Last of My Kind Chapter 4
Story by Mr Drake on SoFurry
It has finally returned! (feel like I've been saying that a lot) I have no excuse for this. This chapter should've been done months ago. I only hope you can forgive me for taking so long to upload this story.
Happy reading.
Shane finds himself in a bad situation as he is confronted by the people who shot the dog he wanted to take in.
Last of My Kind
By Evan Drake
© 2019-2020, Evan Drake, All Rights Reserved
Chapter 4: New Friends
Shane stood rooted to the spot even as every part of his mind screamed to run. Even as he heard the approaching footfalls of whoever shot the dog. Even as he heard a male voice call out, “Hell yeah! I got it! Did you see the way that dog flew?”
“Yeah, yeah, I saw it. And keep your voice down. You wanna bring the raiders down on our heads?”
His mind screamed, Move, you dumb fuck. MOVE! But the message his brain sent to his legs got lost. He could only stare at the blood on the street, the scene of the dog’s life being snuffed out in an instant replaying in his mind over and over.
A pair of wide three-toed talons attached to green-scaled legs appeared before him. These legs were too thick the claws were dry and cracked so they couldn’t be Sasha’s. The figure crouched and a reptilian face appeared. It confirmed that the lizard-human was not Sasha. This one’s head was too wide and was male. Shane had no idea how he knew that, but he did.
“What the hell are you?” the reptile-human asked.
“Yo, Kev! What are you doing?” another voice asked. Another lizard-human appeared. This one was male as well with brown scales instead of green. This one was also much older looking. There were no wrinkles or signs of greying, but he just carried that look of someone experienced.
Shane was paralyzed by the large assault rifles they carried.
“Check it out, Ezekiel. This guy looks freaky as hell. What is he?” He raised his rifle under Shane’s chin. “Think he tastes good?”
The one called Ezekiel’s eyes widened as he pushed the barrel of Kev’s gun down. “It couldn’t be. You’re a human.”
“Wait, this is a human?”
“Don’t you remember those pictures I showed you? Those were humans.”
Kev shrugged and Ezekiel rolled his eyes before turning back to Shane. “Come on, get up. How many others are out there?”
“None,” Shane said quickly. He wasn’t sure if they could smell Sasha on him or not, but he wasn’t going to give her up. These guys were likely going to kill him. The least he could do was make sure she got away. Hopefully, she heard the gunshots and decided to get out of dodge.
“You survived out here by yourself all these years?” Ezekiel asked, his eyes narrowing.
“No, I just woke up a few days ago in a place I’ve never seen before. I don’t know where I am or how I got here.”
The harsh expression melted off the lizard-human’s face. “Sorry to hear that. I was the same way.”
“Wait, you were—”
“We have a camp nearby. If you want to talk, we’ll do it there.”
“Whoa, we taking him back to our place?” Kev asked.
“Why not?”
“You told me not to trust anybody.”
“When was the last time you saw a human? I don’t think he’s going to be running back to his buddies.”
Kev shrugged, but the look he gave Shane was full of contempt. Shane said nothing and followed Ezekiel down the street. He was sure he wasn’t getting a say in the matter.
There was no more discussion as they walked down the street, Shane sandwiched between them. Ezekiel and Kev kept a tight grip on their guns and watched their surroundings very closely.
Eventually, they got off the street and approached a house. The windows were boarded up so he couldn’t see inside. Instead of approaching the front door, they went around the side. No one spoke but Shane wanted to ask questions. Who were they? Were there others? How long had they been here? What were they looking for? Fearing how his captors would react, he chose not to break the silence.
Ezekiel used a key to unlock the door and led Shane inside. The inside was much cozier than Shane expected. It was a maze of neatly stacked boxes and storage bins providing more than enough space to move around comfortably. They went to the living room. Inside was a sofa and chairs that looked to be in pretty good condition. The floors and furniture had been wiped down. There was no TV, but it wasn’t as if there was anything to watch anyway.
“Make yourself comfortable,” Ezekiel said. He dropped onto the sofa. Suddenly his face twisted and he quickly shifted his weight, pulling his tail out from under him. “Sorry. Damn tail. You never get used to having this thing.”
“Sorry to hear that.” He sat on the other end of the sofa.
Ezekiel released the appendage and draped his arms over the back of the sofa. “It looks damn cool though. You want anything to drink? We don’t have power so it won’t be cold, but we make do.”
