Ryder

Five days had gone by after Desiree and I disposed of the guard's body and there was no suspicion towards us so Desiree was able to relax and focus on what she needed to do. Her anger still vented in our training and I still yearned to touch her or hold her hand like I had that night, but my hands stayed to my side no matter how many thoughts of her ran through my head. My last thought had been of her sitting in the audience tonight watching me.

Getting dressed for my match tonight was harder than it had been the times before. My fingers trembled as I tied my shoes and I shook my hands out, taking a deep breath. A wave of nausea hit my stomach as an image of the infected boy with a corkscrew in his eye flashed through my mind, making my face go cold.

I stumbled to the bathroom, fumbled my hands across the knobs, and splashed cold water in my face, watching in the mirror as water dripped down my skin. It reminded me of rain, the way the rain had washed down Haley's face, that night when the infection broke out.

When the sirens began to blare outside of the mall, people went into a panic. I reached my arm out to grab my little sister, but my arm swept through the empty air.

“Haley!” I yelled, not able to hear my voice above the screams of the running mass of people surrounding me. Turning my head left to right frantically, I tried to spot her shiny pink raincoat she was wearing, but colors just blurred together making it impossible.

“HALEY!” I screamed, my face turning red, my pulse pounding in my head. My palms began to sweat and my knees shook as my eyes still ceased to find her.

A hand wrapped around my arm and I turned around defensively, ready to fight whoever or whatever it was, but my fists dropped to my sides as my eyes landed onto Haley, her brown eyes widened in horror.

I let out a quick sigh of relief before grabbing her arm and pulling her with me as I pushed our way through the crowd at the doors to the parking lot. A man pushed at my sister when she stepped on his foot and I uppercut him in the jaw, sending him stumbling into the people behind him.

The sirens deafened my ears as we ran outside, rain pouring down from the dark clouds above us. Haley reached to pull her hood up over her curly brown hair, shielding herself from the rain, but looking ridiculous for caring at this moment.

Cars raced across the parking lot, crashing into each other and running over people. The only people who weren't screaming seemed to be Haley and I, ignoring my car and running up towards the highway.

“Where are we going!?” Haley yelled behind me, but only sounding like a whisper in the chaos.

I turned my head over my shoulder and continued running as I spoke. “Lambeau Stadium!” I yelled back, hoping she could hear me. “It's a destination for disasters!”

The ten minute run to the stadium from the mall, burned my muscles and emptied my lungs of air, making my heart skip a beat when I saw the white tents set up in the parking lot of the football stadium.

The infected hadn't made it as far as this side of town yet, so the line outside the stadium was still moving and not in a panic, but still restless none the less. I pulled Haley with me around the line, her body weak from the run. People shivering in the rain, gazed at us angrily as we walked past them , some holding their arms out trying to stop us.

I saw men from the National Guard, standing on the opposite side of the tall fence, blocking the public off from safety. My eyes locked with one soldier who was standing at the gate talking to a couple in front of him. I watched as he pressed a syringe into the man\'s skin, drawing blood into the vile. Taking off the needle a drop of blood fell onto a small black tab in his other hand.

“Clear,” The soldier said, letting the man pass through the gate. As he went to grab a new syringe from the pile next to him, I pushed myself in front of the woman, making her yelp in protest.

“United States Air Force,” I said to the soldier, pulling my dog tags out from under my shirt.

“Nice to see some military blood,” He said nodding to me, ignoring the woman's yelling behind me. “Hold out your arm, we have to make sure you're not infected.”

“No,” I said, pulling my sister in front of me. “Her first.”

Haley's hands shook violently as she pulled up the sleeve of her raincoat. “I hate needles,” She said, leaning her head back to look at me, sounding like a little girl even though she was sixteen.

“It's got to be done,” I told her, squeezing her shoulders as the soldier pricked her skin.

The woman's yelling behind me began to deafen my ear, but I shrugged my shoulders knowing that I would be away from her in just a minute.

“Clear,” The soldier said, motioning Haley inside.

She walked in, waving at me from the other side as the soldier grabbed a new syringe from the pile. I didn\'t need to roll up my sleeves because I wasn\'t wearing a jacket and I winced when the needle took me by surprise.

“Could have warned me,” I said to the soldier, laughing as he dropped the blood onto the tab.

His eyes widened, taking me by alarm. “We have a Code B!” He yelled to a soldier behind him, who scrambled into the closed with tent to his side.

My heart raced, as I locked eyes with Haley, her eyes filling with tears. She was terrified, and so was I not knowing what Code B was. A blur of white from the tent caught my attention, and I broke my eyes away from my sister to a woman with vibrant red hair.

A smile crept across her face, but I couldn\'t tell if it was happy or sly. Her teal dress was tight on her skin, a shiny black jacket draping her arms. She didn't pull up her hood to cover her hair like my sister had; she let the rain soak into her locks as her heels clicked towards me.

“What's your name, soldier?” The woman asked, her voice pleasant but leaving a bitter taste in my mouth.

“Ryder Williams, ma'am,” I answered her. “And yours?”

“Vivian Hoff,” She said, holding her hand out to shake mine. My hand didn't rise to meet hers.

“Why aren't you letting me in, Vivian?” I asked, my eyes narrowing at her. “I'm not infected.”

“I know you're not infected,” Vivian said, waving her hand in the air. “We would have shot you if you were.”

“Then why am I not on the other side of this fence?” I asked again, tired of the mind games already.

“You're special Mr. Williams,” She said her voice sounding sickeningly sweet. “They don't need you here. I need you somewhere else.”

“I'm not going anywhere without my sister,” I said motioning to a shivering Haley, watching us with scared eyes.

