He nods. “Let’s not discuss that detail here.” He’s right. We can’t be sure we aren’t being heard, even in our homes, by something beyond the Vojin and the Guidance. “It’s getting dark. You want to do a sweep before night falls? After the attack today, there shouldn’t be many Zombies out now.”
I cross my arms and throw my weight on my left foot. “They need to get control over this stuff.”
“I agree. That’s what the labs they are building are supposed to help with.”
Luke and I go to Jord’s empty office for reloads. As we’re leaving, we run into Jord coming up the porch. “Where are you two off to?”
“A sweep before night falls, Sir Jord,” I say.
“Three miles out and back is all. Take Cory and Hanley with you.” I bite back my grumble. We don’t need Cory and his puny sister.
“We were going out, Luke and I,” I say. The last thing I want is to go out with Cory and Hanley, putting a target on our backs, after being told to watch out for him.
“It is not safe if you all become outnumbered.” Jord continues into his office. “Do a sweep, taking Cory and Hanley with you. You should run into them on your way out,” he states sternly, dismissing us.
“Yes, sir.” We step off the porch and head away from his office to look for Cory and Hanley.
“Cory,” I call when they cross our path. “You and Hanley are doing a sweep with us. Are you armed?”
“We can’t sweep.” Cory continues past us, adding, “We have something we need to take care of.”
“General’s orders, Cory,” Luke states.
Hanley grabs Cory’s shoulder as a coyote howls far off in the distance. Hanley and Cory immediately look out to their right.
“What’s wrong?” Luke asks, eyeing them shadily.
Hanley faces us. “Nothing. We will go on the sweep with you. Give us an extra mag. We have guns.”
It’s an evil thought, but as we clear the ground, I’m hoping for a Zombie attack so we can see how they’d save themselves. If they’d risk revealing themselves in front of us. Something in my gut tells me they would. Hanley doesn’t know Cory’s trusting me with his most deadly secret. And with the way I’ve treated him, why he even trusts me is bizarre. What’s even more mind-boggling, which I’ve not even mentioned to Luke because I don’t want to panic him, is what Cory must think of me for not telling.
The sun sinks behind the hills, and the sky fades from blue to violet. We clear our third mile, and as we turn to head back, a coyote charges for us.
These Vojin are bold. Luke and I aim our gun at the wild animal, and Cory throws out his arms. “Wait!”
Luke and I look at each other as we lower our weapons.
“I think it is all clear. We are going to stay outside for a while. Can I talk to you later, Ky?” Cory asks, turning to me.
“No, Cory.” I pull Luke to walk. “Have fun with your wolf.” I don’t know why I said that. It just seemed like I needed to say something that wouldn’t give away what we know about the coyote.
I’m soaked with sweat and in desperate need of hydration. We head for our home, and I can hear the shower calling my name.
“You’re not tired yet, right Ky?” Luke asks.
“Why?”
“I need to go check on something.”
“Does that something have long hair and curves?”
Giving me a smug smile, Luke admits, “It might.”
“Bye, Luke.”
This would be a great opportunity for me to work on sleeping without nightmares. After my shower, I go to Luke’s room and lie on his bed. One step at a time. My room doesn’t feel safe yet.
Closing my eyes, I see Zombies, the dead bodies of my group members, dead bodies that I’ve caused, then the dead bodies of my parents. I open my eyes and think of something else before closing them again. I force myself to think of a white shake. A thick, creamy shake, topped with two cherries. The freezing glass wrapped in my hands. I drink it and lift my gaze from the glass cup to my right. Marc. He grabs my free hand and leads me to a booth in the diner. We laugh and share my shake and a basket of fries. I’m reminded of an old TV show I used to watch back home where people would go on dates at a diner and be…normal.
That’s what this is, a date. Marc and I are on a date like the Normals and Breeders. I want to go on a date. Sit with Marc and laugh about nothing. Watch him open up and uncover himself for me.
No Ky, you want to leave Marc alone and not miss him like these thoughts are forcing you to do.
I try to change my thoughts, but they persist. Marc and me laughing and enjoying my fantasies of events that could never happen in either of our lifetimes.
Chapter Fourteen
“Wake up, Ky.”
I part my lids, surveying Luke, fully suited. “Why are you dressed? You didn’t wake me.”
Luke rubs the back of his neck and tilts his head to the right. “Well, Ky. I came back last night, and you were asleep, peacefully, by yourself. I didn’t want to disturb you, so I stayed out.”
“Crap,” I yell, throwing the covers off me as I climb out of bed.
“What’s wrong?” he asks abruptly. “This is great, Ky! I’m so proud of you!” He spreads his arms to hug me, but I refuse.
I throw my hands in my face, mumbling, “I fell asleep thinking about Marc.”
“He kept your nightmares at bay again? And no contact?”
“Yes,” I whine sorrowfully.
“Good, do that tonight too. In your room.” He points over his shoulder at the closed bedroom door.
“No, it’s not good, Luke. It’s bad.” And where is the horn this morning? Please don’t tell me it was such a great sleep I slept through the morning horn. “What time is it?”
Luke checks his watch. “Nine in the morning. The horn blew hours ago.”
