I crawl under the bed covers and turn off the TV. I sit there in the room looking around the room. Huge, is the only word that I can describe it with. My bags are all piled up on the right side of the bed. Only one is open with clothes around it. That’s the one I unpacked to find comfy clothes to wear to sleep.



I sigh taking in the new atmosphere, then I grab my laptop off the bedside table and open it. I google Outcast tribes Zack, Cale and Lizzie. Searches come up with many outcast tribes. I click on one and scroll down to the names of the new members. No, they aren’t here. I search on another one. No. I search on each one but they aren’t there. I feel the tears come swell up in my eyes. I don’t hold them back. They soon start to fall down. They’re dead, just accept the fact Kimberley! I think before I shut my computer. I set it back on the table and lay my head on the pillow. Then I fall instantly to sleep.







The sun’s rays that make their way into my room because of the window shades that are open. I try to hide under the covers but the suns light keeps aggravating me to get up. I moan in frustration and look at my clock 7:28. I growl throwing the blankets off me. I make myself get out of bed and stretch. The air around me freezes me to the bone. I fall on my knees next to my bag and rummage through it till I find a pair of blue jeans, a black turtle neck and a brown leather jacket. I don’t want to get undressed. I want to crawl back in my bed and fall back to sleep. Also it’s still cold in here. But, again, I demand myself to take off my pajamas and put on the clothes.



I walk into the bathroom and wash my face, brush my teeth, and throw my hair into a simple high ponytail. I look at myself. Just yesterday I got up in my bed, at home, with my family. Now look at me. I’m here, in a place I do not know, a place that is not my home. Away from my family.



I close my eyes wishing to go home. But I wipe away a tear and walk out of the bathroom. I pick a pair of tall black combat boots to wear and lace them up. I grab my phone and walk out the door. I make my way down the hallway and down the stairs. I get my baring’s and remember where the kitchen is.



I walk in finding the cook. Kathy, remembering her name, is putting food on the wooden table a few feet away from the kitchen countertop. Jama sits at the end of the table his hands folded and his eyes closed. He wears a blue plaid buttoned up shirt with tan pants. His shoes are leather and match his white socks. He seems deep in thought. Even when I wave my hand in front of his face he doesn’t even move.



“Uh, miss, I wouldn’t do that!” I take my hand away and look at the cook. She is laying down a plate of cinnamon rolls and a bowl of fruit. She has short blonde hair with a chef’s hat on. She wears a short red bandana around her neck and a white, buttoned up chef’s outfit. “Mr. Jama is deep in thought. He prays every morning before breakfast, must not be disturbed.”



“Why, what does he pray about?” I ask looking at her confused.



“No one knows. He just sits there for a long time and doesn’t say anything or move. He never tells his servants what he thinks about, he just does it.” Her voice is high pitched. It gives me a headache but in a way it’s cute.



“Should I start?” I ask her.



“I don’t know miss, Mr. Jama has never had anybody stay with him for as long as I can remember. Since Luka. I don’t know if you should start without him.”



For safe measures, I just take a seat at the table and plug my earphones in waiting for Jama to finish and Ronnie to come down. Fifteen minutes pass and Jama hasn’t moved. But I hear Ronnie run into the kitchen. She is panting. “Sorry . . . forgot . . . we had to be here . . . at eight.” She pants. She sits down next to me then notices Jama. “What is he doing?” She has her hair braided back into a low pony with a black jacket on with a blue Abercrombie shirt underneath it. She also has on boots with blue jeans. Her eyelashes have mascara on them and she put makeup on. I roll my eyes. How she ever got used to seeing knives and fighting I’ll never know.



“Jama is prying.” I say folding my hands and putting my elbows on the table. “I thought it would be polite to wait for him.”



“Fine by me, I just hope he’s done soon. I’m hungry.” She runs her tongue over her lips hungrily looking at all the food. I can’t argue with her. I am hungry and all the food looks delicious. I sigh sadly.



