Battlefield (8 page)

In a manner of days, Gerard and Devyn developed a routine that seemed beneficial to the both of them.  Every day, during procreation services, Gerard and Devyn would pull out the map Devyn had skillfully hidden under her bed and they would continue to strategize.  Within the three days they started, Gerard had drawn up at least seventeen battle plans, and had the inspiration for more.  Devyn started planning on different routes to the Gates of Freedom, and then they would switch to see what the other thought about what they had come up with.  Oddly enough, neither took the other’s criticism personally; the goal was freedom, and it didn’t matter how they would achieve the goal, just that they did. 

From the corner of his eye, Gerard began to watch Devyn as she began staring at the map intently, mentally going over the routes she hadn’t thought about before then rating the success rate of each one.  She distracted him at times, and now was one of those times.  Her eyes would get incredibly green when she was thinking – almost a bright forest green color – and then her nostrils would flare a little bit.  Her teeth would scrape her bottom lip gently before starting to habitually chewing on it, as though the movement helped regulate her thoughts.  Now, Gerard was not the type of person to ever use the word adorable, but somehow, the word fit Devyn down to a tee when she was in her strategizing frame of mind.

Of course, Devyn never noticed Gerard’s scrutinization of her due to the fact that she was deep in thought.  She had already planned for possible routes they could take, and using different colored pins, indicated whether or not such a route would be successful, would entail physical combat, or might require adaption to the different elements.  Gerard had already approved of the four, and now she was currently working on a fifth one.  Her hair fell into her face, but she hardly noticed it.  Her thoughts were too focused.

Gerard had to tense the muscles in his arms in order to keep from reaching over and sweeping the stranded locks from her face.  He tore his eyes away from her, reminding himself that above everything else, he needed to focus.  Focus.  Why was that so hard for him to do?

Don’t kid yourself
, a voice inside his head murmured. 
You know exactly why you’re distracted.

But Gerard refused to admit it, and continued to sketch out battle plans.  Most of them, he knew, they would never enact only because they weren’t quite right for their Unit - maybe some genomes apart of the Unit didn’t have the ability to actually do some of the things he wanted them to do, or Devyn would just tell him no.  It was almost as though he was a robot; Gerard didn’t even really have to think about what he was doing – he just did them, and that was that.  And when that happened, his thoughts wandered.

“So,” he said, keeping his voice low in case some Whitecoat overheard them and realized they weren’t actually engaging in procreation services.  But he wanted to talk to her, to keep his thoughts from making comments about the woman next to him.  The woman he couldn’t have.  “So,” he said again, and realized he didn’t have anything to say. 
Think Gerry, think. 
“What’s the first thing you’re going to do once you get out of here?”

Devyn stopped whatever she was doing and glanced over at him.  There was a soft smile on her face, as though the interruption was welcomed.  She didn’t think her mind could take anymore without some kind of break, however temporary it might be.

“You know, I haven’t really thought about it,” she admitted, resting her chin on her knuckles.  “I’ve always wanted to try a milkshake though.  And go to the place they call Disneyland.  Apparently it’s the Happiest Place on Earth.”

“And remember you’re coming to Scotland with me,” Gerard told her, his eyes teasing, but at the same time, serious.

“And I’m coming with you to Scotland,” she agreed.  “And you?”

“I’m going to have a beer,” Gerard said with a grin.  “I always overhear the Whitecoats talking about the drink, and I have decided I want to try one.  To see what it’s like.”

“Because the Whitecoats like it,” Devyn stated in a flat tone, a smirk on her face.  The genomes had always tried to differentiate themselves between themselves and the Whitecoats, and to hear Gerard want to try a certain drink because the Whitecoats had was amusing, to say the least.

“Oh ha ha,” Gerard said.  “You got me.”

Before Devyn could respond, both she and Gerard heard the familiar swiping of a key in her door.  Immediately, the couple looked at each other; the sound could only mean someone was coming inside her cell without attempting to alert the couple of their presence.  Without even thinking, both Gerard and Devyn shoved everything they were working on underneath the bed, and afterwards, Gerard pushed himself on top of Devyn, and immediately claimed her lips just as the door to Devyn’s room popped open.

For a moment, Gerard forgot that he was only kissing her to ensure that the Whitecoats knew they were at least doing what they were supposed to be doing.  Instead, he felt himself lose his thoughts and began to kiss her as though he really was her lover.  He had felt her hesitate, but something inside of her pushed, and she gave in, kissing him back.  Her arms, on their own accord, looped around his neck as she pulled him closer to her, and she lifted on leg and coiled it around Gerard’s waist.  Her fingers lost themselves in Gerard’s short hair as she gave up on all sense of rationale.

She had wanted to do this for a while, but there was no way in hell she’d ever be the one to initiate it.  Gerard gently gripped Devyn’s jaw line with his fingers, tilting her head back in order to deepen the kiss.  If this was the only chance he had when it came to kissing Devyn, then he would take full advantage of the opportunity presented to him until either she pushed him off or the Whitecoats did.  And he hoped to God that she wouldn’t push him off.  His arm snaked around her waist, pulling her body up, tightly against him as his tongue slid past her lips and into her mouth.

