FA+
Shop
3056
Views
Views
22
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Story / Macro / Micro
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120
File Size 36.3 kB
Report this content
More from deatheater666
Just finished writing the 8th chapter. Dave and Zack take a visit to a micro processing plant, and later reunite with a few old friends.
The story is building to the climax with only 2-3 chapters left. Hope everyone enjoys....
While this story is rated GENERAL AUDIENCE, please note that there is some blood and dark imagery.
Edited by the great and wonderful
jevin
=============================
The Micro’s Hero
Chapter 8
“Alright you guys, Zack and I have to go to work. We’ll leave you with the remote and plenty of food so you don’t get hungry.”
“Where are you going? What do you do at work?” Tim asked.
“Well… Zack and I are Safety Inspectors, but of a special type. It is our job to go into micro facilities and make sure that everything is running smoothly and that the micros are being treated humanely. Today we’re going to drop in and do a surprise inspection on the facility that Sarah was taken to.”
“Oh… Can you save any of them?”
“A couple, yes. Whoever runs the factory usually sends us home with a box of free micros for our trouble.”
“Millions of micros and we can only save about twenty,” Zack growled under his breath. “That’s why I hate this job.”
“But we love it too. We love knowing that we’re at least making the living conditions adequate for the micros that are left behind.” Dave lightly smiled.
It was hard going to these places. They tried to limit their visits to twice a week, but that still didn’t make the situation any better. Just like before, they’d have to go in and see all the little faces looking up at them in fear and horror: men, women, the elderly and children; all treated the same in these facilities, and all ending up in one of two places.
“Let’s go Zack… The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave,” Dave ushered, grabbing the keys from the table and slipping on his shoes.
“Alright you two, we’ll be back sometime around lunch and then we’ll all go out to the park. How’s that sound?”
Tim and Henry’s large ears both perked up along with their overjoyed smiles. The two hadn’t been outside since they were taken in by the macros, so getting a chance to go out safely with the two was something they relished.
“Really, you mean it?” Henry asked, knowing the answer but just wanting to confirm it again.
“Yes,” Zack replied, smiling down at the two. He couldn’t help but let a soft chuckle escape. He hadn’t seen the two mice so happy since the day they arrived here, so he knew this day would be ending on a high note rather than a low one.
“Now you two be good while we’re gone, and if you need anything you remember how I showed you to get ahold of us, right?”
“Yep, push the bottom circle with the square in it, slide the arrow to the right, tap on the phone thingy, then tap on your name,” Tim replied, the sentence engraved into his mind from repeating it over and over.
“Good, I’ll see you two in a bit,” Zack nodded before following Dave out the door.
Once in the car and on the road, Zack pulled out a small tablet as Dave drove.
“Let’s see… We saved Sarah from this restaurant here, and Tyler was taken from this pet store here, so that must mean the facility the two came from is this one here, Fairbanks Micro Facility. It’s the only facility that supplies the pet store, and they both came from the same location, so that’s gotta be it.”
“Alright, sounds good. Who runs it?”
“Let’s see… It looks like the GM is a lion by the name of Ghias Lestern. Pretty big guy too,” Zack added as he briefly held up his tablet for Dave to see the profile pic.
“Doesn’t matter… We’ll do this the same way we always do: Thoroughly,” Dave replied as he changed lanes to get onto the freeway.
FMF was about 10 miles away, but it took longer to take the shorter side-streets even though the distance was further taking the highway. Taking the highway was about fifteen minutes only because the closest exit caused them to double back a few miles. The straight shot up the side-streets took about 20-25 minutes depending on how you hit the lights.
“So, I told Tim and Henry that later today we’d all go out to the park, maybe even grab lunch and have it there.”
“Oh really… That sounds like a great idea. I’m sure the two were happy to hear that. They’ve been locked up in our house the last couple days and I’m sure they’re just dying to get out,” Dave chuckled.
“Yeah, they were pretty excited. And ya know, I was thinking, maybe we could even go and see Clare and Robert too.”
“Oh yeah, that’ll be great. I’m sure they’d love to get a visit from us and get some good food in their bellies,” Dave smiled.
After a bit of idle discussion, Dave pulled off of the highway onto the street the facility was located on. The town was rundown; streets lined with retail stores and ma and pa shops all boarded up from abandonment and miscare. Litter was strewn about the curbs, especially around the bus stops and parking meters. Street lamps ran down the entire road, and as they passed the three stoplights along their way they could see that each one was equipped with traffic cameras as well as continuous flashing blue lights from the security cameras. As if those weren’t enough clues screaming at them the graffiti and various people drinking from brown paper-bags also added to the depravity that surrounded them.
“Alright, here we go,” Zack sighed as Dave pulled into the parking lot of the facility. There were hardly any windows other than the ones that lined the top of the four walls that were three stories high. The two sides of the warehouse were lined with trucks, all with the red logo FMF across the white sides which matched the logo above the front entrance along with the three words: Quick Quantity Quality, written directly underneath the red FMF. The warehouse itself was painted a dark grey with a dark blue stripe running underneath and above the windows that lined the top. Also in the front of the warehouse, next to the front entrance on the right side were two aluminum garage doors, the kind that roll up at the top when opened, rather than lifting back into the facility, probably for space reasons.
The two pulled up to the front before parking their car and donning their ID badges. The company they worked for, a branch of the Micro Safety Administration was the only one in the state, so it was known by all the various warehouses. When they walked through the front door, a little bell rang, almost giving the place the cozy ma and pa shop feel to it before the receptionist, a female cheetah, looked up at the two.
“Oh, hello, how can I help you two today? Would you like to view a catalog of our selection or…”
“No ma’am, we’re here to inspect the facility on your treatment of the micros,” Zack interrupted, holding out his ID badge for the lady to see.
“Oh, pardon me,” Liz spoke as she picked up her phone. “Yes, Hello Mr. Lestern, there are two guys here from the safety board to inspect the micros… Yep… Ok… Uh huh… Alright I’ll send them in,” Liz finished before hanging up the phone.
“Right through there gentleman… Mr. Lestern will be waiting for you.”
“Thank you very much… Liz,” Dave spoke, taking a slight pause to read her name on the name plate resting on top of her desk.
Zack led the way with his tablet in hand and stylist pen in the other. When he opened the door there wasn’t much separating the front office from the rest of the warehouse. Huge lights hung down from the ceiling from wire, as massive beams rose from the floor to the ceiling. Wanting to maximize the space, the only structure was that which was needed to hold the place up. Not the best for major disasters, but more than adequate for everyday use. What were more impressive were the cages. Massive cages that were big enough for Dave and Zack to walk into, along with probably a dozen others, that were stacked three high and almost touched the ceiling. Inside the massive cages were hundreds of smaller ones that were filled with dozens of micros each. It was clear that the bigger cages were used as support since stacking the smaller cages that high would ensure that they fell over, and in the larger cages they could be loaded onto the trucks easier; very efficient.
