Out of the frying pan...
Well, this is my first attempt at putting any story online. This is more or less just a prologue for the main characters, giving something of a background. I welcome any constructive criticism and will continue this series if I get all of your seals of approval :P Thanks for reading.
Ch. 1
Two sets of silver eyes looked down into the small pool of water. It was a viewing pool that was suspended about three feet off the ground. The scene in the pool was of war in the desert, flashing from troops kicking in doors, to air strikes, to armor moving across the barren desert. "I have become displeased with our creation," one voice said.
"What will we do to fix it? To make it pleasing to us again?" the second voice asked. Both voices carried a sense of power though they spoke in low tones.
"I will create change in the world. My children shouldn't be fighting each other. They are too alike to have any legitimate grievance against one another," the first voice responded. A brief moment passed before the owner of the second voice spoke again, "Change their appearance. The humans seem to place much emphasis on outward appearance though they are so alike inside." He wasn't speaking of the fleshy insides, but of the mind and spirit. "It would lead to another war no doubt, and perhaps man would learn a valuable lesson."
A wispy strand of pure white hair fell over the eyes of the first speaker as he turned his gaze to his companion. Both were identical in every way except the second speaker had hair the color of the blackest night. Both had a skin tone of an unnatural white, almost glowing because of the complete lack of pigment.
"Yes. I will change some of the population," he said as he looked back down at the pool as an explosion ripped part of a building apart. A few unfortunate people ran outside only to find an attack helicopter with a mini gun. Their stoic expression never changed. The black haired one spoke again, "Change them into animals." He waved a hand over the pool and images of what he was envisioning appeared. What appeared on the surface of the pool were anthropomorphic animals. The white haired one nodded and spoke, almost to himself, "So different. The humans wouldn't accept something like that. Families would turn on themselves, friends would shun each other. The world would be divided." They closed their eyes in unison before a red aura surrounded them. The view in the pool changed to a scene in deep space. A meteor was hurtling towards the earth emitting a bluish cloud.
14 August 2008
Day 167
Camp Liberty, Iraq
Well, so far nothing much has happened here. A few mortar attacks, roadside bombs and small arms fire, but that's about it. No one has been hurt in any of the attacks, that's good. Lopez did end up hurting himself though. We're surprised he made it this long. Stupid bastard decided to ride the ramp of a Bradly up to the top and slipped and fell, twisting his ankle. And since I just got promoted, I had to council his ass. I also got my ass chewed out because I wasn't babysitting him. Oh well.
We leave for the green zone tomorrow morning to get a little relaxation away from the attacks. The guys deserve it. It's sucked here, but none of them complain and everyone does their job. The sat phone hasn't been getting any reception the past few days. Stupid cheap army crap. I haven't been able to talk to my wife for a week now. Squelch says that everything is working fine with it, and it should be working as it should. Must be some kind of interference with the satellite or something. I don't know. They will have working phones in Baghdad that I can use. But right now I have a soldier looking at me from the 'doorway', the opening in the blanket wall I made that I wrote about after I first got here. Suppose this is the last entry from the front for now.
SGT Kyle Fargus
"Uh, sergeant? I don't know how ta load the freq into the radios. Squelch told me to make it happen while he fiddled with the sat phone."
Kyle closed the journal he was keeping throughout his deployment and looked at the private with a sigh, "Ask Mac to give you a hand, I still have to brief top and the commander on the route tomorrow morning."
With a nod and a, "Roger," the soldier turned on his heels and went to look for someone else to help him with the radios. Kyle looked at his watch, "2000, wonder if top is ready yet." He pushed himself to his feet and put his body armor and kevlar on, getting himself ready for the short walk across the camp. It seemed a little much for a hundred foot walk, but he didn't want to take some shrapnel from a stray mortar. Finally grabbing his M4 and his book with the convoy plans, he headed out the reinforced door into the rapidly cooling night air.
The building that they were in served as the commanders quarters and briefing room. Off to the side of the briefing room was the tactical operations command, the TOC. That was where they handled immediate base security and quick reaction forces for reinforcements outside of the wire if anyone got hit in their area. The radios were silent in the TOC this night. Their area had been getting attacked on almost a nightly basis, the terrorists trying to use the cover of darkness despite the advanced night and heat vision that the camp security had on all roving and stationary guard forces. The commander took a sip from his mug of coffee and listened to the full briefing from Kyle. After SGT Fargus was finished, Captain Owens glanced at the company first sergeant, "Sounds like a good plan to me. What do you think Mike?"
