Our Devils, page 20
The idea that they were the best suited people for the job sounded borderline insane, but the logic was sound enough. Reyes asked if anyone had questions.
Pulsar did. “What kind of devil would you want?”
Reyes choked on her protein drink—the question clearly caught her off-guard. When the bubbles started popping out of her nose, Marcus cackled with laughter. It took her a full thirty seconds to recover before she answered. “I guess I'm not picky.”
Chapter 43
Training was a lot of running and a lot of sweating. They started on a series of treadmills parked along the wall beside the boxing ring. Despite his considerable size and bad shape, Aaron was relieved to see that Nat didn’t completely leave him in the dust. Nat’s scar was pretty much gone, and so were the benefits. But instead of letting it slow her down, Nat worked twice as hard to keep up. Aaron was happy to see her so committed, even if it made him look bad by comparison.
Their first exercise was an endurance run with synced speeds, which steadily ramped up over the course of an hour. By the end of it, only Pulsar and Marcus were left, hanging off the armrests as they dragged themselves onward. Marcus was sweating heavily while Pulsar was panting rapidly. It made Aaron wonder what his sweat gland situation actually looked like.
At last, the devil missed a step and lost his footing. He took a breather on the ground. Marcus celebrated his victory by pouring a bottle of water all over his head and collapsing beside the devil.
The rest of the day consisted of weight training and agility exercises. The sun was still on its way down when the group unanimously decided to call it early. Even after showering up, Aaron continued to sweat through the ride back home. He made a note to take a towel with him next time.
They ordered food on the way back, set up by the fire pit, and packed a bowl. Aaron thought the agent who delivered his food was side-eying them, as if a bit of bud was not part of the approved training regimen.
The gang went back to their trailers early, still too sore and exhausted to even sit up straight. Aaron and his devil were asleep by 10 PM, which was unfathomably early for either of them.
The next day, Reyes introduced them to Agent Baumgardener, who would assist with their training. She left early into the session to deal with other work while the new trainer put them through the ringer. The new agent was a tough, humorless man who dispensed with combat training entirely so they could focus on strength and endurance, with just a dash of agility.
“I haven’t worked out this hard since high school,” said Marcus, squeezing a sweaty towel out onto the hard earth.
“I haven’t worked out this hard since ever,” said Aaron, wringing out twice as much. Throughout the day, it became clear that Baumgardener didn’t have much experience training or interacting with devils, not that many people did. So for the most part, he just treated them like full-grown humans. This wasn’t a problem for the majority of exercises, but some just didn’t work well with their physiology. Keeping Pulsar on track was difficult too—it made Aaron appreciate just how well Agent Reyes could keep him engaged. More than once, it seemed like their coach was getting discouraged.
When they stopped for another plain, nutritious meal, Baumgardener sat at a distance, powering his way through his rations. Marcus attempted to make small talk with him, but the man kept veering the conversation towards his golf trips. So that was a dead end.
They continued on with another four hours of training after that, leaving the gang ragged. Then it was back home, weed time, and dinner time. At about 8 PM, Aaron received a new text from Reyes:
“Hi Aaron. I’ll be back for weapons training tomorrow. How was training?”
He responded:
“Boot camp sucks
Ready for weapons
See you then”
He showed the text around, and the others were happy for a change of pace. They turned in early again, and then it was back to the training grounds.
Reyes’s car was there when they arrived, but she wasn’t waiting for them. The gang stepped into the hangar and found her prepping a collection of padded battle batons. Aaron thought it was a little silly to go back to those after their fights with real weapons, but Reyes challenged him to spar first. She changed his mind with a brutal disarm and leg sweep. His strength and endurance were improving at a dizzying rate, but Reyes’s technique and focused brutality were nothing to sneeze at.
They spent the morning drilling and sparring with the padded weapons, and then stopped for lunch. It was exhausting work, but Aaron would rather take a few padded hits to the head than go through another endurance run.