“Greetings, my name is Mr. Ghias Lestern, and I’m the GM of this facility. And you two are?”
“Zack Brister, and this is David Gerold. We’re here from the MSA performing a spot inspection of your facility. So if you don’t mind Mr. Lestern, we’d appreciate it if you showed us around.”
“Not a problem. If you two would please follow me we’ll get started,” Ghias spoke before leading the way down one of the many isles.
“As you can see our facility is built for maximum efficiency. The micros are all segregated by age from infant to 20 in the back, 20 to 50 in the middle, and 50 and older towards the front here. The pet stores like the younger ones and the middle-aged ones are mostly sent to the restaurants.”
“And what do you do with the older ones? What about them?” David asked as Zack took notes.
“Pet food… Pet’s like snakes and lizards. We’ll sell the older micros to those buyers relatively cheap since the micros are being used as live prey,” Ghias replied as he slowly continued his walk down one of the dozens of rows that led towards the rear.
“And how many micros do you have?” Zack spoke up.
“Our facility can hold approximately 10 million micros, but on any given day we average about 7-8 million. We try not to keep our micros at maximum capacity since it helps with the supply and distribution channels we have set up. It would cause an unwanted ripple if we ran out of room, so we like to make sure that there’s always extra available for more micros,” Ghias responded as the neared the back wall. “Now, through here is where we process the micros to be shipped, mainly the ones that are 20-50 being sent to the restaurants. While some of our clients prefer them to be alive, we have a couple that want them prepared before they arrive.”
“And how do you do that?” Dave asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
“Right this way,” Ghias spoke before opening the door. The stench that flooded out like a broken damn was enough to make anyone squeamish throw-up on the spot. But anyone used to the smells of a slaughter house would be just fine.
Screams and pleas for help could be faintly heard behind the glass as Zack and David stared at the sight before them.
“As you can see, the micros are hung by their feet on a conveyer-belt. As the belt moves down the line, the micro’s heads are submerged in a pot of boiling water which kills them instantly. This prevents us from damaging any of the meat before it goes to the restaurants. Once the micros are dead, they’re sent to be processed at one of the many prepping stations. As you can see there, the worker takes the micro before placing them face up on the table. He or she then takes a knife and easily makes an incision down the sternum, splitting open the ribcage. Then he or she will take their finger and scoop out the organs that are then processed into various micro meats. The micro’s body is then placed into a container, almost like an egg carton, which is then placed into a freezer where we then freeze them before they’re shipped to the various restaurants.”
“Why does the conveyer-belt run up to the ceiling before being lowered back down to the floor before the micro hits the water?”
“Well… If we just put the micros on the belt that immediately led for the water, then the micros would have enough strength to pull themselves up by their legs to avoid it. This way, it keeps the micros hanging upside-down longer, and by the time they reach the water, they’re too weak to lift themselves up out of the way.”
“And what’s behind that door?” Dave asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Oh yes… Well… We actually got approval from the government to start research and testing new ways of killing the micros. While the boiling water does the trick, sometimes if a micro struggles or flails around it doesn’t get them all the way and only burns the micro. With all that extra adrenaline from the burn coursing through the micro before it dies, it ruins the flavor of the meat,” Ghias spoke with a look of disgust from prior experience.
When he opened the door, the screams were even more dominant. Not just middle-aged micros were being killed in this room, but micros of all ages.
“As you can see, we’re trying a plethora of new ways to kill the micros. We’re trying gas, but have found that it only affects a very few of them in a large group, even military grade gas” Ghias spoke, pointing to a cage filled with a green gas with micros within scrambling about, a few on the floor unmoving. “It would be very cost inefficient if we had to use a gas that only killed about five present of the micros, and very bad for business if the gas killed whichever macro ate the micro,” Ghias chuckled. “We also tried just crushing them ourselves, just pinching their heads between two fingers until they popped, but we lose a lot of blood that way and it’s a mess to clean up after-words. Plus the little shits bite, and workers then tend to smash the micro completely, so again, not very effective; and as everyone knows, when you cook a micro all the flavor comes from the head. We’ve tried giving them drugs, which seems to work the best, but the drugs cost so much money, again, it wouldn’t be effective for us, so for now we’re still just stuck with the basics,” Ghias concluded as he opened another door which led back to the main part of the facility. He then led the two back to his office, which was strewn with papers and file-cabinets that were full to bursting.
“Please… Have a seat,” Ghias spoke, motioning towards the two chairs on the opposite side of his desk.
“Looks like you’re dealing with some insurance,” Zack spoke up, noticing the various insurance forms on the top of the desk.
“Yeah… About a hundred million dollars worth too… I gotta make sure my workers and the facility are taken care of if something were to happen,” Ghias replied, moving the papers together to form a stack before setting them in his top drawer, out of sight. “But anyway, gentlemen, is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No… Thank you for showing us around. Your tour was quite educational, and almost distracted us enough to not notice the red splatter marks on the floor in the central part of your warehouse. Now, since the cages are too small for the micros to fit through, this means that your workers are stepping on the micros when they escape, and you and I both know that a micro in the open like that can be easily caught, so, here’s a fine for five thousand. While your facility is great and you yourself are doing a wonderful job, you need to remind your workers that they cannot just kill the micros that escape, despite how many you have. That’s a direct violation to the ethical treatment of contained micros, which states that micros held in captivity for commercial use or trade, must not be killed, unless the killing of the micro is necessitated by the product being produced,” Zack stated as he wrote Ghias the fine. “While you may have had government permission to experiment new ways of terminating the micros, that doesn’t give your employees the all clear to do as they wish. Be sure to clean up the blood, which could be another ticket for the unsanitary conditions your micros are living in, because of the blood, and we’ll be back in a few weeks to follow up,” He added before standing up to shake Ghias’s hand.
“Heh, we’ll see,” Ghias mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Dave asked.
“I can’t wait to see you two again,” Ghias grinned through a false smile, shaking their hands before leading them out of the facility, which basically meant just to the front office where Liz was still sitting before he closed the door behind them.
“Have a nice day Liz,” Dave spoke as the two opened the door to leave.
“Have a nice day… Oh wait… Before you go, take this,” Liz spoke as she pulled out a small cardboard box with holes in the top. “Complimentary micros for your time,” She smiled, handing the box over to Zack.
“Thank you, Liz. I greatly appreciate that,” Zack thanked before leaving with Dave.
The two didn’t speak a word until they got back into their car, the only noise caused by the frantic rustling coming from within the box.
“We come trying to help the micros, and they send us home with them, expecting us to eat them like hypocrites. I can’t stand these places. And to think, the government actually approved that facility to research other ways of killing them. Why don’t they just open all the cells and tell the workers to have fun while they’re at it too,” Zack vented, having to take a few breaths afterward to calm down.
“I know… But we did what we could,” Dave spoke as he started the car before shifting into drive. “Why don’t we see what they gave us, ok?”