All the first sergeant could do was nod in agreement, "Good work on such short notice sergeant. Sorry to put that all on you, but higher wouldn't say anything on our replacements until we absolutely had to know. I trust everything will be ready by dawn?"
Kyle nodded, "Yes top. Ammo, rations, water, and first aid are already all staged in the vehicles. The only thing that we are waiting on is getting the frequencies loaded in the radios, but I have a few guys working on that now."
It was the commanders turn to nod, "All right. Then we leave this hell hole at dawn and stay in a hotel with a pool and decent food." A smile played on his lips when he mentioned their radical change in living arrangements.
The first sergeant also smiled and glanced at the commander before turning back to SGT Fargus, "Just let me know when everything is ready."
Kyle nodded, "Roger top," was all he said before he turned to leave.
"Sergeant," said the commander, stopping him before he left.
Kyle turned, "Yes sir?"
"How many points do you have right now?"
"Six hundred and forty sir," he said with a quizzical look on his face.
The commander looked at the first sergeant who nodded, "You just might have a rocker in your near future Fargus. It's not in stone, you still have a few more months before you are eligible, but you have our recommendation. Keep up the good work."
Kyle smiled, "Thank you sir, top." He turned to leave after the commander gave him a nod saying that they didn't have anything else for him.
As he left the room he was thinking to himself, On the fast track now, this deployment hasn't been so bad so far, he added with a chuckle, all things considered.
The next morning everything was already staged and ready to go. While they were going through the final comms checks Kyle was walking around checking his troops' gear, making sure that they all had everything that they would need for their much needed relaxation. "Mount up!" was called from the convoy commander.
All the troops got into their vehicles and started them up. Over the convoy net someone started playing 'Through the Fire and Flames' which earned a grin from every vehicle. He didn't play the full song because they needed the net open, and got a brief talking to by the first sergeant. Everyone knew that it wasn't serious. As each vehicle passed through the gate, the turret gunners locked and loaded their .50 cals and MK19's. Everyone looked at the sunrise and appreciated the fact that they got to see another one.
Around four o'clock they were the farthest away from anything that they could be, but the road was still considered unsafe. Kyle was the TC of his vehicle. He called in that his vehicle was passing through yet another way point and went back to the banter with those in his truck. Mac was driving and was busy telling a story about Kyle from when they first got to the unit. He had a wide grin on his face, "Yeah. Then Sergeant Plummer sent him into the maintenance bay to bring a can of p.e. psi," he laughs, "Man, Sergeant Fargus was walking all over the bay looking for it. So finally he goes back out to Plummer and says that he can't find it." He reaches over and slaps Kyle on the arm, "Plummer sends him back in and tells him to look for a big glowing locker. Fargus goes -back- into the bay and looks around, then finally notices the Pepsi machine."
Kyle chuckles and looks back at the two in the back of the humvee, "It wasn't as bad as he makes it out to be." The two other soldiers laugh and shake their heads, "Never is Sarge," "Sure it wasn't Sergeant."
Fargus shakes his head and looks out the window, a grin still on his face, "Man...screw you guys." The others laugh for a few seconds and the turret gunner playfully kicks Kyle in the shoulder.
The next few minutes pass by in relative quiet until something catches Kyles attention in the sky. He looks at it for a few moments before grabbing the microphone, calling over the net, "Whiskey one this is whiskey six over."
A few moments go by and the convoy commander comes back, "Whiskey six this is whiskey one, go ahead over."
"Whiskey one, whiskey six. We have something in the sky, break..." He waits a few seconds before speaking again, "It looks like it's on fire. Three o'clock, just over the mountain, over."
A few moments pass by before a reply comes, "Whiskey six this is whiskey one, good copy..."
Barely a second passes before the same voice continues, "All stations this net, all stations this net...prepare for attack. I repeat prepare for attack, how copy over."
A second passes before each truck calls in, "Whiskey two good copy over."
"Whiskey three, good copy over."
"Whiskey four, read ya lima charlie over."
