For one horrible, nerve-wracking moment, Red was paralysed with fear.

The thing humans call suicide keeps looking more and more appealing. He was already deathly scared of the mortal animals---although they were more like beasts. It had taken him some time to be able to hang around Jada without shrieking and running. Now, faced with creatures that stood tall and proud with their snarling muzzles and shiny silver coats, he worried he would accidentally wet himself.

"What are those called?" he whispered, pressing against Alisa's side. She'd just sent one of the beasts flying, so he figured she was the safest person to stick to.

She turned her head slightly, cocking a dubious eyebrow. "You don't know what wolves look like?"

Wolves. Red had a faint memory of them---of course, they weren't his memories, but still. "Why are they so...shiny?"

"Robot wolves," Alisa grunted, seeming ready to punch every single one of them in the face.

Red's hand reached for his waistband.

At his left, he noticed Lennox nocking an arrow in his bow, a steely glint in his eyes as he stared the creature opposite him down. A palm rested on the still-wailing Becca's head and stroked her hair, as if to calm her down. The wolves didn't appear to like her cries, inching closer to the defenseless girl. Cheng Xin looked terrified, but copied his sister's stance all the same.

Red allowed himself a brief second of hope. Perhaps they can be scared away with intimidation?

When the wolves pounced, he remembered that there was no such thing as hope in this miserable, earthly life he had been doomed to.

"WHY DID I EVER BREAK SATURN'S STUPID SPEED LIMIT?" Red screamed as he dove to the side, narrowly missing a swiping paw. He wasn't so lucky for the second. Blinding spots of agony scythed across his vision as he saw a gleam of metal and felt sticky blood stain his thigh.

"What?" Alisa shouted back, slamming a wolf in its silvery muzzle with her bare fist. That held off the beast and made Red feel like a huge wimp, until he noticed her shaking out her palm with a hiss of pain. "Damn it!"

There was a sharp twang and an uttered exclamation. Red's head swivelled to the side. Lennox's arrow had simply bounced off a wolf's hide, and the rest were closing in on him and Becca. "Can we sacrifice the pervert and his crazy girlfriend?" Red heard Alisa grumble. "The wolves seem to like them."

"No!" came Cheng Xin's hurried reply. "No leaving anyone to die, Li!" Red mentally agreed. There were reasons why Cheng Xin was literally his last hope in humanity.

Red's thoughts were rapidly quelled by more twisting and flipping to prevent the rake of razor-sharp claws and fangs across his fragile mortal body. He, once more, made several silent prayers to the Earthling's god. It had worked once before. Perhaps it would work again.

Still, it didn't stop the trails of metal scraping down, leaving wounds that burned like he'd been doused in flame. Red felt dizzy. He wasn't used to this---any of this. He would almost prefer to listen to Yummy on repeat than battle these ferocious wolves. Almost.

His heartbeat was a ringing pulse in his ears. He was losing this fight, and badly. His whole body, sticky with his own blood, screamed in agony every time he dodged a wolf's paw. He didn't remember the gun in his waistband until a particularly hard smack sent him rolling to the floor, his weapon digging into his hip purposefully.

His fingertips, pads worn and scraped, stung as he fished out his gun. He didn't have time to use it before a snarling wolf was on him, metal body gleaming in the dark, metal eyes glowing deadly gold, metal paws crushing his chest to fragments of bone and ash. Claws dug into the thin fabric of his shirt. His wrist, pinned to his aching chest, was twisted at an awkward angle, his gun now useless. Attempting to pull the trigger would only make him shoot himself into the heart. Red could barely breathe. The animal's teeth, slick with sangria liquid, hovered just inches away from his face.

This is what I get for being a raging hypocrite. This is what I get for breaking traffic laws. This is what I get for openly badmouthing Justin Bieber. His various crimes flashed through his head. Red couldn't help wondering what he'd done that was so wrong. His life seemed extremely tame. He was certainly not criminal material.

The air stunk of death.

Red closed his eyes. He was doomed.

There was a thump and a growl. Red's eyelids flew open as the pressure on his chest eased instantly, his tortured lungs finally able to find air. Alisa stood over him, teeth bared and feet planted firmly on the ground. She appeared pretty banged up. A gaping gash ripped open her right arm from wrist to shoulder, and she was shaking out her hand again, face scrunched up in pain. The cut on her cheek had been torn wider, blood seeping from an even larger wound. It was a miracle the gauze over her missing eye had survived. The wolf who'd previously been attempting to ravage Red's face looked almost confused---and Red couldn't blame it, since he'd be confused too if Alisa Lee had punched him straight off his prey.

