“Yeah, I felt it.” He nods as he opens the side of his jacket revealing all of his weapons.
I nod. “Good, I had Max pack you a bag, just in case we have to get out of here quick. Everything is in Cash’s room.”
“Thanks for that, Mac. Should we tell anyone else?” He inquires.
“No, I don’t want to panic anyone.” I answer just as Killian joins us.
“Can I talk to you alone, Mac?” He asks surprising me with not using my normal name that I was so familiar with him using.
“Yeah, of course you can.” I answer and Maddox leaves us.
Rubbing the back of his shaggy blonde head he peeks up at me through his lashes. “I’m sorry about last night.” He begins. “I just saw you with him and I lost it. I don’t even know him and I hate him. Something about him just isn’t right, Kenzie.”
“He’s perfectly fine, Killian. You only hate him because he might beat you today, and that means you won’t have me.” I ground out.
“I thought you wanted me to win, what changed?” Killian inquires.
“You lied to me.” I answer before walking off.
I wasn’t sticking around to hear anything more from him.
My heart already hurt from just walking away like this, I didn’t want to waste anymore time hearing more of his lies.
I just couldn’t.
Moving back over to Dash and Grey I sigh as I feel overcome with a deep sadness. “I want both of you by my side at all times.” I order and then nod to Maddox as he joins us. “I want you by my side as well.”
“We weren’t even thinking about leaving you, Mac.” Grey answers and Dash nods in agreement.
Sitting down together in front of the ring we stay silent as we watch all the other teams and groups of visitors walk in.
I had completely forgotten that we were supposed to be meeting with them, and I mentally kick myself.
“Grey, find a couple of those people to come sit with us.” I order and he nods as he stands to his feet.
I watch as he walks away before turning my attention absently towards the ring.
Minutes later, he returns with three young looking girls.
I roll my eyes to Maddox.
I should have known better.
“This is, Addie Lake, from the Farmers station, Demi Baker, from the Breeders station, and Nova Star, from the Engineers station.” He motions to each one and I smile. “Girls, this is my commander, Commander Mackenzie Frost.”
“But she’s female, she can’t be a commander.” Demi replies with a snooty attitude that instantly makes me hate her.
“You will address Commander Frost with better manners, Miss Demi.” Markus commands as he joins our little group.
Her head bows, but she doesn’t apologize.
“I’m sorry for her behavior, Commander, I should have warned her.” Grey apologizes for her.
“You do not apologize for her, Grey. She can leave us now if she won’t apologize herself.” I snarl looking directly at her.
With a cocky smirk, that only I could catch, she walks away.
My unease multiplies.
“Mackenzie, I need you up in the ring with me.” Markus orders gruffly and I nod as I stand to follow him.
As we reach the ring he stops abruptly and scans me from head to toe.
“Well, that answers my questions.” He mutters.
“What questions, Sir?” I raise my brow.
He sighs running his hand over his face. “My feelings of unease, I knew if you felt them then something around here was not right, and judging by your attire something is definitely not right.”
“Yeah, and what just happened with that girl has made my unease grow farther.” I admit.
“There have been many of the visitors acting out like that.”
“That sounds bad.” I sigh roughly.
Markus nods. “Yes, and I’m afraid we might be seeing something bad happen soon.”
“Have you told anyone else?” I question and he shakes his head.
“No, I haven’t, I don’t even know what I would say that wouldn’t make me appear foolish.” He admits before ending our conversation by moving into the ring where Killian, Max, Cash, and Clark are all standing.
Raising his hand up most of the room grows silent.
All of the military men do, at least.
The rest continue to chatter until my father stands to his feet.
“Shut the hell up.” He growls loudly and thankfully this time they go quiet.
“Thank you, Commander Frost.” Markus nods to my father as he sits. “Now, I am happy to announce that this will be our final fights for today. The council and I have picked the fighters at random to fight against each other.”
He pauses a moment before continuing. “The winners of the first two fights will then fight each other, and the winner of that fight will have our lovely, Commander Mackenzie.”
Boo’s and curses come from the crowd and Markus frowns along with the rest of us in the ring.
When things finally calm down Markus continues. “Killian and Clark will start the fights.”
With that, the rest of us walk off leaving Clark and Killian.
Within minutes of us sitting down the fight starts and Killian quickly comes out on top, but just as Clark appeared as if he was going to hit the mat he quickly slams his fist into Killian’s jaw.
I gasp practically feeling the punch, myself.
It was hard, and Killian sways slightly before he gives the finally blow to knock Clark down.
The crowd boo’s him and he flips them off as he exits the ring.
“What the hell is going on, Mac?” Silas inquires as his group joins mine.
“I don’t know, but it’s not going to be good.” I answer him while watching the ring as Cash and Max enter.
“Take your men back to your rooms and arm yourselves, Silas.” I warn as I continue to watch.
“Alright, we will return quickly.” Silas nods before his group stands and leaves the room.
