"What an odd nose." 633 was pushed against the left side of his cage and straining his neck to examine the tiny ferocious female.
After hours the bastards had finally brought her back. She was drugged but it was only sedatives in her system and by the scent of her they were fading quickly. She'd be awake soon and she would be fine. They hadn't started her on the drugs yet. For that, 743 felt acute relief. But it was a short-lived feeling. He knew what was in store for the female—after this day there would be no relief for her besides short intervals where the doctors left them alone to tweak their drugs.
"Yes, it is very odd." 743 agreed. Her whole face was odd. Unlike their women she was short and the little muscle she did have were lean and would be ineffectual in a fight. Although, she had put up a good fight against the two bastards. Her eyes, when they were open, were an unsettling shade of green. Her nose poked out of her face and was puffy and broken. He could see the swelling going down but her eyes would be black.
The thought angered him. Those bastards had handled her too roughly. Hadn't they realized she was so delicate compared to them? Hadn't they realized they could kill her with too hard a hit?
"She will not survive, 743." 189's voice was a low growl that caught his attention. The male's stare was focused on him and he was scowling.
"She is strong." It came out as a growl but he'd meant to say it calmly. "You saw her. She is fierce like our females." She would survive. 743 was sure of that.
"She didn't scream and cry when she saw us." 633 finally pulled away from the left side of his cage and prowled to the door where he could see 189 better. "Even I could smell the terror she felt but it did not immobilize her. She fought them. I think she will survive."
633 had had great senses before the recent drug trials had robbed him of his sense of smell. 743 could not imagine living without his nose. He trusted his nose more then he trusted his eyes. It was just yet another thing he was helpless to do anything about and 743 hated it. Hated them. Humans.
"She will not survive the drug trials. She is human. Her mind will break and she will beg for death like the other females." 189 kept his voice low so the cameras would not pick it up.
It was possible. The human female's minds had broken after the first round of drugs. By the second round, one human female had slammed her head into the bars until she lay dead on the ground. The second female had screamed and cried nonstop until the bastards had come and force bred and then beat her to death. She had bled out on the mat and Monieth had been angered. The third female had suffered a heart attack while on the drugs. But those women had been hysterical and weak compared to the tiny Mads.
"She is strong."
"Even if she survives the drugs she will not survive the breeding." 189 lowered his voice further. "We will kill her—our females barely survive the breeding drugs."
"If they fix the drugs they are trying to alter she might be able to survive." 743 did not like this conversation. He did not like the possibility of the Mads being force bred to death. If the humans drugged him or the other males with the breeding drugs and put the tiny human in their cells, she would not survive. But he did not want to agree with 189. "She is strong, she might survive." He was trying to convince himself, he knew.
"And what if she does survive?" It was a whisper this time that sent chills and a sting of fear down 743's spine. 633 snarled out and clenched his bars until his fists turned white. "What if it works?"
"No!" 633 all but howled in rage, his whole body going rigid with fury.
743 felt the same rage at the thought of Mercile having one of their infants. It had never been accomplished before and they had no way of knowing if it were possible but the thought was a terrifying one. It was a matter of ifs though. If she survived the drug trials. If the drug trials were a success. If she survived the breeding. If his seed took. If her body could carry their kind. If the infant survived.
In that light, the only option was to end her suffering before it began. The only option was to kill her and that thought enraged and repulsed him. His hands shook and his spine stiffened. It would be easy to reach through the bars and put his hand on her face. She would smother and she wouldn't feel a thing in her drugged sleep. It would be easy. His hands gripping the bars that separated their cages went white with pressure.
"It would be a mercy." 189 shifted in his cell and then snarled after a moment. Anger was clear in the lines of his face. He did not like the thought of murdering an innocent either. 743 watched the other male begin to pace and mutter. "It would be horrible but her life here would be much worse. They will hurt her. The bastards will force breed her like they did the other women. Whoever she is given to will hurt her badly when they are given the breeding drugs. They will kill her when she has no more purpose. She will be dead anyway."
