THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

took a wheezing gasp that hurt.
    “Son of a bitch!” a strange young male voice called. “Hey, dude, we got a skydiver.”
    Did I know the name Dude?
    I opened my mouth and groaned. The only sound I could make.
    “Hey, babe, where’s your chute?” the same voice asked, closer.
    Babe?
    “Idiot, she fell from the rocks.” Another voice that sounded just as young and male joined the first. “She’s a mess. Leave her.”
    “No way she fell. From those rocks?”  First male’s voice. He whistled low. “Should be dead.” Then he whispered, “Hey. Maybe she is. We better go.”
    We’ll all be dead if that beast follows me . I twisted my head just enough to look up at the cliff face I’d just dove from.
    There. In the crevice of dusty-red boulders loomed a shadow. Long and thin. Waiting.
    Even from this distance, I felt the danger. Predator eyeing prey. But what kept it from attacking? The other people? The distance? Could that thing not shift from land animal to a winged creature and swoop down?
    Beware the beast whispered through my mind.
    As if I hadn’t figured that out. That voice stirred a memory, almost. A female voice filled with worry. Who is she? Why can’t I remember?
    The flicker of knowing slid away faster than dust through my fingers.
    Fear coiled in my chest. I’m so confused. The blank spots in my mind threatened me on a gut-deep level, far more than the beast did.
    But I’d gotten my wish. I’d found people.
    I rolled onto my back, sucking air at the pain that movement caused. My entire body complained. Body slammed twice and feeling as if I’d been squeezed from the inside out.
    The second voice called from a little further away. “Come on, Taylor, move it. We gotta get out of here before—”
    A high-pitched screeching noise blasted over the top of the stranger’s words, followed by the echo of an older male voice. Not the ghost’s voice, a different one. His words boomed through a mechanical amplifier, shouting, “ Stay where you are. Hands in the air. Stop! ” 
    But instead of stopping, bodies swung into action. I angled my head to figure out who was doing what. I’d thought there were only one or two people nearby, but a dozen plus young ones erupted around me. Running in all directions. Dust devils with legs.
    The booming voice barked more commands. “ Stop where you are. Down on the ground . This is the APD. ”
    I had no problem complying. Flat on my back, I stared up at an empty, vast sky. Breathing was about all I could do.
    Wonder what an APD is ?
    As if in answer, gravel crunched under approaching steps. A weathered face with skin as dark as mine hovered into view, indigo blue pants with a knife-sharp crease and dust-covered boots. One boot kicked my hip.
    I gritted my teeth to hold back a groan of pain. A warrior never lets a threat see you flinch .
    Had that been a random thought? Or did I know this as a truth?
    “Stay right where you are, kid. No funny stuff and you won’t get hurt.”
    Too late. Everything ached right down to the roots of my hair. And why had he called me kid? Was that anything like a dude? I dug around in my mind and came up with kid as a baby goat. Maybe I’m not the only one with scrambled brains.
    The boot nudged me again. “Get up. Slow and easy.”
    I eyed that boot, considering what would happen if I spun his foot to face the wrong way. But he had a black metal object on his hip that could be a weapon, and I still didn’t know where I was or what was going on.
    Breaking his ankle didn’t seem too smart.
    Rolling to my side, I shuddered to my knees. That settled it. I was in no shape to fight anyone right now. I’d made the right decision not to antagonize this person. Bracing myself, I lurched up to stand and anchored my feet shoulder width apart. Wiping at my arms was a mistake.  Sand and grit clung to my skin so all I did was grind it into the raw places.
    The man I faced stood barely taller than me. An elder I estimated to be three times my age if that old ghost had been right about me being seventeen. Age seamed this man’s face and voice. Eyes like coarse stone. “What kind of damn outfit you wearing, girl?” 
    He s aid girl as if I reminded him of a maggot . As for my clothes, what about his ?
    Couldn’t place what he wore, but I sensed the meaning behind his words and attitude–authority.
    All the elders milling around wore the same covering–blue pants, light blue shirts, everything regulated and unyielding except