The dark shapes with pale faces and eyes that glitter silver glide out of the forest together, meeting on the trail their keepers created for the hunt. The first one snarls a welcome to his brother and sister.
“It’s true, then?” The female hisses in guttural English. “The testing is almost over?”
Their leader’s shark teeth glint in the moonlight, lips pulled wide.
“The doctor told me as much.” His wide shoulders twitch. “The last of the children arrive tonight.”
They fall still, the third licking his lips in hungered response. Their leader sees it and strikes out with his claws, slicing the offender’s cheek. The injured one hisses at his superior but bows his head, blood dripping down his pale skin. He catches it in his hand while the leader slowly licks the blood from his claws.
“Feeding will come later,” the larger hunter says. “After we are done.”
The other two nod, humming softly in happiness. The family will feast, this much is true. As soon as the plan is complete.
The female reaches over and licks the injured one’s cheek, the wound already sealed, the last of the blood gone in a swipe of her tongue.
“Come,” the leader says, not waiting to see if they follow, knowing they will without question, linked together by blood and the fire inside them.
They run together, ghostly shadows devouring the distance in easy strides until they reach the buzzing fence. The leader looks up at it, snarls in fury. To their left is the gate, guards posted only on the outside. The fools. They think the pack so complacent, so under their control, they don’t think to ward the interior of the enclosure.
“Are we certain it is time?” The female examines the fence again, flinching back when she gets too close. “We could feed further, gather more siblings for the battle.”
“The plan shall go ahead, as designed.” The leader lifts one hand, the same claws that harmed the other hunter gentle as they brush over his mate’s face. “I will not allow them to cage us further once this experiment is through. You know the doctor will divide us and keep us confined once we have performed to her satisfaction.” He breathes deeply, low, grinding voice even lower when he goes on. “We now have the means to sustain ourselves. But we must act.”
“And our baby brother?” Her silver eyes settle on the colonel’s tent.
The leader pauses a moment. “He does not yet understand fully what he has done, I think,” he says. “Suspects, yes. Thinks he is safe if he stops. But his transformation is too far along for him to ever be one of them again.”
“Do we kill him?” The third speaks quietly as though fearing another reprisal.
“No,” the leader says. “It will be up to him whether he survives. If we are able we will liberate him and finish his transformation. If not…”
All three shrug together. They are warriors, and to them weakness is death.
“Go,” the leader says to the female. “Gather the others and bring the stockpile of our brethren’s remains. I want to make certain the dust carriers are the first to escape once we begin the attack.”
“So many siblings lost,” the third says.
“It was necessary.” The female snaps at him this time, a low growl vibrating under her words. “For the continuation of our species. We could not simply kill ourselves, you fool. The doctor would have noticed. And wondered.”
“Yes, I know,” the third says. “I understand allowing the children to kill the weakest of us, sacrificing them was the only way. And yet… when we escape, I would suggest we capture the doctor and keep her in our possession. There must be a better way to create more of us. She did it before. She can do it again, to our desires.”
He waits, almost anxious, while the leader contemplates. The bigger hunter finally grins at him.
“Yes,” he says. “Fitting to have her work for us. Well thought of, brother. I leave her for you to take.”
The third bows slightly at the honor.
The female leans toward the leader, rubs her cheek against his like a cat before sprinting off into the darkness. He doesn’t watch her go, instead turning to the third.
“Where are the little ones?”
The smaller hunter turns and makes an odd trilling noise, soft and subtle. At his call, a large mass of multi-sized darkness emerges from the trees, many small voices chittering in answer. The small creatures wind in around the larger. The hunter picks up one of the tiny balls of black fluff, strokes his claws over its back. It yaps at him.
He approaches the fence and sets it down facing the outside and freedom, all teeth and beady black eyes in the moonlight. “Dig,” he whispers.
The creature instantly obeys, its pack joining in with great gusto. The part of their brain that used to be a dog understanding what digging means. Giant mouths opens wide, devouring the dirt, tossing it aside. Bits of rock and chunks of turf fly out from the frenzy of burrowing as the pack forces its way under the fence.
The leader ignores their efforts. He focuses instead on the black shadow easing out from behind the soldier’s tents and approaching a large metal box connected to the fence on the outside. They nod to each other, ready, waiting.
The pit is growing, the creatures digging down below the buried cable under the fence line. The leader watches them now, an eager and hungry smile widening his mouth in a grotesque shark smile.
The first creature to burrow to the other side emerges with a soft bark of excitement. The waiting hunter catches it and turns toward the cable connecting the generator to the fence and shows it to the creature. Eager for more, the giant mouth gapes, sharp teeth severing the line with one snap. Smoke immediately billows from the dead creature and it collapses into dust.
The leader gestures but it’s not necessary. The hunter quickly bends and scoops as much of the powder into his hands as possible, depositing the precious remains into a small plastic bag that disappears into his tight black suit.
More of the diggers have made it to the outside of the fence and sit quietly, waiting for instructions. The hunter bends and lifts one into his hands, tossing it casually at the chain link. It bounces off with a small yip of surprise but survives.
The leader smiles wider. And throws back his head to howl.
Every hunter hears him. Understands the message. And starts running for the fence.
***