He had to taste her.  He had to memorize her before he had to stop.  And one way or the other, he was going to have to stop, whether he wanted to or not.

Before he realized what was happening, somebody had grabbed the material of his t-shirt, yanking Gerard back.  The person wasn’t strong enough to throw the genome back, but it was a minor inconvenience – the shirt tugging against his back – especially when he was concentrating his focus on Devyn.

“What?” Gerard growled, forcing himself to break away from Devyn, at least for a moment, his pale green eyes flashing emerald at the two Whitecoats who had interrupted him.  They had better have a good reason for interrupting.

Surprisingly enough, both Whitecoats regarded Devyn with relief, almost as though they realized they had arrived just in time.  The one who looked like he knew what he was doing – the one with the thick-rimmed, squared glasses – took a wary step forward, completely ignoring Gerard’s presence altogether.

“You have not yet consummated your procreation activities with 111369?” he asked, almost surprised at the prospect.  The time was nearly over for procreation, and either they were spending a lot of time on foreplay, or they were gearing up for round two.

“Not
yet
,” Gerard answered for her, his tone revealing that he was impatient.  To the Whitecoats, he sounded as though he wanted to do his duty and make love to the woman beneath him as soon as possible, as though he, too, knew how much time he had left and didn’t want to waste one minute of it.

They still didn’t look at Gerard.  Their eyes were on Devyn, and for one moment of horror, Gerard thought they were going to force the couple to let them watch.

“113089,” the second Whitecoat said, his voice soft-spoken but firm.  The blue eyes gripped onto hers tightly, almost daring her to look away.  “We have immediate orders from the Director.  You are not to engage in any sort of procreation services with your partner from this moment on.  This includes things such as kissing, caressing, touching, holding, and the like.  The only reason 111369 should be touching you is because you are fighting or he is saving your life when the Game begins.”

Devyn’s whole face contorted into a scowl.  Who did this Stewart Director person think he was, ordering her around like this?  She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Gerard interrupted.

“You tell the Director that Devyn is
mine
,” he said roughly, his eyes narrowed, “and that if he wants her, he’ll have to go through
me
.”  With that, Gerard turned around and placed his lips hungrily on her mouth, wanting more.

Deep inside of him, he knew he was already addicted to her.

It was a long time before they had to pull away for air, and realized the Whitecoats had long since departed.

“I think,” Devyn said between breaths.  “I think they’re gone.”

“Yeah,” Gerard murmured, agreeing.

“Thank you,” Devyn said, casting a glance at him.  She could still feel her lips tingling.  “We should probably get back to planning.”

“Yeah,” Gerard agreed once more.  “Yeah we should.” 

The auditorium was heated because the summer day in Los Angeles was surprisingly chilly.  Most of the women had worn their long-sleeve thermal instead of the usual wife beater, but it didn’t surprise Devyn in the slightest to see nearly every male still in their t-shirts.  It was like men had some innate heating system programmed into their body so they never got cold.  She wished she had more layers on to be honest, only because Devyn was the type of woman who got cold rather easily.

A meeting had been called in order to discuss the Game.  The Units were all placed in specific places in the auditorium.  Unit 121 was front row, on the right side of the stage.  Devyn walked with Rachel, telling her everything that had happened to her on the way over when it regarded Gerard, the two kisses they had shared, and what the Whitecoats had told her.  Devyn did this at this particular moment because once they sat down, Rachel couldn’t talk to her about it lest she want to reveal to the Whitecoats and to the surrounding Units their plans, the fact that she actually liked kissing Gerard, and that the Director wanted her in some kind of way.  This, of course, would do nothing for Rachel; thoughts would be swimming around her mind for the longest time, and she would have the sudden urge to talk without the outlet to.

Once Gerard caught sight of Devyn’s entrance along with the rest of the female’s from Unit 121, he went over to meet her, enclosing his long fingers around her wrist and tugging her in the general direction of where they would be sitting.

“What are you doing?” she asked him, furrowing her brow slightly, but it should be noted that she didn’t pull away from him or demanded that he stop until he told her what was going on.

“Listen,” he said in a whisper, continuing to lead her to two seats at the very end of the row.  “You heard what I said to those two Whitecoats yesterday.  I have to pretend to be territorial over you to show that I meant what I said.”

A tiny smile touched her lips, more genuine than the mischievous sparkle littering her eyes.  “And did you mean what you said?” she asked, taking a seat next to him.

Gerard glanced over at her, and paused, unsure of what to say.  When he realized that she was teasing him, his lips quirked up and he leaned in close to her so his forehead just barely grazed her.  “Maybe,” he whispered so that only she could hear.  “You know, maybe next time, we should actually be having sex to show them that I’m serious about you.”

