Zadolt | Male | Australian/German Shepherd mix | Foxtrot | 28 | Mentions: Tysta, Arrow, Kampe, Hoffen, Aadya, Ginger

He could only watch in numb silence as the battle went on around him. He had stayed near the wall, trying not to intrude on the battle and not get caught in one. He only watched with wide eyes, looking more at the Chief Cull’s battle than Arrow’s. He was unsure if he should fight, or if he should run. He couldn’t fight Beta without being killed, and he couldn’t betray the Kilo dogs. He was frozen with indecision.

And then Ginger had said the Chief Cull’s name, and everything went blank for a moment. Only a moment, yet that moment was when Tysta got attacked by Hoffen. He only saw the aftermath; he only saw the blood, saw Tysta laying on the ground, Arrow by his side, screaming something. He didn't bother to listen. And then he watched Tysta take his last breath, and he was unfrozen. A small whine came out, and his tail sunk lower than it was at the beginning of the battle.

Tysta had died.

It was the deciding moment for him; Hoffen had not meant to do it, he knew that. But Hoffen had done it; done it to Tysta, who was willing to trust him, willing to free him. Tysta had trusted Hoffen. And look where that got him, his mind said. And the walls came up around his mind; they protected it from the outside, protected his emotions. His face went blank, only a faint hint of anguish visible. In that moment, any trust he had given Hoffen was gone. Hoffen became the enemy.

And Kilo became his only allies.

He didn't bother to listen as the Chief Cull asked Commander Hoffen something. He suppossed it was about Tysta, and he didn't bother thinking about it any more than that. The only important thing was that Tysta was dead, and the Chief Cull had found them.

Commander Hoffen of Foxtrot | #34 | Male | Schnauzer/Wolf cross | M: Kämpe, Aadya, Zadolt, Kilo Dogs

His mind was blank. He was numb.

Funny, how the thing he had fought against most of his life was his saving grace. The apathy. The cold nothingness of his programming that had taken over, at least momentarily. It was a fickle thing, the way his emotions would seep through the cracks. Or they wouldn't.

Coward.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the broken body and the small dog. That was, until Kämpe spoke. She spoke his name. His real name. She had never done that before.

It was almost enough to break his mind free from the cold, numbing grip of the apathy.

Almost.

He turned to the commander. He could see her exhaustion in her eyes, in the way her muscles trembled, ever so slightly. The apathy cleared, if only for a moment. His eyes flashed, then his programming won over.

"Cull Forty-Six, that is what she is called, trained me personally. It's no surprise that her...dogs know my name."

His eyes were drawn back to the broken body that lay before him, then to the bristling and snarling terrier, the tiny one who stood over the crumpled remains of the male. She was snarling, amber eyes flashing. Every muscle in her body said she wouldn't be moved from the side of her lost friend. He wasn't surprised, this was the dog that attacked the wolfdog that likely had a hundred pounds of weight on her...what was her name? He could only recall her number. How odd, he was usually so good at names.

Then his eyes slid to the long-dog, Aadya. She was bloodied and battered, and even she was covered in a spray of the golden dog's blood and looked horrified. No surprise there.

Then was Twenty-Eight. Something like numb pain crossed the smaller dog's face. The arc of crimson had gone as far as the male's paws, and rained down on every dog in between, a hot, sticky remainder of the life that had seeped out onto the dusty ground. The look on every dog's face told him all he needed to know.

Coward.

He turned to Ginger, no, Cull Forty-Six. Ginger was dead. There was no ginger, only another old, forgotten Cull that didn't work properly. This time, his eyes bore no message asking for forgiveness. It was so much easier to slip into the apathy. So much easier.

Coward.

Aadya | Female | Pembroke Corgi | #62 | Mentions: Tysta, Kampe, Hoffen, Arrow

The battle was a rush, something fueled by adrenaline and pain. She didn't quite remember what had happened.

Until that sight seared itself into her mind.

It happened so fast, in the blink of an eye. A mechanical roar assaulted her sensitive ears, and Aadya had flinched, expecting a rain of blows from the other dog.

