I'm Not an Animal (Slow Updates)

Chapter 17

I woke up to the sound of screaming.

I sat bolt upright, sweat slick on my back, my hair a tangled frizz. I shook my head and looked over to the source of the scream. A blonde girl, small for her age, was standing outside the ring of humans, a gun pointed at her chest. Without thinking, I leapt to my feet and charged the boy holding the gun.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" I yelled, pinning the boy beneath me.

"If you know what's good for you, you will quietly go back to your group," Silve said, pointing a gun at me. I laughed, easing up.

"If you know what's good for you, you won't hurt anyone here. Because if you do, I would be forced to kill you. And if I killed you, my own death is pretty likely. And your Masters wouldn't be very happy to find out you'd killed Tora McGrath. I mean, killing any Big Cat would be bad enough, but...one of the strongest? And I'm sure you've heard of Alyssa! Well, she and I have a history together. And I think she would prefer to kill me herself."

Silve glared at me, then, without changing her expression whatsoever, put her gun back in its holster. "Thanks to that little setback," she said, as though the almost-murder was only a minor event, "we are behind schedule. We should still have time to reach the Outer Reaches before sunset." She pulled up the boy I'd jumped, and I walked over to the girl.

"You okay?" I asked. She nodded, thanked me and ran back to the group. I walked over to Zaki, who pulled me into a hug.

"Don't you ever do anything like that again." He whispered, kissing my forehead. I nodded, then leaned down and grabbed my satchel. I pulled out my brush and ran it through my tangled hair, then I put it away and trudged after the group. Almost instantly, we were split up again. Silve returned to me, and placed her knife at my neck.

"Don't we get anything to eat?" I sassed.

"We have no food to offer you, but we are coming up to a place where we can get some. If you have any now, I'd suggest you eat it. It's a long trip."

"I don't have any food, just water. You can have some if you want," I offered, taking the lid off the bottle. I took a sip.

"No, thank you. We already drank." We continued in silence for a while, until the group came across a bunch of bushes. They were covered in ripe blueberries. Our captors seemed to agree, as they all stopped simultaneously.

"We'll take a quick break and eat!" One of the others called. I rushed immediately to the closest bush and dug through my satchel until I found another scrunched paper bag. How much stuff do I have in this thing?

I filled the bag and tied it off with one of the bits of elastic I had, then started eat more of the berries. The second I ate the first one, I realised just how hungry I had been. When was the last time I'd eaten? Yesterday? The day before? I couldn't remember.

I saw the black-haired group sitting down up the far end of the berry patch, talking quietly and eating, their expressions never changing. I dreaded what would become of us, whether we'd be turned into those black-haired, identical, glaze-eyed monsters.

When I'd eaten my fill, I sat back and closed my eyes. There was a sudden scream, and I snapped my eyes open to see a bear, a real bear, not a shifter, rear up on its hind legs and roar. I was about to shift into my Tiger form when there was an explosion from behind me. I whirled around to see the Wolf shifters firing bullets into the bear's pelt. It roared and spun around, blood flowing through its fur. It stumbled back into the forest and disappeared.

"Why did you do that?" I yelled, glaring at them. "We could have scared it away? It's going to die now, because of you!"

"Our mission was to get you all to the Outer Reaches unharmed. Anything that comes between us and our mission is no concern to us."

I felt a growl rising in my throat, but Wyatt, who was right beside me, put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't," he whispered. The growl died and I nodded, pulling up my water bottle and having a drink. It helped to wash down the last of the blueberries.

"All right, back on the road! We want to get away from the blood before anything else decides to attack us. We are on our way to a small town. If we arrive there by midday, you'll all get a free lunch." Karle called.

The prospect of more food seemed to be enough to lift the spirits of the others, and they started walking. Silve came up to me, but didn't put the knife to my neck. Some of the others also didn't brandish their weapons, but I saw that Zaki, Ruby and Eleanor still had the blades pressed to their skin.

We trudged in for another few hours, not even stopping. We finally reached the edges of a town at a little before midday. The Wolf Gang, as I had named them, lead us to a small restaurant on the far edge of the town. The bartender looked up, her smile vanishing as we walked in.

"Ah, Silve! My old friend. How can I help you?" She asked, a fake smile crossing her face. Silve walked up to the bar and slid across a couple of hundred-dollar bills.

"Twenty-two of the Specials, and whatever the kids order." Then Silve, Karle and the other Wolf Gang members sat at booths, talking quietly, their faces as blank as ever. We all ordered our food, Zaki and I at the back of the line.

"I wish things would go back to the way they were before," I heard the bartender mutter.

"Miss," Zaki piped up, "What do you mean 'how things were before'?"

She looked over at us, then at the Wolf Gang. Then she whispered, "Who's the leader of your group?"

"Za-"

"Tora," Zaki butt-in.

"What? You're the leader!" I hissed, trying hard to keep my voice down.

"Tora, you're better off with this information. You'll handle it better. Please. Chicken Burger and a Cola, please." The waiters and waitresses had started bringing out the food. The bartender scribbled something down, then she looked up at me.

"What can I get you?"

"Fried Fish and and Apple Juice, thanks." She nodded, then took the order. I saw her disappear back into the kitchen, then when she came out she didn't have the note. I sat down beside Ruby, who was picking absently at a piece of chicken. We talked quietly for a while before my order arrived. There were a few lettuce leaves on the side, which I lifted and ate. I went wide-eyed when I saw the note hidden beneath a green leaf.

I quickly finished the rest of my food before excusing myself to the bathroom, note tucked safely in my pocket. I walked to the stall at the end of the bathroom and locked the door, opening the note.

Got 2 mke this brief. Silve used 2 kno me, b4 they took her 2 the OR. She used 2 hav blnd hair, til they xprmnted. Now they all look the same. Hr eyes r glzed cuz she's been injected w/Control Serum. They all have. They prob do the same 2 u at OR. Sry I cant help more. Good luck.

I groaned in annoyance and ripped up the note, flushing it down the toilet. That didn't help me much. I heard calling from outside, one of the Wolf Gang yelling that it was time to go. I sprinted from the bathroom and joined the rest of the group. My eye's met the bartender's and she gave me the faintest smile.

"Tora, there you are," Silve said, walking up behind me. She put her hand on the knife, but didn't draw it. She stood directly behind me, her hot breath tickling my nape. Control Serum. I wondered...was that going to happen to us?

We trekked for the rest of the day, the hot sun beating down on us. Out here, there was no cover. The Wolf Gang didn't seem to mind, but we were all sweating by the time one of the black-haired boys yelled, "Outer Reaches!"

I lifted my head and gasped at the sight.

***
Ooh, cliffhanger! The attached photos are basically what I imagine the boys and girls to look like, what with them all being identical. Hope you liked the chapter, and I hope you enjoy the ones to come.
See you on the flip-side!