Reboot (12 page)

I focused my eyes on his desk, nervously rubbing my palms together. I’d never been chastised for my newbie training.

“The lower numbers are often . . . difficult, but he’s a whopper. I’m surprised you only pummeled him the once.” He leaned forward, banging the chair on the floor. “And I hear you were trouble in the shuttle yesterday, too.”

I cleared my throat. “I—”

“It’s fine.” He waved his hand. “I don’t agree with you disobeying orders, but I have told the officers not to make the girls remove their undershirts. We’re not animals, for Tex’s sake.”

I nodded. “Thank you,” I said softly. I even meant it, a little.

“I told them you were probably just frustrated with your newbie, which I understand. You should be frustrated. I’m frustrated.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and met his eyes.
Frustrated
was not a good word in Mayer language.

“We’re not eliminating him yet. I already had to eliminate Forty-three for trying to kill an officer. Thank you for that, by the way. Leb was very complimentary.”

I nodded again, twisting my fingers together. Not eliminating him
yet
.

“But he needs to shape up. You get him following orders or I’ll have no choice. You feel free to tell him I said so.”

My chest had tightened to the point where the edges of my vision were beginning to darken from lack of oxygen. They couldn’t eliminate him. I couldn’t let that happen. I had to make him better.

Officer Mayer focused his attention on his desk again, pressing his fingers to the glass. “That’s all. You can go.”

I stood up, ready to escape, but I paused when he said my number.

“I’m serious about the elimination. I don’t like to see you wasting your time. Immediate improvement or he’s out.”

I NEED YOU TO BE BETTER
.

I need you to be good
.

The words ran through my head as I approached the red cafeteria doors. My newbies had never been threatened with elimination before. I didn’t know how to have that conversation.

I need you not to die
.

I pushed open the door and was met by a wall of noise. The guards rarely let us get rowdy, but it seemed they’d made an exception today. A few uninterested Reboots remained at their tables—all of the One-twenties, and a few of the Under-sixties—but everyone else was in the corner of the cafeteria in a giant clump. Some cheered, some punched one another, but everyone tried to push their way to the middle to see what was going on.

Callum. My eyes darted around the room, but I couldn’t find him. I found Ever, pale and shaking at a table by herself, and she pointed a finger at the crowd.

I strode across the cafeteria, anger burning in my chest. I didn’t have time for the Nineties’ nonsense. I couldn’t afford for Officer Mayer to see Callum getting his ass kicked by other Reboots.

“Move,” I said, shoving aside a few Reboots to get to the center of the crowd. I heard them start to quiet as they noticed my presence, many of them running to their tables as they caught sight of me.

I pushed a Ninety out of the way and looked down at what they were all hollering about.

It was Callum, with a little Reboot. Thirteen years old or so. The boy was crazed, thrashing about and trying desperately to bite Callum. He’d already succeeded several times, from the looks of Twenty-two’s bloodied arms.

I didn’t know the kid’s number, but I could guess. Under sixty. And recently given shots.

Callum desperately tried to run but the crowd had penned him in. The kid lunged and sunk his teeth into Callum’s arm, tearing off a piece of flesh.

Callum snatched it away with a look of utter horror and confusion. His eyes darted around the circle and rested on me, his relief obvious. I wasn’t sure anyone had ever been happy to see me.

“Hey!” I yelled. The Reboots started scattering right away and I grasped the kid’s shirt as he went for Callum again. I punched him across the face, hard, and tossed him along the floor, in the direction of the door. Weren’t the guards going to come get him? They were just going to leave him in here like this?

A few of the Under-sixties headed for the kid so I turned back to Callum, kneeling down next to him. I opened my mouth to yell, to demand why he hadn’t punched the smaller, weaker kid trying to devour him, when he wrapped his arms around my waist and hugged me.

“Thank you,” he said, his breathing still heavy and panicked.

I stiffened at the warmth of the hug. It was too comfortable. And I couldn’t remember why I wanted to yell at him.

“I’m sorry,” he said, pulling away and bringing his arms in to his chest. “I’m getting blood on you.”

The cafeteria was much too quiet. All eyes were on us so I lowered my voice.

“Are you okay?”

