Chapter 9
We awoke the next morning to the sounds of gunfire. They echoed, but they were a little too close for comfort. Kybe quickly rose to his feet, forgetting about the pain that was in his side.
"We have to go, they are getting close." he said, heading for the door.
"How do you know it's them? What if it just a different group?" I asked. He looked at me with a stern face before speaking.
"I could never forget their scent. Come, lets go. If we keep going west, we might be able to stay out of their search zone for a while." I stood and walked to him slowly as he looked out of the broken window.
"How do you know so much about them. I thought we were going to go where I thought was best, but I think you have been leading me this whole time. And what do you mean you can't forget their scent, have they been hunting you this whole time, or have you been leading them?" I did bombard him with questions, but I had so many of them, and I needed to know if I could trust him. Unfortunately, before he could say anything, an object was thrown into the room that we were in through the broken window. It began to disperse a white smoke. My head instantly felt lighter and heavier at the same time. I fell to my knees, then let the rest of my body collapse. From there, I did my best to fight the urge of sleep.
Kybe fell to the ground, unconscious. He must be weaker to the gas, considering his strong nose.
A large group of people rushed into the facility. They were all carrying either a rifle or a pistol in their hands. One of them came up and knelt in front of my face. Their gas masks hid their face well, so all I saw was my reflection.
"This one is still awake." they said. By the lightness of the voice, it was most likely a female. Another walked up to Kybe and nudged him with his foot.
"Subject 219 is down. Get this place clear and we'll head out." He had a deep voice, revealing that he was a male. The rest of the group spread throughout the building, calling out if the room they entered was clear. I began to lift my head off of the ground, but the female instantly aimed her rifle at me.
"Stay down, and no one gets hurt."
"What do you want with us?" I growled. She waited a moment before speaking.
"You will know soon enough." With that, the drug in the air finally took me over, letting me fall into a deep sleep.
When I awoke, I found myself to be sitting on the floor with chains on my wrists and ankles, holding me against the wall. My head felt heavy, and the room was cold. Large vertical bars were a few feet away from me, locking me from the outside. It took me a moment to realize that I had also been stripped down to my underwear.
"Where the hell am I?" I mumbled. It was then that I jumped when a face quickly turned to look at me. The body quickly followed with it. It was one of Kybe's kind as they hung off the wall, then jumped off to stare at me. Luckily, he was outside of the bars.
"I see they actually captured a human this time." he growled. His tail wagged slowly behind me as a curious expression grew upon his face. He sat on the ground like a dog with his claws in front of him as he tilted his head. I was able to get a good look at him since l he sat under a light.
His hair was silver, trimmed almost like Kybe's, but a little longer and messier. His eyes glowed a darker red, but they held no hunger for my flesh like the originals. His scales that covered the same amount of flesh as everyone else was a cleaner and brighter shade of black, glowing brightly under the light. But, unlike most of their kind, him and Kybe only had one tail, while the originals, had three.
"What are you doing here? Where am I?" I asked, lifted my head to get a better look at his face. He seemed younger than Kybe, but it was hard to tell since even the old ones had wrinkle free skin.
"I am a test subject, just like your little friend that you came with. Master was mad that 219 was disobeying his orders and trying to run away. He is being punished for his actions right now. For you, we are in a lab where they test on the immunes and my kind. You must be an immune, yes?" He looked at me as if I knew.
"An immune...immune to what?" I wondered. He frowned heavily and sighed before standing.
"So they did not tell you. It is not my place to tell you. The one who was with you must do that."
"Where is he, where is Kybe?"
"I will say that if you were to break out of those chains, he is at the end of this hall in the detention room. Who knows what punishment he is receiving. This is the first time he has disobeyed."
"Then why are you subjects here? Are they testing something on your kind?"
He turned his head to look down the hall, then back at me. He sat back down, but his face was closer to the bars than before.
"My kind are the vegetarians. I'm sure 219 has told you what that means to us. Because of this, we are also naturally friendly to our children. I hope he has told you about how humans were really created."
"He has,"
"Good, because to us, humans are our children. Now that does not mean we can't mate with them, since they are not genetically our family. Many of my kind have wandered onto this planet since the beginning to mark a mate and take them back with us. Unfortunately, it is like having a prostitute on your planet. It was illegal to come here at all. When the elders gave the order to kill the humans, we were all shocked, especially the vegetarians. We came here of our own intention to protect the humans. Kybe doesn't understand that though. He was the first to be captured by the humans and turned into a test subject. Of course, he let them capture him."
"Why did he do that?"
"He did this because vegetarians are not dangerous in nature unless we want to protect something. He must have naturally thought that if he cooperates, they would let him live and he could protect them. As for your question for the immunes, I cannot answer. But I will say that they have the power to protect their kind and to help rid of my kind and send them back. The humans want to be able to spread that power and make more immunes."
"So are you saying that I am one of them?"
"You could be, or you could also be a test subject to see if the scientists can successfully implant the immune into you. I do not have that kind of information."
"What is your name?"
He quickly stood up, being prepared to leave as the creak of an opening door roared through the echoing cells. Footsteps echoed after, but before he turned to leave, he spoke with confidence.
"Call me Scales,"