We wait for another five minutes or so before Ronnie and I see Jama blink his eyes open and turn his head towards us. “Forgive me, I always pray like that every morning. You may start eating if you wish.” He gestures his hand towards the feast on the table. Ronnie and I don’t argue and fill our plates up with food. I take some scrambled eggs with a cinnamon roll, fruit, bacon, sausage and pour a glass of orange juice. Ronnie takes her favorite. Pancakes with sausage, whipped cream and strawberries.



Sometimes, back at home, all the cooks would serve us is cold cereal and toast. It’s on occasion, mostly weekends, we would get a big breakfast like this. The best meals are when people are welcomed into the facility. If Jama eats like this every day it’s hard to believe he’s so thin.



I take one bite of the hot, scrambled eggs and I’m instantly in heaven. They are delicious. They are fluffy, delicious eggs. The fruit is fresh, not like the kind we have back at the lodge which is always bruised or sometimes moldy. The bacon and sausage are cooked perfectly as well as the cinnamon roll.



I don’t realize it until I look down at my plate and it’s clean. The food was just too good to savor. I load my plate up with more food and pour another glass of orange juice. I start to eat when I see Jama has only a small amount of food. He pours himself only half a cup of coffee and has only half the food I do.



“Jama, are you feeling okay?” I ask before putting my fork of eggs in my mouth.



“Oh yes. When you get to be my age you must be cautious on how much food you should have. I’m at the brink where too much food could kill you.”



I look at him then at my own plate filled with eggs, sausage another cinnamon roll and bacon. I want it badly it tasted so good. But I get up enough urge for me to push it away. I already have huge legs and I’m not as skinny as some people at the Lodge. I’m definitely not as skinny as the girls at my school, but I surly am stronger.



I wait patiently as Ronnie and Jama both finish their breakfast. I cross my arms and look at Ronnie already having a third pancake. Jealousy rushes through my body. If I had that many pancakes, not counting all the other food she ate, I would explode. Yes, Ronnie can pretty much eat and not gain any weight. I, on the other hand, will gain weight no matter what I eat.



I grunt softly at her. She stops shoving pancakes in her mouth and looks at me. I glare down at her trying to tell her to top eating. But she just gives me a weird glance and goes back to eating. Jama has finished and sits waiting for Ronnie. I roll my eyes as we wait.



After Ronnie has finally finished eating Jama tells us to wait for him outside. We stand in the driveway wait for Jama. “How long does it take an old man to get a coat and boots on?” Ronnie asks through clenched teeth.



“Who knows remember this is somebody we just met yesterday. Maybe we should treat him with a little respect.”



“Respect, he should be the one treating us with some respect, we’re his guests after all!” I sigh at Ronnie’s reaction. She has gotten to be quite the mouthful. She always thinks she’s right, she always talks back and has a loud mouth where ever she goes. I’m getting really sick of it.



A gust of cold wind passes us and it sends a shiver down my back. I flinch and shake it off. But I can’t argue with Ronnie on this one, where is Jama? Like my prayers have been answered Jama walks out wearing a long brown coat and fedora. He comes up in front of us. “You didn’t have to wait all the way out here.”



“Sorry, thought we were going somewhere.” I say. He looks at me, then moves his head. He looks around me and sighs. I turn around to see what he’s looking at. “Don’t get your hopes up ladies. The Lodge isn’t going anywhere without you.”



I crinkle my nose up like a little kid. “Want to bet.” I say under my breath.



I know Jama hears it because he gives me a stern look, but he doesn’t do anything about it. “Anyway, today I’ll get information on where you are in your training. The woods behind the barn contains live practice dummies. I will program them from a room I have made in my house and will be monitoring your moves as well as your emotions. I will have you each pick weapons from a room I have under my house then I’ll put you at your starting points.”



Ronnie and I exchanges glances. I didn’t like the whole idea of training outside in the cold, mostly because of the snow. Snow makes it harder to run and climb trees. If there’s a storm it makes it impossible to see, that’s the worst. But I don’t feel like arguing with Jama.



“Follow me,” He doesn’t watch if we follow, he just turns and starts walking back around the house. I grumble not wanting to follow but ignore my feelings and follow him.



He opens a door bellow his deck and walks in. I go around the door and stop in amazement. Weapons littered the room. So many guns, bows, knives, whips, words, grenades, protective gear, and so much more. I couldn’t name everything in here if you asked me.



