Cats and Dogs Ch. 07

'I'm glad you've told him.' replied Tom. 'We were wondering how long we'd have to play dumb! That's a good start to the night I reckon. Don't get too distracted though, its going to be full on when we return.'

'We'll be ready to play our part, don't worry.'

* * * * * *

The teams were quiet as they loaded the cars and set off. Everyone was focussed on the task ahead. It was rare for them to have a mission that happened so fast and not an objective to achieve over time, or a posting to keep the peace somewhere. This one all depended on the next few hours and was vital to save the lives of any weres that were currently held in the compound, and to gather information about the reason for the studies and the people behind it.

After a long and silent trip, all lost in their own thoughts, they arrived at the parking spot. Everyone piled out and gathered the bags of equipment prepared earlier. Sam and Tom signalled for them to move into the trees, and they changed into animal form as soon as they were out of sight of the vehicles.

'This is it.' said Sam. 'Get into the groups and move out. You all know what you need to do. Good luck, and keep in contact.'

The wolves and panthers moved almost silently through the woodland, starting out at a run but slowing as they reached their objective. Tom and his team left the group first, setting out for the front gate to hide in cover until Dill had done his job. The remaining members of the team headed towards the back of the property, Dill peeling off when they got to the trees he needed to climb.

'See you guys later.' he said to the team. 'I love you.' was reserved for Tilly and she shot the same thought back. Dill quickly climbed the first tree. He was still quite a way from the compound, but needed to make sure he had the cover of the tree canopy for as long as possible. If the roof guard saw him coming this could be over before it began. He crept slowly along the branches, knowing that he was getting ever closer, and feeling the adrenaline starting to course through his body. Finally he was close and could see the last few branches he'd need to traverse. He stopped, taking a good look at the movements of the guard. He needed to wait until he was turned away before taking his final steps.

Dill took a look down from his vantage point. He could see the guards at the perimeter and they were positioned well away from the rear gate and walking further away. Hopefully they would be taken out by the rear party before they reached the front gate, or there could be a lot of men for Tom and the team to deal with there. Dill could just about make out the team waiting in cover by the back entrance and knew they were all in position and ready for him to make his move. He checked the guard again. It was as though the guard wanted to do them a favour, not that he could have known, he was having a cigarette and paying no attention to his surroundings, his back turned to Dill.

'I'm going in' he thought out as he crept further along the branches. A slight breeze carried the unpleasant smell of tobacco to his nostrils, but also provided him with more cover as the leaves were rustling in all the trees and the slight sounds of his movement were disguised by it. The last branch was slim, and bent significantly under Dill's weight. He went carefully, aware that not only was there a big drop beneath him but it would draw the attention of all the guards. At least cats usually landed on their feet.

It was a short jump down from the end of the branch to the roof. He landed almost silently and the guard didn't seem to notice. Only a couple of seconds later Dill was on him, knocking him to the ground face down, the air forced from his lungs so he had no chance to shout for help. Dill got the pad under his face before he recovered, and the guard went limp. With the drug in a facemask secured, and wrists and ankles tied, that was the first guard out of the way.

Dill crept to the front of the roof, keeping low in case the guards on the ground looked up. The security cameras had an easily disconnected lead running into them and he quickly pulled them free. 'Front visibility disabled' he reported, hearing Tom's instruction to move in a moment later. He moved to the back and did the same, taking out all the exterior view for anyone inside. 'Back clear too.'

Dill could see an easy way down to the ground using a flat roof extension at the rear of the building, but he was drawn to the roof access door, wondering if it would be worth checking inside. He opened it slowly, scenting the air and noting no-one was near. He could hear activity somewhere below, but outside the stairwell he stood at the top of. It ran from the roof and had doors off it onto the second, first, and ground floors. He thought for a moment before heading down the stairs.

