Zoe’s Tale PART II Chapter Fifteen

The next several months were real tiring.Early mornings physical conditioning.You be cushiony, hickory said to me and Gretchen the premiere solar day.Despicable lies, I said.Very well, Hickory said, and pointed to the tree line of the forest, at least a kilometre a charge. Please run to the forest as quickly as you can. accordingly run dressing. Do non stop until you return.We ran. By the cadence I got back, it felt like my lungs were trying to force themselves up my trachea, the smash to smack me around for abusing them. Both Gretchen and I collapsed into the grass gasping.You are soft, Hickory repeated. I didnt argue, and non retributive because at the moment I was tot every last(predicate)y incapable of speaking. We are done for today. Tomorrow we will actually begin with your physical conditioning. We will start slowly. It and Dickory walked away, leaving Gretchen and me to imagine ways we were overtaking to murder Hickory and Dickory, once we could actually forc e oxygen back into our bodies.Mornings school, like every some otherwise kid and juvenile non actively working in a field. Limited books and supplies meant sharing with others. I shared my textbooks with Gretchen, Enzo, and Magdy. This worked amercement when we were all speaking to each other, less so when some of us were not.Will you deuce satisfy focus? Magdy said, waving his hands in front of the two of us. We were supposed to be doing calculus.Stop it, Gretchen said. She had her creative ventureer down on our table. It had been a hard work verboten that morning. God, I miss coffee, she said, looking for up at me.It would be nice to get to this problem some conviction today, Magdy said.Oh, what do you care, Gretchen said. Its not like any of us are going to college anyway.We still arrest to do it, Enzo said.You do it, accordingly, Gretchen said. She leaned over and pushed the book toward the two of them. Its not me or Zoe who has to make this stuff. We already compl ete it. You two are ceaselessly waiting for us to do the work, and then just nodding like you actually know what were doing.Thats not true, Magdy said.Really? Fine, Gretchen said. Prove it. bear upon me.I think someones morning exertions are making her a little grumpy, Magdy said, mockingly.Whats that supposed to mean? I said.It means that since the two of you started whatever it is youre doing, youve been pretty useless here, Magdy said. Despite what Gretchen the Grump is hinting at, its the two of us who have been carrying the two of you lately, and you know it.Youre carrying us in math? Gretchen said. I dont think so.Every occasion else, sweetness, Magdy said. Unless you think Enzo pulling in concert that report on the early compound Union days last week doesnt count.Thats not we, thats Enzo, Gretchen said. And give thanks you, Enzo. Happy, Magdy? Good. Now lets all shut up ab break through this. Gretchen put her head back down on the table. Enzo and Magdy looked at each othe r.Here, give me the book, I said, reaching for it. Ill do this problem. Enzo slid the book over to me, not sooner meeting my gaze.Afternoons training.So, how is the training going? Enzo asked me one early evening, catching me as I limped home from the days workout.Do you mean, can I eat you yet? I asked.Well, no, Enzo said. Although now that you mention it Im curious. Can you?It depends, I said, on what it is youre asking me to kill you with. There was an uncomfortable silence after that. That was a joke, I said.Are you real? Enzo said.We didnt even get around to how to kill things today, I said, changing the subject. We dog-tired the day learning how to flow quietly. You know. To avoid capture.Or to sneak up on something, Enzo said.I sighed. Yes, okay, Enzo. To sneak up on things. To kill them. Because I like to kill. Kill and kill again, thats me. Little Zoe Stab Stab. I sped up my walking speed.Enzo caught up with me. Sorry, he said. That wasnt fair of me.Really, I said.Its j ust a topic of conversation, you know, Enzo said. What you and Gretchen are doing.I stopped walking. What word form of conversation? I asked.Well, think about it, Enzo said. You and Gretchen are spending your afternoons preparing for the apocalypse. What do you think spate are talking about?Its not like that, I said.I know, Enzo said, reaching out and touching my arm, which reminded me we spent less time touching each other lately. Ive told people that, in like manner. Doesnt keep people from talking, though. That and the fact that its you and Gretchen.So? I said.Youre the daughter of the small town leaders, shes the daughter of the guy everyone knows is next in line on the colony council, Enzo said. It looks like youre getting special treatment. If it was just you, people would get it. People know youve got that weird thing you have with the Obin Its not weird, I said.Enzo looked at me blankly.Yeah, okay, I said.People know youve got that thing with the Obin, so they wouldnt t hink about it if it was just you, Enzo said. But the two of you is making people nervous. People wonder if you guys know something we dont.Thats ridiculous, I said. Gretchen is my outdo friend. Thats why I asked her. Should I have asked someone else?You could have, Enzo said.Like who? I said.Like me, Enzo said. You know, your boyfriend.Yeah, because people wouldnt talk about that, I said.Maybe they would and maybe they wouldnt, Enzo