“Ok,” Zack sighed before looking down at the box in his lap. Slowly he opened the box and as the four flaps lifted out of the way the screams began. “Dave, they’re just kids… They gave us a dozen kids,” Zack spoke, his heart just sinking into his stomach at the thought of what someone else would have done to them.
Zack looked back down into the box and tried to lighten his temper so he appeared as less threatening as possible. “Shhhh… It’s ok. No one’s gonna hurt you, I promise. My name’s Zack and this is Dave. Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to be afraid of us.” He smiled, making sure to not show any of his teeth.
The children were all cowering before him, but they weren’t screaming anymore. Very slowly, Zack lowered his hand into the box and let it rest in one of the corners. As expected the children all shied away from it, so he just left it there. “It’s ok… I promise I won’t hurt you.”
For the rest of the ride home, Zack just sat still with his hand in the box. After about ten minutes he felt the first child placed a hand on his causing him to smile. His plan was working as more and more tiny paws came into contact with his own. He wanted the children to come to him and get used to him first before holding them. With his hand in the box it kept him within reach of the children, and by staying still their curiosity eventually took hold as they approached him. By the time they got home he felt all of the children eventually touch his paw and when he peered down into the box he again smiled warmly when he saw all the children sitting around his hand.
“We’re home,” Zack spoke softly as he opened the door and got out of the car, still keeping a hand in the box. Dave helped him get inside before locking the doors to the silver Mustang.
Once Zack was inside, he gently set the box onto the table before very slowly tipping the box onto its side, after telling all of the children to move to the one side first so they didn’t get hurt. He didn’t want to lift them by hand yet, just in-case any of them were still scared.
Slowly the micros all began to walk out of the box until the ten of them were standing on the table, looking up at both macros before them.
Zack lifted the box away, looking inside it once again before breaking the box down and putting it into the recycling bin next to the trash. He then returned to the table before taking a seat along with Dave so they weren’t looming over the micros as much. Five girls and five boys, the micros all appeared to be the same breed of canine; chocolate Lab’s perhaps based on their looks. They seemed to shy away from Dave a bit, but that was probably because they hadn’t been around the giant husky as much.
“It’s ok little ones; Dave is just as friendly towards micros as I am. Neither of us will ever hurt you,” Zack reassured, slowly placing a paw next to the micros like before.
“Are any of you hungry, thirsty? We have plenty of food and water for you guys,” Dave spoke up as he left the table to get a few things. When he came back he had some cold pieces of chicken, along with some milk for the micros. “Here, eat as much as you’d like, and drink as much milk as you’d like too,” Dave spoke before placing the items on the table.
The micros all looked at the food and drink before looking up at Zack, waiting for him to give the order.
“It’s ok little ones… You can have as much as you’d like.” Zack smiled before all the micros quickly walked over to the food and drink.
They tore chunks from the chicken settled before them; splitting it into pieces which each individual then focused on eating from. Occasionally, one or two would take a break from eating and move to take a few licks from the cup of milk Dave had settled nearby.
As the micros ate, Dave placed a hand next to them, keeping it very still. Eventually, one by one, the micros warmed up to him and walked over to touch his paw as well; the light touches causing Dave to smile warmly. As the kids ate, Zack left the table before returning with a small animal bed. Made for a pet cat, the bed worked great for large numbers of micros, and a simple cloth could cover the whole thing so everyone would have a blanket.
Zack waited for the micros to finish and Dave to start cleaning up the little bit of food that was left before speaking to the micros once again.
“Alright little ones, Dave and I are going out for a few hours, so I brought this for you all to stay in while we’re gone. Please try to get some sleep, and you don’t have to worry. No one else will be here while we’re gone. You’re safe.”
One by one, the micros all climbed into the bed with a little help from Dave and Zack. The two were overjoyed that the micros trusted them to lift them up with their paws, even if it was only a few inches for now. A few inches, a few feet, it was all progress in their eyes.
Once settled, Dave placed the cloth into the bed as the little micros all snuggled up with it. The two were astonished by how fast the kids fell asleep, but they could understand. These micros were taken from their parents, placed into a cage, and probably thought they were all going to get eaten. That would make anyone exhausted with fear.
Quietly, Dave started to prepare for their little outing in the park while Zack went into the livingroom to get the other two micros.
“What’s going on in there?” Henry spoke as he climbed onto Zack’s paw.
“Well, remember when I said that we’d be able to save a few micros this morning? Well, we have ten other children in the kitchen who are all sleeping right now in the bed we gave them. When we get back we’ll introduce you to them and you’ll have some more company to play with.”
“Really! Can we see them now?!”
“No… They’re sleeping remember. It’s best to let them rest. They had a pretty long day today and are quite tired. After we get back from the park we’ll let you see them, I promise.”
“Ok.”
When Zack walked back into the kitchen, Dave had already packed a cooler with a bunch of food and drink and was standing patiently by the door.
“Let’s take the car. I don’t wanna walk that far with these two,” Zack spoke as he walked past Dave to put his shoes back on and open the door.
“Good idea, I’ll drive,” Dave chuckled, opting to drive yet again today, but in truth, he didn’t mind. In fact, Dave rather liked driving around so there was never an argument on whose turn it was.
The drive itself was short, just a couple of stop lights between them and the park. Once there, Dave found a nice shaded place to park the car before the four, two in hand, left the car for the woods. They remembered exactly where Clare and Robert lived, and after about fifteen minutes of hiking, the two finally made it to the micro’s tree. Knowing that the two were probably hiding from their foot falls, Dave and Zack decided to set up their blanket and food before taking a seat next to the tree.
“Clare… Robert,” Zack spoke in a soft tone. “It’s us, Zack and Dave. I don’t know if you remember us, but we were the ones who set you free and gave you the food and water. Please come out.”
After Zack spoke, all they could do was wait, staring at the small hole, hoping to see some form of life. All too often, they returned to a micro’s home only to find nothing left; the micros having long since moved on, or worse. But just as all hope seemed to fade, a small fox peered out from the hole. It was Clare, and as soon as she saw Zack and Dave she immediately called back into the hole for Robert before coming out to greet the two.
Zack waited for Robert to come out as well before lowering a paw for two to climb aboard. Once situated in the center of his paw, Zack couldn’t help but raise them to his face and nuzzle the two for a second against his cheek before handing them over to Dave who instead gave them a gentle backrub with one of his fingers.
“It’s so nice to see you two again,” Dave spoke as looked down at the pair. “We brought some food and drink to eat for lunch and we were hoping you’d like to join us. Would you like…”
“Of course we would,” Clare interrupted, giving Dave’s finger a tight hug.
“Excellent, we brought… well… What exactly did we bring?” Zack asked Dave since he didn’t pack any of it.
Dave chuckled a bit before answering. “We brought some lunchmeat for sandwiches and some fruit and vegetables to snack on as well, and for drinks I brought some fresh lemonade,” He spoke, unpacking the items at the same time and setting them down onto the blanket.
