All at once, a burst of noise erased the quiet, the illusion of peace. Besides the Were-kind group approaching, Zyl detected what he was sure was a large group of people coming from the opposite direction. The Were-kind sounds included more pounding steps than the local group should make. From what Max had told him the previous night, at least two contingents from bands in other cities were coming, due to arrive overnight. There were some from Albuquerque, Phoenix and perhaps even as far away as Denver to help the local Were-folk with the expected confrontation.
While Were-kind might not be fully supportive of the idea of keeping animals in zoos, they recognized that the extra care and protection could spell the difference between survival and extinction. At any rate, turning them loose i