And on through the last truck, whiskey one zero. All eyes were on the strange burning thing coming closer to them, almost like it was going to hit in the middle of the convoy. They couldn't leave the road because of forgotten land mines. If they stopped, they were easy targets. Their only choice was to press on and hope for the best. Suddenly there was an ear splitting boom that reverberated inside the vehicles and the communications net exploded in chatter, everyone reporting that they are all fine, no attack yet. The falling piece of something left a trail as it broke apart over the landscape until it hit the ground in an explosion of sand and rock. For some reason, all the vehicles and everything that had electronics in it died. The drivers, doing what they were taught to do, pulled their vehicles to the side of the road in a staggered position so that they could create a perimeter. Everyone except the gunners and the drivers jumped out and got behind their vehicles, ready to fight. Since there was no apparent target, no shots were fired, and no order to fire was given.
Kyle reached through the empty seat behind the driver to try and get his trucks radio back up with no success. Muttering a curse he steps away from the vehicle and looks at one of the soldiers that was in the back seat, "Go and tell the first sergeant that we are all alive, and the truck and radio are deadline."
The soldier nods and takes off at a dead run to tell their first sergeant. As Kyle looks on, other runners were being sent. This wasn't like anything they were used to or trained for. Kyle looks over at the truck behind his and puts his hands up and shrugs just as his runner comes back out of breath, "Top wants all truck NCO's at his position."
Kyle nods, "Keep a sharp lookout," and takes off at a run.
The first sergeant was already calling out orders to the other NCO's when Kyle got there. The first sergeant looks at Kyle as soon as he gets there and stops talking to the others, "Sgt Fargus, take your squad and go check that out. If it's a plane, we need to know if there are any survivors."
The look on his face said that he didn't think it was a plane, but he didn't know what it was either and couldn't let his troops know that he had no clue what to do. Kyle nods and turns to run back to his truck calling out, "Second squad...on me!" when he gets close.
Everyone that wasn't a gunner from his squad ran over to him. Kyle waits for them to get a little closer before he yells out again, "We're moving to the impact site, wedge formation. Mac, you're point."
Mac nods and starts to move to the point position and all the other soldiers fall in behind him, spreading out as they move.
The impact site was about a half mile away, but they made good time over to it. They weren't too worried about mines because most of the ones that would be there were anti-tank mines left over from the gulf war. When they got closer Kyle called for a halt. All the troops stopped walking and knelt down, they were now about 40 yards away from the crater. Kyle leaves his spot in the formation and runs up to the point man, "Mac, wait here. I'm gonna go check it out. If anything happens take the squad back to the trucks."
Mac looks at him with a frown, "No man, you're the squad leader."
Kyle shakes his head, "I'm not gonna send a man in when I don't know what it is. Now do what I say or I'll smoke the dog shit out of you. Cover me."
Mac shakes his head but remains silent, watching as Kyle stands up and starts to move towards the smoldering crater. He was surprised that there wasn't more smoke from it. If it were a plane there would be a lot more fire too. He crouched down when he got closer to the lip and peered over. He still wasn't sure what exactly it was, but he had a feeling that it was a meteor. He stands up straighter and looks past the immediate hole in the ground to the other ones beyond. All of the sudden an explosion from the meteor knocked Kyle off of his feet and the wind out of him. Gasping for breath he climbed to his feet and looked down at himself to make sure he was alright. Something moving on the edges of his vision pulled his attention away from himself. It was like he was in a daze, everything moving in slow motion. Some strange kind of blue smoke was billowing out of a hole in the side. The wind carried it over Kyle and he started coughing violently, the smoke burning his lungs and skin, turning to run back towards his men yelling, "GAS!"
His frantic waving motions telling his troops didn't do anything to keep Mac and another from running over to Kyle to help him get back to the trucks. The others started running flat out to get back to their masks. Kyles skin was ashen, almost white, when he looked at Mac and the other, for some reason, he couldn't remember that soldiers name. He coughed out, "I...said to....get back to the...trucks..." Mac was also coughing, "Never leave a man behind Sergeant..."