Naturally, that was their next stop after lunch. Instead of running on the treadmills, Reyes took the group on a longer route through the surrounding grasslands where the scrubby bushes scraped up their ankles on every other step. Aaron realized soon into the run that he had no sunscreen, and he wondered if the scar would offer him a little SPF.
Halfway into the run, Pulsar stopped dead in his tracks to point at something in the near distance. Aaron caught up to him and the devil tugged at his arm. “Dude, it’s me!”
Not far off in the scrub was a wiry brown hare. It stood up on its hind legs to watch the runners while its nose twitched at hummingbird speeds.
Aaron chuckled and wiped sweat away with his shirt. “Pulsar Junior.”
“I’ve never seen a rabbit in real life before.”
“Hare,” corrected Aaron. “Hares are the pointy ones. Rabbits are the fat ones.”
Pulsar chortled. “Is it weird that I want to eat it?”
“You? Not really.” They watched as the little hare dropped its head and galloped off. Reluctantly, they dragged themselves back to the run. When they returned to the hangar, Aster ran to the shower to remoisturize. He was a frog, after all, not a toad.
Reyes received a text that seemed to catch her off guard. She fired off a series of texts and tried to contain her excitement. “So I just got some good news from Director Huxley,” she said. “It sounds like they made some progress on scar bonding. He’s being coy but… we’ll see. We’re back to HQ tomorrow.”
Chapter 44
The convoy arrived at 8 AM the next day, which even after a good night’s sleep was still way too early for Aaron. He had the foresight the night before to ask for a few energy drinks, and he pounded one on the way over.
Once they arrived, the agents led them to the medical building in the back where Director Huxley waited for them. His big bald head was grinning from ear to ear. “Morning, everyone. I hope you slept well.”
“Oh yeah,” yawned Nat. “I could keep sleeping.”
“Well, I didn’t think you would want to sleep through this. We—” Hugh stopped and cleared his throat. “I don’t want to make any promises, but I think we may have some very good news.”
Hugh looked at Nat and said, “First, we have identified two viable candidates for you, Miss Shuja. We have more testing before we’re ready to attempt a bond, but we’re making progress.”
She exhaled hard and Pulsar gave her a big pat on the back. It was hard to say if she was disappointed or relieved.
“However,” chuckled Hugh. “The data we collected from you all has helped speed up our research on bonding new partners.”
The director gestured to a printout with walls of text and a long table of data. “But even if we’re not ready to attempt another bond for Nat… there is another.”
This hit the group like a stack of bricks. Another bonding pair. Another human and devil. Another pair of allies, and friends, and fighters. A pang of anxiety hit Aaron—he wondered if they would completely upend their dynamic. The director turned to them and laid his meaty hand on Reyes’s shoulder. It took a moment for her to register what he was saying. When she did, the blood drained from her face in an instant. Her voice was barely a whisper. “You’re kidding.”
Hugh smiled wide. His eyes were glistening. “We had some hope that you might have some aptitude for it, all things considered… and I think we were right.”
Reyes responded by hyperventilating. Hugh smiled wider and squeezed her shoulder, suddenly looking fatherly. The agent slammed her eyes shut as a small, ragged smile broke out. “You’re fucking kidding.”
“You know I wouldn’t.” Hugh laughed and teared up. “This is happening.”
Pulsar jumped to his feet and wrapped Reyes in a big, tight hug. Aster leapt to his feet for a wiggly little victory dance. But the other humans just stood stunned, hoping that this wasn’t some sort of elaborate prank.
Over the next several minutes, Hugh and his team brought things back down to earth. This was not a done deal by any stretch: while the blood tests showed a strong match potential between her and one of the devils, there was no way to know for sure until they tried it. But this also came with a huge risk. This would be the first time that the agency tried to intentionally pair a person with a devil, and a mistake could mean death by anaphylaxis. The risks couldn’t have been higher, but Reyes was ready to try.