Once everything was out, Zack placed a few cut up portions of everything down on one of the paper plates for the micros to all share. He made sure to give them more than enough food than they could ever hope to eat that way they wouldn’t have to ask for seconds. As the group began to eat, idly conversing about what had transpired for each of them over the last few days, Zack couldn’t help but notice that they had another visitor just before they were about to start packing up.
Peeking out from behind some of the shrubs around the base of a tree was a small white wolf.
Zack made sure that the micro could see the other micros with them before he placed a large chunk of meat on his palm and turned to face the micro.
“Come on out little one… It’s ok. We won’t hurt you. Here, take some food to eat,” Zack smiled as he held out his hand to the micro who hid a little bit more behind the leaves.
Zack just remained as still as he could, trying not to scare the micro further before the wolf actually came out. Slowly, the little micro inched its way towards his paw, a noticeable limp in his step, before slowly reaching out and taking the meat. The micro was very cautious, as if looking for any reason to just turn and run. But instead, once the micro had the piece of meat, he actually looked up at Zack with his ears still pinned.
“Y-You… I remember you… Y-You’re the one who s-saved us from the r-restaurant.”
“You’re welcome little guy. I’m glad we were able to save you from that place too. Do you live around here as well?”
“Y-Yes… With a few of the others you saved. We all live together. T-Thank you for saving us… My name’s Sevax. Could you tell me yours again?”
“Of course I can Sevax… It’s Zack, and this here is Dave, and this is Clare, Robert, Tim and Henry,” Zack smiled as he introduced everyone. “Are you out here alone Sevax… I mean, with that leg of yours, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine… Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Well that’s good to hear. You know, we have plenty of food. Would you like us to bring you some where you live?”
“Really… You’d do that for us?”
“Of course we would. We always like helping out micros such as yourself, just like Robert and Clare here,” Dave added.
“Here, hop on and we’ll take you back to where you live with some food. Consider it a kindness.”
Sevax was a little hesitant as he stared at the massive leopard’s paw. If he got on, he’d be at the leopard’s mercy, placing his life literally into the macro’s hands. But the more he thought, the more he realized that these macros meant him or his group no harm. In fact, these were the same macros that set them free in the first place; all but one that is.
“Umm… Zack, what did you do with Sarah? When you set us free you took her away, and I don’t see her here. Is she ok?”
“Of course she is. In fact, Dave and I were able to find one of her friends, Tyler, who’d been taken to a pet store and sold to a rabbit family. Sarah is actually living with them right now. I know the family very well, and they’d never hurt Tyler or Sarah, just like we’d never hurt you. She’s safe and living happily with Tyler by her side.”
Once Sevax had his answer, he happily climbed onto the giant’s palm. He was putting a lot of trust into the macros, but the other micros there gave him the confidence boost he needed to go along. Had the micros not been present, he never would have come out in the first place.
As the micro climbed onto Dave’s hand, Zack packed up the food and blanket before retrieving Tim and Henry himself.
“Thanks for the food.” Clare smiled as she looked up at Zack. “We really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, Clare. I’m glad you two were still living here actually. Time and time again we go and visit the micros we help only to not find them; moved on or… I’m just glad you two are alright. If there’s anything you two need never hesitate to ask. Dave and I are always willing to help those in need.”
“Thank you Zack. Robert and I are ok. We still have a lot of the food and water you gave us, so we’re just fine. Thank you.”
“You two take care of yourselves now, ya hear. Dave and I will visit you again, and I hope you’re still here when we do,” Zack smiled as he reached down with his free hand and gently rubbed the top of Clare’s head with a gentle finger.
“We will… Don’t be away for too long though. Robert and I greatly enjoy your company. Good bye Zack, Dave.”
“Good bye you two,” Zack and Dave answered in unison.
Zack made sure to stay until the little foxes entered their home. Once they couldn’t see them anymore they followed Sevax’s instructions deeper into the forest. Of course, what was long for a micro wasn’t really for a macro, and after about five minutes of walking the two reached Sevax’s home.
“Is it just you or are there others?” Dave asked. “I can’t remember.”
“There’s a few others, four actually, other than myself. So five of us total… We had more, but after our home was destroyed a few days ago, most of the micros all left. We stayed behind, just in-case any stragglers came back looking for shelter or food.”
“Well… You can have the rest of our food Sevax. It’s not much for us, but should keep your bellies nice and full for a few weeks,” Zack smiled. “So… Where are the others?”
“They’re probably still hiding inside the trees. After the macros attacked us, none of us are ready to make our presence known to the macros anymore. We’d prefer to hide, which is why we’re hiding here. We figured that since the macros destroyed our home, they’d think that we moved on.”
“That’s too bad,” Dave spoke as he lowered his hand to the ground.
Once Sevax hopped off, he quickly made his way over to one of the trees, entering for a few seconds before coming back out, a few times looking back over his shoulder as two little micro otters were soon spotted looking out of the hole.
“It’s ok guys, these macros are friendly and they’re here to give us some food. You can come out,” Sevax hollered back over his shoulder.
The two otters were hesitant, but after a bit of time watching Sevax continue walking towards the giants, their fear subsided enough to get them to follow.
“Where’re Grahm and Lyka?” Sevax asked, noticing that only Jason and Chris walked out after him.
“I think they’re two trees over at the river,” Chris answered.
“It’s probably for the best anyway,” Sevax added. “After what happened yesterday I don’t think Lyka needs to see anymore macros anytime soon.”
Half-way up a tall oak tree, Lyka and Grahm walked out onto a short, dead branch than hung over the raging river below. The hallow oak had a hole in the bottom that the micros could use to get inside and climb to the high perch. Once on the branch, the micros were elevated a good twenty stories over the forest floor, a great lookout and advantage point for any scouting party.
“There’s no railing,” Lyka spoke as she walked up to the edge of the branch.
“Which is why I find it best not to stand there,” Grahm spoke, placing a hand on Lyka and pulling her away from the edge. “Are you ok Lyka? I took you here to get some fresh air. How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine,” Lyka spoke, gently rubbing her hand around her swollen belly.
Grahm pulled out a blueberry before ripping it in half and offering some to Lyka. “Here… Have something to eat. It’ll do you good and the baby too.”
“Oh Grahm, don’t be silly. You don’t need to get me anything to eat. I already told you. Taz isn’t back from hunting yet.”
“Lyka you need to eat. You can’t wait for him.”
“Don’t worry Grahm… I’ll be with Taz soon enough.”
“Then just eat a little, and don’t spoil your appetite,” Grahm sighed, hoping to get Lyka to eat a little. If he didn’t get her to eat anything, and she starved herself, it would be detrimental to both her and the child.
Winning a small victory, Grahm was pleased when Lyka took a few bites of the fruit before handing it back.
“Thanks Lyka.”
“Oh Grahm… You worry too much. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be just fine.”