Before they had made it halfway back one of the medics and five others had run out to help the three get back. All three of them were coughing badly and could barely walk. The wind was blowing the smoke over the convoy, contaminating everything it touched. Luckily the masks were keeping the smoke out and everyone that got theirs on in time were fine. The three from second squad were still conscious, but were complaining of their skin being on fire. Strange thing was, and it confused the medics on scene, some of their skin was uncovered but they didn't feel anything odd. They got the masks on Kyle, Mac and the other soldier, which helped their breathing. The first sergeant was busy talking with the commander, pointing out that they were over due for their next checkpoint, which means that there would be people looking for them. A company disappearing was something that was noticed and investigated. Another half our passed with nothing happening aside from the sunset. Kyle, Mac and the other soldier fell into unconsciousness about ten minutes before the sound of an approaching helicopter was heard. Infra red chem lights were popped and thrown signaling their position, but sop for the bird was to just locate the convoy and send up their coordinates. An hour later vehicles from the next fob came roaring up, taking all precautions in case this was an ambush. After everything was sorted out, a blackhawk landed to take the casualties to the nearest aid station.
Ch 2
Date Unknown
Location Unknown
The walls of the room were a clinical white. The sink and the toilet were made of stainless steel. One thing that most people grow accustomed to is a mirror over the sink, which was absent. There were hastily patched holes where one once was. On the single bed in the room was an anthropomorphic wolf with fur as white as the first snow of winter, hooked up to oxygen with a feeding tube down his throat. IV's lead from his arms and hands to various bags and a heart rate monitor slowly beeped out the rhythm to the otherwise empty room. The eyes of the wolf slowly opened with a flutter. He sluggishly turned his head to look at the monitor beside his bed when the beeping sped up a little. He clenched his eyes closed for a second, something wasn't right. There was something else there when he opened his eyes, something that he didn't remember having. He opened his golden eyes again and looked down his muzzle at the ceiling. He looked back at the monitor and slowly figured out that it was his heartbeat making the thing beep at him. That was it. He slowly reached a hand up to his muzzle and touched it to make sure it was real. He accidentally hit the feeding tube and gagged. Taking it in both hands he pulled it from his throat and rolled onto his side to cough the bland tasting gruel out of his mouth. In doing so the IV's pulled on him which made him wince and reach to pull them all out. The blood from the now open holes to his veins stood out starkly against his pure white fur. He struggles to a sitting position and winced when something on his backside was moved in an awkward way. He adjusted so that it was more comfortable and turned to look at it, "Is that a fucking tail...what the hell happened to me..." he whispers to himself.
Looking down at the rest of his body he noticed that he was covered with white fur. Now the muzzle made a little more sense, matching the other discoveries. He knew that he should be a little more excited about all of this, but something about it seemed right. He pulled the oxygen from his nose and swung his bare legs off the bed, wondering why whoever had him left him naked. He looked at the last thing connecting him to a machine and pulled the straps from the monitor off of his wrist thinking, 'At least they didn't shave me..." while the monitor flat lined, letting off a single tone.
He blearily looked at the sparse room and blinked a few times, shaking his head to help clear the fog over him. He pushed himself to stand and fell back onto the bed. His gaze fell on one of the IV stands for a second before he reached over to it to use it to help him stand.
On the second try he succeeded in getting to his feet. After only a few steps the door opened and two men rushed into the room with hospital masks on followed by a female nurse wheeling a cart with a defibrillator and some syringes on it. They said nothing, but the look of surprise in their eyes was obvious to the wolf. The three stopped and just looked at him. The wolves eyes went out of focus for a second, but he regained it after blinking a few times. "Who are you? Where am I?" he managed to croak out.
The two men looked at each other for a second before turning to the nurse who shook her head at them. They gave her a nod and turned to the wolf again, one of them moving to the monitor to shut off the machine. The wolf narrowed his eyes and cleared his throat, "Where am I?" he asked again in a more clear voice.
The two men stopped and one of them took in a breath like he was going to say something until the nurse cleared her throat as if to tell the two that they were not allowed to speak to him. The wolf watched her leave and noticed that the hallway was done up similarly to his room. The two men didn't turn their backs on the wolf, but also backed out of the room, closing and locking the door behind them. The wolf muttered, "Assholes," before turning to go and take a seat on the edge of the bed. It seemed like hours while he sat there in silence, trying to remember what had happened to him. The next thing he knew he was asleep.
