5. Until the Last Drop

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Days passed and gradually Bill lost all sense of time. He could only follow his internal clock, which told him whether it was day or night. But he could hardly remember how long he had been in captivity and the constant milking of venom was bothering him.
When he was led back into the venom extraction room, as so often, he noticed that this time there was another person present next to the silver lynx. It was a badger, also in a white coat and thin gold glasses on his snout. Their eyes met briefly and Bill thought, the badger gave him a regretful look.
When the moment finally came when the cloth was removed from his mouth, Bill immediately took the opportunity to say something.
"Are you kidding me?" he said hastily, with a worried look at the broadly built Mr. Tender next to the silver lynx. "I needed time for my venom. If you take it from me too often, you won't get enough out."
But Dr. Docan just shrugged. "We're pressed for time, Mister," he dismissed his argument. "We can't accommodate any extra requests, got that?"
Bill let out a growl. "Then what's the point...?"
But the bystanders didn't allow him to ask any more questions and immediately they forced him to press his venom into the funnel, like last time. And, as Bill had expected, the result wasn't exactly fruitful.
"I told you," Bill gasped after the rubber ring had been pulled out of his mouth. "I can't...!"
The big, beefy bobcat Tender held his fist in front of his face. "Just shut up! That's the doctor's decision."
Dr. Docan gave the badger a sign and this one strode towards the Gila monster. Bill looked at him skeptically. Was he as psycho as his colleague?
Reluctantly, Bill opened his mouth as the badger pushed his lips open with nervous fingers.
The doctor didn't have to look in long to give his verdict. "You milk him far too often," he complained.
Dr. Docan ignored the accusation. "We just have so few Gila lizards. And the amount we can get out of each milking isn't a lot."
The badger let go of Bill and walked towards Dr. Docan with stern steps. "If you milk him that often, then it's no wonder."
Dr. Docan lifted the corners of his mouth slightly. "Then we should squeeze the last bit out of him as soon as possible." He cracked his thin finger paws audibly. "And anger is still the best way to do that."
Before the badger could object, some guards had untied Bill from the bars and forced him to his knees. Bill struggled against this rough treatment.
"What else do you want from me?!" he yelled at them. "What do you think I am? A vending machine?"
"Open your mouth!" Tender snapped at him.
Bill was still trying to talk while the rubber ring was stuffed into his mouth and he was bent forward. At first, he didn't know what to do until he suddenly felt a pain in his back. Stunned, Bill looked behind himself. Mr. Tender had pulled out a whip. And he didn't let long elapse before the next blow. Bill was close to tears, but he definitely didn't want to show them and suppressed them at the last second.
Dr. Docan had meanwhile approached Bill and eyed the glass under Bill's funnel with dissatisfaction. "Finally do it. We don't have all day."
Bill cried as the next crack of the whip slammed down on his already sore, battered back. He gritted his teeth in anger, which in turn activated his venom glands. But all he brought out were just a few meager drops of venom.
Dr. Docan glared at him. "Is this all?"
Instead of a reply from Bill or anyone else, another whip cracked the air. Bill kept gritting his teeth, but his vemom reserves were completely used up. Finally, Bill couldn't help himself. He fell forward and landed exhausted on the floor.
"He can't take it anymore," he heard Mr. Tender say.
"Keep going," Dr. Docan's merciless voice reached him.
But the Gila monster didn't react anymore. No matter how many times they hit him with a whip. Not even when the guards kicked and yelled at him. His body was numb. As if someone was sucking his life energy.
"Stop that!" he heard the badger shout. "He's at the limit! Don't you see that?"
He didn't hear the rest. Only that he was pulled up, the rubber ring was removed from his mouth and his body was dragged out of the room.
"Inform the collectors," he heard another voice from a distance. "They should look for more animals like that."

Without resistance, Bill allowed himself to be transported back to his cell. It took a while for the Gila monster to regain some of his senses. The first thing he felt was pain in his back where the cold material of the pillar touched him. He couldn't even tell if he was bleeding.
Groaning, he pressed the back of his head against the pillar.
He wanted to go home. Damned! He wanted to go home!

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