Leo saved me that night, and he even became my mentor. New hybrid recruits were placed in classes. Each class is seperated by animal species. They do it that way so each teacher can tailor to the classes special talents better. For cat breeds they focus on stealth, agility, climbing, and basic claws and fangs combat training. For dogs they focus on pack mentality. It's all about following orders and being the good soldiers. While the cats distract with their speed the dogs group together and attack our prey. The bird types are taught air battle tactics and are used mainly for scouting. They fly over the battle field letting us know where traps and ambushes lay. The attacking groups are made up of the predator animals. They more peaceful types are taught nursing techniques. There is always a place to fit in.
The Alpha Leader was a chimp hybrid named Simon. He hated humans with a passion. I never spoke with him personally, but whenever I saw him on the monitor I always shivered. He scared me as much as the humans did. Apparently he had a twin sister. She was the leader of the rebel group. They fought against us. I couldn't believe it. The way humans treat us, and some of our own kind wanted to defend them!
After I was through with my basic training Leo was in charge of taking me out on raids. He was ruthless to the humans. I wanted to be just like him. "Leo, why do you hate humans so much?" He looked down at me, and his eyes were sad. "I was created to be a zoo animal Meeko. Not all of us are...house pet material. My mother was forced to give birth to me. Aparently humans did this with our ancestors. When a zoo is in need of an animal they take it from another zoo. Animals were ripped from their families, and forced to mate. So my mother was forced to mate with my father who was from another zoo. I never got to meet either of them. I was taken from my mother and given to another zoo. Humans fed me. Watched me from behind glass. Took pictures of me. Then when I was old enough they moved me into what they call a habitat. Basically a giant cage. There I had things thrown at me, children laughed, more pictures were taken, I was poked and proded to make a show for the guests. It was humiliating and I felt...angry. I did not ask for such a life. Nor did I enjoy it. I am as smart as a human, yet I was being treated like some ignorant lower...thing. Do you see? This is where my hatred comes from. From the first time I sank my fangs into a humans soft neck, I realized. They are the ones who need to be locked up and studied. So soft, and weak, and vain. We are superior to them Meeko. Drop one of us and one of them in a desert and we would survive. We have the instincts and the tools! What do they have?! Simply numbers. One day we will rise up and they will understand. They will see their errors. They should have made us equals. Maybe together...we could have done great things."
My ears poped up. "Couldn't they still make us equals?" His eyes flashed, and I looked down out of fear. "I will never forgive them. It is to late. After what they did to your family I don't see why you want to forgive them either." Leo was right. Did they really deserve my forgiveness? I thought of my parents. My father's cry echoed in my mind and all doubts I had were gone. We could never be equals with those heartless monsters.
My heart became more sealed when I lost my beloved mentor and friend Leo. We were on a raid to rescue more hybrids from Animal Control. We had done the routine a million times, so I wasn't worried. If I hadn't of been so cocky and naive I could have saved him. We blasted the wall, and split our group in half. Leo and I took the death row hybrids. We were supposed to have each other's backs. I could smell humans in the back room. They were going to kill some poor hybrid. I wanted to save it like Leo had saved me. "Meeko! Where are you going?!" I never stoped. When I burst through the door I saw that I was too late, and that the humans were waiting for me. There were 3 of them along the back wall. Each had a tranq gun pointed at me. If they hit me with all 3 it would be an overdose and I would die. I closed my eyes, just like last time, and waited for death. I was shoved out of the way, and I opened my eyes to see Leo. All 3 darts were in his chest. His eyes rolled back into his head, as he foamed at the mouth. His body hit the floor and convulsed. I don't remember much of what happened after that. Time seemed to slow down. One of our squad mates found me. He said I was sitting in the middle of the massacered humans, just covered in blood and crying. They were torn apart, and their entrails lay everywhere. He had never seen anything like it, and to this day it gave him nightmares.
After that day I never wanted another partner. I hardened my heart. I didn't get close to any of the others. I prefered the shadows. The top made me their lead assassin, and I loved it. Killing the humans was just too easy. Leo was right...we did deserve to be the superior ones. My reputation spread and I became known as The Reaper. My name was whispered throughout both worlds. Always with fear from the humans, and with awe and respect from the Alphas. I didn't care. I just wanted to kill. It never made the pain go away long, but while I did it I felt useful...besides I owed it to Leo to make his dream come true.
I never had any doubts about my part in this insanely cruel world...until I met her.
