The Hunted

Chapter 8

There were a few more moments of blurred pain and screaming before I blacked out, leaving me with empty images of a girl who I almost saved. A girl that was now no more than a lifeless body at the bottom of a canyon.

....

"Fig? Cassidy? Wake up!" A voice said.

"Is she breathin'?" Asked someone, the words slurred.

Oh, Abbus.

Wait, Abbus! Why was Abbus in Heaven? My eyelids fluttered.

"Shhhh! She's waking up!" I recognized this to be Joven's voice.

I opened my eyes.

I was assaulted with an array of colors and aromas. There was bright sunlight, soft grass, and the smell of lavender and honeysuckle was wafting through the air. It must have been Heaven.

"Hey guys," I said weakly.

Father stood by me, his expression unreadable.

"Fig-er, uh, honey, your leg got hurt pretty bad. But some animals treated you in the city. You're better now. It may hurt to walk though, so we'd like you to rest."

"Where are we?" I whispered. It was still set in my mind that if I talked too loud there would be an echo, like at the canyon where we were for so long.

"On a human reserve outside the city, by Maylock Bay. Animals aren't legally allowed to hunt us here. This is a safe place for us to start over," Father explained.

I looked around. Sietta and Balette were missing.

I asked where they were.

"They're out meeting some of the other humans. Apparently they miss the company of a large group," Said Joven.

I was barely listening. Why should I have? They were all avoiding it, avoiding what happened. They were cowards. None of them would even mention her. After all that we had been through with Aren. How could Father so easily step foot in a reserve, a place built and watched by animals!?! Perhaps the hands that had pulled the trigger on me, on Aren, were the same hands that had helped build this place! I felt sick, like I was in some woozy world where everyone had been brainwashed. Like in a horror story where the good guys' minds are possessed by the enemy. I was a bug trapped in a sticky spider web. And the spider would, with no doubt, show up some time soon.

I knew I couldn't say I was leaving the reserve. Father would never let me.

"I want to go meet some new people too. I think I'll go catch up with Balette and Sietta," I lied.

"Like this leg'll get you far," Abbus scoffed, gesturing towards my thigh. It was an angry red with a tearing purple dot in the center.

"I'll use Joven's walking stick as a crutch," I offered.

Joven nodded. "That'd work. Be careful though."

Father said nothing as I limped off. I tried not to show the ripping agony I felt in my thigh. With every step came another jolt of pain.

When I was far enough away I heard him whisper to Joven, "Follow her."

....

First, I went to Maylock Bay to bathe and get a drink. The bay wasn't a part of the reserve. This gave me a sense of peace that settled in my chest. I was away. Away from that evil place.

I let my joints relax as I swam freely about in the cool water. I knew that I was safe enough from hunters, because I was so close to the reserve.

After my bath, I replaced my wound's old bandages with knew fresh ones I'd gotten before I left. Now it hurt less to walk, as long as I had the sturdy walking stick as a crutch. I could handle it. I'm a tough girl.

Slowly, I began to make my way along a worn-down path that lead towards the animal Metropolis.

---

Almost an hour later, I was there. Smoke rose up in ghastly clouds from huge buildings. The air smelled of gasoline and cigarette smoke. Poison.

It was every thing my brother, Scar, had said it was.

Looking more carefully, I could see how the housings of upper and lower class citizens were divided.

The lower class division looked almost shameful. The houses were scattered in a zig-zag pattern around the outskirts of the city. From where I stood upon the hill overlooking the Metropolis, I could see how the houses' shingles were dangling precariously, some almost completely detached. The doors look worn, colored either red or a faded mahogany. Beaten brass door knockers adorned their splintering wooden surface.

My eyes widened as I took in the immense detail that every aspect of the city contained.

The thick wooden planks that made up the walls. The unsteady looking wrap-around porches. The ugly spruce green vehicles that the animals would drive. I even saw a few red or blue ones.

And that was just what I saw of the buildings. The animals living there looked much worse. Some seemed too exhausted to walk another inch along the weed-overgrown sidewalk. Others looked sick, with gaunt cheekbones and wide eyes. All of them were much too thin.

One in particular looked on the verge of death. He was a small pig with broken spectacles and a tattered suede jacket.

Panting, the pig collapsed. A cloud of dirt billowed up around his starving body. The dry heat and sandy wind had soon left the pig, who had now quietly died, sprinkled with dust and soil.

I turned away in disgust. What an awful place this was.

Then my gaze focused upon the sight of the upper class housing. The improvement in quality had sky-rocketed.

The houses were located nearer to the bright, booming, shiny downtown. The heart of the city. They were much, much larger than the lower class ones. Each was either painted a creamy white, pale blue, or sandy tan. They had large oak doors with detailed glass windowing. Each of the windows had a set of lovely wooden shutters. There was a balcony on the second floor of the front of each house. The vehicles next to these mansions were longer, colored black or white, with tinted windows.

And the animals there. They were cleaner, healthier, and better dressed. None of them were dying in the streets. They were all living perfectly.

Then there was the downtown. I didn't even bother looking there. It hurt me too much to see the street vendors selling human meat on their little stands for only $4.00 a pound.

Humans were only worth $4.00 a pound. Their lives were only worth $4.00 a pound. My own life was only worth $4.00 a pound. I shuddered, almost wanting to turn back.

Then I reminded myself of my purpose. "Find my sister. I have to. To stop this evil."

Carefully, I began my short descent to the city. When I reached the Metropolis's main entrance, I pulled my hood over my head, masking my human features.

"This is it," I breathed. The time for change had finally come.