Wait. That wasn’t what I meant to say. I was going to yell.

“That kid tried to eat me.” He looked down at his arms. “Look at this! He did eat me!”

There were large chunks bitten out of his arms. I swallowed, trying to keep the disgust off my face. That kid actually bit into his flesh like some kind of animal.

What were they doing to them?

“Why didn’t you fight back?” I asked. My voice came out steadier than I felt. I needed him to be calm, and better, not freaking out about HARC’s current experiment.

“I . . . I don’t know. He’s just a kid. And I was sort of thrown off by the whole him-eating-me thing.”

“You should have fought back.”

“They had me cornered!” He glanced behind me before his voice dropped to nearly a whisper. “Besides, he’s the same age as my little brother.”

“He’s not your brother.”

“I know, but still—”

“I need you to be better,” I said.

“You’re really not concerned about him eating me?” he asked, holding his arm out again.

“It’ll grow back in a minute.”

“That’s totally not the point. I’m traumatized.”

“I need you to be better,” I repeated.

“I—”

A scream echoed through the cafeteria and I spun my head around to see the crazed kid leaping through the air for a guard who had just come through the door. It wasn’t natural, how high he could leap, even for a Reboot.

His teeth were in the human’s neck before anyone could react, and I grabbed Callum’s head and pushed it down. I heard the other Reboots hit the floor. The guns were moving.

Callum’s body jerked as several guns went off, firing ten or fifteen bullets before quieting. I stayed down a moment longer, until I was sure it was over, then slowly raised my head. The kid and the guard were both dead, although the guard had probably been gone the minute his throat was ripped out.

“What . . .” Callum’s eyes were big and scared. “What was wrong with him?”

“He went crazy,” I said. I didn’t know how else to explain it. I certainly couldn’t tell him the truth in the middle of the cafeteria, where HARC could hear every word.

He didn’t say anything, but his eyes darted to the Under-sixties table. Clearly he had already heard something about that.

“Callum.”

He turned to me. His expression was serious, but I liked how it softened slightly when he looked at me. Like the way he looked at me was different from how he looked at everyone else.

“I need you to be better. Really. I need you to follow orders and work harder. They don’t tolerate stepping out of line here.” I jerked my head toward the dead Reboot, and he swallowed. He understood. “Yes?”

“Yes.”

Ever was perched on her bed when I returned to the room before lights-out, her whole body shaking. Her eyes were dead, hopeless, but she was herself. A shivering, sad version of herself.

I sat down on my own bed and she raised her head, her gaze sharp and angry.

“I’m dead.”

“We all are,” I said, attempting a smile.

A dry laugh escaped her throat, surprise crossing her face. “Did you just make a joke?”

“A little one. Not a very good one.”

“I liked it.” She pressed her lips together, bouncing her legs up and down, and I got the impression she was trying not to cry. “But I’m dead for real this time. They haven’t killed me yet, but I’m already gone.”

I opened my mouth and closed it again, glancing around. The humans probably recorded every word we said. They might be listening now. “You’re not gone,” I said very softly.

“Levi was dead,” she continued. “Before he tried to eat Callum. He’d been dead for days. He was still walking around but there was nothing there anymore. It was just a crazy-ass shell.” She grabbed the sleeves of her shirt, pulling on them so hard I thought they might rip. “And when he went for Callum, I understood. He smells so good. Like . . .” Her face twisted, and she whispered the next words. “Like meat.”

My stomach turned and I focused on my feet, hoping she wouldn’t see my discomfort. “It’ll pass. It’s probably just—”

“I’m sorry if I attack you tonight,” she said. She shot to her feet, her fists balled at her sides, and screamed the next words to our glass wall. “BUT IT’S NOT MY FAULT!”

“Ever!” I looked out the glass nervously.

“What do they care?” she spat, throwing the comforter down the bed as she crawled in. “They’ve killed me.”

“You’re still here,” I whispered.

“Barely.”

EVER POKED A FINGER INTO HER MOUTH, SHOVING THE dangling beef in. Her cheeks bulged with food, her eyes drooping even though she had slept the whole night.

I’d ignored the One-twenties table and sat next to her as soon as I’d walked into the cafeteria at lunch and seen how high she’d piled her tray with meat.

