6 Years Later…

Pierce collapsed onto the cool iron grate below her with a grunt, one eye squeezed shut just to keep it from rolling out of her skull and bouncing across the sweat-spattered floor. Small violet specks swam about the teen’s vision as the tears ran rampant down the left side of her pallid face–a gift from the angry fist still looming above her. That was sure to leave a bruise.

“You know, I’m starting to think you were right about Father slowly going insane,” the young man watching her sneered. “I mean, why else would he pick some scrawny little bitch like you to lead this dump over me?” Scoffing, he shook his head and turned to leave.

Finally, an opening.

Pierce narrowed her “good” eye at Samson and snarled, seizing the opportunity to slash his Achilles with the Ka-bar knife holstered at her side. One swift swish of the wrist and a grotesque pop dropped the pompous jerk to his knees–perfect timing for the right hook that followed.

Samson’s head snapped sideways, catching a brief glimpse of the firm disappointment in his father’s eyes just before everything went black.

~ * ~ * ~

“Look left.”

Exhaling softly through her nose, Pierce reluctantly did as told. Sweeping her weary gaze across the atrocious faded pink and white striped wallpaper that her father refused to let her change ever since she was a child, the teen scanned the vast array of weaponry that cluttered the walls in open racks.

Father insisted they were easier to get to in case of an emergency that way.

Tiny crimson droplets stained the baseboard and ragged carpet beneath the swords and assortment of tactical knives, half of the blades rusted over from mistreatment. The other half reeked of rotted flesh, filling the room with a sour smell that burned the nostrils and lingered for hours. Though, the pudgy white maggots crawling along their edges voiced no complaints.

“Good, look right.”

Bringing one leg up on the worn comforter of a sheetless mattress, Pierce groaned in protest. The throbbing behind her eye had grown nearly unbearable over the past hour.

“Come on, we’re almost done,” a tender voice encouraged. The teen grumbled under her breath but followed his words to the piles of blood-soaked uniforms and clothes scattered about the floor. Some of it was still fresh, she noticed, and there was something on the nightstand that wasn’t there when she left for her combat training…

“What is that?” Pierce spat, glaring at the small flat panel that had caught her eye. The smooth glass surface glinted in the light, two elastic bands attached to its back. She glanced back at the man examining her questioningly.

“That,” Jay mused, “is your birthday gift. From your brother Caden.”

“Ah, the nice one,” Pierce sighed in mock relief, reaching back to inspect the strange device. “It looks like another detonator. A fancy one at that.”

“Yeah, Caden’s pretty amazing in a lab, I’ll give him that,” Jay scoffed, watching her turn the panel over in her hands curiously. “But,” Pierce looked up quizzically from the straps she was toying with, “it’s not a detonator.”

“Oh? So what is it then? An arm guard? A drone remote? Ooh, maybe a new communicator? My radio’s been shot for weeks.” Absentmindedly stretching the bands, she continued rattling off different possibilities for what it could be.

Jay stifled a laugh, flashing his trademark grin and admiring her childlike enthusiasm over this mystery present. He was the only one to see this side of her, a true rare form. Running a hand through his dark hair, he looked away for a moment, thinking about the gift in his pocket.

Was it too soon?

“I’m just going to keep guessing until you tell me,” Pierce remarked, gently tapping the device against his forehead to recapture the other teen’s attention. He couldn’t help but laugh. It was a warm laugh, one that always reassured Pierce and seemed to melt away the coldness of everything else in her life.

“Caden says it’s a teleportation and time-altering device. He thought it might help you in your sparring matches,” Jay explained, carefully taking the panel and sliding it into place on her left forearm. “Think time travel, but cooler.”

“Time travel and teleportation? He really needs to quit reading all that sci-fi garbage that’s out there.” Pierce shook her head in dismay, tapping the screen and watching it quietly blink to life like an old box tv.

Humming a distracted agreement, Jay’s dark eyes traced the small cut on the young commander’s swollen bottom lip. With a faint sigh, he reached out to dab at it with the cool rag beside him.

