The Soldier

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 I don't know what's up the hill, but I'm careful to keep a lookout. My father has taught me that much. That's the very first thing he taught me when I was five years old: Pay attention, and be aware of your surroundings. Keep your eyes watching, and no matter what, never let your guard down.

Someone comes running up behind me, and out of reflex, I almost shoot him. If I was a bad person, I probably would take him down; he's that close, but I'm not going to fall down to his level. Jon Hitman and I may be sworn enemies now, but that doesn't mean I'll hurt him for it. It is just not worth it.

Jon's face is expressionless, ignoring my glare with the black eye and broken nose Leslie gave him yesterday, but I'm no fool. I know he's up to something. Still, I keep going. I'm not going to let him phase me.

I manage to catch up with Leslie, working twice as hard to match her long-legged stride. She looks at me in the corner of her eye and grins. I grin back at her.

"Wanna race?" she says.

I grin at her. "Sure."

When I do, she's not looking at me, but at Jon and Lindy. I'm not the only who's paranoid. To keep them from knowing we're up to their plan, we speed up. They suspect nothing.

"Here they go again." I mutter. "When are they going to let it go?"

"I don't know." Leslie says, slinging her gun onto her back. Since we've both been at Camp One, we have been out in the sun. Even in the snow, it seems like the sun is going to bake us all. "Hey, I have a plan." she whispers.

Silence overcomes us when a fellow cadet follows by. We wait until the cadet is up the hill before Leslie and I speak again.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Since Jon and Lindy's group is after us. I know it. I can feel it. And we're out of the Camp One's system satellite range, there's no way for Officer Aura to track us. So, the best way to stop it, is if we stay together. When they're close up on us, we'll be able to stop them both." Leslie tells me.

I think about it as we run through the woods, the trees looming over us, like they're watching to see which Cadet will fall first. I would not put it past the Lab Division. The trees are probably watching us. Leslie's plan sounds great, but Jon and Leslie have many followers. Meaning, that we're two against fifteen. Not only that, that's fifteen guns and fifteen knives against two knives and guns. She and I will both be taken down in just seconds.

"I hope you're good at climbing trees." I say.

I have this plan all worked out.

+ + +

By the time Leslie and I have made it to the lake, where we can take a break, my legs are pulsing, and my tangled hair has fallen out of its bun. I sit down on a rock, and bend down so my head touches my knees, my body pulsating all over.

I've must've ran ten miles already.

Leslie sits next to me, pulling off her backpack, then takes two granola bars out of it. She takes one for herself, and hands the other to me. I thank her, then open the wrapper, and take a bite.

Immediately, the flooding taste of honey and granola rushes through my mouth. I almost moan from the pleasure. Somehow, I manage to slow down chewing, making the bar last longer. Then I crawl to the lake to wash my face. It feels so good. The water runs down my body, already cooling me down, but I don't allow myself to relax too much. The Training Test isn't over yet, and Jon and Lindy may still be after us.

"Leslie, what time is it?" I ask.

She looks at her watch, and shakes her head. "It's only fifteen hundred." she breathes.

I let my head fall back, closing my eyes only for a second. "We've got to keep going."

I stand up and pull back on my backpack, then braid my long-greasy with sweat-hair into a braid, stuffing it in my soldier's cap afterwards.

When I look over the horizon, the red hot, gorging sun looks back into my face. "Let's go."

Leslie and I head out, careful not to leave any tracks behind.

Too late. Right when we head off, their group surrounds us, all with knives in their hands.

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