The wolf opened his eyes again, waking from his sleep. He had no idea how long he had been out with no way to tell time in the room. He sat up with more ease and swung his feet over the side of the bed. He sighed and looked at himself again, 'Still naked, the least they could do is give me some clothes.' The IV's and medical machines were all gone, the blood that seeped out of the needle holes was cleaned up, there was a small shower, and there was a camera over the door facing towards the bed. There was a new smell in the room as well. His head turned towards the tray beside his bed. 'Oh yay, hospital food,' he thought to himself. But with it being the first solid food that he could remember, he wasn't going to complain much. Cafeteria style Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, and some green beans greeted him when he removed the cover. Without a second thought he dove into the small meal, quickly clearing the plate of it's contents. He glanced up at the camera and narrowed his eyes at it briefly before moving to stand, finding it a good deal easier than it was the first time he tried when he woke up. He walked towards the camera and looked into the black of the lens, "Where am I? I know someone is watching, all I want to know is where I am."
He gave the camera a slight smile, "And if it's not too much trouble, maybe some clothes?" He waited for a moment before adding, "Thanks for the food by the way."
After a few minutes of nothing happening he started to pace the room, deep in thought, trying to remember what brought him to this state. He knew that he hadn't always looked like this, or had he? He couldn't remember anything before waking up however long ago that had been. The more he paced, the more bored he became. He moved over to the sink and ran some hot water, splashing it on his face, wishing there was a mirror he could look into. Tired of walking and still feeling a little weak he went over and sat on the bed. Just as he got comfortable the door opened and a different nurse from before entered wearing a set of blue scrubs. She was a cute little brunette with milky white skin and a nice body. That was one thing that made the wolf happy, at least the nurse doing all the tests on him today was good looking. With her came the pleasant smell of perfume, almost masking her scent. He looked at what was on the cart she pushed in front of her, catching sight of some vials, needles, a constricting band and some other medical implements.
On another shelf of the cart there was a pair of black scrubs that he silently hoped were for him. She said nothing as she prepped some needles to draw some blood. "So...uh....where am I?" the wolf asked her, hoping she would answer.
But, like the others he saw, she said nothing. She didn't even acknowledge that he spoke. "Ok, could you tell me my name at least?"
Again, nothing. He narrowed his eyes at her stubbornness but refused to give up, "What about how long I've been here? Can ya tell me that?"
She said nothing as she turned with the constricting band and reached out for his arm. He didn't want to make her job difficult, so he extended his arm to her, "Well, I guess you're not gonna talk to me. Could I have something to read? Or some music....something to pass the time. I don't have anyone to talk to, and you're kinda being difficult," he said with a grin.
Her eyes turned to look into his, but she didn't hold his gaze for long. She hesitated in her work and looked down for a second before focusing her attention back on her task. He knew that she could understand him, just as the others had. But why wouldn't they talk to him? He looked down at the needle as she stuck it into his arm and started to fill one of the vials. He looked back up, searching for her eyes. Maybe he could tell something of what she was thinking. When she noticed that he was looking at her, she tried her best to block him out. She didn't think that it was right that they weren't allowed to answer any of his questions. They were all valid questions, things that she would want to know if she were in his position. She pulled the vial off of the needle and reached behind her for a piece of gauze to put over the new opening in the vein. She pressed it to where the needle entered the skin and pulled it out. He put two fingers on the gause so that she could do something else, "So whats your name?" he asked, not really expecting an answer by this point.
She turned her back to him and placed the vial onto the cart, dropping the needle into a sharps bin. Grabbing a small flashlight she turned and put her back towards the camera. Flicking on the light she leaned over and shined it into his right eye. She watched his pupil dilate before moving to his left. He was starting to get a little discouraged at the lack of knowledge that he had about his current situation. When she turned he asked, "Why won't you talk to me?"
A moment later she faced him again with a stethoscope. Placing it into her ears she pressed it against his chest. His fur kept the stereotypical coldness of the instrument from bothering him. Without a second glance at him she took it out of her ears and placed it on the tray. She turned one last time to give him the black scrubs and started to leave the room. His brief thanks followed her to the door which she closed and locked. He looked out the door to his room and noticed that this hallway had a pinkish color scheme instead of the white before. They must have moved him while he was asleep as well. With a sigh he stood up and got dressed, smiling at the fact that they had cut a hole in the back for his tail. 'One small victory,' he thought to himself. He laid back on the bed and put his hands behind his head. After what felt like hours he fell asleep with a smile on his face, perhaps he could have some hope.
