Chapter 9 Apocalypse now
Humphrey's mind was scattered, his vision blurred in and out of focus. He lost consciousness time after time eventually settling into the senseless oblivion that beckoned for him to stop fighting it. As time seemed to pass he slowly clawed his way back to his memories, Humphrey squinted feeling like he was seeing something from the past when suddenly light burst through his eyes and into his aching head. He whimpered shaking away the headache that had suddenly appeared and he realized the light, it was sunlight.
Struggling to rise he staggered forward and bumped his nose into what seemed to be concrete bricks. Humphrey backed up sitting down and observed his surroundings, his head making it impossible to focus on any one thing. There we're four walls barely ten feet apart from each other and there were bricks littering the ground from the floor above him which on further inspection was falling apart and sending little streams of dust down on top of him. Humphrey coughed and moved against the wall not wishing to be knocked out again and groggily looked at the window. It was plain and small without any glass. Presumably just to brighten the room he thought gloomily.
A dull groan shattered his thoughts as he stumbled backwards noticing the door open a few feet spilling light into the prison and a shape moved into view blocking the light once more. It was the first time he got to clearly see his captor. On first appearance she looked tired and angry with her once brown fur full of dirt and soot. But on closer inspection Humphrey saw a light of pity behind her eyes. She motioned for him to sit and said, "We need to talk...Now."
Humphrey groggily nodded as she continued, "Who are you and where did you come from?"She asked the question as if she already knew and Humphrey quietly answered, "My names, Humphrey, and I'm from the western pack in Jasper." Her expression softened as he quickly asked, "Where are my friends and mate? She's sick and!"
The wolf cut him off saying, "Their in holding, as for your mate. She is recovering, but needs time. However..." Humphrey looked at her expectantly as she finished, "Your mate's wound has become infected and swollen up. We've done all we can but she needs rest. Time will tell if the infection heals."
Humphrey nodded dejectedly saying, "Why did you lure us in and knock me out?" She eyed him suspiciously and answered, "We had no idea if you we're friendly or not, and our leader... He's... Not very accepting of outsiders. He never was and now that you're here you must be accepted if you wish to...live."
Humphrey's jaw dropped as he muttered, "Live? What do you mean Live? We just want to leave the city and keep heading south…" She gave a sad smile and answered, "Anyone we don't know and can't trust must be tested in the arena. It's the only way our leader has come to separate the weak from the strong…"
Humphrey eyed her in confusion asking, "But what about Lilly and Garth? Lilly wouldn't hurt a fly and Garth wouldn't try anything as long as you have her. The same goes for Kate." She frowned thoughtfully and began, "Well… We could make an exception for Garth since his partner is in fine health however your friend… Kate could die, and we would have nothing to guarantee you are no threat."
Humphrey blanched at this and shivered asking, "What is the arena?..." She shook her head and smiled sadly, "You must prove you can fight what the creatures out there have become. Otherwise you are no use to us and must be killed, and if you can kill them then you are also a threat to us…" She suddenly looked up and fiercely whispered, "It's rigged Humphrey, it's to maintain order. Remind us what's out there and what it can do. To keep our "great" leader high and mighty without needing to discipline his followers."
She closed her eyes leaving the room and said, "There's nothing I can do, I'll try and make sure your friends are integrated into our group without being harmed but your death has already been decided. You will fight tonight, and you will die tonight…I'm truly sorry, I tried to change his mind but he never listens. I'm sorry..."
Hours later with the sun setting Humphrey remained in the corner of the darkened room the wolf's words ringing in his ears, "You will die tonight." After everything that he had seen and survived it was incomprehensible to think he would die because of some meticulously planned...arena that would insure the leaders subjects wouldn't question his decisions. It was ridiculous he thought to die for amusement or to die at all having survived the worst possible outcomes.
Shaking his head Humphrey got up and began to pace the room repeating the phrase, "I will survive, I will survive, I will survive." The sudden creaking of rusted hinges made him jump as the same wolf he had talked to hours previous walked into the room.
She kept her eyes on the floor as she announced, "It's time to go, I'm sorry Humphrey." Panic seized him as he fought to maintain control saying, "wh-what no, I'm not doing this. Please you can't..."
She suddenly broke down weeping saying, "Please just do it, this is the only way." Humphrey looked at her surprised and without knowing what he was doing followed her form outside of the room. Shaking his head and muttering, "I will survive, I will survive, I will survive." She glanced at him before returning to staring sullenly at the rotted ground as they walked down a dimly lit hallway stopping after two minutes of silence at a simple metal door.
Keeping her head down she whispered, "Here, this is the door to the arena. Please forgive me, I'm only following orders…"
Refusing to break down again Humphrey shouldered through the door and into the darkness beyond. Hearing the lightning loud clang of metal closing behind him with a certainty that would say it would never open for him again.
This story is now my top priority to finish and is guaranteed to be completed by the end of the summer. Thank you for reading and chapters will be out on a more weekly basis or whenever they are completed.