The story is building to the climax with only 2-3 chapters left. Hope everyone enjoys....
While this story is rated GENERAL AUDIENCE, please note that there is some blood and dark imagery.
Edited by the great and wonderful
jevin=============================
The Micro’s Hero
Chapter 8
“Alright you guys, Zack and I have to go to work. We’ll leave you with the remote and plenty of food so you don’t get hungry.”
“Where are you going? What do you do at work?” Tim asked.
“Well… Zack and I are Safety Inspectors, but of a special type. It is our job to go into micro facilities and make sure that everything is running smoothly and that the micros are being treated humanely. Today we’re going to drop in and do a surprise inspection on the facility that Sarah was taken to.”
“Oh… Can you save any of them?”
“A couple, yes. Whoever runs the factory usually sends us home with a box of free micros for our trouble.”
“Millions of micros and we can only save about twenty,” Zack growled under his breath. “That’s why I hate this job.”
“But we love it too. We love knowing that we’re at least making the living conditions adequate for the micros that are left behind.” Dave lightly smiled.
It was hard going to these places. They tried to limit their visits to twice a week, but that still didn’t make the situation any better. Just like before, they’d have to go in and see all the little faces looking up at them in fear and horror: men, women, the elderly and children; all treated the same in these facilities, and all ending up in one of two places.
“Let’s go Zack… The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave,” Dave ushered, grabbing the keys from the table and slipping on his shoes.
“Alright you two, we’ll be back sometime around lunch and then we’ll all go out to the park. How’s that sound?”
Tim and Henry’s large ears both perked up along with their overjoyed smiles. The two hadn’t been outside since they were taken in by the macros, so getting a chance to go out safely with the two was something they relished.
“Really, you mean it?” Henry asked, knowing the answer but just wanting to confirm it again.
“Yes,” Zack replied, smiling down at the two. He couldn’t help but let a soft chuckle escape. He hadn’t seen the two mice so happy since the day they arrived here, so he knew this day would be ending on a high note rather than a low one.
“Now you two be good while we’re gone, and if you need anything you remember how I showed you to get ahold of us, right?”
“Yep, push the bottom circle with the square in it, slide the arrow to the right, tap on the phone thingy, then tap on your name,” Tim replied, the sentence engraved into his mind from repeating it over and over.
“Good, I’ll see you two in a bit,” Zack nodded before following Dave out the door.
Once in the car and on the road, Zack pulled out a small tablet as Dave drove.
“Let’s see… We saved Sarah from this restaurant here, and Tyler was taken from this pet store here, so that must mean the facility the two came from is this one here, Fairbanks Micro Facility. It’s the only facility that supplies the pet store, and they both came from the same location, so that’s gotta be it.”
“Alright, sounds good. Who runs it?”
“Let’s see… It looks like the GM is a lion by the name of Ghias Lestern. Pretty big guy too,” Zack added as he briefly held up his tablet for Dave to see the profile pic.
“Doesn’t matter… We’ll do this the same way we always do: Thoroughly,” Dave replied as he changed lanes to get onto the freeway.
FMF was about 10 miles away, but it took longer to take the shorter side-streets even though the distance was further taking the highway. Taking the highway was about fifteen minutes only because the closest exit caused them to double back a few miles. The straight shot up the side-streets took about 20-25 minutes depending on how you hit the lights.
“So, I told Tim and Henry that later today we’d all go out to the park, maybe even grab lunch and have it there.”
“Oh really… That sounds like a great idea. I’m sure the two were happy to hear that. They’ve been locked up in our house the last couple days and I’m sure they’re just dying to get out,” Dave chuckled.
“Yeah, they were pretty excited. And ya know, I was thinking, maybe we could even go and see Clare and Robert too.”
“Oh yeah, that’ll be great. I’m sure they’d love to get a visit from us and get some good food in their bellies,” Dave smiled.
After a bit of idle discussion, Dave pulled off of the highway onto the street the facility was located on. The town was rundown; streets lined with retail stores and ma and pa shops all boarded up from abandonment and miscare. Litter was strewn about the curbs, especially around the bus stops and parking meters. Street lamps ran down the entire road, and as they passed the three stoplights along their way they could see that each one was equipped with traffic cameras as well as continuous flashing blue lights from the security cameras. As if those weren’t enough clues screaming at them the graffiti and various people drinking from brown paper-bags also added to the depravity that surrounded them.
“Alright, here we go,” Zack sighed as Dave pulled into the parking lot of the facility. There were hardly any windows other than the ones that lined the top of the four walls that were three stories high. The two sides of the warehouse were lined with trucks, all with the red logo FMF across the white sides which matched the logo above the front entrance along with the three words: Quick Quantity Quality, written directly underneath the red FMF. The warehouse itself was painted a dark grey with a dark blue stripe running underneath and above the windows that lined the top. Also in the front of the warehouse, next to the front entrance on the right side were two aluminum garage doors, the kind that roll up at the top when opened, rather than lifting back into the facility, probably for space reasons.
The two pulled up to the front before parking their car and donning their ID badges. The company they worked for, a branch of the Micro Safety Administration was the only one in the state, so it was known by all the various warehouses. When they walked through the front door, a little bell rang, almost giving the place the cozy ma and pa shop feel to it before the receptionist, a female cheetah, looked up at the two.
“Oh, hello, how can I help you two today? Would you like to view a catalog of our selection or…”
“No ma’am, we’re here to inspect the facility on your treatment of the micros,” Zack interrupted, holding out his ID badge for the lady to see.
“Oh, pardon me,” Liz spoke as she picked up her phone. “Yes, Hello Mr. Lestern, there are two guys here from the safety board to inspect the micros… Yep… Ok… Uh huh… Alright I’ll send them in,” Liz finished before hanging up the phone.
“Right through there gentleman… Mr. Lestern will be waiting for you.”
“Thank you very much… Liz,” Dave spoke, taking a slight pause to read her name on the name plate resting on top of her desk.
Zack led the way with his tablet in hand and stylist pen in the other. When he opened the door there wasn’t much separating the front office from the rest of the warehouse. Huge lights hung down from the ceiling from wire, as massive beams rose from the floor to the ceiling. Wanting to maximize the space, the only structure was that which was needed to hold the place up. Not the best for major disasters, but more than adequate for everyday use. What were more impressive were the cages. Massive cages that were big enough for Dave and Zack to walk into, along with probably a dozen others, that were stacked three high and almost touched the ceiling. Inside the massive cages were hundreds of smaller ones that were filled with dozens of micros each. It was clear that the bigger cages were used as support since stacking the smaller cages that high would ensure that they fell over, and in the larger cages they could be loaded onto the trucks easier; very efficient.
“Greetings, my name is Mr. Ghias Lestern, and I’m the GM of this facility. And you two are?”
“Zack Brister, and this is David Gerold. We’re here from the MSA performing a spot inspection of your facility. So if you don’t mind Mr. Lestern, we’d appreciate it if you showed us around.”
