The Change: Episode one (4 page)

Out of the contestants I'd seen, only three
were real competition - the Bombshell, the Defender, and one
unknown. That would be the owner of the menacing doorway across
from mine. Anyone who could do that to me, sight-unseen, was
trouble in my book.

I grinned suddenly, feeling the longing, the
drive behind my every action for the last ten years. It didn't
matter. Soon, I'd have an end to this pain, and I planned to enjoy
the blood along the way.

6

In my dreams, the world we exist in is gone.
The War never happened. Men weren't enslaved for their own
protection. There hadn't been hundreds of years of fighting for
control of them, or for survival against the fallout that had
killed off 95% of the male chromosomes so that nearly the only
children to be had, even now, were female.

In my world, there was no shortage of men.
So much so, that there was no need for a global list you were
placed on at birth for a mate and certainly no cause for a
Network-controlled program, where baby-hungry women fought to the
death. I'd always known which way I would go, but I still longed
for an end to it.

My dreams flashed through
deadly lessons, motions perfected until they were razor sharp, all
shadowed by a completeness I'd never felt. Until it was gone and
replaced by this... this
Hunger
.

"It's happening tonight."

His voice was terrified, and I threw my arms
around him, struggling not to scream in rage. He was mine!

"I will come for you!"

He trembled in my 8-year-old arms, only a
boy (my boy!) at his parent's mercy, and my grip tightened. He was
being sold to The Network. There was nothing I could do to stop
it.

At twelve, he was pale, slender from not
getting enough to eat, and his weak arms and legs weren’t shaped
quite right. It was the reason his family had kept him beyond the
usual age of ten and the reason we’d had these years. Now, they
were over, and I was about to be desolate.

"I will find you!"

His blue eyes were full of panic that I
couldn't ease.

"You promise, Candy?"

I pressed my lips to his, tasting my new
fury, his tears. "On my life, Daniel!"

I jerked upright on the buggy green
couch.

Daniel had been taken from me a long time
ago, a companion sold into slavery. At fourteen, I had tried to
enter the Network complex to rescue him, but was caught and brought
home by security. Even then, it was hard to wait.

Now I was here, in the very game for his
papers. He would be mine again in a week… if I was strong enough…
if I could win.

Chapter Two

Day Two

1

"And next, we have Candice Marie Pruett, the
brutal Changeling from Ohio whose family fills their credits by
bounty hunting for the Network, as well as independent clients. Her
antics last night at the opening ceremony definitely stirred up
those lonely bachelors. Tell us Sweetheart, why the stunt? Are
babies so important to you?"

The reporter was a snarky little twit with
sarcastic green eyes, and I smiled coolly, returning the sentiment.
"Not really, no. You understand right, after being denied?"

She flushed scarlet, and I waited, knowing I
had just made a bitter enemy with my perfect guess. Without a
Network breeding pass, the only way to get a male was to steal one,
and the short woman had obviously chosen to keep her career and
forgo a family. The Network reporters were supposed to be
unshakable, but I’d never seen anyone try. I was determined to
prove them liars and Network stooges. This game would be played on
as many of my terms as I could get away with.

"Moving on… umm, your ratings went through
the roof, up to five after last night, and there's a picture of
your backside on every morning paper. How does that make your
family feel?"

Prepared for her attack - it wasn't so much
an interview, as a stabbing to find weaknesses - I shrugged.
"Humiliated."

I'd thrown her off again, and I smirked when
she made a curt motion for the cue-card change.

"Um... What about the woman you brutally
killed last night? Even though it was before tonight’s official
start of the episode, do you think it was fair of the Network to
draft a replacement contestant?"

I hadn't heard that, and she was the one
gloating now, happy to have anything, no matter how useless, to
hold over me. I pulled the rug out and then shook it in her
face.

"I didn't know that, but it's great. I came
for the fights, and that one was too easy." I leaned a bit closer.
"You wouldn't wanna have a go, would ya?"

She flinched out of my reach like I'd
slapped her perfectly made-up face, and I chuckled, sitting back.
"Guess not."

She recovered more quickly this time, but
the shake of her toga-covered arm as she made the motion, gave her
away to me and the watching world.

"Back to you, Dana."

The camera light went to red, and she moved
hastily off the lavish set, not sparing me a glance. I doubted
she'd be the one to interview me after I won my first cage match. I
was still smirking as I retrieved my ID. Not then, and probably not
even after I'd won it all.

2

“
Hello and welcome to round
one of The Bachelor Battles! While the scanners get warmed up,
let’s go over some of the basic rules.”

A pause for the crowd to settle back down.
It is clear that this game is a favorite of the masses.

“
As you know, ten
contestants will fight to the Death for their choice of a mate.
Attacks and battles are forbidden in the halls or private rooms.
Everywhere else is fair game, and as usual, anyone can kill a
contestant, including friends, family, and outsourced labor. A
single viewing of the males will be provided, but only one
contestant is permitted in the Bachelor quarters at a time. Light
sampling is allowed.”

At that, the crowd roared again, and the
announcer had to wait for them to quiet down to continue. I was
listening from my room, as were the others who’d signed up for this
suicide. The Network couldn’t have us together until they were
ready for the blood to spill.

