The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1)

by Yazz Ustaris

Mentally, I congratulated Gideon on his skills of deflection as I heard Kyrie chatter on about all the other awesome abilities we have. Turning my attention back to Marisol, I asked, “Okay chicky, what do you feel like eating?” I surveyed the buffet and saw that there was quite a large selection of food to choose from. It really was impressive considering we were a small group of 14.

  She surprised me when she informed me she wanted to eat everything I ate. Secretly, I was thrilled that she was taking the training so seriously. If she followed what I ate and obeyed my orders during training in the gym, she would see physical improvements in herself right away. Leading the way around the buffet, I chose a serving of citrus salmon with steamed broccoli and carrots in a light lemon-butter sauce. Rounding the other side of the buffet to where the desserts were, I chose a ripe juicy apple from the fruit bowl and paused to wait for Marisol. I was pleased when I saw that her tray was a mirror-image of mine, right down to the portion sizes.

  As we approached the table, Sam was just beginning to tell Kyrie the story of Mercer and Ruby, and why Ruby was in trouble with the sergeants. Marisol and I listened in as we began to eat dinner. I learned that while I had been showering, Ruby had tried to leave her table multiple times. When she thought Mercer was going to attack her, she started screaming at people in the Mess Hall to get help from one of the sergeants. Apparently, the snarls and growls that Mercer made were loud and vicious and Sam had worried Mercer really would attack. Conveniently enough, Sam had run into our unit leaders’ right outside the Mess Hall doors, which made me suspect they had been watching the whole thing someplace nearby on live cam. Mercer had started wagging his tail when he heard Sergeant Ramsey call him over, but he wouldn’t obey. Mercer refused to take his attention off of Ruby no matter which sergeant approached him to coax him away from the table. He only snarled and barked at Ruby, so the sergeants decided to stand off to the side to observe Mercer’s reaction when I arrived back into the Mess Hall, since there wasn’t anything else they could do to make the puppy leave her side. That’s when Sam explained my arrival back at the Mess Hall and how Mercer did a complete 180 when he detected my presence. I shook my head at Gideon when he laughed at how Sam described the argument I had with Ruby and what a bad-ass I was for putting her in her place. Sam definitely had a flair for drama, and he really played it up to my enjoyment.

  When he was finished with the story, I had just started to dig into my apple when my eyes strayed to where Mercer was laying down on the ground by his food bowl. It looked like he had fallen asleep. Smiling at him fondly, I felt the heat of Marisol’s stare and turned my head to discover she was regarding me with a confused look on her face.

  “What? Do I have a boogie in my nose or something?” I grinned teasingly at her.

  She visibly and audibly swallowed as her eyes began to tear up a little. Semi-alarmed, I set my apple down and rubbed her back soothingly. “What’s the matter? Did you eat a bad broccoli?”

  She shook her head as Gideon snorted at me in amusement. A slight blush colored her cheeks when she flicked her attention briefly in Gideon’s direction. Hello! What’s this? Gleefully, I nudged Sam’s knee with my foot beneath the table, as I raised an eyebrow expectantly at Marisol to continue.

  “It’s just that I don’t understand how you can stick up for me like that when you only just officially met me today. Yesterday, we were strangers.”

  I just shrugged it off. “None of that matters. What does matter is that no one should have to put up with that kind of crap. Period. I never have, and never will tolerate bullying in my presence. I know you didn’t ask for my help so I apologize for butting in, but it was infuriating having to listen to Ruby talk down to you like that. Next time, I want to see you stand up for yourself.” I shot her a serious look that signaled I meant business, and was satisfied when she simply nodded her head in acquiescence.

  “I think I speak for both myself and Sam when I say that we’d much better prefer to be friends with Teagan rather than enemies. Teagan is scary when she’s angry!”

