Defect - By Ryann Kerekes Page 0,26

skin. “This.”

“What…”

“It’s a tracking device. All the soldiers have them. I’m sure you’ll have one implanted soon enough, now that it looks like you’ll be staying with us.” Her fingers run over the lump again and again, as if she’s still getting used to it. “You could leave, but they’d find you anywhere you went. And this,” she holds up her wrist, “would lead them straight to you.”

I nod my understanding. So even though the soldiers have more freedom than those in the hospital, they would never truly be free.

“It’s tamper proof. And they put it here,” she runs her finger along the veins at her wrist, “because if you ever tried to remove it – you’d bleed to death.”

I shudder involuntarily.

She mistakes my reaction for fear of the procedure. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt too bad when they put it in – it’s more like a shot.” She looks at my arms. “Which I see you’ve had plenty of.”

I look down. My arms are still bruised from the injections, but now purple has given way to fading greens and yellows.

Alex walks over and stands in front of us. “Hey, Sam, can I talk to Eve for a second?”

Sam gets up and joins Sabrina and a guy I’ve seen her noticing – Jake – in a game, leaving me sitting face-to-face with Alex’s crotch.

He sits down beside me, but he’s too quiet.

“What’s up?” I ask, finally.

“I wanted to make sure you weren’t mad about my comment at breakfast.”

I think through his comments this morning and which one he thinks offended me. Oh. My cheeks brighten, remembering that he implied Will’s visit in the night was somehow fueled by sexual desire.

“No … no,” I stumble.

“It’s just that you got really quiet after that.”

“No, that wasn’t because of you. I just probably shouldn’t have said anything about that – it wasn’t like that, ya know?”

He studies his chewed fingernails. I can tell he doesn’t understand – his experience with Will has been totally different than mine. Suddenly I’m thankful that Will waited until everyone was gone before he touched me this morning. I don’t need this becoming a situation.

Alex looks up at me. “I just wanted to make sure there were no hard feelings. And besides, I’m sure Will wouldn’t do anything like that. Just ask Lexi.” He smiles.

Once again, I’m annoyed that Lexi’s name pops up in relation to Will. I almost ask him what he means, but decide against it. Alex might not be the most discreet and I wouldn’t want it getting out that I was asking about whatever it was that Will and Lexi had going.

“So, we’re cool?” he asks.

“We’re cool,” I confirm.

Chapter 10

The next morning, I’m shaken awake by rough hands. It’s still dark and I realize the alarm hasn’t even gone off yet. Kane is standing beside my bunk, which he can easily see over, though I have to climb up a ladder to reach.

“Come with me,” he says gruffly. My first instinct is to refuse, but then he says, “Will wants me to bring you to him.”

I’m not sure if I should trust him, or go anywhere alone with him, but decide I have little choice. I throw off the sheet and climb down.

Kane waits in the bunker while I use the bathroom, wash my face and re-braid my hair so it lies over my shoulder. I meet him in the bunker and follow in silence into the darkened hallway. I don’t ask any questions to avoid any unnecessary attention from him. We’re in a different part of the building that I’ve never been in before, when he stops in front of a door, nods once, then leaves. I’m not sure whether to knock or just go in, but the card access reader decides for me. I tap softly on the door.

Will opens the door. A white T-shirt hugs his lean frame, and his feet are bare. Even at four-thirty in the morning, he looks wide awake and in complete control. He tilts his head, motioning me in past him. The room smells like him. I realize it’s his dorm room – his private dorm room. I wonder if Lexi has been here. There’s a bed with a side table and a locker. My eyes land on the bed. The white sheets are rumpled and there’s an indent from his body. But that’s not what’s captured my attention. My file sits open on his mattress, the papers spilling out.

I look to him, trying to understand