[Synopsis: With two crewmates already dead after just one night, things are growing tense. But even with several of the tasks down and the equipment faulty, there still may be a way to figure out who the werewolf is.}

{Location: Polus outpost}

____________________________________________________________

"Hey, I know we're kind of in the middle of a crisis here, but hey! We still have a plate full of donuts here, don't we?" BDay told everyone, showing off one of the platters in an attempt to lighten the dark atmosphere.

Not everyone was in the mood to eat, though; everyone was either worried about their own safety or whether or not they were safe themselves, and some of them were still mourning Stoner and Veteran.

"You doin' any better there, Player?" Captain asked him, he and Dum still at his side.

"...A little bit," he replied softly. "I guess I'm just kind of...in shock over what happened this morning...I didn't expect it to be...like that. Especially so soon.

He felt Dum wrap him into another hug, and he hid his face into her hold...She could feel him starting to shake, and gently strokes his head to try calming him again.

"...I'm scared, guys."

"I'm scared too, Player," his sister whimpered, lifting his beanie back a bit so she could kiss his forehead. "...Just know that you're not alone, alright?"

"We're right here, Player," Captain assured him further, joining him and Dum in the embrace. "Both of us are."

He seemed to relax just a bit, and he hugged them both back in return...But his moment of peace was abruptly ended by another thought entering his mind.

...But what if you aren't here tomorrow? he feared, tensing up a bit as he squeezed them both tighter...He felt hopeless all over again.

"Well, the good news is that we know TheGentleman and MrCheese are both safe," MrEgg reminded everyone.

"True true," TheGentleman nodded, regaining a bit of the cheerfulness that he felt when he first got up. "So not all is quite so bleak and hopeless...You know, BDay, maybe I will have myself a refreshment or two. Are there any eclairs available?"

"Uh, no, sorry. Just regular donuts. Some of 'em do have chocolate, though."

"Oh. Well, that will still do jut fine!"

He grabbed one of them off the plate and took a bite out of it, taking in the smooth, sweet taste of the chocolate and forgetting his woes...His moment of bliss was brief, however. It was then that Engineer returned to the Office, a few papers in hand and the familiar look of disappointment etched across his face.

"Engie, you're back!" Gnome welcomed him, nuzzling her visor against his cheek...His frown turned slightly upside down at the gesture.

"Did you find out anything else?"

"I did...though not all of it is good news," he admitted, getting the attention of the rest of the crew before continuing.

"...It seems as though the sample inspector has now been affected by the virus in the game as well. I suspect this new malfunction has something to do with the deaths of Veteran and Stoner at the virus's hands."

"Well that's just great," MrCheese huffed, getting increasingly frustrated with the whole faulty task ordeal. "How are we gonna figure out who the darned werewolf is before they end up killing anyone else if we can't even get a DNA sample?"

"There are other ways of determining these kinds of things, MrCheese," the purple crewmate replied to him as he pulled one of the papers out of his small collection. "Here. I made this."

He pinned it to the Office wall next to some of the other posters so that everyone could see it...It was a collage of every crewmember, their photos aligned in a 3x5 grid. Veteran and Stoner were both crossed out with a bright red 'X', and TheGentleman and MrCheese both had "SAFE" written at the bottoms of their pictures in blue.

"Is...this a suspect list?" Player asked him.

"Yes. We'll use this to keep track of everything as we find out more," Engineer told him. "I also did some more research on werewolves while I was in the Lab, and I was able to piece together a few ideas."

He lead everyone to the meeting table and had them gather around, and he slid another sheet of paper into the middle of the table...Captain was the first one to pick it up and read it.

____________________________________________________________

WEAKNESSES & DETERRANTS,
ACCORDING TO PHYSICAL TRAITS.

DEFINITIVE WEAKNESSES

SILVER ALLERGY: Werewolves, when in the active phase, have an allergic reaction to silver of all kinds. even in small doses. Reactions such as burning of the skin may occur if silver is come into contact with, and vomiting and severe digestive upset if ingested(in forms such as colloidal silver.)
BEARTRAPS: An effective method of trapping and subduing werewolves, especially when scattered across a large area. Due to a werewolf's swift regenerative healing process, injury to the victim is rarely ever lethal, and usually easily treated.

