Zero's Return (49 page)

“Now remain in
place as the technicians go down the lines,” Codgson said.  “They will be
securing you in place for your match.”

Seeing movement
out of the corner of her eye, Six Six Five chanced a glance to look. 
Immediately, she frowned. 

“It’s very
basic,” Codgson said, as technicians began securing the soldiers on the end
with short, heavy chains around their ankles, padlocked to an eye-bolt in the
floor behind them.  He stopped and smiled at Six Six Five as a technician squatted
beside her leg and metal rattled against the concrete, “But it should serve our
purposes.”

The technician
efficiently fixed the chain in place and moved on, and Six Six Five stared down
at it, confused.  There was no mistake that the chains were not long enough for
them to reach their opponent. 

Most of the
soldiers in the gymnasium were also peering down at their legs in confusion,
but not Six Six Five’s opponent.  He was grinning.  She recognized him as one
of the few who had been able to reach Sensei Harrington’s war-mind on a
consistent basis.  She remembered, because the first weak punch he had thrown
against the bags with just his mind had brought in every doctor, technician,
and soldier to ooh and aah over him for the next six hours, getting him to
repeat the process, measure the intensity, and make their reports.  Even
Colonel Codgson had come to witness his anemic mind-punches and mind-kicks with
something like the way Doctor Molotov looked at Charlie when she thought Six
Six Five wasn’t looking.  Beating him would be
easy
.

And yet, even if
they both lay down and stretched out, they only would have been able to lock
fingers together.  There was simply
no way
to fight each other without…

Six Six Five
froze, a pall of dread suddenly eating away her core, leaving her shaking.  If
they couldn’t physically
reach
each other, the whole fight would be
decided by punches and kicks like Six One Eight’s anemic mind-blows, barely
strong enough to dimple the bag.

…But infinitely
stronger than being unable to punch or kick at all.

And Six Six Five
had never been able to reach Sensei Harrington’s war-mind.

Realizing that,
Six Six Five’s heart began to hammer so hard it filled up her eardrums,
blotting out the sound of anything except her own pulse.  The smug look on Six
One Eight’s wiry face suddenly took on new meaning.  He knew what was
happening, and he already knew he was going to win.

“
If
,”
Colonel Codgson continued, walking down between the shackled lines, “neither
party can utilize what Sensei Harrington taught you and access your war-mind to
either break free or defeat your opponent, you will stay there until you both
perish of dehydration.”  He stopped, smiling at Six Six Five.  “After all,
every single one of you has been tested and confirmed to have the capability,
so there should be no reason you cannot do what you have been trained to do. 
Failure is weakness, and only the strong will survive the coming war.”

Six Six Five
glanced again at her opponent, who had his arms crossed loosely behind his back,
the self-satisfaction unmistakably oozing from his face as he observed her with
visible boredom. 

He’s going to
win,
Six Six Five thought, on a terrified hammer of her heart.  Six Six
Five had spent endless
hours
staring at the wall at Sensei Harrington’s
command, and she still couldn’t so much as move a pen, much less throw a
punch. 

I’m going to
get culled. 
A coldness was working its way from her stomach, making Six
Six Five’s heart begin to race so hard it was difficult to hear what Colonel
Codgson said next.

Resuming his
pacing, Colonel Codgson said, “You may use any and all means necessary to force
your opponent to surrender, including all forms of mutilation or maiming. 
Anything goes.”  He stopped pacing, that gut-twisting smile back in place as he
looked at Six Six Five.  “
Anything
.”  He continued to smile.  “As I’ve
said before, failure is unacceptable.”

Six Six Five was
having trouble breathing, meeting her opponent’s smug stare.  He seemed
completely confident in the outcome of their match, already counting it an easy
win in his head.  And why wouldn’t he?  Six Six Five was one of only a handful
who hadn’t been able to reach her war-mind at
all
.  Not even a tiny,
miniscule nudge of the bag to impress the technicians.  Nothing.

“Now,” Colonel
Codgson said, “the matches begin in thirty seconds.  If your win is impressive
enough, you will be rewarded with pizza tonight.”  He then backed out of the
rows of soldiers, leaving them facing off against their opponents.  Six One
Eight slowly unclasped his hands from behind his back and lowered them to his
sides.  He still leveled her with that smug look, the one that told her she was
going to be culled.

