Alex lay tied up in the back of a large armored truck; metal walls trapping her and ropes chafing against her skin. A gag was in her mouth to keep her from shouting the whole ride over. After all, if you had been trapped and forced into submission would you have kept quiet?
Brown hair draped messily over her shoulders Alex glared at the two guards sitting in the front seat. Her body and clothes were dirty from
the day's earlier fight and a patch of dried blood on her ankle marked the place where the snare had dug into her skin.

One of the guards, feeling her eyes on the back of his skull turned and blinked when he saw her there; eyes burning as if she wanted to kill him. He muttered to the other man driving the vehicle, "Why couldn't the other trucks have waited for her? Surely the shipments could have been delayed for a few hours."

The drive merely huffed, "You think they were going to just sit there with all those creatures and wait for us? Something was bound to happen if they didn't get moving."

Getting Alex ready for travel had taken a little longer than planned......she certainly hadn't been cooperative and had caused quite the ruckus for her captors despite the....'encouraging'.....words they spoke to her.

The human/leopard growled through the gag in her mouth. She thought the government was done with her......how she was wrong.

Suddenly, the truck took a sharp turn and Alex fought to stay upright; going wide eyed when one of the men called back to her, "Here we are! Your new home sweet home."

She let out a quick breath. The mountains were her home......nowhere else.

Her truck pulled to a stop outside the manor dedicated to the hybrids, and one of the guard nodded, "I'll let them know we've arrived."

Jacky coughed, walking over to the house but not entering and watching. He made sure to leave the jerky behind, even though the wolf hybrid probably wouldn't touch it. He sat down, knowing he could not hear and instead watched Jerric, Melisandre, and Shadow converse.
@Puffhead@GodOfChaos

((HEY GUYS
))

For a long moment there was silence in the armored truck; leaving Alex to sit stiffly with brown eyes flicking from place to place. She had to find a vulnerability.....a weakness she could use for her escape.

Suddenly, a voice sounded from outside the truck, "Let's go ahead and unload her; I cant seem to find anybody in this place."

The driver nodded, then turned to look back at Alex and sigh. He sat up, then stood and entered the truck's rear cab.

Already a hiss edged up Alex's throat and she began to struggle; forcing the man to take a hold of her arm and huff, "Come on. It wont be that bad. Just a quick step out of the truck and..."

He was interrupted when she managed to kick up her legs; hooking him in the jaw with her heel and sending him back against the truck's steel wall with a crash.

The other guard gasped and opened the rear cargo doors, blinking and rushing in to take hold of Alex, "You alright?"

The man, rubbing his jaw with a hiss of pain, grunted, "I will be once we get this she devil out of the truck."
He took hold of her other arm, to which Alex hissed behind her gag and began to fight. She wasn't about to go down easy.

As she struggled though she noticed something about the world outside. She caught glimpses of a large building......and a stone fence.....where was she?

@Araby264
Kara glanced at the hallway that lead outside as Jerric stormed away after a guard spoke to him, but she didn't feel like getting involved in whatever mess had caught his attention. Exploring with Armis sounded like a lot more fun.

"Yeah, let's go," she said with a small smile, gesturing for the lizard-girls to lead the way.

"So, you reckon there are cameras watching us?" she peered up at the ceiling with a suspicious gaze, but she knew she was bad at picking up on detail like that.

"So far this seems awfully... chaotic for some kind of super soldier training centre, doesn't it?"

@Raafling
Armis lead her down the hallway that she read on the wall, lead to the gymnasium. She had something she wanted her new friend to see.
"Cameras? oh yeah, they've got them. They wouldn't keep their investment unsupervised, but its not like we're doing anything wrong. As for how chaotic things are right now,"
She turned around to look at Kara, walking backwards down the hallway as she did,
"You have to remember that 'they' didn't know what to expect from us either. We were bred to be super-soldiers. If they took us in and forced us to stay here, but then also forced us to act exactly the way they wanted, we would retaliate and there would be a lot more people on their end hurt. We are an unknown variable to them right now, so they have to be very cautious with how they treat us. Especially the more... Volatile of our kind."
Shadow passed through her mind. She couldn't imagine the destruction if there was a pissed of wolf hybrid rampaging around the facility. She turned back around and kept walking, mumbling, mostly to herself," He was right. They really are scared of us."

