Tigers in a cage: Cell 9
There were few things that could piss Matty off as much as being captured and thrown into a cage. It had happened a few times, and it never ended pretty, at least not for her captors. They had a tendency to wind up dead. Matty didn't like being locked in cages.
It hadn't been long before she began pacing the length of her cell, back and forth, back and forth. All she needed was one golden opportunity to escape. One second to disarm the guards - no, even just a fraction of a second. They'd never know what him them, not until it was already too late. She felt like a tiger in a cage, her eyes always staring just outside the bars. They'd even put this damn thing on her - her fingers brushed against the cold metal collar around her neck - like she was their fucking pet.
Voices carried down the hallway, guards.
"Boss wants her in with the other one."
"What, thinks the two animals are gonna kill each other?"
The two men came into view moments later, carrying the body of a small girl between them. One of them looked up, catching Matty's eye. He grinned. "Better sedate this animal. She's the one who ripped Bernard and Ericson to pieces."
Give me half a chance, Matty thought, and I'll show you the kind of animal I am.
The one grinning let go of the little girl they were carrying, and withdrew a pistol from its holster at his side. He pointed it at Matty, and she had only enough time to tense her muscles before he pulled the trigger. "Nighty night, freak."
Matty came to maybe hours later. There was no telling the passage of time, not without windows, and not when the bright, glaring fluorescent lights were always on. She winced, turning head to the side. She couldn't seem to remember how she came to be on the floor, until her fingers found the tranq dart sticking out of her chest. Plucking it out, she stared at it blearily for a moment before tossing it aside.
She was getting really sick of this shit, really fast.
And then, a hazy moment later, she realized there was a small girl, no more than twelve, staring at her with wide, frightened eyes. Matty frowned, watching the girl in silence, waiting to see if she'd speak first.
She didn't. Matty sighed and scratched her head. "Hey." They girl didn't say anything, just nodded. And stared. She seemed to like staring at people. "I'm Matty," she said, sticking out her hand.
Slowly, the girl approached her, her eyes fixed on Matty, looking for any sudden movements, any sign of danger. She bent her head down and cautiously sniffed at Matty's hand. She looked up at the older woman, her brow knit with confusion. "It's okay," Matty said, pulling her hand away. "I can't smell shit, either."
That stirred a peculiar mixture of emotions within her. How many times had she wished she could shut her enhanced senses off, even if it was just for a little while? And here she was, feeling almost lost without them. Odd, that.
She smiled ruefully as she watched the girl, whose eyes never left Matty. Must be damn fascinating, then.
"You have a name?"
The girl tilted her head at the question, looking for all the world like some lost little puppy dog. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it again. "Laura," she said finally, the name drawn out and slow, as if she wasn't used to speaking it. She probably wasn't.
Matty smiled at her, gently. "I promise you, Laura, I'll find us a way out of here." She held her hand out to the girl again. "I promise."
Laura seemed to relax, maybe recognizing the steel in Matty's voice. And then, without warning, instead of taking Matty's hand, she was throwing herself into the woman's arms. It took several seconds for this to register, but finally, Matty wrapped her arms around the girl, pulling her tight against her. "I'll get us out of here," she repeated, a hand smoothing over the girl's dark hair.
And she would. She'd find them a way out, and then she'd make those sons of bitches pay.