Marked

The next morning, Rachel awoke to someone shaking her.

Rachel opened her eyes and saw Debra standing in front of her. Was it just her or were her teeth overly white this morning?

“What’s going on?”

“It’s time for the last part of your testing. This is so exciting!”

Debra fiddled with a wall in her room, sifting through various clips of nature until she settled on one with sprawling, green hills and a cheery sunrise.

Within seconds, an entire wall became engulfed in a picture.

It was almost like being outside except that the still image couldn’t quite capture the real beauty of the sun’s rays or the dust particles that floated in the air or even the real color and feeling of grass under bare feet as Rachel knew them.

Stretching out the kinks in her body, she rose and followed a gibbering Debra out of her office.

“Put this on, honey, you’re going to need it where you’re going.”

They stopped outside a door that said restroom in stiff, white letters and had a blue sign of a stick figure woman in a dress.

Rachel went inside and splashed some cool water onto her face to chase away the last of the sleep from her body.

As she dressed in the thermal bodysuit, she began to feel more at ease, emerging energized from the bathroom.

She was looking forward to getting this last test over with, especially since the mention of simulations had her nerves on end and she just wanted it to be done with once and for all.

“Some people get a little queasy with the test because of the virtual reality and all that jazz so it’s really up to you if you want to eat something first or not. You got a strong stomach, Rachel?”

“No, not really.” She replied, remembering the time she had thrown up after watching her people be shot dead in front of her.

“These simulations- the one I was in before, it all felt so real. How do you do it?”

“Holograms.” Debra replied.

“Holo-what?”

“Oh! I forget you’re not from around here!” Debra chuckled. “It’s a virtual reality created by manipulated images. None of it is real, but your eyes see it so it creates the illusion of being there. A part of your brain is also tricked into thinking you can hear, feel and smell certain things. Just keep all that in mind today, okay?”

They rode the elevator and her stomach turned at the drop. Finally, the elevator dinged and the doors opened onto the simulation floor.

Sour memories rushed into her mind at the sight of the grey walls but she pushed it all down. She had to focus if she planned on joining the soldier ranks in order to save the compound children and discover what had happened to Jed once and for all.

“Here we are. Just go inside when you’re ready and they’ll tell you what to do. Good luck!”

Rachel heard the click-clacking of Debra’s heels grow fainter and fainter until all that was left was the sound of her breathing. She steeled herself and drew her finger over the metal doors which complied to let her in.

Everything was dark beyond and a small light flickered over the place where she stood.

“Welcome, Rachel.” A voice said from hidden speakers in the ceiling. The voice sounded like Abby and that brought a new scowl to Rachel’s face. She hadn’t had the chance to interact with that woman since she’d seen her last in another simulation but Rachel didn’t like her and wasn’t keen on the thought of this woman being the one to administer her test.

Something about her was just a little too sadistic.

Blue lights lit up in front of her, one by one until they reached a raised platform. Rachel walked down the path and found a stand with a pair of tiny, near-transparent circles, swimming around in a plastic container.

“Take the contacts and place them in your eyes at this time, Rachel.”

Confused, Rachel turned around, looking to the blank walls for instruction.

“Pick up the contacts and slide them over your eyes. It won’t hurt.”

For a moment, she struggled with the squishy, clear circles until she managed to maneuver them into her eyes.

Cool liquid spread out over her lacrimal ducts and drained out the sides of her eyes like tears. She blinked rapidly, trying to adjust to the feeling of having something foreign in her eyes.

“You will have three simulations today. The only way you’ll be able to move forward in the virtual reality is by solving each simulation. You will have thirty minutes to get through each scene and if you can’t make it through within the thirty minutes, you are automatically assigned to a job here at base. If you succeed then we will tally your score and see where you will be placed in our military. Now close your eyes.”

Casting one last furtive glance around the empty room, Rachel closed her eyesand complied.

When Rachel re-opened her eyes, the room around her had disappeared, replaced instead with images of the compound.

She stood in the middle of the dining room, the sounds and smells engulfing her in familiarity. Children rushed by her side, causing air to swish past her and clanking metal could be heard from somewhere in the cooking den.

She gasped, lost for a moment to an overwhelming feeling of peace.

This was home.

A thousand lanterns and candles illuminated the inside of the mountain in a soft, yellow glow. Right in the center of the dining room sat Ramos, perched on a tree stump with his two little boys on his lap who were wrestling him for a red fire truck he held high over their heads.

His wife sat on the floor beside his feet with a line of three little girls formed around her, all waiting to have their hair braided which was sort of a specialty of hers.

“Rachel, hey.” Someone brushed by her side and touched her arm, making her jump. She turned to meet Jose’s eyes- two big, brown circles filled with mischief and laughter.

“We’re still going out tonight to meet the mark maker, right?”