“You all right?” Callum asked as he took a bite of his peanut-butter sandwich.

She swallowed some of her food. “I’m a crazy-ass shell.”

Callum looked at me in confusion, but I avoided his eyes and stabbed at my own lunch with my fork.

I couldn’t explain anything. Not with Officer Mayer watching my every move.

Ever gripped the table as she swallowed her last mouthful of meat. She looked up from her empty tray with wild, unseeing eyes.

Her nostrils flared as she turned to Callum, baring her teeth as she let out a low growl. She grabbed his wrist and he dropped his sandwich, his eyes wide as he looked from me to her.

“Ever,” I said, yanking her hand off his arm as she leaned down to take a bite. “Stop.”

Callum jumped back as she lunged for him again, clutching his arms to his chest protectively. I got her by the waist as she tried to launch herself across the table. She thrashed against me and I held her tight with one arm, using the other to grab my beef and shove it in her mouth.

She snapped at my fingers but inhaled it with a little sigh of relief.

“Here,” Callum said, sliding his meat across the table as well.

I shoved it past Ever’s teeth and she chewed frantically, bits falling out of her open mouth. She began snapping at Callum again when she finished.

“Ever,” I said, tightening my arm around her waist. “Please stop.”

She stilled at the sound of my quiet words in her ear. I cautiously loosened my arm and she turned, her eyes shiny with tears and worry.

“Sorry,” she whispered, scanning the mess of empty trays and bits of food on the table. She staggered to her feet and rushed out of the cafeteria, her walk wobbly and unbalanced.

Callum watched her go, and when he turned to me his eyes were big and questioning. I gave him the tiniest of shrugs, my eyes darting to the camera on the wall. He took the hint and returned his attention to his sandwich.

We headed to the gym after lunch and took our usual spot on the mat. I put my hands on my hips as I looked at him. It was time for him to be better.

“We’re staying here today until you hit me,” I announced.

“What?”

“You’ve never managed to make contact. You should be able to hit me by now. We’ll stay here until you do.”

“But I . . .” A sheepish smile spread across his face and he shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t want to hit you.”

“It’s not a choice. I’m your trainer.” I frowned up at him. “Have you not been giving it your all?”

“No, I have. Mostly, anyway.”

“There’s no more
mostly
. We will both stand here until you’re able to hit me. And I’m not letting down my defenses.”

He looked at me warily. He didn’t believe it.

“Come on,” I said, beckoning him over.

He took a cautious step forward, his smile slipping as he raised his hands in front of his face. But he made no move toward me.

“Go ahead,” I said.

His fist swung at me, but I easily ducked it.

“What have I told you? Fast. Don’t stop with one punch. I didn’t try and hit you. What should you have done?”

“Tried to hit you again.”

“Yes. Confuse me. Surprise me. Again.”

He tossed punch after punch at me, none of them coming close to connecting. He was slow and clumsy, his feet moving one way as his arms went another. I could practically see his brain working, and I found myself avoiding punches almost as soon as he decided to throw them.

“Stop,” I said with a sigh. He dropped his arms and gave me an apologetic look.

“I’m sorry, I’m trying—”

“I know you are.”

I pushed a piece of hair behind my ear and frowned at the floor as a thought occurred to me.

“What?” Callum asked.

“Am I doing something wrong?” I asked it quietly, ashamed to let the other trainers hear. I was the best. I shouldn’t be doing anything wrong.

“You’re the only one doing it right. I’m the one who sucks.”

“I must be explaining it wrong. Or not training you right. Do you want another trainer?”

“No,” he said immediately.

“Are you sure? I don’t want you to fail because of me.”

“You know it’s not because of you,” Callum said, bringing out his big eyes again. “Please don’t give me to someone else.”

“Then tell me what I’m doing wrong.”

He hesitated. “I don’t know. There’s not something wrong, exactly. . . . It’s more like I don’t understand how I’m supposed to move so quickly. It’s like I’m trying to remember all this stuff I’m supposed to be doing and I can’t keep it all straight and my body won’t keep up with my brain. It’s sort of like when you first learn to dance and your feet are all over the place and nothing makes sense.”