They had twenty minutes or so before they were due in the training room. The Ghosts all sat in their quarters in silence. Jay, Crow and Smiler went through their morning rituals; the rituals that reminded them why they had to make it through each day. Jay cleaned off one of her knives with ethanol before making the first cut. It was only shallow, but it didn't need to be deep. Each line of blood was a vow, a vow to make their deaths mean something. Even Smiler took that vow seriously.
22 were official; the lives she had taken fighting for the Lieutenant, Boston or Washington. They were on her forearm, always visible and constant reminder. The other 12 were not. They were for the lives she had taken when nothing was at stake. She had killed three people just in the last month, not including the Watcher. They had all been Cheaps who had failed to prove themselves to the Lieutenant.
But that did not mean their deaths weighed any less heavily on her conscience. Those 12 cuts were on the left side of her stomach, hidden from view. Sentimentality was not looked upon with kindness in her world.
She brushed her thumb tenderly over the blue jays on her forearm. To Crow, they were her namesake and yet they were so much more than that. She traced the number that lay above them. 41326. Just for a moment she was back in Washington, listening to a man who was promising to save her, before the First… Before he…
No. You don't want to remember Jason like that.She scolded herself. He was a good man, she should remember him like that.
Finally, she kissed the broken chess piece, a black bishop, which was tied to a piece of string around her neck. The Boston Second was kind to his Ghosts; most Lieutenants did not allow their Ghosts to keep personal items. The Second did. "To live is to choose" She whispered to herself.
In the cage next to hers, Crow kissed a crumpled photo. It was so crumpled and water damaged that he could no longer see that face that had once been in it but that didn't matter; it was the last link he had to his brother and the sacrifice he had made. He refolded the photo put it back into the fabric of his shorts, between the elastic and the cotton of the waistband. He too whispered "To live is to choose"
Across from them, Smiler murmured the same thing.
All the Ghosts were lined up in the training room. Crow, Jay and Smiler on the right hand side, the 8 Cheaps on the left hand side. Jay glanced across at them; 1336 must still be in the Dark. Morgan thankfully, was keeping his eyes on the floor. Apparently he had learned his lesson earlier.
Only the Minor Baton was present today. Jay didn't like him much; he was very good with his fists and taught the Cheaps well, but he didn't know how to handle a knife properly. Chances were she'd have to teach the Cheaps as well today, rather than just training with Crow. And of course someone would have to test Morgan, she just hoped it wasn't her.
"1315, 1316, 1328 and 1330. You will work with Smiler." The Baton said sharply. Unfortunately only one of the Cheaps had learned his name so he pointed at the four Cheaps he meant and then at Smiler, who grinned at them. None of them moved; you didn't have to speak Russian to know that Smiler was dangerous.
"Move! Now! I won't say it again!" the Baton shouted impatiently, clapping his hands to jump start the Cheaps into movement. Smiler led them away to the far end of the room to the fighting mat.
"Crow, take 1317, 1320 and 1329. They need to work on their knife skills."
Crow nodded once and motioned towards the trio for them to follow him. Jay closed her eyes for a moment. Only she and Morgan were left.
"Mutt, you will begin testing 1372."
"Yes, Sir." Jay replied, turning towards Morgan and jerking her head towards the Cage on their left. She caught a flash of recognition on his face as he looked at it. Walking over, she removed the knives from her back, hip and thigh along with their sheaths and placed them on the ground outside the cageThe Baton opened the door and she stepped through it. Morgan was shoved through after.
