Everything Will Change

As the weeks passed by, Karen soon began to act more wildly. She growled at anyone who came near her, walked on all fours, and her teeth began to elongate into fangs. General Zark decided to check on her progress and he was amazed at what he saw. Karen was on all fours growling and snarling as he approached. He smiled evilly as he smacked Karen on the head.

“Fight back!” Zark yelled.

Karen only growled and backed away. He hit her once more and she slowly started to advance on all fours proceeding to lunge at Zark. In mid jump, she transformed into a black wolf. She had pinned Zark to the ground. She bared her new white glistening teeth. A fire burned in her brown eyes. Zark only chuckled at her reaction.

“Perfect! Your mutation is not like any we have ever seen before. A shapeshifter of a wolf is perfect for war!”

Karen growled as she released Zark. She sauntered off to a corner and sat down. She could feel how different she was. Her senses were increased, but so had her anger.

“I will not fight a war.” Karen growled.

“You will have to now. We need you, and you could be a hero.”

“I am not a hero! I could never be a hero.”

“War can create heroes who have killed for their country, or in this case their planet.”

“I refuse to fight in a war.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

Zark walked out the door locking it behind him. Karen receded back to the darkness. She loathed Zark for lying to her and for hurting her. She also loathed the monster she became from all the pain she had endured.

When morning came two guards came crashing in the room. Karen woke up startled and growling. The guards stayed put at the door. Karen looked at them quizzically until she realized that they were waiting for her. She sighed as she got up. It was time for her to go to war against her will. The guards escorted her to the troops. There she was given a uniform that was as brown as the desert of this world. The people around her had interesting powers such as invisibility, telekinesis, telepathy, etc. She was the only shapeshifter in the army. She felt out of place because of her mutation. That feeling soon disappeared when they had to start marching outside.

The blaring light of the sun was an excellent wake up call. The heat rolled over the soldiers and brought the possibility of heatstroke into their minds. They continued marching through the sand and past ancient ruins that were covered in sand, slowly fading from history itself. For many hours they marched in the bright sand. Many had already passed out from dehydration and left to die. Karen was dehydrated, but she knew what her fate would be if she fell behind. She pushed herself to new limits just so she could barely keep the light of life inside of her.

Then came the sounds of guns blasting their bullets at them. Karen found some ruins and hid while everyone else went forward facing Death in the face. The enemy had ambushed them, and they actually had weapons. She understood why the people of Tarknos were losing the war. They solely relied on their mutations; they did not have any form of physical weapons. She was frightened and did not know what to do.

She peeked over a gray, cracked wall to see what was going on. The sounds of guns still rang out in the open desert, and the bloody, dust covered bodies of both armies littered the ground. There were slightly more enemy soldiers that were dead, but the army she was with was greatly outnumbered without her fighting. She saw someone coming towards the wall of the ruin. She ran out of her hiding place just in time. The wall had crumbled along with the scout, but she was out in the open and began to panic.

An enemy soldier came rushing at her and she was soon tackled to the ground. He placed a cold knife blade against her throat. She panicked, but was helpless. She soon felt a soft trickle of blood run down her throat past the knife. All she thought about was her pets left at home with no one there to care for them. Her pets were helpless just like her.

“Fight back.” a voice said in her head.

She fought the urge to fight. She would rather die than let the new found darkness of her instincts take hold of her. The urge only got stronger as she thought about her cat Zoey. Zoey was all Karen could think about. How could she fail her own pets? They were like family to her. She started hearing Zoey’s purr once more. She never got to say goodbye to her only friend. The purr inside her mind filled her with guilt. How could she just die without trying to live? That is what Zoey would want from her. If Zoey was there right now she would be so disappointed in her. The fight for survival was a trait Zoey had. It was only right if Karen did that too. Karen started to push her feet against him. She felt fur grow slowly around her face and her teeth began to sharpen. She soon pushed him off and rolled onto her paws. She stood tall as a black wolf. She growled at him as he scrambled away. Fear shined in his eyes, but Karen advanced and attacked.