“Release,” I commanded, voice as authoritative yet soothing as I could muster given the fact my arm burned and I fought with every instinct I had to jerk it from his mouth.
He released me instantly and stepped back, head low in submission. Immediately, I held out my good hand and placed it on his forehead.
“Good. Good boy, release. That’s a good job,” I praised.
When I stood and faced Xander, he stared at us with open shock. Whether it centered around the blood I could feel dripping down my arm and onto the concrete, my lack of aggression toward the animal that harmed me, or the fact Daxel did indeed try to bite him, I couldn’t be sure.
It didn’t matter.
“Get. The fuck. Out,” I said, my voice unwavering as I glared at the man. “I swear to God, if you do not get out now, I will take that baton and shove it so far up your ass you’ll taste metal for the rest of your life.”
“F-fuck you, bitch,” he responded, but he backed toward the door before bolting straight out of it.
When it closed solidly behind him, I realized I stood alone in a room full of genetically engineered dogs that I couldn’t communicate with well and one of them had just bit me. To be fair, he’d meant the bite for Xander, but still… What if, now that the man who did command them left, they decided to finish what Daxel started?
Something bumped against my hand on my wounded arm, and I looked down to see Sensee sniffing the blood. Or at least, with the way her nose flexed, I thought she sniffed it. Radia stood partially out of her crate, watching us through her squinty eyes. Daxel circled around to sit in front of me, head tilted as I’d done earlier, Xander’s baton in his mouth. I hadn’t even realized the man dropped it. I met the ged’s gaze, wondering what he wanted me to do with it. If I took it, would he then associate me to be as prone to violence as the handler?
With a careful motion, his muzzle lowered until he dropped the tool on the floor with a soft clank. The spines around his neck and back raised as he placed a paw on the edge of the baton. With a swift jerk of his head, the powerful jaws closed shut as he snapped it in half. The animal had broken the baton as if it were nothing.
“Fuck this.”
The growling proclamation raised hairs on the back of my neck. I nodded, using a foot to bat away one of the pieces to show my detest of it. “Fuck this,” I agreed before making my way to the door.
I waited until I was on the other side, safe from their eyes and ears, before I allowed myself to collapse.
Chapter Ten
“He fucking spoke, Phillip! I’m not crazy. Check the feed.” I glared at the PR head as a medic applied antiseptic to the minor gouges in my arm left from Daxel’s teeth. All in all, he broke skin but nothing required stitches. The bite had been meant to serve as a warning, mostly.
“Well, this was a traumatic experience for you, I’m sure. Though I can assure you that the geds have never bit anyone before.”
I winced as the medic applied the antiseptic to the deepest wound caused by Daxel’s incisor. He gave me an apologetic look and I tried my best to smile and let the medic know I understood.
“No, I’m sure they haven’t. But anything will fight back when it’s treated badly enough. Using brute force and scare tactics won’t work on these creatures. Not anymore. They have finally realized enough is enough, and they can do something about it. Do not, under any circumstances, let Xander back in there with him. What you see here was a test bite, and he let go because I wasn’t his intended target. Next time, Xander won’t be so lucky.”
“You’re speaking with the assumption they’ll bite again. I’ve given Xander clearance to use an electric cattle prod. That should deter any future attacks. One taste of that, and they’ll fall back into line. We have to keep them obedient, you know. I’m sure you understand,” he responded as he rocked on his heels like we talked about something as arbitrary as the weather.
“You didn’t listen to a word I said,” I accused. “Do not use force on these animals any longer. Is that clear enough for you?”
He offered me a smile meant to disarm me, and I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing his next words would only be meant to appease me. “I’ll be sure there is a security force present next training session. That way, if the geds react aggressively, there’s plenty of backup available.”
“What do you expect the security team to do? You think the geds know sign language so when Jaxx tells them to cease and desist, they’ll grovel before her and sign apologies?” I snarked back.
He patted my knee and I wanted to recoil from the contact. “Go rest. I’ll discuss the details with Jaxx.”
