Page 34 of Down to One
“You saved my life today,” I murmur into his ear.
“Aye.”
I’ve watched a million hours of TV and movies in my lifetime. Action has always been my favorite. I can’t remember anyone having as bad a day as I’ve had, and that’s saying a lot. No, that’s not true.Aliens. Sigourney Weaver had a couple really bad days. And as awful as thecrindleswere, the aliens were worse.
I’m a strong woman. You don’t live through twenty foster homes without needing a lifetime of therapy unless you have inner fortitude. And becoming a sniper? That’s not for wimps. The training was grueling and being a 5’2” woman didn’t make it any easier.
But I’m not made of steel. I’m still human, and although I’ve learned how to stuff my emotions deep down inside, I never learned how to eliminate them. Underneath my cocky exterior lies a little girl who still dreams of an easy life.
Well, if not an easy life, at least a life easier than the one I’ve been handed.
And there’s also the little girl who, when she wasn’t watchingAliensand theTerminator, watched all the Disney princesses. Yeah, I want what Uncle Walt promised me. If not a prince, at least someone to love me.
I’d never admit it to anyone. I keep those thoughts hidden deep inside. Even when I admit them to myself, they seem ridiculous. Embarrassing even. A girl like me should know better, right?
Yet those fantasies are there. I don’t touch them often. I never nurture them. But even a hardass like me takes them out and admires them from time to time. I dream of a male looking at me with love in his eyes, someone who would risk his life to save mine.
He hasn’t, that snarky voice inside my head reminds me.Think it through, Blaze. Name one moment where he risked his life to save yours. You’re a means to an end. You killed your share of opponents when you two burst out of the gymnasium. Without you, he might not have gotten ten feet out that door.
Those three Halckons this afternoon? Think he could have fought all three of them without you? You kept that one guy busy, so Titan didn’t get his head severed from his neck.
Without you keeping thecrindlesoff his six, he could have never fought them off.
So, Blaze, don’t get all starry-eyed about the male carrying you to a cave so he can fuck you. You’re convenient. And in the end, it all comes down to one.
My inner realist is right. I’m a means to an end for him. And he’s a means to an end for me. Last night’s sex was great, and I have every reason to expect it to be equally amazing tonight. Then I’ll earn my rifle, and everything will change.
Because it’s dark, I hadn’t noticed the geography has been changing. I think we’ve been jogging through an old riverbed, because rocky walls are rising on two sides of us. With the drones illuminating the way, I see a cave up ahead.
The network must have been busy, because they’ve prepared it for us. The circular area is maybe fifteen feet in diameter. Although Jahzara Zedd freaked me out about bats, she wasn’t lying when she said they’d scrubbed it. The fairly flat rocky surface is clean.
“Look, honey. The network went all out,” I say when I see a blow-up mattress the size of a queen bed at the far end of the area. There’s a bottle of champagne chilling in one of those champagne chilling things just like you see in the movies.
And there’s a spread of food on a little table by the bedside. I’m starving, so the moment Titan eases me to the floor, I descend on the food and start stuffing anything I can get my hands on into my mouth.
There are little sandwiches and fruit and cheese. I don’t worry that the network has poisoned us because making sure we live through tonight’s sex show is the most important thing to them right now. Why kill the golden goose, right?
Titan shoves a sandwich between his lips and then turns the medbot on.
“Come here,” he says around a mouthful of food. The medbot’s movable arm assesses me from head to toe, then preps my cuts. Within fifteen minutes, my two deep gashes have been glued shut and covered with protective plas-film.
The bot shot me full of what I hope are antibiotics, and what is clearly a painkiller because the throbbing is gone. The better to be able to have sex on camera, I guess. The network certainly didn’t do it out of the kindness of their hearts—they don’t have hearts.
All the while the bot was doctoring me, I kept shoving food into my cakehole. I’m assuming this will be my last meal before I die—or win the game if by some fluke that happens.
The drone screens tell us there are 18 contestants left. Titan is still the favorite. I’m still at the bottom of the heap.
Titan’s former owner comes on screen looking as pissed as he did last night.
“I never thought you’d get this far,” he snarls. Not exactly what I would have led with, but I guess he had to start somewhere. “You’re going to perform, female, then you’ll earn your rifle.”
“You got it wrong, asshole,” I say, “the deal was—”
Dear God, this shock is twice as strong as the last one. It immediately brings me to my knees and tears an excruciated scream from my throat.
By the time it’s over, I’m panting, sweat has beaded on every surface of my body, and I’m in the fetal position. When I can move, I look around for Titan, waiting for him to come to my side. He’s not standing, though. The blue Whelpie asshole shocked Titan too.
“As I was saying,” he continues, “you’re going to perform, then you’ll earn your rifle.”
