The Suicide Project (Rebirth Book 1) (17 page)

Sergeant Ramsey put his arm around the woman and said, “This is Sergeant Kamealoha, but you may call her Sergeant Kami. Her charges are Kyrie, Logan, Zima, and Marisol.” We all took turns shaking her hand and respectfully said, “It’s nice to meet you, Ma’am.” Next, Sergeant Ramsey gestured to the handsome brunette guy next to him and said, “This is Sergeant Flynn. He’s in charge of Allegra, Gabe, Ruby, and Leif. I don’t expect y’all to remember all these names, I just thought I’d include who they’re in charge of in case you need to report any suspicious or offensive behaviors or anything.” We all smiled at Sergeant Flynn and took turns shaking his hand, while murmuring, “Pleased to meet you, Sir.” Sergeant Flynn smiled warmly at us all before chuckling and elbowing Sergeant Ramsey in the ribs. “You lucky bastard! They’re a polite and respectful bunch and I like them already.”

A second man stepped forward, obviously impatient to be introduced. Holding out his hand to me first, he stated, “Hello! I’m Sergeant Honda and I’m in charge of Aidan, Harper, and Cassidy.” Sergeant Honda’s smile was so bright and genuine that I liked him right on the spot. “Pleased to meet you, Sir.”

The Mess Hall door banged open, and we all turned to look as yet another Sergeant jogged in, nearly out of breath. “I’m sorry I’m late! I wanted to be here for the introductions too but lost track of time.” He was staring directly at me as he held out his hand and introduced himself, “I’m Sergeant Quartermaine. I’m in charge of Dee, Wyatt, and Angelo.” I held out my hand to shake his but was a little unnerved by the intensity of his stare. He was scrutinizing me very closely and it made me wonder what he was looking for. A sudden chill of foreboding worked its way down my spine. “It’s nice to meet you Sir,” I said, but when he didn’t immediately release my hand, I panicked and looked questioningly to Sergeant Ramsey for guidance.

Sergeant Kami stepped forward and stomped on Sergeant Quartermaine’s foot to snap him out of the weird trance he seemed to be in. To break the awkward silence, Sergeant Ramsey emitted a forced laugh and nudged Quartermaine hard before stating, “They’re MY subjects, not yours.”

When Sam and Gideon both inched protectively in front of me, he went further on to explain, “Please forgive me, Teagan. It’s just that you fascinate me, and you remind me very strongly of someone I know. It’s a little disconcerting.”

Sam and Gideon both took turns politely shaking his hand, but they hadn’t budged from their protective stance in front of me. As I openly studied Sergeant Quartermaine, I realized that he reminded me of a tall and muscular Santa Clause with his close-cropped mustache and beard that was purely white. He wouldn’t be so bad if he’d just lose that creepy stare of his.

Sergeant Kami cleared her throat to announce, “Now that we’ve all been formally introduced, I think we should move this meeting to the conference room.” The other sergeants all concurred and started heading down the same hallway that Jamie had previously led us from. Before following them, I first looked at Gideon and then Sam. Gideon just shrugged in agreement that he found Sergeant Quartermaine’s reaction to me baffling as well. We all waved goodbye to Amos before hurrying to catch up with the others. Jamie was still behind us, bringing up the rear in order to guide us in the right direction.

Throwing her arm around my shoulder she murmured low, “Don’t mind Sergeant Quartermaine. He’s a little on the quirky side but I promise that he’s harmless. I think he’s just star struck by you.” Jamie fell silent as we all approached the conference room. The others were already seated so we hurriedly chose seats that allowed us to face the sergeants. I saw that they were all beaming at us. Sergeant Kami smiled widely and began the meeting. “First of all, welcome! We’re so happy to have you three with us! We’ve been watching your progress so long on the live cams that it almost feels surreal to be talking to you across this table.” She chuckled a little nervously as she continued, “We have a lot of faith that you three can knock some sense into the other program participants. Sergeant Ramsey assured all of us that you were fully on board 100% with receiving another DNA shot. We feel that once we can get the others past the shock of the physical anomalies the animal DNA causes in us, then we can convince them all to join you in advancing in the program.”