Oh no,
Six Six Five thought, her heart hammering.  She needed to reach her war-mind,
and she needed to do it
now
.  She closed her eyes and tried to focus on
clearing her thoughts, as Sensei Harrington had told her over and over to do,
but all she could think about was how she was going to lose, and how Colonel
Codgson would smile as he culled her, pulling her from his program like a fly
from soup.

The blow came a
few seconds later, hitting her square in the nose.

Six Six Five
cried out and stumbled backwards at the explosion of pain in her face, then
tripped and fell on her back when the chain brought her leg up short.  Blood
was already running down her face, dribbling from her chin.  Across the room,
Six One Eight was still standing upright, grinning at her with that same weird
smile that Colonel Codgson had.

They’re the
same,
Six Six Five thought on a rush of terror. 
That’s why Codgson
likes him so much…
  Beginning from the very first formation as far back as
she could remember, Codgson had favored certain soldiers, and now that she was
faced off against that cold stare, the cruel smile, she realized that every one
of his favorites gave her that same weird sense that they thought they were
looking at hamsters, not people.  Six One Eight, Six Five Five, the big bully…

Six One Eight’s
smile faltered a fraction of an inch as his brow creased.  A moment later, another
blow hit her in the stomach, this one lighter, but still enough to knock the
wind out of her.

Six Six Five
gasped and curled into a ball, pain radiating from her solar plexus.  As she
did, Six One Eight cocked his head and watched, looking curious.  Like he was
experimenting on her.  Seeing what would hurt most…

He’s lazy
,
Six Six Five thought, desperate.  She might not be able to retaliate, but she
could keep him from actually hitting her if she kept moving.  His mental blows,
while consistent, were always sluggish and weak.  He didn’t have the
strength
to force her to surrender.  With this in mind, she rolled onto her feet and
started bouncing around, desperately trying to stay out of his mental reach as
she tried to figure out how to reach her own war-mind before she was culled.

Around them,
most of the other kids were still just standing around, giving each other blank
looks.  Six Six Five’s opponent was the only one who had already begun
attacking his foe.  And he was doing it with boredom, too.  Like it had all
already been decided.  Like he’d been
briefed
on how to win.  And, the
more she thought about that, the more Six Six Five knew he
had
been
briefed.  The smugness, the utter confidence…  Codgson had told him how to beat
her.  He’d
wanted
him to beat her.

As she thought
about that, Six Six Five felt her first real wave of anger, the hot boiling of
injustice within her.  So what if she was the wrong batch?  Why did Colonel
Codgson hate her so much because of her
batch
?  Why was it always
her
he was trying to make fail?  Because she was
small
?  She might be small,
but she was
smart
…

Six One Eight
frowned again, and Six Six Five felt something grab the fingers of her right
hand and squeeze, holding them in place like they were trapped between the jaws
of a vice.  As Six Six Five blinked down at her now-stationary hand and tried
to yank it free, something sharp began driving itself between her nail and her
finger itself.  Six Six Five screamed as big slivers started working themselves
painfully into the quick.  Across from her, Six One Eight continued to watch
her with that weird little smile.

Like he was
playing with her.  Like he was
learning
.

Faced with that
mild curiosity, unable to pull herself free of the agony arching up her arm,
Six Six Five lost control and began thrashing like a wild thing.  The resulting
surge of adrenaline gave her enough strength to pull her fingers out of Six One
Eight’s weak mental vice, but now every eye in the gymnasium was on her,
watching.  No one else was fighting.  They were watching her die, their faces
filled with almost as much interest as Six One Eight’s. 

Heart pounding,
panting in terror, Six Six Five glanced down at her trembling fingers through
tears.  Her veins ached with adrenaline when she saw blood welling under her
nails.  She knew that Sensei Harrington hadn’t taught them such a thing.

Colonel Codgson
smiled that half-smile and came over to stand behind her.  “Are you
surrendering, Six Five?”

Seeing his
disdain, his satisfaction, his desire for her to lose, knowing that he had
taught Six One Eight how to beat her just so he could watch her fail, Six Six
Five felt another powerful rush of anger, this time strong enough to obliterate
her pain and terror.  She lost her fear as she stared up into the colonel’s
malicious black eyes.  In that moment, buoyed on a wave of fury, the universe
itself seemed to click into place for her.  She felt something lock into place,
felt the world shift, felt a world of greenish fog fall into being around her,
felt a weak mental fist reaching for her, a total void within the mist that
trailed back to Six One Eight’s head.

