Chapter 8

I put the key into the ignition and shift into neutral with my left foot. My left-hand grasp the clutch in. I kick the stand up and reposition myself to keep balance. I lean forward to better balance myself on the bike and place my right foot on the kick start and push my weight down on it. It takes me a few tries to get it to start since I'm so light.

"Ok, what now?" I ask the people around me.

My father stares at me clearly worrying about me getting injured. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him. What was the point in getting me a dirt bike if you were going to worry about me getting injured? It's inevitable. With me that is.

I look over to Tris who looks clueless. Ok, so she's never actually driven a bike, she just fixes them. Cause that makes sense. I scowl at her unhelpfulness.

Braydon walks up next to me. "'K this is what you're going to do. Pull the clutch in, and shift down to the first gear."

He backs up to let me change into the first gear. My heart pounds when I could feel the bike rumble between my legs. After I got into first gear, he came back to my side.

"Now, slowly release the clutch. If you release too quickly you'll kill the engine." I release the clutch slowly. "Feel the bike moving. Letting the clutch out slowly drives you into a point of engagement. Careful now, don't touch the throttle yet. Let's take this slow."

The bike drove forward and Braydon stayed close enough to make me feel safe. I tried my hardest to fight the urge to twist the throttle. It feels like a natural instinct to want to twist it with my wrist.

"Good enough to add a little speed?" I nod my head. "When gathering speed at the first gear, all you have to do twist the throttle a little bit. Until you feel comfortable, then you can twist it further. Also when slowing down, push the rear brake beneath your right foot. Don't touch the front brake or you'll fly forward or something."

I nod my head at the information being fed to me. I raise my feet to place them on the foot holders. I gently touch the throttle and twist as softly as I could. I began to pick up speed which made me clutch the handles harder.

With my grip tighter, I shifted and my hand on the throttle twisted it which made my bike spike with speed. Fear crept into the pit of my stomach. I gained speed and I had to fight the urge of grabbing the front brake.

Driving in the base seems dangerously small. Soon my track will come to an end and I'm afraid I'll pull the front brake and fly forward.

"Braydon!" I scream.

"Just push down with your right foot!" He yells.

My brain is caught dead in its tracks because I froze when the end came near. As the wall approaches, my life flashes through my eyes. I push down with my right foot but fear overcame me and I turned my handles to the side and fell to a skid.

I could feel the bike crash into the wall and my side spikes with pain. I could hear shouting but it seems so far away. My heart pounds out of my chest and I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins. All I thought was again.

The bike's weight is pulled off of me and I could suddenly feel my leg again. An arm comes under me to sit me up. I could hear their voices but none of it registers to my brain. I try to calm the pulse that clouds my hearing to try to listen to what they say.

But I just want to ride again. My father's face comes into view and his worry lines cover his youth.

"Zeria, are you ok? Do you wanna leave to go see the medic or possibly lie down." His voice laced with his worrying.

I shake my head. "No, I wanna go again."

He sighs. "Zeria, I think you should take a break."

I pull away from Braydon. "No, I wanna go again. Let's go outside then. There's more room out there. A longer runway."

My father's face turns dark. "No. I want you to go to your room and rest there." He gets up to leave.

"But Father!" I yell chasing after him. "You didn't even consider it."

He stops abruptly and I crash into his back. I stumble regaining my footing. He turns on his heel to face me. He crouches to become the same as my height. I like it when he gets down to my height because that means he's giving me a chance to become equals with him. Because he's so tall and my father, he could easily use his authority.

His pale green eyes tell me to give him the reasons why he should take me outside. I open my mouth to speak but he refused to listen to my reasoning. He's using his authority, great.

"Father, please. You can't expect me to stay here forever. I'm a soldier, I have to go out." He continues to walk away. "Would you just listen to me!"

He stops at my shouting. He turns but he doesn't walk back to me. "Zeria, I can't listen to you. Your just a child. You don't know what's out there. My answer is no."

I grind my teeth. "Father, I asked you to come along. You'll be there to protect me. I just want to go outside to see the sun and watch the clouds. I want to practice driving the dirt bike you got me. Is that really too much to ask?"

His nostrils flare indicating this really is too much to ask for. I shake my head. "Fine. I'll stay here and rot while my people die for me. All for me to just sit here and stare at the mother fucking wall."

I turn around to storm off but he startled me with his vigorous voice. "Zeria stop!"

My tracks were stopped in their place. He's never used his authoritative voice at me. It's always his loving one, the one where he makes it seem like we're going to make it. I breathe through my nose and calm myself before I lit the fire burning inside of me again.

"You will not speak to me in such a tone. I am your father. I know what's best for you and it's not out there. You will listen to me and stay here at home where it's safe."

I slowly turn to face him. "Father? No. More like a commanding officer. If you knew what was best for me, you would let me try to see and understand. But all you did was turn me down." I took off into a run.

Braydon tries to catch me but I slither out of his grasp. No one can make me feel better about what just happened. Just a child? I thought we were in this together. I didn't know that my existence was irrelevant.