POSSIBLE WEAKNESSES:

NOSE AND FACE AREA: Known to be a weak spot due to the area's sensitivity, hitting a werewolf across the face or nose may stun it, as is with dogs and other canines that rely heavily on smell.
ELECTRIC SHOCK: Not quite as dangerous to active werewolves as it is to humans, which means it can subdue a werewolf without killing it.
EXTREMELY HIGH TEMPERATURES: Their coat of fur and usually higher body temperature causes them to overheat easily when in warmer climates. Lava pit may be of use to us.

WHAT WE CAN DO:

-Light scented candles; possible respiratory irritation
-Set out beartraps around the outpost, possibly baited with meat
-Barricade doors and fully shut windows at night to prevent discovery and hinder werewolf escape(already in practice)
-Minimize noise and light output from cabins(already in practice)
-Try to catch werewolf on camera from inside window?(very risky maneuver, increases odds of being spotted and killed)

*More theories and potential methods of subduing werewolf to be added

____________________________________________________________

"I might think of more ideas eventually," Engineer told them. "But this is what I've got for now."

"Hmm...Looks like a plan, poindexter. Let's see what the others think of all this."

He passed the paper onto Player, who passed it to the next person over when he was finished himself, and the cycle continued until the paper reached Captain again, and he gave the sheet back to Engineer.

"Catch 'em on camera, y'say?" Sheriff spoke up. "...I'd be willin' to be your photographer if y'all'd let me."

"Are you sure about that, Sheriff?" Engineer asked him. "Like Engineer said in the paper, it could be dangerous."

"Dangerous? Lemme tell ya somethin': I know a thing or two 'bout huntin' big critters and catchin' them in action. Coyotes, cougars...Even bears. At some point or another, they've all tried to get past my fence and get to my animals, and they've all been stopped in their tracks through one method or another. I've had critters trapped, snapped, and even ZAPPED to keep 'em from tearing my herds apart. And sometimes, I even had to shoot 'em down...Catchin' a werewolf on camera through a crack in the blinds? I should be able to manage it. Besides, it ain't like I'm gonna go about it without preppin' first; I can assure you that if a werewolf tries to jump me, it's gonna have a bad time against me, my leather whip and a pot of steamin' hot coffee...Which I will NOT hesitate to fling in a critter's face if it gets too close for comfort."

"Well...If you think you can handle yourself, then I suppose it's worth a try," the purple crewmate decided. "...But what if YOU turn out to be the werewolf?"

"You said somethin' yesterday about a memory gap that causes people to not remember a thing about bein' a werewolf, right?"

"That's right."

"Well, if I'm able to get pictures and such between midnight and whenever the time period ends, then that'll prove it ain't me, right?"

"True...I guess we'll have to see what happens."

"Well if that's the case, then why don't ALL of us just stay awake until midnight to see if we stay normal past that point or not?" Captain suggested.

"It sounds good on paper, but I'm afraid it's not a reliable enough method of figuring things out; since everyone is going to be in separate cabins by themselves to maximize security, and the main phone signals are set to go off at 10:30, there's no way of telling who's in their cabins and who's not at the time, let alone telling if anyone fell asleep while waiting for 12:00...Besides, staying up until midnight isn't advisable, whether or not you're a werewolf; we can't waste sleep during a time of stress like this; it's likely to strain the body. Especially considering that we have a set time to get back to work tomorrow, even with several of the tasks offline. And furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if someone does find out they're the werewolf and decide to keep it a secret out of fear for their own safety...I know I said they wouldn't be thrown into the lava pit like an Impostor, but they might still fear the idea of being shunned by the rest of the group."

"Hmm...I see," TheGentleman nodded.

"Do you think that if we finish everything we're able to, that it might help stop some of the glitches?" Player wondered.

