Class Zero

by Y A Marks

  The next morning at breakfast, I sped down and waited against the concrete wall. My leg bounced until I saw Sun Hi. When she got in the cafeteria line, I dashed over and stood behind her.

  “Morning!” I said, a bit too brightly.

  Sun Hi turned around and forced a smile. “Mor-nin’.”

  “You know, ever since I saw you in action at the trailer park, I’ve been amazed at your skills. I know, cat girl—uh, Josalyn thinks different, but I think you should be showing me how to shoot. I mean we are longtime friends right?”

  Sun Hi lifted an eyebrow. “What did he do?”

  “No, no. Nothing, nothing, I swear. He’s a great guy, perfect…” I smiled before mumbling. “A little too perfect.”

  She focused into my eyes trying to pick apart the lies that were forming behind them. I forced my mouth open before she read the last of my secret thoughts. “It’s just I’ve seen you in action. I really wanted to know that technique you used to take down the scrappers. I mean, when I shot at it, all my shots just whizzed by.”

  After stretching her arms, her gaze slid up and down my body as though I had the plague. “Oh yeah, well, there’s a trick to it. Anybody can teach you—”

  “Please, please, Sun Hi. I mean, I’d really feel more comfortable if it was you, and I’d um, also like to talk to you about, um, Dhyla and the plan to get the kids out of Juvie.”

  Her expression knotted, but her one eyebrow stayed high. “Well, okay…”

  I hoped it was too early in the morning for her to figure out the real reason. Over the first fifteen minutes of breakfast, she didn’t mention anything so I began to relax. Maybe this plan would work. I could get trained and not hurt anyone’s feelings.

  Looping a leg over the kiddie seat, Rylan sat down just as I was finishing my breakfast. I’ll admit I was stuffing the food down, which was unusual for me. I wanted to try and leave the cafeteria before he entered. I could have managed it, but Sun Hi wasn’t in a rush and refused to allow me to speed up her meal.

  “Hungry, I see.” Rylan eyed my plate.

  “Yeah, well, just getting ready for training, that’s all,” I said.

  “Oh, okay.” He shrugged. “I didn’t think you were that enthusiastic, but sure we can head down right after breakfast—”

  “Um, Rylan, I uh…” I took a deep breath. “Sun Hi is going to train me today.”

  “Sun Hi is?” His eyebrows twisted, and I saw the feud between the two ignite into fiery bombs.

  “Don’t even look over here, young fox,” Sun Hi said and put a spoonful of oatmeal into her mouth.

  “Fine. Tricky-tech.” Leaning backward, he grabbed the edge of his plate.

  I paused to figure out what he meant. I remembered him mentioning tricky-tech when he told me about how Sun Hi could move so fast.

  “No, no…” I stared at Sun Hi and remembered that was my lie I had told her a moment ago. “Well I just… We have a girl’s bond and all that. Plus I’ve seen her in action and—”

  His shoulders bounced in one quick pulse. “I got other shit to do anyway.”

  I didn’t think he would be this upset. I wasn’t sure what would happen. Twisting around, he hovered over his food and his shoulders blocked me and Sun Hi out.

  Sun Hi finished her food and yawned. “Well, we’d better get going.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Standing, we walked away from the table. Before I could get seven feet away, Rylan’s voice echoed through the room. “Was it because you couldn’t hit the center again? The heart?”

  I turned back toward him. His body hovered over his food, but after a few seconds, his eyes turned toward me. His gaze cut into my soul and tore at my ribcage. With every fraction of a second, my lungs tightened, causing me to gently suffocate. I considered his question, and the truth was, he was wrong. It was because he did shoot through my heart, but I wasn’t going to say that.

  His gaze fell away. My lies had been exposed and he had seen each one of them. Air twisted down my dry throat and forced my lungs open.

  “No, no really. I just want to have a better idea about the scrappers, and I know how Sun Hi took them down. That’s it. You didn’t do anything wrong,” I said.

  Before I spilled my guts all over the floor, I cut myself off. My lips were a few sentences away from telling him the truth. I couldn’t let him know I couldn’t control the feelings inside me. The ones he put inside of me. I couldn’t lose track of what was important.

