Our feet matched each other as we did a dance, circling around one another and looking for an opening. I advanced again, throwing my weight into a leg strike. I knew he would defend it, but in the process he left his left side open. With one swift move, he was on his back.
“One–nothing,” I said, circling around him.
He growled but climbed back up and advanced quickly. He aimed a blow at my side, and I blocked it, but the power behind it knocked me back a few steps. He saw an opportunity and advanced with a head strike. He swiped for the legs, but I blocked them all. As I jumped, the baton narrowly missed my legs. I was off-balance and backed against the wall. He aimed one more strike at my head. I ducked the blow easily, but he used my moment of distraction to swing a long leg behind me. I crashed to the ground.
“One–one.” He offered me a hand, which I swatted away as I pulled myself back up.
We were quickly back in our dance again. Each step I took forward, he mirrored with a step back.
Both of our strikes felt telegraphed as we knew what the other was about to do before they even did it.
I spurred forward, pushing him back quickly as my baton swung nimbly in front of him. But what he didn’t see coming was exactly what I had hoped for. His foot slipped off the edge of the mat, and he tripped backward, nearly losing his balance. I took that opportunity to strike, aiming for his head and then down to his ribs. One more strike, and he was down again.
“Cheat!” he screamed.
“Only rule was three takedowns.” I shrugged, moving back to the middle of the mat. “Two–one.”
“Okay.” He stood slowly. “I see how it is.” He smiled, tossed his baton to the side, and took off his shirt, revealing his muscular frame which once again stirred up those butterflies. I smiled as confidently as my red face would allow. I toss my baton aside too.
He circled me, hands up and ready to strike, but I held my ground. He swung for my side, connecting as I grabbed his neck and pulled his head down to connect my knee with his chin. He was dazed but blocked my second attempt to knee him in the stomach. He pushed me back, but I was light on my feet and aimed a high kick to his head as I bounced back. He almost ducked out of the way, but I clipped him in the ear. Sensing this was my chance, I advanced fast and hit him with a barrage of punches to his side. I landed another kick to his leg and aimed for a second, but he caught my kick and pulled me toward him. With one leg still in his hand, he swept my other leg out from under me, and I landed on my back with the wind knocked out of me.
I rolled to my side as Kenzie crouched down to see if I was okay. I pushed him back. “Two–two. Next one wins.” I pulled myself back up and took one deep breath. I forced myself to focus.
There was concern on Kenzie’s face, but it was quickly gone as I rushed forward, coming out swinging. His hands were up quick, and he blocked my punches. I smashed my knee into his side and aimed an uppercut to his chin, which he avoided. He spun away from me, aiming an elbow to my head, which I ducked. He advanced with his left, striking me with a double combination. I was forced to retreat. He gave me no space as he advanced once again, sensing I was on my heels. I blocked his strikes and landed one to his chin, which caught him by surprise. He stumbled back a few steps. Thinking he was weak, I moved in for the kill, striking again and ending with a wicked kick to his thigh.
It was time to end this so I put all my weight into one final punch, but he saw it coming and used my momentum to his advantage. Pulling me forward, he caught my wrist and swung me past him. I stumbled, trying to get my feet back under me. I reached for his back and pulled him from behind. I kicked to the back of his knee; it buckled. He tried to catch himself, but it was no use; he was going down. He reached for me as he fell and as I was still off-kilter, standing on only one leg, we both fell. Once the dust settled, I was pinned under his body, unsure how I even arrived there.
We were both panting, out of breath, and covered in a mixture of blood and sweat. His face was inches away from mine, and I felt his breath on my neck. I dared to look into his eyes and saw a spark behind them.
I’m not sure why, but I found myself glancing at his mouth, just as his perfect lips spread into a small smile.
My heart was beating fast, and I couldn’t tell if it was from the fight or his eyes. I was suddenly all too aware that my hands lingered on his chest, but I didn't push him off. His hand brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, and I let out a small sigh.
I looked into his eyes as he softly kissed my lips, unsure at first. I bit his lower lip gently, and he responded eagerly. I kissed him back as my hands found his hair, pulling him in closer. Our hearts were beating in unison as our lips found their own rhythm. He moaned softly as his lips found my neck.
I felt my head spinning as I was brought back to reality. I gently pushed him away as a spark of electricity ignited my side where his hand lay. He quickly pulled his hand away, and I was left with a tingling sensation I couldn’t figure out.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t—we shouldn’t,” I began.
He quickly jumped off me, offering his hand up. This time, I took it. “I understand,” he said, fixing his hair and throwing his shirt back over his head.
I’m not sure how he understood my hesitation, but he did. My best guess was that we were both new to this, whatever this was. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in.
“Let’s go eat,” he suggested, “so I can tell everyone about how I beat you.” I smacked his side, and he winced but smiled. “Okay, okay. It’ll be our secret, but we both know who really won,” he said with a wink. I rolled my eyes, too rattled to even formulate words.
My mind was screaming at me, what the hell just happened? I could still feel the slight tingle through my body.
