The Marked

by Inara Scott

  Anna and Cam nodded, and then stepped forward to shake hands with each other. It seemed like a ritual they had performed in the past, and I had the feeling, as I so often had over the year, that Cam and Anna shared a history I would never fully appreciate.

  “Somewhere within a mile radius of the cabin we have hidden a single vial. It looks something like this.” Mr. Judan pulled from his pocket a small glass cylinder with a black top, similar to the ones we used in chemistry lab. It was about the length of his pinkie, and not much thicker. “Inside this vial is a deadly poison. Thousands could be killed if a few drops were added to a community’s water supply. You must find the vial before the other team and bring it back to the cabin, where it can be safely destroyed. The team to arrive at the cabin with the vial is the winner.”

  He motioned toward the cabin, where Mr. Fritz was bringing out black vests and handfuls of oversize goggles. He threw them on the ground and then marched back inside. This time, he brought out guns.

  My eyes widened. They were giving us guns? For a training exercise?

  “You’ll each get a gun and ammunition. Your supplies are limited, so use them wisely. You’ll have a vest, goggles, and gloves. Each vest has a square in the center of the chest. That is the strike zone. You are to aim for that area only. The paintballs won’t cause serious injury, but they can hurt.”

  “And leave a nasty welt,” Cam said.

  I tried to look sagely at the pile of weapons. They were paintball guns. Of course. The bright blue accents and eight-inch cylinders mounted below long, thin barrels should have clued me in that they weren’t real guns.

  “If you get hit in the strike zone, you’re out. You can continue to play if you are hit anywhere else. We are relying on your honor to remove yourself from the game if you take a direct hit.” He paused. “Any questions?”

  “Can we use our talents?” I asked.

  Mr. Judan flashed his white teeth. “Of course.”

  “Is there a safe zone?” Alisha asked, eyes gleaming. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

  “Excellent question.” He indicated a line of small red flags. I hadn’t noticed them before, but now that I did, I saw that they surrounded the cabin, marking a line about thirty feet from the front porch. “The flags mark the demilitarized zone. You may not use your weapons or approach the other team in any way within that zone.”

  “Do we have to get our entire team back to the cabin?” Xavier said.

  “No. One team member must carry the vial into the cabin. That’s all.” Mr. Judan looked around the circle of faces. “Any other questions?” We shook our heads. “Good. Take a few minutes to put on your safety equipment and become familiar with your guns. You may also take a compass if you’d like. Around back there’s a small area within the DMZ for target practice. After you leave the DMZ, it’s all up to you.”

  I kept my face impassive. I refused to let Anna see that I was actually scared of paintballs. I might have been scared, but I was determined, too. It would be like fighting with Barrett and my teachers, but this time I’d know what to expect. I’d use my talent and show everyone how much I’d progressed. Maybe I would even outplay Anna.

  Except…I looked at the pile of guns again. We’d had a couple of days of target practice with pellet guns right before spring break, and I had been absolutely dreadful. I hadn’t hit the target once. And today people would be moving. What chance did I have of hitting a moving target?

  Anna motioned for me and Xavier to follow her a few yards away from the cabin. Cam’s team did the same, in the other direction. “Grab your guns and pretend like you’re going to do some target practice,” Anna whispered. “But listen for my signal. We’ll take off as soon as they’re distracted. We need to get as much of a head start as possible.”

  “Anna, I’ve never used one of those guns before.” I glanced uneasily at Cam out of the corner of my eye. He looked calm and sure of himself as he spoke to Molly and Alisha. “It might be a good idea for me to get used to it a little. Before they start shooting at me.”

  “Which is exactly why I want you to run,” she said flatly. “Otherwise, Cam will shoot you before you even get started. I’ve seen him hit people on the run at two hundred yards. You need to get out of his sight, fast.”

  She had a point, though I didn’t like to think of Cam as being so deadly.

  “Where should we go?” Xavier asked.

  “We’ll stay together long enough to establish a base,” Anna said. “We need a thicket—dense trees or brambles—anything that can protect our backs. Then we’ll divide the area into quadrants for searching. Make sure you both get a compass and watch it. It’s easy to get lost out there.”

