The other wolf growled.
Lynn whipped her head back just as it lunged at Dani.
Dani tried to withstand the charge but had to jump to the side. She slashed at it as it passed by but couldn’t twist into the strike. The tomahawk made contact, but Lynn knew it wouldn’t be a deep cut.
The wolf yelped, skidded, and locked its gaze on her.
The hunger in its yellow eyes made Lynn’s skin crawl. Froth dripped to the ground as it snarled, displaying teeth almost as yellow as its eyes.
Skeever stopped barking only long enough to fill his lungs.
The wolf charged.
Lynn had only a second to swing her tomahawk. It connected behind the jawbone, and she used the momentum of the hastily placed blow to spin the predator around her body and into the gate.
Instantly, Skeever bit down into its flank through the bars.
The wolf yowled. Blood dripped down its slack lower jaw and turned the froth pink.
Lynn straightened. For the first time, she realized how mangled these wolves were. Their fur was matted and bloody in places neither of them had landed blows. They were skin over bone.
Dani came up beside her, knife at the ready. She kept her focused gaze on the other wolf now that they were once more flanked. It still hadn’t gotten back up. Whatever Dani’s spear had hit, the wolf had lost control of its legs.
Lynn’s wolf pulled away from the gate. It trembled. Every step seemed like a struggle, but the intensity of its gaze didn’t waver. Lynn got the feeling it was operating on hunger and hate alone. It began to circle her.
Lynn moved with it, always keeping it at her front. She would have to trust Dani to protect her from the other wolf. She weathered the wolf’s gaze, then weathered the charge. She feinted to the right before she jumped to the left. Its sharp teeth narrowly missed her arm, but her tomahawk impacted perfectly on target. With a crunching sound, vertebrae gave way under the sharp edge of her weapon.
The wolf’s howl of agony was cut short as it crashed heavily onto the stone. It slid along the tile and left a streak of red onto what Lynn now realized was an already blood-stained floor. Its chest rose and fell rapidly. Dazed yellow eyes searched the space for its attackers, but it had obviously lost control of its body.
Lynn lurched and stumbled forward to keep herself from falling again. Too late did she realize she’d ended up way too close to the other wolf with Dani’s spear protruding from its chest—within biting distance. Panic exploded in her chest. She threw herself backward before the wolf’s jaws could snap shut around her leg. Her frantic heart pumped so quickly she felt dizzy.
The wolf tried to scramble after her for another attempt.
Lynn raised her tomahawk even as she struggled not to slip on the bloody floor.
The wolf’s jaws opened, and it rushed forward with whatever control it still had of its body—just enough to bridge the divide.
Lynn saw it happen, and she knew she wouldn’t get out of the way fast enough. She gripped her tomahawk to strike instead.
Then something gripped the back of her jacket, and she was yanked backward. She landed hard on her ass, just out of reach of snapping jaws. She kicked, but swung only misses because Dani pulled her back another few feet.
The wolf’s head fell. It panted. The fire had gone out of its eyes with the failure of its final stand.
Dani rushed forward.
Lynn tried to grab her, but Dani slipped past her groping fingers and sank her knife into the wolf’s neck. She jerked the blade up, severing throat and windpipe in one go. A spray of blood hit Dani square in the chest, but she didn’t react. She dropped the blade and yanked her spear out. In a fluid motion, she swirled around and forced the tip of it between the other wolf’s ribs with a loud cry.
It yowled and threw its head up.
Dani pushed.
The yowl stopped. The wolf twitched. The yellow eyes rolled back into its skull.
Dani let go of the spear and stumbled back. She was out of breath, and her hands were clenched to fists. Both kills had taken only seconds, and Dani had executed them as gracefully as a dancer. She seemed dazed.
Skeever’s unrelenting barking wasn’t helping matters any.
Lynn whirled to face him. “Quiet!”
He snarled through the bars, all of his hair standing on end. He shivered with rage that couldn’t go anywhere but his vocal cords.
“Quiet!” She snapped her fingers in front of his face, but far enough away to make sure he wouldn’t bite at them.
He finally looked up at her. For a few seconds, he didn’t seem to recognize her, and he snarled darkly. Then Lynn saw the light come on in his eyes. He barked twice more, then turned in a circle. He bumped his side along the gate.
“Stay.” Lynn brought her hand down. “Stay.”
After the second time she said it, he lay down under the overhang.
Carefully, she reached through the bars and smoothed his fur back down. “Good boy.”
He whimpered and licked globs of saliva from his nuzzle. His eyelids fluttered.
Lynn finally allowed the realization that they’d survived to course through her. Her muscles relaxed a fraction, and she took a deep breath, savoring the knowledge it wouldn’t be her last.
“We’re not done yet.”
Dani’s voice pulled Lynn’s gaze back to her.
Dani retrieved her knife and yanked the spear out. “Someone locked us in with these.” She kicked the nearest wolf. “They starved ’em, tortured ’em, and sent them out to kill.”
Lynn stared at the dead animals. This species of predator had most successfully navigated the apocalypse. They made their dens in abandoned buildings and roamed the Wilds, hunting for prey. At least once a day, she would catch a glimpse of shaggy gray fur or catch a low growl. Wolves were scary smart, too, which made them even more deadly. But Dani was right; these two hadn’t ended up here by accident. She glanced back at the gate. “We need to get this up.” She held no illusion that either of them could lift it. It was solid iron, the bars fist-thick. They would have to find whatever mechanism those chains were attached to.
Dani thrust her weapons into Lynn’s hands.
Lynn nearly dropped them, surprised by the sudden weight. She clutched them against her chest to keep them from slipping. When she looked up again, Dani had made her way over to the gate.
She squatted, gripped the bars, and tried to lift the barrier with all her might. It didn’t produce even an inch of movement. A vein in her neck thumped angrily.
“Dani, that—”
Dani ignored her. She tried to pull the gate aside instead. Again, her efforts had barely an impact.
Skeever got up and wagged his tail. He licked Dani’s fingers as they gripped the bars.
“It’s not going to work.”
Dani yanked one more time, then stepped back. She glared at Lynn, as if this was somehow her fault. “Fine. Then we’ll fight our way out. Are you up for that?” Her expression was unreadable, but Lynn didn’t trust herself to read Dani anymore.
Lynn’s body hurt, and she felt drained already. One fight like this was enough for a day. She nodded anyway. “Left or right?”
“Straight through the middle.” Dani headed to the door that had remained closed. She gripped the handle and pulled, then pushed. “Locked.” Before Lynn could offer advice, Dani made her way over to a heavy plant by the window. She kicked it over. Dirt and little brown balls scattered across the blood-, piss-, and shit-soaked tiles, but she paid it no heed and picked up the pot. Stumbling under its weight, she walked to the closed doors and threw it against the glass with another cry.
The noise of glass and pot shattering deafened Lynn a moment. It reverberated down the hallways and deeper into the building. It would announce to anyone that they had survived, but she was beyond caring.