HUMAN

Chapter 5 - Oakfield

"So, you're telling me some kid was trying to break into Vannie and Gina's van? What was he looking for exactly?" Mr. Morgan kicked his legs up the desk and leaned into his seat. His uninterested eyes and lazy posture showed he didn't care at all.

"Yes, sir. We've looked around the van, and honestly, we can't tell if anything valuable has been taken because of the mess." Bill spoke up. "We've called some backup, but the intruder disappeared immediately, and we found something in the security footage that I think you'll be interested in." I tried to persuade him to check this out himself to witness what Bill and I saw while going through the cameras.

Sighing heavily, he moved his legs to the floor. "Quite an assumption for you two to assume that I'll be interested in this." He tucked his neck fur into his suit. "And drop the formalities. We aren't around high officials or something."

Passing by several colleagues and scientists, we head to the surveillance van, which is mainly left unattended, as the occasions of someone breaking in were few and far between. "Camera 7 caught something this morning at around 5 or 6." Bill pointed at the monitor. "Here. Something came out of the bunker shortly after we walked past it."

A hand reached out between us and pressed the pause button. "Interesting." Mr. Morgan spoke, his eyes peering intently at this figure. "It doesn't look like it came from outside. That is the only entrance, correct?" "Yes. That's what we're trying to tell you." The fox leaned in closer.

The blurry figure darted from cover to cover through the site. It rolled to the side of Vannie's caravan to hide from the pack of wolves walking by. It continued to move but stopped at the window as if something caught its interest.

"If someone were to break in, the outer guards would have caught them already. Getting past that point should be practically impossible." I commented. The fox tilted his head and returned to his straight posture. "When was the last time that this figure was seen?"

"We checked the camera at the outer gates and noticed that the figure rolled out from below the truck we drove out. It looked like it ran northwest from here." Bill said as he flipped through the cams, showing the blurry, dark figure running throughout the site.

Mr Morgan's ears flicked up. "It's heading towards Oakfield! I'll inform the others immediately, as this might be a potential threat. We don't know who or what it is, and we might as well assume it's dangerous!" He jogged out of the surveillance van and back to his office, leaving us confused.

"What species do you think that is?" I paused the recording and zoomed in to its face. "Fox, wolf, dingo, or maybe even a cheetah?" I said, but it ran too fast, even for a cheetah.

Walking outside the van and adjusting the straps attached to my rifle, there was a commotion near the bunker area. "What's going on?" I asked a nearby guard. He said that the lights and the bunker's power suddenly shut off.

"Well, an interesting way to start the day," Bill said. I sighed. "Tell me about it, man." We decided to investigate further whatever was happening around the bunker. They set up screens showing what the others within the bunker were doing, and everyone gathered around. "What's going on around here exactly?" I whispered to a nearby scientist as everyone intently listened to what they were saying.

"Apparently, they found another floor, a 7th one. Now they're prying open what seems to be a concealed entrance." I turned my attention towards the screen and took note of the bear, lion and the bull prying open the door. It jerked to the side, which resulted in a screeching sound from the metal floor.

It revealed a set of stairs that led down a hallway. "This place is coated with dust." One of them said. I struggled to determine what was before them as their flashlights barely pierced through the settling dust.

"Nothing around here so far-" One of them had stepped on something that crunched. They kicked the ground, spreading whatever they stepped on, falling back and yelped. "Tom! You alright?" "W-what the hell!?"

There were murmurs among the audience and within the team of scientists. All of them focused the light on the scientist that fell on the ground to reveal that he had landed on a pile of skeletons. . .wait, that skull. . .it looks like-

"A human skeleton!?" One of them shouted in shock. Everyone else had the same reaction. The scientist that fell shuffled out of the way, and everyone had to back off. There was a moment of hesitation before they made their next move. "Everyone! Secure these bones properly. We don't know if they carry any pathogens or diseases!" One of them said.

Everyone began to converse about this situation as they uncovered the first properly preserved human bones. "Hey, guys. You should check this out." The rest followed the Anthro to the end of the hallway to reveal an Anthro skeleton. The skull was riddled with bullet holes, a haunting sight that sent shivers down my spine. "Holy shit." One of them whispered.

- - -

I scavenged through my bag for snacks and sat comfortably on a large root that protruded from the ground. To my surprise, my father or Max was kind enough to add in some protein and muesli bars. They were a rare find back then. . .I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm confident they have food like this. Maybe even better.

I breathed in the relatively new scent of the forest around me and the fresh air that didn't consist of toxic fumes or the smell of burning ashes. I took a bite of the bars to spit it out. It tasted like sawdust with fruity flavors sprinkled on it. "Ugh. Max and Father said these tasted good. What were they thinking?"

"Our latest technological discovery is 99.9% artificial food that never expires. Although it sacrifices taste and sufficient nutrients as time passes. Seven hundred years would make them taste horrendous, but nonetheless, it is still food." Anna spoke through my earpiece.

"So basically, it took away what makes food enjoyable?" I eyed the protein bar in my hand. "Essentially." I sighed and continued to eat it anyway. After all, I felt pretty hungry. "0.3 kilometers remaining."

Dropping the empty wrapping in my bag, I ascended a small hill that overlooked the town of Oakfield. "So, what exactly am I doing again?" "You have no current goal aside from preserving what's left of humanity's history via the USB. How you will do that is up to you." Great. What an answer.

"Who knows, they might learn a thing or two about our history. Perhaps learn from our mistakes?" She suggested. It was a fair idea, but I found little help from that. "What about money? How will I get that?" She completely ignored my question.

"I will be offline for a while. I will try to access some information through the Internet. Meanwhile, please stay here." The circular device beeped twice before shutting off, losing its passive blue glow on the edges. "I thought your device couldn't do much. ? Well, nice chat." I groaned and slumped down.

I walked back and forth, waiting for her to come back. Eventually, that didn't work out well, and I grew impatient and searched through my bag to find something to entertain myself. "Ah, there you are!" I pulled out my headphones.

I switched my phone on and the headphones on. I forgot that after 700 years, the battery would not last, and my phone just died a couple of minutes ago. "Thank you then." Sitting back down, I scanned the town and decided on something. "She's taking too damn long." Rummaging through the bag, I found a half respirator mask and sunglasses.

Snatching off the respirator's filter and taking off other excess parts that I jotted out, I strapped it over my mouth and used the gaiter to conceal it. "Hopefully, this will be convincing enough," I told myself as I created a makeshift muzzle.

I slid the sunglasses. The gaiter was baggy enough to hide the sharp edges of the mask and gave the illusion of me having a muzzle. I pulled up my hood and swung my bag to my back. Although this seemed like a stupid and unrealistic disguise that no one would buy, do I have any other choice?

Probably. Am I smart enough to come up with something better? Certainly not.

Walking outside the forest edge and to the road, I faced a sign that said, 'Welcome to Oakfield!'