“Not a problem. If you two would please follow me we’ll get started,” Ghias spoke before leading the way down one of the many isles.
“As you can see our facility is built for maximum efficiency. The micros are all segregated by age from infant to 20 in the back, 20 to 50 in the middle, and 50 and older towards the front here. The pet stores like the younger ones and the middle-aged ones are mostly sent to the restaurants.”
“And what do you do with the older ones? What about them?” David asked as Zack took notes.
“Pet food… Pet’s like snakes and lizards. We’ll sell the older micros to those buyers relatively cheap since the micros are being used as live prey,” Ghias replied as he slowly continued his walk down one of the dozens of rows that led towards the rear.
“And how many micros do you have?” Zack spoke up.
“Our facility can hold approximately 10 million micros, but on any given day we average about 7-8 million. We try not to keep our micros at maximum capacity since it helps with the supply and distribution channels we have set up. It would cause an unwanted ripple if we ran out of room, so we like to make sure that there’s always extra available for more micros,” Ghias responded as the neared the back wall. “Now, through here is where we process the micros to be shipped, mainly the ones that are 20-50 being sent to the restaurants. While some of our clients prefer them to be alive, we have a couple that want them prepared before they arrive.”
“And how do you do that?” Dave asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
“Right this way,” Ghias spoke before opening the door. The stench that flooded out like a broken damn was enough to make anyone squeamish throw-up on the spot. But anyone used to the smells of a slaughter house would be just fine.
Screams and pleas for help could be faintly heard behind the glass as Zack and David stared at the sight before them.
“As you can see, the micros are hung by their feet on a conveyer-belt. As the belt moves down the line, the micro’s heads are submerged in a pot of boiling water which kills them instantly. This prevents us from damaging any of the meat before it goes to the restaurants. Once the micros are dead, they’re sent to be processed at one of the many prepping stations. As you can see there, the worker takes the micro before placing them face up on the table. He or she then takes a knife and easily makes an incision down the sternum, splitting open the ribcage. Then he or she will take their finger and scoop out the organs that are then processed into various micro meats. The micro’s body is then placed into a container, almost like an egg carton, which is then placed into a freezer where we then freeze them before they’re shipped to the various restaurants.”
“Why does the conveyer-belt run up to the ceiling before being lowered back down to the floor before the micro hits the water?”
“Well… If we just put the micros on the belt that immediately led for the water, then the micros would have enough strength to pull themselves up by their legs to avoid it. This way, it keeps the micros hanging upside-down longer, and by the time they reach the water, they’re too weak to lift themselves up out of the way.”
“And what’s behind that door?” Dave asked, wanting to change the subject.
“Oh yes… Well… We actually got approval from the government to start research and testing new ways of killing the micros. While the boiling water does the trick, sometimes if a micro struggles or flails around it doesn’t get them all the way and only burns the micro. With all that extra adrenaline from the burn coursing through the micro before it dies, it ruins the flavor of the meat,” Ghias spoke with a look of disgust from prior experience.
When he opened the door, the screams were even more dominant. Not just middle-aged micros were being killed in this room, but micros of all ages.
“As you can see, we’re trying a plethora of new ways to kill the micros. We’re trying gas, but have found that it only affects a very few of them in a large group, even military grade gas” Ghias spoke, pointing to a cage filled with a green gas with micros within scrambling about, a few on the floor unmoving. “It would be very cost inefficient if we had to use a gas that only killed about five present of the micros, and very bad for business if the gas killed whichever macro ate the micro,” Ghias chuckled. “We also tried just crushing them ourselves, just pinching their heads between two fingers until they popped, but we lose a lot of blood that way and it’s a mess to clean up after-words. Plus the little shits bite, and workers then tend to smash the micro completely, so again, not very effective; and as everyone knows, when you cook a micro all the flavor comes from the head. We’ve tried giving them drugs, which seems to work the best, but the drugs cost so much money, again, it wouldn’t be effective for us, so for now we’re still just stuck with the basics,” Ghias concluded as he opened another door which led back to the main part of the facility. He then led the two back to his office, which was strewn with papers and file-cabinets that were full to bursting.
“Please… Have a seat,” Ghias spoke, motioning towards the two chairs on the opposite side of his desk.
“Looks like you’re dealing with some insurance,” Zack spoke up, noticing the various insurance forms on the top of the desk.
“Yeah… About a hundred million dollars worth too… I gotta make sure my workers and the facility are taken care of if something were to happen,” Ghias replied, moving the papers together to form a stack before setting them in his top drawer, out of sight. “But anyway, gentlemen, is there anything else I can help you with?”
“No… Thank you for showing us around. Your tour was quite educational, and almost distracted us enough to not notice the red splatter marks on the floor in the central part of your warehouse. Now, since the cages are too small for the micros to fit through, this means that your workers are stepping on the micros when they escape, and you and I both know that a micro in the open like that can be easily caught, so, here’s a fine for five thousand. While your facility is great and you yourself are doing a wonderful job, you need to remind your workers that they cannot just kill the micros that escape, despite how many you have. That’s a direct violation to the ethical treatment of contained micros, which states that micros held in captivity for commercial use or trade, must not be killed, unless the killing of the micro is necessitated by the product being produced,” Zack stated as he wrote Ghias the fine. “While you may have had government permission to experiment new ways of terminating the micros, that doesn’t give your employees the all clear to do as they wish. Be sure to clean up the blood, which could be another ticket for the unsanitary conditions your micros are living in, because of the blood, and we’ll be back in a few weeks to follow up,” He added before standing up to shake Ghias’s hand.
“Heh, we’ll see,” Ghias mumbled under his breath.
“What was that?” Dave asked.
“I can’t wait to see you two again,” Ghias grinned through a false smile, shaking their hands before leading them out of the facility, which basically meant just to the front office where Liz was still sitting before he closed the door behind them.
“Have a nice day Liz,” Dave spoke as the two opened the door to leave.
“Have a nice day… Oh wait… Before you go, take this,” Liz spoke as she pulled out a small cardboard box with holes in the top. “Complimentary micros for your time,” She smiled, handing the box over to Zack.
“Thank you, Liz. I greatly appreciate that,” Zack thanked before leaving with Dave.
The two didn’t speak a word until they got back into their car, the only noise caused by the frantic rustling coming from within the box.
“We come trying to help the micros, and they send us home with them, expecting us to eat them like hypocrites. I can’t stand these places. And to think, the government actually approved that facility to research other ways of killing them. Why don’t they just open all the cells and tell the workers to have fun while they’re at it too,” Zack vented, having to take a few breaths afterward to calm down.
“I know… But we did what we could,” Dave spoke as he started the car before shifting into drive. “Why don’t we see what they gave us, ok?”
“Ok,” Zack sighed before looking down at the box in his lap. Slowly he opened the box and as the four flaps lifted out of the way the screams began. “Dave, they’re just kids… They gave us a dozen kids,” Zack spoke, his heart just sinking into his stomach at the thought of what someone else would have done to them.