  I grinned a little guiltily at Gideon’s words because I did have a temper, and I fully admit that things can get a little….intense when I was mad. Fortunately for everyone, I was pretty laid-back the majority of the time and rarely flew into a rage. Out of the blue, I suddenly felt extremely tired. I raised both hands to cover my face and rub my eyes as I tried to hide a massive yawn. After yawning, my arms continued to stretch above my head and I slowly arched my back as I flexed my fingers to the ceiling. It felt good. When I was done stretching, I opened my eyes and saw everyone at the table was watching me. I grinned tiredly as I announced, “Dude…I could totally use a nap.”

  “But it’s only 7pm! And I hardly got to spend any time with you today!” Kyrie pouted at me, and she looked so cute doing it that I couldn’t resist humoring her. “You’re right. The only thing that could save me now would be coffee.” I was just about to climb to my feet to get some, but before I had even finished my sentence, Kyrie had already bounced out of her seat and was rushing towards Amos’ direction with a plea for a fresh pot of coffee.

  “Wow! Someone doesn’t want you to go to bed yet!” Sam’s grin started to slip and he frowned before he pointed out, “Actually, Gideon and I didn’t spend that much time with you this afternoon either. While you were training in the Gym with Marisol, our bedding arrived and some of our clothes did too! Will you help us put our beds together later? Pretty please with a cherry on top?” He pooched out his lower lip and blinked his eyes rapidly in an amusing manner. It probably would’ve been a more effective look on a six year old, but being nearly 6ft tall and ripped with muscles, the expression was more laughable than anything else.

  “You’re lucky I like cherries,” I winked at him before turning to Marisol who was quietly listening in. “What about you? Are you doing anything later? Do you wanna play video games with the guys while I assemble their bedding sets?”

  Her cheeks flushed pink as she stammered, “Umm, I don’t think we’re allowed.”

  “Oh, that silly rule about guys and gals intermingling in rooms don’t pertain to us, so you’re free to come hang out in our room as long as you’re accompanied by Teagan or nurse Jamie.” Sam grinned brightly at Marisol, and I appreciated his effort in trying to put her at ease. Like always, he was taking his cue from me and was treating her with kid gloves like I was.

  “Well, what I meant was…your team was the only one that finished the Geography coordinates challenge, so everyone else has to go back to their rooms at 7:30pm. But you guys are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the evening.”

  Kyrie came rushing back to the table at that moment with a fresh pot of coffee. Amos followed behind her with a stack of mugs and some sugar and creamer. Smiling at him in thanks, I stopped him before he turned to step away. “Amos! Do you think it’s possible that Sergeant Ramsey will let us bring the ping pong table here from the smaller barracks? Usually around this time of day the three of us would be challenging each other to a game of ping pong. Having it here for everyone to use might also improve the overall mood somewhat, if you know what I mean.”

  “Sure, Miss Teagan. I’ll go talk to Sergeant Ramsey and see what we can do. I’m sure it won’t be a problem to bring it here.” His smile was warm when he flicked his gaze from me to Marisol, and I got the sense he was proud of me for my intervention with Ruby.

  “Oh yeah! I forgot about our ping pong table!” Gideon’s expression looked far away as if he were reminiscing about our past games.

  I took a sip of coffee as I commented, “It might make it easier for us to get to know the other guys if we challenged some of them to a friendly game of ping pong.”

  “Yay! Ping, pong! Ping, pong!” Kyrie was doing an adorable version of her own happy dance in her seat as she beamed happily at Marisol.

  Gideon’s attention snapped back to me as he pointed out, “You seem to have a little bit of an advantage since it seems like you’ve already met three of th
e other guys.” His tone was almost accusatory and I identified the look in his eyes as jealousy. Jealousy? What the heck could Gideon have to be jealous about?

  “Well, let’s change that now shall we?” Taking another quick sip of coffee, I stood up and easily caught Logan’s eye since he was facing my direction. I crooked my finger at him and sat back down. Gideon and Sam whipped their heads around to see who I had motioned to. I grinned at them slyly over the rim of my coffee cup as Logan, Gabe, and Cassidy approached our table.

  Motioning to the approaching trio, I said, “Guys, I want to introduce you to Logan, Gabe, and Cassidy. I met these three the other night when I left my room in the middle of the night to get a drink of water.” To my relief, the newcomers seemed just as eager to make Sam and Gideon’s acquaintance as they had been to make mine.