@Araby264
Kara nodded thoughtfully as Armis spoke, easily catching the last few mumbled words as well. She hadn’t really thought of it like that, that their captors didn’t really seem to know what to do or expect either. She’d only heard someone had been looking for people like her, and then her attempts at trying to disappear hadn’t quite succeeded. She’d never really thought beyond ‘not getting caught’.

“People are scared of us wherever we are,” she said matter-of-factly. At least, that had always been her experience. Either people hadn’t seen what she was capable of, or they were afraid of her. Even those she would call her friends.

“Everyone is scared of things that can hurt them, it makes sense to be scared.” She’d never been embarrassed of fear, as it was a useful emotion. Didn’t mean you had to hide or run away, of course, but without fear how could you be careful?

Jerric nodded in confidence that Armaldo would stay away, at least for now, then turned back to Shadow. "It seems I can't give you the privacy you crave so much." He stated apologetically with a slow yawn, before growing serious. "We need to talk."

@GodOfChaos

Jacky saw another truck pull up and sprinted over the best he could with his short legs, watching the guards have troubles getting the hybrid out of the back. "Uh....Do you guys need help?" he asked, wearing an expression of interest as he looked at the door. "Maybe I could get whoever's in there out of there." He took a quick glance at the group around Shadow's group, looking back at one of the guards' faces.
@WhenBooksFly101

@Raafling
Armis nodded at Kara's statement. Just as she finished speaking they arrived at the gymnasium. Armis opened the door with her tail, keeping her hands free. She walked in and held the door open for Kara while speaking. she suddenly found herself wishing for a change of topic.
"You sound like you speak from experience. Have you ever told anyone your secret? I mean, do you have anyone outside here waiting for you to get back?"

@TheBrightestEyes

One of the guard, having a particularly hard time holding Alex steady, looked up and blinked at the hybrid standing outside the truck. He was quiet for a moment, then nodded with a grunt just as Alex ripped her arm from his grasp, "If you could get her calm that would be great."

Alex growled from behind her gag, tugging away from them and stumbling back into the truck. Falling on her backside the rag loosened from her mouth and she spoke for the first time, "Get away from me!"

Living in the wild for so long, Alex had grown accustomed to living in it. She didn't want to go back to civilization....to people....

Leopard tail flicking back and forth she began to gnaw on the bindings at her wrists, only half noticing the fellow hybrid standing outside the doors.

Jacky walked up to Alex, standing over her. "Hey! I would offer you some beef jerky, but I left it by Mister Antagonist's truck over there." he pointed over to Shadow's truck, and then walking closer to her. He started to try to untie the ropes that Alex wasn't gnawing on. "It's not so bad here so far, to be honest. Not Gramma's house, but it's easy to get used to living here. At least I think so. Maybe."
@WhenBooksFly101

Alex stared at the odd hybrid with a curious yet cautious gaze. She paused with her gnawing for a moment, then shot a glare to the guards and muttered, "I'm not hungry......but thank you...."
The kind words helped her nerves, but she still wanted to get out and run. Somehow though......she felt as though it wouldn't be possible.

Letting out a sigh Alex went back to gnawing on the ropes around her wrists and allowed for the male hybrid to assist. After a moment they snapped, and she used her claws to cut the rag now hanging around her neck.

Almost freed, the leopard girl flexed her arms to rid them of cramps and stiffness, before speaking again, "So they found you too? Gave you false promises and then brought you here?"
She didn't quite understand what he meant by "Gramma's"......but the way he spoke of it made it sound like a nice place.

"They" had promised her once....said they would let her see her mother. But that was before the last facility was shut down....before they left her alone on the mountain.

"No, I went to my Gramma's and then she told me I had to come here." he said. You're a leopard hybrid, right?" he asked, thinking back to one evening watching TV. "Anyway, there's food inside and that guy over there" he pointed to Jerric as he said this "Is Jerric, and he's supposed to be the leader maybe. I think."
@WhenBooksFly101

Alex couldn't help but smile at the 'boy's' open talking. Freeing her legs she sat up, rubbing the cut on her ankle and nodding, "Arabian Leopard....that was what they tagged me back at the first lab."

Not that she was a success to all of their trouble.....