said. But at least Id get to mark you every once in a while.I didnt have any good answer to that. So I just gave Enzo a kiss.Look, Im not trying to cause you feel bad or indictable or whatever, Enzo said, when I was done. But I would like to gather in more of you.That statement can be interpreted in many different ways, I said.Lets start with the innocent ones, Enzo said. But we can go from thither if you want.And anyway, you see me every day, rewinding the conversation just a little. And we always spend time together at the hootenannies.I dont coun t doing schoolwork together as time together, Enzo said. And as more(prenominal) merriment as it is to admire how you trained Hickory to imitate a sitar solo Thats Dickory, I said. Hickory does the tympan sounds.Enzo gently put a finger to my lips. As much fun as it is, he repeated. Id or else have some time for just you and me. He kissed me, which was pretty effective punctuation.How about now? I said, after the kiss.Cant, Enzo said. On my way home to babysit Maria and Katherina so my parents can have dinner with friends.Waaah, I said. Kiss me, tell me you want to spend time together, reserve me hanging. Nice.But I have tomorrow afternoon free, Enzo said. Maybe then. After youre done with your stabbing practice.We already did stabbing, I said. Now were on to strangulation.Silence.Joke, I said.I only have your word for that, Enzo said.Cute. I kissed him again. See you tomorrow.The next day training went long. I skipped dinner to head to Enzos parents homestead. His mother sai d hed waited around, and then headed over to Magdys. We didnt talk to each other much the next day during school. Evenings study.We have reached an agreement with Jerry Bennett to allow you to use the information center in the evenings doubly a week, Hickory said.I suddenly felt sorry for Jerry Bennett, who I had heard was more than a little terrified of Hickory and Dickory, and probably would have agreed to anything they asked just so long as they left him alone. I made a mental note to invite Bennett to the next hootenanny. Theres nothing to make an Obin look less threatening than to see one in front of a crowd, bobbing its neck back and forth and making like a tabla drum.Hickory continued. While you are at that place, you will study the Colonial Union files of other sentient species.Why do you want us to learn about them? Gretchen asked.To know how to fight them, Hickory said. And how to kill them.There are hundreds of species in the Conclave, I said. Are we supposed to learn a bout each of them? Thats going to take more than two nights a week.We will be counselling on species who are not members of the Conclave, Hickory said.Gretchen and I looked at each other. But theyre not the ones intend to kill us, Gretchen said.There are many trying to kill you, Hickory said. And some may be more motivated than others. For example, the Rraey. They recently lost a war with the Enesha, who took control of approximately of their colonies before they were themselves foiled by the Obin. The Rraey are no longer a direct threat to any established backwash or colony. But if they were to find you here, there is no doubt what they would do.I shuddered. Gretchen notice. You okay? she asked.Im fine, I said, too quickly. Ive met the Rraey before. Gretchen looked at me strangely but didnt say anything after that.We have a list for you, Hickory said. Jerry Bennett has already prepared the files you have access to for each species. Take special note of the physiology of each race. This will be important in our instruction.To learn how to fight them, I said.Yes, Hickory said. And to learn how to kill them.Three weeks into our studies I pulled up a race who were not on our list.Wow, theyre scary-looking, Gretchen said, looking over my shoulder after she noticed I had been reading for a while.Theyre Consu, I said. Theyre scary, period. I hand my PDA over to Gretchen. Theyre the most move race we know about. They make us look like were banging rocks together. And theyre the ones who made the Obin what they are today.genetically engineered them? Gretchen asked. I nodded. Well, maybe next time they can code for personality. What are you looking at them for?Im just curious, I said. Hickory and Dickory have talked to me about them before. Theyre the closet thing the Obin have to a higher power.Their gods, Gretchen said.I shrugged. More like a kid with an ant farm, I said. An ant farm and a magnifying glass.Sounds lovely, Gretchen said, and handed back the PDA . Hope I never get to meet them. Unless theyre on my side.Theyre not on a side, I said. Theyre above.Above is a side, Gretchen said.Not our side, I said, and switched the PDA back to what I was supposed to be reading.Late evening everything else.Well, this is a surprise, I said to Enzo, who was sitting on my doorstep as I came back from another thrilling night at the information center. I havent seen you too much recently.You havent seen much of anybody recently, Enzo said, standing up to greet me. Its just you and Gretchen. And youve been avoiding me since we broke up the study group.Im not avoiding you, I said.You havent been going out of your way to look for me, Enzo said.Well, he had me there.I dont blame you for it, I said, changing the subject a little. Its not your fault Magdy threw that fit of his. After several weeks of increased sniping, things between Magdy and