Page 10 of Down to One
Luckily, although I believe my abductors targeted me specifically for my sniping skills, I think my paperwork got messed up. For my first three years in space, I was a simple housemaid. It was only a few months ago that someone discovered my special skill-set and repurposed me.
The idea that I need to escape death for the next however many days to save my own ass? That’s going to suck. The idea that when we barge through those doors I’m going to have to kill people at close range? That’s going to suck big time.
Suck or not, I’m going to do what it takes. It’s one thing to kill because of an order from someone who’s probably never stepped foot onto a battlefield. It’s quite another to kill someone to save your own skin.
It’s quiet out there, but I don’t for a moment think our enemies have left.
“One, two, three,” Titan says, and we breach the door together.
My heart is pounding so hard I can hear the blood whooshing in my ears. Shutting everything out except the task at hand, I remain laser-focused as I see there are two males to my left. Titan said he’d handle to the right and center, and I’m going to hold him to it. This doesn’t look like his first time at the rodeo.
My foe are two reptilians. Their slitted pupils and snaky faces give me the skeeves. Good. It will make my job easier.
I start swinging before they do. I was in the girls’ softball championship in eleventh grade before I had to switch foster homes. I know how to swing a bat.
I bash one of them hard on the side of his head where his earhole is, then draw back and hit the other one in the exact same place on his skull after the first guy ducks, clutching his head.
Without pausing to check how Titan is doing, I bash them each again and again. After the third strike, their blood spurts everywhere, gushing out of ears and nostrils. Once they’re on the ground, I keep hitting until they don’t move anymore.
I’m about to check their carotids, although I have no idea if reptilians even have carotids, when Titan says, “Enough,” in a firm tone.
Looking up from the carnage, I scan the area, not trusting that these guys were the only ones gunning for us. Bright lights over the door illuminate the carnage—there are bodies all around us. Beyond the piles of bloody corpses is total darkness.
Finally, I ask, “How many did we just… kill?”
“Five.”
Titan
A few minutes ago, I wouldn’t have bet even money that Slayer would still be alive after our first skirmish. For a little thing, a human no less, she packed quite a punch and knew where to hit.
“Come,” I say as I lead to the left.
“The map indicated northeast,” she protests, pointing toward our right.
“Correct. We go west.”
I strike off with my longest strides. It will take her two steps for every one of mine. I figure she’ll either keep up with me or she won’t. I’m not slowing down. I’ll say one thing, that skirmish cleared my head. My thoughts are sharp.
“Physics is the same here as on Earth. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line,” she gripes.
“The shortest distance between two points is death, Earther. I’m a gladiator. I’ve competed in melees and lived to talk about it. Let the losers kill each other, narrow the field. We skirt the clashes by moving west, then we’ll head north. There was a drone taking footage of our fight with those reptilians. You probably earned a lot of credits. We’ll collect weapons as soon as we’re allowed.”
She shuts up and scurries behind me.
Master’sludusand gladiatorial barracks were only a few hours from here, but this stretch of geography is so different it might as well be on another planet. Forest and lush farmland surrounded Master’s property. Not that I saw much of it. My life consisted of training eight hours a day when I wasn’t engaged in a match.
We’re picking our way through a wasteland. The soil is scorched and rocky, and we’re walking through rubble.
“Looks like a… natural disaster,” I suggest.
“Nothing natural about this,” she says, her steps short and swift as she tries to keep up with me. “This is the result of war. I saw something like this on Earth during one of my tours. The government razed their own country to gain control of the people. It’s pitch black out here. Can we slow down?”
“Go at your own pace. I’ll go at mine.” I warned her I wouldn’t help her. She’s on her own.
“Shit!” the Earther cries. When I turn to see if we’re being attacked, she’s kneeling, her hands cupping her ankle.
“Watch where you’re going,” I hiss. “You’ve got to keep up. I won’t coddle you.”
