Chimera

Chapter Nineteen: Camila

Camila sat next to the flame with Lance, Jaylin, Alana and Goldenstroke. It hadn't take them to find enough wood and kindling to make a fire. Then they had filled their canteens to the top and gone out into the orchard and fields, filling their satchels with more food than they had seen in days.

Camila lifted a handful of blackberries to her mouth. The dark juice stained her hand, but she ignored it and savoured the sweet taste of the fruit. Chestnuts, fish and corn roasted over the fire, sending mouth-watering scents into the air and wisps of smoke which fought to obscure the setting sun.

Smudges of coral, lavender and fiery orange blended together and painted the clouds with color.

"We should leave for Las Lagos soon," Lance reminded them.

"I think just one more day here," said Alana, crunching vivaciously into an apple. When she realised that everyone was staring at her, she added, "To recover, of course."

"I concur," said Jaylin in a muffled voice, stuffing a roasted fish and a cob of corn into his mouth at the same time.

"OK, then. One more day here. We'll leave the morning after tomorrow. Then we go back home," Lance said.

Saying home sounds weird, thought Camila. Of course, she missed her family and her house and all of Los Lagos, and she still wanted to do her job as the town mechanic, but she had been gone for so long now and she felt... disconnected. They had been moving so much, on and on and on. It almost felt like she didn't have a home anymore. Sometimes, when she was walking in silence through the forest, she imagined that she was a wandering questor, a travelling seeker, and she didn't need a home. It was a empowering thought, but it was frightening at the same time.

After she was full, Camila crept into her sleeping bag. The roaring fire was reassuring as the sky darkened. The others got into their sleeping bags too and they snuggled next to each other, using body heat to keep warm.

"Good night, everyone. We're going home soon," she said.

She could feel the silent smiles of the others next to her. Smiling too, Camila nestled deeper into her sleeping bag. The rippling of the lake lulled her to sleep.

Beams of sun kissed the glade, gently waking Camila. She reached out her hands to the sky, letting the soft amber glow of the sunrise pour through her fingers and onto her upturned face. Brilliant gold and orange hues bled like fire as the first sliver of sun appeared over the horizon, radiant and white. For a second she forgot where she was. Was she in her bed at home? Why was she in the open, with no roof above her?

But then she saw the trees of the forest standing sharp and defined against the pearly morning sky and everything came flooding back.

Camila slid out of her sleeping bag, stretching her tired limbs. Next to her, the others were stirring. Lance shuffled out of his blanket, swallowing a yawn that turned into a wolf-like howl. Alana and Jaylin woke up soon after and Goldenstroke snacked on a chestnut from the previous night, cracking it easily with his beak.

"So what are we going to do today?" Camila asked. It was strange, having to ask what she would be doing. Before they had found the glade, there hadn't been any question of their goals and their risks. They had just been journeying. Now, she had... free time?

"I'm going to gather some more fruit," Alana said, sheeny avian wings unfurling and stretching wide, "I'll fly to the top of the trees, pick some fruits and then drop them down."

"I'll help you catch them," Jaylin suggested, using a tentacle to expertly throw a chestnut into the air.

"And I'll eat the ones he misses," Alana said, snatching the chestnut before it came back down to Jaylin's hand.

"I want to explore the glade a bit more. Maybe go into those buildings," Lance said.

"There might be some of that technology you wanted in there," he said, looking at Camila, "want to come?"

"Sure. Great!"

While the others walked off to the orchard, Camila and Lance set off for the buildings. The largest of them was only three stories tall. They were all shining silver metal and gleaming windows, a few of which were shattered. Camila felt growing excitement. This was one of the main reasons she had first wanted to go beyond the walls, to find the technological marvels of the outside world.

"I wonder what's inside," Camila said, kicking the front door. It swung open and they walked into the building.

Camila gasped. In front of her was a huge glass tube reaching from the ceiling to the floor. It was filled with a frosty blue fluid. And in the middle of the tube, there was a creature.

An animal. It had a feline appearance, lithe and thin, built for stealth, but it had smooth white fur, peppered with dots of bright green bioluminescence. It was obviously a mutant, changed by the Chimera Mutation. It was suspended in the fluid, virtually unmoving, bobbing slowly up and down as it floated. It looked petrified, frozen, reminding Camila of stuffed animals she had seen at a strange taxidermy stall in the Den. The mutated cats eyes were glassy and unseeing. Its legs were held closely to its body, like it was somehow still in a fetal state, and this giant glass tube was its womb.

"What is a... a mutant doing here?" Camila asked.

"I don't know. But it's definitely not the only one," Lance said. Camila turned, and her eyes widened. There were almost twenty glass tubes in the room, each with floating mutated creatures.

Camila's head spun. She gasped and plunged forward, catching herself on the giant tube that contained the glowing cat.

The words on its label blurred before her eyes.

Specimen 264

A cougar (puma concolor) that has contracted the Chimera Mutation, found in the Southern Tier of upstate New York. Due to the viral mutation, it has gained bioluminescent spots, (often found in deep-sea squid) which are caused by the bacterium Alliivibrio fischeri. It is not known when the DNA of this felid was changed due to the Chimera Mutation.

Did this mean that the Chimera Mutation had been studied by people? Where had all those people gone?

And had those people been the ones who had-

Hi, Sylver here. Lance and Camila have unwittingly stumbled into a powerful part of their world's history; a hidden laboratory filled with the secrets that are the keys to their past. What earth-shattering discoveries will they make in this strange new location?

If you've enjoyed reading this story, don't forget to vote, comment and add it to your reading lists. I will be adding a new chapter every day. If you have any tips for how I can improve my writing, or what I did well this time, please feel free to tell me (in a nice manner). Thanks so much for reading my story!