I avert my eyes and join the others in inspecting the mountain lion. I’ve never seen one this close. The fur is short and fawn in color. The paws are easily the size of my head. This thing could haul off a full-grown human without a second thought. Cameron shot it straight through the temple. It seems impossible that he was able to see it in the dark and have such an accurate shot, but that’s what the experimental pills are supposed to do, aren’t they?
At least he’s stable right now.
Bree lifts the cougar’s upper lip, revealing huge teeth, red with blood from another creature. Her eyes balloon. “Holy shit. Do the cougars know about the trials?” It sounds silly at first, but mountain lions are intelligent animals with mammalian brains. If these grounds are used yearly for the trials, then yes, they’d know that Dark Forces cadets are on the table in this season.
“What the fuck, that’s not possible.” Damian sounds unsure, but he glances up at Cameron for confirmation.
Bryce is the first to respond, echoing my exact thoughts to the others.
Cameron extinguishes his cigarette between his forefinger and thumb pulls his mask back down. “Let’s keep moving. We need to cover at least two miles tonight. Stay alert.”
The night drags out. Thankfully, it’s uneventful and quiet, but the freezing temperatures make it hard to keep my firinghand ready. I can hardly feel my fingers by the time we make it to a suitable place to rest.
Sunlight crests the hilltop we’ve chosen. There’s no snow near the trees, and the fact that there’s so little in the surrounding area is an encouraging sign that we’re heading into a better climate.
The green light in the distance fades as the sky brightens. My legs are Jell-O as I settle onto the ground with a tree at my back. I let out a long breath and stare out at the valley ahead of us. We only have two days and a matter of hours before we have to reach the beacon, and it doesn’t seem like we made any progress after walking all night.
Bree plops down next to me and unzips her jacket halfway, expelling an exasperated breath. “This is insanity. Why is this even a trial? Do the Dark Forces really get sent all over the country like this? Inplaceslike this?” she grumbles.
Cameron ignores her, holding his rifle close to his chest and staring out into the woods behind us. The dark circles under his eyes allude to his weariness and make it easy to forget what we were even fighting about earlier.
I don’t want you to touch me ever again. I hate it. I hate the way your hands feel on my skin.
Oh, yeah.Fuck him.
I glower and wrap my arms around my knees.
Bryce and Damian sit across from us, their backs to the edge of the mountainside. The backdrop with the sun rising behind them is beautiful. Clouds fall between the treetops and create a misty forest view that’s breathtaking.
“Of course, didn’t you read up on the Dark Forces at all?” Bryce flattens his expression at her, and she gawks.
“Where would I have read up on them?”
“The library,” Bryce and I say in unison and nod once at each other with approval.
She throws her hands up. “You two were some of the only people who went in there…nerds.” She purses her lips. “The rest of us were learning how to kill people and how to keep our squadmates alive.”
I suppress an eye roll. “If you even took a quick look around the books, you would’ve noticed all the information on survival in treacherous places like this, and put two and two together.” I don’t mention that there were also plenty of books on psychology involving tactics in manipulation and coercion. My eyes meet Bryce’s, there’s something calculating in them that makes me uneasy. He certainly doesn’t try to hide the fact that he’s weak.
If I’ve read those books, it’s not a leap to assume that he certainly has too.
“We’ll take the watch in shifts. We only get a few hours to sleep before we need to move again, so cut the chitchat,” Cameron says in a low tone. He doesn’t bother turning around to look at us.
Damian snorts and mutters, “I think I’ve heard him talk more today than I have in a matter of weeks.”
“Shut up, get some sleep, idiot.” Bree tosses one of her MRE meal bags at him. Damian pockets it and winks at her before trying to find a more comfortable way to get some rest. We don’t have many options, so sleeping while sitting up will have to do.
As much as I try, I can’t find rest. My back hurts. My feet are killing me. My bones are stiff. Two hours flies by in a heartbeat, and I’m only more uncomfortable by the end of it.
Cameron moves and is about to shake Damian awake for the next watch when I intervene. “Hey,” I whisper, “I can do the next watch. I’m already awake anyway.”
He watches me rise and stretch my arms over my head. I could use the movement to help warm up a bit. While the gearkeeps us from freezing to death, it doesn’t make us impervious to the cold.
I take over where Cameron was standing post and move my legs and arms to get my blood going again.
“Did you get any rest?” His voice startles me.
I debate on ignoring him, but figure it won’t lead anywhere, so I slowly shake my head. The piney air turns to birch as he stands closer to me.