Letting out a huff Alex turned her attention to the open world outside the vehicle. Following the other hybrid's gesture she saw a few figures standing around the backside of another truck not far away. One of them was the leader? Maybe he could answer some of her questions.

Standing, Alex stood well over the other boy's head at '5 foot "10. She wore a tattered brown t-shirt and jeans ripped just above her knees; both items she had looted from passing hikers back on her mountain home. Spotted tail flicking and ears twitching the hybrid looked down at her acquaintance. She held out a hand and gave him a tentative smile, "I'm Alex......thank you for helping...."

She shot a glare to the two guards, who chose in that moment to leave the truck when she hissed, "Some people don't know when to stop poking the animal."

"You want to go inside?" Jacky asked, unfazed by Alex's height. "We have food!" he added optimistically, before jumping up on the tips of his toes and whispering "I smuggled some snacks and stuff!"
(Sorry for how short it is.)
@WhenBooksFly101

Alex chuckled weakly and nodded, "Right after I talk to this....Jerric...."
She turned her brown eyes ahead, before stepping swiftly out of the truck and onto solid ground.

She couldn't believe the place she was in......it was huge.
Glancing with awe at her surroundings she examined each object and fence for weaknesses; a chance to escape. But for the moment she found none.
Instead, her eyes fell on the group gathered around one of the trucks ahead. She felt a little intimidated by the thought of being with other hybrids and people.....but shoved it aside.

Turning to look over her shoulder Alex spoke to the other hybrid, "What is your name?"

@TheBrightestEyes

@Araby264
Kara shrugged at the question, looking around the gym to distract herself as she mulled over her answer. She'd only known Armis for a moment, but she still felt like they had more in common that... anyone else but perhaps the rest of the hybrids stuck here.

"I did a bit, yeah. I mean, I can't really remember much from before living on the streets, but there were people who knew what I looked like and that I wasn't exactly... human." She thought about the ragtag band of street kids she'd spent most of her time with, and then the gang members she occasionally worked with. Some of them had known about her, though Lora was the only one she'd ever told the full story to- or as much of it as she could remember anyway.

"There was- is someone, I guess," she hoped at least, "I could talk to her about stuff, and we... hung out. She was the one that heard people were looking for me, and it was her idea for me to try and go into hiding. That... didn't stick, obviously," she finished wryly. Someone must have found out, it was the only explanation she was willing to consider.

"What about you then? Didn't you get lonely in the desert, or did you go into the city more often?"

@Puffhead
The sloth boy was back again and there was a sense of violation in Shadow's mind. He looked towards a window and noticed that a girl with spotted ears looked in. He took note to find her when ever the chance would arise. A low growl emitted from Shadow's throat as his head twisted towards Jerric. "The guard must have told you about your adviser." The snake girl caught Shadow's eye quite fast. He would be sure to keep note of her, as she seemed to be the protection Jerric brought, if he needed it.

@Raafling
Armis smiled listening Kara recount her story, up until she began talking about her friend. Armis could relate. When asked about her own people Armis stopped for a moment.
"No, I only went into the city when necessary... But there was someone... She used to hike way out past the city. She would just keep going and going. I know because, well,"
She itches the scales at her face and there is as much of a blush as could be on a reptile.
"I followed her. And one time i saw her drop something and she didn't realize it. So when she left, I picked it up and it was this little metal humming bird necklace on a metal chain with a broken clasp. A few hours later, way after dark, she was back out there looking for it. I didn't want her to get hurt on the rocks, so I put it on an obvious spot camouflaged myself, then smashed a rock right next to it."
She giggles at the memory.
" You should have seen her face. It was so hard for me not to laugh. She picked up the necklace and I had attached a note to it, saying 'Be careful- a friend' and she looked around all confused before she left... A few days after that she came back and left another note in the same spot. I replied and... Soon we would trade letters every week. Then..."
She gets a far off look and her face gets very sad. She shakes her head and smiles at Kara.
"Then we became good friends though our letters."

@GodOfChaos

Jerri ignored his comment as he stepped closer towards the large wolf, looking him directly into his dark, blood thirsty eyes. "You're making too much of a commotion." He stated simply, shaking his head. "You want to get out of this place, that's fine. But if you keep up this brooding it's going to ruin our only real chance of getting out of here... Believe it or not we 're on the same side."