both while you were feeding. I mean, you capture the Floraes, right? Don’t you study them? Learn how they behave?”
There was silence as Kay and Marcus exchanged an uncomfortable look.
“Amy, can I speak with you?” Kay said quietly.
I walked over to them with my head held high, though I really wanted to hunch over and stare at the floor.
“How do you know that we capture the Floraes?” Marcus asked.
“I saw you, before I came here.” I lowered my voice. “One was about to kill me, actually, before it was captured.” I didn’t tell them about being in a restricted area and seeing the Floraes being tortured.
Both of them were quiet. Finally Marcus gave me an intense stare. “Listen, Amy, we keep the Floraes in a secure facility on the base. Most citizens of New Hope would not be comfortable to know they’re here.”
“But you do study them?” I asked, wondering how much they would tell me.
“Yes. We study them for a number of reasons. They’re crucial for perfecting our training techniques. We watch the way they move, how they react to prey. . . .”
“You mean people.”
“I mean any mammal.” He glowered at me. “What, do you think we feed bad children to the Floraes?”
“No, of course not. I just wonder why you don’t know how they act in groups. . . .” I stopped, remembering that the Floraes I saw were kept alone, one to a room. “They’re too dangerous in groups,” I whispered.
“We can only study one at a time,” Kay confirmed. “Otherwise we couldn’t contain them.”
“But you go out, into the . . .” I was about to say “the After,” but I realized they wouldn’t know what I meant.
“We go and collect supplies and the odd survivor. We have our hover-copters, our guns. We avoid places that are teeming with Floraes, unless our purpose is to capture one. Then we’re in and out.”
“Then why all this training?” I asked.
“In the Marines,” Marcus told me, “they push you to your limits and expose you to every imaginable horror. They gas you. They half drown you. You’re afraid, but it’s only training. The next time you’re not so afraid. You know what to expect.”
“We can’t have Guardians freezing up the first time they encounter a Florae face-to-face,” Kay clarified. “We depend on each other, so everyone has to function. There’s no alternative.”
“I get it,” I told them.
“Shall we continue practice?” Kay yelled, loud enough for the others to hear.
“Can I be a Florae this time?” I asked hopefully.
“Not until you’re a real Guardian, sunshine.” Kay smiled wickedly. I pulled my hood back on and made a face she couldn’t see before walking back to the practice mat. Then I took extra pleasure in pretend-killing Nick and for-real elbowing Rob in the face. It didn’t even matter that in the end I was, once again, the loser. You just couldn’t win against the Floraes.
After several hours, I stepped out of the Rumble Room, exhausted from my training session. That’s why I didn’t see him until he called my name.
“Amy?”
I turned to find Dr. Reynolds watching me, a strange smile on his lips. “I wasn’t aware you had clearance to be inside a restricted area.”
“I . . .” I froze, lost for words. Thankfully Gareth was next out the door. He took in Dr. Reynolds and me with my mouth hanging open like an idiot.
“Thanks again, Amy,” he said quickly. He was wearing civilian clothes, jeans and a T-shirt. He looked so different from when he was in his synth-suit—much less intimidating, and even with his almost completely gray hair, much younger.
“Yeah . . . no problem,” I responded slowly, still frozen in place.
“Dr. Reynolds.” Gareth nodded at him pleasantly. “What brings you out our way?”
“I just wanted to observe the Guardians in training, but I suppose I’m too late,” he said, the same eerie smile surfacing again. “Your psyche-evals are coming up soon.”
“Again? It’s been six months already?” Gareth asked. “Seems like my head was just shrunk last week.”
Dr. Reynolds chuckled. “Well, let’s just hope you’ve solved some of your relationship issues.”
Gareth grimaced. He’d mentioned to me he’d recently broken up with his boyfriend, but didn’t go into details. It must have ended badly. I could tell Dr. Reynolds’s comment cut him deeply.
Dr. Reynolds turned his gaze back to me. “Amy . . .”
“Amy was invited here by Kay,” Gareth said irritably, no longer pretending to be friendly. “She was telling us more about her experiences with the Floraes in the field. She’s an invaluable resource.”
“I’m sure she is.” He studied my face. “In fact, I hear you’ve been talking quite a lot about the Floraes.” My blood turned to ice.
“Yes.” My voice cracked and I swallowed before trying to speak again. “I was trying to prepare for my presentation to the Guardians,” I bluffed, trying to follow Gareth’s lead. “I didn’t want to leave anything out.”
“Of course not.”
“Well, I have to get to class.” I turned to go.
“Amy, I . . . ,” Dr. Reynolds began.
“I’ll walk with you, Amy,” Gareth said, cutting him off. He nudged me so my legs would start working. I tried not to look back, but when I did, Dr. Reynolds had already disappeared into the Rumble Room. I exhaled with relief.
“That man is creepy,” I whispered to Gareth.
“You don’t know the half of it,” Gareth told me. “He must know you’re training with us.”
“How?”
“My guess is Marcus. . . . Kay has thought he’s a spy for Dr. Reynolds for a while.”
“Why would he need to spy on the Guardians?” I couldn’t help but look behind me again, making sure we weren’t being followed.
“When the Guardians started, Marcus was supposed to be the leader, no questions asked. Dr. Reynolds is smart, though. He saw that the citizens wouldn’t be happy with anything like a military dictatorship; no one wants to live under a police state.”
“So Kay is in charge and Marcus reports back to Dr. Reynolds everything that isn’t quite right with the program,” I filled in.
“Yeah, that’s what we think. We’re extra careful around Marcus and the Elite Eight, not that we do anything wrong to begin with,” Gareth said, shooting me a sideways glance. “Except for training you. Kay must have a grand plan to put herself at risk like that.”
“Maybe Dr. Reynolds won’t care,” I offered.
Gareth shook his head. “He sets the rules; he’ll definitely care about them being broken. But he may weigh the benefits.”
“What do you mean?”
“Training you isn’t that bad in the grand scheme of things. If he puts a stop to it, he’ll expose his spy and lose an almost-trained Guardian.”
We reached school and I turned to Gareth to say good-bye, glad to know he was someone I could trust. “Thanks for helping me out back there.”
“Sure, just . . . take care of yourself, honey,” he said with a wink, back to his normal, teasing self.
“I will.” I grinned, but my amusement faded as he walked away.
After scanning the grounds, I spotted Baby and ran to her side, engulfing her in a giant hug. I kissed the top of her head and walked her to class, though I really wanted to take her in my arms and run away. But away to where?
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
