Breaking Barriers

Mark of the Imperfect

Jane Doxter:

The Captain leapt out of the Launch Bay with Squirt on his heels. And from the look on his face, something was seriously wrong.

"The- the Purenkorps called," He murmured gravely, looked from one of us to the other, "Everyone, go back to sleep. We'll need to be outside by dawn. I'll wake you all up when it's time. Just remember that I won't let anything happen to any of you as long as there's life in my body." I had been sleepy a few seconds ago, but all of my tiredness evaporated at the mention of the Purenkorps at our door.

"Does that mean that the Purenkorps're gonna take us away?" Peso asked, trembling.The captain went over to him, wrapped his arm around him, and tried to comfort him, but said nothing. That gave me all I needed to know.

"Where are we-" I didn't get to finish my sentence. Dashi grabbed me by my paw and led me toward our room.

"Jane, listen to me." She bent to my level and grabbed my shoulders tight, "I'm not sure if we're on the list or not, but whatever happens, don't cause them any trouble, do you understand? Don't be sarcastic with them, don't do the opposite of what they want, and absolutely no pranks. They've destroyed people who've tried to cause them trouble." I nodded quickly.

I've never seen such a hard expression in my sister's eyes ever. But this was war, things change. After my sisters and I climbed back into bed, no one spoke, but I could tell they were both awake by the sound of their breathing. I couldn't sleep either. Dawn was slowly creeping up on us, and it felt like we were counting down the minutes of our lives we had left. The soft, steady ticking of the clock on the wall didn't help much either.

With each hour that passed, the weight in my chest grew bigger and bigger. Every hour seemed to be counting down how long I had left to live, and it was running out fast.

Finally, the clock chimed 4:3o. My eyes and head ached from lack of sleep, but it didn't matter to me. Today was the day! I just hope everyone survives it.
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When I got out of the Octopod, the first thing I saw was the mass of creatures big and small all gathered around in front of their homes. Everyone on the Octopod, except the Vegimals for some reason, were gathered outside in a shivering cluster. The Captain was standing in "soldier stance." straight-backed with a  solemn expression set. But all of that cracked once Peso scooted close to the Captain and hid behind him. The Captain turned around and wrapped a comforting, strong arm around him. The Captain turned back to us all and did a quick headcount. Something seemed to be missing to him, so he turned toward Shellington.

"Shellington, where are the Vegimals?" He asked.

"Well you see Captain," Shellington whispered, quietly so the Purenkorps wouldn't hear him but loud enough that I could, "the Vegimals aren't documented in the Purenkorps' books. I've told them all to stay in the Octopod and come out only when they hear someone they know."   

"Well thank goodness they're safe." The Captain smiled at Shellington just as a wave of loud black trucks came rolling into the center of everyone, and an officer stepped out carrying a megaphone.

"All citizens outside of their homes must file inside of a truck, failure to do so will result in being shot!" He bellowed. The Captain gripped Peso's flipper tightly in his paw, and slowly, everyone on the Octopod began to merge with the crowd. I'd lost sight of anyone I know, so I just blindly climbed into a van, keeping track of the backs of the people in front of me. Right after I climbed in, the door shut with a clang and the lock clicked shut. Then the truck roared to life and seemed to bump over every single stone in the road. After around 3 minutes in that torture chamber, I was feeling more cramped than I ever had in my life. The bodies of the creatures around me seemed to be squishing me from all angles. Everywhere I looked, I could only see another person. And it was stuffy too, so much that it felt like someone had permanently stuck a cloth to my face.

When the Purenkorps finally opened the door, we all spilled out like a bag of marbles, stumbling out of the truck in every which way until the Purenkorps closed in on us. 

"Single file line!" One officer behind me, a Doberman I think, yelled, prodding me into line with the back of his nightstick. And just like that, we were marched to a square gray building, as uninspiring as a block of concrete, but as chilling to us as a blizzard. Everyone's steps seemed to fall into a steady, broken rhythm. 

I cannot describe what exactly happened because I remember nothing except being rushed from place to place like a hurricane was pushing me. All I remember is someone grabbing my paw in a vice grip and pushing it so roughly on the ink pad my paw turned white, hard voices, even harder expressions, being questioned for my name, age, and the label. Mainly the label. There was a doctor there, but he was nothing like Peso. He took one look at me, and called to the officers who'd shepherded us in, 

"Class Five Breed," And took a needle and little spool of red thread. I could feel him pulling on my arm and when I looked, there were 5 angry red welts etched across my sleeve to tell everyone on this Earth I was imperfect. I couldn't remember. When we were finally done, we were herded out into the "holding pen", where we were to find someone we knew. When I had finally been "processed, tsunamis of relief had washed over me once I'd been let out, but then the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. There was no one I knew here.