My lunges began to burn. Trying to run while crying is harder when actually doing it. I had to take a breather to catch my breath. I have to get out of here, but where? There's nowhere out and I'm stuck here forever.

I wipe my eyes to clear my vision. I ran so fast that I had no idea where I was going. I need to find a place where no one is going to find me. This place is big but it feels so small. I lean against the wall and tears slowly fall down my face.

How can he say that? Why does he want to shelter me? I should be out there helping and saving those who can't save themselves. I am not a child. I may look like it but I'm not. I will not be a child anymore. This world calls for a soldier, not a kid. If he can't see that, then I guess I'll have to show him.

I move forward down the hall trying to figure out where I am. It seems that I finally got lost. Good. That means no one will come this way. If it's not a place I'm familiar with, then this is the last place they'll search in.

I stumble noticing the sharp pain on my side. I guess the fall did more damage than I thought. I limp going further down. Here I thought I explored every inch of this place. Voices echo behind me and I begin to run again.

They can't find me yet. I'm not ready. I force open one of the doors and enter, closing it behind me. I look through the window and watch people run by suspecting that I kept going.

When I couldn't hear them any longer, I let out the breath that I was holding. I turn to face the room except it wasn't a room. It was a tunnel. Where did it lead to?

My steps careful, I followed the dark path. I wonder little ways in, it ended to become an underground cave of water. My mouth drops at the beauty of the cave. The ceiling looks like I'm staring at the stars. I know it's not the constellation because it's still daylight outside.

The scenery steals the breath away from me and any thoughts prior to this moment. I sit on the ground to stare at the wonder of nature. Eventually, I fall asleep.

When I woke up, I was in someone's lap and I could smell mint, sweat and something I still can't put my finger on quite yet. I lay there a little longer before getting up. I think about the fight but the scenery keeps taking me away from my thoughts.

"How did you find me?" I ask lower than a whisper, afraid anything louder will scare the lit-up bugs.

"Honestly, I didn't. I come here when I want to be alone."

I smile and then frown. "But you have a whole section of the base to yourself. Why an extra room to keep hidden?"

"No one before today knew about this place. And either you or Tris keeps breaking my code about trespassers for my section of the base. So being here, no one can actually find me."

I nod understanding. "I get why you would want to keep this place a secret though. It's breathtaking."

"It also keeps me from overthinking things. It's a good place to stop thinking, at least for a little while."

I can feel that. My anger slipped out of my grasp when I'm here. A smile lingers on my face as I continue to stare at the beauty. I wish I could stay here forever. It would make my life simpler.

"When are you leaving?" I ask almost too afraid to ask. The last time they left it was unbearable. And that was less than twenty-four hours ago.

"Tonight."

I look down. "Because of me?"

He shifts in his spot. "No, because of me."

What? I stare at him like he's crazy. "How could it possibly be because of you?"

He lets out a heavy sigh. "Because it was me that convinced him to let you get a dirt bike. I could just imagine in my head your smile and the way your eyes lit up when you would see them. If I didn't, maybe your father wouldn't be in such a hurry to leave and want to infiltrate a local Humanoid base. All to escape from his problems."

I sit up straiter. "What?"

He shifts again, uncomfortably this time. "Please don't make me repeat. It's weird enough that I thought about you at all during the hunt."

I swat the air dismissing that idea. "No, I mean father infiltrating the nearby humanoid base, is that true?"

He nods slowly trying to understand what I mean.

"But he said that mission was a suicide mission. That no one could make it in without running into humanoids." Braydon shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. "Braydon this is serious. He could get himself killed trying to do something so ignorant and stupid."

I stand up. "Where are you going?" he asks me sounding not all that interested. He's complicated, I'll give him that.

"To find my father and tell him not to go," I say determined to leave.

He snorts. "Good luck with that. He whipped those who opposed him already today."

I frown at the thought of my father angry with anyone. "I don't think you're seeing how severe this is. Braydon, he could die."

Braydon's face went serious. "Look, I know you're worried but," His face softens. "everything's going to be alright. There's no need to worry. We're trained and we can take on any humanoid that comes our way. Plus if anything does go wrong they'll have me, the quickest shot."

One mission and he gets cocky. "Need I remind you that you went on one mission and on that mission you went on a basic hunt that was well-rehearsed and done before. No one knows how many humanoids lie on the inside. You could all get killed."

I could feel him roll his eyes at me. "Zeria we're going to be fine. There's no need to worry. We got this. Ok? I'm telling you that we can do this."

Ok? I am not ok. But I let his words get to me. Braydon's smart, he wouldn't let people die on him. He would risk his own life to save others. I've seen him do it before. If he believes they can do it, all I have to do is trust him. Even if I do think it's a stupid idea.

I raise my pinkie finger. "Promise." My voice hit a nerve inside of me. This is more meaningful than any promise we've ever made before.

"I promise to come back in one piece and to bring everyone back alive. I also promise to relieve that worry away. Everythings going to be just fine, Zeria. I promise." He stares intently into my eyes.

"I'm holding you onto that promise."