"I 'm not so sure about that. Just completing the available tasks probably isn't enough to reverse the effects of the virus in the code on its own," Engineer replied. "...But I guess it wouldn't hurt to try. If the other tasks are offline and we complete what we're able to, maybe we could achieve a task win."

"Perhaps it would do something," Angel thought. "And even if it doesn't change anything about the game, we'll at least be able to focus more on the issue at hand once we've done all of the tasks we can do."

"It's settled, then!" Captain decided. "We'll disperse now and do whatever tasks we're able to, then get right back to preparing for tonight! Anything else you'd like to say, Engineer?"

"Not much except that I encourage everyone to remain vigilant."

"That's a grand thing to say, Engineer," the white crewmate nodded approvingly. "Alright! Everyone SCATTER!"

____________________________________________________________

...

____________________________________________________________

Tasks were done. The bar gradually filled up. Everyone did what they could.

But even then, the affected tasks were still offline. The task bar was almost completely full; just a little over 13/15 was a bright lime green. But the darker half wouldn't fill up with the tasks in the Office and MedBay down indefinitely.

By the time everyone was finished with what they could manage, they met in the Office again...Evening was upon them once again, and after a break for dinner, Engineer gathered everyone around the meeting table to discuss what was to be done that night.

"Alright...I have bad news and good news," he announced once he had everyone's attention. "The bad news is that the affected tasks are still offline, and I'm not sure if I can get them to come back on."

Player sighed the deepest out of everyone.

"I figured that might happen..." he mumbled, hiding his face in his visor and massaging his forehead with his fingers.

"But there's still a bit of hope," the purple crewmate continued. "If I can perform a hard shutdown on the outpost generators and reboot the system, then run a diagnostics test on the affected tasks after the power boots back up, I might be able to resolve the problem."

"You think that might work?" Angel asked him.

"It's worth a shot. But since this will cause a temporary blackout across the outpost, it would be best to wait until tomorrow to do this; my tasks are mostly finished, so I'll have plenty of time to work on it. I'll give everyone a heads up before I reboot the system so they can get to their cabins for safety in case something goes awry. Before then, I advise everyone to make sure they have a light source such as candles or lanterns that don't rely on electricity."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

I've got some scented candles packed away in my cabinet," MrEgg told them. "Since your paper earlier said something about them perhaps being able to deter werewolves with their strong smell, I'd be willing to divide my supply up amongst the crew. And they also provide some light, so that's a two-in-one benefit."

"Good. That might help us out," Engineer replied.

"Oh, Rose and I have some too!" BDay offered.  "We might be able to share!"

"Also good," the purple crewmember nodded. "...Speaking of deterrents, I'll have everyone know that Sheriff has agreed to help me position beartraps across the outpost; we found some in Storage that were originally meant to capture rogue aliens, but the crewmembers apparently kept stepping in them, so they were put away...They'll be out in the open where you can see them, but I still advise everyone to retire to their cabins before we get to work putting them out and baiting them so that the previous situation doesn't happen again."

"Good idea, old chap," TheGentleman complimented him. "Shall we barricade our doors again in the case the werewolf attempts to break in?"

"Absolutely. And I'd find a way to block the windows as well with something other than blinds alone; we've seen that the werewolf can break through glass."

"I think there are some wooden boards in Storage," Gnome remembered.

"Yep; saw them in there when I found the old beartraps," Engineer told her. "...Unfortunately, there's only enough to board up two or three windows since Storage can only hold so much of it, so we'd have to use it wisely."

"Since I have to be able to see through the window with my camera, I'll pass up the extra defense," Sheriff offered. "If anyone should have it, I'd say TheGentleman and MrCheese; since they shared a cabin last night and they're both safe, that's two people in one boarded shelter. And furthermore, granted the defense works, it'll probably help us narrow things down a bit more in case anyone else is, eh...hunted down."

"Excellent idea, Sheriff," Captain smiled. "Engineer. Say there's enough wood to board up just one more cabin after that instead of two. Who should get that?"

