Amalgam Nation [This could possibly shock you, you've been warned.]

Chapter Ten

Chapter 10

I caught the scent of burning on the morning breeze, Hebinon was nearly always alight somewhere. Flynn had caught the scent of pigs on the trek out to the city and had followed their trail, I didn't mind.

I loved the man and with every beat of my heart I felt like I loved him more. Everyday I spent with him made him mean more to me and thinking of not having him in my life made me feel dead. Dead, like how I felt without my children. A hot wave of guilt rose up from my stomach, beating yourself up emotionally is so much worse than being beaten up physically because there's no one to stop it from happening.

I looked out at the sky, dark pillars of smoke rose from fires in the black city. I cocked my ears forwards, it was almost silent. Curious, I moved to my look out post and used my binoculars to scan the outskirts of the city.

The human settlement was there, their usual drinking barrels, mattresses and rubbish strewn around the electrical store that they now called home. They were no where to be seen. I moved my focus on to the closest supermarkets and drug stores and still there was no sign of them.

"Peculiar." I muttered to myself.

They had been there for months and there was little reason for them to move on, they couldn't have exhausted an entire city of supplies. Frowning, I followed the edge of the city for signs of the humans. To the south there were large shapes in the distance, new shapes. From my vantage point I couldn't quite make out what they were.

I picked up a barely audible beeping from the area, I stood to try and see further. A red light flickered at the back of the object. They were transportation vehicles.

I couldn't believe my eyes! Vehicles that actually worked, here, in Hebinon? They didn't belong to the resident humans, I had no doubt about that. These people were new. They had cars for fuck sake. You could only use a car if you had fuel and that had been long used up. I could hear a few shouts, a female laugh. I couldn't see them and they were too far to distinguish any words but they were definitely there in the south of the city.

"He's awake!" Exclaimed Dagon as Flynn and I entered the pack home clearing.

"His name is Key!" Yinny whispered excitedly.

The rest of the pack were crowded around the young man, Key. He was currently asleep but Nae was radiating with delight. I loved seeing her happy. In fact everyone looked happy, I suppose I hadn't thought about it but knowing the kid was going to be fine and had woken and spoken lightened my mood after yesterday.

"So fill us in?" I asked as Flynn and I joined the group around the fire. Slim got up to make us cups of tea and Auron and Nae began to explain the mornings events.

"He just woke up and said 'Hello'!" Nae said with a grin.

"He asked me for water first and thanked us for keeping him safe as well." Auron said. "He has been travelling from the north lands for a long time. He doesn't know what happened to him, his last memory is of escaping from something further north than our territory."

"He had a concussion. Makes it hard for him to remember anything." Nae interjected.

"Yes and he went on to tell us his name, Key, he was living with a group of amalgams in the north but they were hunted, murdered in their beds. That's what caused him to leave, he said there was nothing left for him there."

"Plus the danger of the killers." Haver added.

I nodded, slowly taking it all in.

"How do we know he's not the killer?" Flynn asked. I glanced at him, it wasn't like him to try and see the worst in people, but I suppose it was a valid question.

"Maybe he killed people and was driven away, injured in the process and ended up here, amidst another group. He could be some kind of psychopath..." I said. I think I rathered it when he was still unconscious.

"He's 13 years old, a child. I don't believe he has a bad bone in his body. He's an emotional wreck at the moment and needs help from us. I don't feel threatened by him at all." Slim said in a calming tone. She brought me back to reality, she was right. Even Nae could take this male on he was barely old enough to look after himself and she was a pretty crap at fighting.

"Looks can be deceiving, I can't say he looks at all threatening though. Opening up to a stranger feels so uncomfortable, it's only been us for so long." I looked at each member of my family. They nodded in turn, agreeing with my thoughts.

Eagon put his arm around Hazer and pulled her close, Nae sat on the ground next to her patient, she fussed with his bandages and Slim and Auron held padded hands. I looked into the eyes of my mate and he gave me a quick wink and a smirk. This is my family, my life had restarted with these people. I watched the pups playing in the dirt. The familiar pang reminded me...

"The resident humans are gone." I blurted out. All eyes turned to me. "I watched them this morning and there was none of the usual humans there. There are new ones now, they came with transportation, cars and trucks!"

The circle erupted with questions and I relayed the days observations. I had trekked around the edge of Hebinon until I could successfully see and hear what the humans were doing. I climbed an elm to gain cover and a clear view out to the vehicles. Perched in the tree I could almost taste the petrol wafting from the site below, the humans had a tanker full of it. There were more vehicles then I had first estimated, seventeen trucks holding soldiers, fifteen with ammunition and supplies, and six empty caged trucks with caged trailers.

Throughout the day they set up a perimeter, their soldiers were fed and watered, they wore uniforms, but they weren't the same as the ones the men had worn the day the babies were taken. Unlike the other humans that had lived in Hebinon these people were clean, healthy and strong. The matching blue and black clothing looked new... There were no factories, no workers to create new fabric, no currency. The petrol, shiny new boots, the uniforms, the guns, these people seemed like they had walked out of a time portal. This was what the scores of young men had looked like when they first left on the jets to walk into early graves.

There were men and women, they had a hierarchy and they weren't here for the scenery.
I watched them drilling their soldiers, they made them run through the deserted streets, they shot targets from the buildings, scaled fences and sparred with each other.

They killed each other.

I watched a woman jump down from a fence and knife a man in the back. That was the punishment for losing the race. This was a highly skilled killing unit.