  “What about Xavier’s talent?” I asked. I didn’t even want to think about how ill-equipped I was to navigate by compass. “Shouldn’t he start tracking right away? They must have started from the cabin when they hid the vial. We don’t want to miss the start of the trail.”

  Xavier nodded. “I can see a bunch of signs from here, including a trail that I think Fritz and Judan made together. I could follow that while the other team is practicing. Dancia can watch my back.”

  Anna grabbed us by the shoulders and pulled us together. “If you two slow down and start following a trail right from the cabin, you’re dead meat, understand? I appreciate your suggestion, but you’ve got to trust me on this. We need to get some distance between ourselves and the others as quickly as possible. You can always come back to the trail later.”

  Xavier and I looked at each other and then back at Anna. The clearing around the cabin had gone quiet. It killed me to have to listen to Anna, but everything she said made sense. “Okay,” I gulped. “I’m with you.”

  Xavier nodded. “Me too.”

  We put our outstretched hands into a circle, one palm on top of the next. Anna counted softly, “One, two, break!”

  We turned around to face the others.

  NOBODY TALKED as we picked out our vests and goggles. Mr. Fritz had brought out gloves as well, and we each pawed through the pile to find a pair that fit. I ended up next to Cam as we gathered our gear. Even though I knew it was just a game, I found myself getting more and more nervous, and having flashbacks to the chaos of falling trees and branches.

  When no one was looking, Cam reached out and touched my hand. We didn’t say anything, but that moment sustained me as I slipped the silver and black mask over my face. Clear plastic surrounded my eyes and forehead, while a plastic grate protected my mouth and chin but allowed me to breathe. It felt a little like wearing a motorcycle helmet, except that it was open on top and in the back. The vests were slid over each of our heads and tightened down on the sides. I wished I could have laughed about the gear, and how ridiculous everyone looked with their armor on, but the participants seemed to be treating this activity with utter seriousness.

  Next, we each grabbed a gun. It was lighter than I expected and surprisingly comfortable in my hands. Anna whispered instructions as we clustered around her, explaining that the cylinder held the rest of our ammunition. She showed us how to load the gun and then said, loud enough for Cam’s team to hear, “Can we start practicing now, Mr. Judan?”

  He nodded. Everyone put their guns over their shoulders and walked around to where a couple of targets had been set up by the far side of the cabin. There were several extra guns on a picnic table nearby. Cam walked beside Alisha, explaining that she should use one of the extra guns to practice with so she didn’t waste her ammunition. I felt a stab of jealousy as I watched them, because I knew Alisha was a great shot. I couldn’t help wondering whether Cam was relieved he’d gotten her on his team instead of me.

  Then I remembered that I could fling her fifty feet into the air, and decided he’d be crazy if he did.

  We waited until Cam’s team was occupied with picking out practice weapons; then Anna whispered, “Run!”

  I bent low, making sure to keep Xavier at my side. We followed Anna, who darted from tre
e to tree, then began running in an erratic pattern through the woods. I heard Cam swear, and a few seconds later, a paintball whizzed past my shoulder. Anna had been right. He was ready to take me and Xavier out. Our only chance at escape had been surprise.

  Anna’s dark brown ponytail bobbed as she ran ahead of us. She turned around every ten or fifteen yards to make sure we were still with her. “Are you watching the time?” she asked me at one point.

  “What? No,” I said, confused.

  “We’ve got a mile radius,” she said. “Watch your pace and try to keep track of how far we’ve gone.”

  “Oh!” I glanced at my watch. I was gaining a new appreciation for Anna’s skills. “Got it.”

  “You should watch your compass, too. We’re moving west-southwest right now. I’ll try to keep us on that heading.”

  I looped the string of the compass around my wrist so I wouldn’t lose it.

  Xavier was already breathing hard. “Anna,” he panted, “do you think they’ll look for it themselves, or will they just follow me? If we get it, they can steal it from us, can’t they? There isn’t any rule against that.”