“I-”

“Oh come on, don’t be a wimp! What else have you got to do in here ’sides count rocks and stare at the wall?”

“Something bad is going to happen...“Rachel muttered, distracted.

Jose imitated chicken noises. “We should cook you for dinner one of these days, you big ol chicken--”

“Jose, listen!” She reached for his arm. “We need to warn the others. The poachers are about to attack the compound and we need to be ready.”

Jose yanked his arm out of her reach and his eyes grew dark. “What are you talking about? You sound crazy.”

Rachel sighed in exasperation.

She moved towards Ramos to tell him that they needed to arm everyone right away and evacuate- that a war was about to break out- except that a man came barging into the room, his body covered in dirt and blood, effectively interrupting her plan.

The man they had captured out on the highway stood in a cave entrance, his chest heaving with each breath he took and with his blonde hair glued by his drying blood.

Before anyone had a chance to react, he grabbed the nearest person to him which happened to be a little girl, no older than twelve years old. He gripped her head between his large hands in a position could easily snap her neck.

“Fools!” He shouted and then he started laughing a maniac sort of laugh that made his entire frame rattled as if it were being shaken by an unseen force.

“The beast will kill you all.” The visible strip of his chest pumped fast and hard beneath his sternum.

Rachel squinted to see closer, noticing that it was pulsing much too fast to be his heartbeat.

Something was beneath the surface of his chest bone.

Ramos shot up from his perch and his children fell to the floor. He grabbed the closest weapon he could find- a dull, kitchen knife for cutting food. He growled when he realized how useless the knife was and glanced at his weapons, lying yards from him.

He, like all the others inside the dining room, had been fooled by the false security of the mountain.

“You fools with your stupid desire to save people. Now you’re all going to die. You’re all going to die!”

Rachel had been inching her way across the room towards a hunting rifle, resting like a log amidst the tree stumps. She had always resented being plain enough to blend into the background but today she was glad. When she grew closer she could hear the tick tick tick coming from the man’s chest.

Everything clicked into place.

He was a bomb, a decoy sent to weaken as many as he could before the poachers raided the mountain.

From the mouth of the cave, a girl could be seen approaching on lithe feet. She was as quiet as a mouse and held a knife in her hand with a pair of dead squirrels hung from her pack.

She must have been one of the hunters, coming back after a day’s work.

Ramos spotted the other girl and gave her an imperceptible nod of his head.

“You don’t want to do that,” Ramos began in a desperate attempt to distract the other man.

The little girl’s eyes were exclamation points of terror prompting Rachel to inch closer yet to the rifle.

“You don’t know what I want,” The blond man replied and his face stretched into a cruel grimace.

“We can figure something out—you don’t have to work for the poachers—we can keep you safe here.”

“Nowhere is safe,” The blonde man lifted his gaze to the ceiling, as if looking into the heavens. “I am ready!” He shouted.

The returning hunter was almost upon him—until her foot snapped on a branch and the blonde man spun around in haste.

Rachel dove for the rifle and lifted it, positioning it the way Charles had taught her --close to her body and parallel to her arm. Her eyes trained on her target. She took a deep breath, held it and released the trigger.

The shot echoed through the hollow cave, making it sound as if a thousand rounds had gone off instead of one. The man dropped dead to the floor, the side of his head matted with fresh blood. The little girl fell from his hold and darted forward.

Rachel expected her to run quickly into her mother’s waiting arms but each step the girl took became slower and slower until Rachel could no longer see her.

The compound disappeared and Rachel grasped at the air, trying to bring it back.

She wasn’t done yet. Her people still had no clue what was coming.

It isn’t real.

Pillars shot up around her in an empty white canvas as she blinked rapidly. She had to jump away in time as a cement and glass building rose from where she’d just been standing. A city materialized around her while massive buildings the likes of which she had never before seen in her life blocked out the afternoon sun.

She could hear the whirring of engines all around. Across from her she spotted a few poachers, milling around a city block and had to physically stop herself from running away.

From behind her, a few whispers of fear traveled through a small crowd of about fifteen or twenty. They were all children and a sudden need to protect them sprung up inside her.

Shushing them, she motioned for them to stay behind the building until it was safe to move.

She scanned their surroundings and noticed the edge of the city stretch out into a vast field of dry, parched grass.

The entrance to the city was an invisible line- there were no gates or walls to gain entry- why would there be? Most people in the wild would do anything to get away from the capital, not approach it.

Still, two poachers walked along the invisible perimeter, pacing back and forth, their guns ready to stun at the first sign of the unmarked.

Rachel knew she guarded precious cargo behind her.

The young and strong were precious to the capital and there was no way she was going to let the poachers have them.

As her eyes continued to roam her surroundings, she struggled to come up with a plan.

With two poachers and only one of her, the odds weren’t exactly in her favor but doing nothing would be much worse.

