“Stop,” a voice called.
I glanced up to see the woman who’d left me there frowning down from behind a glass window.
“You have a sword, don’t you? Pull it.” She shook her head and withdrew, mumbling I should have chosen a better weapon.
“Idiot girl,” the hooded figure hissed. “Try to stay on your feet. Don’t worry about hurting me. I’m past harm.” He, she, it headed back behind a pile of metal.
Not knowing whether what I faced was human or monster scared me more than the shock of the unexpected attack. Not wanting to be caught unprepared again, I pulled my sword, surprised by its heavy weight. While I struggled to get a tight grip, the next attack came from the back.
Something hit me. I dropped to me knees and dropped the sword. I rolled, pulling a dagger from my boot and thrust upward. The knife slashed through nothing but air. The breath left my body as the hooded figure stood over me. “What are you?”
“A hologram. You did much better. Good instincts. Again.” It disappeared.
We trained until I could no longer stay on my feet without fear of falling. “No more, please.” I sagged against the wall. I’d either fight well enough to survive or I’d die. At this point, I leaned toward the latter, but still held on to the thin thread of hope that I’d go to sleep and wake up to find it all a dream.
My bed that night was harder than the one I’d slept in at home. A thin blanket all that would cover me. When banging on the door signaled the time to get up, I folded the blanket and shoved it into the pillowcase, tying the case to my pack. Now that I knew I’d be dropped in an unfamiliar, terrifying place and could leave with whatever I could carry, I’d make sure to take it all.
I ignored the humorous look on my trainer’s face as I marched past her. She led me into another room where I sat at a table alone. Minutes later, she joined me, setting a plate piled high with meat and doughy biscuits covered with a thick sauce. Other than the feast, I’d never eaten so much.
“Fattening me up?”
“Giving you as much strength as possible before every second is a fight for survival.”
“Who are you?” I sopped my biscuit into the sauce, feeling far older than I’d felt the day before.
“Alga. I didn’t relish the retired life and while I still eat well and sleep in a soft bed, I wanted to train so no one went in as a Stalker as blind as I did. Not many females are built like me. I wanted to prepare them.”
“Why are there no others being trained?”
“No one else had the same ill luck at the wheel as you. Not in a while, at least.” She flashed a smile, revealing a mouth with as much missing teeth as there were teeth. “Some years we have more than one, some we have none. We haven’t had a new Stalker in almost six months. You’ll make number seven to patrol the nearest city.”
Great. That means an indeterminate amount had gone before me and perished. Now, only seven against how many Malignants? The food lost its taste and sat in my stomach like a stone. Tears pricked my eyes. I missed Mam and wondered whether I’d ever see her again.
Alga’s slap threw my head back. “No tears. Never cry. Do not be weak.”
I put a hand to my stinging cheek, the tears flowing freely now. “A warning would have sufficed.”
“If you can’t handle a slap, you’ll not last a week out there.”
When she raised her hand again, I reached for the dagger in my right boot. “Don’t.”
“Good girl.” She sat back and laughed. “You’ll need that spunk. Now, eat. More training awaits.”
I hated her after an hour of sword fight. I wanted to kill her after being chased for two miles by something that might or might not have been another hologram. I wanted to die by the time she led me to my room, minus a blanket and pillowcase this time. No worries. I used the ones I’d stolen and fell into a restless sleep full of faceless monsters.
When Alga woke me the next morning, she again fed me well, with me hiding food on my body when I thought she wasn’t looking, then led me up several flights of stairs to the roof. In front of us sat a machine with whirling blades on top. I shot my trainer a wide-eyed look. “Am I expected to get inside that?”
“Yes, and you’ll be expected to jump out when told.” She jerked her head toward the machine. “Good luck, Crynn. My prayers are with you.” She turned and strolled away without a backward glance.
A man with a black mask waved me forward. “Hurry up. I haven’t all day.”
Struggling to appear brave, I climbed into the death trap and sat on a hard bench.
“Put that on. You’ll need it when you jump out,” the pilot said. “See that red handle? You’ll pull that before you hit the ground. The chute might come in handy if you need to build shelter. Put that helmet on. You’ll be able to hear my commands while wearing it.” Before I had it strapped on over my pack and pillowcase, the contraption we rode in rose into the sky.
The landscape under us was one of desolation. Nothing moved past our little district. Other than the hundreds of birds filling the gray sky, we seemed to be the only living things left on the planet. Fires burned around the city, but did little to dispel the gloom. I could only hope the pilot didn’t drop me into one.
“See that wall? The Malignants live past there. I’ll hover
