Sorry for the late update, but I can't stand heat, so the increase in said heat where I am is short-circuiting my brain.READERS, Y U NO COMMENT?
As Gill had his blood extracted from his body, those screams started to torment him even more.
"What are those screams? Are you torturing my friends?" he asked Snowman while staying in the patched up medical chair.
"No. Those are members of the PER. We caught them trying to drop gas bombs on us." the man turned to the doctor. "So, are we good?"
"Yyyyyes. Sssssshould I start isolating the gene to make the antidote?"
"Yes."
"Gggggggood. Yyyyyyou are free to go." the crouched man said to Gill.
"So...what do I do now?"
"You have two choices. Either you join on us and serve as a meat shield that can go deep into enemy territory, or you live your life. Although, the latter seems quite improbable, seeing what happened to you." Snowman looked over his shoulder to see that Gill was looking worried. "That's right. We did a bit of research on you."
"How much do you know?"
"What we need to know. Now then, what is your decision?"
A few minutes had passed, but Gill was still indecisive. This time, he was going to try and think, something he didn't excel at. He could join them and help with curing people like that poorly treated mare, but what says they won't really use it like PER do? He could try and live with Heart Drop...but he doesn't have a job, and he'd only be leaching off of her.
"BOSS!" a soldier ran towards Snowman, ruining Gill's concentration."Bear and the creepy twins have discovered some PER agents had planted some time bombs near the mall."
"Hm. They'll drown it and infect the water. Very impressive. You will have a few hours of thinking now. Nobody will be left here, but this place will be in lock down. There is only one exit, and the two heavily armed and armored folk next to you will be standing guard there."
"But you just said that the place would be abandoned."
"Oops. I guess I lied." Snowman mocked, rather seriously. "Don't do anything you'll regret while we're gone. Your corpse will still contain enough blood for analysis."
With that, the frightening leader and his troops all left the hidden base, letting the massive metal doors close with a resounding shriek. It was calm now. The only sounds were coming from the ventilation system. Gill sat against a wall and began to think. It had been half an hour already, but Gill couldn't decide. There were too many downsides. A whimper caught his attention. It was faint, but it seemed to eminate from the ventilation. The man stays silent, but he follows the sounds in each ventilation exit. The louder it became, the closer he was. Without paying attention, and because he was looking upwards, Gill slams against a very thick, gray door. He rubbed his nose in pain to see better. On the sides of the door were bright blue crevices in the wall. Most likely neons. The human pressed his ear against the door to be sure of something. Yes. The whimpers were coming from there. How would he open the door?
Gill looked around, but couldn't find anything. Then it hit him. This place was full of rebels, so weapons and explosives were always available. He just needed a blow-torch to melt the lock on the door. The man walked around the base, pushing boxes and other useless contraptions over. When he reached the supply room, the first thing he found was a blow-torch. Gill grabbed it and ran towards the door with the wimpering, determined to find out what was on the other side. With his eyes closed, Gill started to melt the lock of the door. Luckily for him, it worked on the first try, and he was able to easily open the door.
The inside of this place was very nasty and ugly. The walls and floor were damp with garbage and other sticky substances, while the ceiling seemed to be caving in. There were several "cages" nearby that used a primitive "Carboard shutout" imprisonment technology. They were simply orange barriers using an energy frequency to repel solid objects. They were discontinued when it was discovered that the copper contained in pennies could easily disrupt the frequency and shut the barrier down. Quite a few were active. The air was stale and corrupt, and the man had some troubles in breathing it. There were some strange objects lying against a wall. Gill knew what they were, but his mind refused the obvious, and he didn't recognize them.
The first cell held nothing but what looked like a dried up puddle of...something. The next had a piece of shirt attached to the wall with the words "Pony Lover!" branded onto them. It wasn't a sign of boasting. It was a negative labeling. The third also held nothing. Gill sighed in relief until he vomited after seeing the next cell. There was "PER" branded on the top of the cell. Without being too graphic, one could say that the victim was stapled in various manners against the wall, with bits and pieces hanging off. The human couldn't say anything, but, there was something in the next cell that he didn't like. It was that wo...that mare from before. The one turned pony. If she was so intent in becoming human again, why was she so poorly treated? One could only see bones and a remnant of skin on her body, just like earlier. She was breathing heavily. Instead of panicking, Gill put on the most bored and bland face face that immediately said: "You guys are stupid."
He took a penny from his pocket. It was his lucky penny, and it seemed like it had worked until now. Gill held it within two fingers, and extended his arm. With a buzz and a flicker, the barrier shut down, leaving the mare to twitch as she lift her head to see the next human in her cell.
"Again? But two of you already came and-"
"Woahwoahwoah. They did THAT?"
