Hey my furs! I'm finally back for the next chapter of our newest story In My Time of Need! The upload schedule has been kind of whacky but I have the chapter tonight ready to go! I hope you all enjoy and I'll see you at the bottom of the page! :D

To say it was difficult to suppress my excitement and nervousness throughout the night is an understatement. I became self-conscious of every little thing that I did that might give our plan away, so eventually I just sat on my bed like a statue, pretending to be deep in thought. Which I technically was but that's beside the point.

My mind didn't even register when Edna brought my food tray to the door and put it through the food slot.

“Nathan… Nathan. Nathan!" She finally shouted to break through my spell. I felt my heart race pick up upon seeing her, but relaxed when I realized she was only bringing me my food.

“Eat up dear, you'll need it for tonight." She said with a wink before walking away. Not wasting any time, I grabbed my less-than-appetizing meal from my tray and began eating. Letting myself fall into thought once again while I ate, I was slightly surprised when my blunt nails met an empty tray.

I slid it back through the food slot for hopefully the last time and sat back down, staying completely alert for when Edna was ready to move. I went over every possible scenario in my head, good and bad, and what it would mean for our escape plans later on.

All of them led to the same result; if we failed now, we would never get out of this hellhole. Sighing deeply I reminisced on the past for a moment, remembering the promise I made to my late mother before she passed.

“Nathan, I need you to promise me something." My mother spoke, pausing for a moment as she was wracked by a violent cough. “Nathan, you and Zachary are the only two people left in this world that I care about. Please make sure to take care of yourself, and take care of your brother. You need each other more than you realize. Please promise me this Nathan." She finished quietly.

I nodded, fighting away the tears that threatened to spill out as she spoke. “Of course mom. I'll take care of both of us I promise. Please don't leave mom." I cried out, failing at my mission to look strong in my mother's final moments.

“I'm so proud of you Nathan, I know you'll go on to do great things. I love you dear, tell Zachary I love him too…" She trailed off as another violent cough took over. She looked me in the eyes and smiled as she drew in one final breath, letting her eyes close and exhaling for the final time.

I let the tears flow freely as I looked back at how miserably I'd broken that promise, getting both myself and my brother caught up in this mess for believing something that was far too good to be true. I dragged the back of my paws roughly against my eyes, stemming the flow of tears.

I had no way of telling the time, but the two guards I had sight of seemed to be loosening up a bit, indicating it was likely time for them to leave soon. My paws ached and clenched with anticipation, if my swishing tail wasn't indicative enough of my current mood. Feeling self-conscious once again, I forced them to stop, not wanting to risk giving the guards any idea of our plan.

The movements immediately started again and my heartbeat began to pick up as I watched the guards turn to leave down the hall. Hearing a door close, I got up and stood by the door. I heard rapidly approaching footsteps from down the hall, indicating that someone was running.

“We have to move, now Nathan." Edna whispered harshly as she used her keys to undo the lock on the door. I stepped out immediately and looked to Edna for directions. She jerked her head in a 'follow me' motion and we took off to the left.

It didn't take long to reach Zachary's cell, and I wasn't surprised to see him just as anxious as I was. His muzzle opened to say something but a harsh glare from both of us caused his mouth to drop shut with an audible clap. Once he was out of his own cell, Edna took off down the hall, the two of us following suit.

It was a footrace now to the nearest exit which was clearly lit by the glowing “exit" sign. The closer we got to the exit it felt like the hallway simply got longer and longer. “FIRE!" A voice boomed behind us, and I was shocked when I watched a dozen bullets fly past us and dig into the cement walls.

I dared a look backwards which proved to be a costly mistake as a bullet pierced the tip of my ear, causing me to wince in pain. I could feel the wound throbbing in time with my heart as we ran faster. That heartbeat quickly came to a halt as I heard the cry of pain from my brother behind me.

I felt my claws skid on the cement as I slid to a stop to see my brother clutching his leg in pain. I began making my way towards him as his pained expression focused on me.

“NO! You need to RUN Nate! RUN! This plan will have all gone to waste if neither of us escape, and I'm not going to let me being hurt stop you! SO RUN NATHAN!" He screamed at me, ignoring the wound on his leg gushing freely.

I was torn on the spot as I was forced to make a decision. My heart was shouting at me to run and help him, but the smallest whisper in my head told me to leave him. I gazed at him with teary eyes before I turned away, put my head down and kept running.

The blood rushing in my ears was enough to drown out the sound of the bullets that whizzed by me, and I nearly tripped when I felt my feet hit grass. I simply ran across the earth, not caring where I was going or how exhausted I was.