Hugh’s team led them to a room that looked like a small operating theater. In the middle sat a medical exam chair with a full set of restraints, clearly intended for Reyes.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, Jess.” The director looked kind, and perhaps a bit afraid.
She grimaced and removed her jacket. “No, I trust you.”
Some of Hugh’s team ushered Reyes into another room. Scar Gang stood by with other doctors and labbies as their nerves took over. Pulsar in particular couldn’t stop bouncing on the balls of his feet. Reyes reappeared on the other side of the plexiglass window. She sat in the exam chair as the medical team strapped her in.
“What’s that for?” asked Marcus.
The labbie who stood with them answered. “The restraints are to keep her from hurting herself in case of a bad reaction, and so they can administer adrenaline if necessary.”
Once she was fully prepared, a door opened and two new labbies rolled in a dog kennel. One of them opened it up and stepped back.
The fat red cat from the hangar stuck his head out. He blinked his three golden eyes and looked around—he looked surprised to be there. Agent Reyes took one look at him and all of her composure dissolved. Suddenly, she was a smiling, weeping, hyperventilating mess. She mouthed the word “Hi” and the little devil smiled back.
One of the doctors rolled up Reyes’ pant leg while the other gently ushered the cat towards it. They traded a few words, and then the cat dragged a single claw down her shin. Reyes hissed where it connected, channeling her pain into a tight fist. She slapped at the table a few times. Then, she went limp. Her breathing was pained and desperate, so one of the doctors stepped up and administered a syringe. Her breathing calmed down. The other labbies loaded the confused cat into the kennel and rolled it away.
Hugh wiped sweat from his forehead and said “Damn.”
“So what does that mean?” asked Nat.
“It’s too early to say,” said a labbie. An agent led the gang back to the time capsule where a small selection of bagels were waiting for them.
The mood was tense, and not even the devils dared to break it. A few of them picked at the donuts and the minutes ticked by. Aaron was quietly happy to be anywhere but training, since his muscles were still screaming from the day before.
At last, Hugh joined them with a sour expression on his face. “Jess will be fine, but I think we jumped the gun on this one.”
Chapter 45
The next day it was back to more training with Agent Baumgardener. It was brutal and excruciating, but they were starting to get used to their new reality.
Reyes joined them around lunch time. She wore a newly pressed black suit, looking stoic and a little guilty. Marcus jumped up to greet her as soon as she arrived, pulling her aside to console her one-on-one. The others finished their meals and went back to training.
Reyes stood by as Baumgardener put them through their paces, occasionally stepping away for a phone call or two. When they stopped for another break after a particularly exhausting run, Marcus turned to Aster. “It’s kind of fucked up, you know?”
“What?” said Aster.
“I mean, we got really lucky,” said Marcus. “If you didn’t bite me, or if I had a reaction like that, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Yeah,” said Aster. He had grown a bit over the last few days. His hands had developed to the point where he was able to open the Burn Ward lids without just tearing into the bottles with his teeth. “Good thing I was hungry.”
Aaron choked down a strawberry Burn Ward, which tasted marginally better than the chocolate ones. They were outrageously thick, more a sludge than a drink, but he couldn’t deny that they helped keep his hunger in check. “Do you think there were others?”
Marcus cracked his knuckles. “You mean people who got scratched or bitten and didn’t make it?”
“Yeah,” said Aaron. “Who knows how many more allies we could have had.”
Pulsar whimpered a bit and his heart went out to the humans who never got the chance. He pictured them breathing heavily, their lungs locking up, and their bodies failing them.
Marcus cracked his neck. “Hell of a way to cure cancer.”
Reyes returned from another call, overhearing him on her slow approach. She sat down with them and Pulsar rubbed her shoulder. “That was really brave,” said the devil. “Crazy, but brave.”
Agent Reyes laughed helplessly. “I got my hopes up.”
“I’m sorry,” said Aster, jumping up beside her. “I’m sure they’ll find another devil for you.”
