“Wake up ladies! Rise and shine! It’s the big day!” Nicholas was already wide awake, staring at the ceiling, his eyes red and bloodshot. He heard the guards, but didn’t move. He didn’t want to go anywhere for that matter, but he had no say in the matter. Not that he would be listened too, anyway. “Up and at ’em. You’re out of here in half an hour” “This early?” A prisoner from the next cell said. “Yep. What did you expect? A sunrise serenade? Nope, you all get the midnight shift. Now get moving!” Nicholas heard his cell mate start to whimper, no doubt trying to hold back tears. He would have cried too, but he was just too frightened at the moment. He had spent much of the past few hours crying, and he had nothing left. “Nicholas! Up and at ’em. Don’t want to get marked for discipline problems now, would you? It wouldn’t look good on your record.” “At this point, I really don’t care,” Nicholas said softly. “Well, we have a schedule to keep. So get moving.” He could have stayed on his bed and not moved. Eventually, they’d call in the riot guards, who would drag him out of the cell. But now, he didn’t want that. He wanted things to go with dignity, if that were even possible. Sitting up on the cot, he looked around the cell, took stock of what few minuscule possessions he had. As far as he knew, every one of them had a new owner in mind. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about that. The transport bus arrived ten minutes later, at which point Nicholas and his fellow cell mates were shackled, marched outside, and onto the bus, which began it’s night time ride. Nicholas looked out the windows as they drove, wishing he could at least see the sun one more time. But it wasn’t gong to happen. The bus drove for about an hour, giving every man and woman on board enough time to think and contemplate their fate. Most were quiet, either too stunned, or resigned to their fate. A few were crying. A few more were no doubt trying to plan some daring, last minute escape. But Nicholas stayed near the window, looking out at the countryside, watching as it went past, the trees illuminated by the full moon. “Nervous?” He looked over at the woman next to him. Ann, he thought that was her name. “Of course I am.” “Good. Glad to know I’m not the only one.” Ann gave a nervous chuckle. “it’s like, what? Ten minutes to go?” “Don’t know. Never been down this route before.” There was an awkward silence between the two. “Do you think it’ll hurt?” “A little, yeah. Don’t know how much though.” Ann was quiet, but her lips trembled. The bus turned off the main road, went down a small dirt trail. It was a rough, bumpy ride. A few were hoping that the bus would spill onto it’s side, or otherwise be temporarily sidetracked, but their hopes were dashed as it continued onward, finally clearing the forest and arriving at their final destination…a large, deep water beach. Nicholas stared at the water as he was unbolted from his seat, then led outside with the others. There were numerous armed guards on the beach, watching the prisoners closely. As he was marched, Nicholas felt the wet sand underneath his standard issue sneakers. There was a high tide tonight…which was exactly what the state had waited for. They came to a stop. The prisoners were lined up, one by one, as the warden walked in front of them, holding an official proclamation. “All right dirt bags,” he said. “Because of the nature of all your crimes, the state has decided that it’s not worth keeping you alive and locked in a cell for the rest of your lives. Thanks to the budget cuts, we’ve had to find other ways to get rid of society’s filth, and this is where it is. You all are about to become fish food.” Ann gulped next to Nicholas, trying not to burst out in tears. “Here, you will serve another purpose…becoming food for nature’s most noble sea animals.” As if on cue, several giant fins appeared in the water, heading straight towards the beach. They were too large to be the fins of sharks though…Nicholas watched, wondering what these things were. Giant forms leapt from the water, landing on the beach. And all the inmates gasped. A whole pod of Killer whales lay on shore. Enormous in size, each one was roughly the size of a moving van, it’s body swollen and huge, built of pure muscle, and each was heavy enough to crush a car, should they ever be dropped on one. “Say hello to your dinner guests,” the warden said with a smile. “The secret whales of project deep Six, the navy’s trials to train capable aquatic life to guard or shores against terrorists and would be illegal immigrants. These beauties are specially trained to swallow intruders, who then end up as their meals.” He smiled. “Tonight, it’s your turn. They haven’t eaten in a while.” Three guards came up to each prisoner. They were stripped naked, jumpsuits being gathered