We Are the Snakes Hidden Among the Clovers (A Project 863 Fanstory)

Chapter 2: The Underestimated

     "I can't—"

     "Tell me, damn it!" the other man screamed, slamming his fist onto the table behind him, "do you want blood on your hands?!"

     This startled Avery. He hadn't heard Daniel say something like that before, and he was unsure as to how to respond.

     Before he could though, the door to the room was opened. Together he and Daniel looked in its direction as three men dressed in strangely black laboratory coats, paper masks covering half of their faces.

     "Oh, no no no..." he heard Daniel whisper under his breath, the man taking a slight step back as the lead stranger approached him.

     "Daniel Delmarz?" the person asked, eyeing him coldly.

     "Can't you see that I am busy right now?" Daniel huffed as he gestured toward the mess around him.

     "Come with us, Dr. Syphus wants you to begin working in a different location."

     "No!" Daniel screamed, backing up against a table, "I have important work here! You can't just drag me away from it!"

     "Dr. Syphus will find a replacement," the other man said calmly. Avery had a feeling that he had done this many times, and that he had gotten the same reaction.

     "I'm not leaving! I know my rights, you can't do this to me!"

     "You signed those away when you agreed to work here," the man then motioned to his companions with a sigh, "grab him."

     "NO! You can't DO THIS!" Daniel howled as the other two strangers grabbed hold of his arms.

     "I suggest you come quietly, lest you want to be punished for your further incorporation."

     "I DON'T CARE!" Daniel screamed as he struggled against his captors, "I know I'm already dead!"

     "Who's to say you are?"

     This was met by a hard glare from Daniel, but instead of engaging further with the stranger, the captive man turned his head toward Avery. Daniel's eyes were soft, vulnerable even, as they locked with his own. It was jarring just how different they were from just a moment before.

     With them Daniel begged, "Please, Avery, tell them... tell them I'm needed here," his voice cracked as his eyes began to water, "p-please. I don't want to die..."

     "I-," Avery started, but an unconscious part of him made his mind respond by tightening his throat, catching him off guard. In the end, all he could do was shake his head with a helpless look.

     Daniel's eyes widened, his breathing becoming heavy as he whispered, "Avery..."

     "Start taking him to his new workspace," the stranger said to his companions, glancing at Daniel as he said, "Dr. Syphus is expecting him soon."

     "Avery!" Daniel repeated, squirming as the men pushed him toward the door like a dog being taken to the back room, "Tell them! Avery, Avery!"

     As he was escorted into the hallway he turned his attention to his captors and screamed, "No! Let me go! Hey, listen to me, damn it! I said: LET ME—"

     He was suddenly cut short. Avery started forward to see what had happened, but the man who had stayed behind stopped him by demanding, "What were you doing here?"

     A nervous sweat broke on Avery's brow as he opened and closed his mouth, stuttering, "I was, uh—"

     "He's with me," a dreadfully familiar, raspy voice hissed.