We left for the abandoned city, it would be perhaps a day of travel, but since we had left in the afternoon, we would have to sleep in the middle of the woods.
I really cared about getting to the capital and stopping the creation of that weapon that could destroy us too. They wouldn't listen to me if I told them over the phone, but an agreement could be reached if I could convince them that not all the EH were the same.
Also, I was surprised that the government had not tried anything like that. Maybe they were hiding something, which wouldn't surprise me. In the Asian continent, they didn't have these problems; Japanese people even treated them right for looking like a 'yokai' or some gods or demons from their ancient culture. That fascinated me since they kind of described them way ago without knowing them yet.
The forest was full of life. For the most part, that life fled upon realizing the presence of the skillful predator that was with me. Soon the night began, so I laid out a bedsheet in the overgrown grass and lay down; Anthony sat at the foot of a tree near me.
"Won't you sleep?" I wanted to know.
"No, I'd rather be alert," he said as he looked around.
I felt sorry. He flexed his legs, rested his forearms on his knees, and looked in another direction, and I could see how his eyes reflected the moonlight. I turned around, settling on my side to look at him so I could open my eyes and see how he was doing. He turned to look at me and smiled barely.
I was dying to know what was going through his mind...
***
Anthony was watching a small deer that was down the hill. We were nearby the edge of a short canyon, maybe five feet high. It was not much. After it, there was a hillside.
The deer were grazing in the valley. I knew he would hunt him down. Anthony had his eyes entirely focused, preparing every muscle to shoot off, starting to let out a very, very low growl.
"Hunting?" I asked, and he gave a short sound of surprise.
The deer looked up and ran away. Oh...
"Marien." He looked at me, completely intrigued.
I covered my mouth and smiled sheepishly.
"Sorry! Didn't you know I was next to you?"
"I was concentrated and facing the wind, so it doesn't take my aroma to the animals."
"Oooh... Come on. We don't need such a large animal anyway. Remember, I have plenty of food and meat in my backpack."
He sighed resignedly, and I smiled at that. He was another masterpiece of nature. We heated the food, and after a few minutes, breakfast was ready.
"Who taught you to hunt?" I wanted to know.
"My mom."
"Wow. Is she as good as you?"
"It may be said. She is a hunter. We rarely hunt in our town since the hunter's caste does it, but it's like a simple extra knowledge for the rest of us. Anyways, something calls me to do it. We have it in our genes, I guess."
"What's your mom's name?"
"Enif."
"Oh... it's the name of a star."
"Yes, it is." He offered me a sweet smile.
After breakfast, we keep everything and get ready to continue. The day was wonderful; the weather here was always perfect, it could get freezing, but we were not in Winter yet. Centuries ago, this area was said to have been very hot.
I walked, enjoying the field. It was so new to me, and he let me admire everything I could. I looked at a beautiful yellow butterfly, then Anthony smiled at me and pointed to the tree branch. There was a huge banana spider, about four inches long, suspended in its very well-structured web. I was horrified, and Anthony laughed. In the end, I also ended up laughing at myself.
He brought me out of my slight laugh by handing me a flower. It seemed the Crapemyrtle's pink flower, a local tree. I smiled as the blush washed over my face.
Around noon we could see the ancient city ruins.
He started looking confused, and I also felt the same when finding some houses not far from us. There was some movement.
"What? I thought it was uninhabited. I thought... Is it some EH's settlement?"
"No," he replied. "They are human."
I was surprised. I didn't know the stories of small towns in the middle of nowhere were true. It was strange that the EH wouldn't have attacked them or something. We continued walking until we arrived.
"It would be better if you put your sunglasses on," I commented.
"I detect the EH's aroma. They have been here," he said, confused.
People were watching us, some from the shadow of their house's porch, others from the sidewalk. Children stopped kicking a ball to look at us but soon returned to what they were doing as if Anthony were just another human.