  Twisting around, I walked out with Sun Hi. I didn’t dare look back. It’s not that I would cry or anything, but I didn’t want to look into those gray eyes again. I didn’t want to see my own shame.

  Sun Hi took me down to the shooting range, but after fifteen minutes of watching me obtain a few good hits on the paper targets, she yawned.

  “Well this is stupid,” she said.

  “Um, what? This is working, I’m learning.”

  “No, you’re not. Nobody stands and gets a solid shot at someone, unless you’re like a sniper, and even then you’d be hundreds of yards away.”

  “So, what am I supposed to do?” I asked, my mind blank.

  She nodded backward. Once I recognized she meant the free range, my knees turned into lemon-lime gelatin. I’d been curious about how the free range worked, but Rylan taught me that side was advanced.

  Lazily, Sun Hi opened the glass door. The glass wall of the viewing area was riddled with tiny holes that looked like spider webs on the glass. The shock weapons might not be as powerful, but they could do some damage.

  “Okay, Paeton,” Sun Hi said as she walked to the center of the room. “The difference between this side and the other part of the range is simple. Over here, you have to move.”

  I noticed a paper target hanging from the roof. It was on a rod that extended upward into a network of metal circles that appeared like the cogs inside a gigantic clock.

  The floor was built in a similar fashion, but metal arms extended upward, holding horizontal rods. The rods appeared to have been padded at one point, but were now taped, glued, and held on with anything imaginable. All the metal works were a patchwork of rust and shiny metal.

  Sun Hi pointed to the target. “The target moves along these rings and will shuffle forward or back. Meanwhile, the floor tries to trip you up. Every once in a while, something comes along you can actually stand on, but I wouldn’t get comfortable atop anything.”

  She pulled a gun from a hip holster and waved me back toward the viewing area.

  “I think it’s best to show you first. Then you can try.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  It was crazy to think she was about to start shooting in that jungle gym of a room. I was both terrified and anxious to see her skills.

  After walking to the other side of the glass wall, I shut the door. With her eyes half closed and her jaw slack, Sun Hi pulled down a panel similar to the one Rylan had used the day before. An audible countdown starting with the number fifteen echoing through the room. The lights in the range area brightened into red orbs. Sun Hi relaxed and loosened up. When the countdown reached one, a green light flashed for one second then stopped, returning the room to its normal color.

  At first nothing happened, but slowly the metal arms and cogs began to move. Within a second, the objects in the room spun around so fast that it was difficult to focus on anything. The target shuffled and slid front and back while Sun Hi jumped and dodged oncoming objects. A bell sounded, and I could only guess that was when she was supposed to begin.

  When she started shooting, the bars, cogs, and rails blurred. Lights flashed everywhere. The arms and rods elevated and dipped. The paper target zigzagged, spun, and oscillated.

  After thirty seconds, a buzzing sound echoed through the area. The lights turned red. The arms and cogs slowed. When the target stopped moving, it was right in front of the glass window. Seven shots hit the body of the target, three were in the head, and two went through the heart. She had twelve good shots from
fifteen tears in the paper.

  Sun Hi wiped sweat off her forehead. “Damn, I knew I’d missed those last few shots.” After leaning her head back to stretch her neck, she came out of the room and practically tossed the gun into my stomach. “See? Easy.”

  I released a nervous giggle. “After watching all of that, I think I need some coffee.”

  “Tell you what. If you can score at least seven hits before the day is over, I’ll make you a chocolate crème mocha.”

  “Really? How do you guys manage that down here?”

  “Everyone has their little stashes.” Her eyebrows twitched, but her lips stayed flat.

  I held up the gun and glanced into the room with all those moving metal parts. My body deflated. I really didn’t want to be in there. It was either this robotic monstrosity of a room where I could think clearly, or move to a calm range where I was out of control.

  “Don’t worry. We’ll start it out on level one,” she said.