“Go ahead and pick, but I warn you, my dummies get stronger after they have seen your moves. I can make them do anything . . . make sure you understand that.”



I glare at him when we walk in. “Crystal,” I grumble through clenched teeth. Ronnie runs in excited to touch the weapons littering the walls, tables, and hangers of the bright, white room. I look around seeing the weapons I could choose from. I remember what Logan said to me though, “Four knives won’t help you kill of a group of Unions. You’ll need more weapons then that.”



I walk around searching for a weapon. I walk over to the knives area and find four to stick in my boot for good measure. Then I walk over to the bows and arrows. I try a few out making sure I can pull them back. I finally choose the right one for me. I find the matching set of arrows and sling it over my shoulder then walk over to the guns.



I’m looking around when I see a utility belt with two guns, a whip, knives, and two hatchets. Sweet! I think to myself. I grab the belt and put it around my hips. It feels heavy at first but I figure I’ll get used to it. I grab a machine gun and strap it around my shoulder. The last things I grab are bullets for the guns and a sword. I strap the bullet belts around my thighs and the sword, again, I swing the strap around my shoulder.



I feel my body weight increase by 20%. There’s no way I can fight with all this, but better to be safe than sorry. I walk back over to where Jama is standing and look up. His eyes widen, “Sure you got enough stuff there?”



I adjust the machine gun strap on my shoulder, “Yeah, I think I got enough.” I say sarcastically back at him. Ronnie comes up next to me carrying a huge gun with two pistols strapped around her belt along with knives and a sword. The only thing she doesn’t have is a bow and whip. I can understand why, Ronnie never had a strong side for whips. She could never pull them back, she didn’t have the strength. She’s getting better but can never hold it to see where she is shooting. I’m surprised though she doesn’t have a whip. She is getting really good at using that weapon. Maybe she wants to push herself I don’t know.



“Alright seems you both have what you need. I’ll lead you to your starting positions. Once you here the whistle you may charge into the forest. Remember, I’ll be monitoring you.”



“How long will this last?” I ask curious on how long I’ll spend in the freezing forest.



“Until the whistle blows again.” Jama says smiling. I don’t return it. That could either mean very short time or for hours. My bets are on the second one.



Jama nods then opens the door and a gust of wind hits us. I feel my body shiver but I think that it’s from nervousness. Showing Jama what I can do will be interesting because I don’t even know how to handle his techniques.



Jama leads us around the barn and a few feet into the forest, we stop. “Kimberley you stay here. Wait for the whistle. Once you hear it you take off into the forest.” He says before leaving me and showing Ronnie her starting position. I watch them until there out of sight, then I turn my attention in front of me. I wait and listen. Jama must have extraordinary technology. He must have holograms with amazing features. I take a deep breath. My heart is pounding, I’m so terrified of not getting this right. A thousand questions roam through my head. What if I can’t kill them? What if I fail? What if my best is not good enough?



Through all my thoughts and worries as I stand there frozen I barley hear the whistle blow. My mind shoots back into reality and I dash into the forest, not looking back at the house.







I remember my previous training form the Lodge. Don’t run straight. It’s easier for the enemy to follow. Making sure and being cautious I run in zig-zag lines jumping over fallen logs and ducking under branches. I look back a couple of times noticing the house isn’t visible anymore. I breathe deeply and slow my pace.



I look around the forest, wonder how far in it goes. I decide to climb a tree figuring out a strategy. I look and find a nice pine tree, those always have good branches.



I rush over and grab onto a branch. I start to climb when I feel something grab my ankle. I have no time to react when I’m pulled away from the tree. I’m thrown to the ground and snow is kicked on me. I moan dazed for a minute. Then I look up and see one of the holograms. I rip out one of my knives from my boots and get in a fighting crouch. The hologram takes out a sword and also gets into a position.



I take a few deep breaths and stare at my competitor. I keep remind myself over and over again I’m fighting Jama. Jama is watching me. I’ll show no fear, no mercy. I’ll show him I’m just as good as anybody! I think as I strike towards the hologram not showing any weakness. The hologram strikes back.