Imitation (32 page)

The two guards lead us through one of the
back hallways of the stadium. The walls are made of dark grey
cement giving the corridor a very cold and confined feeling. As I
watch the fluorescent lights overhead reflecting on the shiny red
floor, a million questions flood my mind. The biggest one being,
where’s my dad?

We stop in front of a bright white door at
the end of the hall. I look over at Joey and he gives me a
reassuring smile while squeezing my hand. I’m so lucky to have him
here with me since we’ve been through so much together. He’s
definitely my rock.

One of the guards sharply raps his knuckles
on the door and it opens, revealing my father. Releasing Joey’s
hand, I throw myself into my dad’s arms, and for one split second I
feel truly safe.

“
Dad! It’s so good to see
you. We’ve missed you.”

“
I’ve missed you too. You
have no idea,” he whispers in my ear. Pulling back from me
slightly, he looks over my shoulder at Joey. “It’s good to see you
too, Joey. I wish it was under better circumstances
though.”

Joey nods. “Yeah, me too.”

“
So, what’s going on here?
Why were we singled out like this? They’ve never done this before,
right?” I ask, confused.

“
Come into the room so we
can talk in private, okay?” he states and then dismisses the guards
with a motion of his hand.

My father’s weary sigh keeps me from asking
more questions as I follow him into the room with Joey right behind
me.

We take a seat in the chairs across from my
dad who sits behind a large metal desk. “Would either of you like
something to drink?” he asks, pointing to a pitcher of ice water
and three glasses sitting on the corner of the desk.

Ignoring his failed attempt to stall the
conversation I blurt out, “Come on, Dad, why are we here?” While
staring intently into his brown eyes, he dodges mine
immediately.

Combing his hand through his shaggy light
brown hair, something he does when he’s nervous or upset, he leans
back in his chair and shakes his head. “It’s not easy for me to
tell you this…but you’ve been handpicked to be a part of a special
project.”

“
A special project? Is
this the thing you’ve been working on?” I ask him directly. He nods
slightly and begins to pour himself a drink. I look over at Joey,
who shrugs his shoulders, and then I turn back to my father.
“What’s this project?”

“
First, I feel I must
point out that once you know the details, you must go through with
it. Otherwise, you’ll be detained indefinitely. And believe me when
I say you don’t want that. Nor do I want that for you,” he explains
and then takes a big swig of his water.

“
How would they know
you’ve told us if we don’t say anything?” Joey asks.

“
The walls have ears, dear
boy,” is all he says.

“
Why is this so
secretive?”

“
This is the largest
undertaking the Federation has ever funded, and unfortunately,
that’s all I can say until you agree to be a part of it. I don’t
want to endanger you by telling you too much. Just in case you want
to try and back out,” he replies.

I sit there, not knowing what to say. I had
so many questions before entering this room, and though some were
answered, now new ones have taken their places. I pour myself a
glass of water and take a sizable gulp as my throat suddenly feels
like it’s full of sand.

“
I can try and convince
the Federation to choose two other draftees, but-”

“
I want to do it,” I blurt
out, surprising him.

“
I do too. I’ve always
wanted to serve, and if this project will give us a better chance
of surviving the war, I want to take the risk,” Joey
interjects.

My dad seems to be bothered by how quickly
we answered his question. His eyes dart back and forth from me to
Joey, with a frown fixed on his mouth. “Are you two…absolutely
sure?” he struggles to get out. “Because once I tell you about
this, there’s no turning back.” I can see in his eyes he wants us
to change our minds.

I look over at Joey, whose eyes give me the
answer I need, and then back to my dad. “Yes.”

“
Well…I can’t say that I
didn’t try. I won’t lie to you two, this isn’t going to be easy. I
honestly can’t even imagine you going through with it,” he says,
sounding concerned.

“
More dangerous than
fighting in the war?” I ask.

“
Unfortunately… yes,” he
replies bluntly.

“
Dad, can you please be
straight with us? What’s this project? I mean, since we’ve already
agreed to it, you’ve got to tell us now, right?”

My dad lets out a heavy sigh before he
begins. “The Federation is choosing five draftees from each of the
eight geographical regions in the United States, and then 40 others
from each of the five remaining habitable continents as well. They
want to modify you through the use of nanotechnology in order to
mold you into enhanced soldiers.”

“
What do you mean
'enhanced soldiers'?” Joey chimes in.

