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On the far side of the hall, a door opened and Sabrino came through, looking flustered and a bit annoyed. He was talking with another officer in a low, angry voice, walking quickly over to the head table. There was a fresh cut on his cheek, livid and quite deep.
"What's got his feathers in a twist?" Ellen muttered, watching Sabrino and the other officer.
"Hm?" Vin followed her gaze and raised an eyebrow. "A fight, maybe? Not sure who would dare attack an officer…."
(I have an idea, mind if something happens rather suddenly?)
(Nope)
Ellen snorted. "I dunno, half the blokes back at the draft camp seemed stupid enough to consider doing so."
(sweet)
"That's true," Vin said. He was about to say something else when, without any warning, there was a huge crash and the entire north wall shattered inward, spraying the soldiers with bids of wood and metal. A furious roar echoed through the building, and as the dust cleared, a hulking shape leaped through the hole.
It looked like a lion, but it was the size of a draft horse, and completely black. A half-torn muzzle covered its face, and a chain trailed uselessly from around its neck. The beast growled so deep that the air vibrated, facing the recruits with savage gold eyes.
Ellen slowly grabbed her knife. It wasn't much, but it was something. "What the hell…" She muttered, tensing.
The beast swung its head around, seeming enraged and somewhat bewildered. Its movements were just slightly sluggish, like it had been drugged. Still snarling, it focused on the group of soldiers in front of it and got ready to spring.
"Out of the way!" one of the officers shouted. "Move, all of you, now!"
Ellen pocketed her knife, glanced to make sure Vin was with her, and dashed for the closest exit.
(Gtg eat quick)
As they were running to the door, it burst open and what looked like a special forces unit came in. They carried strange guns and bore an unfamiliar emblem on their uniforms. Smoothly, they ran past the recruits and surrounded the beast, shouting back and forth to each other. One stayed by the door and ushered everyone else out. Vin almost lost Ellen in the crowd and had to grab the shoulder of her jacket to stay close. Once they were out he let go and tried to catch his breath. "What the heck's going on? What was that?"
"No clue." She puffed, glancing behind them at the building.
"Look over there," Vin said, pointing at the open area of camp. There was a row of very large trucks parked there, and some very strange-looking animals were being taken from inside each one. Most were in chains, but some were in wheeled cages. All of them looked either asleep or half-asleep, but a few snarled weakly at the soldiers bringing them out. There were snakes, bears, wolves, birds, and many more, all huge and multicolored. The soldiers around them seemed nervous as they led them to a large, reinforced barracks and brought them inside.
Vin stared at the scene with wide eyes. "This is the most sketchy, illegitimate thing I've ever seen."
"We are in deep schist." Ellen muttered. "I don't know about you, but I think I want to get out of here as soon as possible."
"But what are they?" Vin was still staring at the creatures going by. "Those aren't ordinary animals…."
Over the hubbub, Sergeant Sully's voice rang out commandingly. "All right, all of you settle down and form ranks like professionals! There's nothing here for you lot. Get back to the training arena, on the double!"
The soldiers formed ranks. Ellen glanced back at the animals. "Weird."
As the began doing drills again, Vin's face hardened into the now-familiar "this-isn't-right" expression. "That does it," he said so only Ellen could hear. "When lunchtime comes, let's break some rules. Let's sneak out of the mess hall, figure out what those things are, then find a way to leave this stupid place."
Ellen grinned. "Sounds great."
The rest of the morning passed quickly, and it was almost a surprise to hear the noon bell ring. Sully took his sweet time letting them go, but eventually they were allowed to go get some lunch. Vin redid his ponytail as he walked, having cooled down a bit by now.
"Okay," he conceded, "so maybe we should have something to eat before we…do anything else. Just a quick bite or two."
"Yeah. You suppose I'll get to try out my hacking skills?" Ellen asked, cracking her knuckles.
Vin glanced sharply at the barracks where the animals were being kept as they passed. "Not sure. Can you hack a keypad? I think there's one on the door."
"Depends on the type, but yeah, I think so."
"Cool." Vin joined the line waiting for food. "Let's eat really fast, I want to have plenty of time to snoop around before anyone gets suspicious."
Ellen nodded. They quickly filled their plates and sat down. Ellen immediately started wolfing down her food.
Vin did the same and was done in minutes. "Man, that stuff gets old quick. Okay, anybody watching us?"
Ellen glanced around. "Nope."
"Okay, act natural." Vin stood up and began making his way towards the door.
Ellen followed, shoving her hands into her jacket pockets. She fingered what she had in them, making a mental note to empty her pockets later.
They made it out into the yard without being stopped. Almost everyone was in the mess hall eating, so the rest of the camp was mostly deserted. Vin sidled over to the animal's barracks and stood by the door. "Okay, see what you can do. I'll keep watch."
Ellen peered at the keypad. "Mm. Good." She muttered, fishing about her pockets. She pulled out a bobby pin and inserted it in the key hole. She glanced about before twisting it and giving it a solid smack on the top. A few seconds later, she had the door open. She stood to the side. "After you good sir."
"Nice work." Vin stepped slowly inside. "Close the door quick, before anybody sees us."