in a pile. “Half of you are going to go in your birthday suits. The rest of you are going to be suited up, to give these beauties practice at swallowing something slick and greasy.” Half of the naked prisoners were dragged forward, at which point, under armed guard, they were slathered with lard and lube, making their bodies shine under the moonlight. Then, with the guards keeping their weapons pointed, they were forced to the whales. Nicholas watched in horror as each inmate was forced up to one of the whales, at which point the beasts lunged forward and grabbed them. One it took hold, it shook and flapped until the helpless inmate was in place, then began to gulp them down whole, never biting or chewing, until frantically kicking feet, or thrashing hands vanished down the dark mouths, vanishing from sight. It was fast. In less then five minutes, all the naked inmates were gobbled up. “Suit the rest of them up,” the warden said. The three guards attending Nicholas brought forth a black rubber suit. “Put it on.” Nicholas had no choice. Being under the gaze of the tasers and stun guns, he had no chance to escape. They weren’t going to kill him if he tried. They would just disable him, then feed him to the whales anyway. He slipped into the suit. It was a very tight fit, with the rubber squeaking as it went over his skin. When it was on, he was then ordered to put on a pair of gloves, followed by rubber socks with sleeves for each of his toes. The very last thing put onto him was a thick, eyeless neoprene hood, which completely blinded him, and was then locked into place. Blinded, unable to see or feel where he was going, Nicholas struggled as he was held in place, the lube and lard being poured onto his suit, making him shine like the naked inmates. He wondered how Ann was doing, and how she was going to meet her end. Would she go struggling mightily, or face it with quiet dignity? From the faint screams he heard, she was going with a struggle. Nicholas and the other prisoners, with their bodies now slick and slimy, were grabbed and forced down the beach towards their hungry hosts. Blind, each could only put one step in front of another as they were mercilessly pushed and prodded. Then they reached the very edge of the water, and the guards shoved them. And like before, it was quick. The whales sprung forward, grabbed onto an inmate, maneuvered them into position, then gobbled them up, suits and all. Ann, as Nicholas suspected, went fighting and screaming, kicking as she was pulled into the gut of a whale feet first, her hands frantically grabbing onto it’s teeth, trying to hold in, even when her head and shoulders were already in it’s throat. But she couldn’t resist the relentless pull of the whale, and she was finally sucked in and gobbled up, her screams vanishing. Eventually, only Nicholas was left. He didn’t know this, but from the silence around him, he figured that the others had already been eaten. He could hear the breathing of the giant whale in front of him, and knew he was next. But unlike the others, Nicholas was tall and proud. Raised to become a don in his father’s crime family, he was taught to always be proud and noble, no matter what happened. And although he would never become who he had been raised to be, he would now go to his end, noble and proud. Shrugging his captors off, he walked down the surf towards the waiting whale, which watched him with interest. Normally it had to lunge forward to grab it’s prey, but this one was coming towards it, almost willingly, it seemed. Still blind, Nicholas reached out, until his hands landed on the orcas’s snout. Feeling around, he felt the mouth as it opened wide to greet him. Moving quickly, before the fear could get to him, he knelt, felt around the whale’s mouth, and then began to crawl inside, spinning over as he went. He felt the heat quickly grow as the giant tongue slid across his back, tasting the lubricant and the suit, but also the faint aromas of human flesh from beneath the rubber. It pulled him deeper in, until his head was pressed through a tight opening, and into a passage that was slick and slimy. From outside the orca, the guards watched as Nichoals’s body was gulped deeper and deeper into the orcas’s mouth. His legs were soon the only things showing, and his feet were kicking, as if he was having second thoughts about going willingly. But a few more gulps, and then only his feet were showing, and they had now gone still, even as the tongue reached up and curled around them, finally pulling them inside, the mouth snapping shut, as Nicholas was gobbled up. With their meals swallowed, the orcas began to shuffle their way off the beach, back into the water, where they turned around and swam out to sea, letting their stomachs go to work.
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