The Divide

Chapter 2

"Are you with us, Thomas?" I heard, as I struggled to stay awake.

"I'm here," I replied, rubbing my eyes.

"Good," said Thorn in a deep voice. "I didn't promote you, so you could sleep during these meetings. I'm going to need you to stay awake."

"It won't happen again, sir," I answered.

"I know these meetings are boring, Thomas. Trust me...I've been here the longest. I just need you to pay attention to what the others are saying. None of us give a rat's ass about how many forks were stolen from the cafeteria this week. None of us care about how we've turned two school buses into public transportation buses. I personally could not care any less...but I listen. I need you to do the same. Can you do that for me?" Thorn asked.

I nodded, and looked at Thorn from across the conference table. "Yessir. I can do that."

Thorn smiled, and said, "That's what I like to hear. Now...let's keep moving. Where were we?"

Packer, the wolf next to me, stood up and started to say his piece. "Nothing to report, sir. It's a good thing, too. It would be a shame if anyone were trying to steal anything from me," he said with a toothy grin.

"Why is that?" asked Thorn with a raised eyebrow.

Packer chuckled. "Because of these guns right here," he said, while flexing the muscles in his arms. He raised his arms above his head, and flexed his biceps. Grabbing a chuckle out of the council, Packer sat back into his seat.

Packer was in charge of the weapons, and equipment. He was a largely-built wolf, which looked like he was meant to be the quarterback of a football team. He had a streak of pink running across his face, which was a scar from a few years back. The rest of his fur was dark grey...like everyone else's. I am sure that Packer was the reason that I didn't fall asleep too much in these meetings. He was funny, he was friendly, and he was my ride during our lunch breaks.

I glanced at Thorn, who had just moved his attention towards me.

I gulped nervously.

Thorn was the first wolf that I had met when I made it to my side of the wall. After making sure that I was okay, he immediately focused on the wolves near to him. He knew how to help, and lead others. He instantly gave himself a presence of power, which was unnerving to a lot of the wolves. Thorn acted as my father until I was able to be on my own, helping me gain the skills necessary to be in the position that I was in.

"What about Human Studies?" Thorn asked, making everyone else look at me. "Do you have anything for us, Thomas?"

I stood up nervously, and replied, "I don't have much, since I've only been in charge of Human Studies for one day. Also, many of the major discoveries about humans have been made hundreds of years ago. Humans have taken the liberty of doing that themselves. There is one thing, however, that we have discovered that is very interesting."

"Let us hear it, then," said Thorn determinately.

I nodded. "Yessir. Lately, we've been convinced that humans are starting to become more susceptible to disease than wolves. With the information that Human Studies has gathered over the years, we've noticed that the human immune system quickly changes. It weakens, and strengthens itself according to human needs. Humans haven't adjusted, however, to life with wolves. The humans are weaker, now, than we think."

Thorn leaned forward. "How weak?"

"They're sick. We've been monitoring the visible traits, and possible symptoms of humans that come near the line. Most of them are sick...to some degree."