“She is of no use to us right now,” Vivian said, her voice growing cold. “You're the one with B Positive blood. Not her.”

“What does my blood type have to do with this?” I raised my voice at her, pushing against the soldier that was blocking my way. He shoved me back, making me stumble into the still screaming woman behind me.

“Everything,” Vivian said, snapping her fingers. With the faint click of them, soldiers appeared at her sides. She pointed to me and then at a helicopter on the other side of the tents, closer to the stadium. Nodding their heads, they turned to me and grabbed my shoulders, arms, anything they could get a hold of.

Haley's screams drowned out every other commotion as I saw a man pick her up and throw her over his shoulder, her legs kicking him as he walked past the helicopter and towards the doors of the stadium.

“Haley!” I screamed, once again feeling the panic I'd felt at the mall. The rain fell down harder and thunder crashed, making me inaudible to her as my body was dragged to the doors of the black helicopter.

I fought as hard as I could. My elbows connected with noses, and my feet connected with chests but nothing seemed to phase the men that were hauling me.

One last scream sounded from Haley as the door to the stadium opened and she disappeared. My body went still with the sudden failure that coursed through me.

A sharp prick went into my arm as I was lifted onto the floor of the chopper. A flash of red hair sweeping across my vision as it began to fade away into black.

My hands curled into fists at my side, as the memory swept through me. Vivian taking me away from my only family left and me not being able to stop it. My body acted on its own as my fist collided with the mirror in front of me, crackling the glass and rippling my reflection. I brought my arm away and heard clinks of the shards falling into the sink, and off of my bleeding knuckles.

“Shit,” I said, suddenly angry at myself for being so impulsive. I ran out of the bathroom and into the kitchen, grabbing a thick rag and wiping it around my hand.

Blood had dripped onto the floor, but I ignored it as I glanced at the clock and saw that I had five minutes to be downstairs. With the rag still wrapped around my hand I bolted from my suite and down the hall and to the elevator, tapping my toe impatiently as it made the long trek down to the first floor.

I weaved my way through the slot machines and saw the doors of the theater ahead of me with a minute to spare. Glancing around the crowd for Desiree, my eyes fell upon her blonde hair, trailing across the back of a turquoise dress that she was wearing. I\'m sure the color looked beautiful with her eyes and my heart sped as she walked through the red doors.

“Desiree!” I yelled, trying to get her attention but she vanished, not hearing my call. I sighed in frustration at myself, for getting so wrapped up in the bathroom. I had promised I would meet her here before the match so that she could wish me luck, but I was too late.

My name boomed out of the theater and a roar of cheers followed it, beckoning me to the cage, to blood.

Desiree

What would Cody think of me right now if he were here with me today? I wondered to myself as I sat down in front of the cage. Would he think badly of me for dressing up and sitting here to watch this brutality? Or would he understand that I had to do this?

The thoughts halted the tears that threatened to fill my eyes. I wasn't sure what he would think, and that bothered me. My heart yearned for his touch, his kiss, his words saying that he was going to protect me. But my mind hushed the desires away as confusion settled in.

I loved Cody. Correction, I love Cody; I won't allow myself to believe he'd die so easily. But how much did I really know about him? The memory of his protection and his silver eyes flooded through my heart, making me realize that it didn't matter, that I love him even if I don't know what he'd think of my actions.

I argued with myself as Ryder walked down the aisle of the theater, towards the cage, my attention only turning to him when the cage door creaked open and he stepped inside. Now he had my full attention.

I took in the rock of muscle that was Ryder, standing with his arms bowed out to his sides. My eyes fell onto his right hand which was wrapped with a rag, soaked with blood. Fear ran through my veins at the thought of him being hurt, and I scolded myself for caring so much, but I couldn't help it. We had become so close these past several days, that I'm sure he would feel the same way about me.

The doors flew open and I turned my head towards them, my eyes filling with tears when I saw a young girl with curly brown hair, snapping her jaw at the guards flanked around her. For some reason she looked like I might know her, maybe not seen her before, but the way her hair curled wildly reminded me of something. Haley, my mind spoke to me, remembering Ryder telling me about his sister and her hair that she was never able to control.

My chin quivered at the sudden realization of the girl. I flicked my head back to Ryder who was staring at me. I dropped my jaw and reached my hand over my mouth, trying to control the sob that tried to slip out.

Ryder's eyes glistened with his own tears. “It's not her,” he mouthed to me. “Not Haley.”

My heart relaxed and I slumped back into my seat, but drops of water still poured over onto my cheeks as I thought of Ryder, hurting this girl who looked so much like his sister. They like to pair us up with infected people who will get to us, he had said to me.

Time went in slow motion as the girl stepped into the cage with a guard holding her back. The guard held up something so small, I had to lean forward in my seat to be able to see it. It was a toothpick.

A scream of anger lurched from me unexpectedly, causing heads to turn and look in my direction. Ryder avoided eye contact with me as he focused all of his attention onto the tiny toothpick in his hands. The bell sounded and the two began to dance around the cage, Ryder simply avoiding her leaps at him, not hurting her.

Shouts of protest rose through the audience, wanting to see action and blood but Ryder continued to dodge and inflict no pain upon her. He and I both knowing what needed to be done, I looked away as he showed the audience the toothpick in his hand.

I gazed at the floor as an ear-piercing scream came from the girl and squeals erupted through the crowd as they watched whatever Ryder was doing to her. The audience cheered as I\'ve never heard them cheer before obviously liking the show and I swallowed the bile that rose in my throat.

I knew the match was over when a different kind of scream came from the girl. One of recognition and pain. I saw Ryder burst through the cage of the door out of the corner of my eye, and my head lifted to watch him run down the aisle.

I didn't even have to think about it before I ran after him.