  Moving my lead laced legs inside, I braced myself. This was not what I imagined when I asked Sun Hi for help. No part of me wanted to even attempt what I had just seen her do. I was starting to miss Rylan’s teachings. He took it slow, steady, and at a pace I could follow. I doubted he would have thrown me in here before I could shoot perfectly.

  Sun Hi replaced the target and walked back into the viewing area. She started the machine, and the pieces on the top rotated. The high-pitched whir expanded through the room. I skipped over the rods which swept the floor, and did my best to keep my feet under me. The bell sounded. As soon as I stopped to shoot, putting both hands on the gun and squaring my feet, a rod hammered my legs. I rammed onto the ground, my elbow cracking with the impact. I scrambled up, but something hit me in the back. A swinging arm nearly smacked me in the face before the machine turned off.

  My heart throbbed in my temples, and sweat beaded at the edges of my hairline. I glanced at the clock. It had been less than three seconds. Sun Hi opened the door.

  “You all right?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” I lied. “I’m fine.”

  “Good, let’s go again.”

  I had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

  We were in the room for about six hours. I spent most of the day falling down. Sure, I got a few shots off every once in a while, but there weren’t many. During the whole time, I may have hit the target about eleven times. I would definitely be dead if the simulation had been real.

  Before dinner, Sun Hi walked me back to my room. She didn’t say much, but a few snickers came from her throat a few times.

  I was embarrassed. My pride was in shreds, and despite myself, I still couldn’t help but think how easier it would have been with Rylan. He took his time. He wanted me to learn the right way. Sun Hi was bored and wanted to get back to her life.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get it,” she said.

  “If you say so.”

  After grabbing my arm, her thumb massaged my bicep. “You don’t have the time not to be a quick study. I don’t know how else to show you. Rylan may have thought he was helping you, but you both were wasting time. When the enemies come, they’re coming to kill. We’ll be going for the kids soon. Once Dhyla is back you need to be ready to go.”

  I exhaled a slow concentrated breath. The weight of her words crushed my chest.

  “Try to get some rest,” Sun Hi said.

  I nodded and watched her turn to leave. Once she was down the ladder, I slid the door back, walked in my room, and fell into the bed.

  My head was spinning. My knees were sore. My legs throbbed. My whole being ached. My mind cracked under the mental weight that Sun Hi had just dropped on me.

  I wasn’t used to so much exercise. In fact, I was pretty sure I hated exercise. After all, I was a thief, not an athlete. I had hit the range floor so many times I lost count. If I didn’t fall, those padded rods beat me into submission. They were punishing me for being a jerk.

  I had to keep reminding myself why I was doing all of this. I had to be able to save Mari and Miko. I couldn’t trust anyone to go in and get them without me. They were my responsibility, not Sun Hi’s or Rylan’s or Dhyla’s or Cat Girl’s—ugh, Josalyn, Josalyn, Josalyn. Crix!

  I was so stressed out even my mental rambles couldn’t maintain focus.

  I got up and took a shower. As the water streamed over me, I glanced at my skin for the first time. With all the bruises, I looked like a white dog with red and blue spots. The marks were everywhere: my hands, arms, legs, stomach, sides, and feet.

  A crack sliced through my mind, filling it with a worrisome thought that slid down my neck into my shoulders. After I finished washing up and wrapping a towel around my body, I yanked my mirror out of my pack and stared at my face. A scream rolled around in my throat and exploded out my mouth. An uncoordinated person had played tic-tac-toe on my cheeks and forehead.

  I wanted to cry. It wasn’t like I had perfect skin anyway. I was pale, with occasional acne and a few marks that I was still trying chemical solutions to get rid of. All of a sudden, my face was a few steps away from being raw meat. I reasoned with myself. It’d be okay. The bruises would heal. It didn’t matter if reality stated my body would repair itself. The pain of the current situation stung all over. I looked more Lower-C than ever.

  As I put the mirror away, my hands shook. I willed myself to focus. We had to make a move in a week, and I had to get my mind right. I couldn’t let these petty things distract me. I had to stay strong—be strong.