Cash and Max circle each other in the ring for a few moments before they rush at each other to begin the fight.
I watch as they play it out well without even hitting each other too hard.
Only someone who knew them well would know that they weren’t really fighting.
Max and Cash string the fight out as long as they can before Cash directs what appears to be a crushing blow and Max falls limp to the mat.
I sigh out in relief that that fight was over, but I wasn’t ready for the next one.
Markus reenters the ring and without caring he yells out at the top of his lungs. “Let the best man win.”
He motions to Cash and then to Killian as he enters the ring before leaving them alone.
With my breath held I watch as both men circle one another before rushing in to fight much like Max and Cash had, but this time every hit was real.
Every hard hit echoed through my heart.
Even when Cash would land a hard hit on Killian I would find myself flinching, I just couldn’t help what I still felt deep down for him.
With blood being spilled everyone’s eyes were on the ring, right where our new enemy wanted us to be watching as they rose from their seats and positioned themselves around the room.
I bump my shoulder into Maddox and he scans the room quickly before bumping Grey and Dash. Both of them take a quick survey and then tap my lower back letting me know they saw the danger.
Silas and his group come back in, his face pale as he looks directly to me without saying a word.
Sliding my hand into his I squeeze it giving him a small amount of comfort.
“Just stay by our side. We have an exit plan.” I whisper just loud enough for him and his group to hear.
He nods ever so slightly as he squeezes my hand back.
Just as Cash is about to hit Killian we are all thrown out of our seats as the whole station lurches to one side abruptly.
Everyone stands as the room be
comes chaotic.
“Maddox, Grey, Dash, are you alright?” I question while looking to Silas as he calls off his group.
“Yes, we’re good, Mac.” Maddox nods.
“Is your team good, Silas?” I question and he nods.
Pulling out one of my guns my team follows suit and so does Silas’s team.
We circle each other so our backs are to each other that way nothing would surprise us this way.
As the station lurches again my team and I are ready but Silas bumps into me.
My stitches tear but thanks to the shot earlier I don’t feel the pain.
Spotting my father and his group circle out of the corner of my eye I quickly nod to him and he nods to me.
I mouth ‘goodbye’ to him and he mouths ‘I love you’ and ‘proud’ to me before his groups is attacked by the very groups of people who were only supposed to be here to visit.
Moving as one, Silas and I move our two teams out of the fight room and into the even more chaotic hallways.
Already, there were fighters lying dead at our feet.
“This is really, really, bad.” Maddox grunts.
“Yeah, this is.” Silas agrees.
“Run.” Max yells out suddenly joining us and without question we all break into a run down the halls as shots ring out from behind us.
Two of Silas’s men go down and Grey cries out as he’s hit but doesn’t fall.
I glance back and he points to his shoulder, pointing out his injury.
Pulling out my other gun as we round a corner I stop and fire at the others firing at us. It wasn’t just the other stations people that were at war with us, it was our own men.
It was a full blown mutiny.
Cursing, I shoot down people that I never thought I would ever have to kill, many that I had considered friends and family.
Max stands at my side firing away. “What now, Mac?”
“Now, we hold off them as Silas and the others get our stuff from Cash’s room and get their asses onto a ship.” I reply between gunshots.
“You heard her, guys, go now. Dash you’re in lead.” Max orders as we continue to shoot.
Hearing footsteps fade behind us I knew that they had listened to our orders, and hopefully they would make it safely.
“What are we going to do about Cash and Killian?” Max grunts as he pulls out another gun and begins firing with both as the enemy continues to rush forward.
“There’s nothing we can do now. We can only hope that they get out alive and meet us at the ship.” I answer feeling as if seeing them again was never going to happen.
It all felt hopeless.
The probability was low for them to survive, especially without weapons.
Chapter 12
“I’m almost out, Mac.” Max grunts as we continue to shoot.
“Just hold out a little longer and then we can run.” I answer as the number of fighters rushing towards us slows.
I couldn’t believe the amount of bodies lying dead in front of us, most being our own men.
“This is just bull. Why do we have to kill our own?” Max growls as he takes down yet another one.
“I don’t know, Max, but we have no choice. They’re the enemy and they need to be put down, just like we were taught. Just block it out, Max.” I reply.
“I can’t. This is too much, Mac. I’ve trained most of these men.” He answers, his voice laced with sadness.
When no one else rushes towards us, I motion quietly for him to run, and we do, as quietly and as quickly as we can.
Down the hall my eyes catch sight of something I dreaded.
It’s Dash, his body lying on his stomach, dead.
I choke on a sob as we pass him and rush on down the hall and towards what I hopped to be freedom from this nightmare.
“Keep running, Mac, just keep running.”Max orders taking control this time.
We worked well as a team like this, when I faltered he picked me up and when he faltered I picked him up, it was what having a second in command all was about.
I was definitely thankful for having him now, especially since all I wanted to do was go back and cradle Dash’s body as I cried.