"Hmmm...In all honesty, I think it would be best if you got the extra defense."

"Wh-Me? Really?" he asked. "Why me?"

"You're the server's host, so if anything happens to you, it might introduce a new array of glitches for all we know; we've seen that the deaths of other crewmates can affect the game when a virus like this is in the code, so with you being the host, the glitches may intensify in the event of your death."

"Ah, okay..." he nodded.

"Is there a problem, Captain? You, uh...don't seem that enthused about getting extra defenses put up."

"Well, It...it's not that I don't want any extra protection; it's just that I think other people should probably get the added protection, too. Isn't that what a leader does? Protect his followers? Put their needs above my own?"

"That's what a leader does," Engineer nodded. "...But with you dead, how will you lead at all?"

"Oh my God, you...You're right, Engineer," he replied. "...Alright. I'll take the extra defense. But only if there's enough for three cabins in all instead of just two."

"I'll see what I have to work with," the purple crewmate nodded. "...Alright. It's getting late; we've got 4 1/2 hours before midnight to set everything up. Everyone go to their quarters for the night. Sheriff and I will lay out the beartraps across the outpost, then retrieve the scented candles from Rose, BDay and MrEgg and deliver them to each cabin. Make sure there are matches in the top desk drawer by the door that you can use to light them with; every cabin is supposed to have them, but you can never be too careful."

"No problem, Engineer," MrCheese nodded. "We should be safe."

"Alright...Let's get to work. Sheriff, come with me. After we set up the traps and pass out the candles, I'll need your help boarding up the cabin windows."

"Alright. Say, if there is enough for three, who should get the last one done?"

Engineer thought for a moment before turning to Captain again.

"Captain, do you have any input on that?"

Before he could respond, another voice piped up from the crowd.

"Can...can I have it, please? I-if you can manage it?"

The voice belonged to a meek and very uneasy Dum, who trembled where she stood.

"I-I'm not trying to be selfish or anything, but I-"

"It's alright, Dum," Engineer assured her, giving her a small smile. "You shouldn't be ashamed for asking if you don't feel safe."

"Well...okay. Thank you," she squeaked. Captain looked her way and tilted his head sympathetically; he wished there was something else he could do for her.

...Maybe there is, he realized, suddenly remembering something.

"Okay, then, crew. It's settled. Everyone is to retire to their cabins effective immediately. So let's follow the protocol and SCATTER!"

They all left the meeting table behind and piled out of the Office, trekking back out into the snow. Sheriff followed Engineer to Storage where the supplies were, and the others said goodnight to one another and headed to their respective cabins.

As Dum was giving her little brother one last hug, Captain approached her from behind.

"...Stay safe, okay?" Dum told the red bean in her hold.

"I'll do my best, sis...You, too."

They let go, and Player turned around and headed off for the night...Dum lowered her head and wrapped her hands around her shivering form; she wasn't sure if it was the cold making her shake or her fear of what might happen that night.

She took another step forward, but before the pink crewmate could go anywhere else, she heard Captain speak up from behind her.

"Hey, Dum?"

She turned to face him.

"Y-yeah, Cappy?"

"Follow me to my cabin really quick; I just want to give you something."

"You do...?"

"M-hm. It won't take long, hon'."

She followed him to his cabin through the snow, and he snapped the lights on when he opened the door and lead her inside. Captain headed over to his bed, reached under his pillow and pulled something out, then headed back over to where Dum was standing and showed it to her.

"You know what this is, Dum?"

"Oooooh..." she marveled. "...That's the smallest baseball bat I've ever seen."

Captain burst out laughing at her response, and she quickly followed suit. When their laughter finally died down, the white crewmate sighed to regain his composure, still smiling, then spoke again.

"...It's a baton," he explained. "Usually, it's used by police or security guards to defend themselves or subdue baddies, but I carry one on me as well while I fly in case there ends up being an attempted hijacking; I used to watch a lot about that sort of thing, so I decided you can never be too careful...I keep this one under my pillow in case of an emergency, but...I'd like you to take it. For now, at least."