  She slowed her pace for a minute. “Good point. Molly can turn invisible, and she’s a great stalker, but she doesn’t have any talent for finding things, and she isn’t much of a shot. Alisha’s a good shot, and super fast, but that won’t help them locate the vial. I guess they might sit back and wait for us to find it, then try to take it.”

  “We won’t let that happen,” I said. My breath had already fogged up the inside of my mask, and I pushed it up and tried to wipe it clean, but realized I couldn’t do that without taking the whole thing off; so I gave up. “Once we find the vial, you or Xavier can run it back to the cabin while I hold them off.”

  “Are you sure?” Anna asked. “Can you handle more than one at a time?”

  I told myself Anna was just being a good captain and assessing the skills of her teammates, not making fun of me.

  “No, I’m fine with two or three,” I said.

  Anna stopped suddenly in front of me, and I almost plowed into her back. “Perfect,” she said.

  I followed her gaze to a small copse of trees. An old maple must have been hit by lightning a few years ago, because the trunk had been split in half and a limb had crashed to the ground beside it. The branch sat at an angle against the trunk, leaving a sort of pocket underneath it. Brambles and shrubs had grown up around the edges, ringing the pocket so you could hide there—or better protect yourself from attack.

  “Dancia, you and Xavier stay here while I check out the area. I’ll be back in a few.”

  “Anna!” I called as she started to disappear back into the greenery.

  “What?” She paused, keeping a steady watch all around. “Spit it out. Every second matters.”

  I wiped the sweat collecting at the top of my forehead, above the edge of the mask. “What if you just went back and drew Cam out instead? Molly and Alisha won’t know what to do without him. Meanwhile, Xavier and I can start around the perimeter and see if we can pick up the trail that way. We’ll head back for base if we get in trouble or run into Cam.”

  Anna rocked on the balls of her feet as she considered the idea.

  “This isn’t a very big area for me to search,” Xavier said with a burst of confidence. I guess we were all a little cocky when it came to our talents. “I’ve been looking for stuff like this since I was a kid.”

  Anna pushed back a lock of hair. “If Molly finds you, you’re screwed,” she said flatly. “She’ll have a clear shot. You’d never know she was there.”

  “We’ll stay on the move,” I said. “If she’s a rotten marksman we’re safer if we keep running.”

  Anna considered it, then said, “Fine. Give me a few minutes’ head start and you can start looking.” Without another word, she melted into the trees.

  I sighed with relief. The thought of staying there and waiting to get shot had not appealed to me.

  Xavier and I tamped down the ground inside our little shelter and tried not to look at each other. Sweat was running down the sides of his face onto his neck, and he kept repositioning his vest. I remembered that Esther had said he wasn’t much of an athlete, despite his build. “Are you going to be okay to keep running?” I asked.

  “I guess I’ll have to be,” he said ruefully. “I needed to start working out anyway.”

  “Which way should we go first?” I wasn’t sure who was supposed to be directing our little partnership, but I hoped it wasn’t me. I didn’t have a clue where to begin.

  “That way,” he said, pointing to our right. “I caught sight of a trail when we were running up here. It wasn’t Judan’s trail, but it was very fresh. Today, probably.”

  We waited another minute, and then, with a quick nod of agreement, started out.

  Xavier set out at a decent pace, jumping over logs and sidestepping brambles and decayed stumps. I maneuvered behind him, periodically glancing between my watch and the compass so I had some idea of where we were headed. I had adjusted to the feeling of the mask on my face, but not the way it interfered with my vision; I had to consciously study the ground to keep from tripping. I was acutely aware that I was supposed to be protecting Xavier, so I kept my eyes on the surrounding forest as well, and tried to stay aware of every possible movement. Molly could turn herself and whatever she was touching invisible, but she couldn’t stop sound or her impact on things around her. If she pushed aside a branch or snapped a twig, I’d have known.

  In the distance, someone cried out. It was definitely a girl, and though I couldn’t identify the voice, I figured it was Anna. The thought that Xavier and I might be on our own was oddly thrilling; though, for our team’s sake, I hoped she hadn’t gotten hit.

