Red Eyes

Part 12: Human

Devyn sat at the council table, organizing her papers. She avoided eye contact with each council member as they entered the packed room. Anyone who arrived on time would be shockingly out of luck today.  The chairs filled thirty minutes before the meeting started. Devyn could see a small crowd in the hall, waiting for the menu to begin.

Joy sat in the front row next to Hahn. Well, a concealed Hahn. He currently wore a pair of blue contacts to hide his vibrant red eyes. The man had proven himself countless times over the last 72 hours. Providing Devyn with data and assisting her with the analysis.

"I want to hire you," Devyn gushed at the end, making him blush.

"Let's just see what happens first," Hahn replied. "Did you want the papers on the ZT treatment?"

Devyn nodded, "yes, but only a copy. I want you to keep all of this safe. Just in case."

Hahn nodded grimly. "Understood."

Devyn jumped slightly when the chair beside her moved. She looked up to see Leroy smiling down at her.

"I guess we get to sit beside each other today," Leroy said. "It must be my lucky day."

"I'm sure it is," Devyn replied, looking down the row to see the rest of the council members avoiding her gaze. Traitors. "Should we get this thing started?"

Leroy pressed his lips together and motioned for her to stand. "It is your show. We are just here to watch and keep our mouths shut."

Devyn suppressed her snort at his passive-aggressive comment and stood up. "Thank you, everyone, for coming. We are—"

"I can't hear you!" A male voice screamed in the back.

"Sorry," Devyn said, louder this time.

"Still, can't hear you!" The voice screamed again.

Devyn turned to the rest of the council. Omar immediately stood and ran over to the side. He turned on some speakers and grabbed a microphone.

"I got this, just in case," he whispered, handing her the microphone. "I thought today might be packed."

Devyn smiled her thanks. "Can you hear me now?" She asked into the microphone. A small cheer sounded across the back rows and into the hall. "Good, now, as I was saying, thank you all for coming out. Today is an important discussion regarding the findings of the exhibition in the forest. Each member will discuss what has been reported to them, and then I will finish with some data collected by members on the exhibition. So, with that, would Councilwoman Ivory like to begin?"

Over the next few hours, council members provided second-hand reports of what their person saw in the forest. Devyn knew it would be better for the actual people to come up, but no layperson wanted to be on display, especially after the hospital fire.

Joy let out a low yawn in the front row. She knew how it would go with these reports. Ivory started on about the P.U. and undead individuals being subhuman. Ivory talked about how they ate raw remains they found on the forest floor. She almost laughed when Tanya added some false information about making them eat rats and bunnies raw.  

Kevin almost snatched the microphone from Tanya when she finished.  His account ranged from angry at Ivory and Tanya's bias to factual.  So, in all, it entertained Joy.

Timothy's account was intriguing, and Phil's was fair. Omar read a detailed letter about almost everything they did. Joy startled herself when a drop of drool fell on her arm. Must have fallen asleep during that one, she thought.