Beasts of all Kinds

[FalconX]

JUSTIN LUCAS DARNELL
" This life isn't mine and I don't plan to keep it. "

Where was she? The uniformed man glanced down at his watch with a scowl. He was sick of waiting and tired of listening to the pathetic cries of the beast writhing in front of him. He didn't care why she was late, only that she was.This resistance to her work was tiresome and it kept him from doing his job correctly. She could royally screw up her life all she wanted, but she wasn't allowed to mess with his. Luke tapped his boot on the hard ground of the military base, barely noticing the frigid temperature of the testing room.

With an unprofessional growl of annoyance he stalked out of the room. The two lab technicians didn't even glance up. They were used to the bickering arguments of the hotheaded guard and the head veterinarian. His hand carefully laid over the gun that was carefully cinched onto his belt. With the crazy experiments this place did, he didn't want to run into any runaway projects. He whipped around the corner full speed, his boots rhythmically smacking against the ground.

He stopped abruptly. Broad shoulders back and head held high with his chin defiantly stuck in the air, he was the picture boy for the military in his carefully pressed uniform. Standing in the residentially area, he raised a large hand to rap on the door of the vet's current residence. He slammed his fist repeatedly against the frame. "Dr. Parker! You're needed in the Clinic, open up!"

Silence answered him and he narrowed his eyes in frustration. Reaching down he swiftly pulled out the army issued gun. He drew back and a light clicking noise issued from the weapon. "With out without you, this crazy experiment will get what it needs. I have no qualms dealing with its euthanasia at this very moment!" He shouted at the door. A passing military general gave him a look of disapproval. Stiffening, Luke saluted the man before holstering his gun and turning back to the door.

[The Xecutive]

The annoying buzzing sound of the alarm clock went off, filling up the small room with its aggravating noise. The weary woman had already been awake, though, and she merely stared at the clock as it continued to buzz. Sleep was hard to come by, no matter how tired she was. After about two minutes, she lazily reached over and turned it off, still staring at the digital numbers. Minutes ticked on by. Eventually the rays of the sun began to flow through her tiny, barred window. She blinked rapidly as the brightness began reflecting off the walls. With that, the veterinarian began to prop herself up, sitting up in bed. She rubbed at her eyes and with a yawn lifted her arms in the air, random bones cracking. She cursed at the hard bed. Elana was never one for curse words, but this hellish place seemed to bring out the worst in her.

Looking at her watch, she sighed heavily. She looked toward the door and knew there was a patient test subject dog waiting in the clinic. She hopped into the tiny shower stall and washed up quickly. She brushed her teeth as her hair dried. This routine got more boring every day. The whole room now felt humid from the steam and it was freezing. Why did everything from the military have to be so cold and hard?! She dressed in her scrubs, throwing her lab coat over them. Her I.D. badge hung from her pocket, stethoscope around her neck.

Elana left the room. Lt. Darnell could handle things for now. She knew it would tick him off to no end, but she wasn’t going to begin working on an empty stomach. Though her body had no appetite and this military food was not satiating in any way, she knew she had to eat and therefore forced herself to eat, hoping she won’t see it later. She took the rubbery eggs and half cooked pancakes with a cup of watered down orange juice. Every bite made her gag and she took her time, laughing at the image of Lt. Darnell’s angry face. Her inner happy thoughts, if you could call them that, faded when she thought about the abuse the dog might take.

She took a flimsy pancake from the tray and dumped the rest, forcing down the rest of the orange water. She nibbled the pancake as she made her way toward the clinic. She turned the corner and saw a very angry Lt. Darnell pounding at the door of an empty room. She immediately went back around the wall and watched as he was silently scolded. She giggled slightly and as he turned back toward the door, she came from around the corner. “Lieutenant,” she greeted as she walked past him, making her way to the clinic.

[FalconX]

JUSTIN LUCAS DARNELL
" This life isn't mine and I don't plan to keep it. "

The impertinent little minx. Luke seethed as he watched the lady walk away from him. Her simple greeting was undercut by the amusement of the situation she had found him in. The embarrassment of the circumstance was quickly replaced by anger. She had made him look foolish, as she so often did, and seemed to enjoy immensely. His entire body was stiff with perfect posture but his normally smooth movements were choppy as he stalked after her.

