I survey the room, and the reality of what we are about to do sinks in on the others’ faces.
Jord continues, “We will be away from our home, on another’s turf. We do not know where or what we are going into. Only that we are going. I cannot guarantee all of us will make it out alive. But I promise, you will be prepared and have the artillery we need to bust some alien ass.”
I look over the weapon in my hand, eager to fire off a few shots. If he’d only wrap up his briefing quicker.
“You all are holding our new weapons made specially for this mission. These will allow us to abolish the enemy. And in an extraordinary way. Kylie and Lukahn have been witnesses to that. The bullets must be shot in a specific place on the enemy in order to be most effective. This is the left side of the chest.” He points to the target point on his chest while his other hand digs in his pocket. “These.” He holds up a blue and green marble. The particles on the inside slowly fuse like the ones the coyote threw up a few months back. “Are our form of transportation. Getting there and leaving. We are not the only ones leaving there, just the only ones in our Separation sector. Another group will leave with their own.” He stuffs the marble back into his pocket. “Two groups from Chicago will go. One group from New York.” He nods, and we follow with a nod. “Our mission,” he continues in a more instructive, deep tone, “is to raid and invade as they have done to us. Destroy as they have destroyed. Kill as they have killed. We will shoot everything we see and anyone who is not our own. Look out for each other. They could be capable of things we aren’t aware of, so do not let your guard down.”
“Is there something we are trying to find out by going there? A message?” Collins asks.
“Yes,” Jord answers. “Don’t fuck with us,” he states smoothly, without a blink or waver.
“What if it angers them, and our actions make them go through with this threat?”
“Seits and I will be looking for their Premier.” Their leader, I correct mentally. They do not have a Premier. Jord likely knows this, but maybe he wants his ignorance to come off as though he knows little about the Vojin, so the others won’t suspect him of being a double-dealer. “If they do not change their instruction, he will end up like the rest.” Collins peeps like she’s about to ask another question, but Jord talks over her. “Stay quiet when we arrive. These guns are silent. We will be like thieves in the night. We will come in, steal the lives of many, and escape without being noticed or erupting havoc. Respond.”
“We understand,” we say.
“Alright,” he concludes. “Test your firearms. Kylie, I know you would like to go first.”
I’d love to go first. Grinning ear to ear, I step in front of my target so it’s ten feet in front of me. I load my shotgun with the dummy bullets Jord has in a box sat next to my feet. They’re similar to the thick, black, pointed rounds without the center line of poison.
Pressing the butt of the shotgun to my shoulder, I click off the safety and pump two rounds into the chamber. I wrap my finger around the trigger and press my cheek to the cold metal to peer through the scope. Excited jitters tickle my stomach as I line up my target.
I have an idea.
I pull the gun down, looking at Jord. “Do you think if we shot the dummies with the other bullets they’d explode like the one did back in Highrum?”
“I doubt it. All the required components are not involved to make it explode.”
“Ky,” Luke barks, “can you just shoot the damn gun?”
“Yes, Luke.” I raise the gun again. “Gosh. Have some patience.” I aim and fire. There is no kickback, no jolt, no blast, just a quiet pfft. Like the sound of blowing air through a straw. I hit the dummy in the chest and look at the gun, amazed. “That is incredible.” The gun is huge; the bullets are big, but it’s so light and quiet.
“I didn’t even hear it!” Collins states with annoying astonishment.
I take out the handgun and load it with a dummy bullet and shoot it. It’s also quiet, like the ones they shot in the labs.
I step away from the target area in awe as I stare at my weapons. Walking to the table, I set them both down, and everyone takes turns shooting the new guns.
After the shock wears off, we practice hitting the targets in the appropriate place. Still targets are easy to hit, but moving targets, as Luke pointed out, are the hardest.
“This was a good exercise,” Jord praises, wrapping practice up. “There are specific masks you will also be provided to protect us from the explosive matter and particles that will kill them and may be harmful to us. We will attack at twenty-one hundred hours tomorrow night.”
“So soon,” I overhear Collins say to her sister, but I ignore it. I may not trust her, but Jord’s right; we do need her for this mission because she is an excellent shot and a great fighter.
We leave the target hall and head to our homes to put our guns away.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
For dinner, we gather together at our usual table, quietly discussing our new mission. “I personally think those guns are the most amazing things man could have invented,” Collins says, spooning her soup.
“Good thing nobody cares about your opinion of man-made products,” Sean retorts.
Luke is the only one not sitting with us. He had to follow up with the other leaders to discuss the other countries’ infestation of Zombies.
Sean and Collins bicker back and forth, and a joke I recall Fein telling trickles into my mind. She must’ve been mad at me for pulling the trigger. That girl, Virginia, she was an implant and died. I’m a mixed Creation, and though one or two may know, it’s a miracle I’m still alive. Marc should’ve wiped us clean off the Earth. Now, here we are, going on a suicide mission, and everything in my gut is telling me this is why my life was preserved, because with this one, we aren’t making it out of there no matter how good our weapons are. Something is telling me Luke and I are going to be dead on the floor of the Vojin base, lying next to each other in a puddle of our own blood. And I’m comfortable with that as long as I can kill at least thirty-two of them. Shoot me down, fine! But I’m not going out without taking a few of them with me. They’ll remember our names, and forever they will ring along with those of my parents.