It was true. It was all true. She would suffer horribly for the rest of her life and then the bastards would kill her when she no longer had a use.
"You must kill her, 743. It is the only thing you can do."
No, it was not the only thing he could do. He could not kill her. He could protect her. As much as he could. She was strange and human but she did not deserve to die. She'd fought hard when the bastards had dragged her in. She deserved to live. Even if it was in hellish conditions. No, 743 would not and could not kill the Mads and he would not let the others kill her either.
"No!" It was an angry snarl that ripped out of his throat and shot him to his feet. He barreled toward the bars and only stopped when they slammed into his chest. He only remembered to keep his voice low from years and years of practice. "I will not kill her. You will not either. She is strong and she will survive. I will protect her."
"How?" The other male snarled back. "You are caged just like me. How will you protect her from the bastards when they come to beat and rape her?"
"I will not kill her!"
"Well gee, that's a relief." Her words were groggy and tense. The shock of her voice whirled 743 around and sent him stalking back towards the sprawled female. "And here I thought we were on the same team. Whoa, back it up Gigantor." Her face contorted in pain as she rolled to get out of his reach.
The sight of her trying to escape enraged him more and he couldn't help but growl. She flinched at the sound and 743 tried to reign in his temper. Scaring her would not make her trust him.
"I said I would not kill you." When he could speak with minimal growling he went on his haunches to get eye level with her. "Why are you rolling away?"
"Why is killing me even a topic of discussion? Huh?" She was in the center of her cell now and curled into a tight protective ball. "I thought the murdering psychopaths were on the other side of these cages. Apparently, I'm fucking surrounded."
"Keep your voice down. They will hear and take you away from me." 743 made sure to look as nonthreatening as possible when she jerked her head in his direction. Her face twisted in agony and she gripped her forehead.
"And why is that a bad thing?" She spoke while her hands massaged her head.
"I said I would not kill you, female." 743 was losing patience.
"And I should believe you because…?" She growled back still clutching at her head.
"At least give her a choice." 189 was pushed up against his bars again and staring at the Mads. "She needs to know what they plan for her and then she can decide."
"Decide fuckin' what? If I should let you kill my ass or not? I can answer that right now." She uncurled from the tight ball and flopped on her back groaning.
"Tell the human, 743." 633 watched the human with a scowl. "She deserves a choice."
"By that logic, should I give you both a choice?" 743 was up and snarling at the other males again. "Should I murder you when I get the chance?"
"It is different for us." 633 kept calm as he always did when faced with anger. "She will have to undergo things we cannot imagine. She is vulnerable to the vicious human males who would take advantage of her. We have a higher threshold for pain than the humans—it will be a constant torture for her. She gets a choice, 743."
"Torture?" Her voice was less groggy now but now more tense. 743 watched as she shoved up into a sitting position and regarded him warily. "Is that what they do here? Goddamn, torture? They are fucking psychopaths."
She did deserve to know what the human males were planning on using her for. What she did not get was a choice. She would live, there was no other option.
"Fine," 743 quit his stomping around to crouch close to the female's cage. "Mads, we must speak low so they cannot hear us. You have to come closer."
She hesitated for too long and 743 could only growl in response to the suspicious green eyes regarding him.
"I said I will not kill you, Mads. Trust me. Do not look at me like this."
"You can't just command me to trust you!" Her voice was exasperated and her eyes narrowed but even as she glared she moved closer to him.
"You said you would give her a choice." 189 snapped from his side of the room.
"No. She does not get a choice. She will survive this. I will tell her what they plan for her but she does not get a choice." He would protect her—he'd figure out a way. She was going to live.
Shivers of dread were crawling under her skin. Panic was a static blare in the back of her mind. The fear of what the big animal man would tell her was almost second to the pain in her head and body. They were contemplating killing her. Like it would be some great kindness if they just put her out of her misery.
