I’m a Warrior.
Chapter One
Now
The wind blew around my body, cooling me as I ran. One more lap around the compound and I knew I’d feel like I was done. Every day I added a loop to my routine. I can never be in enough shape. My days of patrolling the night for the Undead were over. Now, I had to keep myself in good shape instead of counting on my job to maintain my fitness. No self-respecting Vampire would come near Icahn’s compound. They’re caught and experimented on inside the walls if they’re stupid enough to come by.
I came to an abrupt stop as I reached the pillar where I marked my final steps. My heart thumped wildly. Yeah, I really needed the exercise.
Behind me, my running companion halted, panting and out of breath. I turned around to regard him and wished I had a knife on me that I could shove into his face.
Darren. Tall, broad-shouldered, and hairy—he had dark, long hair all over his body. Spending time with him made me want to hurl and yet, lately, he’d become my most constant companion.
In Genesis, he’d been one of Icahn’s cronies, a person who actually knew the truth of our existence and helped those in power keep us from understanding it, too. I could forgive other people their flaws and mistakes. Darren’s culpability, however, had become another thing entirely. I wanted him to pay. I craved to see him suffer.
“Are we hunting today?”
I swallowed my loathing and stored it where I put every other real emotion I felt lately—the pit of my stomach—and tried to smooth out the lines of my face until they resembled, I hoped, something akin to normal.
“Hunting.” I nodded. “Yes.”
We walked together toward the main huts. I needed to bathe before I went out looking for Jason. Bringing Darren with me to search for my ex-boyfriend irked me. I’d much rather go alone. The Icahns, who had run Genesis until we’d thrown them out, now ruled Redemption, the name of their new housing compound. However, they didn’t trust me and required Darren to accompany me everywhere I went.
I couldn’t even kill him. With my luck, they’d bring him back from the dead in their cloning machine. The endless cycle I couldn’t yet escape.
“I had Noah put on a tracking request again today.”
The scientists at Redemption had all sorts of nifty machines, letting them do all kinds of things, including scanning the area to see if any undocumented Werewolves came close. Jason and his family counted among this group because Icahn couldn’t control them. They were in league with the Vampires, whom Icahn had recently begun to—rapidly—lose control over.
“Anything?”
He laughed. “You’re chatty today. One word at a time is all I’m getting?”
I grabbed his arm, wishing to break it off. “Anything?” I dug my fingernails into his biceps.
He stared down at me silently, as if he wanted me to let go or apologize. Darren had at least ten years on me in age and at least twenty points less in IQ. I didn’t know exactly how many years because I didn’t know how old any of us were, really. I felt seventeen. I could account for one decade and seven years worth of time in one group of memories or the other. How many decades had I lost in cryogenic sleep? Everyone had a different answer for me. Darren believed himself to be twenty-seven, in the same way I felt seventeen. It would have to do.
In any case, his fascination with me bordered on sick. He didn’t want to sleep with me; he wanted to be my best friend. Why couldn’t he go make nice with people his own age and leave me to my solitude?
I let go of his arm. I couldn’t kill him. Not today. Not yet.
“Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”
I counted to ten in my mind while I forced my mouth into something resembling a smile. “Sorry. Did they find anything?”
“Yes.” He grinned and walked forward. “But you won’t like it when I tell you where.”
His statement alone informed me of the location. I had a rule I worked very hard not to break. A five-mile radius around Genesis stayed off-limits for me. I did not need to run into any of my former people. I’d been erased from their minds, so an unexpected encounter would pain only me. Not to mention since they’d been reset and lived back underground, they wouldn’t be Upwards during daytime hours. Still, for self-preservation, I remained safely ensconced where I hoped there would never be a bump-into experience.
“Do you think they know? Is it possible someone told them?” My need to share information overruled my desire to shut Darren out of my thoughts. “Could Andon know I won’t hunt them there?”
“No. Not possible.”