He handed it to her, and she gently took it, scanning over the little wooden club with misty eyes.

"You...you're giving this to me?" she asked him. "...But what about you? What if you have to defend yourself?"

"Don't worry about me, Dum; Engineer's coming to board up my window later, remember? If that gets done, I should be perfectly fine, especially with the scented candles he's also supposed to bring paired with the desk I have to barricade the door with."

"...I guess that's true," she nodded in understanding.

"Will you feel safer with that with you?"

"I think so," she told him. "...Th-thank you, Captain."

"You're welcome, Dum-dum," he smiled, cupping her cheek gently. "I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

She teared up even more.

"...But we don't know that," she squeaked.

"Aw, Dum, it's going to be alright. Come here, sweet pea."

He stretched his hands out and invited her into a hug, which she gladly accepted. He felt her tremble, and he gently swayed back and forth with her in his gentle hold.

"No matter what happens, we'll be alright in the very end," he assured her, gently rubbing the top of her head with his right hand. "That I can promise you...And if fate decides that we each die, then we'll be reunited in spirit...And nothing will be able to tear us apart then."

Captain heard her sob quietly, and he tightened his hug a tiny bit as he gently shushed her. A tear threatened to spill from his own visor; it broke his heart seeing Dum so afraid.

"Will you be alright on your own tonight?" Captain asked her. "I could stay with you if you want; I honestly don't care if I get put in any danger; I'll tell the others. We'll do what TheGentleman and MrCheese did, and...Maybe everything will be as fine for us as it was for them. Would you like that?"

Dum sniffled again, now having calmed down most of the way, and she gently pulled back to look her boyfriend in the eye, smiling a little.

"...Thank you, Captain," she whispered to him. "But...I'll be able to handle myself okay. I-if we're going to try keeping ourselves safe, then I should learn how to cope on my own. And if I am the werewolf, then...I'll keep you more safe if we stay apart. I'm not going to risk endangering you...You mean too much to me."

Captain wiped away the tear in the corner of his visor with his thumb before replying.

"...You're right, Dum. And I should do the same in case it happens to be me...Stay vigilant, okay, babe?"

"I will," she nodded lightly, drawing herself towards him again to give him one more hug. "...'Night, Cappy."

"Sleep tight, Dum-dum. Love you."

"I love you, too."

"...Can I get a kiss?"

Dum giggled a bit, then tilted her head up and planted a gentle smooch against his cheek, then gave him one more squeeze before they parted.

"We'll see what happens tomorrow morning," he told her. "Stay safe and warm."

"I'll do everything I can."

With that, Dum turned back around and opened the cabin door to leave...And saw that Engineer was already there, a stack of boards tucked under one hand and a hammer tucked under his other, a box of nails held in the latter hand.

"Oh, hey Engineer. Captain was just giving me something; I was just about to head back to my quarters now."

"Alright, good. The bear traps are all set out and Sheriff is finishing passing around scented candles; you should go meet him so you can grab one really quick."

"Okay; g'night, Engineer."

"You too, Dum. Oh, and watch where you step."

She nodded, then headed over to the tan crewmate, making sure none of the snares were in her path. He saw her approaching as he handed one of the last two candles to TheGentleman and MrCheese through the door.

"Just in time," he remarked, handing her the last candle. "I was just gettin' ready to stop at your door to deliver this here. You wanna take it off my hands?"

"Yep," she nodded, taking it and taking in a long, deep breath of it...The sharp, refreshing smell of pine sent a warm rush across her body.

"Oooh, I like this one. Thanks so much; I'll light it as soon as I get inside!"

"Glad there were enough to go around; Rose and BDay are down to just one left that they're gonna use for themselves," he replied. He then noticed the wooden baton in her free hand.

"What's that there for?"

"This? Oh, Captain gave it to me; he said that it might help keep me safe in an emergency."

"I see...Well, I s'pose anything you can use to defend yerself with is good. I should be over to your cabin with Engineer in less than an hour to put up the boards; he did the measurements and did a headcount of his supplies, and says there's definitely enough to board three windows."

