Brave Fear (boyxboy)

Chapter 14

Daisy pulled Zane and Joseph aside while Marcus and Mallory were busy admiring the tunnel that lay beneath the wooden racks. She grabbed them by the upper arm and led them over into one of the shooting range tunnels. She was forceful, tugging them along like toy wagons. Her shirt ruffled as she walked briskly into the long hallway before turning to face them.

"There's one small thing you forgot to mention that we need to take with us," she said to Zane, her eyes sparkling. Zane found it hard to differentiate her from the girl who ate a whole box of Froot Loops the other morning. She had intense mood swings so unexpectedly it was almost laughable.

"What's that?" Zane asked, admiring Joseph's outfit, which consisted of cream-colored shorts and an orange and white striped tee. Zane thought he looked great, but Zane thought that of practically every outfit Joseph wore. It was truly one of his weaknesses. And something he was unfamiliar with.

"Weapons, sweetie," Daisy said, pulling out the longest of her hunting knives. She softly caressed the blade, running her finger along the sharp blade. "You guys need weapons. Especially if Wawrzynski sends those soldiers after us." She glanced up at them, moving her eyes but not her head. Her ponytail fell to the side, covering half of her face. In irritation, she threw her head around, whipping her hair back into place. She blew a hair from her mouth and struggled to regain her composure.

"What about our powers?" Joseph asked uncertainly, looking at his hands mournfully. Zane knew the feeling. Wawryznski had referred to them as gifts, but to Zane they were nothing less than curses. He didn't ask for this power, he didn't want it, and he wished it could go away.

Daisy shook her head. "Too unstable," she said. The knife went back to her belt alongside the other two. "Besides, Wawrzynski may have a kill-switch. We know nothing about these powers. We need to have a backup form of protection." She picked up a pistol and offered it to Joseph. Adding that to the one Zane had on him, there was only one left.

Joseph took it with a mournful look at Zane. Zane knew Joseph didn't want to hurt anybody. He just wanted to get the hell out of there. Zane wished he could feel that way. It would make things so much easier. Instead he had to deal with the inner turmoil of releasing his former life.

When Daisy offered him the other one, Zane just lifted up his shirt to reveal the glint of steel against his pale skin. She shrugged and deposited it on the opposite side of her hunting knives. There was no need to leave any weapon of that caliber behind, and Daisy knew it.

"Now excuse me while I go and pack Froot Loops," She told them, a smile creeping across her face. Zane managed a laugh as she walked away. "Don't forget to grab the deer horn knives!" she hollered back. Zane rolled his eyes.

Joseph trailed him as he strode over to the rack and grabbed the knives. The metal ones. The sharp ones. He grabbed a weapon belt from nearby on one of the other racks and slipped the oddly-shaped knives on it. He muttered grim assurances to himself as he felt butterflies creep into his stomach before transforming into bees and stinging his insides.

He kept his hands reassuringly upon the knives as he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had to do this. For everybody's sake. To disperse the apprehensive thoughts, he recalled every negligent thing Wawryznski had done and every horrible memory about this place.

He remembered the day in Wawrzynski's office, sitting on a lawn chair, as the young man informed them that if their rebellious behavior continued, they would be turned in to the governors. He remembered the cell Joseph and he had been in for many days, and the multiple injections the doctors here had forced upon them. His rage boiled and the bees shrunk back into butterflies. He recalled Daisy's story of Marcus's personality bends, which were the cause of Wawrzynski running tests on him using unstable technology. His hands curled into fists as he thought of the photograph in Daisy's wallet, a symbol of everything she had been through.