Submit (Book 1, The Karyln Trials)

Chapter Twenty

     We all stand there a moment, watching as the pinpricks change directions, having seen us just as we saw them. My chest squeezes and I have to force deep breaths into my lungs. August stands behind me and just to the side, holding me upright with his eyes locked in the direction of our soon to be acquaintances.

"What do we do?" Eve's question is breathy, coming out in an exhale like she can't inhale.

"I say we meet 'em." Lincoln speaks before walking off in the direction of the other people, apparently not leaving any room for debate.

"But we don't know if they're hostile!" I yell at Lincoln's back and he waves me off.

"And they don't know if we're hostile, just act like we have the upper hand, and they'll believe it." August shakes his head at Lincoln's logic and I'm inclined to do the same. With thoughts like that, we won't live through the next couple of weeks.

I can feel August take my hand, lacing our fingers as he steps to my side. I look up to meet his eyes and he has a small smile on his face. "Together?"

I can feel some of the pressure collapsing my lungs release and I relax my shoulders, tension ebbing from my muscles. "Together."

We begin to walk, following behind Lincoln and Eve who walk with nearly five feet of space separating them. With each day that passes the two of them seem to drift farther and farther apart. I'm not sure what happened between them, but they are nothing like they were when I first met Eve.

Eve used to be the little shadow, following and doing whatever Lincoln would do in order to make him happy. But in the past three weeks, Eve's seemed to grow a backbone and now not only acts for herself but speaks for herself. Her thoughts and ideas have helped us on more than one occasion. Every day, she becomes more of her own person, and every day she gains a little more of my respect.

I take a deep breath, watching as the distance between us and the other competitors shrinks with every step. My breath catches, sticking in my lungs and refusing to come out. I look around but see no other groups, it's just us two teams for as far as the eye can see. Finally, the air caught in my chest escapes, it all comes out in a rush as if my body was a balloon that was just pierced.

Before long, the four of us are standing face to face with the other four with only about fifteen feet of space between us. I scan the four newcomers, my eyes glancing at each with a calculating stare.

The one farthest to the left is a tall boy with olive skin, dark hair, and single-lidded eyes showing a very Asian ethnicity. The boy stands at about six-foot-five, towering over both our group and his own. He stands with his arms crossed, looking down at us with a not-so-subtle challenge in his eyes.

The next figure, is a girl with pale skin covered in small freckles that threatens to be translucent, I'm sure the sun doesn't agree with her. Her hair is red like Eves, although it's a few shades darker. She stands leaning to her right with her hips slacked and arms crossed in a posture that oozes confidence even though her gaze doesn't always hold the same tone, it seems to flicker between confidence and doubt.

The third person, is the second boy of the group who doesn't actually look at us. Instead, he's speaking softly to a short, needy looking girl. He has his arms around her and seems to hold her up and she mutters to herself. The girl cries out, screaming with her eyes glazed and unfocused. The boy with light brown skin talks faster in her ear, trying to calm her and after a moment seems to succeed.

The last person, is the short girl in the second boy's arms. She quietly mutters to herself, occasionally twisting her head away from the boy and yelling at nothing but empty space. Her muttering and screaming sends chills through my body and my teeth clench, each word like an out-of-tune note that picks away at my resolve.