Genesis | Book One, The Genesis Series

THIRTY-ONE

Amber's arm muscles tensed and bulged as she pushed upwards, a dull pain rippling throughout her body. Sweat cascaded down her freckled face as she blinked rapidly to force the stinging liquid out of her eyes.

Even in the midst of conversation, Amber still opted to keep herself at maximum physical fitness. Their final confrontation with Ajax and Matthews was nearly upon them-less than a few hours away, to be exact.

Her body trembled merely pondering over the subject. She longed for any distraction from the lingering threat in the distance that was Primus.

People could die out there. People would die. Hundreds of them. Death was inevitable, inexorable, unavoidable. Hell, one of their own could possibly meet their demise out on the field, maybe even herself. But fear no longer deterred her.

She had to do whatever it took to defeat them, and if that included her own death, then so be it.

Despite her and Dylo's best attempts to keep everyone's spirits high, a dull sense of dread proceeded to wash over most of the team.

She gritted her teeth as she mentally pushed those thoughts out of her mind, expelling every ounce of negative energy from her body. She couldn't let any of that get to her. Not yet, at least.

Tensing up, she was pleased and relieved as she watched the barbell rise from her chest, ceasing motion as her arms locked with a jolt. Exhaling in satisfaction, she racked the titanium bar as she lethargically sat up.

She gazed at the calluses that littered her hands. Well, deeper calluses, since she'd already had them from years of rigorous archery training. She and Bianca had stepped into one of the many weight rooms scattered around the facility.

Her eyes cut through the small crack she'd left in the door, registering a sliver of Kai's body. While he was injured, that wasn't what had made his attitude change. The recent defeat had done it. She could tell that the guy was angry, and his injury hadn't made the loss any easier on him.

Hopefully with his superhuman strength and ultra durable skin, he'd be back to his old self in no time. Not to mention the fact that his cells repaired themselves at a much faster rate than normal.

"You ready?" Bianca asked.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready to fight a group of terrorists." She shrugged, her voice carrying with it the weight of irritation.

"Fair enough."

Amber brushed her hair out of her face as a cold silence seeped out between the two young women.

Bianca's lips bared at her teeth. "Look, I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry for how cruelly I've treated you these past few years." She would've said that sentence faster, but she'd forced herself to slow her rate of speech.

Amber snorted. She wasn't buying it. "You're only saying that because you know we might die in a few hours."

"No, I'm serious." Bianca swiftly recoiled as her voice throbbed, walking closer to Amber. "I really am."

Amber lethargically stood to her feet as her body ached in protest. Her eyes trailed over as her sore, strained neck rotated, resting at an angle as her head faced Bianca. Her frosty eyes settled upon the black-haired girl before her.

She had to make the mature decision here. She couldn't have another mound of stress distracting her from this final mission. Thousands of lives would be at stake tomorrow, and some petty grudge couldn't be the thing that endangered them.