Thanatophobia

8- Kindred

"I am just trying to survive here with my friends. There was a plane crash." I started to speak faster, and tears came out, "There was a monster and we all were bruised and broken. We were trying to find food when the green girl found us, then we found the cyan bunny girl, then you."

"Woah, woah. Take a calmer, there is no need to cry." Emiliee spoke.

"I'm sorry purple koala, misty-eyed girl," I spoke.

"What did you say?" She said, anger tipping her tone.

"Uh, Koala?" I anxiously asked.

"First of all, I am a bear. Not a koala. Koalas aren't even born!" She screamed.

"Keep it down please." Taylor groaned. "I'm back from the dead after all."

We stared at each other for a few minutes and tried to make out what exactly we all were. In front of me, I see a purple bear girl with pastel cyan skin. Cloudy purple eyes, two purple eyebrows, and a dot under each of her eyes were the contents of her face. Her hair was puffy purple, but straight too. She was wearing a grey and green shirt with a yellow smile. Dark dusty brown sweat-pants garments were from her waist to her ankles. She had one pink, and one purple shoe on different sides of her feet. I noticed some accessories she wore also. A black scrunchie with a white bead. I noticed a black eye choker with a white pupil.

"I gathered info." She said, "You are an emo kid with daddy issues,"

"No!" I said, "Just no."

"Fair." She said, "My name is Emiliee, I am a bear, not a koala. I am 16, and this thing on my neck helps me see."

"Okay. Now my turn." I said. "My name is Oliver Xernom, They/Them, I am in 9th grade. I am 14, blood-type O+, and I don't know where I am right now, I was trying to get to Maine from Wyoming, but we crashed about 4 hours into the flight."

"Woah, woah!" Emiliee said, "Too much information!"

"Okay, Emiliee." I spoke softly, "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry," Emiliee said, "Now how about the baby femboy over there."

"Don't-" I grumbled, but was interrupted.

"It's okay, I knew who she was talking about," Taylor said, "My name is Taylor, I am also 14, Also in 9th grade, Also the same story on how I got here."

"Wait," Emiliee said, "Did you say monster?"

"Yeah?" I said, "Did you need a description?"

"Sure, I just-" Emiliee paused, "I want to know if it is that time again." She clenched her fists into balls and loosened her grip when her arms hung at the default position; vertical, from shoulder to almost knees.

"There was a monster," I gulped, "And it attacked the plane when we were trying to cross this forest. The crew was incapacitated when they tried to escape the plane. I think we were the only survivors."

"Thanks for telling me that," Emiliee said gloomily, "So I guess it is true after all."

"What is true?" I spoke, "Is it that something happened?"

"No, It's just-" She paused, looking at me to see if I would listen, "We got a threat a while back from the government."

"What was it?" I said, confused.

"If we kept evading their orders to become human, or to somehow merge into society, this year's extermination would be more severe than the last."

"What is the extermination of?" I say, but immediately know. "Is it you?"

"It's not just me, but our kind. We are the only ones not confirmed dead after the first annual extermination." Emiliee spoke, "That is where I met Stacii and Isieannae, or just Isie for short."

"Who are Isieannae and Staci?" I spoke.

"Stacii is the cyan bunny girl, and Isie is the grasshopper with long, blond hair." Emiliee started to cry, "I did have a brother, his name was Henry, but he sacrificed himself to save Isie. She was dying and it happened so fast. My brother used his lifeforce band to keep him alive, and he gave it to Isie."

"Oh," I said. "I didn't k-"

"I did have parents, but all Animaterai don't last long. When you have a kid as an Animeterai, you are forced to turn human and enter human society. You don't get any 'okay, you can re-enter', it's you leave and never come back. My grandma first left for my brother, then my mum. My dad died in a freak accident."

I saw some bushes move in the distance and some screaming was cloaking the eminent silence.

"Huh?" Isie said, "Who is that?"

"No!" Emiliee screamed, "No, No, No! They found us!"

I grabbed my gun from my back holder and inserted some rounds into the gun. I aimed at the bush and waited for the anomaly to show its face. Then, a gray dog monster ran out of the bush, frantically looking side to side and screaming. Blood was caked on her white tank top.

"Run!" She screamed, waving her hands in our direction. "Don't be a fool! Hurry!"

Then, a sudden squeak escaped from her larynx as a sharp bayonet was poked through her chest cavity. The blood ran down her body, trying to escape.

Emiliee's face went pale as she watched the dog fall to the floor, unconscious and dead. Her red and orange hair flew to each side of the spherical dome of her head.

"No!" Emiliee screamed, "Juniper! We got to help her"

Gort assessed the situation. "No, We can't unless someone will die, and none of us are dying."

"I agree. Now let's move." I said, dragging Emiliee away from the body.