Hybrid

Salvage

Sasha was sound asleep. I only wished I was that fortunate.

We had to shift locations because we were scared someone would come later to flush out the survivors.

The handful of us who survived ran deeper into the forest.

Me, Sasha, Gladys, Ferdinand, Louis, and about fifteen others made it out alive. We don't know how we did it.

The purge was unexpected. Our lookouts were caught by surprise because they were relaxed after lunch. I don't blame them.

I'd covered Sasha's eyes as we had walked through the camp. I couldn't bear for her to see the dead bodies of her friends. Sasha was one of three children who survived.

My hatred for the Hybrids only grew stronger after this incident. They killed my family twice. If they had gotten Sasha or Gladys...

I made up my mind. I was going to help the survivors settle down somewhere, and after they did, I would run away, sneak into the city, and kill as many of those filthy Hybrids as I could. My blood howled for revenge. My soul begged for it. My mind couldn't think of anything else.

* * * *

"Isabel," Ferdinand called as he and Louis came and sat next to me.

"What?" I scowled.

"We've figured out our location, and it turns out we're right next to the Waste Center."

The Waste Center was basically just a polite way of saying garbage dump. Every few days, some of us would go there and steal supplies and other items.

"We need someone to scout there to see if any Hybrids are lurking around. Can you do it?" Louis asked.

"Can I? Yes. Will I? Definitely."

How disgraceful, I thought later that night, as I prepared to leave. We have to count on these dumps for the items we need. It feels so degrading. Another thing I'm going to kill those Hybrids for.

I softly kissed Sasha's forehead, made Ferdinand swear on his blood that he would protect her, and ran.

"This is perfect," I said to myself. "This is a perfect chance to get my first kill."

I hid in the shadows, afraid that the moonlight would give me away.

When I saw that the coast was clear, I leapt across the barren road to the dump.

I still felt humiliated at the fact that we had to salvage so much from what was thrown out by the Hybrids. We were worse than animals.

I rummaged through the dump, and found a small, blue ribbon. I was pleased: it would make a nice gift for Sasha...

A crashing sound from behind a stack of crates made me realize that I was not alone.

* * * *

Unknown POV

I honestly did not understand why they needed someone to guard this bloody garbage dump. We really shouldn't care what the mortals do outside the cities. I mean, the purge in itself was pointless.

The only reason they hired me to do this crap was because I graduated from military school with top honours, and they didn't want to seem like a bunch of weirdos by sending the top graduate to some stupid posting in the suburbs.

Here's the thing: it's really unsafe outside the city, especially at night. Everyone knows about the mortal communities living in the dense forests around us. And we know they want our blood. Our leaders aren't stupid.

So they enforced the barricades around the city, and it takes almost a month to get a regular permit to travel elsewhere, unless you're high up in the ranks or have an emergency. And even then it takes a while.

So there I was, patrolling the place, which smelled surprisingly nice. I suppose the Waste Management Department had been doing a good job of keeping the smell away.

I heard a shuffling sound. Someone was here, rummaging through the waste. I guessed that it was a survivor of last week's purge.

I didn't want to kill the mortal, but if I didn't kill them, they would kill me. Well, I thought, if I have to kill them, let it only be in self-defence.

I tried to hide behind a stack of crates, but I was too noisy, and crashed against them.

A gasp came from the other side. I wonder who it is.

I leapt out, ready to unleash my blades...and I saw her.

She was beautiful and terrifying at the same time. Her jet-black hair fell to her elbows; a little messy, a little wavy. She had beautiful dark eyes, whose colour I couldn't determine, but they were intriguing all the same. She was tall and muscular, but still shorter than me. Her entire body was scarred and bruised, and there was a snarl on her beautiful face.

Before I could do anything, she had me pinned against the crates, a knife against my neck.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tear your body to pieces right now," she snarled.

"I-I wasn't going to kill you!" I yelped. "I swear!"

"As if," she laughed sadistically. "You're all the same. Filthy Hybrid!" She spat out.

Her face showed anger, but those beautiful black eyes showed pain. Pain and hurt, like nothing I'd ever seen before. It was clear that she wanted to kill me, but underneath that, I sensed something broken. Someone broken.

"I've had it with all of you," she growled. "Die, scum!"

I leapt into action. Within seconds, our roles were reversed. She was now the one pinned against the crates, and it was my blade at her throat. Only my blades emerged from my forearms, and I was born with them in my body.

The eyes changed. It was like looking into the eyes of a little girl. She was frightened, as though this had happened to her before. I wouldn't have been surprised if it had. She'd probably been a child at the time of the massacre, the memories would have stayed.

I suddenly felt sorry for her. Although most grown mortals at that time had been maniacs, this girl actually had nothing to do with it. Hell, she probably wasn't even born when us Hybrids had started planning the Revolution, as it had been called then.

"Listen," I said. "I'm not going to kill you, or hurt you, as long as you promise not to attack. I'm going to take your weapons away, okay?"

"No!" She cried out, struggling in fear. "Let me go!"

Although the struggling made it difficult, I was able to grab her knives and hide them in my clothes.

After the knives had gone, she sank down to the ground. "I'm not going to do anything," I reassured her. "I just want to talk."

"And why should I believe you?" She asked angrily, looking up at me. "Your blades are still drawn. Why should I think, even for a second, that you won't kill me? Also, you're a man. You'll probably go ahead and have your way, won't you? Just like so many women were abused before they were killed!"

"Do you think so badly of me?" I asked quietly, my blades receding back into my skin. I sat down in front of her, unable to believe what I was hearing. My parents had told me that the ones involved in the massacre had committed terrible atrocities, but to hear the exact details from a mortal's mouth...it sounded worse than I had ever imagined.

"Of course I do! Why won't you kill me, though?" She asked, still looking me in the eye. "Don't you Hybrids want to kill humans?"

"Not all of us are like that, ya know," I said, lapsing into my street dialect, something I hadn't done since joining military school.

"W-who are you?"

"Call me Miles." I grinned. "Military school graduate and researcher on mortals."