On hearing Dill's confirmation, Tom gave the order to his team to move. He and Alex headed out first. The patrolling guards were not yet in sight, so their first objective was the guard's hut by the gate. They kept to the shadows, unnoticed by the man sitting in the booth. Den and Rob headed under the barrier and left, to locate the perimeter guard that side.

Tom slipped into the booth with Alex keeping watch for other guards or unexpected activity inside the building. The mask was over the man's face before he had chance to turn. His eyes went wide and he struggled briefly before the drug took effect and he slumped in his seat. Tom secured him to the chair, then attached it to a pipe on the wall, well away from any reach of the various controls in the booth. Tom wondered where these people were trained when he noticed a full bank of monitors in there, several screens totally blank and marked as the roof cameras. The guy clearly wasn't very good at his job if he hadn't seen that.

'Front gate is secure. Even better, I have view internally from the hut. There are cameras on the front door externally, lab door, and corridors marked as first and second floors, also a stairwell.'

The sudden movement of a black shape on the stairs made him swear. 'Fuck! Dill, what are you doing? Den, you guys got that guard yet?' There was an affirmative from Den, but no reply from Dill. 'Right. Den, Rob, head to the other side and take out the remaining guard. Alex, get that front door open. There's no movement inside that I can see so we haven't been noticed so far. And Dill, you are in shit later, but seeing as you are in do a search of that top floor. Keep alert. It should be offices so hopefully no-one will be there this time of night. No heroics.'

Meanwhile, Sam's team were at the back door. A small charge was placed on the chain and it burned brightly in the darkness, the chain falling to the ground a moment later. Sam and Finn used a little brute force and the door swung open. They all heard Tom at that moment and once he had finished directing Sam reported that they were in.

Tilly sent a tight thought to Dill. 'What are you playing at? You're supposed to be meeting up with us.'

'I will babe, just it'll be inside. It was too good an opportunity to miss.'

'Don't get hurt.'

'It's okay, there's no-one up here. Lots of computers and files though. I'm gonna see what I can find.'

Tilly broke off her thinking to concentrate on her job. She could feel some emotion, fear floated through the halls, but she couldn't tell if it was weres or human staff worried they were being attacked. The four of them moved slowly down the corridor, scenting the air but not finding any human presence in that area. They checked the doors as they went past, finding only empty rooms and a cupboard full of cleaning products behind the first few. The next door Sam pushed open revealed a larger room, also used for storage, but this one contained several large cages piled in one corner. Tilly shuddered, imagining being caught in one. There was nothing else in there so they moved on after taking a quick photo for evidence.

Soon they were about half-way along the main route through the building, and they sensed the other team coming towards them. Tom suddenly appeared from a door ahead of them, and spoke. 'Foyer and exterior all clear. Took out another guy in there. It does seem to be minimal staff at night as we thought.'

'We'll finish this floor if you guys head for the lab.' Sam replied.

'There are stairs back out there, I'm on it. We'll catch up to Dill later.' Tom muttered, the last bit with more than a hint of annoyance.

Tilly felt the need to protect her mate. 'He's found lots of files and computers on the second floor so he's looking for documents for the Council.'

Tom snarled. 'He isn't daring to talk to me. He'd better hope he finds something really useful so I don't kick his ass too badly.' He turned and headed back to the stairs.

Sam and his team continued their search down the corridor. There were still a lot of rooms to check before they reached the other end of the building. Tilly started to feel fear and pain, growing stronger as they moved down the hall. 'There's something down here Sam, and it's afraid.' She couldn't help the feelings increasing, but still all the rooms they checked contained nothing of use or interest. There were probably too few people here to need the whole building. They found a deserted canteen next, smelling the food that had been prepared earlier, but nothing fresh and no people.

