To Be Accepted
Chapter Four: Prisoner of the Academy
Simon's Point of View
My head hurts. That was my first conscious thought when I woke up. I slowly opened my eyes to reveal a pitch black room. I tried to move, but felt something metal restrain any movement. I was being held captive by the scientists. I prayed that they didn't have my brothers, especially not Theodore. This was all my fault. If I hadn't stupidly suggested that we attempt to be adopted by humans by using our talking abilities, then the scientists wouldn't have traced us. But now they know that we are alive and will do anything in their power to keep us in their custody this time.
The door opened, revealing a male scientist with short, light gray hair with black at the ends, which was probably dyed. I gasped. It was Dr. Clyde Williams, the scientist who tortured my brothers and me. I snarled at him and pulled against the restraints. I would make him pay. I am a lot better of a fighter than I look. "So, we meet again, Simon." Dr. Williams chuckled evilly. I simply just snarled at him again, so badly wanting to sink my teeth into his throat and kill him. But, that wouldn't happen because I'm being held captive by him. "I take it that you aren't very pleased to see me, Simon." He said, stating the obvious. He was bluffing.
"Why, hello, Clyde. I was just stopping by to look around the place and you know, brutally murder you." I said with as much venom as I could muster. Dr. Williams walked over to the table on which I was being held captive. I could feel his awful breath on my face. He was giving his sinister evil grin. I hated it when he did that. I struggled against the restraints. "I'll make you pay, Dr. Clyde, I'll promise you that! You'll never get away with this! We have just as much rights as any human!"
Dr. Clyde did his evil chuckle again. "My, my, Simon, aren't you a funny one. You think you actually have rights? You're a chipmunk, not a human. I thought I taught you the Declaration of Independence. It says that 'all men were created with three unalienable rights' and all men were created equal'. It does not say anything about chipmunks. You're an animal. You don't have rights."
I growled again, but said nothing. As evil as Dr. Clyde is, he did have a point. The United States didn't protect animal's rights. They didn't even think animals should have rights. And they're right, most animals shouldn't. They don't talk or think like humans, so why should they be treated like humans? But if an animals does happen to talk and think like a human, then they should be treated like one. It's that simple. But, of course, most humans didn't even think talking animals existed. "Animals that can talk and think reasonably should have equal rights as ordinary humans. It's only fair." I retorted after a moment of thought. I've always been pretty good at arguing and I hated to be proven wrong.
Dr. Clyde said nothing. He just handed me a white T-shirt. "Put this on. It's what every animal at the academy wears. You have a good mind. We're going to have a good use for you." Then, he injected something into my leg, but I refused to give him the satisfaction of crying out in pain, not after all he's done to me. My world slowly fades to darkness.
I wake up in a small, chipmunk sized room in a bunk bed. Another chipmunk was in the room. She had just excited the bathroom. She long, brown hair that was tied neatly in a ponytail. She had the same white shirt on that I had on. She turned around to face me. She had fierce brown eyes that seemed to challenge everyone to fight her. "Hello, roomie." She said to me with almost no emotion whatsoever. It was kind of creepy, to be honest.
"Who are you?" I asked her curiously. This girl was a mystery to me and I was determined to know everything I could about her. I decided that she might want to know my name first. She seemed like that type. "I'm Simon." I added, trying to sound friendly.
"The name's Emily." She replied curtly. She sat next to me on the bed. "I take it you're new here?" She asked, almost compassionately. She seemed like a fighter in the resistance. The resistance was how me and my brothers got freed while we were very young. Our parents were part of it.
"Sort of. I was here when I was young. They found me and caught me again because of a stupid mistake I made. I hope they didn't catch my brothers. All of it was my fault. They don't deserve this." I explained. I figured I might as well tell Emily everything, so I started from the beginning, how we escaped, how we survived, the newspaper article, my stupid mistake and the fight with Alvin, losing Theodore, all leading up to my capture at least, hopefully not either of theirs. The whole time Emily just listened intently, never interrupting, a quality many people in the resistance have. The more I was with her, the more certain I was that she was part of the resistance.
"Interesting, very interesting." Emily muttered to herself when I was done talking. "I am part of the resistance, as you probably have guessed by now. I'll give you the scoop about what happens at this so-called 'academy'. Listen closely, Simon. Your life may depend on it." I let out a nervous chuckle at hearing that.
Basically, Emily explained that when you come here, the scientists inject daily with brain stimulating shot so that you can get the most out of our brains. We basically build and invent stuff. We get tortured daily to toughen us up. It sounded horrific. The incredibly brave ones decided to join the resistance. She asked me if I wanted to join and I agreed. It was time to get my revenge. Dr. Clyde and all the other horrible scientist were going down.
A short while later, it was time for us to go to bed. Emily fell asleep immediately, but I laid awake a while, mainly thinking about my brothers. Gosh, I hope they are okay. I also started to think about how I even escaped here in the first place. Maybe it could help the resistance someday. I'd do anything to help. Emily said they're having a meeting tomorrow night. I would explain everything to them then. But for now, I need to get some rest. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.