Games like the one I was in
now were being played all over the complex. Some signed up to
outrun the Hounds or to fight the walking dead, but it was the
battles against other women that held this post-apocalyptic world
spellbound. Outside these walls was a different struggle, not
controlled or neatly regulated. Out there, people were killing each
other for their sons, and the Network did nothing to help. In fact,
f
amilies who fell out of favor with the
Network were denied access to their credits so that they would
starve or have to sell their male children to the Games in order to
survive.

“
To get started, we will
now choose our Luck of the Draw fighter who will face three other
contestants for our first round of match-ups. Viewers will vote on
the day’s challengers each morning, and the Network will pick a
replacement if our Luck of the Draw winner is defeated. No other
battles are held during this time, but attacks and assassination
attempts are encouraged.”

In the corner of my room, a platform rose
from the floor, and a dial slid out of the grungy green wall.

“
Please step onto the
scanner and remain motionless.”

I did as instructed and saw
myself flash onto one of the small blocks lining the outer edges of
the screen. The center image was of the arena, where another big
crowd of partiers waited restlessly for the fights to start.
It wasn’t unreasonable to think they might
underestimate me because of my size. I was shorter than most of the
contestants and my face held that slightly chubby look that implied
I spent my free time on the couch watching these Games instead of
training for them.
It was a lie, of
course.

The heavy look was the Change, a side effect
not one of the vain Network females wanted to admit to. It gave us
a fuller, rounder figure, and the socialites loathed it. As for the
small size, I kept my tattooed arms and thick legs covered by loose
trousers and a flowing cloak. If they saw me as my family did
daily, thick arms straining as blood dripped unnoticed, they might
take more care. I was glad they hadn’t shown any of those images.
Surprise was another advantage I often employed on bounty runs, and
it was necessary here.

“
The contestants are now
being evaluated by the Network computer designed specifically to
determine which one of our players has the best chance to win.
Sending them against three fighters in a row is meant to take away
the edge of the fittest over those who’ve had less
training.”

I didn’t feel anything as the blue light
went over my body in slow revolutions. On the wall screen, numbers
and stats began to pop up. These figures were extremely familiar to
me, and I forced myself not to grin. Once my name was announced, my
Mother had hacked into the computer banks and pulled the models.
We’d discovered what the estimates would be and made sure I fit
them. There wouldn’t be any luck involved if we’d done it right. I
would be chosen and not spend the next two days waiting for my
turn. I wanted to be on the offensive, and when you were a Pruett,
there were ways…

“
Thank you. Please step
off of the scanner.”

I moved back and watched myself disappear
from the screen. The results would only take a few minutes to come
in, and I studied the half a dozen contestants still being scanned.
This was the time when the outside world placed their bets and made
their predictions. It was also when we sized each other up
according to what we read and noticed. For me, it was a time to
pass impatiently. I’d done my homework long before I’d arrived.

“
We’ll have our Luck of the
Draw fighter in just a moment, but before that, a reminder on the
protection our contestants can earn from their matches.
Stars are given for each kill, high popularity,
and by Network decision. Each star gains the contestant one Network
guard in the halls and private rooms, and a fresh cache of weapons
and medical credits. Stars cannot be lost, but at the start of
round two, they can be given away to protect someone else, such as
visiting family.”

There was a pause where my nerves started to
get the best of me. I wanted this to be over and the fighting to
begin. My eyes flickered to pink at the thought.

“
And the results are ready.
We’ll hit the button here, and… okay, we’ll see the name when the
timer counts down. Just watch the screen now…”

The world waited just as impatiently as the
contestants, and the mob of females outside the complex was nearly
loud enough to be picked up by the Network speakers as the
announcer called the name.

“
Candice M.
Pruett!”

“
You have been scheduled
for a match in one hour. Please report to the main arena on
time.”
The voice came from the console in
my room at the same time the announcer filled in the listening
viewers.

“
Our Luck of the Draw
contestant is Candice Pruett! Will this eighteen-year-old bounty
hunter survive the first three matches? The computer thinks so.
Wadda ya say, folks? Wanna place a bet or two?”

I waited to see who I would face in the
first match tonight, suddenly thinking of the harsh training I’d
done with Baker to get here. When I’d met him, he wasn’t a convict,
only a tool to be used to sharpen my chances of winning.

“
And the first contestant
our bounty hunting Changeling will face is…Diva, Queen of the Bronx
Club! This street fighter likes to use her bare hands, and has a
passion for singing. She’s been known to hum while bashing in her
opponent’s…”

I flipped the screen off. My interview
tomorrow might include some of the stats unless I could find a
distraction. A few of them were exact matches to this episode’s
suggested numbers, and I would have to be careful not to make
anyone suspicious. Going against the Network had to be done very
carefully.

3

"Cage Match One!"

I didn’t arrive early and expose my
impatience for this to be officially underway. I was already
feeling like an animal that had been boxed up too long and started
going insane from it. I couldn’t have that known.

I walked down the fenced-in area with even
steps, feeling that alien coldness settle into my chest at the
sight of the Diva. She was enormous and I had a quick moment to
wonder if that side of the draw had been rigged as well. Not that
it mattered. I wasn’t about to lose to this slave-trading gang
leader.