I throw my head back and sigh long and hard. Just great. The fix to my biggest flaw is the one thing in this life that I can’t have.
“Let’s go so we can do a sweep and get to indoor training.”
I drag my feet. How can he not see how this great achievement is equally tragic? “Is there anyone else here that can do the sweep? I’m tired of fighting the undead. I want to do something else like go drink shakes at the diner.”
“You can when you retire, but for now, since the wars with the other countries are at a standstill and we are now at war with the Vojin and these Zombies, this is your life, this is what you will do, and being born to do it, you shouldn’t be tired or whining about it. This is no different from what you were expecting. We put ourselves in this position. We bust our asses to get where we are and have the responsibilities that we hold. There is no need to wish anything different from what we have now and where we are now.”
I grimace, faltered by the hostility in his tone. “Did I just make you mad or something?”
“No, Ky.” Luke bows his head and rubs his temples. “It’s not you. It’s everything else. Get dressed so we can go. I’ll find someone else to do the morning sweep, now that we have day-walking Zombies. I’ll find you a shake too.” He leaves.
I dress quickly, seeing as I’m late starting the day. Opening my door to leave my room, I hear Cory calling me from downstairs. I walk down the stairs and lean against the wall. He looks me over and just stands there, staring. So I stare back.
“What?” he asks.
“You are in my home, you called me, and you are staring at me not saying anything. Then you tell me what?”
“I don’t want Luke to know about me.”
Luke already knows about you, idiot. “Tell me the real reason Jord let you back. And why they’re letting you move back up the ladder.”
He scowls. “You tell me what you think.”
I quietly reveal, “I think anyone who is not only here as a Creation should get shot in their head for being an implant. Along with anyone who is willing to reveal our secrets to our enemies.”
“That’s not what I’m here for.”
“I’m here to establish a better life amongst the humans. Not Creations. Creations are to be terminated.”
Thankfully, the wall is at my back. His words nearly knock me off my feet. Though he says it calmly, it’s in his eyes. Their somber expression reveals how much he agrees with that garbage. My brows furrow, and my nostrils flare. “What do you mean?” I snap.
“If they make a better life, what would Creations be needed for? Creations were created to manage and enforce order. If the humans on this world are ordered and civilized, we don’t need to exist. There is no reason for Creations. We,” he points to himself and me, “are not peaceful. We are not manageable. We follow orders, yes, but if we were to disobey and go against the Trade, the Premier, and the Guidance, we would triumph over them, and possibly, if we wanted, destroy them. We could take over this place. But instead, we—and when I say we, I mean the Creations who are implants and are here and around other areas of the America and the world—we will show them,” he points up, “that we do not need to be destroyed and that we can help enforce peace.”
I stare in awe. None of his words are those of a Creation, and because this has never showed in him before, I’m baffled. “Who are you?” I blurt in distaste. “Less than a year ago, you shot a girl in the face because she didn’t belong here, and now you’re talking about peace and better living.” I take a step back from him. I, too, have thought of not fighting in the wars for the rest of our lives. But triumphing over the Trade and the Premier, what we’ve known our entire lives? Working with the Vojin, who probably put this crap in his head and made him believe they would implement peace, when really, they are trying to take over our planet? Trying to rule over us, destroy us, and then reconstruct us? No way!
What he’s saying doesn’t add up or match the other things he has said. If this is a fact, he would have never considered the thought of reconstruction. “I don’t believe you,” I tell him, squinting my eyes. He disgusts me. I don’t know him at all. And the person I did know was more of him than he is right now. Something has changed in him. Cory would never say this.
Sadness makes his eyes droop. He frowns. “Why not?”
Oh. He’s trying to convince me to side with him. Like the Vojin requested for Luke and me to do. He’s making himself sound vulnerable so that I will give in, because he’s telling the truth and puts his trust in me. But I know for a fact that is not truth. I don’t know what the truth is, but it isn’t this.
“Kylie, fight with me against them.”
“Them who?”
“Who do you want to see fall?”
Luke walks in. “See what fall?” He stands next to Cory, and his face of disgust mirrors mine. “This is a snake-free zone, serpent. Because you are working your scaly way back up doesn’t give you a pass to my sister. Stay away from her.”
Cory shifts his gaze from Luke to me. “Think about what I said, Ky.” He marches from our house, closing the door behind him.
“What did he say?”
“I don’t know, Luke. He wants me to trust and believe him about him working for the Vojin to implement peace. Then maybe, he wants us to overpower everyone as Creations. He was talking a whole lot of crazy, nothing like a Creation, nothing like he’s mixed, nothing like a human even.” I rake my fingers through my hair to pull it into a ponytail. “Are we still going on the sweep?”
“No. Cory and Hanley will go. And I convinced the cooks to round us up a couple of shakes.” He flashes his big brother smile and pats my shoulder.
“Good.” We head outside, and I pull the door closed behind me. “Let’s go drink them.”
Gia sits with us in the rec hall. “I hate Separation on days like this. It’s too hot to go outside.”