Chapter 21
Kenzie
She was noticing things about Kenzie that he couldn’t let her find out about. She noticed he healed way faster than he should have. And he knew she felt that shock he tried to hide when he was kissing her. He had to be in better control of himself. He had to be more careful.
Kenzie was better able to report back what the Watchers were capable of doing, and who would make the best candidates for the program. He’d been informed of their training beforehand, but to see it firsthand was promising for what they need the Watchers for.
It was important that he didn’t expose himself though. Smith was a smart man, and even if he seemed to trust Kenzie, Smith wouldn’t hesitate to question Kenzie if Smith suspected anything. Luckily, Sawyer seemed distracted.
Sawyer headed to get food as Kenzie snuck off and sent another message. He let them know what to prepare for and who would be the obvious choices for the program. He headed back into the kitchen at the back of the mess hall where nobody had noticed he was even missing.
Chapter 22
“We should probably go get cleaned up. We’re a bit of a mess,” Kenzie said as he sat across from me at the back table in Theresa’s kitchen. We’d finished a late lunch.
“Speak for yourself,” I spat out, giving him a once over. He chuckled.
After further inspection, I saw that Kenzie may have a broken nose although it almost looked like an old break. His nose wasn’t swollen, and he had no evidence of a black eye. In fact, he didn’t look any worse for wear than he did before the competition. Not to mention our little fight. I had seen better days; I had a cut on my lip and a small bump already growing under my left eye. I could also feel my side was going to be black and blue later. Why didn’t he look like he’d even participated in a competition at all?
I was about to ask him when he said, “I’m pretty sure you broke a few of my ribs. I might not be able to train for a few days.” He tried to keep a straight face but failed as he let out a sly smile.
“What? You’re fine! You don’t even have a mark on you.” I reached for the bottom of his shirt. “Show me!” I tried to pull it up, but he wouldn’t let me.
“I don’t think so, missy. No peep show fo
r you.” He winked.
My cheeks turned a deep scarlet. That wasn’t my intention at all, but he had me all flustered. I quickly stood and put our plates away. “Okay, well, I need to clean up, that much is true,” I said, doing my best to avoid Theresa’s suspicious glare from the stove as she worked on supper. “Let’s go.”
~
Back in my quarters after a much-needed shower, Chevy and I were lying on my bed when I heard a soft knock at my door. Chevy was at the door before me, tail wagging. Kenzie stood on the other side, leaning against the wall with his hands in his jean pockets. He’d cleaned up nicely, and I was all too aware of how his gray T-shirt was clinging to his muscular chest, the one I’d had my hands on only a few hours ago. I shook my head and forced myself to look at his face.
His usual confident demeanor was missing as he shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“I just wanted—” He looked nervous, and he kept averting his eyes. “I hope you know that I didn’t intend for that to happen. To kiss you, I mean.”
“Okay,” I said. That was all I could think to say.
“I mean…I wanted to, but it wasn’t planned.” He tried again, scratching his neck. “I’m just trying to say I’m sorry, if you didn’t want that.”
Chevy stared back and forth between us, his head cocked to the side in confusion.
I was smiling. His cheeks went redder with every second I waited to respond. “I seem to recall kissing you back,” I said.
He let out a breath I didn’t even see him holding, and his shoulders released their tension.
“Right. You did. So, we’re cool then?” he asked.
I nodded in response.
“Cool. All right. I’ll just go then. Okay then. Bye.” He turned and nearly walked into the wall. I stifled a laugh.
“Bye.” I closed my door and leaned against the back of it, glad to see I wasn’t the only one flustered.
I couldn’t explain how one minute I felt in control, and the next I was a complete mess around him. He did something to me, and it was setting me on edge. I wasn’t used to this.
I wasn’t ready to move things further anyway, nor did I have any idea what I was doing. I was only eight when the war began, and I’d spent the last ten years training to kill Carbons and Bots—not normal things girls my age used to do. I’d been one of the guys for so long that it felt weird to look at one of them as anything more than a brother-in-arms, and to have him look at me the way he did…
I didn’t have the best of examples either. My parents had hardly even held hands in front of me. Anything I had learned about relationships were at best guess just that, a guess.
I’d lost a lot of people whom I loved, and to let Kenzie in opened up the possibility that I’d someday lose him. In this world, it wasn’t a matter of if I’d lose him, but when I’d lose him.
~
The next few days were painfully boring and incredibly awkward. I kept catching Kenzie looking at me. I could almost feel the energy radiating off of him as he sat just a bit too close beside me or let his hand barely graze mine as we walked the halls.
Kyle returned to some light training, and with nothing better to do, he ended up tagging along with us most of the time, unaware of any tension between us.
Adam had yet to figure out what to do about the new Carbons, and the world outside was quiet. Too quiet. I’d much rather know where my enemy was in plain sight than wonder where or when they would pop up. We knew they were not gone; they’d never be gone.
“My theory is if we just add a second lens, we may be able to see deep enough to detect them,” Adam explained. This newest plan came after having exhausted all other options. “I think the second lens, if done right, could see through what the first lens has already broken down. Much like an x-ray machine. Then we could detect the chip again.” He was fiddling with an eyepiece as he talked. “Only problem is that the portable energy source is not nearly powerful enough to stay on as long as we would need. The Eye would work for twenty to thirty minutes, tops, using this much power.” He sighed and put it back down.