Sergeant Ramsey cut in to voice what they planned for the week. “We all know firsthand how eager some of the others are to join y’all in physical training, so we made the decision to keep you three separated. I know from yer point of view it probably seems cruel, but we all think it’s a strategic move that’s going to help keep them motivated. We plan to have y’all training in the gym at the same time, but you’ll just be on the other side of the gym. They’ll be able to actually see you and the special exercises we’ll be having you do. We think it’ll be incentive for the rest to take the program more seriously. But most importantly, it’ll help us to weed out the few who aren’t interested in advancin’. The few bad apples are holding back everyone else in their units. That’s why so many of the others want to ditch their own units and join ours. Once we can determine who the truly dedicated ones are, then we’ll reward them for their hard work and give them the same chance to advance by offering more DNA shots.”

Sergeant Flynn rubbed his hands together when he announced, “Starting tomorrow, we’re going to work everybody hard in the Gym. This should be a cakewalk for you three because the others haven’t been training nearly as hard as you have been. Since you’re already all physically fit, Teagan you’ll be coaching Sam and Gideon on their animal abilities and how to leap farther distances. They also both need to learn what you’ve been doing with that rope. Very impressive by the way.” There was admiration in Sergeant Flynn’s eyes when he looked at me, and it only made me feel motivated to get started already. I almost wanted to go to the Gym and start now!

Sergeant Honda reiterated our specific plan for the week as he ticked them off on his fingers. “So, goal for this week is stealth training, jumping, and climbing. Since all of us will be in the Gym at the same time, we’ll all get a chance to rotate and get some hands-on training with you three! We’ll put in lots of hours this week but at the end of the week, we have a surprise for you!” That last sentence was said in a little sing-song voice of excitement, and it made me laugh over his enthusiasm. “We’re going to have a test of sorts that will determine who will get to train with you
next
week. If all three of you pass on the first try, then you’ll get the opportunity to receive your third DNA shots next week if you want it. But keep in mind that this third shot is what triggers the physical anomalies. We don’t expect any of the others to pass the test on the first try, but we’ll give them two chances each to try. That seems fair considering how advanced you are in comparison.”

Gideon cleared his throat before asking, “Just out of curiosity, what if none of the others pass this test after their two chances?”

“Then
every
Friday, they’ll each get another two chances to advance forward!” Sergeant Honda’s smile was so wide that I couldn’t resist pleading, “Oh come on! Tell us what the surprise is already. It’s only Monday! You guys are going to torture us all week by withholding that information from us? Seriously?”

The others only laughed at me, and ignored the question completely. I sighed and shook my head as I looked at Sam and Gideon.
Patience, Teagan…patience.

“Every Friday while the tests are going on, you three are more than welcome to be spectators, so that you can watch the action live! It’s only fair since the other participants have been secretly watching you on live cam for half a year. Now it’ll be your turn to sit back, relax, and watch
them
!” I grinned at Sergeant Honda’s over-enthusiasm, and joked, “Do we get popcorn?”

There was a brief pause before they all said in unison, “Yes.”

“I was joking!” I snorted, trying to hold back the laughter. Clearing my throat, I said, “Won’t that be, like, insulting for them or something to see us sitting there eating popcorn as they take their tests? I’m assuming it’s something physical.”

“We don’t really care what they think about that. We might eat popcorn with you, as we sit there and watch them. They ate donuts and cupcakes while they watched you three working your asses off at the mini barracks. So quite frankly, a few of them need to be knocked off of their pedestals and I’m looking forward to watching the trouble makers get their asses handed to them on a platter.” Sergeant Kami was ruthless as she declared her opinion. Judging from her expression and the way she currently sat with her arms crossed over her chest, I assumed she probably had to put up with a lot of crap. But Kyrie was in her group, and I couldn’t imagine her giving Sergeant Kami any trouble.

I considered her words before nodding my head. “Okay. Popcorn it is then. You’re right, it’s only fair. You guys aren’t going to make us turn on each other like a bunch of gladiators, are you?” I was totally fishing for information, and the others knew it, because they just smirked at my lame attempt to unearth their plans. I rolled my eyes at them and said, “Fine. What are the plans for the rest of the day then? I promised Amos that I’d help him and Kyrie frost cupcakes in the kitchen at 4 o’clock, but what do we have scheduled after that?”

“Ooh! Can I help frost cupcakes too?” Sam pleaded. I nodded my head since I knew Amos liked all three of us. Undoubtedly, Gideon would probably tag along too and keep us company. None of us were used to being separated from each other unless it was time for lights out.