Linder and Poppie Alexander.
Nevertheless, I’d still be dead, and nobody really wants to die at eighteen. At least I’ve gotten to go on a date. I’ve been kissed. I’ve shot the greatest gun in the America, and I made the highest rank as a Creation. The America will know me too. Carden will stand before the citizens and say, “Just Kylie was a badass, and she risked her life for every one of you.”
Ha! Yeah, right.
I’ll go down as another Creation they’ll forget about two months after they discover the enemy murdered me.
“Ky,” Collins calls. “You zoned out?”
I look my food over, sticking my potatoes with my fork. “Collins, I don’t understand why you think you can just address me. We are not friends. Don’t speak to me.”
“You going to have to get over yourself, Ky. We have to look out for each other.”
“I can look out for you and not like you. Just trust me to have your back, and I trust you to have mine.”
“Whatever, Ky,” she says. She rolls her eyes, and her gaze falls on Marc. “Marc, what are you doing after dinner on your last night alive?”
“Not you,” Marc responds and takes a drink of his red soda.
She scolds him with a narrowed glance. “You don’t need to be rude.”
I feel a tickle attacking the back of my neck. I throw a glance over my shoulder and spot Luke staring a hole through me. He waves me to him. I go after throwing away my tray. “What’s wrong?”
They call for the end of dinner after we leave the rec hall.
“I’ll tell you when we get to my room. It’s about tomorrow night.”
“Give me a hint. I hate waiting.”
“I just left a burrow, forced there by two Vojin coyotes, off in
the hills.”
“Were you followed?”
“I’m not stupid, Ky.”
“Well, I have to ask.”
A vein is popping out of his forehead, and steam is practically blowing from his ears. “Is it something that made you mad?”
“Not really.”
Okay, I’m going to shut up because he’s not giving me any answers. We reach our house and are the only ones here. Climbing the stairs to his room, my heart is racing, wondering what he could be about to tell me.
Stepping through the door, Luke says, “I need to grab a shower before we talk. After, I’m not going to leave my room.” He heads for the stalls.
Since I’ll have to wait for him anyway, I grab a shower too and head to my room after to dress. I’m out before him and looking out my open door for Luke to return. The instant he returns, I cross the hall to his room and push the door closed, demanding, “Okay, tell me.”
Luke sits on the bed and rubs his hands over his head. He gives a long sigh. “They think we are going to raid their realm. They wanted me to find out who it is and talk them out of it because they plan to come here next week and implement their form of peace.”
“What is their form of peace?”
“The Vojin I spoke to was Noranti, the one who once told us they did not want to destroy our planet or theirs. She wanted to come here as a warning and request we fight with them against the other Vojin who want to kill everyone. You want to know what I told her?”
“What?”
“I told her that I don’t give a shit about her need for help or domination. They have all lied to me, and it would be my pleasure to fight against all of them.” He meets my gaze. “You wanna know what she said?”
I sit, unable to look away from him. “What?”
“She said that if we plan to invade their realm, we can at least spare the lives of the blue and pink Vojin.”
“Why?”
“That’s what I asked. She said they are the ones whose true intentions are to protect the Earth and the outers of our planet. They are under an influence and are unaware of their actions as they have no control of their decisions.”
“What else? Anything useful?”
“They want the important members of Vojin society to be abolished. The ones who are bigger, more silver than blue, bright. If we can get them, the instruction to destroy Earth could be terminated.”
I nod, saying, “That’s good news.”
“Can you turn that light off? Are you sleeping in here?”
“Yes.” I turn off the light and lie beside Luke. “If we don’t make it out, Luke, or if you make it and I don’t, know I love you.”
“I love you too, Ky. And we are either both going to make it, or neither of us is going to make it.”
“If the Vojin get what they want, if they convince the America to do away with Creations, we are out either way.”
“As long as we go out together. What do you have to live for besides me?”
“Nothing,” I say, and it comes out breathless and unsure.
“Kylie?”
“Hmm?”
“If we go in there, and it comes down to save me or Marc, don’t choose to save Marc.”
His request wraps around my neck and strangles me too tightly. I lose the feeling in my toes, but to keep him from sensing my doubt or hesitation, I shake my head. “I won’t, Luke.”
“Good.” He wraps his arm around my head and pulls me to his shoulder.
There’s a knock on his door.
“Now who is this?” Luke complains.
“Probably one of your girlfriends,” I joke.
“I don’t have those. Who is it?”
“Luke?” A girl calls. The voice sounds vaguely familiar.
“Aren’t they supposed to stay in after nightfall? How do you not have this under control yet?” I say as he gets up.
“Yes. You’ll leave or no?”