Gretchen finally reached toxic levels the two of them had a shouting match in class and Magdy ended up saying so me moderately not forgivable things and then stomping off, Enzo trailing behind. And that was the end of our little band.Yeah, its all Magdys fault, Enzo said. Gretchens poking at him until he snapped didnt have anything to do with it at all.Already this conversation had gone twice to places I didnt want it to go, and the rational number part of my brain was just telling me to let it go and change the subject. But then there was the not quite rational part, which was suddenly getting really annoyed. So are you hanging out on my doorstep just to dump on my best friend, or is there some other reason you dropped by?Enzo opened his mouth to say something, and then just shook his head. Forget it, he said, and started to walk off.I blocked his path. No, I said. You came here for a reason. Tell me what it is.Why dont I see you anymore? Enzo said.Is that what you came here to ask me? I said.No, Enzo said. Its not what I came here to say. But its what Im asking you now. Its been two weeks since Magdy and Gretchen did their thing, Zoe. It was between the two of them, but Ive hardly seen you since then. If youre not actually avoiding me, youre faking it really well.If it was between Gretchen and Magdy, why did you leave when he did? I said.Hes my friend, Enzo said. Someone had to calm him down. You know how he gets. You know Im his heat sink. What kind of unbelief is that?Im just saying its not just between Magdy and Gretchen, I said. Its between all of us. You and me and Gretchen and Magdy. When was the last time you did anything without Magdy?I dont remember him being there when we spend time together, Enzo said.You know what I mean, I said. Youre always following him, keeping him from getting hit by someone or breaking his neck or doing something stupid.Im not his puppy, Enzo said, and for that minute he actually got a little angry. Which was new.I ignored it. Youre his friend, I said. His best friend. And Gretchen is mine. And right now our best friends cant stand the sight of each other. And that leaks into us, Enzo. Let me ask you, right now, how do you feel about Gretchen? You dont like her very much, do you?Weve had better days, Enzo said.Right. Because she and your best friend are at it. I feel the same way about Magdy. I guarantee you he feels the same way about me. And Gretchen isnt feeling very friendly to you. I want to spend time with you, Enzo, but most of the time, both of us are a package deal. We come with our best friends attached. And I dont want the caper right now.Because its easier just not to bother, Enzo said.Because Im tired, Enzo, I said, spitting out the words. Okay? Im tired. Every morning I wake up and I have to run or do strength exercises or something that tires me out right after Ive gotten out of bed. Im tired before the rest of you are even awake. thusly school. Then an entire afternoon of getting physically beat up in order to learn how to patronise myself, on the chance some aliens want to come down here a nd kill us all. Then I spend my evenings reading up on every single race out there, not because its interesting, but just in case I need to murder one of them, Ill know where its soft spots are. I hardly have time to think about anything else, Enzo. I am tired.Do you think all of this is fun for me? Do you think its fun for me not to see you? To spend all my time learning to hurt and kill things? Do you think its fun for me that every single day I get my nose rubbed in the fact theres a whole universe out there just waiting to murder us? When was the last time you thought about it? When was the last time Magdy thought about it? I think about it every day, Enzo. My time is spent doing nothing but. So dont tell me that its just easier for me not to bother with the drama. You have no idea. Im sorry. But you dont.Enzo stared at me for a minute, and then reached over to wipe my cheeks. You could tell me, you know, he said.I laughed a small laugh. I dont have time, I said. That got a smil e from Enzo. And anyway, I dont want you to worry.Its a little late for that, Enzo said.Im sorry, I said.Its all right, he said.I miss it, you know, I said, wiping my own face. Spending time with you. Even when it meant spending time with Magdy. I miss having the time to really talk to you. I miss watching you fail at dodgeball. I miss you sending me poems. I miss all of it. Im sorry that weve gotten mad at each other lately, and that we didnt do something to fix it. Im sorry and I miss you, Enzo.Thank you, Enzo said.Youre welcome, I said.We stood there for a minute, looking at each other.You came here to break up with me, didnt you, I said, finally.Yeah, said Enzo. Yeah, I did. Sorry.Dont be, I said. I havent been a very good girlfriend.Yes you have, Enzo said. When youve had the time.Another shaky laugh from me. Well, thats the problem, isnt it, I said.Yes, Enzo said, and I know he was sorry he felt he had to say it.And just like that my first relationship was over, and I went to bed, and I didnt sleep.And then I got up when the sun came up and walked out to our exercise area, and started everything again. Exercise. School. Training. Study.A very tiring time.And this is how my days went, most days, for months, until we had been at Roanoke for almost an entire year.And then things started happening. Fast.