“Mercile Industries were given billions of dollars to help fund drug studies and research for decades. The President signed off on the last six years of the money given to Mercile. It came from military funds.”
Ellie stared at him, confused. “How does this apply to Fury right now?”
“Mercile promised to create drugs that would make the armed forces stronger, better fighters, heal faster after battle, and even heighten their senses. A pharmaceutical advantage that other countries wouldn’t have. They vaccinate our fighting forces to prevent them from catching diseases when they send them to other countries. Imagine giving them a shot that would make them stronger, faster, and harder to kill in battle situations. It would win wars easier, quicker, with a lot less casualties. No one knew Mercile had crossed moral and legal boundaries to gain the advancements they were promising to develop. Every dollar they were given helped enslave us and paid for blood, sweat, and torture.”
People would be outraged if they discovered their tax dollars had been sunk into something so vile. Every human rights organization on the planet would be up in arms and some countries might accuse the government of horrific crimes.
“That’s awful,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry. What does this have to do with Fury and why you believe he could be dangerous? I want to get back inside, Tiger. Just get to the point.”
“They created a lot of drugs and a few of the recovered reports stated that some humans who volunteered to take them died. One batch of the drugs increased healing in New Species at a phenomenal rate.” He cleared his throat. “It also drove a small percentage of New Species temporarily insane when tested on us. The doctors didn’t drop the study. According to the few notes on it, they believed an insane, injured person on the mend was worth the temporary insanity. New Species who had that adverse effect of rage-driven insanity always recovered fully. The humans in that study weren’t so lucky. Either they died, or if their bodies healed, their minds were permanently destroyed.”
Her mind clicked. “You were worried Fury would go insane?”
“Yes. The notes weren’t complete. We don’t know a time frame on when the insanity strikes or how long it lasts if he’s one of the unfortunate ones. Aggression and murderous rages are part of those side effects.”
“And you believe he’s exhibiting them?”
“You said he was enraged and very aggressive, that he forced you against the wall when he scented you, Ellie. Tell me the truth. Is he acting normal for him? You know him well.”
She hesitated, remembering the scene inside the bathroom. “He didn’t hurt me and I don’t believe he will. Maybe he’s just mad because that nurse could piss anyone off. I’m not on experimental drugs but I still want to strangle her.”
“It’s best to be safe than sorry. You need to be taken away from him until we are certain he’s not a danger. The human side of Species seem to fade during the reaction and our animal instincts take total control. We’re natural predators and he may have scented you as prey, Ellie.”
“Don’t be ridicules,” Ellie sputtered. “Fury loves me. He was just upset that Nurse Bitch in there threw herself at him. He didn’t hurt me and he wouldn’t.”
Tiger watched her face closely. “We can’t take any chances.”
She hesitated. “I understand but I’m not leaving him. Let’s just go talk to him and you’ll see that he’s fine.”
A car pulled up in front of the house. Ellie turned as Slade opened the driver’s door of the car and Justice climbed out of the passenger side. Trisha and a stranger got out of the back.
“You’re safe.” Justice looked relieved. “You need to leave. Tiger will drive you to Doctor Norbit’s house.”
Trisha held out keys to the tall New Species. “These are to my house. I have a guestroom.” She visually scanned Ellie from head to foot. “Help yourself to my clothes and anything else you need. My closet is your closet.”
“Where is the nurse?” Slade glanced around the area.
“Inside still.” Tiger shrugged. “She’s packing her things.”
“Damn it,” Justice growled. “He might attack her. She started this. Get Ellie out of here.”
Slade jerked open the front door and stormed into the house, Justice right behind him. Trisha and the stranger stood outside. Ellie studied the man with curiosity.
“This is Doctor Ted Treadmont. He’s the leading scientist on New Species,” Trisha said. “You need to go, Ellie. You can come back when it’s safe.”
“How many times do I have to say that Fury isn’t going to hurt me before someone listens? I’m not leaving.”
Tiger cursed. “He’s going to kill me for this.” He suddenly lunged, grabbed Ellie around her waist, and clamped his hand over her mouth. He jerked his head at Trisha. “Don’t stand there, Doctor Norbit. Could you please go open the trunk of the car for me? There’s a release pull for it on the dash. I need to get her away from him in case he goes nuts.”
Trisha ran for the car. Ellie struggled and clawed at Tiger’s arms but he wouldn’t put her down and she couldn’t do more than make soft sounds with his palm cupped firmly over her mouth. She kicked at his legs but no matter how many times she nailed him with her bare feet, it didn’t slow him down. The trunk opened and Tiger dumped Ellie inside.
“Don’t,” Ellie screamed. The trunk slammed closed, leaving her in the dark. Ellie kicked at it and shouted. “Let me out!”
The car started. Ellie kicked again but the trunk lid above her wouldn’t open. She screamed, still shocked that she’d been locked inside the trunk of a car by Tiger. She’d trusted him. She stopped screaming as the car speeded away.
She hated small, cramped places. She fought a panic attack. The car turned suddenly and Ellie rolled to bang into something hard. Pain slammed into her knee. She screamed again. She’d take a beating inside the trunk from being thrown around if he made a lot of sharp turns at that speed. The car turned sharply again and Ellie slammed
