"The Prisoners" by Kethan Lee Williamson

 The Prisoners

“Look at those stupid little things,” Alexander Beefman said. He was referring to five little creatures snarling and scratching at their glass door. They had no eyes and tight, gray skin. They were four legged and had bobbed tails. One of them roared, revealing a mouth full of sharp, soda can sized teeth. They weren"t little at all, in fact, they were about double the size of a fully grown male lion. Alexander took a puff of his cigar and smiled. “These things are going to bring me thousands of dollars.”

“You sure aren"t going to be allowed to release these things to the public. They would panic.”

 “Relax Ben, I"ve got permission. We"re going to cattle prod them in a show tomorrow so people can hear the horrifying sound they make.”

“That idea is horrifying,” said Ben in dismay.

 Later the same night, Ben slipped into the room where the creatures were being held. He walked up to a keypad and punched in a series of numbers. “Don"t worry guys, I"m setting you free,” Ben said with a smile on his chubby face. The screen of glass between him and the creatures began to rise and Ben continued to smile at them. The creatures apparently didn"t know that smiling was a friendly gesture, or that Ben was releasing them. For as soon as the door had risen enough for them to get out, Ben was made into a fleshy mess. The biggest of the creatures consumed most of him, leaving the scraps for the others. When they finished, his bones were picked clean.

The next morning, Alexander drove up to the orange building, surrounded by barbed wire that the creatures were in. He swiped a card at the gate and punched in a few numbers, causing the gate to open. He walked up to the door, oblivious to the events of the night before. He opened the door and gasped as five large beasts leapt out on him. He struggled at first, but was eventually overcome by the creatures. The leader, as usual, got his share and left the rest to the others. After they were finished eating, the creatures ran out of the compound and onto the hot desert sand. Soon after, a few helicopters and a jeep drove up to the building. A bear of man with black, knotted hair stepped up to the box beside the open gate. He held down the button and said, “We have permission to retrieve the creatures you have contained, and take them to a safer place of keeping.” After that, he waited a while for a response. After a long while without a response, the order was given to go in and get the creatures. The man walked though the open gate and clenched his fists when he saw the mess of bones lying about. He saw odd prints leading out into the sand and a hole in the fence. He griped his assault rifle angrily and began to follow the tracks. “We"ve got some hunting to do boys.”

The creatures roared and growled as the jeeps drove up from behind. One of them started running towards them, and was stopped mid-stride by a bullet through the head. The other creatures whimpered and began to take off in the other direction. They didn"t get very far until each one of them had their fair share of bullets pounded into them. The black haired man stepped out of the leading jeep and examined the corpses. “We got em",” he said with pride. A few men loaded them into the back of a heavy truck and the jeep dispersed.

Bullets began to hit the floor of the truck as there were pushed out of the creatures' bodies. Their wounds closed up, and they started to twitch. The largest one emitted a roar, revealing a mouth full of soda can sized teeth.

The End.