The Alpha Project

Chapter 6

I felt my body tense as I watched one of the men leap out at Benji in full force. I let my body carry me as I pounced into the attacker's side, bringing him to the ground. I grunted as another man attacked me from behind, making me realize I had forgotten a crucial thing: Don't turn your back on the enemy.

I pushed him off of me after earning a punch and a kick for my mistake, and I brought him to the ground, killing him swiftly. Suddenly, I realized I had forgotten about my previous attacker when I heard Benji shout, "Behind you!"

Man, I'm out of the loop a little bit.

I turned at the man who was charging at me with a stick in hand, and I allowed him to run straight into it, allowing Benji to snap his neck. I huffed as I wiped the blood off my hands, and Benji looked me over.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

My ear twitched when I nodded, and I sighed, my bullet wound burning.

"Yeah, I'm fine. You did good back there."

"Not as good as you," he shrugged.

"I've been training for this as long as I can remember," I say, rolling my shoulders.

Benji nodded. "We should leave," he mentions. "In case more people have the guts to jump a hybrid like you."

A hybrid.

"The fire probably gave us away," I mentioned. "Let's go find somewhere else to hide for the night."

He agrees, and I follow him back to the van, sitting down with my thoughts as the trees blur past me.

A hybrid like me. A hybrid. Not one of them.

I didn't realize I had fallen asleep until I felt Benji shake me awake, and I sat up to see we had stopped. An abandoned building was in front of us, and I took a deep breath. We were not the only ones in the area.

Benji hopped out of the van, and I watched him walk to my door, waiting for me. All I was concerned about was how my stomach dropped at the smell of humans in the distance. He stole me from my trance when he opened my door and offered his hand to me. I hesitated but put my hand in his, and my stomach... fluttered. I never felt this feeling before. Was it just the fear of the humans in the distance? Or was it something else poking at me to say, "Hey, don't ignore me!"?

My feet plopped on the ground in my new shoes. It felt really weird wearing these things, but I think I was starting to get used to them—that and the new soft clothes I was now wearing.

"What's wrong?" he asked me as we walked towards the building.

"I think I smell humans." I hesitated as I took another breath. "And something else? They're far away but might find us while we sleep."

Benji looked up at the building, and I followed his gaze. It was tall, two or three stories. I glanced at Benji, who was lost in thought. All I wanted to know was what he was thinking about. After a little bit, he shook his head.

"With you and my gun, we'll be safe. As long as we do some barricading."

I decided to trust him, and I nodded, making Benji smile at me. As we walked closer to the entrance, I stopped in my tracks. I was looking out towards my left, and there was a building of some kind poking out above the trees. However, Benji didn't match my concern.

"We'll check it out in the morning after we sleep," he said, walking inside, and I decided to trust him, not sure why.

After heading inside, we examined the lush room and barricaded the entrance. There were no windows and only one entrance, so we removed the old desks and shelves from the walls and barricaded the door. I came across the staircase and waited for Benji to go up it. He came over and gestured for me to go first, but I declined and followed him up. Sure, I started to trust this man more, but not enough to have him behind me in an enclosed area, not right now.