Without a word more, he turned on his heel and strode out the door. I growled as the door closed before heaving a sigh.
“Well, you’ve certainly got the growl down pat, dog girl,” the medic said, his tone light. “But I think next time you should take a page from Daxel and just bite him.”
I couldn’t help my laughter in response to his suggestion. When he leaned back from wrapping my arm, I turned it, inspecting the bandage. It extended from my wrist to my elbow and I raised an eyebrow at the vibrant purple color.
He shrugged. “I’m usually a vet, not a people doctor. Besides, it looks good on you.”
“Is there no medical doctor on staff?” I asked, startled by his admission.
The man nodded before shrugging. “I’m assuming Mister Evans doesn’t want word getting out just yet that one of the geds bit someone. Though, to be fair, we were all taking bets on how long it would be. Sorry you ended up the victim.”
“I’m not. If he’d gotten ahold of Xander, we’d probably have needed a mortician and not a medic,” I said as I stood.
“We may still. There’s always tomorrow.” He tossed me a grin as he opened the door for me. “Take an OTC painkiller as needed. If you notice redness, undue swelling, or pus, let me know. Nausea or vomiting, see a people doctor at once, Evans’ orders be damned. Gotcha?”
“Thanks, Doctor…”
“Mal. And it’s not short for malpractice.” He winked at me.
“Thanks, Doctor Mal. Hope we meet under different circumstances in the future.”
He saluted me before I walked out the door into the sunshine. The stark contrast of the beautiful day in comparison to what I just went through sent me straight to the guest house to seek out O’Malley. I needed the validation of someone else confirming what I’d heard. Evans skirted straight past me telling him the ged spoke, but I knew if anyone would believe me, it was the acoustic scientist.
When I reached the guest house, Jasmyne paced in the living area, face tight with worry. As soon as I came in, she rushed to me and inspected the bandage wrapped around my arm before touching my forehead as if to check for a fever. While her worry made sense, the panic in her eyes didn’t.
“Are you okay?” Her fingers seemed almost a blur as she spoke. “Mal sent me a text that you were bit. Which one did it?”
“Calm down, I’m fine. The bite wasn’t meant for me.” I attempted to sign, but the pain in my arm made me drop the attempt halfway through. “Sorry, it hurts. Xander hit Daxel with a baton, then pushed me. When he tried to hit the ged again, I got in the middle. Jasmyne, I’m worried. Phillip’s authorizing Xander to use an electric cattle prod next time.”
The color drained from her face as she stared at me, open-mouthed. “That is bad. If they increase the force, so will the geds. It will be a pissing contest, and the geds will win. They are too big. Too smart.”
“I know,” I said with a sigh. “I tried to tell him. I don’t know why they brought me here. He isn’t interested in a damn thing I have to say.”
She placed a hand on my shoulder and gave me a sympathetic smile. “I will listen. What do you want me to do?”
“Evans wants a team of security there next time Xander trains the geds. That way, if they react to the cattle prod negatively, you can…I don’t know. Take them down? I recommend tranqs and a readiness to vacate the holding cell. Sen
see and Radia didn’t get involved, but that doesn’t mean they won’t in the future. They see Daxel as the alpha. Especially Sensee. Radia still seems to be torn between loyalties.”
Jaxx shook her head slowly at my last statement. “That one is smart and mean. She’s not torn. She is planning on how to do the most damage.”
I frowned at her statement. “Radia scares you the most out of the three?”
“Daxel tells you how he feels. She fakes it. She is waiting for guards to fall.”
The sharp static of her radio cut the conversation short as the voice of one of her officers, Katarina, filled the line. “Alpha leader, this is Bravo. Orders are to crate the geds and move them to the big pen.”
Jasmyne pushed a button on the walkie talkie, and a computerized voice replied, “Confirmed.”
“Oooh, snazzy. Isn’t that interpreter supposed to do that for you?” I asked with a grin.
She leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “Be good. No more fighting dogs.”