If he could judge by the meals he received, he guessed that it had been about a month since he woke up. Each 'day' was the same. The same nurse would come in, say nothing to him and give him a quick check up. Each 'week' she would come in and take a vial of blood. His moral dropped some each time she would visit though. The only thing that he got from them was food, shampoo, and a clean pair of scrubs each day. After a while he gave up trying to talk to her. He would just sit there compliantly while she would do whatever it was that she was doing. He would still eat and bathe. He even took to exercising. When the second 'month' passed he had given up on ever making it out of there. With his voice being the only one he could hear and the constant presence of the camera, he started to lose it. One day he ripped all of his bedding to shreds and threw it, followed by the mattress, at the camera. The only thing that happened was the two men came in and shot him with a tranquilizer gun. He woke up to a meal, new bedding, and a new camera. Each time after that when the nurse would come in, one of the men stood off to the side so he could shoot the wolf with a tranquilizer gun if he attacked.
"Listen Natalie. I said no, and nothing you will say will change my mind," a balding man behind a desk said to the woman sitting in a chair in front of him.
The office was spacious with a large window overlooking a mountain range and a forest. There was an oriental rug in the middle of the room with two mahogany chairs matching the desk in front of them. The golden placard on the front of the desk proclaimed the man as Richard Mullens, Research Director.
Natalie continued, "But sir, his physical and mental health is at stake. He's already tore up three beds, and it's been three days since he's so much as sat up."
Richard started to put a hand up and interrupt her, but she spoke over him, "He hasn't eaten in those three days either. I'm worried that he's lost the will to live."
With a sigh Richard shrugged, "Then we will put him on a feeding tube like he was when he was in that coma. Restrain his arms and legs to the bed so he can't pull it out if he truly does wish to die."
His indifference infuriated Natalie, "How can you do that to him? Is your research worth more to you than his life?"
Richards hand came up to rub the bridge of his nose, "Animals die Natalie. It's a part of life. And if we ever hope to help the ones that are still comatose, he is going to have to be our guinea pig."
She jumped to her feet and slapped her hands on the desktop, "First off, he's not an animal. He is intelligent and can reason..."
This time Richard wouldn't be spoken over, "Not an animal? How many mattresses has he destroyed? How many cameras?"
Natalie wouldn't be deterred though, "What has your research shown, huh? Nothing! The DNA tests show him to have a mixture of human and wolf. A breakthrough if that was our purpose. But we already have wolf morph DNA samples from the others. As well as mice, cats, otters, lizards...almost every kind of animal on this planet. We have more than enough that we can test with. The others are all in coma's, he's awake and aware. That is the difference."
With remarkable patience, Richard listened through her rant. This was going to be the last time he agreed to see her about this. Natalie took in a deep breath and turned away from the desk, walking a few steps away, collecting herself. After a few moments she turned and looked at him with a more level head, "Just tell me why we can't talk to him."
He had never told her the true reason before, dismissing her whenever she would ask. This time he would tell her. He knew that she would just get more angry, but maybe she would let the matter drop. "You want to know why? Because the government says that they are animals. If they ever wake up from their coma's they are going to be sold, like animals. They might have been human once, but they aren't any more."
He held his hand up to stop the outburst that he knew would come next, "Their reasoning is, animals have intelligence, some can reason their way through puzzles and you can train some to speak. These are no different than them."
He put his hand back down on the desk and paused for a second. She looked at him with a look on her face like he just slapped her. Regardless, he went on, "We don't want all of you talking to him so you won't get attached. Once testing is complete the wolf is going to be put down."
Her eyes went livid with rage, "You're a fucking monster."
He looked down at a pile of papers in front of him, ready to get back to his work rather than deal with a subordinate that questioned his policy, "It's standard procedure for animals that are used for testing."
Without another word she turned and walked out of his office, slamming the door behind her.
Richard went right back to his paperwork without a second thought. Not many people that worked for him were happy with how the wolf was treated. Ten years ago he would have had the same reaction, and he knew it. But, people change with time. He had been forced to numb himself over the years so he could do his job with the various test subjects he had worked with. The buzz from the intercom pulled him from his thoughts. He pressed the talk button, "Yes, what is it?"
The voice of his secretary came through the speaker, "Sir, Mr. Perkins is on line one for you."