Sergeant Ramsey informed us that we were free to do whatever we wanted this afternoon, and that it was a day to rest, get settled in, or try to make nice with the other program participants. I laughed out loud as I looked at Sergeant Ramsey in disbelief. I was pretty sure Gideon was petrified of meeting the others,
especially
the girls.

“What are the rules?” I asked. “Jamie already told us the rule about having a chaperone if girls and guys are going to hang out in the same room, but what are the rest of the rules we need to know?”

Sergeant Honda looked at the other sergeants, and I saw the slight bobbing of heads before he turned to me and said, “Actually, we’ve decided that
that
rule doesn’t apply to you. We’ve been more lenient and flexible with you guys because we all feel that you’re 100% trustworthy. We’ll allow you three to hang out together without need of a chaperone but we don’t trust the others enough yet for that. We would also never give the others hair clippers, razors, or anything else that was sharp for that matter. We all had a meeting about whether or not we should allow Gideon to receive the scissors, clipper, and hair products he asked for in the Common Room. Sergeant Ramsey argued on your behalf that you were all very responsible and trustworthy. Our eyes were all glued to the camera monitors, waiting for you guys to emerge from Gideon’s room. When you all came out of your rooms safe and sound without any bodily injuries, at that moment we knew we could trust you fully.”

“Here at the bigger barracks, all the guys have to be taken to Amos for haircuts if they need a trim or a shave. And those visits are always supervised by a sergeant. Same goes for the ladies who need to shave their legs. We don’t trust them to have access to a razor so Jamie and I usually do that job.” Sergeant Kami informed us.

“Speaking of,” Jamie interrupted, “If you don’t mind me asking, how come you never ask for razors, Teagan? You’re the only girl here who hasn’t asked for shaving stuff.”

“Umm… when I turned 21, I decided to do laser hair removal treatments. I never have to shave again because of them.” I shrugged as I glanced at her. “Painful, but totally worth it by the way.” To change the topic away from my lack of having hairy legs or underarms, I asked, “So what about Kyrie? Can she come with me if I go visit Sam and Gideon in their room? I have a feeling she’s going to be glued to my side.”

Sergeant Ramsey blew out a breath before he pointed his finger at me. “We don’t have a problem with it as long as
you
get your swearing under control!”

“I can do that!” I reassured everybody. “I haven’t even sworn yet once today!” I stopped short and my eyes rolled skyward as I thought about it for a second. “At least, I’m
pretty sure
I didn’t swear yet today.” Sam laughed beside me and I looked at him to ask, “Do you remember me cussing at all?” When he shook his head negatively, I brightened and said to Sergeant Ramsey, “See? No problemo!”

He just looked at me skeptically for a moment before adding, “Anyways, don’t worry about the rules. If ya end up somewhere y’all are not supposed to be, someone will come along to herd you back to your rooms.”

Worriedly, I asked, “But what if I have insomnia? Am I still allowed to go to the Gym? I don’t even know where it is!”

“Absolutely you’re allowed to go to the Gym, darlin’. Good stuff always happens when you end up there and you always manage to improve yer talents. Who knows, some of us might even join ya.” Sergeant Ramsey waggled his eyebrows tauntingly at me. I scoffed and said, “Are you sure you can keep up, old man?”

Gideon nudged me and leaned close to whisper, “Don’t bite off more than you can chew. You keep forgetting, they already have the advantage of being enhanced more than we’ve been. If we’re lucky we’ll get our third shots next week. But who knows how many shots the sergeants’ have had? You shouldn’t underestimate them.”

When Gideon withdrew, I glanced up to see that all the sergeants’ were staring at me with the same challenging smile on their faces that Sergeant Ramsey had. Even though Gideon had covered his hand over my ear so the others couldn’t read his lips as he spoke to me, Sergeant Flynn surprised me when he said, “That’s some pretty good advice Gideon gave you. You should listen to him.”

Fluttering my eyelashes innocently, I remarked in a small voice, “I was just kidding.”

“We know. Just don’t get too cocky. You’ll get stronger, just have patience.” Sergeant Kami was still grinning at me.

One by one, the sergeants all got to their feet and informed us they were starving. Sergeant Quartermaine, who had been silent for the most part, nodded his head at us and stated he needed to get back to his own unit. Sergeant Honda mumbled something about hoping his unit had behaved during his absence. As we all started walking down the hallway, I asked, “Who’s watching the others if all of you guys were in the meeting with us?”