Finally they discovered a room that contained something interesting, although all they could do was be glad that the weapons and equipment on display were not in use against them. There were some kind of cattle prods and various restraints and whips. In a sex club they'd probably be used for fun, but they had no doubt from what they knew that anyone who had these used on them were not consenting. Photos were taken and they moved on, Tilly feeling her sense of fear still rising. The next couple of rooms were set up like police interview rooms, but with the addition of restraints on the chairs. A room in the middle had one way mirrors and was clearly used for observation. A tape machine sat in there and they grabbed some of the tapes stored in a cupboard underneath, knowing they couldn't carry them all but horrified at how much recording there seemed to be.

Almost at the end of the building they came across a door that was clearly reinforced, and Tilly knew this was the source of the fear she could feel. Closer to it, she could tell it was several different people, and given the fact they were locked in it was almost certainly weres she could feel. 'This is it Sam. We have to get in here.'

'Can you tell how many?'

'No, it's very confused. More than two, certainly. Almost definitely weres and certainly prisoners here.'

Sam didn't reply, but set to trying to get the door open. Cal and Tilly kept a lookout each way down the corridor while the two stronger wolves tried to force the door. It was clearly not coming open without help, but thankfully they had more of the charge and they set it on the hinges. The bright burn this time caused an acrid smell and some smoke to fill the corridor, and they looked around nervously for smoke detectors, but there did not appear to be any nearby. As the smoke cleared the door was still in place, but this time when Sam and Finn put their weight to it it fell down into the room.

The room behind it was large and dark, but eyes gleamed in the darkness. Tilly felt the fear lift a little and some sensation of relief, some of the prisoners had clearly seen that the new arrivals were also weres and hoped for freedom. Sam found a switch by the door and flicked it, the room suddenly filling with light and a few surprised sounds heard. Now the team could see the room properly. A corridor ran down the middle, either side of which were small cages with solid sides but bars on the front. Sam sent a thought out. 'We are here to get you out. Hold on and we'll get to you as quickly as we can. Once you are out of the cage hold on and we'll take you out with us. We have transport nearby'

It was either sheer luck, or more evidence of the stupidity of the staff there, but there was a bunch of keys hanging on the wall. It was almost as it if was to taunt the weres, because those in the nearest cells could see it but would never be able to reach. Tilly raced to grab it and changed one hand so she could turn the keys in the locks. There were three cells each side. On the left two were empty but the first contained a young wolf. He sprang out of his cage as soon as the doors were open, elated to be free and thanking everyone.

All three cells on the other side were occupied, and another wolf, a snow-leopard and a cheetah were quickly freed. All of them were thin and tired, but didn't look to be in too bad health. At that point no-one wanted to think about what they might have been through. The leopard spoke up. 'There's at least one other here, a female wolf, but I don't know where they are keeping her locked up. She was in a pretty bad way when I last saw her.'

'Okay.' said Sam. 'We're searching the whole building – there are more of us upstairs. I think the best we can do right now is get you four outside. Cal, can you lead the way. Wait in the foyer until either I or Tom catch up to you. We'll check the rest of this floor then head upstairs.'

Cal left with the four, and the remaining three team members stood stunned, glad they had been able to free some of their kind, but horrified about what they might have been through. They quickly took photos of the room, noting the stale smell of urine and worse, the cells not having been cleaned for some time.

Sam realised he hadn't updated the other team on their progress. 'Tom, we've found four prisoners and Cal has taken them to the foyer. They told us there is definitely another wolf here, although she's in a bad way. Have you had any luck?'

'We've found the lab. There's plenty of information here but no weres. We did have to take out another couple of guards although they were off duty and asleep when we found them, so no resistance encountered. That's great news about the weres, but we need to find the other one.'

'We'll check the rest of this floor and then head up to you guys to sweep the rest of the first level. We should probably send someone out to help Cal keep the outside under surveillance.'

Cal replied. 'It's not a problem, the others are either on lookout or viewing the security screens in here. We can see you trashing that lab boss!'

'Seemed like the best plan. We get the details we need and put them out of action for a bit if they decide to keep going, although I doubt anything will happen here again now they know security is so compromised.'