His hand lightly brushed the cool metal of his gun. He itched to take it out and show here who was boss. However, that would be incredibly unprofessional. He was only authorized to threaten her with his gun if she refused to work, as she was prone to doing. At least she had a job, and the officials over him had assured him that she had wanted the job when it was first given to her. Ungrateful, the word flashed through his mind and he did nothing to stop it. That's what she was. She didn't know how good she had it.

Squaring his shoulders, he straightened the military hat on his head, that had been knocked askew as he pounded on her door. His eyes flashed dangerously but he continued after her. A bodyguard, that's what they told him he was. Hah! More like a babysitter for a prima dona.

The odd pair finally reached the door to the clinic. He flashed his security badge at the scanners and with an annoying ding, his picture appeared on the small screen with large green letters stamped across it, spelling "Authorized". Glancing down he pressed his thumb into the scanner and once his identity was verified, the automatic doors slid open with a satisfying 'whoosh'.

As soon as the doors parted the shrieks of a multitude of animals grated across his ear drums. He worked at a freak show. He grimaced at the prolonged high-pitched whines of the dog that was strapped to the ground. saliva bubbled from its mouth and coated the fur around its mouth with a slimy texture. The poor beast writhed against the restraints, eyes rolling back in its slender head. He grit his teeth and looked over at Elena. "This crazy mutt has no hope. Not even you can work miracles." He cast a mocking edge to his voice. He had never liked animals, but he still didn't like to seem them tortured like this.

[The Xecutive]

The lieutenant stalked past her to open the door to the canine unit of the clinic. She waited patiently, moving back and forth on the balls of her feet, looking everywhere except at Darnell. Even without looking at him she could tell he was boiling. The anger was practically radiating from him. She heard the pressure release from the doors and they slid open. Each time before walking in she had to mentally prepare for what might happen and what she was about to do. Many of the animals were dying or seemingly rabid from the tests and she could not figure out why or what had gone wrong. One of the worse parts about being paired with cold, hard Darnell was these common soldiers were not allowed to know what was going on. Only a couple of the other vets knew, but everyone else was on a need-to-know basis. Darnell had no idea and she knew he saw how reluctant she was to work. It sickened him and she could not tell him the truth.

With an exasperated huff through her mouth, she walked through the doors. They were greeted by booming barks from the canine unit. A large grin replaced her sadness and she seemed to greet every dog with a smile and comforting voice until she approached the dog that was strapped to the cold, metal table. Se gulped slightly at Darnell’s comment. The dog seemed to read her pain and whimpered lightly through its lost and confused state. She closed her eyes and turned her back on the dog. Mental preparedness was now over. Elana slipped on the latex gloves and began rummaging through the drawers. She pulled out what looked an odd, silver gun and placed it on the surgery tray along with disinfectant wipes, a syringe, a couple needles, a bottle of clear liquid and a muzzle.

“Here, put those on. Hold his head,” she said throwing a pair of latex gloves on the table. She fastened on the muzzle as the non-certified veterinary assistant assisted her. Elana was sure that each time she ordered him around like one of her vet-techs, it angered him. He always seemed to comply because he was supposed to, no matter how much he hated it. No matter how much he might think it, though, she did not get pleasure out of displeasing him at times like these. If anything she felt guilty for having him assist her with this horrible projects. She often wondered if it would even bother him if he knew the truth.

The vet worked rather quickly. She fastened the needle to the syringe and stuck it into the bottle, pulling back the plunger. The syringe filled up about half way. “One more injection and we’ll see how he does in the morning,” she said more to herself, making sure the air was gone from the syringe. Removing the needle, she picked up the gun-like instrument and securely placed the syringe in the compartment. It was like loading a bullet. “Hold him please,” she said as she moved toward the dog. She took a deep breath and released it as she placed the gun on the shoulder area of the dog. “Oh, Darnell, you have no idea what we’re doing right now,” she said and pulled the trigger. There was an air-compressed type sound and the dog twitched from the pinch of the injection. Elana’s arms dropped to her sides and she laughed slightly. It was a cynical sound. The gun dropped to the floor and she sat in the chair, elbows resting on her knees as she massaged her temples. “That was it for this morning. I have to work. You can go…guard or whatever.”