Search (SEEK book 1)

Enemy

My feet stop moving though my heart races. I can't go to Ops. I have to hunt. That was the deal! I search the track frantically for Cord, but he has already hit the showers with everyone else.

"Donavan, did you hear me? I said go to Ops and then get back to work. And I don't recommend kissing anyone else." Captain warns me, his lips pressed into thin white lines.

"Yes, sir," I snap, fighting back an angry retort.

I have time to think on my way to the showers. And maybe this isn't so bad. Maybe, like the Captain says, I just have to pop in at Ops and then get back to work. I hold on to that thought, ignoring the nagging voice in my head saying, "agents that go to Ops don't go back to hunting." That's the rumor anyway, but if it were true Captain Roselle would know, right? My ears buzz with the chatter in my head all the way into the locker room.

"I'm telling you, it's true. It's always been him. I think he's too nice to her."

Three agents wearing only white towels stand gossiping in front of the mirrors, under a cloud of perfume and hairspray. They fall silent when they see me. Jenny Martin is in the middle.

I roll my eyes. They are way too old to be acting like high schoolers.

"I thought there was a mandatory recovery period, didn't you?" Martin says to them.

"Yeah, I think you're right. No hunting for two weeks."

Obviously, they're talking about me. Jaw clenched, I open my locker, grabbing my shower bag and towel. I slam the door—the acoustics are great in here—and head toward the showers.

"I guess some people get special treatment," one of the females says loudly enough for me to hear.

I turn the water to full, trying to drown out their voices. As my eyes close under the stream of lukewarm water, a foggy memory creeps into my consciousness. Jenny Martin outside my hospital room, what was it she was saying?

"It's not like they're going to keep her."

Recognition edges into my head one word at a time. She was talking about me. Martin knew Ops' was going to call me up. She probably had something to do with it. Choking back a scream, I scramble out of the shower. At a jog, I pass the three of them—ignoring their laughter—haphazardly throwing on my clothes, and race back out of the locker room.

I run the whole way to the Ops CHU, containerized housing unit. It's situated on the other side of the compound, as far away from us hunters as possible.

With my hair dripping into my hoodie, the Ops building looms ominously before me. I fix a look of professionalism on my face. Martin can't win. I can't let them kick me out of SEEK. One step at a time, I stomp to the top, catching sight of the sign on the steel door and just like that, my resolve melts away.

SEEK Code

Qualified to Search

Qualified to Evade

Qualified to Extract

Qualified to Kill

Fight to Right

Never Quit

Serving with Loyalty, Honor, Integrity, and Discipline

I press the white button on a stainless steel box labeled SCAN IN. The door slides open, revealing a numerical key pad. I type #39 and watch as a retinal scanner emerges from somewhere deep in the wall. We don't use anything as sophisticated as this on the hunter side of the compound. My stomach ties in knots as the laser shines into my eyes. An angry buzz blares at me and the scan begins again. Sweat itches under my collar as the third and forth scans yield the same results.