But there were none.

Then something blocked out the sun.

She could barely make out the outline of a dog, followed by a crimson arc glittering in the uneven light. It shone, the brightest red she had ever seen. Like a liquid gemstone, it rained down on every dog in the skirmish. Fat drops landed on her muzzle, sliding down her face like crimson tears.

Then there was a wet thud. Choked, hoarse words that she could make out all too clearly. She was even close enough to hear the golden dog try to clear his throat as he took his last, rattling breath.

Then the harsh, mechanical voice of her Chief commander, Kampe.

It broke the spell. Aadya, for the first time, had zero composure. The horror was apparent on her face. She had seen Hoffen as the softer, quiet commander. He wasn't particularly harsh, but his dogs had a different kind of respect for him than what they had for Kämpe. She had felt the same, until now.

Now all she felt was fear. Biting, mind-numbing fear.

She had been told she would learn what being a dog of Beta really meant. At the time it had been something she had wanted so, so badly.

Not anymore. No dog should be capable of that.

It was unnatural.

Ginger | Female | Broken Cull | Kilo | 46 | Mentions: Tysta, Arrow, Zadolt, Hoffen, Aadya, Kämpe


At times like this Ginger wished she were still a cull. She had felt something like hope when Tysta had gotten Kämpe down; Ty would have been the first dog to win a fight against a cull, even if he did have help.
Then Hoffen appeared, his powerful jaws locking down on Tysta and throwing him, blood splattered everywhere. It felt like Ginger's heart had been torn form her for a second time as she watched Arrow run to her friend, everything was so loud, she heard every single sound, yet the sounds never registered. A thundering silence.

But what scared her most was Hoffen. This action, this murder, it wasn't programming. It was the dog itself. He had killed Tysta, he had murdered her friend, he had killed the one dog with the biggest heart she knew. Murdered a dog he had told could trust him.

She felt herself shaking. This wasn't her programming making her twitch and loose control. It was her emotions.
Hoffen just told Kämpe her number, Hoffen just told Beta that she was still alive. She needed to find a way to destroy her programming without killing herself. The thought of Beta trying to hack into her mind, the little bit of cull that remained, it was a terrible thought.

"You are traitors to your own kind" she snarled, not hiding her anger and hatred towards the two culls.
Then she was off, running towards Ty and picking up Arrow by the scruff, then she was racing out away from the culls, away from the vents, away from Tysta. Ty, the bravest dumbest dog she knew, the one dog that deserved to see the outside world more than any other dog she knew, would be left to rot. Beta would patroll the area and never give her a chance to bring hos body somewhere safe.
She couldn't fight two culls at once either; the only thing she could do was run and at least save Arrow.
She would find another tunnel entrance after she lost the culls and then she'd have to evacuate Kilo. Find a new area to protect her kind.

Arrow | Female | Terrier Mix | Kilo Dog | M: Tysta, Ginger, Hoffen

Arrow only had eyes for Tysta...or what was left of him. She had pressed herself against the male, desperately hoping that somehow he would wake up. She knew better, but she didn't care at this point. Arrow wasn't rational at this point, this wasn't rational at this point. She'd wake up in the Kilo tunnels, pressed against his golden fur. She ate too much and had a bad dream, it happened sometimes, right? Tysta had ended up giving her his food.

Maybe if she just kept telling herself that it would come true.

Metal jaws closed around her neck, and as soon as she realized who it was, she let out a loud yelp. "Put. Me. Down." She hissed, writhing frantically in her commander's grip. She kicked and scratched at the dog that help her, trying and failing to get any traction on the cool metal that made up the dog.

"I hate you Ginger! Let go of me! You didn't do anything for Tysta, why try now?"

In her fury and grief, Arrow sputtered off whatever came to mind. The little dog didn't care what she said, as long as it would make the Cull put her down. She wouldn't just hang limp, she knew that if they left she wouldn't ever see Tysta again. He wouldn't even get a proper burial. He would be left to rot on the streets.

The golden dog with the golden heart, he never deserved this.

