"Brice," Rea hollered, "you shot the door. That's not a target."
Rea started grinding his teeth together so hard he thought they might turn to dust. The young man dropped his weapon on the floor of the training room and shrugged. Rea thought he might strangle him.
Karma appeared at his side when he yelled. She put her hand on his arm. Just the feel of her warm fingers settled his budding rage. He glanced down at her upturned face, and an abrupt thought struck him.
He was… dare he think it? Happy.
The idea momentarily blindsided him. Happy was an unsettling feeling and a foreign experience. He didn't know where it had come from or how it had happened, but in the last week, that's exactly how he'd felt. With Karma back in his life, even this hellish training was now tolerable.
"At the beginning of training, I told that blond kid he was shooting like an untrained monkey. I saw a monkey in a cage on the Equator once. It looked about right," Karma whispered. Her comment brought a smile to tug on his lips.
"Correcting Brice is like beating your head against a wall. It won't help."
"I know. Actually, I shouldn't have said anything. You're in charge, but that guy is what my dad would've called… stupider."
Rea sighed and scanned all the men around the training room. He was done for today.
"I'm calling it," he yelled to the group.
Most of the men nodded as if calling an end to the training was the most reasonable instruction he'd given all day. The mix of guards shuffled toward either the mess hall or the locker rooms. As they left, he picked up the two M16s that Karma and he had been using.
"Let's go."
Karma immediately followed him out into the hallway.
They were both silent as they walked back to his room. He became lost in thought as they fell into step. Karma was being true to her word and what she'd promised. Everything they talked about, whether it was about her past or what she thought about for the future, everything was honest. It was only a small amount of time, but he'd gotten used to her loyalty practically overnight. What should he do about it? He ran his hand through his hair as he considered all his options. Should he ask her to stay another week? After all, Fletcher still hadn't shown up.
"Are we going to clean out the pig stalls?" Karma adjusted the strap on the rifle as they walked toward the rooms that held the animal pens.
"No."
"Are we picking up more weapons to clean?"
"No."
"We're really just going back to the room? This early, really? Typically you come up with some tedious job to give me. Are you starting to forgive me a little bit?" She looked at him hopefully.
"No."
She laughed.
Rea turned the corner and headed straight for his room. He should've known she could read his emotions. She watched his back and never complained about any disgusting job he gave her. He'd already given her the job of cleaning out the pig stalls, and she hadn't said anything other than that she was glad to help.
Rea had decided at the beginning of the week to give her the most annoying things to do on the base so she would get bored, or frustrated, and leave. He expected her to move on. She didn't want to be tied down. He knew that, but she never left. In fact, every project she did, Karma did with the same amount of laughter and joy he remembered. Karma made him smile when she thought he was severe. When he asked her to focus, she was alert and attentive.
They'd talked about everything these last few days, and Rea didn't know what to make of her acceptance of him and the lifestyle of the base.
He reached his room and unlocked the door. Karma stopped him and checked the lock to make sure no one had tampered with it. He could do it, but she always insisted, so he let her. She was always looking out for him, whether he thought he needed it or not.
After they entered his quarters, he set the rifles on his kitchen table. It hit him that she'd changed his room again. She brought in a new wooden dresser and organized his clothes. When had she done that? They were always together.
"Did you put this here?" He gestured to the clothes cabinet.
"I thought you might like having your clothes clean and put away in a system that doesn't involve broken plastic. Besides, I ran into a harvester who owed me a favor. He came to sell some new items at the market stalls near the train tracks. You were talking to Brice and doing a security check at all the exits. I was only away from you for like a minute." Karma smiled at him.
"A minute?" He raised one eyebrow.
"Just one." She smiled and then retrieved the weapon cleaning supplies from under the sink. She set them next to the rifles.
After the table was to her satisfaction, she pulled out one of his larger sweaters and put it on. She treated his room like they were living together. She added things like soft rugs for his feet and chairs that were comfortable. She acted as if they had always been together and always would be, but this time, she did it knowing exactly who she was, with all her memories intact.
Rea thought he was missing something when it came to her. No matter how hard he tried to scare her away, nothing worked. The more he told her about the things he'd done with his father and the life he'd been living, the more she stayed, listened, and understood. He couldn't shake the feeling of contentment she brought to his life, and he was no longer sure he wanted to.
Karma plopped into the chair nearest the door, an act that she explained showed she was in a more vulnerable position. Once seated, she removed the bolt from the first rifle.
"Are you going to sit with me?"
Rea didn't answer. His eyes followed the graceful movements of her fingers as she removed the handguards.
Most nights, he did sit with her while she talked about her former life. It's just what they did while they cleaned weapons from training. She could dismantle anything he brought to her, and she would have an exciting story to go along with the gun. She was an amazingly fast learner, as well. If he explained how he wanted things done, she did it.
Tonight, he was on edge. The knowledge that he was conflicted about her staying was eating at him. He couldn't sit, not when he felt like loving her would spin his world upside down. What if he told her he loved her and she left again? Would she only stay until Fletcher was dead?
"You're not very talkative tonight. Do you want me to do something else with my hands?" She batted her eyelashes at him playfully. All her love was shining in her eyes. It frightened the hell out of him. She was teasing him but realizing how much he was starting to care for her chased away his good humor.
Last night, in desperation, Rea told Ken and Gears how much he was falling for her, but all they did was laugh at him. Gears even had the balls to say that if Rea was happy now, he would be ecstatic when they started having intercourse again. Rea ignored that and instead lied to himself repetitively. At best, they were becoming friendly acquaintances. Having sex was out of the question, but every time she gave him an I'm-all-yours look, he had to fight to keep his hands off her.
"Leave the weapons."
She looked at him quizzically but didn't press the odd statement. He was thankful. He didn't know what to say to her right now. It occurred to him that maybe he should go to bed early and not try to solve his feelings.