Page 9 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)
Chapter 8
Factions
W hen my sister decided to murder me and then blow up the entire facility with everyone still inside, on live camera, she essentially ruined the integrity of what the Resistance stood for.
Keeping the innocents safe.
She instilled animosity and paved the road for death to be streamed live to the country. And thus, shortly after her destruction, the games were born.
Before, I was very na?ve to the ins and outs of the world, but once I woke from my coma, I learned very quickly.
A year passed, the first streaming of the reality show came and went.
I was essentially alone when I came to, surrounded by machines and a kind older man named Geoff who explained to me what happened. That I was going to be okay and that the man that left me in his care would return everyday with funds to support me and the expenses of keeping me alive, until one day he didn’t return, and they never saw him again. Geoff decided that I was too valuable to let die. When I asked Geoff to describe my savior, he closed his eyes and stated just one word; desperate.
I thought it might have been Jayce, but Geoff had shaken his head.
Geoff then explained that I had a debt I needed to pay. I couldn’t fault him; I was alive, and I would do anything to repay that. It was at this point that he explained the Factions of the Resistance: Stealth, Brutality, and the most dangerous, Retrieval.
He explained that my sister was part of Brutality, but the majority did not agree with her actions, so she hid. Many, myself included, still believed her to be in control of that Faction, but there was no concrete evidence.
He went on to explain that everyone thought I was dead, and it was best to keep it that way. That was when he suggested I join the Retrieval Faction. That Faction would help to keep me hidden; they could provide materials to temporarily change my appearance. Hair dye, colored contacts, and prosthetics. I could go on jobs for the Retrieval Faction and slowly repay him. I agreed without truly knowing what I was signing up for. I worked in that Faction gathering information from that day forward. I did my best to ignore the scars I woke up with and the ones I continued to gather.
I stirred to the sound of an alarm blaring. Attempting to jump from the bed, I was hindered by a weight across my waist. Looking down, I saw Jayce sprawled across me in an echo of a lover’s embrace—even closer than how we had gone to sleep. The noise finally woke Jayce, and he sat up abruptly, moving his arm and rubbing his eyes.
“What the hell?” he asked.
I got out of bed, noting I was still in the silk pajamas from the day before. The TV flashed on. The Host’s face filled the screen.
“Good morning, sleepy heads! Breakfast is served. You have thirty minutes to eat and ready yourselves to make your best first impressions. Make sure your masks are in place and you are in uniform. You don’t want to know the consequences if you do not follow the rules.” He cackled. “Chop chop! Once the light above your door illuminates, you will have a short window to join the rest of the contestants. Reminder this is a friendly gathering.” With one last sinister smile, the screen went black for a flash before starting our thirty-minute countdown.
I turned back to Jayce; his blond hair was ruffled and fell into his eyes, nostalgia sunk deep in my stomach. Noises on the other side of the door pulled my attention away, the rest of the men appeared to be up. With one last calming breath, I unlocked and pulled open his bedroom door, shutting it behind me. Enzo and Maverick were once more on the couch facing the TV, their breakfast halfway done. Levi leaned against a wall facing the front door, eating his. They were all dressed in black sweats, T-shirts with their respective numbers, and sneakers. Their masks were still firmly in place. I would need to put mine back on before the “mingling.”
“There she is,” Enzo exclaimed, turning to me, clearly a morning person. Was it even morning? I hadn’t seen a clock or a window since this nightmare began.
“Do you know how much time has passed since this entire,” I paused looking for a word that could encapsulate whatever this was, “ ordeal started?”
“We are going on our fourth day,” Maverick answered, lifting his rusty hair and showing me the left side of his collar. The date and time were visible down to the second.
“Anything else you’ve found? Were the clothes in your dressers? ”
“You should investigate your bedroom a bit more before shacking up in another,” Maverick stated.
I raised my eyebrows at his hostility and shifted my stance into a defensive posture. He was clearly not a morning person.
“Ignore him,” Enzo cut in. “Come eat some food and you’ll need to hurry and get ready.”
“We need a plan.” Levi tilted his head.
I grabbed my mask off the coffee table securing it in place and then reached for my breakfast. I moved to lean against my bedroom door. I could see everyone in the room from this vantage point. Just because we were playing nice now, it was hard to trust the three strangers we were living with for the foreseeable future.
“Agreed, we do need a plan,” Jayce stated as he exited his bedroom, shutting the door behind him. He was dressed in the same uniform as the others. He copied my actions, securing his mask and picking up his breakfast. He came to lean against my door, our legs touching. He smiled softly down at me and began to eat.
Levi looked between us, angling his head. “Interesting.”
Maverick pulled out his notebook. “It would make the most sense to stick with the others who have been rewarded. The only downfall is that we may seem like competition, but I believe we could all work together as one team with the right agreements.”
“We can’t trust them,” Jayce stated mid bite.
“We can’t trust anyone.” I paused. “No offense,” I spoke to the three men.
“None taken, darlin’, that’s how I imagine you’ve stayed alive this far.” Levi shrugged and my eyes followed the movement of his large muscular shoulders.
Levi caught my lingering gaze and gave me a wink. Thankfully, none of the other men noticed. I averted my eyes and jerked my head in agreement. I finished my food and put the plate in the kitchen, noting the other plates were gone from the previous night. “Anybody hear them come in last night?”
Maverick nodded. “I wrote the time down, but our doors all locked on their own when they entered. I found cameras and microphones in every room.” He wrote something down and got up to reposition his body. I FOUND BLINDSPOTS AND THE BATHROOM SEEMS TO BE MIC FREE. COULD NOT FIND ANY DEVICES. He ripped the paper up and left the room. I heard a toilet flush a moment later. “I will continue my search and see if I can establish any patterns or useful data,”he stated when he returned.
I was grateful for Maverick’s investigations; his information was useful. The games seemed to take place in entirely different places, or they completely changed the appearance every year.
I nodded my head and noted the countdown on the TV was getting precariously low. “I’m going to get ready. You can all discuss the logistics, but I think I should speak to 197.” Jayce went to protest, but I cut him off before he could. “I know how to handle myself and I won’t offer anything I'm not willing to give. If it makes you feel better, you can come with me while we talk.”
Jayce inclined his head in begrudging agreement.
I appraised Levi. “You should speak to 32’s group, your country drawl may be enough to lure them into a false sense of safety.”
Levi chuckled. “Sure-can-do little lady.”
“We’ll try to get a read on the 189 group,” Maverick stated.
I thought about it. I did not particularly want to align with even more known problematic men, but it was better to get as much knowledge as possible.
I jerked my head in agreement and went to my room to get ready for this next trial.
Mingling with murderers.