I took a tentative step after Jayden, and it was then my eyes locked onto a familiar dark head. Ryder. He was sitting on the left side of the large cafeteria-style room with a group of big, badass-looking ashes. I noted that his table seemed a little different from the others. They were sat further apart than the rest of the tables; there were six of them, silently watching me; they all wore black clothing, army style, and all had identical cold and menacing expressions. They were the sort of ashes I would never want to find myself in a dark alley with. Ryder was no exception, except … there was just something else a little more about him. Or maybe I was actually developing some sort of weird Stockholm syndrome since he had saved my ass, twice.
Deciding there was no place in this room to act like a weak ash, especially since the newest culling participants would be looking for kinks in my armor, I just jutted my chin high, showing no fear. I thought I saw a flash of something in Ryder’s eyes, but all he did was give me the slightest of nods. I tore my eyes away and continued to follow Jayden into the room. Then, just like that, everyone went back to what they were doing.
The food was set up in a low row of serving trays. Jayden hurried along first, and I followed slower, grabbing a few bits before settling on a black bean burrito. Hurrying to catch up with my roommate, I noticed his plate and I arched an eyebrow at him.
“Christ, are you feeding the entire Hive?”
His plate was piled high with hummus, chocolate cake, nachos, bacon – everything was just on top of the other and smashed together in some disgusting concoction of flavors.
Jayden laughed, his black eyes twinkling. “I like you.” He hip bumped me.
We found our way to a section in the back that was marked off behind a velvet rope.
“What’s with the special seating?” I asked, sitting down.
Jayden glanced back at the main part of the room. A serious look came over his face. “No one wants to become friends with us until they know who is going to survive.”
Right. Awesome. I suddenly wasn’t hungry. Depression settled over me like a thick blanket.
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” he said. “The shit you pulled with Ryder, you’re probably a top pick.”
Ryder … was he talking about me breaking his ankle? How was that special? All new ash were strong, weren’t they?
“Top pick?” I mused aloud.
He popped a piece of bacon in his mouth and moaned. I gave him an odd look.
“Like I said in the room, the night before the culling starts we get ranked. The top picks fight less. They get to sit out a lot, and some of them only fight once or twice before the team event. The vamps like the weak to get killed off first.”
“Well, shit, that’s depressing.” I took a bite of my burrito. A flavor explosion played over my tongue and I moaned. He burst out laughing at my expression.
“Your taste buds are enhanced. Every meal is like sex in your mouth,” he told me.
Someone slammed down their tray across the table, glaring at us. “Quit acting like best friends,” the new guy spat. “You’re all going to be at each others’ throats in two weeks.”
Jayden threw a chip at him as my stomach sank. “Calm down, meathead,” he said.
Maybe this new guy was right, I shouldn’t be making friends. I glanced at Jayden and he smiled. Shit. Too late. I kinda already went and liked my roomie. I’d just have to worry about it if and when Jayden and I fought. For now, Jayden and I were on the same team.
I ate half of my burrito. The conversations had dried up in this section of the ash hall. Mostly everyone just stuck to themselves and threw around lots of glares. After thirty minutes of this, I dropped my plate onto the return tray and said goodbye to Jayden. I needed some alone time, and if I remembered robot Jose’s tour correctly, he had said the roof had a jogging track.
My room hadn’t had any jogging clothes, just the jumpsuits, so I decided to just head up and hope for the best. Luckily, as I made my way upstairs, there was a supply room just outside the gym and running area. A female vampire, who was not very friendly at all, hooked me up with some running shoes and clothes. Probably didn’t want to get attached to an ash who was most likely going to be killed in the first round of the culling. Or she was a bitch. Either one.
Fifteen minutes later I was running on top of the world. Sixty stories in the air, it was glorious. The freezing wind slid through my hair and my feet pounded on the track. I could see the whole city from up here! The Columbia River divided Oregon from Washington. I had officially found my new favorite place. If my entire world had to fall apart, then this was something in the glass half full part of my life now. I pushed harder into the run in awe of my new speed and strength. As I angled myself for the turn, someone whipped by me on my left.