Marked

Chapter One

That had become her favorite part of each day.

She stood against the railing just in time to catch the first rays of sunlight winking over the cerulean waves, the top of the sun bathing the world orange first, then pink and then gradually becoming brighter until she could no longer look at it. When it became so hot it cooked the top of her head, that was her cue to move on.

It was early but mostly everyone was already up doing chores and various military tasks. She went to one of the ramps that connected this ship to the one she needed to report to for her daily duties.

Her boots stepped tentatively, sending a clanking noise echoing down towards the waves. She gripped the railings on either side of the walkway, the trajectory never ceasing to frighten her-she was a better swimmer than Simone, but the height is what did her in. The river back at the compound had been at times fast and furious; she could only imagine what fury the vast and mysterious ocean could hold.

"Hello, Rachel." Debra greeted her as soon as she'd stepped off the ramp, her blonde hair waving in the wind like yellow string. People bustled around them, a mass of brown uniforms, of flesh objects weaving in and out through an otherwise metallic canvas.

Rachel stifled the sigh building in the back of her throat and wondered, not for the first time, when she'd finally be done with the therapy sessions. Maybe once you can convince them you're not losing it anymore.

"Good morning, Debra, what have you got for me?"

"I thought we'd go for a walk today, maybe talk for a little."

Rachel sighed. "Debra you need to stop coddling me. Everyone else has a job around here, a real job and you keep giving me easy tasks that give me way too much time to think; we talked about this-staying busy helps me."

"Okay, okay." Debra motioned with her hands for Rachel to stay calm. "How do you feel about sweeping?"

"Sweeping is good," Rachel replied. "Sweeping is...soothing. Yeah, I think I'd like to sweep today."

"Alright, I can arrange that but you need to promise me you'll come to our evening session after dinner. No more skipping out."

"It's a deal. And, Debra?"

"Yes?" Debra turned her blue, earnest eyes on Rachel. They paused at the edge of a set of stairs.

"Thank you for keeping this between you and me."

"Don't mention it." Debra made a zipping motion against her lips and grinned.

***

Rachel would have said anything to get Debra off her back but she found that there was something oddly soothing about sweeping after all. The soft swish of the bristles as they connected with smooth tile unwound her, the particles of dust floating into the air were distracting.

It had been nearly three weeks since her and her friends had escaped the capital. Three weeks since she'd learned that her parents had been the twisted masterminds behind the Mark that turned the United States into a hoard of mind-controlled robots. Three weeks since she'd killed someone...

She shook her head as if that would shake the thoughts from her mind. The back of her neck still pinched up painfully whenever she moved too fast, a side effect of the stitches they'd placed in there after Hector had discovered Nicolas's tracking chip.

Come to find out, the chip was useless against their shield; in fact, it had been useless the moment she'd stepped onto the helicopter out in the capital. Apparently all their aircrafts were equipped with their own little protective shield. Go figure.