The Zodiac Project (#Wattys2017)

The snake

I really started to take it all in. I was put of that lab for the first time in my life. This was sunlight. Real, actual sunlight.
And that was a car. An actual, real, moving car. I'd never seen a blue so bright, or a horn so loud, or-
Oh shit.
The car screeched to a halt in front of us, inches away from my face. One girl jumped out of the driver side door.
The first thing that I realized was that we stuck out like sore thumbs. Not only were we freaks with hair so bright it doubled as a flashlight, but even the normal things about us would stand out.
The girl that stepped out of the car had smooth, black hair pulled back into a bun, and smooth olive skin. She resembled Dragon in that respect, but if she was any indication of how normal people looked, we were screwed.
"Oh my god, what the hell happened?" She asked, looking at me. No, she was looking at my shirt. The grey shirt that was stained with blood.
"Well? Are you going to answer?" The girl demanded.
"Stay calm." I sent the silent message to my friends. "We can get her to help us."
"It's... complicated." I answered.
"It was those assholes who live down the street, wasn't it? God, with that much blood, you must be really hurt!" She exclaimed.
"Uh, yeah." I said.
"We'll come on. My house is right here. Kija can park the car while I get you guys cleaned up." The girl decided, leading us to a small building at the side of the road. I could feel the fear radiating off of my friends, but I ignored it.
"Kija, park the car!" The girl yelled at the car. Suddenly, a boy exited the passenger side door and entered the driver side, and the car roared to life. It drove into the driveway as we walked through the door.
It was a small house, but not unwelcoming.
"My name's Tai, by the way." The girl introduced herself. "The dude who's right behind us is Kija, and the chick behind him is Mei."
Tai told us to sit in the living room as she went to get us some clean clothes. She went to Snake first, who was looking through her books.
As she held out what looked to be a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, he turned to her. And then I remembered.
"Wait!" I exclaimed, not realizing that I hadn't said that out loud.
"What the hell?!" Tai yelled, jumping back so fast and far that she slammed into a lamp. The sudden crash of it hitting the ground startled Rabbit, who jumped so high that her head hit the moderately high ceiling.
Pig, frightened, shrunk down to a few inches. Dragon began floating above the group, trying to lower the chaos but only heightening it.
Suddenly, I heard a screech louder and higher than I'd ever heard. My friends flinched, and Tai yelped in pain.
"That's enough!" Rooster barked.
And that was when Kija and Mei entered the room to find a kid with bright red eyes staring at them, one kid floating in the air, a kid with pink hair the size of a mouse, and a suspicious dent in the ceiling.
"Tai, I swear to god." Kija sighed.
"What the fuck, guys!" Tai exclaimed.

We sat in the living room. Everyone was looking awkwardly at each other. All except for Snake, who was enthralled in one of Tai's storybooks.
"Black cats are bad luck. At least, that's what everyone says. I think those people just haven't taken the time to get to know one." Snake mused, as he peered outside. I turned to look out the window. There were no black cats in sight. Or any cats, for that matter.
"Yeah, neither have you! You've never met a cat in your life." Rooster scoffed.
Mei looked at Snake. "What's wrong with him?"
"He's just crazy. It happens when you live in one room your whole life. He doesn't bite, don't worry. I mean, he technically could, his bite is extremely venomous." Horse rambled.
Rabbit noticed the horror growing on the humans faces. "Horse, stop it. You're gonna scare them!"
"Too late, sweetie. We're freaks, scaring people is part of the job description." Rooster sighed.
"Can it be a job if you never applied for it?" Pig asked, his mouth full of the grapes that were in a bowl on the coffee table.
"So, what are you guys, exactly?" Kija asked nervously.
"Well, as far as we know, we're government weapons created to kill." I said nonchalantly.
"Oh." Kija responded. I could tell that he was the nervous type, unlike his female comrades.
I could tell that not only was Tai the oldest, but the obvious leader of the group. Mei was the youngest, but she was a firecracker, no doubt about it.
"So, what can you do?" Mei asked.
"Classified." Tiger answered simply. Even I was startled by this answer, but after a moment, it made sense. Her intentions were clear; we couldn't trust these people.
"Okay, let me get this straight." Tai said, her brow furrowed in confusion. "The Chinese government not only created super human weapons based off the animals of the Chinese zodiac, but they told no one about you and kept you sedated for 90% of your lives?"
"Yes, that's correct." Pig agreed, mouthful of grapes.
"And you guys escaped? How?" She demanded.
"Yeah, they all had guns and stuff, didn't they?" Mei asked.
"Yeah, but Rat's too smart, Rabbit is too agile, Dragon is too powerful, Ox is too strong, and so on. They know that, and yet they decreased security when we were all awake and together. That's what worries me." Tiger explained.
"THAT'S what worries you?" Kija exclaimed.
"Well yes. There has to some reason for the inconsistency." Tiger continued.
"Wait, how old are you?" Tai asked.
"Well, the emperor always told me that I was born in the correct year, therefore Ox, Tiger, Rabbit and I were all born in the year of the Dragon. Rat is a year older than us, so she was born in the year of the rabbit." Dragon said.
"Horse and Snake were born in the year of the snake, Sheep, Monkey and Rooster were born in the year of the horse, and Dog and Pig were last, born in the year of the sheep."
"Wow. That's not confusing at all." Mei said sarcastically.
"Wait, 2000 was the year of the dragon, and that's when we were born. So that means you guys are our age or younger?" Kija asked.
"Most likely, yes." Dragon agreed.
"So what year is it now?" Rabbit asked.
"2017, didn't you know that?" Mei responded.
"Like we said, this is our first time out of that lab. Ever." I repeated.
"Alice fell through the rabbit hole to Wonderland." Snake rambled. His bright red reptilian eyes scanned the pages of the book I had given him, his green hair looking brown with sewer water.
"He really likes that book, huh." Tai said, trying to change the subject from the stories of the freaks she had welcomed into her home. "Alice in wonderland, I'm guessing. I used to love that one."
"Yeah, he does." Horse agreed.
No one told her that Snake was not, nor had ever read Alice in Wonderland.