“Hey, in my defense, I probably saved that jackass handler’s life.”
Her raised brow made me smile more.
“Go on, go on. I’m going to take a nap since O’Malley isn’t around.” I ushered her toward the door.
She waggled a single finger at me before stepping out into the bright sunshine and leaving me alone with my thoughts. My swirling array of theories and observations assaulted me like a tempest.
Why hadn’t I told her about the ged speaking? Because she wouldn’t believe me? Because I wanted confirmation from O’Malley first that I didn’t imagine it?
As the thought struck me, I sprinted to my room and logged into my laptop. Typing as fast as I could manage with a bum arm, I accessed the server with the code provided to me and downloaded the video file from today. I double-backed it to a remote cloud server, hoping the cybersecurity on this wretched island didn’t track every piece of data that pinged through the net. Once I finished, I sent the file to O’Malley’s email he’d shared with me earlier.
Satisfied the clip remained safe and in the hands of others, I shut my laptop down. I had to be damn sure the video couldn’t disappear. A sharp, nagging worry told me that it wouldn’t be the first time Evans deleted evidence of what the geds were truly capable of.
Chapter Eleven
My nap proved fitful, as heat seared through my veins and sweat drenched my clothes. Over and over, nightmares flooded my dreams, turning my passion into a cruel torment of snapping teeth and intelligent eyes. When I finally jerked free of the sucking, boneless onset of torpor, I lay there, chest heaving in the darkness.
A strange scraping caught my attention, and I held my breath, straining to listen for any further noise. It came again in the form of a heavy thump against the floor. I shot out of bed, head filled with thoughts of O’Malley’s saboteur on their way to delete the files from my laptop.
When I eased the door open, intent on confronting this person, a hand grasped me and pulled me roughly against a wall. I opened my mouth, ready to verbally shred my assaulter, when the familiar scent of Jaxx invaded my senses. She rested her finger against my lip until I nodded, showing I understood.
With ease, she flipped us around so I stood behind her, and crept forward, gun pointed at the floor in a safety-conscious pose. I held no doubts that, if needed, she could quickly swing the firearm into the needed position. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
I lingered back, allowing her plenty of space in case things grew physical. As we neared the living space where the sounds came from, a sudden crash filled the air, followed by a scrambled scraping, then the crash of broken glass. Together, the two of us sprinted down the rest of the hallway to the entrance of the kitchen and living room combo. Jaxx stopped so suddenly I almost slammed into her back.
Chaos lay before us. The table, upended and with a broken leg, lay in the center of the room. Glass glittered when Jasmyne flipped the light on. Cabinet doors splayed open, and the various boxes and canned goods within spewed across the ground.
I picked one of the canned goods up and examined the punctures that ran through the metal. The contents leaked through, and the sharp scent of pineapples greeted me.
Jaxx, meanwhile, opened the front door and peered outside. When her posture relaxed and she holstered her gun, I came up beside her and looked out into the quiet night.
“They got away, huh? Well, we can notify medical and see if anyone comes in with cuts. No way they busted through that window unscathed.”
She shook her head before grabbing my arm and pointing at the ground.
“What?” I asked, puzzled at what she wanted me to see. I searched the ground, looking for a piece of clothing. Maybe they’d dropped their ID card and we could resolve this immediately.
When I failed to spot what she wanted me to see, Jasmyne pulled a palm-sized flashlight from her pocket and shined it at the ground. Immediately, the indentations caught my attention. The depth, the perfect ovals, the sheer size.
“Can’t be Radia,” I said. “The claw indentations aren’t deep enough.”
A flash almost blinded me as Jaxx snapped a few photos and I glowered at her. “Warn someone before you blind them!”
“You didn’t look at me for me to tell you,” she signed.
“Rude!” I signed back before freezing.
My expression must have alarmed Jaxx. She swung around at first, drawing her gun to face behind us. When nothing prepared to leap out at us, she turned back to me, brows furrowed in open puzzlement.
