Halfkinds: Survival and Superiority (Volume 1 - Contact)

  Chapter 18 - Oscar Lawton - Ambush

  November 17, 3040 1:00 AM

  "Hello?!" I shout at the darkness. "Who's there?"

  A few minutes ago, we were dozing off and now I stand here fearing for my life. Someone has entered through the front door. I heard the creaking noise moments ago, but it's too dark to see anything. I have a lantern in my hand. However, the surrounding slot machines and tables block any visibility.

  I hear some whispering, but it's too soft to be audible. It sounds like the intruder is having a full conversation with someone. Is there more than one trespasser? Who is he talking too?

  I don't have much time to ponder, though. Someone steps out of the shadows and into my light. It's a human, tall, medium build, but toned. He's wearing tactical gear. This is one of the men who have been on our trail. I'm sure this group is responsible for killing Leonard and Lombardi. A sudden weakness overcomes my body. The fear has set in and I begin to wonder if this is the end for me and my siblings.

  The human himself looks a bit flabbergasted. This is the first time any of us have come face to face with our pursuers. I'm sure he already had an idea of what I looked like, but seeing it in the flesh probably blows his mind. After all, we aren't the norm. We're the freaks. Judging by the way he looks, he's thinking the same thing.

  We both stand in awkward silence, unsure of what to do. Finally, he says something to break the tension. "You speak human."

  His manner surprises me. I didn't expect him to ask so calmly. I, on the other hand, don't have time for idle chit chat and cut straight to the chase.

  "Who are you?" I ask, voice shaking. "Are you the ones who are trying to kill us?"

  "No," he says again in that relaxed tone. "I'm here to talk. We got your message."

  "Message? What are you talking about?" I don't understand. I never sent a message, and neither did the twins or Maddie. They had been with me the whole time and we hadn't encountered anyone on our way here.

  "Your message, the note you left on my hovercar," he says. "You said you wanted to talk, well, here I am, so let's talk."

  Hovercar? Note? What the hell is this gibberish? Perhaps it's some kind of trick, because I certainly didn't want to meet with him, I just wanted to stay hidden. There's no way anyone should know where we are. I was very careful on our way here, making sure not a piece of evidence was left behind. In fact, the only people who knew where we were was?

  ?.no, it can't be? it can't? can it? He wouldn't have. He couldn't. But then I think about it, our history and arguments. Clashes flash before my eyes and I realize? he did.

  "You don't know what I'm talking about?" the human asks me, breaking my thoughts.

  "I... I?" I'm at a loss for words. The revelation that my own brother probably sold me and my siblings out causes my brain to overload. I can't fathom the reasoning for it. Why did he betray us? What purpose does this action serve? Is he so callous that he would sacrifice us, like pawns in his master plan? Does he feel nothing for his family?

  "Listen," the human continues say. "Even if you weren't the one who sent out the invitation, I'm just here to talk. I'm not here to hurt you. Why don't we sit down and we can discuss what?"

  Suddenly, I hear something scurrying in our direction behind me.

  "One of them has a gun!" a voice yells. He lies. We have no weapons.

  "What?" I hear the human say. He continues speaking but his words are unclear. The noise from behind masks his voice.

  I hear a sharp whizzing noise and a bright flash hits my eyes. Something has exploded and I hear Maddie let out a shrill wail. Whoever is behind us has fired a shot and it nearly hit her. Luckily, it missed and she is uninjured. The only thing that is damaged is one of our lanterns, which has been blasted to smithereens.

  The chaos is actually a blessing in disguise, it's the perfect distraction. I look at the human and he's blinded by the flash, so I quickly signal to the others and we bolt to the other side of the casino. We sprint rapidly and find shelter behind a long stretch of broken down slot machines.

  I peer through the cracks and see what we're up against. Other than the human, who still appears to be disoriented, there's also a dog and a pig. The dog has run to the human's aid, but the pig continues to rush our way. If I don't act fast, he'll be here in a few seconds. I see a rusted steel chair nearby and throw it in his direction. It flies up in the air and arcs its way down, right onto his head. He tumbles over his own footing and comes crashing into a table, causing it to flip to its side.

  "Damnit!" I hear the pig say as he writhes in pain. "Assholes hit me right on the head! I'm taking cover."

  He slowly stumbles behind the table that had overturned and sits. The human seems to be okay now, and he and the dog rush to the pig's location. He gets a nearby blackjack table and pushes it to its side, hiding behind it.

