OXRO: Insubordination

Chapter 6

"This isn't real. This isn't real." He repeated the words. His new mantra as he followed behind them leisurely. The three-word phrase composed at the forefront of his mine the day he knew it all was over. The usual order of his life was a thing of the past and it was their will he had to follow. Or pretend like he was.

"It's about to rain," Davis proclaimed taking a long look up at the dark pregnant clouds blanketing the sky. He covered the hood over his head preparing for the rain to fall. "Why are we walking?"

"Cause..." Hudson tapped Davis' arm before taking an excited step ahead of them and spun on his heels. He walked backward with a brimming smile on his face, unlike his friends waiting for him to elaborate. "Kia is coming and these are our last precious hours of freedom."

"Freedom to do what?" Ryder asked stuffing his hand in the pockets of his jacket. It was cool and muggy. The air was thick and it was too dark to be six in the evening in May. He hated it. He rathered be in sitting in the passenger seat of Davis' Mustang with bass booming music and air condition.

"Be outside!" Hudson expanded his arms. He stopped on the sidewalk to take a deep inhale of the sweet earthy aroma lingering in the atmosphere over their little college town.

Davis and Ryder both glanced at each other before walking passed him.

"You're weird." Davis tittered.

"You're just figuring that out." Ryder shook his head. "He's been weird all his life."

"All my life." Hudson started as he jogged up to them. "You mean a semester."

Fuck, Ryder thought to himself be sure not to tense up are act suspicious. He was getting too comfortable which was easy since they were friends from his old life. The life that Ares erased. Believed they erased.

He had to think of something fast. A lie that was plausible.

"A semester and three-quarters," He quipped. "In which you infiltrated our duo." He gestured between himself and Davis.

Hudson claimed the space between the two and slung an arm around their shoulder, "To make it better. Ya'll are dull without me. I'm an adventure."

"You're an adrenaline junkie that sleeps in the grass." Davis pushed his arm off his shoulder then nodded to one of the stores that ran along Rayford's main street. The businesses were darker than the world outside of the brick and mortar. "This town is dead."

"People with good sense went to Dallas." Ryder fumed. "But not us."

"We have finals next week." Hudson reminded, with a stroke through his hair growing damp from the humidity.

"And why must juniors have finals next week when Sophomores and Freshmen get to leave campus early?" Ryder asked, walking in the middle of the empty street ignoring the green street light.

All the underclassmen handed in their last scantrons that morning and flocked out of town. But not the juniors. They had to stay. He didn't think much of it last year. He just stormed out of town full of ignorance. But now that he knew the truth about his existence and true mission of the university, an uneasy anxiety quivered in his gut. Something bad was going to happen Monday. He knew it.

"Stop pouting," Davis nudged his arm. "We have that test for our Senior internship."

"Then we get to leave." Hudson triumphantly said. "I still have space for anyone else that wants to conquer the Appalachian trail."

"I don't fuck with woods." Ryder quickly spewed. He wasn't oblivious like them. He remembered the last time they played Lewis & Clark in the boondocks. He patted his shoulder, "But have fun!"

"I will." He replied with his eyes fixed on the blue and red midnight sign blazing in the dim evening.

The parking lot was semi-filled. They weren't the only ones taking a study break to refuel.

"You think this place is going to stay open all weekend?" Ryder asked, hoping the owner didn't show up.

Midnight was one of those places he hated going to for fear of running into the Dean of Students. His talents came naturally to him. Lying was easy. The art of deception was simple but being in close vicinity with the man that escorted him down the hall of The Factory for a battery of questions was challenging.

The Dean of Students didn't care for them. They weren't pupils he yearned to nourish and nurture. They were just numbers to him. Soldiers to be in his battalion. Follow his commands and bring honor to his name. General Kinkaide made him nervous and better at his skill.

He wasn't supposed to remember the walk Kinkaide lead him down. The orange pill they gave him after their investigation of his memories supposed to erase the encounter. The pill that he didn't take. The pill he put under his pillow when an Ares officer took him to his new room to begin his new life.

Sometimes he regretted not taking it. Just swallowing it down with the warm water they gave him. He eyed the backs of Davis and Hudson as they snaked around the cars in front of Midnight. They were unburdened with the truth. Blissfully unaware of their terrible past or the friends they'd lost. The people they killed. The blood their hands. The fate that waited for them.

He stopped at the windows of the eatery peering inside like a teen window shopping with no money to their name. Only a few tables were free in the place that wasn't going to be open after it's namesake. Jubliant coeds bonded around greasy food and lager bringing a quirk to his lips. To the untrained eye, it all looked normal. Just another gathering of twenty-somethings enjoying life after a tough exam and hours of studying. But to him, it felt like the last celebration before the end.

Then at the middle table, his gaze stalled and his mouth quirked. She was there. The girl that could fix it all. The one he needed to remember. She was the first. She was the alpha. She was Asia and he was her brother.

He knew who he was.

"Ryder," Davis called holding the door open. "You coming?"

I am an OXRO. I am a Rho. My name is Denver. He repeated the words he rehearsed every morning before rising from bed in his head then hustled over to the door.

This evening was going to be a tough one. Her guards were with her but he needed to talk. He needed to tell her they were running out of time.  

Why do you think Denver remembers his old life?

We all know who Davis is but can you guess who Hudson is?

Why do you think Denver/Ryder thinks they're running out of time? 

Who do you think Denver/Ryder is referring to as Asia's guards?