Through a Gap in the Fence

[TheCarrionKing]

It was still there, that dark heavy feeling that twisted and churned in his gut. Teeth bared and ready to hollow him out if he let it. If he let go. But the ledge he clung to was thin, coated in oil that they'd named glue. What they called ground was simply air and he was flailing. Wanting to believe that what they where spoon feeding him was sugar and not salt. Wanting to see monsters and not a mother desperately clutching her child. Eyes wide as she begged for him at least to be spared. To let him go. To not hurt him. To please lower the gun and...


James gritted his teeth and set the rifle against the wall. He drew in a deep breath and held it for a moment eyes drifting up to stare at the millions of stars that twinkled against the backdrop of black. His breath hissed out between his teeth when those images refused to fade. Cloudless blue eyes that where too big for her small face with oblong pupils filled to the brim with tears. That shouldn't be what he remembered. It should be the twisted horns, or the massive claws, or the scale covered tail with inch long spikes. Not her eyes, not those eyes. Her words shouldn't still be ringing in his ears, drowning out the cries of the owls or the gentle songs of the cicadas and crickets. He should only remember the gravelly way she spoke, as though she'd just swallowed a fist full of rocks. He shouldn't remember the tiny motionless body she held in her arms or the way her tattered clothes stuck to her body as the blood soaked into them. 


A shiver skittered down James spine, raising goosebumps as it went. He pulled his combat coat closer to his body and shoved his hands into his pockets, despite the air not being cold. No, the cold came from the curled squirming mass in his gut. The one that refused to leave even after being exercised by the priest and drowned with cheap beer and poor company.


Doubt and guilt certainly where persistent little buggers. 


He let his gaze move from the stars to the gap in the wall. It was about five feet tall and three feet wide. Not big enough for the actual abominations to get through but more than enough for some of the smaller horrors to slip in. So it had to always be guarded and the guard had to be vigilant, not staring off into space feeling guilty about shooting monsters in the head. 


The leaves on the other side of the gap danced softly, bleached white by the light of the moon. A few creatures that he didn't have names for played among the branches. A beast with a giant tail stood on it's hind legs, nose twitching, before slipping into a burrow. The world began to fall quiet as one by one the night creature ceased their games and songs. All sensing something in the darkness that James couldn't see. He licked his lips and swallowed. His fingers inched down towards the rifle as he strained his eyes to see whatever was approaching. Despite the full moon and the flickering street lights behind him he couldn't make out anything more than a vague human like shape. His now shaking fingers bumped the riffle's barrel, knocking it to the concrete floor. He let out a soft growl and dropped his gaze from the figure to his hand before snatching up the rifle. With his hands still trembling he pointed it at the figure. 


"Stop," He'd meant it to sound strong, like an order or a command. Instead it came out like a plea. A plea for him to not have to be haunted by yet another set of eyes. A plea for him to not have to betray his home by being unable to pull the trigger. 

 

[Lioness075]

Dust kicked up beneath his ragged combat boots, his clothes permanently coated in the very same thing. Out in this world, nature was at the core of everything. One could leave their home and walk only ten meters before they'd find themselves surrounded by nature and, no doubt, some of the more wild beasts in this world. Lunarlight had always found a unique comfort in the nature surrounding his homelands, thus he often would stray from the campsite and explore the world around him. With his cat-like irises, Lunarlight had little trouble finding his way in the dark and enjoyed the more quiet and cooler setting of the night. It was a serenity that most mutants didn't understand...or couldn't.


Looking about him while he quietly walked, Lunarlight smiled, as he watched a small family of rodent-like creatures scurrying for their burrow. These creatures were nearly a foot long and quite big in general, but they were more likely to run at the sight of you than attack. Naturally, they dove for their burrow the moment they saw Lunarlight. After all, a cat tail swishing about behind him and the glow of his cat-like eyes cried out danger to most creatures he ever met. He certainly wasn't making any friends anytime soon.


Regardless, Lunarlight still smiled, as he casually put his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants while he continued on his nightly walk. As a light breeze danced in the air, his leather jacket flew out at either side briefly, exposing his rather unkempt shirt beneath. There was not much to it, as it was a simple and plain brown shirt, similar the brown clothing that most at his campsite wore. All of his clothes were ragged, as he'd worn them for years and hadn't had much of a chance to change things up. After all, they had to make their own clothes out here, or find someone willing to help them.


With his tail flickering about behind him in the dark, Lunarlight turned a corner to see he'd just about reached his destination. He'd seen the glow coming from this hole in the walls many times before, but had never brought himself to actually visit it. After all, they'd been warned all their lives about the dangers of the...'humans' and that was a nice word for them. Yet, tonight was different. Tonight, Lunarlight could not resist his curiosity. He needed to know what it was like there. Were humans truly as dangerous as they were said to be?


Just as he asked himself this question, Lunarlight froze, as his eyes shot up from the ground to see the human, who was quite shakily and nervously trying to stop him. Was he really going to shoot Lunarlight for simply approaching the wall? After all, Lunarlight may have never shot a gun himself, but he'd heard of them before and could only assume the intricately designed metal stick was one.


With his eyes glowing in the darkness, Lunarlight remained where he was so as to not cause further complications. "I mean you no harm, human," he spoke, his voice sounded scratchy and yet, there was an accent to his voice...one that could almost distinctively be Australian. Grinning now at the human since he felt such a clumsy one was less likely to actually harm him, Lunarlight stepped forward into better lighting, his tail now visible as it swished this way and that behind him. With more confidence in his voice, Lunarlight said, "Y'know, mate, generally it's a good idea to be a wee bit more confident when you're the one holding the gun." Crossing his arms over his chest, and possibly exposing his claws to the human before him, Lunarlight continued to now smirk at the boy, waiting for his response.

 

[TheCarrionKing]

Every muscle in James' body tensed at the boy's words despite them not being hostile. He tried to stop the barrel of the gun from wavering back and forth, but failed. The mutant just looked so human. Well, if James ignored the glowing eyes and swishing cat tail...and the claws. A sigh slipped from his lips and lowered the weapon, but kept it in his hands. He kept his eyes trained on the cat like boy, body still tense as he watched for any hostile movement.


Then the boy told him to be more confident, and James almost fell over. Did he want to die? Or was he just teasing him? By the smile on the boy's face he assumed he was just teasing, either that or this mutant was severely messed up in the head. Not that that made him feel any better. After all the teasing could just be to lure him into a false sense of security and...ugh. James moved one of his hands from his gun to run it through his hair. This was getting him no where. The last thing he needed was for the boy, the mutant remember it's a mutant, to think humans where idiots and that's what he would think with James standing there like a half wit. Then he'd tell the others and they'd be over run and then James would have to shoot one and...


"I'd be more confident if you didn't look so much like my cat," It was a lie. The boy, mutant, looked nothing like James' cat. Not even if he squinted would the mutant look anything like that fuzzy twenty pound bowling ball. Thankfully he'd gotten rid of the wobbling in his voice, and replaced it with a growl, so maybe the mutant wouldn't notice. If he did well...there wasn't much James could do. 


"Though maybe you should leave before I gather my nerve. I'm sure you have mice to chase or whatever the equivalent is out there," The words tasted rather bitter on his tongue. Mutant or not insults weren't particularity something that James liked to dabble in. He could almost feel his mother's scowl as soon as they left his mouth and sent up a silent prayer, hoping it'd make the feeling go away. Of course it didn't but that was just the kind of night that James was having.