Early March.
I was just past the edge of the forest on the first warm day of the year.
Dexter had told me to meet him out there. Apparently, his sister, Darla, was cashing in on Arnold’s deal and requested my presence for her Survivalist Club.
That meant she knew my secret, too.
Dexter was waiting for me, digging at his belly button and smelling his finger. ‘Put these on,’ he said, throwing a bag at my feet.
‘What is it?’ I asked.
‘Darla wanted you to wear that.’
‘Fine,’ I sighed.
‘Oh,’ Dexter said, holding up a pair of scissors. ‘There’s one more thing Darla requested …’
I gulped.
Five minutes later, I walked out to a small clearing sporting a freshly cut mohawk and a bright orange jumpsuit that made it look like I just escaped from prison.
A white target was painted on my chest.
Probably not a good thing.
Half a dozen kids, each holding a paintball gun and wearing camouflage, listened as Darla spoke.
‘… We’ve practised all year for this, cadets. Today, we hunt the greatest game of all: man.’
She was talking about me.
‘And can you believe he volunteered for this? Ben was so brave last year, and he wants us to be brave just like him. He’s leading by example – a truly inspiring hero.’
When her cadets noticed me, they clapped.
‘This is super cool of you,’ one said. ‘Darla told us your psychokinetic ability keeps you from getting hurt.’
‘Yup,’ was all I said.
Darla pointed at my hair. ‘What’s with the … ?’ And then she pointed at my clothes. ‘And the … ?’
Dexter’s donkey-laugh came from the trees.
He lied about the clothes!
And the mohawk!
‘Let’s go already!’ a girl in the back growled. I caught a glimpse of her. She had a beanie on her head and a skull painted on her face.
I leaned forward to get a better look, but she kept moving, making sure the others blocked my view.
The girl in the back shouted again. ‘Let’s do this! Better start running, Braver!’
I knew that voice.
I’d know it anywhere, no matter how hard she tried disguising it.
‘… Penny?’
‘Don’t be like that!’ I said. ‘You knew it was me cuz you said my last name!’
Penny shrugged, like, ‘Yeah, ya got me.’
‘You’re gonna hunt me, too?’
‘Dude, when will I get the chance to hunt a human being ever again? Besides … they’re just paintballs.’
She aimed her gun at my chest and pulled the trigger.
THOOMP!
I went down like a twelve-year-old kid getting shot at point-blank range with a paintball gun.
‘Oh, that looked like it hurt,’ Penny said. ‘Do these things hurt?’
Darla knelt by my side and showed me a stopwatch that was counting down from sixty seconds.
‘What’s that?’ I wheezed.
Her lips curled into a smile. ‘Your head start.’