19. Ivy

Ibanged on the wall for twenty minutes after they dragged Kren's unconscious body from the lab. I paused every few minutes to try and regain the same focus I had achieved earlier and break through the barrier.

It wouldn't come to me. I grew agitated and banged on the wall again with my fists.

Somehow, I'd managed to break through the barrier. It hurt but it was better than being cooped up in here. If it'd been faster and less shocked by what I'd managed to achieve, I might have escaped.

But I'd been too busy staring at the handsome lug sat in the chair.

I sighed. Even if I had managed to get out of here, what was I going to do about the guards? I couldn't leave Kren behind.

And now he was out there, about to be plunged into something called a "Survivor Challenge." He would be surrounded by enemies, and eventually, one of them was going to do what the others were only threatening.

They were going to beat him.

Worse, they were going to kill him.

And it'd been my fault. I shouldn't have tried to show him where I was. The Supervisor was going to kill him anyway.

And where did that leave me?

On the wrong side of Shitsville. That's where.

"Fuck!" I said, kicking the padded wall. "Fucking asshole!"

I unloaded into the wall, pummeling it with my fists and feet, head and elbows…

It achieved nothing besides giving me a sprained wrist and making me realize how unfit at being a fighter I was.

I sat in the corner and cried. Pathetic little creature that I was.

I wrapped my hands over my stomach and felt that familiar glow.

Was it the baby? I wondered.

Kren had an ability, one he'd hidden from everyone most of his life. Was it responsible for what I did earlier with the wall?

Maybe I only managed to do it because I channeled the baby's ability somehow. It wasn't me at all.

How could that be?

Because you're pregnant with an alien.

"Are you in there, little baby alien?" I said, rubbing my stomach gently. "If you are, thanks for earlier. If it's not too much trouble, I'd really appreciate it if you could do it again. Daddy needs our help."

Daddy.

I liked the sound of that. I especially liked it when it was attached to the champion hunk.

Fighting for his life.

For all our lives.

It didn't need to end right now. Our lives could continue.

We just needed the will to make it happen.

But how?

There was no reasonable plan I could think up that resulted in us getting out of here. I was going to have to play it by ear.

So far, my plans hadn't exactly been blinding successes. Having a baby to escape this place? What had I been thinking?

How about telling the Supervisor I no longer wanted to be a part of that plan? That worked out really well! I was still trapped in this damn room!

How about showing my face to Kren so he knew where I was? And then accidentally letting the Supervisor see me in the same breath? And now Kren was in the worst possible situation.

I sucked at plans. And I wasn't going to make another one so long as I lived.

It was fly by the seat of my pants or nothing.

The Supervisor approached the wall with his goons on either side.

"The show's about to begin. Would you like to watch?"