"What do you mean? You aren't here for-"
"Stop talking. I'm getting you out of here."
"But..."
"Please don't make me vomit a second time. I think my stomach is already empty. Is there anyone else?"
"A few, and two humans as well."
"What?"
"They were supporters of ponies and petitioned for an equal living. I'm sure you met the boss, so you must know how he is."
"Ya."
Gill carried the tiny pony in his arms as he continued forward, soon to find that one of the humans the mare spoke about were already dead. The next cell had Heart Drop in it. She was bruised up horribly and tapping the wall with her hoof until she heard the flittering of the barrier. She stood up to see Gill and grabbed him with a big hug.
"Stop crying. No. Seriously. I'm getting uncomfortable here."
"You're such a baby. Quick! Chocolate is further down."
The first cell held another victim, while the next had the other human. He was rather sized. In fact, he could easily take on Bear and mock him for his lack of hair. The guy seemed to be meditating, but awoke after hearing a buzzing noise.
"Come on. We're getting you and the others out of here. Can you walk?"
"Yes. Who are you." the man was a pure Native American, and it showed. He was proud and tough, but his clothes did n't show the same prognostic."
"I'm Gill Tammerheight. And you?"
"In my tribe, I've been given the name "Crushing Ox", but my real name is Johnson Ferver."
"Glad to meet you Johnson."
"I do believe we have something to do?"
"Oh! Right. Sorry."
"Let me hold the weakened one on your shoulder."
"Alright."
"H-hey! Don't! He's going to eat me!"
"No I won't."
Despite her continued protests, Johnson placed the pony carefully on his shoulders, and followed Gill. The mare still struggled, but she soon stopped and made herself comfortable. Gill found Chocolate Dip. For some reason, he seemed relatively unscathed.
"Gill? What happened? They were about to beat me, then they left."
"Terrorist attack. No time to explain. Anyone else?"
"A unicorn and a pegasus...they had their cutie marks carved off..."
"That's horrid!" Heart yelled.
"What is that again?"
"We have no time, Gill. Hurry, so we may break out." Jonathan said.
"Oh. Right."
The unicorn was in terrible shape. He was a bright lime green, while his mane and tail were a shabby pink. He had his teeth clenched and his thorax was going up and down like a baloon. The worst part, was that his horn was torn off, grinded to dust, and thrown on the floor, where just a few solid bits remain. He also had several badages that were soaked in red on his sides.
"Bandages?"
"I did that. This is why I was locked up. Hurting another being when they have done nothing is not right."
"Exactly. Heart. Chocolate. Think you can hold him up?"
"I just need my own magic."
"I'll try and gather up the dust from his horn." Chocolate said. The stallion immediately grabbed a small brown bag and started to gather up the dust.
The pegasus in the next cage was in a worse state. His wings were barely anything but extended, red stubs. All the feathers had been pulled out, and the skin torn off. She wasn't going to make it, especially seeing that her neck was leaking red, and she was shaking. A pink pegasus with a blue mane and tail. She was quite pretty, but her wounds were too much, and she going into shock. Jonathan walked up to her and grabbed her neck after pushing Gill aside.
"I will not allow anybody to suffer needlessly." *crack* "It is done. May Mother Earth take you back in and give you your much needed rest."
Everybody stared at him in horror.
"W-why did you do that?" Gill stuttered.
"You saw it. She wasn't going to survive. They slit her throat and punctured her lungs, then they left her here to die slowly and painfully." Chocolate exclaimed.
"Let us go. We have nothing left to do here. Her body is of no use now. Let her rest in piece."
"But the door is massive, and there are two armed guards on the other side."
"Let me deal with that."
Surely enough, everyone found themselves in front of the only exit. The weakened mare was set down, gently, on the floor. Jonathan cracked his knuckles and slammed the doors with open palms. They swung open and slammed against the walls with grunts. Apparently, the two guards were right behind. The giant grabbed the skinny mare and started running with Gill and the others. Everybody finally left the place to see that they were in the middle of nowhere. There were weeds and trees everywhere, but there was also quite alot of gravel. Gill looked around but couldn't find his car.
"Damn! They took my truck."
"Then how about we use that armored car?" Jonathan proposed as he pointed to a giant jeep covered in metal plating.
"That'll do. Come one, get in."
The door was locked, but it took just one good thrust from Jonathan to pry the door open and allow Gill to unlock everything. Once everybody was installed, Gill sat in the passenger's seat. Chocolate and Heart stared at him for awhile, as did Jonathan and the sickly mare.
"What? You know the way around here. Get drivin'."
The giant gave a smile and sat in the car, making sure to pull the chair back quite a bit. The jeep gave a loud roar, indicating its upgraded engine, and drove back towards the city. They had to reach a hospital fast.