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began to rub it into her skin, causing her to squeak in surprise and flinch in pain.
     
    “I,” she began, but had to stop and press her lips together.  She inhaled once again, trying her best to ignore the pain, and decided to focus on Gerard’s hands on her back rather than the antiseptic in her wounds.  “I… They locked me in a hotbox for the past two days.”
     
    The news seemed to upset Gerard even more.  A hotbox was a torturous punishment, placing a person in a room no bigger than an outhouse.  They only get fed three times a day, a cup of water five times a day, and have no semblance of human contact.  Even though they were strong – weapon-like – they weren’t immortal, and the hotbox punishment was brutal.
     
    “Why do you have to do that?” he asked her, suddenly angered by the woman in front of him.  Why did she do this to herself?  He couldn’t understand it.  Life here was easy; keep one’s mouth shut and do what the Superiors say.  That was it.  That was all she needed to do.  “Why do you have to argue with everything?  Why do you have to fight with everyone?”
     
    He expected her to argue with him, to get defensive about his direct questions.  And, if he was being honest, Devyn probably would have if she wasn’t in so much pain.  “Because,” she said as Gerard began wrapping around the white cloth-like material that served as a large band aid around her lower torso.  “Because I don’t… I don’t want to lose my spirit.”  She paused, waiting until a surge of pain faded before continuing.  “I don’t want to lose who I am.”
     
    Gerard let her words sink in, and felt his anger vanish as quickly as it came.  The same small smile touched his features as he tied the bandage tightly.  He rested his hands on a safe place of the small of her back for a moment, thinking about how he should respond to that.
     
    “They can’t take that away from you Devyn,” he told her in a low voice after ensuring that she had locked eyes with him.
     
    He liked her, he finally decided.  Yes, she frustrated him to no end, and she was incredibly idealistic to the point of it being annoying, but he liked her in spite of it.  Maybe even because of it.
     
     

Chapter 7
     
    Despite what she had endured, Devyn was back up and training the next day.  Her back hurt like a mother but it was highly unlikely that the Superiors would let her rest a few days without more punishment.  Plus, she didn’t want to let down Rachel who was no doubt depending on her in order to practice.  Without training and without practice, a genome would be the weakest link, and a Unit was only as strong as its weakest link.  Devyn would be damned if she was the Unit’s weakest link. 
     
    “Honey, what is wrong with you?” Rachel said in a sharp but hushed tone once Devyn met her outside that morning.  “I heard what happened to you and there is absolutely no way I’m training with you.”
     
    “Why not?” Devyn asked, wincing as she shifted her shoulders in order to move her hands.  Instantly she masked the pain with a passive face, but not quickly enough.  Rachel didn’t have to say anything.  Instead, she pointed accusingly at Devyn, raising her brows as though she had just proved her point.  “Listen.  Go easy on me.  Do whatever you need to do.  That’s fine.  But I need to practice Rachel.  You know that.  If I don’t, the Superiors – Sarah – will sideline me, and I can’t let that happen.”
     
    “And what happens when you can’t move, hmm?” Rachel asked, crossing her arms over her chest.  “What happens when your wounds only worsen and when we actually start this damn thing, you can barely move.  Then I’m going to have to risk my life babysitting you – and not that I don’t mind that, sweetie, I just can’t do that to your ego because no doubt you will be yelling at me the whole time, telling me how you can look after yourself.  And then we’ll both