I felt sick to my stomach as the realization of what I'd just done hit me, and I felt my legs give out as I fell to the ground. My momentum caused me to slide a few feet through the dirt and I breathed heavily against the grass. I watched as the black spots surrounded my vision and the last thing I saw was the dancing of the grass before I fell unconscious.

P.O.V. Change: Zachary

“No more big brother to protect you now huh? He just left you here to fend for yourself. How's that make ya feel ya little punk?" The guard spit in my face before adding a kick to the ribs. I kept my steely expression glued to him and my growl refused to relinquish as he stared me down.

He approached me and got dangerously close to my face before speaking, breath smelling of raw fish. “We'll beat that aggression out of you yet, pup." He added the insult at the end which only made me angrier. Taking advantage of his positioning I snapped my muzzle at his nose, just barely clipping the end of it but enough to draw blood.

The taste was like iron in my mouth, but I could taste much more of it when the guard reared back and delivered a solid kick to my chest, causing me to cough up blood.

“That 'oughta teach ya." He spit again, holding his hand up to his nose to stem the bleeding slightly.

“Take this runt back to his cell. He'll be up bright and early for testing now that big brother isn't here to take his place." The guard boomed, walking away from me. Two other guards pulled me up and dragged me back to my cell, simply tossing me inside as I coughed up more blood.

I was sure that he'd broken a rib or two, making breathing extremely difficult with the sharp pain that came with every shaky breath I took. My growl returned as I heard footsteps approaching my cell, but it quickly vanished when I realized it was Edna.

“Zachary I'm so sorry this happened. Your brother escaped though, and I'm sure he'll be back for you soon." She spoke softly as she entered the cell. She began tending to my wounds, using a pair of tweezers to pluck the bullet that was still embedded into my leg.

I hissed in pain, letting my teeth sink into the towel she'd given me to bite on. Next she moved to my chest and with every poke and prod I whined in pain. “Three of them are broken. I hope you got what you wanted when you snapped at him." She gazed sternly at me.

I glared defiantly back at her, knowing very well what my goal was at that time. I wanted to bite him, so I did.

“You'll have to sleep on your back or side if you want any chance of sleep tonight, those ribs are going to hurt for quite a while." She said as she wrapped my leg with bandages. She moved to my chest next, wrapping them around my chest gently but firm enough so they wouldn't just slide off.

When she finished she squatted next to me and pulled my arm over her shoulder so she could lift me up. Obviously favoring my right leg that was uninjured she helped me to sit down on my bed.

“I'll be reapplying those bandages three times a day. I'll go get your medication to help ease the pain a bit so you can sleep tonight." She instructed me. I nodded in response as she closed the cell door and walked down the hall.

Slowly the emotions of everything that'd happened that day began to wash over me, and I realized that my brother was actually gone. I wasn't mad at him for leaving, but it still hurt to see him turn away and leave.

I had nobody left that I truly cared about, Edna didn't count. I felt the fresh tears drip off the end of my muzzle. It wasn't tears of pain from my injuries, but tears of grief that I was now truly alone. The pain in my heart was almost unbearable, and I didn't even hear Edna come in until she was sitting right next to me shaking me gently.

“Zachary dear are you alright?" She asked me quietly. I shook my head and buried my muzzle into her shoulder letting the tears continue to flow.

“I miss him Edna… what am I supposed to do not being able to see him?" I asked her, my body still being wracked by emotion.

“You have to be strong for both of you. He will be back, I have no doubt in my mind, but until then you have to be strong." She told me. I nodded my head against her shoulder, feeling the shakes finally begin to subside.

“Thank you Edna… I'm glad at least one of us got out." I said before realizing something.

“Won't you get in trouble?" I asked her hesitantly.

She smiled at me, “Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I knew what I'd be getting myself into." She said reassuringly. Not only was I now scared for Nathan and how he would do on his own, but now I worried for Edna as well. A wave of exhaustion prevented me from pursuing the issue any further.

“Take your medicine and get some sleep. I'll try to convince the scientists to let you off tomorrow to recover, but I can't promise anything." She spoke softly, dropping the medicine in my paw and curling my hand into a loose fist. I glanced down at it before dropping them all into my muzzle, using the glass of water to down them all at once.

“Thanks Edna. I really appreciate you helping." I told her, laying back on my bed. I missed the wistful glance she sent my way as I closed my eyes, and I fell into a restless sleep as the door closed quietly.