My definition of what could be considered possible differed from his.
“Darren, I think I need a little more training.”
“What?”
I didn’t give him time to figure out what I meant. Using a roundabout I’d learned from my former teacher, Keith—a move I hoped would make him proud—I slammed my foot square into Darren’s center. He stumbled backward a few feet, gasping, before his face broke out in a grin.
“Oh, you want to play with your former teacher, do you?”
Darren had never been my teacher. Only the slackers had gotten sent for his instruction. “Keith taught me. I managed to avoid spending time with you.”
“Well, we’ll see if I can show you something new now.”
I doubted it. We danced back and forth on the grass, me landing more blows to his person than he did to mine. Icahn had genetically enhanced some of us to be Warriors, giving us the chance to fight the Vampires when they tried to eat us or infect us to make us like them. I had no particular strength when it came to fighting Darren, a plain old human, except I happened to be in better shape than him.
Also, as it turned out, anger helped a great deal when it came to beating down slow-witted men who’d once participated in making a mockery out of my whole life.
I jumped on his back, my arms going around his neck. Putting pressure on a carotid artery had never been useful when fighting a Vamp. Why bother? Stake. Heart. Done. Same went for the Werewolves. Machete. Head. Slice. Job done. But I wanted Darren on the ground, not dead—not yet.
For Darren, however, it took about eight seconds of pressure on his carotid before he hit the grass. Unfortunately, having not let go of him, I tumbled down with him, striking the earth below me with a thud. I reached over and touched his wrist to make sure he still had a pulse.
It beat steadily beneath my fingers. I stood up and groaned. When Darren woke, he’d be super pissed at me. I didn’t care. The sheer joy I’d gotten out of besting him would last me weeks. The Icahns wouldn’t care if I hurt him a little bit. If I did too much damage, they’d clone him back for no other reason that to remind me they could.
I stretched my arms around my neck. These days I took nothing for granted. The sun shone on my head, and I had another chance to go stop the Kenwood family without getting anyone else I cared about hurt.
“Bravo.”
I leaped an inch in the air. My beautiful spring day suddenly soured by the presence of Liam Icahn. I could sense a Vampire from a mile away. Why didn’t I have an Icahn locator?
“Shouldn’t you be dead?”
Liam giggled maniacally, rubbing at his chin. “Many times.” He looked down at Darren. “Is he dead?”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Good. I’d hate to fire up the cloning devices today. They take so much energy and we’re trying to conserve.”
“The Vampires not making their human slaves work hard enough? Do you suddenly have a power shortage?”
Liam laughed, the annoying, high-pitched sound I’d grown to hate over the last six months. Just about everything he did made me want to claw out his eyes. “Do you remember climate change, Rachel?”
I ignored his question. The Icahns loved to play “let’s remember” with the few humans left on Earth capable of participating. I’d recently become one of those people but since I hated everything to do with them, I blatantly refused to take p
art.
“Did you need something?” I trudged forward, hoping to move around him a timely manner.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I do, my redheaded friend.”
Friend? I dug my fingers into my hand. The more pain I inflicted on myself, the more I could ignore him.
“Tell me what you need.”
“I understand you and Darren go out every night and look for Andon and his crew.”
I wanted Andon dead, yes, but the purpose of my nightly jaunts into the forest had more to do with finding and eliminating Jason than Andon. Since I’d taken myself out of the memories of everyone who loved me, narcissism had become my new best friend.
“Yes. I intend to kill them. Stop them from being a threat against humanity anymore.” Then I would blow up Icahn’s cloning facilities and find a way to make the world aware of what had really happened. Liam didn’t need to know the rest of my plans. He’d become aware of them soon enough.
“Nice goal. But, I’m afraid after much deliberation, Father and I don’t think your ambitions currently match our own.”
