Chapter 21: Terri's Past.

I opened eyes to a dark wooden ceiling looming over me. A yellow light was emanating from the corner of my eyes. I turned my head to the source of the light for me to gaze upon a lit stony fireplace. The fire's yellow light bloomed a small brightness in its position of the entire room. A luxurious couch leaning to left side of the room, a couple of beanbag chairs to its right, and a woven rug depicting some sort of plant near the center were placed nicely near the fireplace.

And each furniture had an occupant. Bestinslot was sleeping soundly on one of the chairs. Dean followed by his father's example and is snoring on top of the beanbag chairs. On the couch was tiny Annie napping while hugging a cushion with such great strength, I am surprised it has not exploded with stuffing by now. And on the rug was that Triceratops girl with some sort of thick branch beside her.

I raised myself from where I had lain. As I looked down, I was on top of a soft cotton rug. I could definitely see that it was infested with parasites and dust. Granted, it is at least better than lying on … that area.

I sauntered casually towards the fireplace.

Without turning around to see who it is, Lyddie spoke, "Sounds like you've woken from your sleep."

My statement was supposed to be sarcastic in tone. But I dully stated, "Yeah."

I questioned her, "Why aren't you asleep like the others?"

She briefly stared to a nearby window that overlooked the front porch view. "I couldn't sleep after seeing that scene."

I looked down on the girl to find her chewing onto some of leaves on the tree branch. She turned her head gazed at me with such curious eyes.

"How are you feeling Queen?" She questioned.

I corrected her, "My name is not Queen. My name is Terri."

"Terri?"

"Yes. I am Terri." I said as I rolled my eyes at her shock.

"Does that mean you have your memories back?!" She exclaimed.

I gripped her mouth before she could disturb the three any further from their needed sleep. "Yes. I got them back." I hissed.

I let go of her mouth and see her giving me this sorrowful look. But eventually averted her eyes back to her branch and began gnawing into it.

With her mouth full of plant material, "You wanna bite?" She said as she inched the branch closer to my face.

"You're disgusting." I remarked.

"Oh yeah. You're a carnivore."

A silence entered the room. Only the nothingness uttered a noise in the entire house.

"So, how did you all get inside the house?" I asked.

"The door was open." Lyddie answered bluntly.

"So it was." I said without any hint of emotion.

A brief silence loomed over us.

Soon however, Lyddie broke the silence with her statement. "You said you were at home."

"I did?"

"Yes." She replied. "Is … is this really your home?"

I hesitated for a few moments before answering to her. "Yes. This … was my home."

With sorrowful curiosity, she bombarded me with questions. "What happened here? Why are there are bodies everywhere? And why are you wearing their armor?"

"What do you mean 'their'?" I curiously demanded.

"You didn't see them?" She inquired.

"I couldn't exactly pay attention to my surroundings." I stammered. I sighed, "I was … distracted."

"Well … there was these other bodies. Apart from the skeletons of people with odd attire." She responded. "They were horrible. They smelled terrible too. They looked like pigs also men at the same time."

"A pig-man?" I asked.

She stared at the blinking fire, "I guess you can call them that."

I remember now. Those things. Those "pig-men" attacked the Farm.

"I remember those monsters." I said as I glared at the fireplace. "And everything else. Ranging from what occurred here. And why I lived here."

She stared at me intently, anticipating what I will say next.

"Where do I begin?"

In the Past …

It started as a regular day back at the farm. I slept on a bed in the upper floors above and usually wake up early in the morning, usually at a time while the sun was barely out. When the sun can be shining out on the horizon, I would get up from my bed and go down stairs to meet our "herd". Well, a flock really.

My parents tended this site for agricultural growth and study. However, initially, this place was a breeding ground for animals. For what purpose, I don't really know. But I do remember that we tend to and cared for a small flock of Gallimimus. My parents told me they were for some other purposes but eventually became merely pets for us due to some circumstances from their work.

Before my little trip outside, my parents were already up. My mom was tying her boots and my father was grasping onto something on a table nearby. His back was turned against me so I had no idea what he was doing. Before I grab onto the door knob, my mother whistled for m attention.

I turned my body to face her, "Yes mom?"

"Terri. Do you know what today is?" She said as she made a wide smirk across her face.

"No. Not really." I answered. "What is it?"

My father, revolved his head to ninety degrees and spoke, "Are ya sure Terri? It is really important."

I pondered a bit for a moment and reluctantly remarked, "A medical visit to Auntie Sol?"

"Nope." My mom denied it happily. "Your medical shots are scheduled tomorrow."

