Creature of Creation

Part 1- Chapter Four - Home

Anpiel's frail arms wrapped around Clay's waist like a life raft as they bounced down the dirt road in the bed of Gabriel's pick-up. She faded in and out of consciousness. Clay's fingernails tore into the palm of her hands. The taste of copper filled her mouth. Her teeth had ground so hard together, she had bit into the side of her cheek.

We had to do this. There's no way I could have cared for her alone up there. 

 The truck drove them further away from the cover of the forest, and the ball of tension in her stomach tied into even more knots. When she first saw the two men in the clearing with Anpiel, she had been prepared to kill them, but when Anpiel's injuries became apparent, she thought better of it. Plus, people would notice them missing and she'd only draw in more attention. A murder case in the area would surely get the laboratory's attention. She rationalised that in the worst-case scenario, it wouldn't be hard for her to escape with Anpiel if she had to.

Soon the scenery changed from forest to pastures. They drove past fields of crops, cattle and sheep. She couldn't help it and stared with her mouth wide open. After the escape, they had been overwhelmed by the forest, but Clay had made do for the few weeks they'd been out there. She and Anpiel had come across a small hunting cabin where they had been able to hole up. After they ran out of the abandoned cans of food on the second day, they both foraged through the forest and camps for food scraps.

Though it had been nine years since Rachael had last taken her out, the woods had been at least semi-familiar to Clay. As they drove further away from the island, the change of scenery astounded her. She had only seen these crops, and animals from behind her television screen.

They slowed as they neared their destination. The front yard was overtaken by large oak trees. In the summer, the leaves would surely obscure the house from the road. The truck pulled down the long, winding driveway towards the small farmhouse. Some areas of the covered front porch sunk into the earth as the wood had begun to turn grey and sag into the dirt, while other sections were recently constructed and made of fresh, yellow pine. The second story only took up a small section of the top of the building. A little steel pipe chimney jutted out the top. When they got closer, a baby barn came into view accompanied by a paddock.

The property was surrounded on either side by wood lots, and a small forest further in the back. Clay's eyes darted around as she absorbed her surroundings. She noticed how large the backyard was, and could see what looked to be a chicken coop, a small pond, and a vegetable garden in the distance.

The truck stopped and Gabriel and Zach got out and came around to the back to speak to them.

"You guys stay there, I'm going to go on inside and give Sam a heads up," said Gabriel.

Gabriel disappeared into the house. Clay grasped at her thoughts. They raced through her mind, and she struggled to hold on to them.

What am I supposed to tell them? How can I explain about us without giving ourselves away?

During the 'real world' role-plays they drilled her with back at the lab, she was clearly instructed never to tell the truth about where she came from. When the time came for her to enter the wide world, they would give her careful instruction on what to say.

Now she was lost. The mock conversations she had with the orderlies, and often Smith himself, eluded her, and none of them came close to touching on this situation. 

Her finger stung. She looked down to see she had absent-mindedly ripped most of the hangnail away from her thumb.

Zach peered up at them from the side of the truck bed. "How's she holding up?" he asked.