"Oh, really? That's great!"

"Darn tootin'. Now go on inside and light that candle; the longer it burns, the stronger it'll smell when come midnight."

"Okay. I'll see you guys in a little while!"

Feeling quite a bit safer now, given the circumstances at hand, Dum headed off to her quarters and lit her candle...It didn't quite feel like an hour had passed when Engineer and Sheriff came knocking on her door with the remaining supplies, and they boarded up her window securely. Once they'd said goodnight again and departed, Dum locked the door and pushed the desk in front of it, then snapped off the lights and went to bed, feeling snug and safe.

...If any werewolf tried to come in, they would have a bad time against the boards and pine smell. And if it ended up being her, then she would be subdued and trapped even more effectively, minimizing the danger to the crew.

____________________________________________________________

...

____________________________________________________________

"...Phew. For a minute there, I thought I was all out."

MrEgg thought that he'd exhausted his supply at first when he got done giving what he had to Engineer and Sheriff to pass around, but after a bit of rummaging through his other desk drawers and night table, he was lucky enough to find one more scented candle.

...But will it work?

He frowned when he examined it more; the scent was "Fresh Linen," which was comparatively weak and mild compared to most of the other, more potent scents he'd given away, and it was smaller than most of them as well.

The maroon crewmate sighed again as he got ready for bed. He sprayed himself down with his deodorant, hoping that it would either help to mask his scent or make it less appealing to the bloodthirsty predator, then turned down the heat to keep his scent emission weak before pushing the desk in front of his door. With that done, he flicked all of his lights off, shut his window blinds and got into bed, curling up under the covers to try and stay warm...He shivered beneath the blankets, but stayed as still as possible.

It's better to catch a cold than to get ripped apart, he said to himself, pulling the covers over his head and snuggling into his pillow more. ...I just hope I did enough.

____________________________________________________________

...

____________________________________________________________

Sheriff took a look at the clock on his phone; 11:56 p.m., it read. If he was the unfortunate host of the werewolf virus, then he only had four minutes of sanity left, so he hoped and prayed that it wasn't him.

Because people were relying on him.

His coffee finished brewing, so he took the pot out of the brewer and poured some into his trusty mug. He inhaled a deep breath of the steaming, sweet-smelling beverage and then took a sip, nearly burning his mouth...But he didn't care how hot it was; it would get him through the night and last him to morning.

...Good stuff, he said to himself, smiling as he got out his camera, propping it up on its stand right inside the window. The blinds were shut, but Sheriff managed to poke the lens ring through a pair of them before readjusting the legs, making sure it would stay in place...It was a fine camera; it had a motion detector, automatic settings, and a night vision mode, which he was using right now; although the picture would be in black and white, it would reveal what the creature plaguing the outpost looked like, which would certainly take them a step in the right direction.

He looked down at the woven leather whip on the floor to the right of the camera stand, losing a tiny bit of confidence as he wondered just how thick a werewolf's hide was, and whether or not a weapon like that would be able to defend him...Part of him wished he had his pistol on him, but then he remembered that said werewolf was technically one of the otherwise innocent crewmembers.

And that innocent crewmember could be me, for all I know, he reminded himself, looking at the time on his phone again.

...The moment of turned it on to look at it, the time changed from 11:59 to 12:00.

Sheriff felt his heart drop right to his heels.

He dropped his phone in shock, then tightly shut his eyes, preparing himself as best he could for something to start happening to him.

...

...

...But nothing ever did. He was met with silence.

He slowly pried his visor back open, then looked at his hands just to make sure everything was still in order...No fur anywhere, no paws or fangs, and no thirst for blood plaguing his mind.

His hand still shaking from the sudden shock, he picked his phone up again, his clumsy hand dropping it a few times before he managed to hold it steady, then he checked the time again; 12:02.

And he was still normal.

He heaved out a massive sigh of relief and grinned widely at his good fortune.

"Praise the Lord..." he huffed as he exhaled, resting his hand over his chest...But it wasn't time to celebrate just yet; since he was safe, he had a job to do.