Zack looked back down into the box and tried to lighten his temper so he appeared as less threatening as possible. “Shhhh… It’s ok. No one’s gonna hurt you, I promise. My name’s Zack and this is Dave. Don’t be afraid. You don’t have to be afraid of us.” He smiled, making sure to not show any of his teeth.
The children were all cowering before him, but they weren’t screaming anymore. Very slowly, Zack lowered his hand into the box and let it rest in one of the corners. As expected the children all shied away from it, so he just left it there. “It’s ok… I promise I won’t hurt you.”
For the rest of the ride home, Zack just sat still with his hand in the box. After about ten minutes he felt the first child placed a hand on his causing him to smile. His plan was working as more and more tiny paws came into contact with his own. He wanted the children to come to him and get used to him first before holding them. With his hand in the box it kept him within reach of the children, and by staying still their curiosity eventually took hold as they approached him. By the time they got home he felt all of the children eventually touch his paw and when he peered down into the box he again smiled warmly when he saw all the children sitting around his hand.
“We’re home,” Zack spoke softly as he opened the door and got out of the car, still keeping a hand in the box. Dave helped him get inside before locking the doors to the silver Mustang.
Once Zack was inside, he gently set the box onto the table before very slowly tipping the box onto its side, after telling all of the children to move to the one side first so they didn’t get hurt. He didn’t want to lift them by hand yet, just in-case any of them were still scared.
Slowly the micros all began to walk out of the box until the ten of them were standing on the table, looking up at both macros before them.
Zack lifted the box away, looking inside it once again before breaking the box down and putting it into the recycling bin next to the trash. He then returned to the table before taking a seat along with Dave so they weren’t looming over the micros as much. Five girls and five boys, the micros all appeared to be the same breed of canine; chocolate Lab’s perhaps based on their looks. They seemed to shy away from Dave a bit, but that was probably because they hadn’t been around the giant husky as much.
“It’s ok little ones; Dave is just as friendly towards micros as I am. Neither of us will ever hurt you,” Zack reassured, slowly placing a paw next to the micros like before.
“Are any of you hungry, thirsty? We have plenty of food and water for you guys,” Dave spoke up as he left the table to get a few things. When he came back he had some cold pieces of chicken, along with some milk for the micros. “Here, eat as much as you’d like, and drink as much milk as you’d like too,” Dave spoke before placing the items on the table.
The micros all looked at the food and drink before looking up at Zack, waiting for him to give the order.
“It’s ok little ones… You can have as much as you’d like.” Zack smiled before all the micros quickly walked over to the food and drink.
They tore chunks from the chicken settled before them; splitting it into pieces which each individual then focused on eating from. Occasionally, one or two would take a break from eating and move to take a few licks from the cup of milk Dave had settled nearby.
As the micros ate, Dave placed a hand next to them, keeping it very still. Eventually, one by one, the micros warmed up to him and walked over to touch his paw as well; the light touches causing Dave to smile warmly. As the kids ate, Zack left the table before returning with a small animal bed. Made for a pet cat, the bed worked great for large numbers of micros, and a simple cloth could cover the whole thing so everyone would have a blanket.
Zack waited for the micros to finish and Dave to start cleaning up the little bit of food that was left before speaking to the micros once again.
“Alright little ones, Dave and I are going out for a few hours, so I brought this for you all to stay in while we’re gone. Please try to get some sleep, and you don’t have to worry. No one else will be here while we’re gone. You’re safe.”
One by one, the micros all climbed into the bed with a little help from Dave and Zack. The two were overjoyed that the micros trusted them to lift them up with their paws, even if it was only a few inches for now. A few inches, a few feet, it was all progress in their eyes.
Once settled, Dave placed the cloth into the bed as the little micros all snuggled up with it. The two were astonished by how fast the kids fell asleep, but they could understand. These micros were taken from their parents, placed into a cage, and probably thought they were all going to get eaten. That would make anyone exhausted with fear.
Quietly, Dave started to prepare for their little outing in the park while Zack went into the livingroom to get the other two micros.
“What’s going on in there?” Henry spoke as he climbed onto Zack’s paw.
“Well, remember when I said that we’d be able to save a few micros this morning? Well, we have ten other children in the kitchen who are all sleeping right now in the bed we gave them. When we get back we’ll introduce you to them and you’ll have some more company to play with.”
“Really! Can we see them now?!”
“No… They’re sleeping remember. It’s best to let them rest. They had a pretty long day today and are quite tired. After we get back from the park we’ll let you see them, I promise.”
“Ok.”
When Zack walked back into the kitchen, Dave had already packed a cooler with a bunch of food and drink and was standing patiently by the door.
“Let’s take the car. I don’t wanna walk that far with these two,” Zack spoke as he walked past Dave to put his shoes back on and open the door.
“Good idea, I’ll drive,” Dave chuckled, opting to drive yet again today, but in truth, he didn’t mind. In fact, Dave rather liked driving around so there was never an argument on whose turn it was.
The drive itself was short, just a couple of stop lights between them and the park. Once there, Dave found a nice shaded place to park the car before the four, two in hand, left the car for the woods. They remembered exactly where Clare and Robert lived, and after about fifteen minutes of hiking, the two finally made it to the micro’s tree. Knowing that the two were probably hiding from their foot falls, Dave and Zack decided to set up their blanket and food before taking a seat next to the tree.
“Clare… Robert,” Zack spoke in a soft tone. “It’s us, Zack and Dave. I don’t know if you remember us, but we were the ones who set you free and gave you the food and water. Please come out.”
After Zack spoke, all they could do was wait, staring at the small hole, hoping to see some form of life. All too often, they returned to a micro’s home only to find nothing left; the micros having long since moved on, or worse. But just as all hope seemed to fade, a small fox peered out from the hole. It was Clare, and as soon as she saw Zack and Dave she immediately called back into the hole for Robert before coming out to greet the two.
Zack waited for Robert to come out as well before lowering a paw for two to climb aboard. Once situated in the center of his paw, Zack couldn’t help but raise them to his face and nuzzle the two for a second against his cheek before handing them over to Dave who instead gave them a gentle backrub with one of his fingers.
“It’s so nice to see you two again,” Dave spoke as looked down at the pair. “We brought some food and drink to eat for lunch and we were hoping you’d like to join us. Would you like…”
“Of course we would,” Clare interrupted, giving Dave’s finger a tight hug.
“Excellent, we brought… well… What exactly did we bring?” Zack asked Dave since he didn’t pack any of it.
Dave chuckled a bit before answering. “We brought some lunchmeat for sandwiches and some fruit and vegetables to snack on as well, and for drinks I brought some fresh lemonade,” He spoke, unpacking the items at the same time and setting them down onto the blanket.
