I reach to my back and unlatch my zip-rifle. I take aim and then pull the trigger.

The Fenriromorph’s regenerating eye explodes as the bullet travels into the monster's brain.

It falls dead to the floor.

“Couldn’t you have done that sooner?” Cillian asks.

“I could have,” I lower my rifle, “but I’m trying to save bullets. They aren't exactly a reusable resource.” I walk to the Fenriromorphs corpse and kick it a few times to make sure its actually dead. I’ve seen too many times where something that looks to be dead actually isn't.

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“Alright, let's find a map. I’ll check the desk. Boris, check the body. Cillian, keep lookout.”

I walk to Hermans’ desk and open the drawers. I find another empty book of rules; A notebook with prisoners' names; Documents pertaining to funding and guard rotation. When I get to the last drawer, I am met with a dusty old rotary phone. On the side of the phone is a small booklet of numbers.

The names and numbers are as follows.

Gold Blockleiter

0005

Silver Blockleiter

0004

Bronze Blockleiter

0003

Black Blockleiter

0002

Aufseherin/Aufseher

0001

“Find anything, Boris?” I ask.

Boriss grins and points at his feet. “Good boots.”

I raise an eyebrow at the corpse’s missing shoes.

“Right… no map I presume?”

He shakes his head.

Damn.

I look back to the list of numbers.

I guess I could try to make a call.

I dial the last number on the list and then pick up the phone. I hear ringing for nearly ten seconds. Just as I’m about to put the phone down, I hear a click.

“Warum hat der Anruf so lange gedauert?” I hear a sharp no-nonsense voice from none other than the woman who likes to play golf.

“Herman Toftloy is dead,” I state.

There is a pause from the other end.

“How did he die?” she asks.

“Fenriromorph,” I answer.

Another pause.

“Who is this?”

“Quasi Eludo- Summoned Hero extraordinaire and professional monster slayer. If you’ve followed the news, I’m sure you’ve heard of the crazy guy who talks about gods and warned the world about these tests.” I answer.

Another long pause.

“I have… what can you tell me about this situation?” she asks.

“It’s bleak. We’re probably no longer on earth and nobody is coming to save us. If we stay in Downside, we die. Our only choice is to escape via the main elevator.”

“SCHEISSE,” I hear her curse, “that is not possible. One of those things- bigger than all the others, is guarding the elevator. All of my guards there are dead, and what few I have left with me don’t have any equipment capable of killing it.

“I have explosives,” I state.

Another pause. Longer than the rest.

“What do you need?”

“I’m currently in Herman’s office. I need either a map or direction to get to the elevator.”

“Downside is under emergency power. Emergency power is not supplied to any elevators other than the main one. The only way to get up here is to climb the elevator shaft in the central yard.”

“Fuck. Annoying, but I think I can get it done. Anything else I need to know?”

“Yes. Access to the elevator shaft is blocked by a right-hand scanner. You will need Herman’s hand to access the elevator.”

I glance at Herman’s corpse and thankfully un-mauled arm.

“Once we scale the elevator, what then?”

“I will meet you up there,” She answers.

“Good. Then I’ll head to the elevator now.”

“Viel Glück.” I hear her say followed by the click of the phone.

I look at Boriss and Cillian.

“We’ve got our marching orders. We’re heading to the center of the yard to escape. Boriss, I need you to cut off Herman’s right hand and bring it with us.”

“What? The yard? Isn’t that suicide? We’ll be sittin ducks passin through there,” cillian says.

“If we leave now, there should be plenty of other surviving prisoners creating a distraction.”

I hear the cracking and squelching sound of Boriss breaking bone and ripping an arm off a corpse.

“Da, we move like sneaky mouse, then fight like bear. Is good plan.” He waves the bloody appendage at me, “I have hand.”

“Wrap it in something and let Cillian hold it. We have to move fa- Aghhhh.” I feel pain radiate from the scratch on my right arm. My arm shakes as the pain works its way up my shoulder.

SUBMIT!

I hear a loud distorted voice ring in my head. An inhuman voice that demands only obedience. A mental order to give up and surrender.

“Comrade Quasi?”

The pain in my arm subsides, but the mental pressure continues to resonate like an open wound. The pressure demands me to give into it.

Fuck!

“I’m fine, but our timetable just moved up. Let's head out.”