Zadolt | Male | Australian/German Shepherd mix | Foxtrot | 28 | Mentions: Tysta, Arrow, Kampe, Hoffen, Aadya, Ginger

He didn’t try to stop the Chief cull from pinning him down; he went limp, not even bothering to waste energy by struggling. He saw Ginger run off with Arrow, and he didn’t care. He didn’t care about anything but the fact that Tysta had died, had been killed by his commander. Then the Chief Cull aksed him to explain what had happened. He looked forward, saw nothing, as he answered her. “Go ahead and kill me already, for I will give away no information.” He paid no attention to her trying to scare him. It would not work. His voice was calm, monotone, even. His face and expression betrayed nothing.

Unlike him.

He had betrayed Beta; yet that thought didn’t fill him with guilt. No, it was Tysta’s death that filled him with guilt. Tysta, who had died because of him. If only he had been more careful, had noticed Aadya before he found the Kilo dogs. But it was too late, and guilt would do him nothing.

And that was when the Chief Cull broke something in him.

No, it wasn’t him; it was something small, something metallic. And as he heard it broke, memories rushed in his head; too fast to look at, yet all contained one dog. A German Shepherd and Doberman cross. Number 94. Kampe.

But not the Kampe pinning him down; no, this was a normal dog, one free of metal and transmitters. This one was a Charlie dog, was his one confidant, his one friend.

Kampe was his half sister.

How he didn’t know that simple fact eluded him for only a moment; when Kampe had pinned him, she had broken the metal piece that was stopping him from remembering. And the blank spaces of time, the spaces that only lasted seconds but scrambled his brain; it only happened when he thought of the Chief Cull.

The same Cull that was going to kill him.

He felt a strange urge to laugh; the sister he had thought he lost forever, was now going to kill him. And as he finally looked up at her, he saw that she was ignorant of this fact. She did not know who he was; she only knew him as a traitor to Beta. Well, Beta could just go remove themselves if he was going to let himself take this secret to his death. “You don’t remember me.. But I remember. You are Kampe, German Shepherd and Doberman cross, number 94. You are only five, and you are formerly of Regiment Charlie. You do not remember me, but I remember you.” He said it only loud enough for her to hear; even Aadya would not know he had spoken. And then he closed his eyes and laid his head down on the ground, and waited to see if she would kill him or if she would want to know how he knew those things about her.

Commander Hoffen of Foxtrot | #34 | Male | Schnauzer/Wolf cross | M: Kämpe, Aadya, Zadolt, Kilo Dogs

"You are traitors to your own kind."

Hoffen froze, metal jaw hanging loose. What was left of his tounge lolled in the heat, it was as scarred and battered as the rest of him. What remained had been permanentally damaged when he lost his jaw. Back when he had said those exact words to the old Cull. Back when she was the one that rocked his world, not the other way around. Back when it was her fault, not his. Or maybe it was his fault all along.

Funny how things came full-circle, huh?

Then came the ringing, the high-pitched sounds, something like mechanical screams, that echoed in Hoffen's ears. His ears had rung before, but not like this. Never like this. It was ear-splitting, painful.

He completely ignored the small long-dog as she ran off after Ginger and Arrow, giving him a wide berth.

He wished Beta had killed him in the first place. After this, it would be better. He wanted the apathy to end, the emotion to end. All of it. Ginger would have been right to kill him. She should have killed him the first time they ran into each other.

He didn't have the stomach to watch Kämpe murder another dog, however much Zadolt may hate him. Hoffen murmured something in his commander's direction.

"I'm going to dispose of the...body."

He didn't ask for permission, Hoffen didn't even wait for her response. He picked up the broken body of the golden dog ever-so-gently and headed in the direction of the entrance to the tunnel where they first met. The corner of the city where no one would bother him. He knew the ground was somewhat softer there. It was too late to be forgiven, too late for it to matter.

But he was going to do it anyway. He needed something to try and break through the heavy fog that clouded his mind.

So he went, trotting slowly in the fading light, a bundle of golden fur streaked with crimson in his jaws.