The sweat pooling on Liam’s forehead fascinated me. Oh, I knew he threatened me and gave me bad news. I even understood I should be focusing on his words and not the disgusting bead of moisture making a line down his face. The temperature outside felt mild, pleasant. Why did he seem so hot? Could it be nerves?
“Why are you suddenly so interested in the wolves?”
Liam danced from foot to foot, his knee cracking lightly as he did. “Not suddenly so interested. Always invested in Andon. Before things changed, he made a career as a brilliant scientist. The years when he’s been on our side have been the most productive in terms of our advancement in finding a cure to the Vampire illness.”
“He’s feral. What kind of studying do you expect him to do?”
Liam held up a syringe. I shuddered. I’d never liked needles. “This should bring him back, at least temporarily.”
“You have a cure?” This information could have helped me weeks ago. The slimy sons of bitches had kept it from me, knowing it might change things in my weak-where-Jason-was-concerned little heart.
“Not a cure. No. It’s a temporary fix. It’s brought both him and his pack back around, three times now.”
“He always succumbs to it again and his pack follows.”
Liam nodded. “I know, but Father and I feel we’re on the verge of major breakthrough. We need his help—”
I held up my hand to stop him from speaking. “You want me to jab Andon, the feral Werewolf, with a needle?”
Liam’s face lit like I’d handed him a gift. “Yes, exactly. Right in the thigh.”
“Fine. I’ll give you Andon.” I forced my hands not to shake, to not show him all the rage I held inside of myself. “I’m still killing Jason.”
The joy fled from his demeanor. “Andon won’t help us if his son has been injured.”
“Find a way to deal. Offer to bring Jason back.” I didn’t care if they promised him Jason. They wouldn’t be able to clone for too much longer, not if I got my way. “Up to you. I’ll get you Andon. I still kill Jason.” I turned around. My whole body stank with sweat. I could smell myself, never a good sign for how incredibly dirty I must be. “And for the record, this is me compromising. Better take it.”
Chapter Two
Now
The trees and bushes had all bloomed in the last month. I pushed one of the branches from a now-flourishing tree out of my way as I tiptoed through the forest. The duality of my existence never struck me more than when I looked at my surroundings. The whole area where I currently sought my objective—the Kenwoods—had once been sighted to make a mini-mall. The project had, obviously, been scrapped when the world had ended.
But my brain couldn’t think of it simply as the place where they wanted to put the frozen yogurt store next to the designer discount-clothing store. No. I could also categorize it as Section Three, Slot Four, on the map I’d studied a million times at Genesis, an area we didn’t patrol because it fell outside the zone considered necessary for our survival. If Section Three, Slot Four became a haven for the monsters, it wouldn’t affect our lives in Genesis too much. We didn’t care if Vamps or Weres hung out there, usually.
The two Rachels. The Warrior and the semi-rebellious teenager. Which one was I?
I rubbed at my nose. Well, whichever Rachel I happened to be, both of them had seasonal spring allergies and both of them would have loved an antihistamine.
“I still can’t believe you knocked me out.”
“Shh.” I hushed Darren. Hunting Werewolves proved challenging in the best of circumstances. Darren rambling on made it virtually impossible. He could nurse his hurt feelings all on his own. I really didn’t care.
He grumbled and I moved farther ahead of him to ignore his complaints. If he wanted to vent his spleen, I supposed he was entitled. He also had the right to get eaten by a Werewolf. I didn’t have to witness, partake, or deal with either scenario if I didn’t want to.
The Warrior Rachel could really kick butt. My physical strength as a Vampire fighter outdid the suburban Rachel tenfold. I had hated running the mile to pass the President’s physical fitness test before the world had ended. But the easy-life Rachel had been much better educated than the Warrior Rachel. I grinned at the thought. So much for the importance of my 4.0 GPA. I’d never gotten to experience the Ivy League education I’d been working toward. Instead, I’d gotten lessons in how to put a stake through a Vampire’s heart.