“
In a nutshell? Super
soldiers. Basically, you’ll receive a series of implants, that I’ve
developed, which will modify your biological composition, leaving
you with enhanced abilities. You’ll be changed forever.” He stops,
almost seeming like he’s mulling something over. I stare at him
with anticipation for what he’s going to say next, but he dodges it
to take another drink of water. After setting down the glass, his
focus returns to us. “I know this is going to sound crazy, but the
implants are fused with the essence of a Bringer.”

“
A Bringer!? We’re going
to have part of those things put inside us? You’re right, that is
crazy,” I reply, completely shocked by what my dad just said. “I
won’t have any part of those things inside of me! Those things
killed Dylan. Does that not bother you at all?”

“
Of course it does,
Kenley. And trust me when I say that I hate this as much you do,
but the Magnus project is the last hope we have in the war against
these creatures. I told you this wouldn’t be easy. There’s nothing
I can do now though. You have to go through with it,” my dad says
with eyes full of sadness.

“
You can’t be serious. How
is any of this even possible?” I hear Joey ask, but my eyes are
still affixed to my father’s.

He breaks eye contact with me and looks over
at Joey. “We’ve had some major breakthroughs in bio-modification
research, and this project was born because of it. I can assure you
that all of this is one hundred percent true. And sadly, you two
will see that firsthand very soon.”

“
I’m so not looking
forward to telling Mom about this, especially after all she’s been
through.”

“
No. You can’t tell her,
or anyone else for that matter. This is top secret. If they trace
any leak back to you, they’ll hunt you down and…well, I’d rather
not think about what they’d do to you.”

“
Got it, don’t tell
anyone,” I reply seriously.

“
All we need to tell your
mom is that you did well enough in the preliminaries to land you a
safe desk job. I hate the fact we have to lie to her, but with what
happened to your brother, and me being gone for so long, I don’t
want to put her through any more stress.”

“
I hate lying to Mom too,”
I say and then pause. “I know you guys wanted me to throw the
preliminaries so I’d be safe for two years, and then go back to a
normal life. But ever since Dylan’s death, life has been anything
but normal, and I want to fight. There’s too much at stake not to,”
I say, failing to keep the sadness from my voice.

My dad leans forward with his elbows on the
desk and his hands clasped. “I knew you wouldn’t purposefully fail
the tests. To be honest, I wasn’t surprised when the Federation
wanted you two. You’re perfect hosts for the implant.” He reclines
in the chair and rests his hands on his chest. “You’re right
though, we did want you to be assigned a desk job, but this is your
life, Kenley. I guess I’ll have to put my feelings aside. As much
as I hate the idea.” He wearily pushes himself up from his chair
and makes his way to the door. Opening it, “All right, you two. You
better get on home. You’ll receive your assignment papers through
the mail within the next couple of days or so. These papers are
very important as they contain the location you’ll be meeting with
the three other draftees from your region.”

As I go to leave the room, my dad grabs me
in a hug. I can only remember him hugging me like this one other
time. It was right after my brother’s funeral. He’s holding on to
me so tight, it seems like he’s afraid that if he lets me go I
might disappear.

I hug him back and whisper, “Don’t worry,
Dad. I’ll be fine.”

“
I know you will. Be safe,
and I’ll see you soon, okay?” he chokes out.

The drive home with Joey is somewhat quiet.
Not because we don’t have things to say, we have plenty to talk
about, but we just kind of keep to ourselves. We both begin to talk
to each other several times, but the conversations kind of just
drop off.

Drumming my fingers on the armrest of the
car door, I watch the scenery outside fly by. I’ve always enjoyed
gazing into a forest as you drive by it. The blurry pattern the
trees make as you look in between them has always fascinated
me.

Ahead of us I see a large section of the
forest full of charred trees. As we get closer to them, I notice
several rows have been leveled, leaving a pathway that leads deep
into the woods. A thick smoky haze fills the area.

“
Joey, stop the car,” I
yell out, seeming to startle him. “Do you see that?”

“
Yeah, what did that?” he
asks, and then pulls the car onto the shoulder of the
road.

“
I don’t know, but it
definitely did a number on those trees,” I reply while opening the
car door. My mouth hangs open with shock as I stand there, scanning
the destruction. A path has been cut straight through the trees,
ending in a circular section. It looks as if someone took a
precision laser and cut them down by hand.

“
Are you sure we should
just go investigating?” I hear Joey ask through my open car
door.

“
What if someone needs our
help?”

“
Out here? In the middle
of nowhere?” he asks dryly. “What if it’s the Bringers? What would
you do then, huh?”

“
That’s why I have you
here to protect me,” I joke, but inside a twinge of fear bubbles up
at the thought of a Bringer being in the forest.