“What if you use their technology against them?” Kenzie piped up from behind us.
Our questioning stares reflected at him.
“The Bots are self-powered, correct?” Kenzie said. “They are able to generate their own power by simply moving. They cause an internal friction that generates the power they need. What if we used our own bodies as a source of energy to fuel the Eye?”
Kyle and I stared between Kenzie and Adam, wondering if his plan would work. Adam’s mouth was wide open in shock.
“Brilliant!” He jumped up, nearly knocking over his desk. “The human body is full of magnetic pulses. Energy is constantly flowing in and out of us. We can utilize that power!” He paced back and forth, grabbing items off his many shelves as he moved. “We’d still need a conductor. And the body would need to be energized, but I suppose that is a given.” He chuckled to himself. I had no idea what he was talking about.
He turned back to Kenzie and grabbed his hands. “Thank you, my boy.” Then Adam turned to the rest of us. “Now off with you all. I need time to think!” He waved us off.
We let him be, and Kyle updated Smith although Kyle also had no idea what Adam was talking about.
Kenzie and I wandered around and ended up back at my empty quarters. I was sitting on my bed, and Kenzie was leaning against the wall across from me.
“Okay, explain. I don’t get it,” I said.
Kenzie chuckled. “Our entire body is being fueled by energy, electrodes in our body telling one part to react a certain way. For instance, if I were to reach for your arm, your body would send a signal to your brain telling your arm to move out of the way,” he explained. “Or—” He moved and sat beside me on the bed, “—if I were to say, touch you here—” he gently touched the soft skin over my collarbone and moved in closer. His voice softened when he said, “—your body may tell your heart to speed up. Out of excitement or fear, I’m not sure which one.” I swallowed, certain he heard my heart beating out of my chest. I cursed the damn butterflies roaring up in my stomach again.
“And if I were to say, kiss you—” He leaned in.
“My body would tell me to slap you.” I smiled, raising one eyebrow.
He chuckled but didn’t move back. “We’ll see.” He leaned closer, and soon we were kissing. My hand traced down his chest and reached under his shirt and to his back. I pulled him closer still, and he gently laid me back and pressed his body against mine. I had no idea what I was doing, and yet everything felt so natural.
His hands ran up my side as he lifted my shirt and gently kissed my bare stomach. I stifled a gasp. He lifted my shirt over my head and I pulled him back down on me. His hands explored my body as I reached for his shirt, tugging eagerly. He complied, pulling it off to reveal his smooth muscles. His chest was solid as my hands pressed against him, moving down to the little divots across his stomach. Our bare skin was warm where it touched, and I was certain my heart was going to jump right out of my chest.
I felt awkward and comfortable all at once. Unsure of what I was doing, and yet I felt natural and at ease in his arms. I was pulling him in for another kiss when the alarm blared throughout the base—two beeps. Something was wrong.
Chapter 23
Panic rolled through me as we both jumped up in a flash, throwing our clothes back on in such a mad rush that I ended up with Kenzie’s shirt on before I realized it wasn’t mine. We made the switch quick and sprinted out the door, nearly running over Byron, who raised his eyebrows at us but kept moving.
We headed for the front door, assuming that’s where we needed to be, when we heard a voice over the loud speaker. “All personnel to the Command center.”
Without breaking stride, we altered course and headed toward Command.
The room was packed when we arrived, but I squeezed my way to the front, Kenzie right behind me.
&nbs
p; Smith was standing at the front of the room. The screens behind him were all black. He cleared his throat. “I apologize for the way I have gathered you all here, but this is quite urgent so I had to sound the alarm.” It was so quiet one could hear a pin drop.
“Only moments ago, we received a transmission. Sam is going to play the video for you.” He nodded to Sam and stepped out of the way.
The black screens crackled as white words scroll across them.
“You will not win. None will survive. Surrender yourself now, or every day we will kill more…”
The screens lit up, and an old man could be seen kneeling on the rubble somewhere in the city. His hands were tied behind him, and he had a gag in his mouth. Kenzie suddenly gripped my hand and squeezed it.
“Edith,” he mumbled quietly, and I realized who the old man was that we were looking at. This was Edith’s husband who was missing from the warehouse and presumed dead.
I barely blinked when suddenly a loud bang filled the room. The old man fell to his side, a red bullet wound visible in the center of his forehead.
The screen went black again. “For every hour you waste, one more will be sacrificed,” the screens read, and then the blackness returned.
The room was dead silent. We all stared in shock and confusion. No one had the words to convey the questions we all had. What do they want with us? How many more humans have they captured? Why now?
Smith stood back in front of us. “For the last few weeks, we have been working on an assault on Sub 9.”
Who the hell was this ‘we’? I didn't know about this. I put it in the back of my mind to ask Smith later what assault he was talking about, but I knew this wasn’t the time.
“And I fear they have found out about it,” Smith said. “We have now put the remaining humans at risk.”
“We can’t let them win. We have to rescue them,” Kyle piped up. “We can’t just surrender; that would be suicide.”
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