The Wrong Side

Chapter 10

I stand in front of Dawn. I'm not going to let Venning shoot her.

"Get out of the way, Damon," Venning growls impatiently.

"No," I say. "What are you doing?"

"She knows too much to have her memories of this place completely erased. She's been here for too long."

"I'm not going to let you kill her!"

"Do not think you can win this game," Venning warns. "I can get you out of the way, and then I'll kill her."

I can hear Dawn breathing heavily behind me. I honestly don't know why I'm acting stupid like this. Venning is going to shoot me, and then he'll kill her if I don't get out of the way. Still, I'm not going to let her die.

"Put the gun down," I say.

Venning's eyebrows narrow and he lowers the gun to my surprise. "Are you giving me an order?"

I swallow a lump in my throat and look down.

"What makes you think you have the authority to do so?" Venning asks. "The first thing that we're going to do once Private Hill is dead is to teach you some respect. Now stand down."

In this situation, I would have backed down. I actually want to, but in the back of my mind, something is nagging me to not abandon Dawn here.

"No."

Venning fires his gun at me, but the bullet hits my bionic arm instead and it makes a thudding sound when it hits the ground. My heart is going a mile per minute and I can hear myself breathing very loudly. I never thought that Venning would actually shoot. If I had my original arm, then I would have been pretty severely injured. At that moment, I am glad that I lost my arm a while ago. Kudos to Dawn's father and all the other biomechanics at the Endurance for an excellent job on the arm.

Venning scowls and lowers the gun. He glares at me with eyes cold enough to freeze a volcano and have enough ice left over to cover the Arctic.

"Sir," I hear Dawn's voice shake from behind me. "I know it's probably not my place to ask, but what's going on?"

I don't drop my gaze when Venning's expression hardens. I'm not going to let him kill Dawn, and I think that he knows that.

"You stumbled onto an Endurance secret," Venning says. "If I tell you any more, I'd have to kill you for certain." He sighs and puts his gun back in its holster. "You can thank Damon's stubbornness for your life. If I had it my way, you'd be dead right now. If you want to stay alive, you'll keep this place a secret from everyone, even your commanding officer."

I look back at Dawn. I expected her eyes to be huge, but she manages to remain calm and composed. She's still standing at attention in front of Venning. I'm honestly impressed.

"Yes, sir," says Dawn. "And I'm assuming that everything about this place is to remain a secret, including Damon?"

"Especially Damon," says Venning. "You are not to give away any information whatsoever about today and yesterday. And if you tell anyone, I will know. Is that understood soldier?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Venning nods. He still is pissed, but he's not taking it out on anyone anymore, so I guess it's safe to relax a little bit. I didn't realize that I was tense until Venning walks out of the room to find Ada and I finally exhale.

Dawn grabs me by my left shoulder, turns me around and shoves me in the chest. I think that action hurt her more than me, because she winces and grabs her stomach and almost falls over. I catch her before she hits the ground.