“Are you nervous?” His voice was so low she scarcely heard him. Furrowing her brows, Pierce lifted her gaze from the array of numbers on screen to peer up at the uncharacteristically timid soldier. “About tomorrow,” he added.

“No,” she answered quickly. Jay sent her a knowing look. “I’m not nervous,” she insisted more firmly. “Taking over as Director after my father was always the plan, ever since I was six. Did I expect the coronation to be the day after I turned 18? No, obviously not, but that’s what he decided. So…here we are…I guess.”

Smiling sympathetically and knowing full well just how anxious she really was, Jay leaned forward and pressed a delicate kiss to her forehead, tilting his head down until the tips of their noses brushed together. Pierce couldn’t help but close her eyes, letting the warmth of their combined breaths ease the tension she’d felt churning within her all afternoon. She could feel him watching her still–probably analyzing every wrinkle of worry and wondering how he could fix it.

“Can I tell you something?” he murmured against her, dropping the rag beside him so he could gently grasp her bruised hands.

“As if saying no would stop you,” Pierce quipped with the hint of a smile. Jay let out a faint chuckle but fell silent, prompting the commander to peek up at him. His normally bright and cheery gaze was clouded with confliction–something Pierce had never witnessed before. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong. I just…I wish things were different. Every day, I look at you and think of everything I’d do to be with you. Just to stand next to you or hold your hand when your father’s not looking. And I know that sounds cliché, but it’s true. I’m in love with you, and I don’t want to pretend like I’m not anymore,” he admitted, pulling away to see Pierce more clearly in front of him. The other teen blinked in surprise, though she should have expected it.

“Sounds to me like there’s a lot more wrong than just ‘nothing,’” she commented breezily. Jay nodded reluctantly and sighed, looking away. “Tomorrow when I become the new Director,” she started slowly, as if trying to gauge his reaction, “I can change the rules.”

A spark of something akin to hope flickered alight in his dark eyes, and then an idea struck him.

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” he repeated, a warm smile causing the corners of his eyes to wrinkle. “Let’s run away.” Pierce looked at him as if he’d grown two heads.

“We live in a completely irradiated world, and you want to run away? Where would we even go? The moment our filters die and the radiation poisoning sets in, our lives are over. We can’t survive out there!”

“Yes, we can. We’ve found survivors before–they’re proof that there’s still something out there. Who knows, maybe there’s a whole city still standing, and we just haven’t found it yet,” Jay offered with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Jay, we haven’t found a single survivor in over three years,” Pierce sighed heavily. “They’re gone,” she added in a whisper, “everyone’s gone.”

“Then promise me something.” Jay squeezed her hands in his tightly, as if it could mold his next statement into reality. “When the radiation levels go down, come with me. Anywhere.” The teen clenched her jaw and turned her head, avoiding his gaze. “Pierce, I know you’re worried about filling this role your father made for you, but…is it really worth coming home so beat up you can’t remember your name for two days? Or is it worth him strapping you to a chair and frying you senseless or holding your head underwater until you pass out or forcing you to drink poison?”

“That was just part of my training. In case someone else captured and tortured me,” she muttered. “It’s over now, I swear.” Jay wasn’t convinced but decided to drop it for her sake.

It’s too soon.

“Whatever you decide, I’ll stand by you, no matter what,” he promised. “Even if I have to keep James Bonding my way in here every night to see you…wearing exotic suits and descending from the skylights to badass background music,” Jay added with a teasing grin. Pierce snorted in surprise, causing them both to burst into a fit of laughter.

Relieved to see her smiling again, Jay gently cupped her cheeks as their laughter died down, admiring the way her eyes sparkled in even the dimmest lights. Like the sun reflecting off the glaciers in the ocean.

 “Well then Kim, Jay Kim, what are you thinking right now?” Pierce teased with a coy smile. Stifling a laugh, the soldier considered it for a moment before leaning forward to seal the gap between them in a breathless kiss. Sliding their way down to the old mattress beneath them, he broke away just long enough to breathe against her lips the only thing left on his mind.

“I love you.”