Other dualities were difficult to deal with, less funny. I’d loved and sometimes hated my mother when I’d grown up in my small New Jersey home. She’d wanted the best for me, and her wishes directly interfered with what I’d wanted for myself, namely Jason, the Werewolf I now needed to kill. Even amidst our crazy mother-daughter angst, I could remember what she smelled like, how the expensive moisturizer she used made her skin soft.
The Rachel Icahn had “reworked” had never known her mother, had no memories of her. No, all my Warrior self had was a fear where I’d never live up to the woman my mother had been and, somehow, I’d been gypped of a relationship I had needed in my life. Which version of me got to win? The one who knew and loved my mother or the one who railed against the unfairness of not having been given an opportunity to have a relationship with her?
I took one more step and stopped, shoving my shaking hands in my pockets. If I moved an inch closer, I’d be officially too near to Genesis. I always had the same reaction to being this close to my former home. I could destroy the Undead without a second of worry, or at least I could recently—amazing how getting of a sense of the futility of my entire existence made me a really kick-ass fighter—but I couldn’t walk too close to Genesis without turning into a bundle of nerves.
On the other side I would find Andon and his pack. I put my hand in my pocket and felt the cover of the syringe. If I could find him, I could get this horrendous task behind me.
“You know they’re over there.”
I nodded. I would not show weakness in front of Darren, but I couldn’t keep coming up with excuses for not moving forward. Even someone as dumb as him had to know my reasons for staying away from my former haunts. I looked up at the sky. The sun would be down soon. The folks in Genesis whose job happened to be the destruction of the Undead would travel Upwards when the golden orb officially left the evening sky.
“Movement.” Darren whispered in my ear.
I could smell the garlic he’d eaten at lunch. The other habitats starved and yet somehow the residents of Redemption ate like kings. I tried to keep my diet light. The daily lunch-hour feasts would make me heavy and slow.
I stared in the direction Darren indicated. Yep, the man might eat his body weight every day and drive me crazy regularly but his eyesight proved flawless. Something the right size to be a crouched Werewolf moved through the getting-thicker-every-day foliage.
“What are you going to do?”
“Are you testing
me?” I turned to stare at Darren. “Awful convenient for one of them to be right there, right over my self-imposed border. Are you guys pushing my buttons? Trying to see how close I would get?”
“Why on earth would we care whether or not you went back to Genesis? You’re wiped clean there. No one from your old life even knows you ever lived. Go to Genesis; don’t go to Genesis. The boss wants you alive so you stay alive. Take the Werewolves out here or some other place. Your choice.”
Hate for Darren resonated through me like a gong going off inside of my head. It started out loudly the second he began talking, and by the time he finished, hatred practically vibrated through my veins into my skin.
“Please. Shut. Up.”
I supposed his words were probably true. Why would anyone want to throw me back into Genesis when it had taken so much effort to extract me from it?
And what I needed traipsed around ten feet in front of me. It could be a trap; it could be luck. In either case, I had no choice. How could I let an opportunity like this one get away?
“Whichever Wolf it is, and I know all of them in their human form, but I can only tell a few of them when they walk on four legs, it won’t be alone. For the most part, they stay in twos if they’re not with the whole pack.”
“I don’t need Werewolf 101, Clancy. I’ve done this longer than you have.”
I unhooked my machete from my back. If this turned out to be my moment, I needed to be ready. “You don’t know this pack. I lived with them, briefly, and they spent a lot of time at Genesis. I understand them better than you do.”
“A pack is a pack is a pack.” Darren got to his knees. “Wolf behavior is Wolf behavior. Let me guess. You were about to tell me you wanted us to split up. I go after the clumsy one and you go after whichever Wolf happened to tag along.”
“Until they lead us to the pack.” I nodded. In one version of my memory, Darren and I had been trained by the same team—Keith Endover and Patrick Lyons—making it not surprising he and I would approach a problem like this the same way.