Post by acclue lockheart on Mar 2, 2008 23:24:00 GMT -5
Chapter II: Opportunity
As the door slammed behind the group as Tommy stepped in, the last alter in the line, the group's inherent silence slowly turned to an uneasy murmur. The container was split in half at the other end, and yet more soldiers stood with their guns trained on them. They were letting them congregate with each other, expecting the tortured souls to spend their last few moments saying their farewells to their brethren.
Tommy found no one familiar in this collection, and didn't care to make friends with people who would soon be dead. He couldn't speak to them anyway, his vocal chords had been mostly destroyed long ago, and the Pheder didn't care to fix them. He'd been more of a social outcast than an ordinary prisoner since then. He would just have to wait for the inevitable.
And it came. The ground shook as the guards stepped away from the broken end of the container. Everyone was prepared for what was coming, but some still cowered. The humans that were still in their right minds mostly stood in stoic patience. The ones who were not clawed at the back walls, and some tried to run out the broken end only to be intercepted by the soldiers' gunfire.
Tommy turned and noticed another child, what must have been a year younger at most, sitting down on all fours. She looked terribly different from an ordinary person, a feral as they called humans that had lost their capacity for complex thought. She had an absolutely animalistic appearance, resembling that of a wolf most everywhere on her body. Dog ears, a tail somewhat thicker than Tommy's, and matted fur covering her scarred body. She even looked like she acted like an animal the way she was sitting. What was odd wasn't this bizarre appearance, it was actually quite common for the time. What was odd was that she was just sitting there. The giant creature approaching was driving every feral human wild except for her. She just sat in place silently awaiting the end.
Tommy stared at the other human with a confused expression on his face. He expected the girl to go insane any moment, but she was still the whole time. He continued to watch expectantly until she turned to look back and Tommy pulled his eyes away, back to the opening in the container.
She looked down at the ground, her ears dropping in solemn strife.
A giant black mass standing on six needle-like legs fell in front of the container with an earth-shattering rumble that knocked most of the humans, including Tommy, off their feet. It's mandibles opened and it roared out a savage screech that was loud enough to put the remaining people to the floor, especially the ones with animal's ears. Tommy saw out of the corner of his eye that the little feral girl had rolled over onto her back and was holding onto the ends of her ears with her hands and pulling them down over her head in pain.
The creature shifted forward and slammed into the slotted end of the container, knocking everyone to the very back of the box. It fit right into the open end without leaving any open space, it's body folding over all of the edges. It trilled quietly as it's head moved, scanning all of the cowering people. One very brave feral rushed the thing, only to be intercepted by the queen's claw driving into it's chest and pinning it to the ceiling.
Tommy accidentally let out a small empathic cry as the body hit the floor, curled up in the air once, then fell limp. The queen turned its attention directly at him. Tommy backed up into the wall as fast as he could. It was his turn. The queen opened its great maw and something that resembled a giant snake crawled out, making a loud squelching noise as it slithered from its mouth. A row of meter-long crooked teeth tore through the end of the snake and opened up in front of Tommy, all making the same sickening sound of flesh ripping as they pulled apart. Tommy cringed as the extended mouth began to surround him. He had to turn his head from the rancid smell of the creature's hot breath. He could feel his life physically slipping away from him, and in his mind, he begged that the queen just get it over with.
A loud noise struck the opposite side of the wall behind the prisoners and the queen stopped. It stopped right in place, literally feet from being able to swallow Tommy whole. It retracted its mouth quickly and began to back up. It changed its mind for a moment and plunged both of its claws forward, one at Tommy, one completely at random. They struck a single other prisoner directly in the head, splattering it in a bloody mess through the back wall, leaving the body to fall limp where it stood. Tommy was struck right through the chest, opposite his heart, and was pinned to the wall.
Tommy breathed heavily, trying to stay conscious, and pushed against the claw in a futile attempt to free himself. The queen tilted its head again and released Tommy, finishing backing out of the container. It turned and charged off to the other end, where the disturbance was. There was a lot of noise behind them now, and the prisoners were confused, and felt relieved that they wouldn't have to endure the pain so soon. Tommy dropped to the floor, bleeding profusely from his massive wound. He quickly felt himself go limp, the pain halting as the queen's poison progressed through his body.