  Casually, I stood from the table and motioned for Logan to take my spot as I gestured for Kyrie and Marisol to accompany me. Catching Gideon’s eye, I said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes, okay? Then we’ll go put your room together.” I paused behind Sam to rub his back comfortingly as I whispered for his ears alone, “Play nice.” I heard his muffled laughter as I left my coffee cup behind and walked away.

  Threading my arms between Kyrie and Marisol, I steered them in the direction of the table where two of the other girls sat together. I identified them as the same two girls who had been looking at me with sadness in their eyes when I accused no one of helping Marisol. Gesturing to the girls, I whispered to both Kyrie and Marisol, “What do you guys think of these two girls? Do you like them?”

  Kyrie whispered back, “Yes, they’re part of the good group. They’ve never been mean to me or Marisol, or anybody else. They really liked watching you on live cam.”

  The two girls in question were staring back at us with nervous expressions as they noticed we were walking a direct path to their table. As we came to a stop in front of them, I held out my hand to the girl with the long blond hair and introduced myself. “Hi, I’m Teagan.” Her blue eyes twinkled happily at me with relief as she replied, “It’s nice to meet you Teagan. I’m Harper.”

  Her friend with the black hair and startling gray eyes, actually stood up and eagerly introduced herself to me when I turned to look at her next. “Hi! My name is Allegra, and it’s really nice to meet you Teagan! Please join us?” She gestured to the empty seats in front of her, so I took a seat as Kyrie and Marisol flanked me. I tried not to stare, but I found my gaze flicking back repeatedly to Allegra. For some reason she looked familiar to me, and I was straining my brain in an effort to figure out if I knew her from somewhere. Her name was unique and beautiful though, so I was fairly certain I had never met anyone by that name.

  Harper cleared her throat, trying to get my attention. “I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression in Geography earlier. We always try to protect Marisol from Ruby, but there’s not much we can do when they separate us.” She was sitting directly across from Marisol, and she reached out her hand to grip Marisol’s hand in hers in a comforting gesture before continuing. “Usually we’re allowed to sit in that class together, but today, I think they separated us on purpose. I have a sneaking suspicion it’s because they were expecting something to happen with you there. The majority of us can’t stand Ruby.”

  Allegra tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she added, “Usually, Harper and I try to protect Marisol and Kyrie because they’re the youngest, but sometimes it’s hard because we’re not in the same unit. Ruby happens to be in my unit and it sucks because she’s such a beeyotch.” I gasped as I clapped my hands over Kyrie’s ears.

  “Hey! Doesn’t that count as a swear word?” Kyrie just giggled as she tried to pry my fingers away. “It’s alright, I’ll just pretend I didn’t hear it, Teagan!”

  Allegra just grinned as she continued, “Anyways, I have two bad apples in my group. Leif is the other one.” She gestured with her head at a guy with dark brown hair sitting alone at a table closest to the glass double doors. “Trying to work together as a group with those two are impossible. At least I have Gabe in my unit, so it makes things more bearable.”

  Marisol broke her silence as she stated, “Kyrie and I are in the same unit with Logan. Logan is really nice and he’s kind of like our big brother in the group. He looks out for us, but we have Zima in our group and she’s just as nasty as Ruby is.” She gestured to the table off to our left where the angry girl with black curly hair and black eyes was currently watching our little group with distaste. Zima… pretty name, for a girl who’s not so very nice. I wondered what her problem was as she caught my gaze and glared in reply.

  I turned my attention to Harper as she explained that she had only three members in her unit, Cassidy and the blond haired surly guy with the steely eyes whose name was Aidan. Aidan was the other angry fellow from day one who was currently sitting alone like the perpetual loner he wanted everyone to believe he was.

  “Anyways, we’re really happy that you’re here now at the big barracks. After watching you and your unit on live cam, the four of us decided that we wanted to adopt your philosophy about this place and just be the very best that we can be.” My gaze jerked back to Harper as she looked at me with sincerity. “It took us a while but we’ve all accepted the fact that we’re here permanently whether we want to be or not, and we’re determined to succeed with the program. We don’t want to be left behind. We want to have the skills and abilities that you have.”