He peeked into the viewfinder to see if anything was roaming around yet...Nothing, so he pulled out his pocket lighter, lit the candle on the desk between the window and the door and then stored it away...Only a minute later, the warm, autumnal smell of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and cloves spread across his cabin, stimulating his senses and tingling his nose.

If this is strong for me, imagine what it'll do to the nose of a werewolf, he said to himself. ...And paired with the smell o' strong-brewed liquid gold, I doubt he'd enjoy tryin' to come in here.

He kept looking into the view finder, moving the lens around to the left or right every so often to make sure he wasn't missing anything out of the corner of his field of vision...Every once in a while, he would hear a noise coming from somewhere outside; nothing particularly loud, but a creak here, a shift there, and the faint sound of footsteps crunching through the snow that made him freeze and hold his breath whenever he heard it...At one point, he swore he heard the sound of a crack coming from somewhere, followed by what might have been a growl, and then either a howl or a scream coming from somewhere, but the noise was so muffled and faint that he couldn't pinpoint which direction it was coming from.

Gosh dang these walls, he said to himself. These cabins are built like molasses and rump roast sandwiches with hard tack for the bread.

He knew the cabins had particularly thick walls for added insulation to counter Polus's unrelenting cold, but it wasn't like they didn't have heating systems. And even if those were to go down, they could still dress warm and use the supplies of propane and wood kept in Storage...Right now, they were hindering him more than they were helping; he could barely tell where any of the noise was coming from. For all he knew, the werewolf could have entered someone's cabin and eaten them alive. The crack could have been the creature breaking past the defenses, and the scream could have been the victim calling out for help, only to receive no answer and be eaten alive...The mere thought of who it could have been terrified him, and he felt horrible for not being able to stop such a thing from happening.

He took a look at the time again; 2:37 in the morning. He sighed deeply.

...This has to work, he said to himself, pausing to fill his mug with coffee again before looking through the camera lens once more. If it doesn't, I don't know what I'll-

His train of thought came to an abrupt halt when he saw a faint silhouette lurking around the Office, its head to the ground.

That's it, he realized. It was too far away for him to make out any details, but that was it alright.

The figure suddenly raised its head and looked in Sheriff's direction...He could see the glimmer of the moonlight reflecting off its icy blue visor: the only part of the figure he could truly see from the distance he was at.

Don't move a muscle, he told himself. ...Don't.

Suddenly, the figure climbed up onto the rock and tilted its head up, its figure barely visible against the black night sky...He could just barely hear the long howl that emitted from the creature from inside his cabin walls.

The figure climbed down off the boulder and stood on the ground for a few moments, sniffing the air again. Sheriff took the opportunity to zoom in, but before he could get a good enough look at the werewolf to determine who it was, it darted back behind the rock again.

He snapped a photo as quickly as he could, and the camera whirred as the film developed...About a minute later, it came out of the slot, and he took a look at it.

"...Not quite as good as I hoped," he said to himself. "...But maybe I can get another shot if I keep my eyes peeled."

He took another swig of his coffee and looked through the lens again...Another hour passed, and the werewolf didn't show its face. The hour turned to two, then three, and still nothing.

And it wasn't much later that the main outpost lights faded back from their dim mode back to full brightness, signifying the arrival of day.

He shook his head in disappointment, then turned his camera off, took yet another swig of his black coffee and adjusted his 10-gallon hat before opening the door and stepping out into the cold.

...And already, Engineer had left his cabin, and was hurriedly approaching another one...which, just like the last two, had its window smashed in.

"Oh, no..."

The tan crewmate followed after Engineer towards the scene of the break-in, and they peered into the open window...All that remained of the unfortunate victim was their cracked, chewed backbone and a few shreds of their wine red suit, which almost blended right in with the spatters of blood sprayed across the floor and walls.

The warm smell of linen masked the metallic scent of blood, and the two crewmembers looked over to the night table to see the flame of a candle still flickering...It was the only thing in there that had been left alive.