What's Beneath the Scales

Ch. 5 Lunch Break

Chapter five.

Day 9 (noon) 

After a bit of searching around the huge room we found the kitchen. The only way I could describe it is that it looked like someone had cut the ideal country home kitchen straight from a Home & Garden magazine and stuck it right there on the concrete floor. I think the feeling the designers were trying to get across was 'warm and homey' but here it just felt eerie and misplaced with how the linoleum floor just stopped in a neat square. But hunger is relentless so we went over and looked to see what was edible. 

After making a few ham sandwiches we sat down at the wood table and ate. There was a somewhat of a tense silence as we chewed. I think no one was sure what to say so I decided to pop up and say. 

"Hey do we have any mayo?" 

Sasha rolled her eyes but shook her head.  

I just shrugged and asked. "Well then what's the plan for today?" 

Collin cleared his throat, put down what was left of his sandwich, and looked at each of us a moment before saying. "Well first I should tell you something the doctor probably forgot to tell you. There are two stages to your transformation... The best way to phrase it is that when you are first injected your body stops fighting the change. The next stage is when your body accepts and embraces it. And that means that after the usual traits your body mutates further." 

Martin gasped and got this big eyed look when he said. "Does that mean Sasha is gonna be like the X-men?!" 

Collin smiled sadly and told him. "Sort of... what this mutation is varies but it's never something outlandish like the X-men. The men that had the anaconda DNA one had scales that were so smooth they were frictionless and the last one could change the color of his scales with a thought." He turned to Sasha and said. "The was only one person before you with the tiger DNA and his trait was that he had a nasty poison on his claws so I'm not sure what yours could be." He took a few more bites of his lunch and continued. "The other thing we need to work out is a training regiment and your individual fighting styles. Originally Seth was to be trained as a sentry and Sasha as a scout or tracker and that's what I'll do but I'm gonna add some guerrilla warfare stuff so you can fight whenever and wherever you need... now that I think about it, you're gonna need some training too Martin." 

"I will not let my brother trained to be a killer!" Sasha bolted out. 

Collin turned to the glaring Sasha and calmly said. "I never said he would. The training I'm talking about is how to run and get away from trackers and to escape a fight unharmed... you do want your brother to be fine when the fighting inevitably breaks out right?" 

She just sank back into her chair and mumbled. "Fine." 

I just looked between them and decided to break the tense atmosphere by saying. "Well then let's get to it. We know what to look forward to and what we're gonna do next so what are we waiting for?" 

Collin just shook his head and chuckled and started walking back to the gym, Martin looked between the three of us and then ran after Collin. Sasha slowly got out of her chair and just as I was about to start walking she said. "Did the doctor fiddle with your head too?" 

I turned back around and looked at her blank face a moment while I tried to figure out what she meant before just releasing a confused "Huh?" 

She rolled her eyes and continued in a voice laced with disgust. "No one in their right mind would be this freaking perky if they were stuck like this." 

I look at her and just shrug and say. "Just because I cope with this whole thing differently than you doesn't mean I don't need to. The only way I have gotten through this is by not thinking about it, I just react on instinct. Otherwise I'd be a sobbing mass on the floor." 

She just stared wide eyed at me a sec then blurted out. "It shouldn't be possible to survive like that!" 

I just shrug at her statement and say. "And yet it does for me." And at that I walked back to the gym hoping to find something to distract myself from the depression that loomed over my shoulder.

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I didn't plan for this to be this short (or overdramatic at the end) but This chapter was more for me to get back into the habit of writing.