Shots ring out behind us again and we both gain a renewed sense of urgency as we make our way past the rest of Silas’s team, lying dead, on the floor and then past Cash’s open door.
I breathe a sigh of relief to see that all of our packs were gone.
At least someone was still alive.
“How much farther do we have to go, Mac?” Max questions as we stop behind a corner and fire back to give ourselves a breather.
“Not much farther, Max.” I promise.
The ship was at least a hundred feet away still, and that might as well have been three-thousand miles when we had to fight our way past two other intersecting hallways without getting ourselves killed.
“On three, we run again.” I yell and count down.
On two we run.
We run as if our lives depended on it, which in this case it did.
Stumbling, I fall to my knees and without a second thought I reach up for Max’s hand and he drags me to our next stop between halls.
Gasping for a breath, I nod to Max before we make another mad dash down the hall and closer to our freedom.
The closer we came the better I felt.
But it still didn’t take away the ache in my heart that I felt when I thought about having to leave Killian and Cash behind.
Down the hall I watch as the girl, Demi, which I had met earlier steps into our path with guns drawn.
Max and I skid to a halt before I gather my wits and snatch one of my throwing knifes from its holster, and within a blink of an eye it hits her directly in her chest.
She goes down as her guns fire at us.
Max and I both duck down, thankfully managing not getting hit.
“That was close.” Max grunts as the shots stop and we make our way cautiously over to the girl.
She gags as blood seeps from her lips.
I had hit her lung and she was drowning.
“Bet that will teach you to disrespect a commander again.” I laugh menacingly as I pull my knife from her chest and grant her mercy by ending her suffering.
It was more than what she honestly deserved.
“Shit.” Max yells as he tackles me to the ground before a loud bang rings out around us.
A cloud of smoke covers us as Max grabs hold of me pulling me down the hallway as our ears ring.
We must have had luck on our side, because I don’t think we would have made it otherwise.
“A freaking bomb, can you believe that crap, Mac?” Max growls as we take another breather around a corner.
I could see the ship we wanted from where we were and I could see Maddox in the doorway waiting for us.
He couldn’t see us though.
“Maddox, watch to your left.” I command knowing that he would know we were coming from his right.
Yelling out wrong information was just an easy way to throw off any potential enemies.
Another thing I had learned from my father, and in turn had taught to my team.
It wasn’t taught like it should have been within teams, but right now that was an advantage that we had.
“Don’t move.” Maddox commands just before we decide to run.
Shots ring out and I peek around the corner to see Maddox and Silas shooting down the hall leading to the ship from the other side.
“Run faster.” He orders someone I can’t see.
“Who is it?” Max questions peeking over my shoulder.
“I don’t know.” I answer with a shrug.
“Now, Mac, run.” Maddox growls as he continues to fire off rounds.
Max and I jump into action.
We slide into the ships door as shots barely miss us.
Without catching our breath Max and I join Silas and Maddox as we watch Cash running down the hall with enemies close behind him.
“
Is he carrying Killian?” Max asks in awe as we fire at the men behind them.
“Yeah, I think so.” Maddox nods.
Suddenly, my father joins him along with Clark, and Jace, another one of our commanders.
I watch in horror as my father goes down.
He turns on his back to shoot as the rest continue to run, leaving him behind.
Taking a step forward I want nothing more than to rush out and save him, but I knew he would kill me himself if I did.
“No, Mac.” Max commands grabbing onto my arm.
I nod as I fire on the men closing in on my father.
Just before they reach him he looks back before placing his own gun to his head.
He wasn’t going to let anyone have the pleasure of killing him.
“Love you, Kenzie. Be strong, baby girl, you need to be strong.” He yells out before his shot rings out.
I crumble to the floor. “Daddy, please no, no, no.” I cry as I curl myself into a ball.
“Get her into the ship, Max.” Silas orders and Max quickly grabs me and hugs me close as he carries me into the ship.
Placing me into a seat next to Grey he straps me in and then moves over to Grey who hasn’t yet reacted.
Strapping him in Max leaves us alone.
My eyes blur as I continue to feel myself break down.
In a rush the door to the ship slams shut and we shake as bombs explode just outside the door.
Cash drops Killian to the floor beside me before rushing to the front of the ship with Max.
Jace straps Killian into a seat before strapping himself in.
Silas walks in slowly.
“Are you alright, Mac?” He asks and I sob.
Cursing he sits in a seat across from me and straps himself in.
“Is everybody ready?” Cash yells back from the front of the ship.
“Good to go, Cash.” Jace yells back.
The ship rocks back and forth before it feels as if we are freefalling.
I listen as Cash and Max curse.
I glance around suddenly realizing the absence of Maddox.
“Where’s Maddox?” I question as I start to unbuckle myself.
“Right here, Sweetheart.” He grunts as he slides on the floor past me.
Nearing an empty seat he pulls himself up before strapping in.
“Damn it, they have ships everywhere.” Cash curses.
Eden One, Episode One Page 9