It took the prisoners a few moments to realize the opportunity that was just given to them. They began to step down through the opening cautiously looking around them, and soon, the people began to run out with excited shouts of freedom.
The little feral girl ran instead to Tommy. She stared down at him and Tommy tried to mouth the words “Help.” with the little movement he could still perform.
“Come on, he's dead!” a man grabbed the girl by the tail and dragged her away from Tommy.
She clawed at the ground and yelled back at the man “Let me go! He needs help!” Tommy was surprised to hear the girl talking. Usually by that point in a person's alteration, their vocal chords would be as bad as his.
The room was soon completely empty, save for Tommy, barely hanging onto life by his mantra. He could barely see anymore, but he was awake enough to see a battery of energy weapons discharging toward where the refugees had fled. In the middle of the barrage, Tommy's vision blurred further. He couldn't see that far anymore. The room quickly blended together and turned completely white. But Tommy was still alive through sheer force of will.
It was minutes before the sounds of the fighting ceased. Tommy persevered. As long as there was a chance to get out alive, he refused to die. Blind and paralyzed, he was more confused than ever, and his hope was slowly fading.
Footsteps. Someone was running toward him. They stopped right next to him. There were only slight shifts in movement over him for awhile, and then he was ecstatic to hear human voices, not translators.
“Damn. We're too late.” a male voice sighed, followed by a gun charging down, and footsteps going away.
Tommy made an effort to make any kind of noise and managed a slight moan.
“Wait, is that kid-”
“Who cares, Vega said no kids remember? Especially alters.”
“Yeah, but check his tag.”
There was a pause “What... the fuck?”
“Is that right?”
“... Take him. We gotta hurry.”
Tommy felt himself get picked up and he was being carried away. Silently, he thanked God for intervening.
“I don't have any antitoxin on me.”
“That's okay, just shoot him up and Vega'll take care of him, he doesn't need to move around.”
“Or see.”
“Right.”
Tommy didn't feel himself getting stabbed with the medical syringe, but it was enough to stop his bleeding.
He couldn't believe he had been saved so easily. And what did they mean by his 'tags'? The Pheder hadn't kept I.D. tags on humans for decades. He didn't care though. He was finally safe...
As the door slammed behind the group as Tommy stepped in, the last alter in the line, the group's inherent silence slowly turned to an uneasy murmur. The container was split in half at the other end, and yet more soldiers stood with their guns trained on them. They were letting them congregate with each other, expecting the tortured souls to spend their last few moments saying their farewells to their brethren.
Tommy found no one familiar in this collection, and didn't care to make friends with people who would soon be dead. He couldn't speak to them anyway, his vocal chords had been mostly destroyed long ago, and the Pheder didn't care to fix them. He'd been more of a social outcast than an ordinary prisoner since then. He would just have to wait for the inevitable.
And it came. The ground shook as the guards stepped away from the broken end of the container. Everyone was prepared for what was coming, but some still cowered. The humans that were still in their right minds mostly stood in stoic patience. The ones who were not clawed at the back walls, and some tried to run out the broken end only to be intercepted by the soldiers' gunfire.
Tommy turned and noticed another child, what must have been a year younger at most, sitting down on all fours. She looked terribly different from an ordinary person, a feral as they called humans that had lost their capacity for complex thought. She had an absolutely animalistic appearance, resembling that of a wolf most everywhere on her body. Dog ears, a tail somewhat thicker than Tommy's, and matted fur covering her scarred body. She even looked like she acted like an animal the way she was sitting. What was odd wasn't this bizarre appearance, it was actually quite common for the time. What was odd was that she was just sitting there. The giant creature approaching was driving every feral human wild except for her. She just sat in place silently awaiting the end.
Tommy stared at the other human with a confused expression on his face. He expected the girl to go insane any moment, but she was still the whole time. He continued to watch expectantly until she turned to look back and Tommy pulled his eyes away, back to the opening in the container.
She looked down at the ground, her ears dropping in solemn strife.
A giant black mass standing on six needle-like legs fell in front of the container with an earth-shattering rumble that knocked most of the humans, including Tommy, off their feet. It's mandibles opened and it roared out a savage screech that was loud enough to put the remaining people to the floor, especially the ones with animal's ears. Tommy saw out of the corner of his eye that the little feral girl had rolled over onto her back and was holding onto the ends of her ears with her hands and pulling them down over her head in pain.