What did that say about her captors and what they were planning on doing to her? Nothing good. More shivers of terror made her eyes blur and her skin crawl. What could be so bad that they, her fellow inmates, would want to kill her?
"I said I would not kill you, female!" His voice was gruff and all kinds of annoyed. "You are to stop feeling terror, trust me, and come over here now."
Madeline was shocked out of her terror. She sat there flabbergasted for all of thirty seconds. Her mouth opened twice to blast him but nothing came out. He thought he could order her to trust him? Of all the—Mads didn't even know how to respond to that.
"Okay—first of all, Tarzan, you can't just command me to trust your ass and expect me to fall in line!"
"It is not my ass I want you to trust." His face was the picture of solemn.
"Tarzan?" That voice came from behind her but Mads didn't turn to glare at him, her focus was solely on the ridiculous commanding man. They were a bunch of comedians.
"You know what I mean." Or maybe they didn't. They didn't look exactly human and the way they spoke seemed… off. Mads didn't let that thought sidetrack her. "You don't get to order me around. I'm allowed to feel whatever the hell I'm feeling and I sure as shit don't have to trust you just because you say you're not going to kill me."
The man took a deep breath, resettled on his haunches, and then pinned her with his dark eyes.
"Mads, I need you to come closer." It was a soft growl that had the little hairs on her arms upright and her utterly mesmerized yet again. "Please."
It took a moment to shake off the rapt feeling and get her limbs in working order but eventually, she was seated in front of the large male. His bars and her bars were a good foot apart and she was seated far enough away that he wouldn't be able to reach through and grab her.
"You must school your reactions and keep your voice low. They can see us but they cannot hear us if we speak low."
"Okay." Mads tried to ignore the pounding in her head and the burn of her busted ribs. This was important. She had to focus.
"First you must know that I will not kill you. Even if you ask me to. You will survive this. You are strong."
"She is human." The green-eyed one they'd called 189 was seated at the door of his cage with a scowl fixed on his pretty face. "She will break like the other human females did."
"Other females? Are they dead? What do you mean break?"
"They are all dead. The drugs Mercile is testing are targeted towards human females only. The women they have brought here previously have all died. It is a breeding drug that makes the user feel terrible pain. It is sometimes too much for our males and their minds break like the human females did."
"Jesus." That bit of information was scary as all hell. A pain so bad that it drove people crazy? "What the hell is breeding drugs?"
"It is what they give to us when they wish us to breed. When a male is on the breeding drugs he has no control. His mind is gone and the only thing that will ease the horrible pain is to breed. I think it will be the same for the human females once they alter the drug so it does not drive the user insane."
"Why do they want to give me a breeding drug?" It probably meant just exactly what she thought it did but she needed clarification.
"The humans believe that if a human female can survive a male on breeding drugs then she will be able to conceive." He paused and looked even more grim. "Our females are unable to conceive and they want new test subjects."
"And when they do fix the breeding drug so it doesn't drive you insane or immobilize you with pain they will toss you in 743's cage." 189's voice was flat. "He will be out of his head with the need to breed and he will hurt you worse than you can ever imagine. It will not be his fault but the drugs make us very aggressive and very rough."
"I said I will tell her." 743 growled viciously but her focus was on 189 now.
"You are using soft words. That is not the reality." 189 returned glaring and then focused his eyes back on Mads. "If you survive the breeding—which, you will not. Then you will be tested to see if you have been impregnated. If you haven't you will be killed and your corpse will be put in the incinerator like they do with all the dead. If you are pregnant then they will take your baby from you and kill you. Your baby will live like us. In a cage to be tested, experimented on, and tortured their whole life."
The statement left her reeling. A baby? They were trying to impregnate her with animal man's baby? They would take her baby. They would put her baby in a cage?
"And in between the drug trials and the breeding, the two human males that you hurt, will come into your cell and rape you. They raped and beat the second woman to death. You might survive all of that Mads, but they will only kill you in the end."