Predator Code (Tales from Wildhearth #1)

Chapter 31 - Euphemisms Get People Killed

Gallant straightened up, casting a wary glance around her at the sea of staring eyes. Although questions were churning up in her mind, Jett tried to contain herself, seeing the obvious fear in the deerkin's eyes. Clearly, public speaking and underground criminal gangs didn't often factor into this individual's life. She seemed a little shell-shocked at being the centre of attention. She swallowed; glanced around.

"While we're young, antlers," Rapid growled, snapping his claws at her. "Nobody here's gonna hurt you—just out with it."

Fire flared in the deerkin's eyes as she shot Rapid a black look before turning back to Jett and the others. When she spoke, her voice was soft, deeper than Jett expected and mellow like honey.

"I'm from Helsfur District," she began, her apprehension clear. Jett doubted it had been entirely her choice to come to Rapid's little slice of the city. "At least, I was."

"Found her in the district next door," Rapid interjected. "Almachora."

Gallant nodded. "I was there when the wolfkin moved in. They claimed there was some kind of contamination in the Helsfur water supply, a chemical spill that, if untreated, could kill lots of us. We needed—they said—to be moved out to one of their specialist testing hubs. They told us that once we were tested and cleared, we would be relocated. About two months ago, the orders came through our district, letting us know it was coming. We had a week."

"A week?" Jett said quietly. "That's all the time you got?"

"Yup. One week to pack up a life. They talked a big game too, you know. Even had our local Conclave designate show up to do the rounds, checking on everyone, making sure we were prepared and had everything we needed. He made a lot of promises that day." A flicker of sadness crossed her face, and Jett saw the swift blinking away of tears. "I think he actually believed them too."

"And...was there anything in the water?" Bronco asked.

"They provided all the documentation to prove it to the local authorities, but I tested it myself." Gallant shrugged. "I couldn't find anything like what they described. Maybe I missed something—I'm not a scientist—but it all stank to me. It didn't make sense."

"There was never any contaminant; I'll tell you that for free." Karno snorted. "If I were trying to clear out a lot of people, that's the lie I'd use. Did they tell you where you were being moved to?"

"Oh yes." Her face turned from sadness to anger in a flash. "Belforra first, to be tested for our own safety. Then a new district for us, rebuilt to the highest specifications, an old district made new—us part of the lucky few who got to start fresh there." Acid filled her words as she spoke, weeks of pent-up anger beginning to bubble over in a way Jett could thoroughly sympathise with. "They sure know how to shovel their slurry, I'll give them that, but not everyone's so easily seduced. A lot of my friends lived in Helsfur for generations—they weren't about to uproot themselves with the twist of a tail. Neither was I.

"We tried to go through our designate, tried to speak to the local guard pack. We put up signs and started petitions for the Conclave council, but it never made a blind bit of difference. Those documents never made it to the government. How could they? The enforcers had their claws in every piece of this; they blocked anything official from ever reaching the ears of someone who might do something about it."

"Pretty slick, eh?" Rapid muttered, folding his arms and lounging against the nearby table.

"That's one word for it. So the day rolled round, and in came the enforcers. You might have guessed that not everyone went willingly, but that didn't matter to them. Anyone who was ready and waiting got herded to the tram carriers. Anyone else got dragged out of their homes. They were methodical, just went house by house sniffing out anyone and everyone. If anyone resisted, they drugged them up and took them by force." She seemed to hug herself, forepaws sliding up around her upper arms at the memories. "I watched them kick down doors and rip open burrows to get at anyone they hadn't accounted for. It was..." Gallant shook her head. "It wasn't business as usual, that's for damn sure."