Dinner was quiet amongst us. We were usually allowed to talk but with four new guards breathing down our necks it was hard to start up what would be called 'unnecessary' conversation. So we sat and ate the lump of some unidentifiable meat, chewing every bite fifty times just to string out this time we had together. As soon as we were finished they took Logan, Brinn and Den away again for a shorter time for one-on-one interviews with Sketch. They were interrogated basically. Jace was always removed and taken to the other side of the compound for advanced training, and leaving just Cindy and me. The silence between us had grown since I yelled at her, and somewhere deep down told me that I would be sorry.
Cindy and I sat alone in our room; I watched her use a small piece of rock she had found in the woods to file down her nails. She ignored my gaze, so I got up and walked over to her bed. I saw tears in her eyes and as she turned around to me I saw the old Cindy. I wrapped my arms around her, for one moment time seemed to slow and I could feel Cindy's heart beating quickly in her chest.
"I'm so sorry…"she muttered but I just held her tighter.
The mood was broken when two beefed up guys came to take us for combat training. We walked slowly into the old hall where Logan, Brinn and Dennis were waiting. They wore specialised combat uniforms, which were grey all over, with a separate top and pants. There was a transparent plastic area of the right shoulder were our brand marks were. Logan nodded to acknowledge me, and we all stood in line.
We were presented with a young man each, we were meant to practise our combat skills on them. This was usual practise, it was sad to think that we would be the last things they see.
A whistle blew, and all five men took stances. They had basic hand-to-hand combat training, one could tell by their positions.
I felt the blood pounding in my head. All my body was alert and awake, and as our whistle blew I felt the animal that we all suppressed re-awaken. I throw the first punch, unaware of how the others were fighting.
He blocks, and he tries to hit me. I move my head out of the way, and release a volley of orderly punches directed toward is chest. I drop down and give him a crescent kick, and as I jump up again I hear him utter the words…
"Oh s**t…"
Another guy next to me, dealing with Logan yells out to anyone listening,
"THESE KIDS ARE D@MN MUTANTS!"
We all pause and look at each other. Our feelings are communicated throughout our group and with immense anger we lash out at the stunned men.
I kick twice in his chest and thrust my fist upward to break his nose. He yells and as he steadies himself I jump high, and as I see the fear in his eyes I kick him hard in the forehead. He goes down, and grunts as he falls unconscious.
I look at the others and watch as Logan knocks down his guy. Everyone else had finished, they preferred to kill quickly. Logan and I have little fun nowadays so we string out the time it takes us to take down an opponent. We stand to attention again, and the men are dragged away. We too are then sent out, and back to our room where we again get to be together.
Logan, Den and I leave Cindy and Brinn to talk. They have a fair bit to sort out, so we go to the exercise area.
"What has it been like?" I asked the guys. Logan sat on a rowing machine, and looked up at me.
"The training isn't a problem, just extra push ups at the end of the day and an extra mile run every other evening. The only thing is Sketch is breathing down our necks, whispering in our ear that we are traitor. We are faulty machines he says, that are going to be fixed. It is really driving me up the wall"
Den nodded, he was staring absent-mindedly out the window, and basked in the sunshine.
"At least we're outside more," he whispered, a weak attempt to lighten the mood.
Logan coughed and turned his back on the security camera that was now focussed on us.
We broke it up, Logan and I went down into Manticore forest, if Sketch had a problem with it then he can cram it up his @ss. Dennis went back to our room to check on Cindy progress with apologising to Brinn.
"It's getting worse." I say to Logan as we walk over the grass and into the clearing of bushes and trees.
Logan sighed deeply, he could see it too.
"I haven't been doing much to keep our group together…our friendship has hit the rocks and there are too many insecurities between us now. Brinn will never trust Cindy again, Dennis is too isolated to express his feelings and Jace…Jace is another matter entirely. I can't see where we can go, Zack. The future is hard to visualise now, before it was all routine…we knew were we all stood when we woke up and when we slept. Now everything seems so crazy…I'm worried that it is irreparable"
We step into the clearing and sit on the cold ground behind a thick tree trunk. I rub some dirt in-between my hands and flick a small bug off my pants.
"I think that Sketch is cleverer then we thought" Logan said. I stared at him, and furrowed my eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"He planned this, I bet. Jace's reprogramming, Cindy's betrayal and the discipline we've been facing? It all adds up if you think about it the way that Sketch does. HE saw the friendship we had built, where the strengths and weaknesses were. Jace was good friends with Den before she went mad. Cindy and Brinn were tight before something clicked in Cindy that we hadn't seen coming. And now, we, the two oldest have been separated for most of the spare time we have together. Doesn't that say something? He's seen this as a way to kill two birds with one stone; the way to keep us apart, from developing feelings and emotions and a way of exploiting our weaknesses to make us better soldiers."
I lent back and rubbed my face with my hand. He was right, it all seemed so clear now.
"What are we going to do about it?"
"I have an idea. We escape"
My heart jumps at this sudden show of rebellion. Was Logan nuts?
"Oh yeah, we just tell Sketch we quit and waltz on out of here. Hey, we're only genetically enhanced soldiers, we won't be noticed!"
Logan sighs again and looks impatient.
"Let me explain Zack. Do you like that we will spend all our lives hidden behind the walls of that building after being trained for over seventeen years of our life? No. Sketch has told us himself that we are going be out there fighting wars…out there, don't you understand Zack?"
"You say that on our first field mission we go AWOL? They'll be watching our movements day and night, and how can we even guarantee that no one will tell before we can make this work?"
