When Cass regained a little sense in her, she stood up in the white truck, gripping the walls of the truck tightly. The driver of the vehicle was almost speeding over the limits on the street. Cass walked over to the doors of the truck slowly, careful not to lose her balance. She grabbed the handles of the doors and shook them violently - she desperately wanted out of this situation.
No use.
The doors were sealed shut. Cass turned around and sat on the cold, steel floor of the truck. She looked up and saw the man sitting in the passenger seat look out the rear window - directly at Cass. She immediately averted eye contact with the stranger and instead looked at the cat across the truck from her. It was wide eyed and scared, just like her.
"C'mere, kitty kitty. I'm in the same state as you - I'm sure we can both brave through this together if you come and stay with me until we figure out what's going on." she called to the cat, snapping her fingers.
Surely enough, the cat came over, stumbling a little when the truck hit a pothole on the road. It jumped right into Cass' lap, sinking its claws into her tattered cargo pants. Cass cringed a little, accepting the pain. The cat curled right up and pushed its head into Cass' stomach. Cass stroked its back gently as it fell asleep. Cass later fell asleep with the cat, ignoring the rumbling sounds of the truck.
The two men opened the doors of the truck, making the sun dawn upon Cass and the cat - waking them both up as soon as it hit their bodies.
"Come on, now. We've got work to do." the man holding the door on the right said to Cass.
She opened her emerald green eyes, squinting as the sunlight entered her pupils. She raised her hand and held it above her eyes, grabbed the cat and held it close to her with the other arm and stood up. She walked towards the back of the truck and stepped out, walking past the men. They slammed the doors and walked in front of Cass, leading her to a large building with the exterior made entirely of glass. The two men escorted her inside, holding the two glass doors open. Cass walked inside and immediately noticed that the building was very advanced, technology wise - she felt a little bad for tracking dirt in the building from her rotten boots. Even the secretary that was there looked slick - short black hair, expertly put on make up and a sleek, black outfit, complete with silver framed glasses.
The two men took Cass through many hallways and steel doors, one after another. All of them required an admission code with a series of numbers. After several preformances, Cass noticed what the combination was - 702415. She repeated that number over and over in her head, hoping that it could save her in the future. The men opened the last door that lead Cass to a dark room full of large chambers with bubbling aqua liquid and what looked like human test subjects within them. The men pointed to the spot Cass was supposed to be, beside other homeless men and women that she didn't know - she started to get an idea of what was happening.
"Attention, everyone! I'm sure you're all scared and clueless as to what's going on - which is why I'm here to speak to you today." announed a man in a white lab coat - Cass leaned over to take a good look at him - a tall, lanky male scientist with black slacks and black loafers. She looked even closer and saw dark brown hair, a large, pointed nose and thick, black framed glasses.
"My name is Dr. Perry Gautron - and starting today, I'll be using you all as test subjects. For what, exactly? I'll have you know that I'm one of the most medically achieved inventors out there - and I've made a new medication for a disease that's been haunting us for decades. That's right - the Ventropsy virus, or more commonly known as the "Estermount Epidemic". It's infected and killed thousands, and I've gathered two of every homeless person from every city in the world to be infected with the virus and proved cured with my breakthrough medicine, which explains why there's so many of you." he explained in a loud voice, making sure everyone heard his words clearly.
Cass, listening carefully to the man's speech, thought of who else from Helix Gates would be here. Then, she realized the horror - her father was also here, amoung her. She looked around the room frantically, and saw the familar hazel eyes. The familiar tattered clothes and paperboy cap. The dirty, wrinkle filled face and the salt and pepper grey hair.
"Dad!" Cass yelled, interrupting Dr. Gautron's speech. Cass' voice got the attention of her father, along with the other homeless standing around her. She looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"Excuse me? How dare you interrupt me! This is a medical breakthrough worth listening to!" yelled Dr. Gautron, pacing furiously over to Cass. He was about to continue his rant, when he noticed the cat that Cass was holding in her arms.
"Oh!. . Excuse me, everyone . . Please, let me introduce you all to my assistant, Dr. Kendra Flax! She will be taking over the speech for me while I take care of some . . urgent business." he addressed. Dr. Flax hurried onto the pedestal that Dr. Gautron was standing on.
Before she could register what was going on, Cass was whisked away once again with the cat - she had no clue what was going to happen to her next.
