Shift

22- Mutt

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Update again. o(^▽^)o Yay! I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating. We got a dog so I've been a bit busier. Also, I haven't been getting any activity so I've been very unmotivated to write. Please vote, comment and share.

Ilyasm, Emma

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We looked around the new room, searching for a way out, a way to find Klisa. The room was full of shelving and cupboards, fully stocked with food. We were in a pantry.

I closed the cupboard that I had opened in front of me and turned around. Lavilla was picking at some of the food on the shelf in front of her.

"Lavilla, what are you doing?"

"They have bark, see?" She turned around with small packages covered with the same alien symbols as on the computer.

I tilted my head instinctively and took a package. I tore it open and pulled out a flat chunk of yellowish bark.

Lavilla tore open one herself and gnawed down on it.

"You need something to eat, not just to strengthen your jaw. I'll find you something." I rummaged through a few shelves and grabbed some soft foods. I stuffed some bags of what felt like pudding and some boxes of gummies into my pockets. I gave Lavilla the rest.

I took a few bars of preserved fruit and ate a quick bite, shoving the rest into my pocket for later. "Let's go!" I said and pushed through the door.

They opened up into a kitchen-like area. It was enclosed from the main room which seemed to be a cafeteria. We charged through the kitchen, ignoring the chefs on duty, and ran straight for the double doors across the cafeteria. We hopped over the counter and past the tables, pushing through the wide doors and into the high-traffic area.

People to the left were being pushed back by guards, crowding them in front of the cafeteria doors. Lavilla stood out like a spot of paint on a blank canvas. The Shifts in the crowd were turning to face her in astonishment and fear.

We went to the right along with the flow of aliens. The crowd grew louder and guards were yelling over them. The purple-haired guards pushed through the hallway right behind us.

We broke free from the last group of Shifts and bolted down the hall. After a few quick twists and turns we found ourselves in a maintenance room off a residential corridor.

Thick clear pipes climbed down the walls carrying fluid into massive tanks. There it bubbled and boiled, evaporated tendrils danced off the surface. Tubes and hoses split apart from a pump and ran anchored in lines along the walls and entered the ceiling once again.

On the single empty wall, we crouched down to relax. I sat on my feet, ready to get up again quickly if necessary. Lavilla admired the plumbing. She commented on their simplicity and asked what their purpose was.

"I'm not sure. By the looks of it, maybe a heating system?"

"That would make sense." She looked at it a bit more and shook her head. "No I don't think so... The fluid starts to evaporate and look, there are air shafts in the top of the tank leading into the next room." Lavilla examined it even more. Then she put her bare palm on the tank.

"Lavilla!" I screamed.

"My guess is that this is how they make the gaseous argon that they breathe." She turned around and smiled, taking her hand off the tank.

"Aren't you smart?"

"Feel it, it feels really cool."

I put my hand on its surface. It sent chills up my spine. The tank was freezing cold even through the thick glass and suit. The argon was stored cryogenically.

That is when I realized how cold the room really was. I shivered and tucked my arms in my armpits. It may have been simply because I was near the tank that I was cold and it did seem to help when I moved away.

Lavilla and I sat back down and waited for a while before we left. "Why did you come with us?" I asked her.

"The stars, I told you that already."

"But truthfully, what was the real reason?" I persisted.

She looked down and lifted her gloves over her eyes. "I was a mutt, okay? People are very against mutts."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Mutt? Having relations of any sorts with Vaba of other villages is strictly prohibited. And well... my parents were from different villages."

"Were?"

"They w-were killed by the villages." She started to whimper.

"I'm so sorry Lavilla. You've got us now." I pulled her close to me and hugged her.

"Thank you Brooke. We need to find Klisa now though. We can't just keep sitting around. It's time to take action." She wipes back her tears and picked herself up.