(R)Evolution ~ Book 2 (Watty Awards Round 2 Finalist)

25) Into the darkness and out into Light

I knew by now that the Draconians would be aware of our escape, so we pushed onwards that bit much faster. It was with thankfulness I used my increased stamina to mover ever quickly, pulling Elvira along with me. She still wasn't fully recovered but she was keeping up with the pace.

The caverns were much steeper here, and large stalagmites jutted out from the cave floor, water dribbled down the walls. The air was much colder and less fresh, another sign that we were travelling deeper. The only light visible, was the light we left behind us. But with our night vision it wasn't much of a problem.

Lucas approached me, "There's something ahead, it smells rotten. Decayed flesh" he told me as I looked at him. "Be on guard. Take the Scouts with you and report back quickly" He nodded and jogged away from the group as four other hybrids joined him. He was back surprisingly quickly, but there was clear disgust on his face. "Reeve, you need to see this". I left Elvira in the care of Lolita and Amy and followed Lucas down the cavern corridor.

The stench was strong and made my stomach roll. I peered into what looked like a small room hewn out of rock. Glass tubes, were attached along the walls, with wires crisscrossing and attaching to what looked like small glass jars. As I walked closer, I realised the glass jars contained embryos, all in different development stages. It hit me like a brick, this was how we were created. Half formed, we were impregnated into a human womb. Revulsion ran through me, I don't know if I could ever truly accept the way I was created.

But the smell wasn't coming from the jars, further along, hidden behind various equipment were four beds. All of them held a body. Two were human females and the other two were hybrids, their faces twisted in fear and pain at their time of death. As I inspected their bodies, the blood stained covers, gave a hint as to how they died. Each female had their legs spread and the blood had originated from their pubis area. One female, had been brutally ripped open by something. The others seemed to have just bled out.

I looked at Rufus, fear dancing along my spine. "Did they do this?",

He shrugged "I don't know. Usually birthing isn't like this. The Draconians value the females who carry a child to full term. Usually, they're kept as breeders".

"So what in the hell happened here?"

"Reve, they're dead. We can't do anything for them. But we need to get the others out of here". He gently pulled me away. But I stopped, a slightly larger glass Jar caught my eye. It was similar to the others, but this embryo was different. As I looked closer, I could see it skin was a dull grey, and wasn't fully formed. But there was no mistaking two large eyes and wicked teeth. It was obviously a hybrid but it made an alarm bell ring in my head. Something was off here. It didn't make much sense.

I filed it away, as Lucas pulled me away as we rejoined the group and carried on our journey.

Days passed with not much difference. We trekked on through the many caverns, and took short breaks. Only sleeping for a few hours at a time, we were close to freedom, everyone could feel it. But no one expected a pool of water to be our exit.

It was quite beautiful. A waterfall cascaded into a black pool of water creating a shimmering effect on the waters surface. I headed in, the water was frighteningly cold. And within minutes my teeth were chattering in my head. I dove under the water, seeing how it wasn't too deep, I swam under the waterfall and found an opening. The water was very salty and I saw a hint of light. Pushing myself forward I swam towards the light and ended up in bright light. I swam to the surface, grateful for the fresh air as I gulped it in greedily and slowly blinked my eyes, trying to get used to the sudden light.

Slowly my eyes adjusted and the screech of sea birds assaulted my ears. I was in a cove, and to the left of me was a beach. My heart swelled with joy. Out, I was out!! I took another deep breathe and swam back the way we had come, as I went to tell the others of what I'd found. I was barely in time as my head broke the surface of the pool. I saw that Draconians had begun to advance on my hybrids, and they weren't even aware of it.

I screamed at them, to jump in and swim. Not one of them hesitated and it was that, that saved them from being captured. I quickly turned around and lead the way, before long we all had reached the cove. Adrenaline hit and we all scrambled to the beach, Lucas did a quick head count and seemingly satisfied began to jog on ahead. We followed him, we couldn't stop. I had no idea if they would follow us through the water or not, but I wasn't about to stay behind to find out.

We ran along the beach and headed on through what appeared to be sandy dunes. The run along the sand had begun to sap my energy. We needed to put as much distance between us and them before we could find a place to hide.

I noticed a few others had begun to lag behind, I shouted for Lucas.

"We need to hide somewhere. To many are falling behind"

Lucas motioned with his hand, but he slowed his pace as we followed his lead. We must have been running flat out for twenty minutes until I realised where it was he was taking us. Up ahead was a harbour, a few boats were tethered and bobbing along merrily on the waves. As we neared the smell of fish was overpowering, he ushered us inside a warehouse used to pack the fish, that the fisherman had caught. It was a brilliant idea. The powerful smell of fish would cover our own scents.

Each and every one of us collapsed in exhaustion. Lolita had found some sacks and we all huddled together as a group for body warmth, covering ourselves with the empty sacks. Some fell asleep, others like myself fought against it and listened for any oncoming footsteps.