Lost in the World Part 2: meeting Lin
#3 of Lost in the World
Part Two: Meeting Lin
Randel must of cried for hours. He cried until it seemed he ran out of tears and then he only sat on the ground and looked at his feet. The alley was dark and the people that passed by couldn't see him. His dad had said something about avoiding people because they may be afraid of what he is. The thought of his dad made Randel sob, shedding what little tears he had. He didn't know what to do, his dad didn't tell him much and in this outside world he didn't have anyone, no friends, no one that he knew, nothing. Randel never felt so alone in his entire life and closed his eyes, trying to think of what to do next.
"Okay, Randel, think! What are you going to do?" He thought to himself, "You're pretty much stranded here. What did those survivor people do when they where stranded? Come on, They... found shelter! That's it! They found a place to stay or at least sleep. Now.. where are you going to stay?" Randel looked around the alley, hoping to find something that could help him think of a place. The alley was like a giant "T" and Randel sat in the middle of it. In front of him, people walked back and forth and cars drove this way and that. To his left, Randel could see a wall, showing a dead end. When Randel glanced to his right, he saw what must of been a park, He noticed that in that park was a run-down building that must of been a shack for the Greens Keeper. It looked like it hadn't been used in awhile so Randel decided that would be the best bet for now.
Sighing to himself, Randel got up from the spot and brushed off the back of his shorts, looking both ways near the mouth of the alley to make sure no one was there, he hurried out and into the park. Small light post, illuminated the sidewalks but the park seemed to be empty at the moment. The air was warm and Randel welcomed the wind that cooled his fur as he walked up to the shack. The entire shack was made out of wood and the faded red paint was peeled and chipped in places. The door seemed to barely hang on it's rusted hinges. Instead of a door knob a loose loop of rope hung between two nails. It wasn't much but it was better than a dirty alley so Randel slowly opened the door, hoping the squeek from the rusty hinges didn't draw to much attention and he slipped in when he had enough room, slowly closing it behind him. The inside of the shack was no better then the outside. Several gardening utensils hung by hooks on on wall, the dust and cobwebs showing their lack of use and on the opposite side, was a small dirty cot, the blanket was tattered and the pillow stained.
The floor creaked as Randel walked over to the hanging light and pulled a chain, the bulb flickered on and bathed the room in a dirty yellow. Randel sighed. "Home sweet home" he thought to himself. He yawned and layed down on the dirty cot, sneezing softly as puffs of dust came up from it. His stomach rumbed, it had been awhiel since he had eaten anything so he took off his backpack. Opening one of the small pockets, he brought out a chocolate bar. Taking off the wrapping and putting that in another pocket of his backpack for trash, Dad taught Randel to never litter. He ate the chocolate bar, turned off the light, and streached out on the cot, closing his eyes, he tried his best to get some rest.
"What do you mean he's not there!" Shouted George Stewart, head of the Proud Genetics Corporation. After Jason finished off the scientist, he went to grab some coffee and was called in by George to be debriefed.
"What I mean is that Subject 1 wasn't there. We searched the room and found a secret room under it's bed, we believe it escaped down there" Jason was calm, his face and voice showing no anger or emotion and his dark sun glasses hung from his shirt pocket, even though every time he talked to George he got the urge to hit him. George was a wealthy man, born from a wealthy family, he couldn't go poor even if he tried but he paid him so that helped. George was a fat man and his face was beaded with sweat.
"This is a huge problem. Jason, I'm assigning you to find, capture, and kill Subject 1. Do this and you will be paid greatly" Jason smiled, if anything made him show emotion it was money.
"How am I going to find the subject?" He asked, taking off the glasses and placing them on his face.
"That's simple enough, We put a tracking device in the subject when he was made-" George motioned towards a small device a table near the door. -"That device will help you find him in no time" Jason nodded grabbing the tracking device, that looked like a small Gameboy and headed out the door. Meanwhile, George turned and looked out his window, starring into the vast streets and buildings. "Where the hell are you, you freak" He mumbled to himself as he picked up a Cigar and stuck it into his mouth.
Randel never was a heavy sleeper and the sound of the floor creaking startled him awake. The room was dark and his eyes soon adjusted to it. For a moment, he couldn't see anything, and there was a another creek an Randal immediatly hid under the covers, a childish gesture but for the moment he almost believed that it would protect him from any of the dangers that he might face.
"Who... who's there?" Randel called out to the darkness under the blanket, there was a silence followed by a girl's voice.
"Who said that!? Come out or else!" Randel, afraid for his safety, gently slipped out from under the covers, his eyes straining to adjust to the change. In the darkness he could see a girl, she was taller than Randel, her black hair was in a pony tail and she wore a green hoodie and some tattered pants. Her eyes were squinted as she strained to see Randel in the darkness. There was an awkward silence between the two and Randel had to force himself to speak,
"I.. I said that. I'm sorry.. is this, uh... your house?" Randel knew that people didn't live in shacks but most of the outside world he learned from television and if there is one thing TV has tought him, is that you don't trust everything you see on TV.
"Yeah, I live here, for now. Hold on while I get the lights" Randel was surprised that her voice no longer seemed angry but didn't relax just yet. The girl reached above her head and pulled a cord and then, suddenly the room was filled with light from the overhead bulb, hurting Randel's eyes.
As soon as the lights turned on there was a loud gasp from the girl as she saw Randel,
"Who.. uh.. what are you!?" Randel could tell that she was trying to hid shock in her voice and that she was doing a terrible job at it. She took a step back.
"I'm Randel. Um, I guess you could say I'm... special." Randel was nervous as thoughts fluttered like birds in his head, How will she react? Will she be scared and run away? Will she hurt me? Instead the girl did neither of these things. She fainted. Randel quickly rushed over to her trying to hold her up so she dosen't hurt herself. When he caught her she opened her eyes, shaking her head a bit. "Are you alright?" Randel was frightened thinking that he killed her or something
"Y-yes. I'm alright, sorry. I never saw a talking fox before." Randel smiled,
"Yeah.. I am kinda rare." He hoped the joke would help and it made her giggle. "So... um, what's your name?" The girl stood up, brushing herself off,
"The names Linda but everyone just calls me 'Lin'" Her voice was a lot calmer now, and it was contagious as Randel's also calmed down. She asked where Randel came from and he told her the whole story, how his dad wanted to take Randel out of the lab, how he had left Randel in the room. Randel cried telling the bit about his dad getting shot. As he talked, Lin listened with great interest, even comforted him when he began crying by placing her hand on his shoulder, it wasn't much but it helped.
After he finished the story, Lin placed her hand on his shoulder again,
"I'm sorry about your dad, he seemed like a good person" Randel nodded, looking at the floor. "At least you knew your dad, my old man left when I was four years old. I don't remember anything about him. That was... twelve years ago, I think" Lin frowned Randel hugged her, it was strange to hug someone that he barely knew but he wanted to comfort her to, it was only fair. "Thanks, sorry, if I kinda freaked out on you. Like I said, it's not everyday I see... well.. you!" Randel noddded,
"It's alright, I understand" Randel was glad that he met Lin, it was nice to have a friend. Lin agreed to let Randel stay and she even let him sleep in the same cot. Soon they both drifted off but where soon shaken awake by the sound of someone pounding on the door and an all too familiar voice,
"Subject 1! Come out of there you freak!" Jason Frost pounded harder on the door, the tracker lead him right to the run down shack. There was a rustling noise and Jason unhoilstered his pistol, this would be easier then he thought.
To be continued in Chapter 3