Lies & Harmony Trilogy

Chapter Thirteen: The Prince

A whistle sounds from the distance, letting out a long hoot in the hot air. After Tabitha screamed at Eagan she ordered Rush and I to find thin clothing that covered out bodies. We both settled on the black, tight fitting clothes.

     Eagan accompanied us out of the Training Facility, and all four of us were required to take one of the beans that opened the Facility. “In case you get lost,” Eagan answered when I ask. I still didn’t understand but didn’t persist any further.

     We went our separate ways after two hundred and fifty nine seconds. Tabitha, Rush, and I headed north-west. Tabitha made us carry weapons and communication devices with us. It is a small rectangular clip that she attached to our clothes. It looks like a strip of malleable metal from afar. Tabitha made us fold it in half over a piece of our clothing. Surprisingly, it sticks well when I folded it over my wrist band.

     “Tap it twice and then slide your index finger down the length if it,” Tabitha told us after we clipped it on. “That way, it’ll set your fingerprint and anything else important. Now put it to your mouth and say your full name, nice and clear.”

     I didn’t know what to use for my surname and ended up using the real one that I’ve never gotten. “Harmony Ryan.”

     “Now it’s set in your name. Whenever you want to comm. me just double tap, slide your finger down, and articulate my full name. Tabitha Yuen. When I want to communicate to you, it will buzz. When it does, tap once to accept it and twice to decline. I would assume you accept it from me.” She gives the both of us a dark look that promises a threat if we don’t accept her comm.

     Other than the communication device, I have a pistol hidden in my left waistband with five bullets. Tabitha says we have to save have to limit how much we use. A crossbow is slung over my back. Rush also has a gun and a light, thin sword in a sheath on his left. Tabitha wears a green jacket over her sleeveless shirt. Behind the flaps is an array of knives she arranged personally. She wears a gun on her holster and a long, smooth knife resides in the sheath on her back.

     I shudder when I think of the knives. I’ve never really associated Tabitha for a knife person. In fact, I’ve never associated her with any violence. But during the days in the Training Facility, I can see that she is talented in the art of harming.

     “How far are we walking?” Rush asks. This is the same question I had in mind. After the rigorous training, I’ve been waking up with sore muscles. It doesn’t help that I tumbled off a mountain days ago. It also doesn’t help that Tabitha hasn’t given us many breaks between, yet expects our skills to be superb. Rush is the only one who is just barely touching her high standards. I’m much below because I hate the thought of killing and hurting.

     “Not very far,” Tabitha says, grinning. Everything about her is so different now—from the way she acts to the way she talks. Losing Gordon has changed her. I don’t like this Tabitha. I want the other one back.

     The hooting in the distance sounds closer now, but I cannot fathom what is making the noise. We had entered a patch of forest just before we split ways with Eagan.

     “Not far at all,” Tabitha repeats.

     “Let me guess,” Rush begins, drawing out his words lazily. “That’s the train. We’re going to ride the train somehow.”

     A train? I’ve heard of trains before in Learning, but I wonder if the trains I know are all lies the hospital made up.

     “Correct,” Tabitha says, looking at Rush with approval she’s never given me. She sounds like one of my Teachers. “We’re travelling to the eighth sector to Vainglory. We’re breaking in and finding the prisoners they took. If they’re not there, we’ll kill as many as we can and steal their information as a warning from the RC. It shouldn’t be very difficult with you on our side.”