  Xavier kept running and so did I. It was like following a bloodhound on a short leash. I jerked along behind him, glancing over my shoulder every few seconds for moving foliage. A line of sweat formed on the back of Xavier’s T-shirt.

  A couple of minutes later, he stopped and bent forward to examine the ground. “There was more than one of them,” he said, pointing to a spot a few feet in front of us. “Three or four, I think. It’s from earlier today—maybe just a few hours ago.”

  I squinted, but all I could see was a thick bed of pine needles and ferns. One of the ferns was torn, and there were a few indentations in a bald, muddy patch of ground. But that was all. Before I knew it, Xavier was moving again, this time in the direction I thought the cabin was. I checked the compass. We had been headed south, and now were looping back around to the east. But we were taking a meandering path that left me unclear as to where we were exactly.

  “Why would they have three or four people hiding the vial?” I whispered.

  Xavier kept on the trail. “I don’t know,” he said. “I’m going to follow it in.”

  We continued on for a few minutes, and then he paused again to assess the ground. “Now, this one is Fritz’s,” he said. “But it’s heading in a different direction.”

  “Which way is the group trail headed?”

  “Toward the cabin.”

  “Then we follow Fritz,” I said.

  Xavier nodded and surveyed the trail for another moment. We were lucky we had stopped, because an instant later I heard the snap of a branch about thirty feet to our right.

  “Duck!” I yelled.

  Xavier threw himself to the ground and started crawling toward a fallen tree for cover. I fumbled for my gun, trying to keep my body between him and our attacker. A paintball hit a tree beside us with a dull thud. I expected to see a splatter of paint, but there was only a faint orange mark where it hit the trunk. Another came a second later. This one glanced off my collarbone as I spun around, ready to fire. The force was enough to knock me sideways, though it didn’t burst or splatter, just bounced off. It felt like I’d been hit by a rock. Catching my breath, I scuttled over to Xavier’s hiding place.

  He touched my shoulder. “There’s no mark,” he s
aid quietly.

  I winced when he trailed his fingers over the spot the ball had hit. It didn’t feel like a paintball. I knew Cam had said they could hurt and maybe even leave a welt, but this seemed far more painful than a welt. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if it had caught me squarely in the chest. Or head.

  His dark eyes showed concern. “You can stay in the game, though, can’t you? It wasn’t in the strike zone.”

  I nodded, trying unsuccessfully to tune out the burning sensation in my shoulder. “I think so. But it hurts like hell.”

  “From the paintball? I thought they said it would just sting a little.”

  I adjusted my vest, thinking the straps across my shoulders might be making it worse. It didn’t help. “That’s a heck of a sting,” I said.

  “Can you shoot?”

  “I could if we were desperate.”

  Xavier rested his gun on the log. “I’ll take this one. You watch for Molly.”

  I peeked out at the clearing, generating the energy of my talent and feeling the familiar whoosh of power ripple through me. There had been a time when that power terrified me, but now it was comforting. I knew I was in control.

  There was no sign of human life, but I did see something on the other side of the clearing, beside the trunk of an old cedar—maybe it was just the wind, or the fluttering of a leaf. I didn’t know for sure, but I nudged Xavier, who nodded and squeezed off four shots in a row, blanketing the area.

  If it was Molly, she must have hidden behind the tree, because the paintballs sailed through the air without contact. But we had come close to hitting her. We heard leaves crunching underfoot, and Xavier shot again, only a foot or two from the tree. I saw a branch move, then heard a twig break.

  “She’s on the run,” Xavier whispered. “I can’t see her trail, but I can see the actual damage she does. If she moves again, I’ll have her.”

  We waited. My heart raced. Then Xavier muttered, “Gotcha.” He shot at chest height, where we would have expected Molly’s strike zone to be. This time, I heard a human voice grunt and saw a shimmer of color and the ghostly outline of a person shaking out her hand. She dashed from tree to tree, flickering in and out of her invisible state. Xavier shot at her a few more times, but nothing connected.