Still looking at
Colonel Codgson, Six Six Five swallowed Six One Eight’s void-fist within her
mind and crushed it, impacting it inward, shoving the greenish particles in on
themselves.

Over on the end
of his chain, Six One Eight gasped and stumbled.  Then he grabbed his head and
started to scream.  Dark eyes shifting to Six One Eight, Colonel Codgson’s face
tightened in a tiny frown.  An instant later, his gaze flickered back to hers
and his eyes widened.  For a split second, Six Six Five saw his fear.

Then she grabbed
the chain at the base of her ankle and snapped it in half.

For long
minutes, there was complete silence in the auditorium.  Every technician, every
soldier,
everyone
watched the two of them, and, seeing the foggy green
shape that was the colonel’s skull, Six Six Five knew that she could have
killed him, then.  Like swatting a fly.

And she saw
Colonel Codgson recognize it, too.  Except, instead of fear, she saw fury. 
Cold, utterly mindless fury.  In a motion too fast for Six Six Five to catch,
he slammed his elbow into her already-bleeding face, then, as the pain
shattered her grasp on the fog, he reached out and grabbed her by the throat, a
knife suddenly in his hand.

“Colonel
Codgson!” Doctor Molotov’s voice snapped, startling everyone in the room,
making Codgson stop before he could slam his knife into Six Six Five’s brain. 
“I believe Six Five just passed our test.  Unless I am mistaken, the general
insisted that anyone who passes is to be left
alive
for more training
and his personal inspection next year.  I’m sure he’ll have questions about
what happened to her, as I’ll be
sure
to put it in my report.”

Colonel Codgson
kept the knife under her jaw, never taking his insane black eyes from Six Six
Five’s face.  Without addressing the doctor, Codgson slowly leaned forward,
until his lips were against Six Six Five’s ear.  “You,” he whispered, just loud
enough for Six Six Five to hear, “are a cull.”  He pulled away, smiling again
at arm’s length.  “You just don’t know it yet.”  Then he shoved her away from
him. 

Without another
word, the colonel went over to the boy who had just lost his match and yanked
him onto his feet.  As Six One Eight was looking up at Codgson with gratitude,
Codgson rammed the knife into his gut and yanked upwards, making his green eyes
go wide.  Even as the boy was reaching for his stomach, trying to double over,
Codgson slashed his knife across the kid’s throat and violently sawed its
serrated blade against his neck, opening up a wound that sprayed blood across
him and several nearby children, all in the matter of a couple seconds. 

As Doctor
Molotov and a couple of her assistants took startled steps backward and
screamed, Codgson turned to the rest of the group and snarled, “
Fight
. 
Or you will be here the rest of your short fucking lives.”  Then he turned and,
covered in crimson droplets, left the dying boy shivering on the floor behind
him and stormed from the room.

“You
fucking ailo
!”
Doctor Molotov screamed at his departing back.  She hurled her clipboard at
him, the thin plastic rattling against the wall beside the door, sending papers
everywhere.  “You psychotic fucking
ailo
!”

Codgson stopped
in the doorway, eyes on the fallen clipboard.  Slowly, he turned to face the
doctor, that casual smile back in place.  “Geneticists are a dime a dozen,
doctor.”  Then, without another word, he turned and departed.

After he was
gone, Doctor Molotov took one look at the gurgling boy on the floor, then ran
from the room in the opposite direction, holding her face.

The technicians
stood around for several minutes, looking at each other.  Then one of them
nervously cleared his throat.  To the lined-up children, he said, “Uh, you guys
should fight.  They’ll be back eventually.”

And they were,
too.  Codgson returned only a couple minutes later, in clean clothes, his face
and hands pink from washing.  Doctor Molotov returned with her mascara smeared
and a new clipboard.  In their absence, no one had fought, but a couple of
technicians
had
dragged away Six One Eight’s body—even then, there was a
trail of crimson from the empty slot in line in front of Six Six Five and the
room smelled of the sickly-sweet-rot odor of the insides of his bowels.