The creature shifted forward and slammed into the slotted end of the container, knocking everyone to the very back of the box. It fit right into the open end without leaving any open space, it's body folding over all of the edges. It trilled quietly as it's head moved, scanning all of the cowering people. One very brave feral rushed the thing, only to be intercepted by the queen's claw driving into it's chest and pinning it to the ceiling.
Tommy accidentally let out a small empathic cry as the body hit the floor, curled up in the air once, then fell limp. The queen turned its attention directly at him. Tommy backed up into the wall as fast as he could. It was his turn. The queen opened its great maw and something that resembled a giant snake crawled out, making a loud squelching noise as it slithered from its mouth. A row of meter-long crooked teeth tore through the end of the snake and opened up in front of Tommy, all making the same sickening sound of flesh ripping as they pulled apart. Tommy cringed as the extended mouth began to surround him. He had to turn his head from the rancid smell of the creature's hot breath. He could feel his life physically slipping away from him, and in his mind, he begged that the queen just get it over with.
A loud noise struck the opposite side of the wall behind the prisoners and the queen stopped. It stopped right in place, literally feet from being able to swallow Tommy whole. It retracted its mouth quickly and began to back up. It changed its mind for a moment and plunged both of its claws forward, one at Tommy, one completely at random. They struck a single other prisoner directly in the head, splattering it in a bloody mess through the back wall, leaving the body to fall limp where it stood. Tommy was struck right through the chest, opposite his heart, and was pinned to the wall.
Tommy breathed heavily, trying to stay conscious, and pushed against the claw in a futile attempt to free himself. The queen tilted its head again and released Tommy, finishing backing out of the container. It turned and charged off to the other end, where the disturbance was. There was a lot of noise behind them now, and the prisoners were confused, and felt relieved that they wouldn't have to endure the pain so soon. Tommy dropped to the floor, bleeding profusely from his massive wound. He quickly felt himself go limp, the pain halting as the queen's poison progressed through his body.
It took the prisoners a few moments to realize the opportunity that was just given to them. They began to step down through the opening cautiously looking around them, and soon, the people began to run out with excited shouts of freedom.
The little feral girl ran instead to Tommy. She stared down at him and Tommy tried to mouth the words “Help.” with the little movement he could still perform.
“Come on, he's dead!” a man grabbed the girl by the tail and dragged her away from Tommy.
She clawed at the ground and yelled back at the man “Let me go! He needs help!” Tommy was surprised to hear the girl talking. Usually by that point in a person's alteration, their vocal chords would be as bad as his.
The room was soon completely empty, save for Tommy, barely hanging onto life by his mantra. He could barely see anymore, but he was awake enough to see a battery of energy weapons discharging toward where the refugees had fled. In the middle of the barrage, Tommy's vision blurred further. He couldn't see that far anymore. The room quickly blended together and turned completely white. But Tommy was still alive through sheer force of will.
It was minutes before the sounds of the fighting ceased. Tommy persevered. As long as there was a chance to get out alive, he refused to die. Blind and paralyzed, he was more confused than ever, and his hope was slowly fading.
Footsteps. Someone was running toward him. They stopped right next to him. There were only slight shifts in movement over him for awhile, and then he was ecstatic to hear human voices, not translators.
“Damn. We're too late.” a male voice sighed, followed by a gun charging down, and footsteps going away.
Tommy made an effort to make any kind of noise and managed a slight moan.
“Wait, is that kid-”
“Who cares, Vega said no kids remember? Especially alters.”
“Yeah, but check his tag.”
There was a pause “What... the fuck?”
“Is that right?”
“... Take him. We gotta hurry.”
Tommy felt himself get picked up and he was being carried away. Silently, he thanked God for intervening.
“I don't have any antitoxin on me.”
“That's okay, just shoot him up and Vega'll take care of him, he doesn't need to move around.”
“Or see.”
“Right.”
Tommy didn't feel himself getting stabbed with the medical syringe, but it was enough to stop his bleeding.
He couldn't believe he had been saved so easily. And what did they mean by his 'tags'? The Pheder hadn't kept I.D. tags on humans for decades. He didn't care though. He was finally safe...
