“No, and please do thank Lok for me when you see him again. It was so much fun having the Patrician broadcast a nightmare into my mind while I was sleeping.”
“What are you talking about? How would that be possible?”
I tell him about the hidden program and what the Patrician had me experience.
Two minutes to go.
“Did you join the Dracken before or after that?” he asks.
“What does that have to do with anything?!” I shout. “Does it really matter? The Patrician murdered millions of innocent people, and for what? Just because they couldn’t handle a few radicals, doesn’t mean they should annihilate a whole civilization.”
“Then the Patrician showed you the wrong information, Max. They should’ve displayed what the Dracken did to bring that kind of destruction on.”
“I don’t believe this.” I stand since I can’t tolerate sitting next to him any longer. “You actually think this is all okay? If we weren’t on the same team, I would kill you the second we hit the battle floor.”
He stands, folding his thick arms across his chest. “The feeling is mutual.”
One minute to go.
“Will you two stop having your lovers quarrel and get ready?” Van yells at us.
I step past Garrett and cross over to Van. Brink joins us a few seconds later. Garrett doesn’t move from his spot. When the timer reaches zero, the displays show the remaining team colors, and the doors open. The four us enter, Van leading and Garrett at the rear. Our weapons are stationed in the center of the tunnel, instead of at the end. We all find this odd, and a little unsettling. I notice that Van’s weapons are all in a sack that he slings over his shoulder. I give him a quizzical look.
“Detonators.” He opens the bag and removes one of the devices. It’s the size of an apple, round, metallic, and with lights along the top and around the button. “They’re easier to manage than the other types of explosives,” he says.
Garrett places his Dead Mark bow around his arm, flipping it towards his back, next to his quiver loaded with black-shafted arrows. Brink places his Deer Horn knives into a pouch secured to the side of his pants. My Kopis and sheath hang ready on my hip as we begin heading towards the door.
When we’re only a few feet away, the lights in the tunnel shut off, throwing us into complete darkness. A woman screams, piercing the quiet. We can’t tell where the sound is coming from as it appears to be all around us. The tunnel shakes, then violently jerks to the right. We hit the floor, mainly for protection than from the movement. Metal grinding metal takes the place of the woman’s shrieks. My feet begin to slip as the tunnel tilts forward. There isn’t anything to grab onto to prevent our falling. I take out my Kopis and drive it into the wall. Garrett and Van slide towards an opening where the door is supposed to be, and fall through it. Brink grabs my waist as he slips past, pulling me along with him. The wall disappears and the two of us fall into darkness.
Nineteen
My lungs fill with water when I hit the bottom. The others kick and splash around me as I sink. I feel someone grab my collar and pull me up, dragging me onto a muddy bank. I forcefully cough up the water as my head pounds with every inhalation. Garrett lets me go before collapsing onto the ground. Brink and Van each rest against a tree on either side of me.
“What…the hell…was that?” Brink asks, trying to catch his breath.
I pull myself up onto my knees, still coughing. Van pats me on the back, trying to help free the rest of the water. I plop down next to him, lean my head back, and stare up into a star-filled night sky.
“Where are we?” Van asks, pushing his soaked blond tresses back from his eyes. He’s tall like Garrett, but thinner.
“This is definitely not the Dead Zone,” I comment.
“Do we just sit here until morning, if there is a morning, or do we try and figure out where we need to go?” Garrett asks from his spot on the ground.
“I say we stay here,” Brink says. “If the other teams are around, they’ll be just as disoriented as we are.”
“Except for the four that have a five minute head start,” I add.
“Well, since we can’t see anything, I say we wait until at least daylight begins to show,” Van says. “No need to head out only to be killed seconds later because of some kind of trap we couldn’t see.”
He has a point, so we all agree not to move until first light. I hate waiting unprepared, so I go rooting around the water for my Kopis, which I dropped during the fall. I’m lucky enough to find it a few minutes later, buried in the mud a foot below the surface. I clean it off in the water before retaking my seat next to Van.
“Max,” Brink calls to me, tapping his foot against mine. “Is it true? Are you a Dracken?”
“Yes, she is,” Garrett answers for me.
“Let me see it,” Brink says, smiling wide.
“Fuck off, Brink,” I say, then lean my head back and close my eyes as I’m still exhausted.
“Van, where do you stand?” I hear Brink ask.
“Does it matter?” Van responds.
“Yes, it does,” Garrett says.
I open my eyes and watch Van’s expression change from contemplative to serene.
“I stand with no one but myself. I mean, in the end, only one person is going to walk away from the final event. It’ll be up to that person to decide which side wins this realignment.”
I can see an argument forming in Garrett’s mind, but he bites his lip to keep his mouth closed. I shut my eyes again, feeling myself drift off.
“Max,” I hear my name echoing around me. “Max.”
I open my eyes noticing