  After changing clothes, I put my other three shirts and second pair of jeans in the shower to remind myself to wash them that night before I went to bed. All this exercise made me sweat, and my clothes stank. There wasn’t enough deodorant and perfume in my backpack to fix that. At least that was one good thing about hanging out with Sun Hi, Rylan didn’t have to be around my rancid odor.

  I went to the cafeteria and grabbed a plate of food: roast beef, potatoes, and green beans. It was the processed canned stuff, but it was far better prepared than what we had at the Stadium. I did my best to puff out my chest, but my body curled over like a henchman in a black and white Dracula movie.

  I already had lies I was planning to tell Rylan. I’d say that the day was harder than expected, but Sun Hi did a great job. I’d go on about how I’m getting better and learning faster than ever. I’d thank him for everything and praise him for being such a great teacher yesterday.

  I moved closer to the table, presenting the biggest smile my tender face could manage. Sun Hi was sitting with Josalyn, AJ, and Rylan. Before I could get ten feet to the table, AJ burst out in giggles.

  “I told you to hold it in,” someone whispered.

  I took a step back. Heat warmed my neck, even though I didn’t know what they were talking about. As their eyes wiggled in their heads, the weight of their random stares pressed down on me and my tic-tac-toe cheeks.

  “I can’t help it,” AJ said.

  “She can’t even stand up straight,” someone else said.

  All four of them were huddled together, and it didn’t take long for me to know without a doubt who they were talking about—me.

  “How many times?”

  “Close to a hundred. Bam, smack, oof.”

  I couldn’t tell which one of them was saying what, but it didn’t matter. They were all in on it. My embarrassment quickly escalated to annoyance and anger. My jaw clenched, and my forehead furrowed. After rolling my eyes, I twisted away from them. I sped toward the other side of the room to eat by myself.

  My mind rattled. I couldn’t believe Sun Hi had told them how bad I was. I wasn’t some super warrior, but they didn’t have to laugh about it.

  The snickering continued even though I couldn’t see them anymore. After a second or so, an “awwwww” came from them and a hand fell on my shoulder.

  “Hey, don’t let them get to you.”

  I turned to see Rylan. His eyes were hopeful, but his trademark grin was on his lips. I couldn’t believe he was
in on it, too. Why couldn’t he understand I wasn’t some great Athena, goddess of war? My bones crumbled and weighed down my muscles until I was a walking pulp of a person.

  “It’s not funny,” I said. “I’m doing my best.”

  “Everyone knows that, Paeton. You can’t get mad. We all have our fun. It’s how everyone makes it down here.”

  I stared into his face. I wanted to see real sympathy. He had saved my life twice. Wasn’t he supposed to be the good guy? Shouldn’t he be defending me? “And what about you? Weren’t you laughing at me, too?”

  His face darkened. “I wasn’t laughing at you.”

  I glared at him, because the twitch at the edges of his eyes said that he wasn’t telling the truth.

  “I was laughing with you.”

  “But I wasn’t laughing.”

  “I think deep down inside of you there’s a little voice that knows being tripped one hundred and twenty-two times is kind of amusing.”

  I spun away from him.

  He grabbed my shoulders and skipped back into my line of sight.

  “I’m sorry. We’re all sorry. Please forgive us. Now c’mon, come eat dinner.”

  I wanted to dissipate into the air until there was nothing left of me. I didn’t like being the butt of someone’s joke. I didn’t like the way the lessons were going. I didn’t like living underground with people I barely knew. This was not my life, and my emotions were in a knot.

  After taking the deepest breath I could, I blasted it through my nose. I’m sure my nostrils looked like two gigantic caves, but I didn’t care. He twisted his eyebrows into that animated prince-thing that he did, giving me those gorgeous eyes with that signature grin.

  “Fine,” I said.

  We went back to the table and sat down. Sun Hi made eye-contact and gave me her saddest, most pathetic face.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “They kinda wiggled it out of me. Everyone wanted to know how you did, so—”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “I’m a big girl.”

  “For what it’s worth, Paeton, we’re really proud of you. It takes a lot of moxie to keep going,” Josalyn said.