The beast lunged at her, but Alisa was ready for it. She grabbed it by the jaw like a wild animal tamer, ripping its mouth open with her bare hands so it couldn't bring its teeth down on her bare skin. A well-delivered kick to its stomach sent both the creature and Alisa reeling back, confirming Red's suspicion that humans weren't meant to kick metal, even if their feet were wreathed in steel. Still, despite her obvious agony, Alisa wrestled with the wolf, shoving it further away from him.

Then Red understood: she wasn't trying to overpower the creature. She knew she wouldn't be able to do it with her bare hands. She was trying to protect him, to lead the wolf away so it wouldn't be able to harm him. The realisation hit him like a truck, striking warmth into his heart. Just for a moment, Alisa turned her head to look at him, as if sensing his thoughts.

"A life for a life," she grunted, pushing the wolf off her.

Her biceps rippled as she fought the beast. She was tiring, Red could see that. She was probably already weakened from her own battle. He desperately tried to get up, tried to help. She couldn't die saving him.

Suddenly, something flew straight into the side of the wolf's neck. The wolf fell sideways with a whine and a thud, its snout agape and its coat patchy with Red's blood. A wooden arrow stuck out from its neck, and Red realised something. While the rest of it was carved out of shimmering metal, its throat was dull with flesh.

Red, a hand pressed to his half-destroyed torso, slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. Every movement made his body sing with pain. His wrist---possibly sprained---lay in his lap, but he somehow managed to tuck his gun back into his waistband.

Lennox stood a few feet away on shaky legs. He looked to be in bad shape, his clothes tattered and painted with crimson. Still, his hands were steady, an arrow readily nocked in his bow, a blood-stained quiver slung over his scar-torn shoulder. A grim smile adorned his face, so unlike his normal cocky grin.

The wolves had halted their attack, pausing to stare at the one who'd murdered one of their brethren. Somehow, Lennox had figured out their weakness.

"Take Becca and run," Lennox commanded, not taking his eyes off the wolves. His tanned face had been dyed scarlet with blood that seeped from a wound on his forehead. He looked...different.

Alisa's face was a mask of shock. Then she nodded, pressing her lips tight and dragging a wailing Becca off the ground. When the other girl wouldn't budge, Alisa rolled her eye and swept Becca into her arms like she weighed less than a feather.

Lennox shifted his gaze to stare at Alisa. His bloodied lip curled up in a semblance of his original smile. "If I get out of this alive, do I get a date?" he asked coyly.

Alisa didn't have time to reply before the wolves lunged. Red couldn't help the sharp scream that escaped his traitorous vocal chords, echoing Becca's terrified cries. Lennox let loose an arrow, his hands rapidly flying to nock another one in his bow. Red had never seen fingers move so fast.

Cheng Xin's hand was soon on Red, pulling him up and looping his ragged arm---the bandage had been torn off---over a shoulder. It was a little awkward, since Red was quite a bit taller than the other boy, but he managed somehow. "Let's go," Cheng Xin whispered. He looked beaten up and bruised, but there seemed to be minimal blood staining his skin. Jada was curled in his other arm, fur matted ruby. "Can you walk?"

Red swallowed. "I...I think so?" Cheng Xin still supporting him, he tried to move his legs. They felt like they were made entirely of the sap found in the barks of the egloobass trees on X9-7. Still, he could manage a relatively decent hobble. He let the other boy guide him down the path ahead of them, starting at a walk and slowly breaking into a run. He noticed Alisa sprinting ahead of them, a crying Becca still in her arms.

As they ran from the scene of the crime, Red turned his head back in time to see a wall of metal slide across the path they'd just left, successfully obscuring Lennox and the wolves from view. Becca let out a glass-shattering "NO!" that echoed around the maze and made Alisa wince. Tears streamed down the sickly girl's face as she clawed at Alisa, trying to get her to put her down. "Let me go to him!"

"Stop struggling, you crazy bitch!" Aliaa shouted. "Your boyfriend's good as dead now!" Her harsh words seemed to pour over Becca like cold water. The other girl slumped, a dead weight in Alisa's arms, all the fight leaking out of her as she sobbed.

Now that they were away from danger, Red felt throbbing pain take over his entire body. He finally gave in to it, Cheng Xin no longer enough to keep him up. His knees buckled as his arm slid off Cheng Xin's shoulder, his vision fading into dancing spots of bright white light. He missed Alisa's shout, Cheng Xin's worried yelp, Jada's frantic bark, Becca's resumed screams. His legs crashed out from beneath him as he fell to the steel floor.

When he looked down, all he saw was blood.