Luke and I drink the shakes he managed to get us. Mine tastes okay, but I’m still missing the diner, the basket of fries, and Marc. I shake my head. What I mean to say is, I’m missing the diner and the basket of fries…
“It’s boring, and with everyone gone, it’s empty,” I say, observing the quiet space. “What’s on your schedule for today, Luke?”
“Thankfully, nothing, until the afternoon when I have to follow up with the captains and privates that left to check in on how things are going with Citizen Management and when they expect to return.”
“That should deliver some good news,” I say and take a sip of my shake.
“Good morning.” Seits takes a seat.
“Good morning,” we respond.
“You all are trying to stay out of the heat?”
“Yes,” Gia says loudly.
“Luke, I need your assistance. Cory and Hanley seem to have disappeared. They went out for the morning sweep and are not responding to their radios. You will accompany Jord to look for them. Respond,” she orders kindly.
“I understand,” Luke says, rising.
“Excuse me, Gia. I would like to talk to Kylie.” I am not accustomed to these private and personal talks with women of an older age. They make me uncomfortable because they always want to get a little too personal.
Gia nods and leaves, and I cringe at the thought of being left alone with Seits. She’s been wanting to discuss Cory recently when no one is within earshot. When we are not talking about Cory, she uses the time to teach me ways I can be more like her. That’s fine, but I do not want to be like the next person. I want to be better than them. Tell me your failures, your weaknesses, this way I can learn from your mistakes and avoid them. Tell me ways I can be better than you.
Long story short, I don’t want to hear what she has to talk to me about right now.
“Kylie, how has everything been going? After our talk?”
I look her in her eyes and nod once. “I’ve kept my distance as you suggested.”
“He hasn’t kept his.”
I’m short. “He’s persistent.”
“Would you be opposed to a few tests? Suspected implants are required to undergo a few we have set aside to weed them out.”
“Is there some reason that I cannot be trusted?” Undergo a few tests? You can’t test for mixed Creations. Our blood is the same. The only way they could find out is if we admit to it or show them. My blood, however, is not the same as that of a mixed Creation. I’m a rebellious host, and my blood will give Luke and me away.
“Should there be?”
I take the last sip of my shake as the straw hits the bottom of the Styrofoam cup. Looking at her, I say, “Test me. I wouldn’t want there to be an issue. I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am and where I want to go. I am in support of your requirements.” I don’t have a choice…
Seits nods as she stands. “There will be a truck arriving in thirty minutes. You and I will go to the labs. Don’t take this the wrong way, Kylie. We trust you, but there are instructions for us to test you.”
I nod. When Cory gets back, I’m taking him to a training room, and I’m going to beat the life out of him. That son of a bitch set me up. He knows he’s being watched by everyone. This was purposely done. Maybe our names are on the list, and his way of chopping down my brother is getting me out of the way first.
Chapter Fifteen
The scientist sits me in a chair in a metal room. Metal floor, metal table, metal walls, and a metal chair. I was stripped of my weapons, vest, and shirt. I sit in a white tank, my black pants, and boots untied, watching the doctor approach me.
My insides are boiling with anger, and I can feel my pulse jump in my arm as the doctor wraps a rubber tie around it. It looks like the one the nurse used on me when she gave us the vaccination that made our eyes change colors.
I’m quiet. As a Creation would be. I sit here and let them do what is needed. A Creation wouldn’t fight back; they do as they’re told all the way to death. We don’t beg or give in. It’s not in our nature.
“Kylie, they will take your
blood.” The walls speak with Seits’s voice. I don’t see a speaker from where it’s coming from.
The doctor sticks a needle in my arm and draws three tubes of blood. It’s dark red as it fills the tube, as it has always been.
“Kylie, they will check your blood pressure,” Seits’s voice informs me as the doctor wraps my arm with a black band that stays in place with Velcro. She squeezes the attached pump, and the wrap expands and tightly squeezes my arm. My circulation cuts off. She turns a small metal nob on the black pump and looks at her watch. Seconds later, she turns the same nob counterclockwise, and the band loosens, deflating. My blood rushes, pumping the pulse in my left arm faster.
“Kylie, they will inject you with a substance that may show a change in you.” My heart rate kicks up, but I try to keep my breaths even. This, I am worried about. The last time, it made me sick, and I regurgitated on the side of the rec hall. But I can’t object.
The doctor wraps another rubber band around my arm and ties it tight. She thumps the vein in the crux of my arm twice with her middle finger, causing my trigger finger to twitch. She brings forth a syringe with black liquid in the tube. In the black liquid are tiny yellow balls that move around, becoming more visible as they swirl inside the glass syringe.
I take in a breath as the big needle pinches my skin upon insertion. “Your vein may change colors. In most Creations, it will change the color of your eyes,” the scientist informs me.
The liquid burns as it’s pumped into me. My vein turns ice blue, the color of my eyes. I squeeze my right hand, handling the pain so I don’t let it show.
The scientist pulls out the needle. She shines a flashlight in my eyes as she asks, “How do you feel?”
“I feel like I want you to take whatever you put in my arm out,” I growl through my teeth.
“Good. It is supposed to feel like that.” She grabs her supplies. “We will be back to check on you in an hour.”
The Separation Trilogy Box Set: Books 1 -3 Page 42