  I hear some mumbling and arguments from behind their table, but I can't understand what they're saying.

  "Why are they attacking us, we didn't even do anything!" Maddie asks in a frightened tone.

  "One of them thinks we have a gun," Isaac says.

  "Did that pig say we shot at him? I couldn't hear anything," Iris responds.

  "I don't know what they're talking about, I was totally still while that guy was talking to you, Oscar," Maddie says.

  "Shh, quiet!" I whisper.

  We don't have time to sort things out. I hear the sound of metal clinking in succession and then it stops. From behind the slot machines, I see a small silver orb a few feet from us. It beeps and I am generally perplexed.

  In the blink of an eye, smoke sprays out of it. We all start to cough violently, and scatter away to get ourselves to clean air. Maddie and the twins scramble to the right, I run doggedly to the left.

  As soon as I am clear from the haze, I feel something blow by my head, like a swift wind. I then feel another, as I continue to run forward. I look behind me and see things getting knocked down. Cups and chairs are shattered right before my eyes. Small holes explode from the wall in eruptions of cheap wood and dry paint. From the corner of my vision, I see a large column, big enough to cover me. I make a straight line for it while things continue to fly left and right. Through perseverance and fear, I make it to my destination.

  The opposite side of the column starts to blast away, debris flies all over the place.

  "Borton, that's enough!" I hear the human say, and the shooting stops. "They're not firing back. I don't think they have any weapons. Go check on the others, Apollo, and I will get the big one."

  I take a quick look at my siblings. They're holed up at the bar. I can see them from my angle, hiding behind the counter as the pig approaches him. He has guns on both sides of his body. My brother and sisters hear him, step by step by step. They are petrified. If I don't do something quick, they'll be killed.

  I look at Maddie. She's shivering, crying hysterically with the panic and dread. She looks the same way she did when we were kids, when Tiago and his crew bullied her. I was the one who got her in this mess, it's time for me to get her out of it.

  I step out from behind the column and have my arms spread open.

  "Don't shoot!" I say. "I don't have anything on me."

  The pig looks over, but his body and guns are still pointed at my brother and sisters. The human points his weapon straight at me and takes a long glance.

  "He's telling the truth. I don't see anything on him. Where were these guns you were talking about Borton?" he says angrily. "They're obviously unarmed, not a single shot has been fired from their side."

  The pig remains silent, but doesn't show any remorse for his lie. The human puts his gun down and stows it in a holster on the side of his pants. I continue to walk forward slowly with my arms in the air.

  "I give up," I say. "Take me in."

  He approaches, takes out a metal stick, and presses a button on it. An orange glow shines
and from the ends, two short beams uncoil like a snake. I've seen them before, they're energy cuffs, concentrated light that is flexible, strong, and near impossible to break.

  I put my arms together and present them to the human. He grabs one, but before he can get the cuffs on, I knock his hand away. The force of my swing causes the device to fly to the other side of the room. He looks a bit surprised, but the minute I stick my hand toward his waist, he knows what I'm trying to do.

  His gun is so close to my reach, I can practically feel my fingers touch it, but before I can make contact, I feel something, like a mallet, hit my face. It's the human's fist.

  "He's going after my gun!" he yells at his teammates.

  "Just shoot him already!" the pig yells.

  "No, I want him alive!" he fires back. He quickly unholsters his gun and tosses it to the dog. "Keep this away from him. I can take him down myself."

  I'm still a little staggered from his first blow, but I recover to my feet. I have claws and a huge size advantage, but my fighting skills are less than impressive. I throw a wild swing at his head, but he reflexively ducks under it and strikes a blow to my stomach. I crouch over in pain, but before I can even clutch it, his knee hits the front of my face. It feels like a brick and I am certain my nose is broken.

  I wobble backwards and land on my ass. I put my hands over my nose to try and contain the bleeding. My stomach is in agony, my face is soft and tender, probably bruised beyond belief. But even as I'm wrought with pain, I look at my family, who have now emerged from their hiding place to watch my moment of heroism. I can't let them down.

  A second wind comes over me and I lunge at the human. He thought I was down for the count and I catch him by surprise. I collapse over him. My whole body covers his head, and I can feel him struggle to breathe below me. I use my weight to my advantage and attempt to smother him. He violently moves his arms and legs to try to get me off, but it is useless. I actually might win this fight!

  "Ouch, goddamnit!" I yell. Right there and then, I feel a sharp pain pierce through my leg like a dagger. Pieces of flesh and delicate tendons are being torn into and it is excruciating. "What the hell?!"