"It has to do with gifts, especially for you." My father hinted.

"My birthday?" I asked with doubt in my tone.

He shoved his present outward from his chest, "Yup!"

It was a shiny helmet that I bore to this day.

My mother gracefully grabbed the helmet from his and handed me the protective gear. With a smile, she jovially exclaimed, "Happy Birthday sweetie."

I was breathless. It was so shiny and wonderful. I grasped my metal fingers and hug the helmet. I quickly mouthed, "Thank you both."

"So, we all know that you wanted to be a knight like those people of this land." My father explained. "So we ended make a trade with one of them for one of their helmets for some of our extra produce here."

"Do you need help putting on?" My mom asked.

"No. I don't think so." I replied. Immediately, I shoved the helmet quickly down my head. The metal walls of the helmet felt very cold yet very pleasant at the same time.

"Does it feels okay? Do we need to change anything?" My mother asked.

"Nope this feels quite nice." I happily responded as I flipped the visor to close my face. I gazed at my parents through the slits of the visor. "I love it!"

"Well that's great." My dad commented. "Take care of that okay? There is another set of armor coming by for you to fit in."

"Oh my- thank you." I gratefully bowed.

"I think you will like it anyway." My mom said. "It may benefit you when you … are going out for your survival training." My choked on her words a bit.

"A- are you okay mom?"

She shook her head into reality suddenly and replied with an open smile, "Yeah, I am fine. It just so great to see that my little girl is growing up so fast."

My father interrupted us, "Hey, Terri, go and get the Gallimimus flock out for their morning feeding. They must be hungry right now."

"Alright." I said. "I'll be back for breakfast."

"Alright." They both responded simultaneously as they come by to give me a kiss on my cheeks. "Be back soon." They waved goodbye.

I made a small wave back and tried to creep out through the front porch of the house and greet the Gallimimus outside in their pens. But the guards have took notice of my daily escapes in the dawn and were stationed at the porch.

I opened the door to find two of the guards standing in front of me with their arms crossed. Their faces were covered by their visors and helmets that shielded their face. But their shiny yellow name tags attached to their chests showed who they are. One was named Lewis and the other was named Remoh. Despite me towering over the two, I feared them still. Not because they hurt me or anything, but they always gave me a lecture every time I did something against their wishes.

"Terri. We told you many times not to go outside while it's still dark." Remoh nagged at me.

"Oh. Come on. My parents told me I can go." I pouted.

"Because we know when it is safe or not to go outside." Lewis barked.

"How come I can't go outside but you guys can?"

"That is because we know how to deal the outside world and come back safely." Lewis commented.

"Yeah. We've been trained on how to survive in the night outside the facilities." Remoh smirked.

I groaned at their pathetic excuse. "But I have also been trained on how to survive out there too."

"Well duh, kid." Remoh scoffed. "Those survival outings were kept in areas where we can keep an eye on you alongside whoever your babysitter was at that time."

"Kid." Lewis sighed. "We cannot let you just go outside all the time. I mean, while the paycheck dictates that you should be kept safe as much as we can, I am genuinely concerned about your early morning outings."

"Can you just make one more exception then?" I pleaded. "I want to go outside again and walk the Gallimimus flock to their feeding."

Remoh rolled his head to Lewis. Without uttering a single word or phrase they came to a conclusion.

"Fine. Fine. You can go outside right now." Remoh said with exhaustion in his voice. "But, you must be back here for breakfast and you take one of the day guards with you."

"Really?"

"Yes really." Lewis responded. "I think the boss would be willing to go with you."

"I'll go get her then. She's probably up by now." Remoh stated. "Terri, go and greet your pets soon."

"I got it." I responded happily.

I jogged to the rectangular pen where we keep the flock together. As they always were they would already up and awake by the time I arrive to meet them. And as soon I was within their line of sight, the entire flock would go and flock towards me like chickens to their feed. However, the Farm doesn't provide feed for them to eat. Instead, we take them out to graze and scour for insects at the nearby plains.

At this point they were at the edge of the fence squawking and chirping with glee. I petted and caressed their slender heads to have their attention noticed and accepted. But my favorite of the flock was Galileo. He was the one with a mahogany color in its base body and dark oak colored stripes running down from his back to his tail.

Galileo would always be away from the entire flock when the rest of the group would huddle together to say their "Good Mornings". Not because he hates me or anything. He enjoys my company, but he prefers not to be in a center of casual chaos in his flock in the morning.

I heard a voice bellowed behind me. "Good mornin' Terri."

