Chapter 11: Looks Human

"I can't believe we still have to go back inside with the other slaves," Emily sniffed, her eyes red as she tried her best not to bust into another round of tears.

The image of the Reds they were bound to meet was still fresh in their memory, coupled with how angry they were bound to be after the attack.

Who else but the slaves would they dare to take their anger out on?

Emily was expecting to hear Rye cry of agreement, right before they walked back together side by side only to hear the strangest thing she had ever heard.

"We don't have slave collars!" Rye whispered her eyes widening in alarm and realization both at the same time, almost like a big bulb of idea had been switched on in her head.

"So?" Emily asked, completely lost about why such a thing mattered since the moment they went in, they would be harrassed and chained down like dogs.

"I-I'm not going back in," Rye's voice was stronger and much louder than before and Emily was completely stunned to hear Rye's response.

"Wha-what do you mean you're not heading back? You refused to follow them? Where else could you possibly go?" Emily asked with a note of worry and confusion on her face.

"There!" Rye replied pointing at the city lights they could see in the distance.

"THAT'S MADNESS!" Emily gasped. "That's suicide!"

"I know but going back in there isn't any different. They will let you live as long as you're useful." Rye replied. Her eyes gleamed with unshed tears one that Emily could only see because of how close she stood to her.

"You're going to be raped Emily but a man you'll have to serve for the rest of your life! Its going to happen over and over again and he might even toss you to his friends!" Rye said doing her best to convince Emily that not going inside was the best thing for them.

It was still a miracle that no one had come looking for them yet.

"If this were back home, none of this would happen. This is human degradation of the highest order," Rye continued watching Emily stare at the ground, her fists balled tightly by her side.

"I'm not sure but I think without the slave collars we can pass off as Santors or their half children or something," Rye began to speak again doing her best to convince Emily only to feel her heart break as she watched her slowly shake her head from side to side.

By the time Emily lifted her head up, she was crying with an angry look in her eyes.

In the strange world they had been thrown into it had been a relieve to find someone she could grow close to only to realize that all her hopes were nothing but a baseless dream.

"You're crazy. You're just too scared to live as a slave that you'll rather die rather than face reality," Emily told her angry that Rye was willing to take such a baseless risk.

"He bought us for a huge amount of money, he won't kill us--

"There're worse things than death Emily. He can do much worse and we'll never be able to go against him,"

"There's nothing in the city. You could get caught even before you reach the bottom of the hill. What if they can tell us apart from the others? They will execute you for disobedience--"

"I-I'll rather take the risk," Rye replied, not as convinced as she was before.

Her plan was to convince Emily to go with her but with every word Emily said she was the one who felt her courage diminish inch by inch.

"Don't do this!" Emily begged with tears in her eyes about to say more as she watched Rye's determination falter only for both of them to realize that it was too late.

They could hear loud voices in the distance and it didn't take much for them to figure out that people were heading out of the building and it definately weren't the slaves.

"Let's go!"

"Let's go!" They both urged at the same exact time for two completely different reasons but a second later it soon became clear that they had made their decision.

Emily was the first to turn around, running back towards the entrance as fast as she could, hoping to buy Rye as much time as she could.

Rye, feeling a little hesitant also turned around bolting down the hill as fast as her human feet could take her.

The moment she made the choice to run away, she understood that doing so half-heartedly was only going to get her killed.

Even when she got to the bottom of the hill and could barely catch her breath, Rye kept running as fast as she could, as she felt her heart hammer loudly in her chest.

She ran quickly, making sure not to go in a straight line and not to walk on plain ground just in case her footsteps could be tracked.

'I-I might not make it!' Rye thought knowing that the moment they thought to find him, it would take them less than five minutes to cover the distance it had taken her thirty minutes.

Still, Rye ran like her life depended on it, running straight for the closest part of the blinking lights closest to her.

She didn't know where it led, but she was confident that the closer she was to it, the safer she'll be.

