The Wild Side of Us

Chapter 8 - Welcome to My For Now Life

I awoke to the sound of dining materials clanking, and Scarlet talking about something. Stretching and yawning, I then sat on the sleeping bag and wondered about life. I can't go out in public anymore because there's a high chance the FBI is all over town trying to find me and Axel. No doubt they searched up my trailer and found out I lived there, but me and the escapee suddenly missing? Yeah, I'm wanted as well. Even if this is the good side of town, there still will be some snitches.

After pondering, I walked out of the room and entered the living room. Axel was sitting on the couch, his hair and clothes a mess. Scarlet was cooking in the kitchen, having the energy to take on the sun. She wore black capris and a blue shirt that advertised a local cafe. Not her usual jean shorts and tight shirt.

"You're wearing baggy clothes lately," I said to Scarlet, sitting down next to Axel. "You gaining weight or something?"

Scarlet snorted, and said, "Keep it up, and you won't have any eggs this morning. Oh, that's right. Axel, do you like eggs? I don't know what you were fed or if you're an omnivore or something else. I can cook something else if you want."

"I can't remember the taste," Axel murmured. "But I wouldn't mind some. I was kept strictly on a vegan diet, so I hardly had any meat or animal products. Drove me crazy."

"Why's that?" I asked.

"Because they wanted to turn me into a deer after they were done with their experiments. Actually, they started to." He ruffled the red part of his hair. Now that I look at it, the red part of his hair seemed more stiff when compared to the brown hair. There were also two nudges barely noticeable on the top of his head.

"Seems like they tried to turn you into a buck," I told him, glancing at his head. "Why did they stop? I've seen a few deer in my life; they weren't far off from completing you."

"I... stopped them. They put me in this weird machine that burned like hell. They kept yelling at me to stay still, but I couldn't. It started with my head, my most vulnerable spot. It didn't last long, but I was soon banging the sides of the machine, screaming to be let out. Eventually I collapsed, and then I woke up back inside my room. Ever since, I have this appearance, and they never tried that with me again." Axel's voice shook as he spoke. When he finished, his lips were quivering, his eyes pressed against the floor.

My ears lowered, and I too looked at the floor. Never before have I felt someone else's pain as deeply as they felt it. But I mustn't let that control me. Axel is a full human, and he will help me greatly. I'll just have to show him my good side.

A plate of different types of eggs landed on Axel's lap. He jumped back in surprise, and his eyes widened a little. Scarlet passed by with a plate full of sunny side eggs and sat in the chair.

Looking around, I asked, "Where's my plate?"

"Go make your own," Scarlet said, scarfing down her eggs. "Traffic is always busy on Wednesdays. I gotta leave before the cars start pilling."

"You don't even own a car. You ride a bike."

"The traffic still affects me."

"True, true. Still, I thought Wednesdays were lazy days."

Axel's face lightened up. He said, "Isn't Wednesday hum-"

"Don't even start," said me and Scarlet at the same time. Who in their right mind would show a test subject a dead joke? I suppose to give an example what life was like back then. Still, a history documentary would've been way better.

As Axel slowly started to eat his food, I got up and opened the fridge in the kitchen. Inside were more bottles of water and cans of fruit than anything else. The cups of tea Scarlet prepared last night were humbly sitting on a shelf. I did not touch them because I had no idea if she was saving them for later. After a while, I managed to find some slices of turkey, so I took that and started snacking on them.