“Kind of a dumb looking devil though,” said Aaron, trying to lighten the mood. “Like, do you really want to be bound to a fat little cat?”
Marcus exhaled hard. “Read the room, man.”
After a moment, Reyes wiped her eyes and looked up at him. “I don’t care what they look like. I just want to help.”
Pulsar rubbed her back with one huge hand. “Are you kidding? You help so much.”
“Not like you guys.” She cried helplessly. “Not enough.” Pulsar wrapped her in a big hug until she stopped crying. Baumgardener, never the sentimental type, told the others it was time to get back to work. Reluctantly they stood up and filed away. Pulsar briefly stopped to whisper something in Reyes’s ear as they left.
Reyes disappeared while the others were being subjected to the horrors of the medicine ball. This went on for an hour, followed by timed agility drills that involved traffic cones. They took another brief break and returned for more strength training. Then it was home, smoking, dinner, and bed.
The next day, Aaron awoke to find that he wasn’t as sore as he expected. The training was starting to gain some traction, and his limbs were slowly adjusting to the regimen. Reyes texted them to bring their weapons, and Aaron was happy to hear it.
When they arrived at the training grounds, Reyes had set up a series of wooden posts. One by one, she drilled each of them with their weapons of choice. It didn’t take long for her to find the flaws in all of their techniques, even Nat’s, and set up drills to test each of them in turn. She decided that Aaron’s big weakness was his speed, and challenged him to place as many clean chops through the post as possible in a minute. When it was done, she told him to load up another log and do it again. After plenty of weapons training, lunch, some cardio, and a little training with their throwable weapons, they called it and headed back to the trailer park. Aaron decided it was time to put on a movie, so they all piled into his trailer to watch Alien.
When they reached the chest burster scene, the reaction was mixed. Aster whimpered and hid his head in the couch cushions. Marcus whooped at the effects, which still held up so well after all those years. Aaron started spouting off all sorts of behind-the-scenes facts that no one asked for. Pulsar was torn between the spectacle and his sympathy for the man writhing on the table.
But Nat only saw Agent Reyes writhing on the table, struggling for breath. She saw Reyes full of hope one minute and choking the next, exhausted and broken. More than that, she was angry that the others didn’t see the same thing. It seemed ridiculous that they could be so blasé in the face of so much trauma, and she was torn between disgust and a wish that she, too, could laugh it off like they did. Not long after, she stepped out to get some air. When Aster went outside to check on her, she was already back in her own trailer.
The monotony of training was starting to get to them, so they were thankful to go back to HQ the next day for more tests, more questions, and more poking and prodding. Despite the feeling that they were treading water, Aaron soon learned that they were making significant progress. His lung capacity, blood oxygen count, and white blood cell count were all through the roof. One of the researchers gave him a bit of guff for his smoking habit. Aaron played it off with a “Nobody’s perfect,” and they didn’t push the issue.
When they reconvened in the time capsule, Hugh stepped in to greet them. He traded a few curt pleasantries but didn’t sit down. Then he turned to Nat with a grave expression. “Miss Shuja, I think we have a match.”
Chapter 46
Nat did not take the news well. She wandered outside and found a lonely spot on a rooftop. Once enough time had passed, it was Pulsar who went out to join her. He silently swung up onto the roof and approached. “Is this seat taken?”
She didn’t react. The devil sat down with her. The minutes ticked by as Nat stared off at some spot on the ground, lost in thought. The devil asked, “What are you thinking right now?”
“Nothing much.” Her gaze was distant, her voice hoarse and hollow. “I just feel sick.”
“Because of what happened with Jess?”
She grimaced. “Because of what happened with Cirra.”
“Oh,” said the devil. He followed her gaze and found a bare patch of dirt on the ground, searching it for wherever her thoughts had led. He licked his lips and smoothed out a rough patch of fur before he spoke. “Welllll… I know she wouldn’t want you to bond with any other devils.”
