Your Eyes

Sixteen

Mina was tired; when the colonel and a handful of soldiers moved out yesterday morning, she was dragged out of bed and shoved into the back of a small truck with a couple apes without a word from any of the soldiers or her father. They cuddled for warmth once they hit the mountains and when they arrived at the base, mina instantly regretted her choice of clothing. She wore nothing more than a thin coat and some torn up army pants she made into shorts. Thankfully, the colonel dressed her in warmer clothing when he brought her up to the base in the mountainside, which surprised her but she took them and quickly got to work with the others.

One day as she was moving supplies to the cages, the colonel called for her. She walked in his office and sat down as he finished shaving his head. She was looking around when she noticed a metal frame near his cot. Confused, she got up and picked up the picture. It was the same woman from the locket she had, her mother. But the man was different; it was him. Next weird thing was a boy beside them. she cocked her head at the somber look the boy had on his face.

"I see you found the proof." He says behind her. She turned to him confused and he sighed.

"Have a seat." He says. She sits with the picture in her hands.

"Look sweetie, I know I been hard on you. But there's nowhere you can go now; too far to go back and too cold to try. You wouldn't survive the night." He says sitting in front of her.

'why do you have this picture?' she lifts up the frame. He sighs through his nose and takes the frame, shaking his head as he stared at it.

"I loved your mother. And your brother, but the simian flu got to her and she died. He survived it but the virus began to evolve. It was still in his system, so he succumbed to it. It was like a switched turned off on his head. He stopped speaking. Blood coming from his nose..." he says standing and pacing. Then he stopped, staring down at her.

"He became primitive. Like an animal." He finished.

'why are you telling me this?' she asks.

"I know what you think of me. I'm a bad man who took you from a loving home. But that's not it." He knelt in front of Mina and put his hands on her knees, making her tense.

"I want to protect you. You are the only thing I have left in this world." He says, his hand grazing across her cheek. She frowned in confusion; was she wrong to think he was the bad guy? Was he really trying to protect her?

"Look, I know I took you from them but its only to keep you safe. The virus could get to you, make you like them. an animal; a mindless beast. It broke my heart having to shoot my son. I won't do the same to you, not if I can help it." He says standing and patting her shoulder and moving to the empty cot, throwing a blanket on it and fluffing a pillow.

"Here, stay here out of the cold." He says motioning to the bed.

'why? Why be nice to me now?' she signed, but he ignored her, patting the dust off the blanket and moving around her to finish his work.

He sat down on the table and waited for the soldiers to arrive tomorrow morning. Mina wordlessly stood, slowly making her way to the bed and sighing, slipping in the blanket. The bed was rough and bumpy, but it was better than the floor. Although the apes provided warmth and softness as they cuddled around each other to keep warm. She almost missed being with them, but her tired eyes drooped and soon, she was asleep before she knew it.

That next morning, the soldiers woke Mina with their horrid shouting their march. She rolled her eyes as she stood, stretching out the kinks in her back before moving to the window. Her father was standing by the balcony, smiling as he stared down at the soldiers. When he heard footsteps, he turned and smiled over at her.