“I highly doubt there’s going to be a next time,” Devyn said, trying to get comfortable in the folding chair.  “I mean, I don’t know the Director and I have no idea why he chose me as his little plaything, but he’s scary.”

Gerard never thought he would ever hear those words from those lips.  Devyn wasn’t the kind of woman who admitted that she was afraid of something, or so he believed.  Maybe this Stewart Hall man really crawled under her skin in a bad way.  No matter.  Gerard really did mean what he had said, whether he teased Devyn about it or not.  In a way, Gerard almost wished the Director would take up his offer just to have an excuse to slap the guy across the face like he had done to Devyn, among other things.

He reached over and placed his hand on Devyn’s lower thigh before giving her a reassuring squeeze.  “You don’t have anything to worry about, you hear me?” he told her, and though she was looking at the dimming lights, he stared at her profile, hoping she understood his message.  “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“I know,” Devyn murmured, giving him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.  She placed her hand over his and interlocked her fingers within his just as someone walked on stage and the auditorium went completely dark.

In a quick moment, a spotlight flashed on, and the Units realized that it was Sarah, standing at the podium, her icy smile carved onto her face.

“I’m sure everybody is wondering why you were all called in here today,” she began.  Though it was rare for a genome to actually like Sarah, it had to be said that she was actually a very good speaker, and her presence all but commanded direct attention.  “Well, I’m here to tell you.  As I’m sure you’re all aware, the days slip by, which could only mean that the date upon which your Mission begins is only getting closer.  Besides telling you just what the Mission requires you to do and what your goal is, you don’t know much of anything else.  However, today, that’s about to change.  In the next twenty minutes, you will be getting valuable information about this Mission, including the rules.  To give you the rules, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to the man who created you all, who is the sole reason why you are alive, breathing, today, the Director, Mr. Stewart Hall.”

It couldn’t be helped; the auditorium burst into applause.  A few genomes even decided to stand up, but Devyn refused to do such a thing, and Gerard didn’t exactly blame her.  Once the room settled, Gerard grabbed Devyn’s hand again; he knew she was a strong woman, but he wanted to offer her whatever support he could.  And since she hadn’t yet pushed him away, he took it as a good sign.

“Thank you, thank you,” Stewart said, flashing a charming smile.

Gerard’s eyes narrowed. 
So this was the man who wanted to take Devyn away from him?
  He’d like to see the guy try.

“Now, I know we all cringe when we hear the word rules, but please, don’t think of them as constraining,” the Director begin, his eyes slowly looking across at his audience.  Truth be told, Stewart Hall was a good speaker too.  “But there are important guidelines that you should all be aware of.  Now, the Mission itself starts August thirteenth of this year, so please make a note that it’s less than two weeks.  It’ll be starting at oh-six hundred hours.  What’s going to happen then is eight Whitecoats are going to check each of you, which could take up to an hour.  This is going to happen to ensure nobody brought any sort of weaponry out into combat because, like I’m sure you’ve heard over and over again, weaponry is not allowed.  And if it turns out that any genome has a weapon, they will be terminated without question.  Is that clear?”

The genomes said nothing but nodded.

“Good,” Stewart said, and smiled once more.  “Now, I’m sure you all know your objective.  It is crucial that you get to the Gates of Freedom before any other Unit.  The first Unit to the Gates of Freedom gets to walk out with nothing but their freedom and the clothes on their back.  It is essential that you do whatever you can to guarantee your freedom; killing isn’t just something you can do, it’s required.  If you don’t kill someone, someone could kill you.  Hell, it’s basic evolution; kill or be killed.  Isn’t your freedom worth that much?  And it’s not like members of one Unit actually know members of another Unit.  You’re not killing your friends.  You’re killing people who want to take away your freedom.

“Now, it is important that you recognize that cameras will be following you during the Mission,” Stewart continued, glancing around the room once more.  “Cameramen are not to be killed, and anyone who does kill a cameraman automatically gets sent back, unable to participate anymore.  In order to distinguish them from everyone else, they will be wearing bold pink colors.”

“Won’t that give away a genome’s position?” a voice asked without being called on.

“No,” Stewart replied.  “Men are positioned everywhere and aren’t supposed to follow Units.  Cameras will also be placed in the trees and on wires to follow the Units, especially to areas where the men cannot get to.

“As you know, we already have a built-in audience.  You all did your photo spread for my magazine, and people want to know more about you, about who you are.  They want to know who to root for.  Which one of you will be their favorite?  The excitement in this mission is that the audience feels as though they have some sort of bond with you.  Don’t let them down.  People believe in your capabilities so believe in yourself.  You can do this.  You should be aware that for the next three days, a camera crew will be following your Unit around so we can show the audience just who you are and what you’re capable of.”

Both Gerard and Devyn rolled their eyes.  Did they really need a motivational speaker telling them what to do?  Their lives were on the line, and that should be motivation enough.

“And remember everyone,” the Director said in a concluding voice.  “This is more than a game.  If you die, you don’t come back to life.  You stay dead.”