Duncan laughed with pleasure at my curled, shrinking shape. In his eyes I was still only a human with a little more intelligence than the others.
That thought irritated me.
I had once been a scientist who invented a biological weapon capable of wiping out an entire unit. Yet now I was trampled under the scrutinizing gaze of a species that had once been animals.
Duncan's gaze dropped to the slab of meat on the ground. Ants were already swarming it. Apparently not every creature had evolved.
"Don't like raw meat?" He asked, lifting his gaze to me as if the ant trail itself crawled up my spine and made my skin itch.
He chuckled in a low, throaty sound, savoring the cruel joke he had set in motion. "Or don't you want to eat your own kind?"
I dug my fingers into the packed earth, clutching damp grass and soil in my palm. He was toying with me, treating me like an amusement.
"Show me what you've got, and I'll give you cooked meat."
Duncan said, pausing to study my expression. He rested one shoulder against the slat of the cage and curled a lip as he looked down at me.
"Of course, not human meat."
I knew I should not give him any reaction to satisfy him. Still, the stubborn defiance coded in human DNA rose in me.
For the first time since I had been captured, I raised my eyes to meet Duncan's. Fear lurked beneath my skin, but my gaze steadied. I lifted my hand and extended my middle finger straight up, as if I had inhaled some sharp impulse; adrenaline filled my nerves.
Duncan blinked, momentarily taken aback. Would he go berserk and devour me, or would he throw me to the breeding farm as he had threatened?
Who knew. I did not care.
"What's that?" Duncan mimicked the obscene gesture, inspecting it with interest.
Ha. Insulted right in the face and he did not even realize it. A small, selfish satisfaction warmed me, soothing the wounded pride of my species.
A soft, mocking laugh escaped my throat, barely audible to myself. The little surge of bravery vanished as quickly as it had come; fear still sat heavy with regard to the beast before me and the grotesque world around us.
I drew my knees to my chest again and ignored Duncan as I glanced toward the cage door, bound with a rope in a slipknot. Was it the beasts' contempt for human intelligence, or had humanity truly degenerated into such dullness? Perhaps it was both.
"Stubborn little thing." He sighed, brushing the air as if losing interest and patience at once. "Fine then."
He pushed himself off the slat and walked away. This time I did not move. I waited a very long time curled into my corner until my limbs went numb from cold and blood that would not circulate. I did not dare to breathe heavily, afraid that any sound might betray the smallest motion around me.
I watched even for impulsive, experimental motions to test the situation. I feared Duncan would be hiding somewhere, waiting for a lapse to pounce and seize me.
This time he truly left.
When I was certain, I sprang up and pulled at the rope. The cage door opened with a low, rusty creak that echoed like an alarm through the still night.
My breath almost caught at that sound. But fear did not hold me long. I scrambled to my feet and ran.
"U u…"
I turned toward the voice. A woman, a human woman, in another cage. Her bare belly rounded and full. She looked up at me with a curious gaze and made a soft sound, like a meaningless plea.
She crawled toward me, reaching through the slats to grab the hem of my pants.
"U u…"
I bit my lower lip hard to bring the pain into focus and to smother the compassion that had begun to creep in. In this situation I could not even guarantee my own life, let alone... two more. I looked at her belly and the bitter lump in my throat tightened. I could not carry them.
They were no longer my kind. These people had become animals.
I clamped my eyes shut and pushed her image from my mind, throwing away the guilt that threatened to swallow me. I backed away and ran, plunging toward the deep forest ahead.
I had to run. Even if I fell into the jaws of my own kind, I would not be turned into a breeding machine or a puppet to amuse the beasts in some circus. I would not be kept as a pet and made to crawl at their feet.
Thorny branches and gravel ripped my flesh. The wind hissed through the leaves and chilled my ears. Even with my heart pounding in my chest, I could faintly hear the sound of claws and the low growls behind me.
Perhaps it was only my fear conjuring those sounds. Or perhaps the beasts had discovered my escape and were in pursuit.
I did not care. I poured every ounce of strength into running.
Anywhere would do, even straight into the ruins. As long as it was not those beasts' claws.
"Ah!"
My foot caught on something and I pitched forward, rolling several times. My hands and feet, already smeared with blood, were further torn by the rough ground. Pain blazed until I could no longer cry out.
Instead of my own groan, I heard ragged breathing behind me. It was not the rapid pace of a hunter closing in. It sounded like someone burned out of breath.
I forced myself up on shaking hands and glanced over my shoulder to see whether it was human or beast.
Half a body emerged under the moonlight slanting through the trees. Their feet were shod in crude woven sandals. Their trousers were darkened and clinging to the calves with wetness. The sour stench in the air told me the dampness was blood.
They sat propped against a tree, each breath shallow. The upper body remained swallowed by shadow; I could not tell if the person was human or something transformed. I should have scrambled up and kept running, but the look this figure directed at me stopped me.
Unlike Duncan, who had watched me wriggle in his grip with mockery and pleasure, the person before me looked, startlingly, like a human.
While I hesitated, muffled rustling came from another thicket and made me jump.
Pulled back to reality and remembering my goal, I forced myself to rise. Whoever this was, I had to survive first.
But my body seemed to have reached its limit. The wounds layered upon wounds spasmed and my limbs betrayed me. Before I could stand fully I sank down again.
From the bushes that had rustled earlier, a shape crawled out. Human. No, perhaps I should call him feral human. He approached like prey, drool streaking his mouth, his eyes blank.
Goddamn it. I slammed a fist into my powerless legs, trying to stir them to motion.
Get up, get up now.
As I berated myself, the feral human edged closer and closer.
Even if I swore I would rather die by a fellow human's fangs, that did not mean I would surrender. I did not want to die. In this maddened world, I still wanted to live.
I bit down hard. I no longer could tell whether the taste in my mouth was blood or tears. Both were the same salt.
The feral human was only a few steps away. He coiled his body, ready to lunge and tear me.
No—
Behind me there came a sharp sound of bones shifting. Not the crack of breaking, but the sound of growth.
That heavy, nauseating scent that had accompanied Duncan and his band as they shifted into beast form rolled in, overwhelming the blood smell. The ground trembled underfoot and heavy steps drew near.
Before I could turn, a dark shape shot through the air toward me.
Which jaws would end me first?
To my astonishment, the beast did not lunge at me. Instead it planted itself between me and the feral human.
Silver-gray fur shimmered under the moonlight. A smear of red stained its left flank, adding to its somber, majestic presence. Its massive form shielded me completely from the approaching, desperate human.
A gray wolf. A beast.
But why did it not attack me?
***