The town had a touch of antiquity, an old Texas-style, as the time didn't pass by, like something from a 21st-century history book. There was a small car, a relic still running on organic fuel. We stood outside what appeared to be a restaurant.
"Would you like to eat something?" asked a lady in simple field clothes near the door.
"Uh, yes, please," I replied.
"Come in."
I started to follow her, but I felt Anthony put the backpack on the ground, so I turned to look at him, and he was already a few steps away from me, staring at a chicken.
"No!" I screamed as he shot out after the bird. "Anthony!" I covered my mouth.
The bird ran as fast as its legs allowed and leaped, being caught in the air by Anthony. He fell and dragged a couple of feet on the ground, laughing and holding the bird in his arms.
"It's ok," said the lady casually. "The EH love to chase birds, but they don't hurt them, at least not here. We are used to them, and they come from time to time. They don't leave their towns very often, you know? And it's dangerous for us to go there."
I looked at Anthony, who had released the chicken while still laughing on the floor. I sighed—his laugh so beautiful, musical, and manly. I approached him before starting to look dumb and entirely in love.
"So, you like chasing birds and chickens, huh?" I said sweetly. He smiled with closed lips and stood up. "Come on. The lady sells food. I think I've seen milk," I commented tentatively.
He followed me, and we got in and sat down. The place was nice—wooden furniture, which was hardly ever seen except in our old laboratory. There was a ceiling fan that cooled the place. We would have lunch there, and I also bought milk.
"Are you headed somewhere?" asked the lady.
"To the capital," I replied.
"Oh. Will he be safe there?" she muttered, referring to Anthony.
I was confused. The word safe sounded very different to me as if we were the dangerous ones for them.
"Yes, well... he's with me. I won't let them hurt him. Also, it's the capital. What could happen?"
"I don't know; sometimes we hear stories," she said.
"Stories?" Anthony asked.
"Stories about alleged places where they have the evolved people as prisoners and experiment with them, torture them, or use them for training soldiers, experimenting with techniques to kill them. Lots of things," said the woman.
I frowned. There were supposed to be organizations that kept them from being touched because they were human also, but that would explain their reluctant attitude towards us. I tried the food, and suddenly Anthony started growling, scaring me. The woman looked at him expectantly but confused at the same time.
"Anthony," I whispered, but soon I began to feel heavy and anxious.
"I see," the woman murmured. "You have been with humans, and now you know how to differentiate their food's aroma, unlike other EH who come here."
He began to growl louder, standing up suddenly and scaring the woman now. She didn't expect all this. I tried to stand up too when men in helmets and uniforms entered and aimed guns at him.
I was distressed and urged to get up.
"Anthony...!" But I fell.
My vision blurred. I could only hear him still growling.
"Sleep," said the woman. "I have to thank you for this. He hasn't tried the drug, he's astute, but that won't prevent them from taking him away. They'll give me a very good reward for a strong, young, evolved man. I haven't seen one in my whole life; they don't show up like that."
No, Anthony...
"Run. Run...!" I managed to murmur barely, but my eyes closed.
The anguish devoured me. It was a vast country. If they took him away, I would never be able to find him. It had all been a trap. They knew well how to lure evolved people. They were going to experiment with him, torture him. They were going to kill him.
No... Please don't take him...
"Marien, my dear," murmured a voice. My mom... "You're going to be late for your classes."
"M-mom."
"You said you would be better than me, so I'm going to help you. Get up now."
Anthony...
I opened my eyes; my hand reached for the backpack, but my vision was still blurred. I fumbled for my aunt's pills and swallowed one as best I could. I tried to breathe faster. I put my hands against the floor to get up, and never something so simple had been the most challenging thing I had to do. My body weighed like lead.
I heard grunting.
Anthony!
I looked up and found the men still threatening him with weapons, slowly approaching him. To my great relief, I hadn't closed my eyes for a long time. The adrenaline shot up, and I could stand up, walk and almost run, putting myself between them and extending my arms.