There wasn't much vegetation between her and where she needed to go. After running and walking as much as she could without fainting, she finally came to the edge of what appeared to be a small town.

There were fields and Rye was shocked to see how normal everything looked. If not for all she had experienced, she would have assumed that it was simply human houses, and that she somehow found herself in the past.

Ignoring everything else, Rye focused on the needs of her belly, running straight to the fields, her eyes scanning for fruits she could eat and avoiding anything that remotely looked like uncooked grains.

Thankfully, Rye managed to find Jaime fruits before she felt her life flash before her eyes.

Chomping on it, without leaving anything to spare. Yet the more she ate, the more her stomach growled for more.

Rye looked but unluckily was unable to find water anywhere something she was dying to have.

When she finally found in a small container, Rye squeezed her face together in disgust as she saw a couple of dirt in the matter.

It was clear that the water was for watering crops and not for drinking. At first Rye was determined not to touch it, searching around for an alternative until she realized that there was none.

'This is so bad!' She thought she gulped it down with her eyes closed.

The moment she was done drinking she sat down to rest under a tree, with the intention of moving after resting for a while.

Almost like luck was completely against her, Rye fell asleep, and by the time she woke up it was already too late, as she felt the sharp pain in her back the moment she gained consciousness.

She instantly scrambled to open her eyes, shocked to see herself surrounded by people with red eyes.

'Reds!' Rye thought, jerking back in shock and fear as she stared at them.

The only difference was that unlike the other reds she met, these ones had people that looked old and in their sixties and even the children looked thin and sickly.

"Thief! Do you know how many priceless fruits you devoured!"

"She needs to be tossed into jail, if she can't pay for it with her blood,"

"Those fruits are expensive! I was planning to sell them in the lower city!" A group of two men and women spoke one after the other.

Rue's gaze was focused more on the one holding the stick who she assumed had been the one to hit her awake.

Her first plan was to deny it only to look around her and see the seeds of the eaten fruits scattered around her.

'There's no way to deny it! No matter what, I can't let them find out that I'm human,' Rye thought.

The moment they found out, Rye was sure that they would descend on her like starving ants who unexpectedly came across a huge lump of sugar.

They were clearly not getting enough human blood and Rye had no plans of becoming their human storage of blood.

"I-I'm sorry! I can work to pay for it! For however long you want!" Rye promised, speaking in a voice that was just loud enough to be heard.

She could feel her heart racing as she waited to see their reaction towards her and what they would say.

'How could I have been so careless as to fall asleep,' Rye thought regretting last night's actions.

If not she wouldn't have been caught up in such a disastrous action.

"Where's your identification pass?" One of the women asked with a slight look of pity in her eyes and Rye instantly fell on both her knees going as far as to bow her head.

"Please!" Rye wailed not having to try too much before she felt tears roll down her eyes as she sobbed louder than before.

"I-I promise I'll work twice as hard. I-I'll do anything you want," Rye promised, with her eyes fixed to the ground as she felt tears drip down her face.

"No one can take her in. We barely have enough mouths to feed!" A deep manly voice echoed to her left.

"Look at her, she's probably with child. I bet she won't be able to work in three months, what then?" A different male voice echoed to her right.

Rye couldn't help but panic a little as she listened to them speak while intermittently mumbling for help under her breath.

'It would be even better if they chased me away!'

"Mallo, you can't be so cruel! It's obvious that she has nowhere to go!" A woman's voice could be heard to Rye's surprise to hadn't been expecting anyone to defend her.

"How is that our business Krella? She should pay for the fruits she ate with her blood and leave! Allowing strangers in is dangerous," Mallo yelled, vehemently as showing his stance.

"Jarra, am I wrong? I'm sure you can agree that I'm not overreacting," Mallo said turning to speak to the other man standing beside him.

"You're not wrong! Moreover, I'm worried cause she looked a lot like a human!" Jarra pointed out, his words enough to almost give Rye a heart attack.