章節 12: Chapter Eleven
It is strange, the more I look, the more the city appears to be really awkward and…not really planned out. There are some buildings with some light inside at the very center, taller at one side and smaller and darker at the other, all closed up within tall walls and deep holes surrounding those walls.
However that type of construction seemly did not work well when the city grew and they had to expand the town, so other smaller areas sprout from that center, doing the same as the main area; building a wall and a hole, connected to each other by retractable bridges.
And for the looks of it some were still under construction, or rather, maybe they were always building new cities like such.
And that was something that I will only find out later.
For now we approach that place, so many different smells hitting my nose that is almost painful to keep myself from taking a deep breath to savor it all, the human's smell, dust and a burnt odor, together with animals, food, flowers and perfumes even, from the most subtle from the strongest, almost making me dizzy and somehow taking my attention off from the other senses as my mind was overtaken by those smells.
Somewhere in between we descend from the vehicle, the motorcycle being pushed by Bennet on the side, helmets off, and of course before I knew it I was freely flaring my nostrils.
Instead of commenting on how strange my behavior was, Bennett only smiles and says:
"Yeah, is not the cleanest and definitely doesn't smell like flowers, but it works, is safe, there is food, and even some places to have fun around." He shrugs, but I only stare at him, making him sigh. "I don't know why I even bother to talk anymore… I hope you do well there buddy." He sounded tired when he says the last part, patting my head and making me frown. Why the hell does he keep doing that?
I hope I start to understand their language soon… is starting to trouble me, not knowing what they are saying, only understanding bits and parts of it…
Uhm… yeah, let's do that, going in I should prioritize observing and learning their behaviors, putting those strange sounds on the top of my list.
Once we reach the front gates of that immense main city in the center we walk pass an enormous line of people at the front as they give us side-glances and frowns, but saying nothing once their eyes land on the soldier in front of me.
We stop once we reach the beginning of the line, right in the front of the gate, and that tall wall I saw beforehand proved to be even taller than I thought, and the pit wider and deeper, with strange things inside and a smell of burnt flesh.
To get to the front we had to walk on top of a straight bridge with thick chains on the sides and, while Bennett is talking with a fellow soldier at the front, I can sneak a peek over the edge and look inside the pit, only to see countless bodies piled up at the very end of it, all goopy, black and twisted, clearly burned to death.
It has quite a heavy smell, this pit…such thing must be done quite often.
Done talking Bennett approaches me and takes me past the barrier of soldiers who were separating people at the entrance, women to one side and men to the other, entering some makeshift buildings on the other side of the bridge, and only those who had already passed whatever was done inside were allowed to cross the bridge.
And seemly, in that regard, we were no exception since we enter a building too on the side, a better-looking type and already at the other side of the bridge, but still not pass the walls, rather build inside it, as wide as the walls allowed it.
Something that catches my attention, however, is how, beyond making good use of these walls by building facilities inside them, that the walls were done on the edge of the hole, making so that the soil wall inside the cavity continued up over the stone made one.
And it was quite smart to build like that, since the wall is right at the edge its size increases by a lot for any creature dumb enough who would try and climb that.
But by the smell… there were a lot of those dumb creatures around it seems.
We enter the building, many soldiers coming and going, leaving the door wide open, but there was no reason to close it when there were so many guards and soldiers around to keep an eye out for any unwanted intruder.
This place seems very busy, with many desks, papers, and people, but Bennett appears to be used to it as he walks straight to a table in the middle where two soldiers typed and talked at some black things on their ears; that or they were having a weird conversation, overlapping each other's words.
Bennett proves to me that it was the first case when he waits for one of them to put the thing down, looking at us with a bored face.
"Reporting! Soldier Bennett, back from a rescue mission! Lost Sergeant Harper on the swamps, requesting checkup for me and the boy!"
At that the person on the table doesn't answer, simply crocks his neck to look at me from behind Bennett, and answers a simple uhm.
"Harper uhm? Yeah, he was very careless on the field, I'm surprised he lasted this long." Bennett frowns, but doesn't answer. "Alright, you know the drill, follow the red line, and don't go walking off on your own or I will have your hide for dinner. Dismiss."
"Sir, may I ask about the rest of my team?"
Annoyed the other says: "Yeah they are fine, arrived before you, just a few minutes back, and now I have a lot of paperwork to do, and you need to go and get yelled at for coming so late." He finishes, shushing us away.
"Yes sir." Bennett answers, not very happy about what the other just said.
"And don't forget to write your report!"
"Yes, sir!" He salutes, turning around to walk away, motioning for me to follow him.
And of course he can't stop himself from talking non-stop with me again, and even if I'm grateful for the opportunity to learn, his need to avoid silence was starting to annoy me.
"They will check us now for any poison on our blood, is not evasive… much but is very necessary. You weren't hurt so everything shall go smoothly hey?"
"So? Are you nervous? Excited? Don't worry about it too much, I'm sure that things will be a lot better here than they were out there, yeah, for sure."
That was the point where I stop paying attention to his blabbering and focused on my surroundings, the smell of humans and blood thick in this part of the building, the air stale enough to hold the odor in but with enough wind to bring it to my nose, making my mouth water.
We reach yet another table where another soldier is, but this time wearing white and smelling of strong chemists and blood, and they start talking again.
Humans, always talking and talking and talking, how such fragile creatures could afford to be so loud all the time?
"Welcome back Connor, please fill your data as always. Oh, who is this little guy?" It is a woman this time, and very different from the other soldier since this one smiled and looks at me with enthusiasm.
"Oh, this fella, I just found him in the forest."
"Found? Just like that?"
"Yeah, is… a weird story, but he doesn't seem to talk, perhaps he is a little… special too, you know."
"Oh, I see…" She leaves her pen on the table and comes closer to me, standing and walking around until she stays right in front of me, trying to look me in the eyes and pass the curtain of hair. "Hey there fella, can you understand what I'm saying?"
I just look at her, intrigued at such behavior, but somehow bothered by the proximity and the insistence in looking me in the eyes.
So I don't bother and look away, pass the table and over the halls, sniffing softly and frowning, ignoring her sighing at my side, something people tended to do in my presence it seems, and focus on the smells, crocking my face sideways and… recognizing something I thought it would take longer for me to find.
That unforgivable sweet smell that the man of the cold blue eyes has.
The mere thought makes me purr inside.
-- 收到的禮物 
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票