“My arm. It…doesn’t hurt,” I said. “It should hurt.”
I walked to the kitchen counter and dug out a pair of scissors, then busied myself cutting the bandage off. Other than the itchiness brought on by sweat trapped between the material and my skin, I felt…nothing. No pain nor numbness.
When I removed the material, my hands shook. I stared at the deep purple and black bruises that enveloped unmarred flesh, and my stomach dropped.
“We need to go to Doctor Mal. Now!”
Jaxx nodded before tugging me out the door. Though her strides remained even, her head swiveled this way and that as she searched for a possible ambush from whichever ged broke into the guest house. I wanted to focus on that too, but my head swirled with endless possibilities about how and why?
When we reached the office where I was treated earlier, we walked in to an empty, dark room. Jaxx directed me to sit on a chair before she disappeared into the back. Loud bangs echoed through moments later, causing me to jump.
A man’s muffled voice spoke, and I heard the crisp, electronic response of Jaxx’s computer. They appeared in seconds. Mal shuffled as he yawned. His Deadpool pajamas brought a smile to my face despite the circumstances.
“Yo, Champ. Is there pus?” he asked as he scrubbed at his face.
I held out my arm for him to inspect while remaining silent. I wanted his opinion, untainted by my own interjections.
He peered at it a moment before giving me a pat on the head. “Looks good. Though, it probably could have waited until morning.”
Mal took a step. Two. He whirled to face me, and the shock made evident by his open mouth and suddenly-clear eyes reassured me I wasn’t crazy. He closed the distance between us before snatching my arm to examine it again.
“I’m going to assume accelerated healing isn’t your superpower, Cossondra,” he murmured as he turned my arm this way and that, looking at the bite from every angle.
“No, but I was wondering if it is Daxel’s. Has his saliva ever been tested for anything? Increased antibodies?” I asked.
Mal nodded and turned to the computer nearby. With a few keystrokes, he logged in and pulled up a chemical analysis. “We have tested his saliva. All of theirs, actually. And their blood, urine, feces…when I’m allowed to. You get the idea, though. May I draw a blood sample?”
I held out my arm, presenting the inside of my elbow. As much as I hated needles, I already expected this. We scientists loved to
poke, prod, and test everything.
Mal took a blood sample with a deftness that made me wish he’d switch into human phlebotomy. When he pressed the gauze down over the hole left from the draw, he offered me a small smile. As soon as I took over holding it, he raced off with the vial.
“Come back in the morning,” he called over his shoulder. “Oh, and maybe don’t mention this part to anyone quite yet. I’d like a chance to actually run and examine your blood sample, yeah?”
I turned to meet Jasmyne’s gaze. “Does that sit okay with you, Miss Security?”
The corner of her mouth quirked for a moment. “I think they will care more about the loose dog right now. That is the priority.”
“Agreed.” I lifted the gauze off and checked the blood draw site. “Huh, that’s certainly not healing faster. It’s even bruising, though he didn’t hurt me.”
We left Mal’s lab and walked back to the guest house. Jasmyne didn’t appear as wary as she did during our trek here, but perhaps the fact nothing ate us the first time made her worry less. Now that I’d talked to Mal and confirmed my wounds healed faster than possible, I found myself able to focus on new things.
“Why would the ged come into the guest house?” I wondered aloud. “Do you think they aren’t being fed?”
Jaxx turned to face me. “I watched them eat when we let them go after moving them. Maybe they are just curious? Like a racoon.”
When we got back, I used the landline phone provided to call Evans. He didn’t seem too happy about being woken up at three in the morning, and I couldn’t blame the guy. When I told him about the damage and our midnight visitor, however, he reassured me he was on his way before hanging up.
I sat the phone back in its cradle before turning to Jaxx.
“What did he say?” she asked.
“He’ll be here in a few minutes. I told him you’re already here. Why are you doing double duty as civilian security and consultant on the geds? Your specialty is designing holding pens and pointing out security flaws in existing exhibits or pens.”
Feral Page 6