Defect - By Ryann Kerekes Page 0,12

it. When she reaches the bottom, she tugs an elastic band from her wrist with her teeth and secures it around the bottom of my braid.

I feel human again, dressed in clothes rather than a hospital gown or scrubs, with my hair neatly secured back from my face.

Next Sam brings me into a large, sterile kitchen and rummages through the stainless steel double-door refrigerator. “We already had dinner, so it’ll just be whatever’s left.”

My encounter with her has already been more than I was expecting.

She produces a thick slice of ham, a hunk of cheese and grabs some bread from the counter. She assembles the sandwich while I stand there, my mouth watering.

When she pushes it towards me, I hesitate, but only for a second. I’m again overcome by her kindness, but then remember that she’s under orders from Will – that is all. She hands me the sandwich, and for the first time, I notice the numbers tattooed at her wrist. 5486. So she’s a Defect, just like me.

I grab for the sandwich and take a big bite into it. I haven’t had meat or really anything of substance since I’ve been here – over two weeks now – and with today’s mental and physical exertion, I’m starved in a way I didn’t know was possible.

“So, what are you in for?” She smiles.

I don’t know how honest to be, though something tells me I can trust her. It’s just that after my incident where I admitted to Willow about failing the mindscan – I’m not so sure now. But I’m not good at lying, especially since it would require coming up with something on the spot. I swallow the bite I’ve been chewing. “I actually don’t know – they said I failed the mindscan.”

She looks taken aback, and it’s clear she’s never heard of that happening. “Hm.”

“Yeah, I know – that’s why they’re trying to figure out what’s going on with me. I had tests all afternoon.”

She nods, looking concerned.

“Do you know Kane?” I’m almost afraid to ask, but the look on her face sets me at ease once again.

“Yeah. He’s one of the instructors for new recruits. You have to be careful around him.”

I nod. I know that firsthand.

“If you act too tough, he’ll put you in your place. But if you act too weak, that’ll just piss him off, and he’ll use you to prove a point.”

So maybe neither strategy would have worked with him today. And it’s not like I could have escaped his notice, being one-on-one with him this afternoon. “Yeah, I figured that out.”

She turns serious for a moment. “Don’t be mad at Kane though; where do you think he gets his orders?”

I shrug.

“Will and O’Donovan.”

“So you’re going to become a guard?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Yeah. They take those who are strong and train us to become compound patrol guards. Essentially making us do the dirty jobs for the military. After training, we live here, but we work in different posts all around the city, mostly fence patrol.”

I nod. I think of the uniformed guards marching along the fence. It always made me feel safe, knowing that they were keeping the Radicals out. Now I’m starting to wonder if their sole purpose was keeping us in. “Is it as bad as it seems? I mean, what’s it like in here?”

She looks around, confirming we’re alone before she answers. “It’s not as bad as you might think. We train here for one year. It’s hard during the day, but our nights are free. Once they say we’re finished– we’re assigned a position in the compound.”

I finish the sandwich while she watches. She brings me a cup of water. I sense that she’s stalling before calling Will, and I’m grateful once again.

“How are you holding up in Ward A?”

I take a sip of water, which soothes my throat, and then down the rest in one gulp. Sam takes it to the sink to refill. “Not great.” I don’t meet her eyes. I’m suddenly filled with emotion at having such a normal conversation with a girl my age, who seems to understand what I’m going through.

“You should try to get transferred over here and become one of us,” she says, though she won’t meet my eyes. I can tell she believes it would be a long shot – my slight physical build, my height, none of it makes me a suitable guard.

“Yeah,” I agree weakly.

Once it’s clear I’m through, we stare at each other a few