Sam headed on down the hall. They found a couple of file storage rooms and took some information and photos of some of the files, but the sheer amount of documents restricted how much they could gather. The very end of the corridor, like the first part of the building when they first entered, was empty and the rooms echoed and smelled stale and unused.

'We're heading upstairs. Ground floor complete.' He looked around to speak to Tilly. 'Can you contact Dill. He's had a long time up there and we could use him on the first floor, so he actually meets up with us as planned. We've used up over half our time already.'

Tilly nodded. 'You got that Dill? Get downstairs. I'll see you there.'

Tom, Sam and Tilly headed through the foyer, nodding at Cal and the released weres. They could hear the sounds of Tom and his team tearing up the laboratory upstairs and various crashes and bangs as they tipped and smashed equipment. No doubt they would see the photographs later and it mustn't have been good for Tom to order wholesale destruction. The stairs came out, like on the ground floor, about centrally in the building. The lab was off to the left, and in it Alex and Rob were working at the computers trying to download as much data as they could. Tom ordered Den to help the others and Tilly and Finn headed further down to the left while Sam and Den went right.

Again they opened each door as they came to it, and again Tilly felt her sense of unease and fear rising. She sent a tight thought to Finn. 'I think there's someone else down here. It feels the same as downstairs, but weaker.'

Finn nodded, and they kept carefully opening doors and checking the rooms as they found them. There were similar interview rooms to downstairs, and where the canteen had been there was an area with comfy chairs and snack machines. Finn and Tilly just looked at each other, clearly both wondering how someone could torture a fellow creature and then pop in here for bag of crisps and a coffee. It seemed somehow unreal.

As they progressed a little further down the hallway, they saw a door that looked very much like the one downstairs that they had destroyed to find the trapped weres. They looked at each other again, neither needing to say anything as they were clearly both of the same mind. Tilly had further charges out of her bag before they even got to the door and the hinges were soon burnt away. Finn put his weight to the door and as before it crashed to the ground, drawing attention from the other members of the team further down the hall.

This time there was only one cage, in the centre of the room and much like the ones they had seen empty downstairs with bars on every side. Inside was a woman, emaciated and barely able to lift her head to see who had come into the room. She smelled like wolf, so had to be the one they were looking for. Tilly could barely feel her emotion, but what was present was not elation like with the others, but defeat, almost as though she could not recognise that these people were there to help not hurt her.

Finn crossed the floor fast, immediately trying to get the cage open. Tilly walked slower but got the keys down from the wall and handed them to him. He opened the lock and reached inside. The wolf flinched away from his touch, fear starting to rise. He gave a soothing growl, like a parent would speak to a cub, and she relaxed a little, allowing his hand to touch her. He gradually tried to ease her battered body out of the cage so she could be carried away from this horror.

Tilly sent a thought down to the others. 'We've found the other wolf, and she's bad. Finn will get her straight out as soon as he can.'

'Good. We haven't got long.' replied Tom. 'My team are going to get out of here now, we'll take the others back to the cars with us and see you soon. Don't hang around too long, the drugs will start to wear off shortly.'

'Understood.' Tilly replied. Finn was making slow progress getting the wolf from the cage. Every time he tried to move her he could tell pain went through her body and he was trying to hurt her as little as possible. She was too frail to help him much, but once or twice he did see her eyes open for a moment. The light in them was dimmed, and he too thought she had almost given up. He could only hope that when they got her out of there she would be able to recover.

Tilly headed back to the door and kept an eye on the corridor, Sam was gathering the final few bits of information from the lab. She couldn't help Finn at this point because there wasn't enough room in the cage entrance for two people. He was the better choice to do it because he had more physical strength and would be able to carry her when she was out, and also she was only responding to fairly primal instincts in her confusion, and the smell of a wolf would be more comforting than that of a cat. She heard Finn keep making soothing noises at her as he worked, and felt the level of his concern. If she looked she could see him flinch each time he accidentally caused her pain.