Hunting Delusions

Trapped

The sun is high in the sky, beating heat into the world below. There, dusty streets teem with people walking up and down its familiar trail. Farmers yell at the crowd and beckon them to buy produce for as cheap as it can go. Just around the corner a family huddles in the shade of a tree. Two little boys sit in the dirt, filling nano-plastic bags with water. The eldest of the three boys stands with his mother yelling about what they have to offer, "0.5 euros for one bag of water!"

The offer attracts many as the dry desert air becomes overbearing at this time of day and here clean water is hard to come by. Soon they are out of the water and the boy's mother calls to each, "Salem, Eric, Tori, it's time to head back home. And since you guys have been so good we can all share a fruit." Each brother perked up at the mention of food and a treat at that. Eric, the middle brother began to pack up their little stand, putting the small cooler in a wooden wagon. Tori took his little brothers hand and helped the fatigued child into the wagon next to the cooler.

Done with his part, Eric walks to his Mom and takes her hand. She smiles warmly, her face is wrinkled with worry and dulled down by the work of raising children. Pulling the wagon behind him, Tori takes her other hand and looks up at her. Every wrinkle is in the right place, every smudge of dirt brings her warm amber eyes out, and her chocolate skin was the softest thing he'd ever felt. The boys loved her very much and she did too. As they were happily eating their promised fruit a ten foot large wire fence rose above them, crowned with barbed wire and armed guards at every entrance.

Advanced technology stood out against the dirt roads and every person ushered through was scanned, documented, or taken away. The family had to worry of such a thing for Tori was just over the age limit, Eric did not have the special gene, and Salem's sixth birth was only a year  away. They were barely safe. "Next!" a nearby guard shouted, signaling that it was their turn to go through the process of legally going through the barriers. Tori pulled the wagon up to a stand that a guard stood behind. He took Salem out of it and stood back. The guard grunted and lazily checked through their belongings.

Finding nothing important he goes back to the stand and retrieves a device. He shoves it towards the boys' mother as she offers him a weary smile. She takes her index finger and allows the machine to prick it and take a sample of her blood. The sounds of whirring and clicking emits from the device, it dings and flashes green. She then hands it to Eric who does the same for himself, annoyed he still had to do the procedure.

Then he hands it to his older brother; Tori once again repeats the action, taking care to show his little brother that it didn't hurt. The family involuntarily held their breath as Tori carefully knelt down, he gently took Salem's small hand. The child reluctantly allowed the machine to prick his finger, flinching and pulling away quickly after. The air was thick enough to suck through a straw as the sounds of the machine echoed. It made a denial sound as it flashed a red light. They knew this would happen, but it struck painful fear through them every time.

Salem had a special gene that allowed him to genetically fuse with an animal. When he was old enough he would be taken away from everything he has ever known and given to the HASC. The gaurd grabbed the device and walked back behind the stand, pressing on it's touch-screen surface. He frowned and turned to the mother, "This one's scheduled to a year early ma'am".  A knot formed in the mother's throat as she held back sobs of despair, they were taking away her baby. The seemingly invisible guard sighed and recited the words he was required to tell every grieving parent, "Before you leave it is required that you take your child to section five for collection, there you will receive your benefits, thank you for your services," the man sighed "Next". In a state of shock, they shuffle over to the next line with a very scared and confused Salem.

Despite being young, Salem knew something was wrong. The family walk in a chain formation, slowly coming back down to cold hard reality. Tori was not very surprised, the small but already well-oiled gears in his head were turning rapidly. The moment the machine flashed red, Tori new what he had to do, he knew what he wanted. He looked at his family and burned every detail about them into his memories. They finally stopped in front of another officer standing next to a large white truck; Tori gathered his brothers in a tight hug. He whispered words into their ears and forced himself to pull away.

By the time he turned to his mother, tears flowed freely down her face. She understood what he was about to do, she knew him too well. Tori looked up at her, the first face he remembers was hers, he was seeing it for the last time. She took his shoulders and shook her head, face contouring in pain as she held back a mothers need to protect her children. He stared deep into her eyes, pried himself away from her hands, turned around and walked away. The feeling of his mother's skin still lingered in his memories. Tori had walked himself into the fate of  Plásma and there is no going back.