[Patron: Gift of the Gods] Chase Walker's Story

Chance would immediately notice something about the bag the woman had, as it shifted slightly, before the sound of something clinking on the ground rang out. The woman, M. Walker, turned to the sound and noticed that something long and furry was dragging one of the various things in her bag around. "Hey! Drop that!" , she exclaimed, quickly snatching the item away from the ferret. It was a compass, and an older looking one at that. "Oi, this your animal? Like the rest of them?". Ms.Walker asked with obvious irritation. "Best keep that one in check or I'll wear it as an accessory next time.". She threatened, with Brutis looking over, noticing what she was holding and giving a face of "oh, shouldn't have done that" as though something bad had happened.

He quickly spoke up, "Ferret's can't help themselves. They like doda---- ai mean a variety of things Mary.".

Mary quickly turned and glared daggers at Brutis making the man lean a little back in uncertainty. Quickly deciding to change the subject, Brutis turned to Chance, Never introduced myself. Private Diego Brutis. I'm one of the few remaining survivors of my platoon along with Petty Officer Mary Walker.
Sorry for growling earlier. As a guy yourself, you ought to know the rule. Don't touch anotha man's food when he's eating, and all that. Your name was Chance right? Does ya group of animal friends gotta name?... And they don't bite do they?"

"That wasn't a request. If he touches my compass again, I will wear fur...... Though I guess that's not so much a threat now.", Mary stated as she checked the compass for damage.

"Don't mind Mary. She means well, just that's the only thing left she's got of family. My old man's already dead. As for carrying your weight, if you can, do so, but don't get too close to us without yelling what you're doing. We'll react with deadly force faster than you can call for friendly fire. Especially now that we're forced to rely on hand to hand and close quarters combat." , Diego stated, taking a trench shovel that he had behind himself. It was of similar make and model as the one Private Terrance had, though it was clear that there were a few blots of stained blood, now faded brown outlines because it hadn't been cleaned off before it stained too deeply.

"And no, it's not a friendly suggestion.
We've been trained to kill, even if you had to kill something once, it can mess with you bad. Don't hesitate. I don't care what you choose to do, but don't hesitate or freeze up. From what we saw, those.... Beasts up top... They seemed to go after the ones who did that first...." , Diego continued, his face hardening. "Not saying we're gonna encounter giant fucking wolves or birds, but better to expect the worse and be disappointed than expect the causal and end up shocked.". The Inuit toned man stated with a smile that while it was not genuine in happiness, it was at the least an attempt at being reassuring.

Soon enough though, the sounds of boots began to approach from where Chance had arrived from. The man from before at the gate held out a rolled up piece of paper, "Your group is assigned to this path. Remember to report back immediately if you see anything anomalous. Retreating to tell what you can is far more important than trying to find everything out. Understood?". , the man reported, as the pair stood at attention and saluted, "sir yes sir!" Was their answer, before Mary collected the map and spread it out. "You, Chance right? Commanding Officer Terrance has given me explicit instructions to remind you not to do anything reckless. Follow behind them, and stay calm and collected."

With that said, the pair looked at the red marked path they would follow. It seemed that they would approach from the main tunnel before heading into an access ladder to an upper maintenance tunnel that lead to an overhead area for signal maintenance. "Simple enough, go check it out, then report back. Considering the last group is still out, I'm guessing it's assumed they're MIA." Mary stated, her expression seeming unsympathetic to whether they were alive or not. Diego shared this sentiment. If Chance had nothing to say or do, the woman and man would pack up their things and carry their bags on their backs, Mary pocketing her compass in her rear pocket.

"We may not reach the next station or find other survivors or civilians. If you do anything, avoid doing anything that deals with that black wall.", Mary stated, making sure Chance understood that as a warning of prime importance.

Heading into the tunnel, the expanse was... Well, claustrophobic to an extent. By no means was it outright cramped, since subway trains still had to run through the area, but it the walls were close enough that it was difficult to properly avoid things without bumping into someone. Of course, it would change after 10 or so minutes as the tunnel widened. Brutis and Mary took lead with Chance behind them in a reverse Chevron formation. The pair had kept their rifles, and a fixed their knives like bayonets onto the front slung by a strap. The pair kept one hand on their rifles, and one with a flashlight, which showed the tunnel expanding and eventually being large enough for multiple train tracks to be seen. Pillars and cross beams with now inoperable train signal lights gave the place an abandoned look, eerily so.

Chance's instincts were on full blast, and suddenly he noticed something. There was no signs of rats..... Nor insects....

Nothing but the sound of concrete and gravel against books and shoes. Before long, Chance would hear something, {"Giants are here, run from light, Hide! Smell dogs! Smell cat! Smell Danger!"}

The sound echoed in Chance's head, but the other two did not react.

Despite not being able to audibly hear whatever had made those noises, Chance would know which direction the creature was.... or rather creatures. When the two heard Chase's request to slow down, the two stopped, turning around to see him. Diego stifled a laugh as he saw the animal covered Chase, while Mary scowled. "This isn't a pleasant stroll through some abandoned tunnel. If there is anything down here it's likely hosti-" Mary began to berate Chase when the man utilized his ability. Sure enough a message popped up,

[Unable to process command. Command only consisting of two words.
Relaying new Command: Come
Command Function: Force an animal or beast to approach the user regardless of stimuli]

With that it seemed as though something strange happened. Despite the command being two words, whatever this system or text box was had converted it, unlike the other commands. Maybe because of the way he said it? Come was indeed a simple command, and it was used to bring dogs to the one who said it, or it's owner if they were properly trained.

None the less, instantly the sound of skittering could be heard as a single rat, nearly half the size of Missy. Instantly Bandit became curious as the rat came into the light and stopped before Chase.

{What this? What this?}, Bandit's curiosity was immediately peaked, beginning to approach the rat. While the rat didn't move any farther or close from Chase it did wheel around, hissing and screaming at Bandit. {"Annoying....}, came a voice from Missy, who immediately swatted the creature to make it shut up. The rat squealed, apparently trying to lean back away as far as it could, but not being able to run away. It did try to gnash it's teeth, clicking them in a manner that indicated that if anything touched it, it'd bite.

In fact, {STAY AWAY! NO PREY! STAY AWAY!}, the rat seemed to be giving clear warnings that it didn't want to be killed, {Will BITE! WILL CLAW, SCRATCH, CHASE!} The creature seemed to feel as though it was backed into a corner.... and perhaps it was. The text had stated that the creature would approach regardless of stimuli. It was clearly not capable of leaving of it's own accord.

"What the.... Is that a rat?!" Mary shouted, looking at the matted and wild animal with a combination of disgust and awe. "Why the fuck-" She began to pull out her blade, before Diego stopped her and placed a hand on her mouth. "Quiet.... Remember about those things we heard about? People able to do strange things?" Mary stopped, but bit on Diego's hand to get it away, "What's where you put those things..." She whispered harshly as Diego pulled back, looking more personally hurt than physically. "So.... Are you a rat whisperer or something?" Mary asked.