“No, thanks.”
“How are you a human?” Kev asked as he sat on the chair opposite theirs.
“Kev!”
“No, it’s okay. I was going to get straight to the point anyway.” He turned to the younger lizard-human. “I don’t know why. I don’t even know what the hell is going on. I just know I woke up in a place I had never seen before, the whole world has gone to shit, and lizard people are walking around.”
Ezekiel and Kev looked at each other then turned back to Shane. “You really don’t remember anything?” Ezekiel asked.
“I remember everything up until the point I was taken underground and put in a sleeper pod.”
“Sounds about right. I don’t remember how I turned into this,” Ezekiel said, motioning to his body. “I can remember I used to live a shitty life as a drunk and a deadbeat. I remember my second failed marriage, my kids not wanting to talk to me, and drinking till I passed out watching reruns.” He sighed and rubbed his head. “Then I wake up in one of those sleeper pods like you see in sci-fi movies looking like this.”
“You have kids?”
“Had kids. As fucked as it sounds, I don’t want to see them again if it means they have to struggle to survive in this hell.”
Shane turned to Kev. “I thought you two were brothers or something.”
Kev tilted his head and blinked. It felt so odd seeing that reaction from something that could talk back. “We don’t know each other. Zeke just saved my life is all.”
“So what was your life like before all this?”
Kev frowned. “I was just a kid when everything went to hell. I woke up like this.”
“We think they have some kind of aging thing,” Ezekiel added. “He definitely isn’t a child anymore, but I don’t feel any older.”
Shane stared at his lap and played with his hands. He had no idea what to say to that or even if he should. In the end, his curiosity won out and he asked the question that had been nagging most on his mind. “So how long have you guys been out here?”
Ezekiel clasped his hands on the top of his head and exhaled. “Man, I don’t even know. A couple of years, maybe? Keeping track of the days stopped being important once the world died.”
“What happened?”
“Beats me.” He slid off the sofa onto his knees in front of the table. He sat the gun on the table and began taking it apart. “The most I could gather, there was a war or something. Maybe we were invaded by aliens and they did this to us.” He looked at his scaled hands, wearing a look of disgust. He sighed and turned to Shane. “Doesn’t explain why you’re different though.”
“I wish I knew.”
“Well right now you got bigger things to worry about.” He went back to cleaning the gun. “Anyway, count yourself lucky the Raptors didn’t get their hands on you.”
“The what?”
“A bunch of nutjobs who think they run the world,” Kev said. He stood up and grabbed his rifle. “I’m gonna do some rounds.”
“Don’t go too far from the house.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
Once the younger one had left, Ezekiel turned back to Shane. “Don’t mind him. He’s lost a lot--including his childhood. Poor kid can’t make heads or tails of what’s going on.”
I can’t even begin to imagine what he’s going through. “What about these Raptors? They sound like a bunch of nerds.” He added on a little chuckle.
Ezekiel didn’t share the humor. “They sound like something ripped off of a video game, but they don’t play around. They got lots of guns and itchy trigger fingers.”
“But what do they want?”
“No idea. They just drive around and grab whatever they find. Food, supplies, prisoners.” He held up a piece of the barrel and stared into it for a moment then cleaned it again. “If you see a caravan driving down the street, you hide. I’ve seen them shoot on sight. Sometimes they drag you away, but I don’t know where. Don’t plan to find out either.”
Shane thought back to when he first woke up and saw the lizards in the facility. A chill went through him at the thought of what would have happened if they found him or Sasha.
The back door opened, followed by quick footsteps before it closed again. Ezekiel drew a pistol from his belt and pointed it at the door.
Kev hurried into the living room. “There’s someone out there.”
Sasha? No, she can’t stand me. She wouldn’t bother.
“Did you get a good look at them?” Ezekiel asked.
The young lizard shook his head. “Naw. But I know there’s only one. Something’s up with their scent though. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Human?”
“No, definitely different though.”
So they do have an improved sense of smell. Good to know.
_ _ Ezekiel sighed and stood up. “All right. I trust you made sure you weren’t followed?” When Kev nodded, he added. “Fine. Everyone stays here tonight. If we’re lucky they’ll move on.”
“And if we aren’t lucky?” Shane asked.
“Then we do what we have to.”
