There were a lot of people at the meeting, more than I had expected, and most were males, just as I had expected. I slid in and took a seat towards the back, next to a couple guys who looked to be pushing forty. The chatter was limited, so there was a minor din in the room, but the second the door opened, a hush swept across the crowd.
"Alright guys, and ladies, we're going to get started, but first I have a few stipulations that might thin the crowd out a bit." He glanced down at the paper he held in his hands. "You must be between the ages of 21 and 35, in good physical health, and ready to risk your life. If you don't fulfill all of these qualifications, then I'm going to need to you leave, please."
There was a beat of silence as if everyone was trying to determine whether he was serious. When he didn't continue to speak, people started to stand and shuffle out. A a few guys near the end of the row stood. They looked like they were barely sixteen. They led the procession out, followed by several men who were clearly past the 35 year age mark. A few more people shuffled out and finally everybody sank back into silence.
"Alright here's how it's going to work. We need a team of eight. We're going to need the best and the brightest. There are going to be a few rigorous physical tests, along with firearm qualification, and after interviews, we'll pick the final eight."
A hand went up in the front row. The speaker nodded at him.
"Who exactly is going to be choosing these people?"
"Me and another man who are going to be leading this expedition."
Another man spoke up. "What qualifies you to judge who's fit to go and who's not?"
"I have fifteen years of military experience and my partner is a qualified psychiatrist."
A few murmurs swept through the crowd before the leader raised his hands, palms toward the crowd, asking for their silence.
"I have a few forms that are going to need to be filled out by everyone applying. There will be another meeting shortly, so keep an eye on the announcement boards in the village centers."
Clearly this man lacked in dismissal skills. The man beside me stood up and shoved his way past me. I stood up after he had rudely pushed by, but was immediately assaulted from behind by another man.He gave me a gruff shove and then worked his way past me. I stumbled and reached out, looking for something to grab onto to keep from falling over. Someone grabbed my arm.
"Thank you," I said, straightening up and looking up to see who had stopped my face-plant.
"My pleasure."
He was tall, with dark skin, dark eyes, and dark hair. His shoulders were broad under a white t-shirt. His hand was still wrapped around my forearm and I noticed the black edges of a tattoo peeking out from under his t-shirt. For a moment we just looked at each other. It took someone shoving by us to move again.
His fingers released my arm.
"Thank you," I said again, mildly transfixed by his eyes.
His lips tipped upwards in small smile before he started down the stairs towards where the speaker was handing out packets. I trailed after him. We both grabbed a stack of papers from the man and then headed back up the stairs and out of the arena.
Both of us were headed in the same general direction, so I jogged forward a little to catch up with him.
"Hey," I called.
He slowed a little to let me catch up. "Hey."
"You saved my face back there." Did I really just say that?
"It was no big deal," he told me.
"Well, um... I'm Andi."
"I'm Kekoa. But my friends call me Koa."
"That's pretty. Is it Hawaiian?"
He nodded.
"What does it mean?"
"It means 'brave one' or 'warrior'."
This time I nodded. Getting this guy to talk was like pulling teeth. I looked around and realized he was headed the opposite way I was. I stopped walking and nodded toward my right.
"Well, I'm this way."
He gave me another small smile. "Alright. I suppose I'll see you later then."
"Yeah, later."
I gave a small wave and then made my feet head away from the strong, silent man beside me; however, it seemed the farther away from him I got, the more I seemed to be thinking about him.
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