  I look behind me and see that the dog has a firm grip on my heel with his jaws. He crunches down on them hard and I start to experience the muscle getting ripped from my bones.

  It is too much for me to take, so I turn around and try to kick him away. But in my attempt to shoo the dog, I lose my position and the human speedily recovers. My back is turned to him and he instantly wraps his arms around my neck.

  The dog lets go of his grasp and says, "Stun mode."

  A baton protrudes from his helmet and I see an electric spark shoot out. I feel a sting on my chest and things quickly turn black. I'm out cold.

  Minutes later, my consciousness sluggishly blurs back into place. Feeling to my legs and arms returns. I'm sitting down in a squatted position, but I can't move. Something is holding them down. I struggle to try and get free, but no matter how hard I try, my attempts end in failure.

  I see the human in front of me. My brothers and sisters are now exposed from their cover and they're on their knees. The pig still has his guns pointed at them.

  "What happened?" I ask the human.

  "Apollo stunned you," he says. "It was the only way we could bring you down. You almost had me when you tried to go for my gun. Good thing he was there to save me."

  Beaten and bloody, restraints tying my hands behind my back and my legs to the ground, I am exhausted and defeated. We have lost.

  "What's your name?" I ask the human.

  He looks at me curiously. "Simon."

  "I'm Oscar, but you probably know that already," I say lethargically.

  "I'm afraid I do. I have information on all of you."

  "So that was you the other morning snooping around our home? We saw your science division investigating."

  "Well, not me exactly, but yes, it was an order by the United Species Alliance to investigate your house."

  "They still there?"

  "Not anymore," he says as he shakes his head, "they're done with their job, we already have all the information we need."

  "How'd you find it in the first place?" The pace of my voice is slow as I continue to catch my breath.

  "A local detective ran into one of your guys. Your frog-like brother."

  "Leonard?" I look around and the realization of how screwed we are hits me hard. "Why don't you just kill us already?"

  "I told you, we aren't here to kill you," he tells me.

  "But you killed my brothers. Leonard, Lombardi, they were both murdered by you."

  "Leonard was killed by the detective I mentioned. It was out of self-defense, your brother attacked him first. Lombardi threw an explosive at two of my team members. They thought he was dangerous."

  I knew that bomb was nothing but trouble. I start to breathe hard, as the adrenaline wears off and the pain starts to make its presence known.

  "Still," I say. "They're both dead."

  "It wasn't by me," the human says.

  "Well, that is the plan. Are you going to kill us all eventually?" I ask.

  "Those are the orders I've been given, but it's not my plan," he says dryly. "I need some information from you."

  "Information?" I pause to think about how I'm going to respond. "Can you do me a favor? Can we speak quietly? I don't want my siblings to hear."

  "Sure," he says in a softer tone.

  "What kind of information?" I whisper.

  "There are only four of you here. We were expecting nine. I have another team looking for the rest of your family. Anything that could be useful for my squad would only make things easier for you."

  "Easier for me? Like how?"

  "For starters, I'll make sure that none of you will die."

  His offer is tempting, but after what I've been through I'm not sure if I can trust him.

  "Even if you're not lying, why would I help you?" I ask. "Why would I betray my family?"

  "Because from the expression on your face earlier, it looks like they already did it to you," he says bluntly. "I saw how you reacted when I told you about the supposed meeting. The shock on your face meant only one thing, you didn't set it up. And no one else on this planet knows of your existence, let alone where you're hiding. No one else except your own kind."

  I look down at the ground in shame. He's right, my own brother sold us out.

  "Don't you want to get back at him? Don't you want to help us?" he asks me.

  I glance at the twins and Maddie. They're still being held up by the pig. They look tired and drained. This is his fault. We wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for him. He ruined everything for us and if anyone deserves to get what's coming, it's him. He's my brother, but I want him dead for this.

  Yet, I think about what has gone through my head. Am I thinking clearly? Have I changed as well? Before all of this, I would never even see myself capable of having these thoughts. If I help our enemies, rat him out, I would be just like him.

  "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not like my brother," I say. "I will not help you."

  He looks disappointed to say the least, but he's not angry. "I understand."

  "What happens to us now?"

  "You're going to be put under custody while we figure out what to do. I'll need to consult my team and construct our plan."

  And just like that, grand visions of us living freely have been dissolved in front of my very eyes. The end came so swiftly. I am the fool who couldn't see the obvious, even when it was right in front of me.

  Some leader I turned out to be.