Misguided

She sat the book back in the same spot she had found it. She wasn't aware that Head hunters were in this area. They weren't known to hit the same spot multiple times but from the voices downstairs, they were in the house. She had one option and that was through the window which really wasn't one. Since her and her colony had been spotted in the area, drones had been dispatched to find them. She knew she couldn't risk being caught by one of those. They were more dangerous than being caught by Head Hunters themselves.

Questioning her next move, she didn't notice that someone had began to make their way up the stairs. With one creak from the broken wood under the carpet, she slid into the first room into the right. She quickly looked around and found the closet door open so she hid inside. She scooted into the corner and held her breath. She couldn't risk anyone finding her but her heart was beating so loud that if she was hiding from a drone, she would of been caught in mere seconds.

"Loui?" She said as she stood at the top of the stairs with her book in her hand. She flipped it back around to the back and ran her fingers against the blacked out bar code.

"Yeah?" He answered. She stayed still and looked around. Nothing had changed. Everything was the same since the last time they did their rounds in this neighborhood. She looked at the book again and sat it back down. "Yeah? What happened? Do you want me to come up?" That question frightened her as she pushed closer into the closet's wall. She knew she could take one Head Hunter but two would give her a run for her money. She waited for the woman upstairs to answer.

"No!" The woman quickly responded as she walk back down the stairs. When she heard footsteps echo from the house, she took a deep breath and looked out. Everything was clear and the book still sat in the same place but there was something different about it but she couldn't put her finger on it.

Interested in what she was reading, she slipped the book into the side bag and slowly walked down the stairs trying not to make a sound. Once she got down to the edge of the stairs, she peeked around. It was empty which made her feel a whole lot better. She knew she had to get home before sundown. That was the time they came out to hunt. She quickly peeked out the rotten, broken wooden door and sprinted past it. The dust upon the ripped up couch and table cloth kicked up as she passed it on her way to the back door. She crept into the kitchen and crouched down as she looked out door's window. Nothing was there. One thing she knew about Head Hunters was that they were persistent and forward but not this time. She guessed that she had outwitted them until she opened the back door to an elbow to the nose. Her eyes rolled back as she felt her body grow limp. She tried to catch herself before she blackout.

When she opened her eyes, she realized that she was being carried over someone's shoulder. She tried to reach over into her bag and grab her knife but both her arms and legs were bound. She squiggled and began to scream but something was stuffed into her mouth with tape wrapped all the way around her head and lips. Anger rose within her as she peed down the front of his chest.

"You nasty bitch!" He screamed at her as a half gallon of piss soaked up his shirt. He was going to toss her down but he didn't want to risk getting sick from the strong winds. He knew once he became sick, they would terminate him regardless of the agreement, so he carried on. Instead he dug his thick sausage fingers into her back and legs until she began to scream in pain. He laughed, "Serves you right you nasty cunt."

"Leave her alone. By the look of her, she's still a little girl. Maybe in her early twenties." She said as she flipped through the book. "And by the way she swiped my book, she has great taste. Not everyone likes science fiction anymore. Especially since the takeover. I don't blame them. It's just like one."

"More like a horror film." Loui said as he sighed. "Without it ending. This is our new reality."

"Don't be a downer. At least we have this gig." She said as she looked across the long concrete pathway they were walking down. Worker bots and drones watch them from above as they scanned the bar code upon their necks along with their vitals. "And little girl." She rubbed the stray thick curl back onto her ponytail, "If your smart enough, you would tell us where the rest of you are and you would be cut some slack like us." She peeked under her and smiled. Her bright white teeth and blonde hair disgusted her. She couldn't believe there were people so willingly to sell other people out so they can be free. She closed her eyes and shoved her chin into her chest. She didn't want to hear anymore.

"C'mon toots." He said as he playfully bounced her upon his shoulder. "The grass is greener on this side. Look. We are free to roam, eat, sleep wherever we please as long as we do our job and stay healthy. If you turn all those people in, do you know what you would have? A big pay day. You could have all you want and from experience, they accommodate. A house, non-contaminated food and water. That's all we really want."

"Fuck you." She mumbled from being gagged.

"See hun." She said politely, "That's why we are taking you in. You want to be difficult, fine. You have to live on the farm like the rest of the animals but to be honest, you'll come around once you see and experience what goes on there." Before she knew it, electricity cracked next to her ear and she felt a huge shock which knocked her out once more.

They arrived to gates over 20 feet tall as they crackled with electricity. The closer they came, they could feel it in the air to the point that hairs rose on their body. They approach double steel doors that stood as stall as the electric gates. Once there, they knew the routine. They walked to opposite sides of the door to two black bulbs that stuck out of them. Once they turned their heads, a green laser appeared upon theirs necks and began to scan their bar codes. Once that was done, a small tray popped out where a tube stood up along with a small opening. Both of them spit in the opening and sat their finger upon the tube until it pricked them. After it did so, it took a second before the gate clicked.

Loui pushed the door in and let the woman through before him and the girl came in after. Once inside, two males stood there with long batons and watched them as they entered the all white facility. Cameras watched them from all angles as they checked in with the tall and handsome brunette man in front. He looked up from the cameras and grinned,

"My two favorite hunters. Back with fresh meat?" He said with a winning smile. He looked at her unconscious body limped over Loui's shoulder. "Was that called for?" He asked.

"Yep. Smart ass mouth." Loui said as he stared into his light blue eyes. He looked at her head to realize that she was gagged.

"You know damage to the property get's you penalized and with experience, you should know how that goes. She is gagged on top of that, she has two new burn marks upon her neck. She couldn't have been a smart ass with something down her throat." He stared into Loui's dark eyes as he stared into his bright ones. When he didn't answer, he continued on, "Okay. Turn her head and show me the bar code so we see who she is.

"She doesn't have one." Everyone turned at them and listened.

"You mean?" He asked with a smile.

"Yes." Loui said as he gently laid her upon the desk in front of the brunette. He turned her neck both ways and rubbed his fingers across her brown skin, "And she won't talk." The brunette smiled harder,

"She will. Everyone does eventually. Carry her to the dark room to get set up." Loui gently picked her up and did so. He popped open the door and laid her face down upon the cushioned table where he laid her head through the face opening. She laid flat and still as she was still unconscious. When he walked out, the brunette was there with the bags of food and water that were promised to him. He took them then added,

"I'll be back. She's mine. I found her and I will be the one to look for the rest when she cracks." The brunette nodded and went along to the control station as Loui and his partner exited the facility.

The brunette stared at her with a huge smile as he looked at her through a camera from above the table. He zoomed in on the back of her neck and began to laser a code in black. When he was done, a small drone rolled in and sat next to the table where it rose a small tube and pricked her arm through her long sleeved shirt. Once it collected her blood, it rolled under her face and gently lasered off the tape wrapped around her mouth. With one pop, a drenched cloth dropped onto the drone where it took it away along with the sample of her blood.

Two women dressed in all white overalls came in from another door and untied her her up from the table and sat her in a wheel chair. They rolled her out the room to a steel door. Once the black bulbs outside of it scanned the women's bar code, it opened. They rolled her into a shower room where they stripped her of her clothing and cleaned her. When they made it to her head where they pulled the tape from her thick curly brown hair, they noticed the fresh bar code upon her neck. They looked at one another and carried on with her cleaning. Once they were done, they dried her up and rolled her into a room with fresh clothing. They dressed her then laid her upon the bed before they left the room. As soon as they did, the door shut and locked behind them. The camera above zoomed in on her as she laid still upon the white bed.