He pressed it once more, "Thank you. I'll take it."
With that he sighed and picked up the phone, not looking forward to the conversation he knew was coming.
A few days later Natalie was standing in front of the doors to Richards office again. This time she was only there to give him some reports. She walked through the doors and went over to his secretary's desk, "I have these reports for Mr. Mullens."
Jessica, his secretary, smiled at Natalie, "He's not in. Mr. Perkins called and wanted him to go to Washington. He's gonna be gone for at least a week."
Natalie looked at Jessica suspiciously, "Then I'll leave them with you."
"Alright," she said with a disarming smile. She leaned forward and spoke in lower tones, "I heard everything Mr. Mullens said the other day. I agree with you Natalie. You know Mike?"
"The security guard?" Natalie asked, wondering where she was going with this.
Jessica nods, "Yeah. Well, you know we're seeing each other. He might have mentioned to me that the camera feeds are down for routine maintenance."
Still wondering if this was some sort of trap Richard set for her so he could have a legitimate reason to let her go, she just looked at the other woman. She knew that this would be her chance to make a difference. Never mind the cameras, she could work something out about them later. But now that Richard wasn't going to be around, it would at least be some time before he found out.
Jessica gave her a wink, "Thank you for the reports, I'll make sure he gets them."
Without another word, Natalie turns and walks out of the office, heading strait towards the elevators to go down to the wolves room, 'Cell is more like it,' she thinks to herself.
She passes a few techs and ignores the feeling of their eyes on her as she continues on her way to see the one she hoped would be able to forgive her.
The sight that greeted Natalie when she opened the door was the wolf's back. He was curled up on the bed facing the wall. Without a word he rolled onto his back and moved his arm out so she could take blood. Natalie bit her lip at the abandonment of hope displayed in the actions of the wolf. She walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, moving his arm out of the way. This change in routine didn't go unnoticed by the wolf, he just didn't care enough to do anything but look at the ceiling. She looked into his eyes for a few long silent moments, trying to think of how she was going to start talking to him. All the times she wanted to apologize but couldn't, and now was her time. Why was she tongue tied right now? She reached her hand out and placed it on his, giving it a light squeeze, "I....I'm...so sorry for how we've been forced to treat you..."
Tears started to form at the corners of her eyes. The sound of her words pulled his attention from the hole he was trying to stare into the blank ceiling. He said nothing, even though he noticed the tears. She was probably sincere, but he didn't believe that an apology would give him back what he gave up on. She took her hand off of his and looked down at her feet, "I don't expect you to forgive any of us for this. The government wants to use you as a test subject to find a cure to help the others."
He started to sit up, but the days that he had eaten nothing took their toll on him and he was unable to do so. She felt his movement on the bed and looked back, then seeing his difficulty with sitting up she reached out to help him. The wolf gave her a thankful, yet angry look. The nurse knew that it would be a while until he trusted her or any humans, if he ever did for that matter. He moved and positioned himself so that he was sitting beside her with his feet on the cool, tile floor. His golden gaze was focused on his feet and he managed to croak out, "Others?"
She nodded, inside her heart leaped, thinking that he might still have a will to live after all. "Yes, there are thousands, and more come in every day. All of them are in a comatose state though, much like you were. So far, you are the only one to wake up."
"How big is this facility?" he asked.
"This one is one of the governments larger ones, but there are facilities all over the US."
He thought on this for a long moment before looking at her, "Why are you doing this.....now?"
It was her turn to pause. She didn't know why. She had worked inside animal testing laboratories before, and it never bothered her. But now that there were animals that exhibited human-like characteristics, things were somehow different. "I...the way they were treating you was wrong. The plans they have for you are wrong, and I want to try and help you," she finally said.
The golden eyes gave off a predatory glint, the first one since the last time he shredded the bed with his claws, "What plans."
Natalie took in a deep breath and decided to just get it out, "They want to keep running tests on you, then when they were done with you, they wanted to put you down," she paused for a second to give herself a chance to think before she went on again, "I'm going to try and break you out of here. The director is away in DC and some of the staff are on my side with the matter."
The wolf shook his head, "When." This was an opportunity that he wasn't going to pass up, even if it was just another one of their tests. If it were a test, there was a possibility that they would foul something up and he could escape. Either way, he was getting out.