I was breathing hard.
"You won't take him," I challenged as I could.
"Marien," Anthony whispered.
I was sweating cold because of the chemicals in my body, but I started to feel better. There was a guy in a suit that looked elegant but simultaneously for combat, like the ones the government's people were wearing, no doubt, and the other three men in helmets and uniforms like those of the Security Guard. I assumed the elegant one was commanding that little squad.
"He's not drugged, so we'll take him dead or alive for studies," the strange man said. "Move."
I flatly denied it. My body was still shaking.
"I already said I wouldn't let you do anything to him, so I'm not moving."
He took a small rectangular object from his pocket and pressed a button. The other three men put away their weapons, stepped forward, and removed their helmets.
I opened my eyes wide to see they were EH, mature, big, and strong. They had a kind of chip stuck in the right temple. It was something that, at first glance, was not noticeable, or maybe it just seemed to me.
They began to growl, and I panicked. Anthony was not going to make it against the three of them. It was the end. I felt my blood pressure lowering. How come the government had evolved men on its side?
One rushed towards me, and I expected at least a quick death, but all I felt was a push. Anthony had pushed me and received the bite, hitting the evolved while the other two men bit him as well. I had to endure the anguish and run away from there to not complicate things for him.
"A weapon! DOES ANYONE HAVE A WEAPON?!" I screeched as I ran.
I heard the roars and looked over my shoulder. They were between struggles, blows, claws, and bites. Anthony kicked the one in front of him with full force, freed his arm from the one that bit him, not caring that this ripped off some flesh, and hit, but the other two were already on him again, biting him more.
I covered my mouth full of horror. They would tear him to pieces. It was as horrible as seeing a bunch of dogs ripping each other apart; pretty much that's what was happening.
The man watched all a few feet outside the restaurant, showing impatience, so I ran. An old lady came out of an alley and gave me a shovel. I received it on the fly and kept running, going around the block and running to the man who now had his back to me. I didn't stop to think and accelerated. The man turned around but couldn't do anything because I hit him with all my strength. He fell, and I fell to my knees.
I brushed aside the pain from the scrape with the asphalt and stood up like a bullet. I hit the man again and got on him, pressing his shoulders to the ground with my knees, trying to get the rectangular device out of his pocket. The man tugged at my hair, making me scream, and I pressed his neck with the shovel handle.
He grabbed my neck, pressing hard, and I grabbed his wrist, digging my nails into his skin. I moved my other hand quickly and managed to remove the device from his pocket. At that time, one EH hit me, and I grazed against the asphalt. The evolved man pounced on me, but Anthony rammed him.
They rolled further, attacking each other full of rage. I looked for the device I lost after the onslaught, exasperated because the others were already on Anthony again. I found it, but the man grabbed me from behind, catching my neck and making me scream. I couldn't free myself. I kicked, I scratched him, I did everything.
Anthony lunged at the man, not caring about having one of the evolved on him, biting his shoulder, and I was caught up in the fight. Wild pushes and growls came from everywhere. Anthony managed to push me out, and I screamed when I saw the man fall beside me with his skull dented.
The EH continued with their butchery, so I located the rectangular device and held it. My hands trembled as I tried to find the button among the blood, and the tears wouldn't let me focus anymore either. I let out a groan of frustration, managed to pick the black one, and pressed it.
The grunting stopped except for one.
Anthony snarled wildly as the others began to realize their hands and mouths were covered in blood. They were very injured, but Anthony...
"Anthony!" I called him, anguished.
He kept threatening them with his fierce gaze, took a step back, and his growl broke. I heard the dull thump of his body on the ground, and my breathing stopped.
The three EH looked at him as if they didn't know what they had done. I ran to them, shoved one of them away, and fell to my knees next to Anthony and the pool of blood. Tears began to rush from my eyes.
"No... Please don't..." I sobbed.
*******
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