Once everything was out, Zack placed a few cut up portions of everything down on one of the paper plates for the micros to all share. He made sure to give them more than enough food than they could ever hope to eat that way they wouldn’t have to ask for seconds. As the group began to eat, idly conversing about what had transpired for each of them over the last few days, Zack couldn’t help but notice that they had another visitor just before they were about to start packing up.
Peeking out from behind some of the shrubs around the base of a tree was a small white wolf.
Zack made sure that the micro could see the other micros with them before he placed a large chunk of meat on his palm and turned to face the micro.
“Come on out little one… It’s ok. We won’t hurt you. Here, take some food to eat,” Zack smiled as he held out his hand to the micro who hid a little bit more behind the leaves.
Zack just remained as still as he could, trying not to scare the micro further before the wolf actually came out. Slowly, the little micro inched its way towards his paw, a noticeable limp in his step, before slowly reaching out and taking the meat. The micro was very cautious, as if looking for any reason to just turn and run. But instead, once the micro had the piece of meat, he actually looked up at Zack with his ears still pinned.
“Y-You… I remember you… Y-You’re the one who s-saved us from the r-restaurant.”
“You’re welcome little guy. I’m glad we were able to save you from that place too. Do you live around here as well?”
“Y-Yes… With a few of the others you saved. We all live together. T-Thank you for saving us… My name’s Sevax. Could you tell me yours again?”
“Of course I can Sevax… It’s Zack, and this here is Dave, and this is Clare, Robert, Tim and Henry,” Zack smiled as he introduced everyone. “Are you out here alone Sevax… I mean, with that leg of yours, are you ok?”
“Yeah, I’m fine… Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Well that’s good to hear. You know, we have plenty of food. Would you like us to bring you some where you live?”
“Really… You’d do that for us?”
“Of course we would. We always like helping out micros such as yourself, just like Robert and Clare here,” Dave added.
“Here, hop on and we’ll take you back to where you live with some food. Consider it a kindness.”
Sevax was a little hesitant as he stared at the massive leopard’s paw. If he got on, he’d be at the leopard’s mercy, placing his life literally into the macro’s hands. But the more he thought, the more he realized that these macros meant him or his group no harm. In fact, these were the same macros that set them free in the first place; all but one that is.
“Umm… Zack, what did you do with Sarah? When you set us free you took her away, and I don’t see her here. Is she ok?”
“Of course she is. In fact, Dave and I were able to find one of her friends, Tyler, who’d been taken to a pet store and sold to a rabbit family. Sarah is actually living with them right now. I know the family very well, and they’d never hurt Tyler or Sarah, just like we’d never hurt you. She’s safe and living happily with Tyler by her side.”
Once Sevax had his answer, he happily climbed onto the giant’s palm. He was putting a lot of trust into the macros, but the other micros there gave him the confidence boost he needed to go along. Had the micros not been present, he never would have come out in the first place.
As the micro climbed onto Dave’s hand, Zack packed up the food and blanket before retrieving Tim and Henry himself.
“Thanks for the food.” Clare smiled as she looked up at Zack. “We really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome, Clare. I’m glad you two were still living here actually. Time and time again we go and visit the micros we help only to not find them; moved on or… I’m just glad you two are alright. If there’s anything you two need never hesitate to ask. Dave and I are always willing to help those in need.”
“Thank you Zack. Robert and I are ok. We still have a lot of the food and water you gave us, so we’re just fine. Thank you.”
“You two take care of yourselves now, ya hear. Dave and I will visit you again, and I hope you’re still here when we do,” Zack smiled as he reached down with his free hand and gently rubbed the top of Clare’s head with a gentle finger.
“We will… Don’t be away for too long though. Robert and I greatly enjoy your company. Good bye Zack, Dave.”
“Good bye you two,” Zack and Dave answered in unison.
Zack made sure to stay until the little foxes entered their home. Once they couldn’t see them anymore they followed Sevax’s instructions deeper into the forest. Of course, what was long for a micro wasn’t really for a macro, and after about five minutes of walking the two reached Sevax’s home.
“Is it just you or are there others?” Dave asked. “I can’t remember.”
“There’s a few others, four actually, other than myself. So five of us total… We had more, but after our home was destroyed a few days ago, most of the micros all left. We stayed behind, just in-case any stragglers came back looking for shelter or food.”
“Well… You can have the rest of our food Sevax. It’s not much for us, but should keep your bellies nice and full for a few weeks,” Zack smiled. “So… Where are the others?”
“They’re probably still hiding inside the trees. After the macros attacked us, none of us are ready to make our presence known to the macros anymore. We’d prefer to hide, which is why we’re hiding here. We figured that since the macros destroyed our home, they’d think that we moved on.”
“That’s too bad,” Dave spoke as he lowered his hand to the ground.
Once Sevax hopped off, he quickly made his way over to one of the trees, entering for a few seconds before coming back out, a few times looking back over his shoulder as two little micro otters were soon spotted looking out of the hole.
“It’s ok guys, these macros are friendly and they’re here to give us some food. You can come out,” Sevax hollered back over his shoulder.
The two otters were hesitant, but after a bit of time watching Sevax continue walking towards the giants, their fear subsided enough to get them to follow.
“Where’re Grahm and Lyka?” Sevax asked, noticing that only Jason and Chris walked out after him.
“I think they’re two trees over at the river,” Chris answered.
“It’s probably for the best anyway,” Sevax added. “After what happened yesterday I don’t think Lyka needs to see anymore macros anytime soon.”
Half-way up a tall oak tree, Lyka and Grahm walked out onto a short, dead branch than hung over the raging river below. The hallow oak had a hole in the bottom that the micros could use to get inside and climb to the high perch. Once on the branch, the micros were elevated a good twenty stories over the forest floor, a great lookout and advantage point for any scouting party.
“There’s no railing,” Lyka spoke as she walked up to the edge of the branch.
“Which is why I find it best not to stand there,” Grahm spoke, placing a hand on Lyka and pulling her away from the edge. “Are you ok Lyka? I took you here to get some fresh air. How are you holding up?”
“I’m fine,” Lyka spoke, gently rubbing her hand around her swollen belly.
Grahm pulled out a blueberry before ripping it in half and offering some to Lyka. “Here… Have something to eat. It’ll do you good and the baby too.”
“Oh Grahm, don’t be silly. You don’t need to get me anything to eat. I already told you. Taz isn’t back from hunting yet.”
“Lyka you need to eat. You can’t wait for him.”
“Don’t worry Grahm… I’ll be with Taz soon enough.”
“Then just eat a little, and don’t spoil your appetite,” Grahm sighed, hoping to get Lyka to eat a little. If he didn’t get her to eat anything, and she starved herself, it would be detrimental to both her and the child.
Winning a small victory, Grahm was pleased when Lyka took a few bites of the fruit before handing it back.
“Thanks Lyka.”
“Oh Grahm… You worry too much. You don’t need to worry about me. I’ll be just fine.”
Category Story / Macro / Micro
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 36.3 kB
Comments