I turned around and see a female guard with a name tag "Pia Sino" attached on the left side of her chest. I know of this woman since I can recall the time I opened my eyes. Unlike the others, she was one of the youngest and laidback guardsmen in the Farm. But despite her age, she was the Head Guard Captain of the Farm with a rumored reputation of fear and brutality. However, if the rumors were even true, she hides her nature very well.

She donned the standard dark blue and onyx colored bulletproof armor that all guards wore. Although, the usual helmet was absent as Pia had a burning hatred for the standard helmets the guardsmen were assigned to. She always intended to let her chestnut colored hair flow freely behind her shoulders. And she sought to embrace the warmth of the sun on her beige colored skin. She carries two different pistols besides each hip. Her left hip holstered a silver EAA Witness Elite Match pistol and her right hip wielded a chromed Springfield XD(M) pistol. Slung behind her back with a black leather strap was a P90 Submachine Gun painted to have a scarlet snakeskin.

I had no idea why they were called that, but she favored in to referring her guns by their full names.

"Good morning Pia" I waved.

She stopped at her tracks to view the Gallimimus flock. She then commented, "They're really restless this morning huh?" She aimed her cool eyes towards me. "You ready to go out there?" She asked.

"Are you?"

"Yeah. The ATV is fueled up and ready to go." She informed. "Go and open the lock to the pen's gate. I'll rev up the ATV so I can actually catch up to you … guys."

"Alright." I said.

I jogged to the wooden gate and hollered the flock to come over to the pen's gate. Soon, they all flock over the gates, itching to get out. I listened to their squawks and coos of freedom as I flipped the metal latch to open the wooden gate. After a soft creak from the opening gate doors, the Gallimimus flock rushed out the pen and began to sprint to the direction of the designated grasslands. I rushed to the side fleeing flock alongside Galileo's right side. Behind us was Sino tracking behind us to make sure that no one in the flock gets sidetracked.

45 minutes later …

I laid myself on a grassy knoll that overlooked the grazing flock. The morning sun has fully shone over the meadow and field that the flock inhabited for now. However, my light was extinguished, a shadow loomed over me. I casually looked up and viewed the handler and supervisor for the flock and me.

"Can I sit beside you?" She asked.

"Yeah. Go ahead."

She slumped her buttocks on the grassy blades below her and viewed the Gallimimus minding their own business. She lightly flicked my helmet which made an irritatingly high pitched ding that rung in my ears.

I hissed slightly at her, "What was that for?"

"What is that for?" Pia asked with a smile. "If you're going to wear a helmet use one of ours."

"Oh. It is just a little gift from my parents." I replied.

"Your parents." Pia repeated. "For ya birthday?"

"Yes. It is for my birthday."

Her eyes rolled off to the grassy floor beneath. She began ripping a few blades from the dirt floor before asking, "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

She exasperated a disappointed breath, "You do know why you're here right?"

I was stunned for a moment. I never came across this question in my life before. Usually it has to do with medical surveys from staff or personal stuff from my parents. But about why is she asking this out of nowhere, was something I never expected.

"Well, I was told by my parents that they wanted a child of their own." I blatantly answered. "And they were incapable of reproducing so they made me out of their DNA in their lab."

"Well, that is true. Uh, I guess I need to be clearer about what I said then." She sighed. "You do know why you're allowed to be there, at the Farm?"

"A- allowed?" I quizzically stammered. "What do you mean?"

"Listen," She exasperated. "I've known you for like, what? 16 years? I should tell you about this now. While we still have a chance."

"I cannot comprehend to what you mean?"

She laid her gloved palm on my metallic shoulder. "Me, your parents, all the Farm Guards, we have leaders and bosses. They call the shots to do and what not to do."

I silently listened to Pia. She seems grave about this conversation compared to her usual uplifting self.

"And what you parents did in creating you, was an abuse of resources given to them by the bosses." She sternly stated. "However, they saw the potential in you to be a valuable asset for them."

"Asset? Valuable? What?"

"You'll … suffer if they get their hands on you."

I glared at Pia with confusion and a bit of fury for this abrupt and horrible information.

"What are you implying?!" I roared a bit.

"I don't want you to suffer as much as I did with the company. So I need you to-"

A bright red and twinkling light was shot up to the blue sky above. A low whistling noise can be heard as the light source was reaching to the edges of the sky. I flinched to the sudden burst of light. However, unfazed by the unexpected disturbance, Pia Sin jumped up and landed on her legs into the air at the sight of sparkling red light.

As the glow began to subside and simmer down back to earth, I bellowed, "What in the world is that?"

"No way." She muttered.

"Pia!" I roared but I received no answer.