She drew in a deep, steadying breath and ushered the children from the building they hid behind to one that was closer to the city entrance, all while keeping an eye on the group of poachers, willing them with her eyes not to turn around.

Once they cleared this building, it would be about how fast the kids could run.

“Listen,” Rachel hissed.

She gripped the shoulders of the eldest boy she could find and looked him right in the eye. “I need you to call out for help.”

The boy nodded, fear etched into the corners of his young eyes.

“Help,” He croaked.

Rachel peered around the corner and saw the poachers turn their way.

“Again, louder,” She whispered.

“Help!”

The poachers exchanged a few words before one of them broke away from the group and turned on his heel, headed their way.

Counting the seconds, one for each step, she waited until he rounded the corner.

For a moment, his eyes widened with triumph at the sight of them but before he could react, she threw her hand into his throat. As he doubled over in pain, clawing at his throat and gasping for air, Rachel clamped her hand over his mouth and nose.

“Joe! What is it?” His partner shouted.

The poacher struggled for only a few seconds before his eyes went slack and he became a heavy heap against her, almost overpowering her.

Having lowered him gently onto the ground, Rachel disappeared behind the other side of the building, hoping to catch the second poacher by surprise.

When he approached the kids, she came up behind him but this man had faster reflexes and as soon as she touched him, he was ready.

As she jumped onto her back, he elbowed her in the ribs, knocking the air right out of her.

Shrugging her off with his broad shoulders, she fell onto her backside where she scrambled to stand but he was so much faster.

“You little bitch,” He spat, his meaty hand going around her throat.

He lifted Rachel by the neck, and as her toes left the ground, he touched his earpiece with his free index finger.

“Hey boss, we’ve got—”

But he never got to finish because Rachel kneed him in the groin.

He released her with a string of profanities.

As he doubled over in pain, the children scuttled out of the way in time for Rachel to lift her boot and deliver a blow to the side of his head.

There was a crunching sound followed by his howling.

Good, his communication is gone.

But she knew there wasn’t much time before the others came looking.

Just as she thought they were home free, the poacher stood, one hand clamped over his bloody ear, and threw himself at her.

As he collided with her with the force of a wrecking ball and they fell to the ground, she shouted to the kids to run.

Mercifully, the children did what they were told.

All except one.

The oldest boy scanned the ground in a haste.

He found a large rock, wrapped his fingers around it and slammed it into the back of the poacher’s skull.

The poacher sagged against Rachel, groaning into her neck. His heavy body made it difficult to breathe but from his new position she could now reach his weapons belt.

She pulled a knife from its sheath, but before she had the chance to use it, the young boy slammed the rock into the poachers head again and with a drawn out moan, the poacher toppled over, landing beside Rachel.

Rachel needed more time to recover but there wasn’t any.

“Over there!” Someone shouted.

Rachel glanced behind her and spotted a group of about ten poachers, all running toward her.

“Activate the wall!” One shouted.

Rachel stood, gripped the boys hand and started running.

As they ran, her eyes trained strictly on the children ahead and the edge of the forest, something wavered into existence before them.

It was barely a wall at all.

A mirage, only visible when the sun hit it just right.

A thin blue film, extending up toward the sky.

“Stop!” She screamed.

The children turned their confused gazes on her but the message didn’t get across fast enough.

A small boy collided with the invisible wall and just as his body touched it, the blue film dissolved into him for a few seconds before the wave of power sent his body flying into the air where he landed a few short feet from Rachel.

She skittered to a halt beside him, her heart hammering in her chest.

Her hands went to his chest but as soon as she touched him, she knew he was gone.

His eyes were open and staring, at a blue sky he could no longer see.

Rachel sobbed, desperation filling her.

The poachers were closing in and they were trapped and now this poor baby had absorbed their wretched shield and...

“What’s your name?” Rachel asked the boy beside her.

“Mason.” He said, bottom lip trembling.

Rachel stood, grasped his hand and once more took off running.

“You’re going to be in charge now, Mason.” She said through each breath.

“But—I—”

“You’re in charge,” Rachel repeated and then she skittered to a halt. “You take them as far into the forest as you can go and then you hide. Do you understand?”

“I’m scared.”

“You have a few seconds to be scared. After that, I need you to be brave, ok?”

Mason nodded, a gulp making his Adam’s apple bob.

“I’m going to step into the current now. You’ll only have a few seconds to get through. Tell me you understand.

“But what about you?” Mason asked.

“Don’t worry about me.”

Darts whizzed by, striking the shield as Mason assembled the children into a line.

A dart clipped Rachel in the shoulder and she cried out in pain.

Almost immediately her arm went dumb.

She swung around to look over her shoulder.

A hoard of poachers, all closing in, their eyes so eager they gleamed.

Rachel took a deep breath and stepped into the line of fire.

Just as the shock of electricity began to course through her, the world around her disappeared and turned to black.