Logan was silent for a moment.
"When we are sent out, everyone will have the opportunity to run. How they evade I don't know, but when the opportunity arises, I am not going to let it pass me by"
He left me alone with my thoughts, and I realised Logan was right. Staying in Manticore all my life...would be a waste.
Cindy and I sat alone in our room; I watched her use a small piece of rock she had found in the woods to file down her nails. She ignored my gaze, so I got up and walked over to her bed. I saw tears in her eyes and as she turned around to me I saw the old Cindy. I wrapped my arms around her, for one moment time seemed to slow and I could feel Cindy's heart beating quickly in her chest.
"I'm so sorry…"she muttered but I just held her tighter.
The mood was broken when two beefed up guys came to take us for combat training. We walked slowly into the old hall where Logan, Brinn and Dennis were waiting. They wore specialised combat uniforms, which were grey all over, with a separate top and pants. There was a transparent plastic area of the right shoulder were our brand marks were. Logan nodded to acknowledge me, and we all stood in line.
We were presented with a young man each, we were meant to practise our combat skills on them. This was usual practise, it was sad to think that we would be the last things they see.
A whistle blew, and all five men took stances. They had basic hand-to-hand combat training, one could tell by their positions.
I felt the blood pounding in my head. All my body was alert and awake, and as our whistle blew I felt the animal that we all suppressed re-awaken. I throw the first punch, unaware of how the others were fighting.
He blocks, and he tries to hit me. I move my head out of the way, and release a volley of orderly punches directed toward is chest. I drop down and give him a crescent kick, and as I jump up again I hear him utter the words…
"Oh s**t…"
Another guy next to me, dealing with Logan yells out to anyone listening,
"THESE KIDS ARE D@MN MUTANTS!"
We all pause and look at each other. Our feelings are communicated throughout our group and with immense anger we lash out at the stunned men.
I kick twice in his chest and thrust my fist upward to break his nose. He yells and as he steadies himself I jump high, and as I see the fear in his eyes I kick him hard in the forehead. He goes down, and grunts as he falls unconscious.
I look at the others and watch as Logan knocks down his guy. Everyone else had finished, they preferred to kill quickly. Logan and I have little fun nowadays so we string out the time it takes us to take down an opponent. We stand to attention again, and the men are dragged away. We too are then sent out, and back to our room where we again get to be together.
Logan, Den and I leave Cindy and Brinn to talk. They have a fair bit to sort out, so we go to the exercise area.
"What has it been like?" I asked the guys. Logan sat on a rowing machine, and looked up at me.
"The training isn't a problem, just extra push ups at the end of the day and an extra mile run every other evening. The only thing is Sketch is breathing down our necks, whispering in our ear that we are traitor. We are faulty machines he says, that are going to be fixed. It is really driving me up the wall"
Den nodded, he was staring absent-mindedly out the window, and basked in the sunshine.
"At least we're outside more," he whispered, a weak attempt to lighten the mood.
Logan coughed and turned his back on the security camera that was now focussed on us.
We broke it up, Logan and I went down into Manticore forest, if Sketch had a problem with it then he can cram it up his @ss. Dennis went back to our room to check on Cindy progress with apologising to Brinn.
"It's getting worse." I say to Logan as we walk over the grass and into the clearing of bushes and trees.
Logan sighed deeply, he could see it too.
"I haven't been doing much to keep our group together…our friendship has hit the rocks and there are too many insecurities between us now. Brinn will never trust Cindy again, Dennis is too isolated to express his feelings and Jace…Jace is another matter entirely. I can't see where we can go, Zack. The future is hard to visualise now, before it was all routine…we knew were we all stood when we woke up and when we slept. Now everything seems so crazy…I'm worried that it is irreparable"
We step into the clearing and sit on the cold ground behind a thick tree trunk. I rub some dirt in-between my hands and flick a small bug off my pants.
"I think that Sketch is cleverer then we thought" Logan said. I stared at him, and furrowed my eyebrows.
"What do you mean?"
"He planned this, I bet. Jace's reprogramming, Cindy's betrayal and the discipline we've been facing? It all adds up if you think about it the way that Sketch does. HE saw the friendship we had built, where the strengths and weaknesses were. Jace was good friends with Den before she went mad. Cindy and Brinn were tight before something clicked in Cindy that we hadn't seen coming. And now, we, the two oldest have been separated for most of the spare time we have together. Doesn't that say something? He's seen this as a way to kill two birds with one stone; the way to keep us apart, from developing feelings and emotions and a way of exploiting our weaknesses to make us better soldiers."
I lent back and rubbed my face with my hand. He was right, it all seemed so clear now.
"What are we going to do about it?"
"I have an idea. We escape"
My heart jumps at this sudden show of rebellion. Was Logan nuts?
"Oh yeah, we just tell Sketch we quit and waltz on out of here. Hey, we're only genetically enhanced soldiers, we won't be noticed!"
Logan sighs again and looks impatient.
"Let me explain Zack. Do you like that we will spend all our lives hidden behind the walls of that building after being trained for over seventeen years of our life? No. Sketch has told us himself that we are going be out there fighting wars…out there, don't you understand Zack?"
"You say that on our first field mission we go AWOL? They'll be watching our movements day and night, and how can we even guarantee that no one will tell before we can make this work?"
Logan was silent for a moment.
"When we are sent out, everyone will have the opportunity to run. How they evade I don't know, but when the opportunity arises, I am not going to let it pass me by"
He left me alone with my thoughts, and I realised Logan was right. Staying in Manticore all my life...would be a waste.