I gripped my fingers onto her arm and pulled her closer to me. But despite that, she never wavered her eyes from me.

"Shit." She cursed.

"What is going on?!"

"We have to go." Her voice stifled with a muffled growl.

I rather not ask questions. I can sense that this a grave situation judging from her voice.

"Alright. I'll round up the-"

She interrupted me with a snarl as she was running to her ATV, "No time! We have to get back to the farm now."

Now my curiosity got the better of me. I hollered to her, "Wait! Why?!"

Her ATV's engine roared as if it was filled unsettling energy. "That was an emergency attack flare."

I gulped in horror as I realized the upcoming words.

"The Farm is under attack."

The Armor …

Pia left her ATV at the bottom of the steep mound as it was not made to venture on heavily elevated terrain. As both of us scaled the grassy hill, gunfire and yelling was had clearly killed off the sounds of nature's tranquility. Pia reached the peak of the hill first as I managed to stay close behind. When I gripped the edge of the mound, I can see a small black mass with pockets of gold surrounding the entire farm house. I peered further into the scene to find that the mass was disfigured and humanoid monsters with all sorts of golden and elegant

There was a couple of guards at the front porch of the house firing their rifles in tandem against the horde. Still, no matter how many bullets were sprayed, only a handful of the barbarians fell down. In the windows of the house, I noticed several sparks of gunfire erupting. That would there are still plenty of survivors inside the house but are trapped by the surrounding hordes.

"Shit." Pia cursed in a whisper. She latched her fingers onto her radio and shouted, "Remoh! Report! What is going on?!"

The audio was unclear from my end. All I heard was distorted radio voices and her heavy breathing. A few seconds later, I eyed her for instructions as she was cocking her P90 to be ready for battle.

"Remoh! Tell the scientists to arm themselves with the any of the guns left lying around. I'll be damned if we managed to lose two more people! And watch your fire, friendlies are coming in hot!"

"What do we do?" I requested for her guidance.

"They had completely surrounded the house and is basically cutting off the team's chances to escape via the garage." She informed me.

"What do we do then?!" I roared. "Everyone is in trouble."

"I have to create an opening." She snarled at the situation. "I'll go to the garage's location and try to get their attention away from you as you evacuate everyone from the Farm."

I listened diligently to her orders.

"If I am lucky, I can get a jeep to get the survivors out of here in a jiffy." She bluntly explained. "If not … at least I created a big enough distraction to allow you to charge in without major damages."

"So I am entering the eye of the storm?"

"Pretty much." She said as she checked her magazines in her pockets. "We don't have much time. So I'll say it right now."

"What is it?" I asked.

"First," She pointed her index finger to the sky. "I've been told the enemy's armor is strong, but their head is weak. Hit them there."

"Got it."

"Second," She continued with a smirk in her smile. "Cliché as it is, I know you can do this. We have been training you to fight since you got your prosthetics from your uncle Cornelius. So make good use of them. So once you get in there, give them hell … for him and for Professor Verall."

I nodded and remarked, "Will do."

"Ready?" She sincerely asked.

I hollered at her, "We are wasting time here."

"Good girl."

We rolled down the mound and hit the grassy floor below. As soon as we landed, Pia and I dispersed and went our separate ways. She sprinted to the left side of the land and spouted nonsense as she fired her bullets at the horde. And as she planned, some of the enemy's forces were directing their attention at her. The last sight of my friend was her steely gaze and her mischievous smirk as it was quickly engulfed by the horde.

I turned my focus on what is front of me and noticed a few stragglers of the army standing in my way. Shoulder first, I charged into the fray to scatter the remnants away. From my single assault, I managed to trample a couple of the deathly beasts. At one point of my charge, one of the monsters latched onto my battering shoulder. It was covered in this spiky, blackened metal armor with its head left bare. And its head was merely a rotting pig head squealing in fury at me. With my free hand, I grasped its entire head in my palm and crushed it entirely as a swift crack of bone resounded from the act.

I toss its corpse away from me and continued my sprint. As I travelled through the horde, their resistance was getting stronger. However, before I knew it, I tripped up on one of the bodies of the creatures. I safely caught myself from landing on top of one of the bodies. I heard a sudden shrill from my right and glared at one of the pig soldiers raising its golden axe to kill me. But before it swung its weapon, a quick splatter of its blood sprayed into the air and onto me.

"Kid!" A man yelled out.

I aimed my gaze at in front of me to see Remoh, Lewis, and my parents sprinting towards me in a clear line.

Dad quickly slid to my face and picked me up. He shrieked in worry, "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

"I am alright." I sighed in relief. "How's mom?"

