The Freaks

chapter sixteen

I look like a Soldier now.

The Freaks stole a uniform from two of the Soldiers when they went up top last. They didn't tell us whether or not they killed the two who owned these clothes, and we didn't ask either. All they said was that they found two Soldiers that looked very similar to Nox and I, and that was it.

I roll my shoulders and continue to stare in the long mirror, having to stoop down to be able to see my head. My shorter hair and beard along with the uniform make me look like a completely different person. The black material feels slightly too tight around my back and shoulders. I guess the two Freaks didn't take into account my size before snatching the clothes. Maybe I shouldn't have trained so hard.

There is one empty gun holster at my hip, ready for the same type of weapon that was able to kill my friends all those years ago. Even staring down at the absence of a weapon at my hip brings red at the corners of my vision. I clench my fists and let them shake, wanting to smash my hand over and over again into the mirror until the pain of everything they have put me through goes away.

I suppress the anger. It doesn't make me feel any better, but I can't do anything about it now.

I hear the door open behind me and I turn to see Nox stride in wearing the same thing I am, his hair shorter and no longer brushing into his eyes like it usually did. He looks like a different person; nothing like the boy that saved me from my execution.

"Oh my God," I start to say sarcastically, turning around to face him fully. "There actually is a forehead under that hair."

Nox holds his middle finger up at me as he continues into the room. "Are you ready?" he asks, coming to stand beside me in the mirror, checking over his appearance. He runs a few fingers through his hair, pushing it backwards even though it already is, causing the shorter locks to stand on-end.

I think about his question for a moment before answering. Am I ready? I'm not really sure, being honest. There was a thought in my mind while I was training telling me that I was ready even back then, even—at a push—when Sigma told me about the mission on my arrival. But there was always a little voice at the back of my mind, tucked behind all my other thoughts, telling me that I'm not ready. It was telling me that I couldn't complete this mission even if I tried to, that I would die trying.

Or worse.

But I push all those thoughts from my mind and face Nox in the mirror, watching as he glances over at me in the reflective glass when I say, "I am ready." I look at him properly. "Are you?"

He rolls his shoulders back, then forwards, nodding earnestly as he puffs out his cheeks. "Let's get this over with."

I steel myself as well before following Nox out of the room, pushing all the lingering negative thoughts from my mind.

We meet Sigma and Serena when we get to the caved-in entrance. They turn their heads simultaneously when they hear our booted footsteps echo around the expansive hallway. Serena smiles at me, her eyes moving to Nox after a long moment of our gaze locked.

Sigma, on the other hand, is not smiling. Her face is expressionless, a business-like look covering her steely features, making her even more unapproachable. Her dark hair is tied tightly in a bun at the back of her head, making her hard features tighter and more frightening. It's hard to believe she is only a couple of years older than me. Her position in the Ghetto makes her seem like she should be in her mid-thirties, or something.

Sigma nods at both Nox and me when we pull up in front of them, interlocking her hands together behind her back. Not only is her face business-like, her posture is the same as well: ramrod straight. "You two look about ready," she says, her tone measured and not unkind, but completely emotionless at the same time.