Page 6 of Ink Deep Devotion

Anders seizes the chance sliding Cillian out from under the wall and rolls him to safety. I frantically tried to extinguish the flames covering Cillian’s clothes with my hands, feeling the burning heat begin to melt my gloves. Once Cillian is safe from the fire, my eyes take in the freshly burnt skin on his side.

“He’ll live.” Damian says confidently. He always says that as if it’s a promise he’s forcing us all to believe.

It’s been one year in this hell on earth. Fourteen teams remain out of the original twenty that started. We were told some years only one team survives graduation.

Anders grabs Cillian’s arm, Damian returns to cover our six. I grab Cillian’s other arm; my knees tremble as I strain to hold his weight.There is such a thing as too much muscle. He’s a fucking oaf!

“Ready.” Anders confirms.

“Let’s go!” Dante orders.

Dante, Titan, and Damian fire their weapons as we make our way to the woods. We already wired the trees with explosives, ensuring our classmates can’t get clear shots.

Damian quickly heads for the pilot seat as we reach the chopper. Anders joins him after we get Cillian inside. Since our arrival, Damian—already skilled in flying planes—now trains alongside Anders to pilot both planes and helicopters. The ultimate challenge occurred when our commanding officer parachuted out of the plane, leaving Anders and Damian to either land us safely or let us crash and burn.

With the engines revving, Titan leans out of the chopper, keeping a watchful eye on the surroundings and ready to open fire if required. Dante quickly goes to Cillian’s side while grabbing equipment. He’s been trained as our resident doctor.

Our individual roles come together to create a lethal force. The challenge is that every other group of students here is equipped with the same tools. We’re all fighting against each other. It’s like Silverstone Preparatory on steroids. Cillian was right when he said The Cleansing was an audition. This is the role we all have to play now.

???

Almost two years later.

I have a birthday approaching in a few days, but I’m uncertain if I’ll still be around to see twenty candles on the cake in my imagination.

I almost died today.

It was so peaceful. Like floating endlessly in calm, warm waters as I cloud gaze.

Near death is the only time I see Mila. My mind is filled with the fleeting presence of my little fox teasing my senses.

Fuck! I wish they didn’t rescue me, but then again, living is the only way I’ll truly get to touch her again.

???

Three months later.

I wonder what Mila is doing right now?

She’s in college, although I’m not sure which college; I think she should be in her junior year. Time is a hard thing to grasp when each day is repetitive torture.

We receive no news from the outside world or communication from our families. It’s like we’re living in a void of death. We’re down to six other teams we fight against now. The uncertainty surrounding graduation has us completely in the dark, unsure if it’s next week or in the next five years.

One of the teams tried to escape last night. I suppose their lack of knowledge finally wore them out. Our instructors didn’t shoot them dead.

That would be too kind.

They transformed them into a lesson on torture instead. If we reacted or got sick, our teachers said they would strap us on the table as their replacements.

Anders looked like he enjoyed it. Shit, I’m shocked he didn’t raise a hand and volunteer to start cutting them up. He’s definably the most batshit crazy in my newly formed family.

That’s what these guys are to me. My brothers.

I rub my eyes as I clean my gun, the scent of the oil coats my fingertips. I’ve been trained as the sniper in our group. But unlike the real world, where a sniper works with a partner, I’m forced to work alone. I like the role because it allows me time to be alone, hidden with just me, my gun, my target, my thoughts, and, of course, Mila.

She’s always in the forefront of my mind.

“I didn’t sleep, either,” Leo whispers as he takes a seat next to me. He sets his gun down and begins to disassemble it.

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