Okay all so here is a new story I'll be starting. I have the last chapter of Free at Last done and it should be up any day now. I promise I'll get the last chapter of Deep Waters done, eventually ;)
I suggest you read Wings of Gray before reading this one as it takes place in the same universe. This story happens about 13 years before Wings of Gray does. Right when the infection started and the hybrids were being forced into the camps. I have one story that will stand on it's own (Not a series) That I should be posting any day now. There will be one chapter of Deep Waters left and then that's all done. I'll work on this series and then I'll be starting another series around the second chapter of this one but I can't promise anything too soon, I'm getting busier and busier by the day. But I hope you guys are happy with this and future stories to come.
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Mar walked in the single file line with his head down. Every now and then he would glance up out of the corner of his eye at the guards that stood between the lines. Three trucks awaited the lines of infected. The guards held cattle prods and if any of them stumbled or slowed they would be punished and made to move faster. When one truck was filled to the max they would drive off and another would replace it, the back of the truck open, a bench on each side. The benches were filled until there were no more spots, and then the infected were made to sit on the floor of the truck. Mar saw all kinds of people. If you could still call them that. Some didn't. He saw different breeds of dogs, cats, and birds. Creatures he didn't even know about. Some weren't identifiable. He saw a large man with fur covering his body, tiny round ears were placed on the top of his head and his hands were larger then Mar's head; he was a bear. A woman walked by with no shoes on, due to the hooves on her feet, she had large antlers on her head and her ears twitched with every sound. A small boy with beautiful gray wings and yellow eyes was in the line to Mar's right. Mar looked around and saw only misery around the infected faces.
His tail twitched as he was about to climb into the truck. He jumped up into the truck and sat down next to a snake hybrid. He grabbed his tail and twisted it so it sat on his lap. He stroked it nervously and looked around as the half door to the military truck closed, and the truck drove towards the camps.
"So you're a fox?" The snake hybrid next to him asked. He nodded and smiled, his orange bushy tail was always a give away.
"That's cool, I always liked foxes." The snake smiled nervously.
"I'm Mar, what's your name?"
"Phil." He held out a scaled hand. Mar shook it with his own furred paw.
"Can you believe what they're doing? You think that the human race has come so far, but then something like this happens." Phil shook his head.
"It's incredible. It's like over night they go back to an old way of thinking 'They're different then us, which means they can't be trusted.'" Mar shook his head and played with the end of his tail.
"It's awful." Someone on the other side of the truck said. Mar looked up to see the young woman with antlers.
"Isn't it kind of weird that you're a girl with antlers?" Phil asked, the deer woman glared at him.
"I know." She pouted. "It's karma I guess. I was a hunter, that's why I got this hybrid." She shrugged.
"My grandmother lived with me, she wore fox shawls all the time. You can imagine her face when my tail sprouted." Some of the hybrids chuckled and the guard in the front of the truck banged the butt of his gun against the window.
"Quiet!" The rest of the ride was silent until they were forced out of the trucks, and into their new 'homes'.
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Mar shared a room with nine other hybrids. They each got one bunk, with no mattress, no pillow, and one thin blanket. Some of them died that night, the camps could get almost to in the middle of the night, the ones with fur survived the best. The cold blooded ones had a harder time. Most of the ones with fur gave up their blankets to those who were scaled or submerged in water. Phil was one of the few reptiles who made it through the first night. Mar gave up his own thin blanket to the snake hybrid and it paid off. Many of the hybrids would share the bunks to keep body heat. They were in the process of working out a 'buddy system' when they were dragged outside.
They were made to line up in the courtyard of the camp. Soon, guards piled up around them, keeping them in orderly lines. One man, who was clearly in charge, walked up in front of the group of confused hybrids.
"I'm General Marx, and I'm in charge of you scum." He smiled, revealing a row of white teeth. Mar's tail swished back and forth nervously.
"I see a lot of different species;" The General walked in front of them, "Mice, cats, dogs, birds, fish, snakes, lizards, primates..." He stopped in front of Mar. "Fox." He smiled and continued walking down the lines. "None of them. Not a single one, besides my soldiers and I, is human." He spit on the ground in front of a man who looked part Panda.
"I'm here to make sure you all stay in line," The General continued rambling, "You will work eighteen hours a day." He turned around and walked down the lines again. "You will sleep six hours, wake up and work eighteen more hours." He smiled as he walked by Mar, "Except on Saturday. On Saturday's you will sleep four hours, work eighteen hours, and before you go to bed you will meet in that arena," He pointed towards a crudely dug pit surrounded by wooden spikes, "And two of you will fight. The ones chosen to fight will be chosen at random.... usually." He gave a wicked smile. "Now get to work." He spat.
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The camp was a quarry. Mar worked hard each day and when the eighteen hour shift was over it was hard not to collapse into bed. Many of the workers did, but Mar fought it. Many of the hybrids would use their skills, from when they were completely human, to start a new life in the camps. Some were teachers, some doctors or nurses, everyone had a job before they were hybrids and it didn't change anything when they grew a tail, or antlers, or scales.
The smaller children would serve the guards and hybrids their food, and when they got done with that they would be schooled by those who weren't sleeping. The hybrids who used to be doctors were now doctors...again. They would tend to any wounds or medical problems the workers had, since the guards could care less. At least most of them.
"Sir, I was wondering..." Mar stepped up to one of the guards.
"Get back to work." He spat.
"I'm done with my shift for the day, sir." The guard rolled his eyes and set his cup of coffee down.
"What then?" He asked.
"Some of the cold blooded hybrids are having troubles with the nights. If we could just get some more blankets-"
"Everyone is issued one blanket, no exceptions." The guard said.
"Yeah, I know. But the thing is that some of us have already given up our blankets or the reptiles won't make it through the night." Mar said, somehow over the month he had spent in the camp he had become a sort of spokesmen for the hybrid. He knew which guards were easier to talk to. Not all of them agreed with what was going on, but they still had to follow orders.
"I'll see what I can do Mar, but it probably won't happen. Don't get your hopes up." The guard said, in a more compassionate voice.
"Thank you." Mar smiled, showing his small sharp teeth. The guard grunted and returned to his coffee.
"How did it go?" Rose asked, the woman who was a deer hybrid.
"He said he would do his best." Mar shrugged. She nodded and went back to sewing together clothes. She had used a piece of claw from one of the cat hybrids as a needle, and Mar had managed to convince one of the guards for thread. She spent her free time repairing torn clothing.
"Where is Phil?" Mar asked.
"He's getting ready for tonight, he was chosen." She looked up at him. Mar shook his head, he didn't want to see another one of his friends fight.
"FORWARD!" One of the guards shouted. Everyone immediately piled into the front room.
"These are the new guards who will be watching over you pests, everyone who was here before is being transferred to Alpha camp." The General said, and left. The old guards stood and went to go pack for their transfer. Rumors of the Alpha camp were common, it was a place where they experimented on hybrids. It was said to be worse than hell.
"Well this blows. I have to make new connections all over again." Mar sighed, he knew this meant he would be punished several times trying to find out who the good guys were.
"Good luck with that." Rose stepped off to finish her sewing, her hooves echoing on the concrete floor.
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"Captain." The General walked up to the leader of the new soldiers.
"Yes, sir?"