Lewis informed us as he fired his rifle at the mob, "I am sorry. But we can talk later. We gotta get moving now."

I soon noticed that the army was encircling around us with their numerous numbers. However they made no strike against us. At least for the time being.

"Understood." I stated. "Follow me closely, they can attack at any time."

I faced the mob behind me. Their numbers were large, but there was a considerable dwindling in their numbers. By instinct, I bellowed a roar from my throat that even shocked the monstrous herd before me. Using this distraction, I made my assault with my family close behind me. With countless strikes of fists, throws, and tail swipes, I knocked the opposition away to make our escape.

I observed a thin line of forces before us. A couple of punches and throws can completely disperse the entire line. I prepared and retracted my fists to prepare the last scuffle. However, a cry of pain resounded into my ears. I looked back and see Lewis being dragged into the masse behind us.

"Lewis!" I shouted.

Remoh aimed his rifle at the undead pig soldiers, but a sharp click of an empty gun was the only thing that was released at the pull of the trigger. He scoured his chest pockets for any ammunition. I was going to launch myself into the mob to save Lewis. However, I felt a large forcing grasping firmly onto my tail. I turned my torso around to see a few of these monsters pulling onto my tail to force me into their blades and weapons.

I planted my feet firmly on the ground to not lose my balance. However, a sharp pain erupted behind my right knee and I fell down on one of my knees. I faced my attacker to the right and see a pig man swinging a golden club at my head. I fortunately caught the weapon mid-swing.

In the end, it was futile. Something grabbed me by the back of head and pulled me down dirt below me. It removed my helmet from head and tossed it away. I tried to see who had put me down on the dirt below. But the last I could remember was a swift shadow of a large heel onto my cranium.

After some time …

I woke up with a rhythmic chant of snarls and hisses ringing in my ears. I could see only the blood stained grass below me. My nose dripped bright red blood. My arms felt like they were hung into the air against my will. And there was some sort of swelling that protruded on my left cheek. In the corner of my eyes, I noticed I wore a chest piece that bore resemblance to the soldiers that attacked us.

What are they doing? Why am I in this accursed drab?

With slight pain, I gradually raised my head to find my parents. They were on their knees and their hands behind their heads. My mom was crying so much and my dad was cursing words that I could not hear. I tried to utter a word, but my mouth betrayed my thoughts and will not move. I attempted to walk towards them, but my legs would not listen. I looked to those beside me to discover that I was being lifted by some of the grunts to keep myself standing. Well, barely.

An immense beast, looking just like the grunts beside me, walked back and forth in front my parents. Unlike the other grunts, it wielded twin onyx-colored axes as big as its torso. Its jagged tusks were protruding from its bottom maw. And its face, while maimed like any other monster, bore an eye that shone with an orange tint. It spouted words that I could not decipher as any recognizable human language.

The beast reached in for one of the axes strapped from its back. It raised its blade into the air and a booming roar from the monster crowd in tis unison. The monster elevated its other hand to signal silence amongst the crowd. Once the uproar died down, the gargantuan creature sauntered and stopped in front of my father. Its axe was then lowered to have the blade within my father's subdued height. It was then I knew what the bastard was going to do.

I struggled viciously to stop the monster. While the grunts barely had any strength to hold me back, I was not able to escape from their grasps.

My father snarled, "Go to hell you bastard."

"Terri! Close your eyes! Don't look!" My mom shouted at me.

By instinct, I followed my mother's commands and faced the bloody grass below me. I wished I could have covered my ears as well. A quick swish rang throughout my ear holes. Tears ran down my eyes soon after.

"ELLIOT! NO!" My mother cried. "Once the company know what happens here you'll-"

I heard my mother being gagged by the brute. A second later, the same swish rang throughout my ears. A malicious snarl erupted from my face as my tears ran down on my cheeks.

A moment later, something slimy and rough gripped onto my neck hard. I winced in pain and open my eyes to see the glare of the brute. The hand pressing on my neck lifted me up into the air, forcing the grunts to let go of me. I choked on the strength of the monster. I felt that I was going to die there and now.

But it let go of me and let me crashed onto the floor on my knees. I stared up to the killer and saw the killer edging its hand closer to my forehead. Its hand, stained with blood. My parent's blood.

A boiling rage consumed me not long after. I clenched my fists and my teeth were revealed. I opened my maw wide and viciously bit the bastard's hand. I tasted its foul and putrid flesh. I hated it. I despise it. I swung its body away from me with just my fangs alone. I turned my body against the crowd and bellowed one last roar.