I curl my lip and gag. “You’re about to be nasty?”
“I have to get it all out of my system before we die.”
Pressing my lips into a thin line, I shake my head as I cross the floor to the door. “Fine.” I pull open the door, and the girl is right on top of it. “Pardon me.”
She moves aside. “Um, hi, Ky.”
“Hi,” I say gruffly, passing her to get to my room. I get here and lie down, but only for a second. Grumbling, I flip onto my left side and then my right. I don’t know why I came in here.
I go to Marc’s room and knock on the door. He returns with a triple knock against the wall. I go in. Closing the door, I keep the knob in my hand as I lean my shoulder against it. “You can’t talk?”
“No.”
“What if I wasn’t me?”
He turns, facing the door. “You are you.”
“Can I come in?”
“Isn’t that why you came here?” He yawns and turns back over. “To come in?”
“Yes. It’s not late, Marc. Why are you so tired?”
He makes a throaty chuckle. “Collins just left. She took a lot out of me.”
My body turns to stone. Why would he tell me that? Drawn speechless, I chew on the inside of my bottom lip. He stares at me, hooded eyebrows rising, the purple in his eyes brightening. My shoulders slacken, and I exhale. “You’re not being serious, right?”
“No. But you’re still holding up the door.”
I sit beside him, and he scoots over for me to lie down. But I remain sitting, leaned over on my knees. Building my courage, I prepare to ask something that’s been sitting in the back of my mind for months now. I stretch the back of my neck and clutch my inner shoulders. “Would you, well, try that with me?”
He lifts his head. “What I was just joking about?”
I nod, but say, “If the question makes you uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer it.”
“Yes, I want to do that with you.” I hold my breath, and my nerves kick in again with his unexpected response. “Why?”
Be brave, Ky. But I can’t say.
“You want to do that with me?”
I look away from him to the window and nod, embarrassed I’m even considering it. My hands are shaking as the jitters jump around in my stomach and chest. They’re creeping around to my back, and I feel uneasy.
“Just because you say it, doesn’t mean it’s about to happen right now, Ky. You don’t have to be nervous.”
I look back at him. He’s propped up on his elbows, his gaze soft and heavy rasp gentle. “I do if I’m thinking about it happening right now.” I press my hand to the mattress and lean over to kiss him as I move on top of him.
He pushes me back a little. “Mmm, Ky. You do not want to do this right now.”
“You don’t?”
He grabs my thighs, then he glides past my butt to my back. “I do, and for a while now. But that’s intense.”
That odd adrenaline takes me over, and my entire body tingles. I sigh as he touches me again. “The way your touch feels is what’s intense,” I say as my body turns electric. Meeting his eyes, compassion fills the empty spaces in my chest where the electric prickles can’t reach. “Can you tell me you love me?”
He pushes my hair back from my face and silently looks at me for a long time. “Ky,” the words pour from him slowly, “I love you.”
If I were a cup, I’d be flowing over. My heartbeat pulses through every centimeter of me. “And I love you.”
“And you want to do this, tonight?”
“If you do too. Before I die, or I’m discovered, or the world destructs and I never get the chance to be that close to you.”
“Hold on, Ky. I’ll be right back.” He moves me from him and leaves the room. He might be giving me time to reconsider. But I won’t. I want us to advance in this. I’ve wanted it for a while too; I’ve just never had the courage until now. Maybe it’s because I’m facing death, maybe not. But if the option came, and I had to choose between him or Luke, I can make the choice knowing, at least, he and I he
ld nothing back. We knew every bit of each other, and the memory of him will be good enough.
He returns, quietly shutting the door behind him. “Where did you go?” I ask when he sits on his bed.
He looks over his shoulder at me before turning around. “I had to get something.”
“From who?”
“Sean.”
I grab him to me and lie back on his bed. “Why?”
Kissing me once, he hovers over me. “It was important.” He kisses me again. “You sure you want this?”
“Yes, just don’t hurt me with that baseball bat in your pants.”
He laughs, retorting, “What?”
“Nothing.” My legs shake.
“I’ll try not to hurt you. Um.” He looks away from me. “You will be the first girl this happens with, so,” he looks back at me, adding, “tell me if I hurt you.”
I even my breaths and unintentionally whisper, “Okay.”
His kisses to my lips are soft. So gentle I barely feel them. His graze against my skin is even softer, and while a part of me wants to question it, it may just be my nerves. Cautiously, we undress each other, and the heat beats between our bodies. It feels like we’re moving in slow motion, slowly, heavy breaths move time forward. Every time our breaths stalls, so does time.
I push my hands over his back. “I wish I could heal away your scars.”
Lips against mine, he whispers, “Don’t. I often forget they’re there when you’re not touching my back.” Marc leans back, and his eyes shine a unique purple I’ve never seen. “Remember what I said,” he says.
I stop breathing when his hand grips my bare waist. He notices and whispers, “You can tell me to stop.”
The Separation Trilogy Box Set: Books 1 -3 Page 59