  Allegra grinned as she confessed, “We’re fully committed to doing whatever is necessary to make sure we get our next DNA injections too. Harper and I know that you’ve only consented to taking Marisol under your wing, but please, if you’ll let us we would both like to train with you in the Gym too.”

  Kyrie let out a loud gasp of protest as she whined, “Heeeeey! What about me?! I want to train with you guys too! Don’t leave me behind!” She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked back at me accusingly. “I thought I was your little buddy?”

  I nudged her gently with my elbow as I retorted, “Did you hear me say no? Anyways, this is not something I can just decide on my own…I have to run it by Sergeant Ramsey first since he calls the shots. If it’s okay with him, then it’s okay with me. But you guys have to remember that you’ll be spending much more time in the gym than you’re already used to. It’s a lot of hard work. Are you ready for that?”

  All four of them nodded their heads in agreement just as the double doors slid open and Sergeant Ramsey reappeared. He caught my eye and crooked his finger at me. I sighed as I climbed to my feet and started heading for the door, just as Mercer came loping to my side with his tail wagging happily. I reached down to rub his head as the doors slid shut behind us.

  Crossing my arms across my chest, I demanded, “How can you possibly know so quickly everything that we’ve been talking about?”

  He simply reached up to tap his finger against his ear, and I had to squint my eyes in order to see the miniature earpiece that was there. It was flesh colored and was hard to spot at first glance. Hmmm…sneaky! “So, you heard everything that was just said at our table?” He nodded in reply. There must be a slew of strategically placed microphones hidden throughout the barracks or something. Secretly, I was impressed by the use of all the high-grade technology being used, but considering this was a secret military project that was approved and funded by the US Government, I couldn’t help but wonder what other nifty gadgets we might get to play with and have access to in the hopefully not-so-distant future. “So what do you think?” I asked exasperatedly.

  He grinned his cheshire cat grin as he challenged, “You know this is exactly what all of us hoped would happen. You currently have 7 of them eating out of your hand! I don’t think you understand the influence you have over the majority of them. We’ve decided that you have permission to personally train however many of them you want to give private lessons to. The sooner we can get them trained to your current level, the better. Don’t forget we have a special test thi
s Friday! I’m not expecting any of them to pass it this first try, but under your tutelage, some of them might make it by the second or third try.” He rubbed his hands together excitedly at the mention of Friday’s test.

  “Also, the other sergeants and I have been talking… we’ve decided that all of us are going to bypass our contacts tomorrow to get the other participants used to seeing our altered eyes. The sooner they get used to them the better. We all have a lot of hope that on Monday, your unit will all have earned your third shot so that you will be sporting your feline eyes as well.” I smiled dreamily as I started thinking of the third shot when suddenly a black van pulled up right beside us. I snapped out of my reverie as Sergeants’ Flynn and Quartermaine exited the van. They both grinned and nodded respectfully to me as they rounded the van to open the rear. To my shock and delight, they pulled out the ping pong table from the old barracks. Wow! That was fast!

  Sergeant Ramsey intruded into my thoughts as I continued to gape at the reappearance of the table. “Believe it or not, even ping pong is an exercise used for honin’ yer skills. That’s why we letcha have it in the first place. The other groups had access to this table in the beginning after we moved them here to the bigger barracks, but after their attitudes about this place started to decline we decided to revoke their right to use it. And then by some strange coincidence, a week later you guys asked for a ping pong table at the smaller barracks. Once you get your third shot, the ping pong games should start to go on forever because your eyes will be able to clearly track the movement of the ball, and the movements with the paddle should start to become effortless. Before you know it, it’ll be near impossible for you to miss the ball no matter how fast it comes at you.”

  We followed the other two sergeants inside and watched them set the table up along one side of the Mess Hall closer to the women’s dorms. I heard a cheer from the back and looked up as Logan stood up and shouted, “Woooooo! Ping Pong!!” He had both fists raised in the air in victory as a few people chuckled at him in amusement.