Shane didn’t like the way that sounded. His misgivings about Sasha aside, he didn’t like the idea of harming her.
There wasn’t much time to reflect on his thoughts for Ezekiel decided to explain the basics of surviving in the world. Even though they were reptiles, they didn’t have problems with cold temperatures. They could see easily in the dark, so any light was easy to pick up at a distance. It was strongly recommended to do any scavenging during the day.
Food took priority over weapons, and shelter took priority over food. He showed Shane how to make pepper bombs. They wouldn’t kill anything, but it screwed up their sense of smell making for good getaways.
That night, they ate baked beans. Shane couldn’t remember the last time he tasted something so good. Kev and Ezekiel laughed over some inside joke that happened during their last scavenging run.
When they finished dinner, Shane asked the others, “Are there any settlements?”
Ezekiel and Kev wore grim looks.
“Yeah,” Kev said. “But they suck.”
“What do you--?”
“He means they don’t take in survivors. If you show up outside their gates, you’re more likely to catch a bullet in the head.”
Shane fished the spoon around in his empty bowl. “Oh. Sounds like ‘shoot first’ is the only policy around here.”
“Because it is,” Kev said.
“Wait, what?”
“He’s right,” Ezekiel said. “We might be nice, but that doesn’t mean everyone else is.”
“But you didn’t shoot me.”
Ezekiel shrugged. “Because you’re a human. Haven’t seen one in such a long time, had no idea how to react.”
Nightmares of Sasha being gunned down plagued Shane’s sleep.
The following morning, Shane felt exhausted, but Ezekiel wanted to get a head start on today’s scavenging run. A truck had been left behind and it needed to be investigated. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to squeeze into our territory,” Ezekiel said. “First, they leave cars and whatnot around to see how much you pay attention. If you ignore it, they start to fill it with supplies for their raid. Finally, you wake up and there’s half an army on your doorstep.”
The walk to the truck was shorter than Shane thought. He recognized the vehicle immediately. It was the same one he and Sasha had parked behind when they first arrived in town.
Kev opened the back of the truck revealing it to be empty.
“That’s a good sign at least,” Ezekiel said. He stepped around the other side. “Shit. Someone parked a car with supplies in it. Let’s look around. Hopefully, whoever left it here didn’t cover their tracks.”
“Maybe we should check the far side of town,” Shane offered. “They would be pretty stupid to hang around the truck, right?”
“Let’s get out of the open first,” Ezekiel said. “This parking lot is—”
Kev jerked violently backward by an unseen force as a gunshot cut through the air. Ezekiel swore and grabbed the injured lizard before ducking behind the truck. Shane’s body moved on autopilot joining them.
Ezekiel took off his shirt and held it over the gunshot wound on Kev’s chest. “Hold on, kid.” He turned to Shane. “We can’t stay here. Can you see the shooter?”
Shane couldn’t move. His only thought was the moment he reared his head, it would be blown off.
“Shane!”
“Huh? What is it?”
“I need you to cover me! He’s gonna die if we don’t move!”
Shane nodded, but it was all he could do. A reptile human stepped around the truck, appearing behind Ezekiel. It was Sasha. She wore a heavy scowl and raised the rifle in her hands.
“Don’t!” Shane cried.
Warm wetness splattered on Shane’s face. Ezekiel lunged forward landing flat on the ground.
Sasha looked around before aiming her gun at Kev. The lizard’s eyes widened and his mouth opened into a soundless scream. His body jerked as another round entered his chest then he fell still.
Shane stared a the two lizards laying in a growing pool of blood. He wished he were somewhere else. Anywhere other than where he was now.
Sasha ran over and started searching Shane’s body.
“Why…Why did you do that?” he asked. He seized and held her at arm’s length. “Why did you kill them?!”
Sasha tilted her head.
Shane growled and shoved her away. “Why?! What, did you think you were saving me? If they wanted me dead, they would’ve shot me yesterday!” He turned away and kicked the side of the truck.
Sasha started pulling him towards the 4x4. He wrenched his arm free. “What is wrong with you?! You just shot them and now you’re ready to just leave them to rot?”
Sasha warbled worriedly and pulled Shane’s arm again. He tried to pull free, but her grip was stronger than before. She lifted him easily into the vehicle. Stunned by her hidden strength, he did nothing as she jumped into the driver’s seat and drove away.
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