P.O.V. Change: Unknown

I had to forcibly hold my large ears down as I waded through the somewhat tall grass as to not give away my position. I'd just watched what looked like a fox collapse to the ground a few yards away from me, but I wasn't taking any chances in case they were feral.

Emerging through the grass to peek at the heaving form of the fox laying on the ground, I wasn't able to make an accurate decision on whether or not they'd turned. My rabbit hearing allowed me to hear the ragged breathing of the body. Trusting my better judgement because I'd seen them running on two legs I approached the body.

“Are you alright?" I asked tentatively. Upon receiving no response, I got closer to feel for a pulse. Sighing in relief when I felt the slight thumping through the wrist of the fox, I figured they were likely unconscious.

“Aubrey! Get away from it! You don't know if it's feral or not!" I heard the harsh voice of my partner behind me.

“Chill out Baron. He's unconscious." I whispered back. I watched the german shepherd emerge from the grass and join me next to the still form.

“How do you know it's a- oh." He spoke, noticing the distinct lack of clothes on the fox.

“Yeah. You'll have to carry him back." I told him. Baron looked at me as if I'd just grew a third ear.

“Are you nuts?! We still don't even know if he's feral or not!" He countered.

“He was running on two legs, I know he's not a feral. Trust me." I assured him. The german shepherd looked between the fox and I hesitantly before huffing.

“Fine, but you can explain to my dad why we just dragged a fox into camp." He said.

“Fine, he'll be happy to see another possible member." I spoke matter-of-factly, getting another annoyed huff out of the dog. He sent one last glare my way as he handed off his bag to me, throwing the fox over his shoulder haphazardly.

“Hey careful! He looks beat up enough already." I chided him. The trip back to camp didn't take long, 20 minutes was my guess, and as we walked into camp we drew the attention of a few of the others in camp.

“Go tell Andros we're back, he'll want to hear about this." I said to a brown wolf named Roy. He nodded and ran into the small cave that served as our leader's abode. Baron laid the fox's still unconscious form on the ground near the fire, and I dropped our bags nearby as we waited for Andros to emerge.

We didn't have to wait long for the slightly graying german shepherd that came out of the cave, heading directly towards us.

“What's this? Dinner?" He said bluntly as he approached, prodding the almost lifeless form with a foot.

“No, we found him unconscious out near the lake. I saw him running through the grass when he just collapsed." I informed him, meeting the hardened gaze with a confident one of my own. He seemed to study the fox for a moment before nodding.

“Bring him to Dendra so she can tend to his wounds, I wish to be informed when he is awake and aware." He spoke, nodding to me and Baron who was standing next to me. We both returned the gesture as Baron picked up the fox bridal style this time and carried him in the direction of the old medic's tent.

The lemur watched us with her huge eyes, already aware of our approaching. Her eyes focused on the wound on the fox's ear as she spoke.

“Set him inside. I don't want that ear getting infected." She said firmly. Baron set him gently down on the cot inside the tent as Dendra immediately set to work. Dendra was an excellent medic, having worked in the field before she turned, and it carried over to her new form with no flaws.

I could barely keep up as she dampened a towel with antiseptic and pressed against the torn ear to kill off any infection that might have begun already.  Next she applied an ointment that would help the wound scab over quickly, wrapping the ear in bandages once she was finished.

Satisfied with the ear she began the same process with the other small marks around the fox's body. Once I was able to actually get a good look at him, I realized not only all the nicks and bruises that covered the body, but also how skinny he was.

You could clearly see his ribcage indicating he did not get enough to eat in the slightest, and I could only assume he'd been on his own for quite a while. Another thing caught my eye as well. It was very faint, but I was able to make out what looked like a brand on the fox's chest. The numbers read '432', but I had no idea what they meant.

“You see those numbers on his chest?" I whispered to Baron who stood attentively beside me. His eyes moved to the fox's chest and his eyes squinted briefly as he nodded.

“Wonder what they are. We'll have to ask him when he wakes up." He said. I nodded in response just as Dendra finished her work.

“He's fine, just exhausted. He should wake up soon, Baron I want you to stay with me for when he wakes up. I don't know if he'll be hostile or not and I'd rather not be alone when he comes to." The medic said quietly. Baron nodded in response and I gave him a light punch on the shoulder as I exited the tent.

“Andros wants to see you." I heard the voice of Roy off to the left. I nodded at him and made my way to the cave of our leader. Stepping inside Andros addressed me.

“I'd like a full report of what happened when you found him." He asked sternly. Taking a deep breath, I began my explanation.