Legend
Chapter one
It was time for the ceremony. One special boy would be elected king of Kaylock- a mythical land hidden deep into the Valley of Kaylock. It is one of the last civilizations left on Earth after World War three. Little did one boy know that dreams could turn into nightmares… and nightmares could turn into life. This boy was especially ready; ready to beat his eternal enemy for the spot. He scratched his head, wondering what he would do if he won. First he would help the Valley of Kaylock from falling completely. The enemies were miles and miles away, but he planned on going on a long journey and destroy them to smithereens. But for now he wasn’t a legend. He wasn’t a hero. He was the world’s most average boy. Little did he know that things were all about to change...
Chapter two
Arose. Arose is my name. I hate it. My mother named me “Arose” because she said I would rise to be great. It’s in past tense because my mother “knew” I would become great and my name would fit after I did. That’s crap and is full of nonsense. No boy my age would be able to conquer the Valley of Kaylock itself and become a hero. Besides, nobody likes me. I get bullied by the others because they say my name is for a girl.
“Arose, get over here. Please. You have to help me do the chores,” my mother coughs.
“Okay,” I mumble with no meaning. I pace over to my mother and help her scrub the floors. Our home is only two rooms but it feels like a million. We have a huge house compared to some people, so I guess we’re lucky. The morning dew makes its way through the old, broken windows as I wash the floors with my mother. Some of the richer boys are outside playing on Summer Hill. Years ago the Battle for Kaylock occurred, and Summer Hill was where it ended. The Valley of Kaylock then became an independent country. But there were thousands of losses up there and that hill is forbidden. But knowing those “cooler” or “richer” kids, they have the right to do anything they want.
“Arose, is something wrong?” my mother spots me glancing out the window. I don’t respond.
“Son?”
“What?” I reply, finally happy for the moment she doesn’t call me Arose.
“Is something wrong?” she asks once again.
“No,” I say, moaning. I go back to washing the floors while my mother has a concerned look on her face.
The floor is so shiny now. I get up and go back to doing nothing. I have such a lame life.
“Hey, it’s Arose! Ha, what’s up with that name? Huh? What’s up with it?” I spot the richer kids outside of our house, peering through our windows.They make their way towards the window and start making faces at me.
“If you don’t get away, I’ll get you,” I threaten them. It’s not like that will even come close to working, though.
“Ha! I’m so scared!” one of the kids laugh.
I jump out of the broken window and walk towards the kids. One of them has dark brown eyes with blond hair. The other has blue eyes and blond hair.
“You really want to fight us?” one of the boys raises his eyebrow.
“If I have to, and I know I’ll win,” I laugh.
The boy with blue eyes and blond hair charges at me and tries to kick me. I catch his leg and flip him over. The other boy looks shocked, but he gets over it and punches me in the stomach. I’ve been through a lot, so it doesn’t even phase me. I punch him across the face and teeth comes flying out. The other boy gets up off the ground and flees. The one on the ground who I’ve punched is crying as blood flows from his nose. I pick him up and slam him down onto the muddy ground. His face is now completely brown and his clothes are ruined.
“Now get off my land,” I shout. Both of the boys sprint are now gone.
I crawl back through the window and into my house. My mother asks what I was just doing outside, and I tell her that some kids stopped by to talk.
“What are we going to do as the time gets closer for Ceremony ninety-two?” Mother asks me.
“I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“Be that way. I’m just trying to help you,” Mother squints at me, then walks away.
“Whatever,” I roll my eyes when she’s gone.
I go back outside where the hill is. The kids are gone, so I walk up it myself. I really don’t care if the Soldiers catch me.
The sun blazes across the early morning sky. Everybody is now starting to awake from their nights; but some people have been up all morning preparing for today’s ceremony.
“Honey, why are you up here?” my mother surprises me. She appears to be on the hill right behind me. She must’ve followed.
“I don’t know,” I reply without looking into her face.
Flashback. I was once a child full of wonder when I came up here. I loved writing fantasy stories and learned about mythology. I was always curious, so once we moved here, I walked up onto this hill. I changed after a while when things went down for me. Maybe I just want to relive my memories.
“You know… before anything happens, I want to explain something. Being chosen is an honor, but there’s more to it…” my mother starts.
“What do you mean?” I roll my eyes.
“Listen. Your grandfather was once chosen as King. But he was taken to a far more advanced city- Isotopalia. There he learned the secrets of our greater rulers- where every King and Queen would meet. But if you were him you would notice how badly people were treated. That anybody could become a danger. You would make impossible decisions while the real ruler of our country laughed and used the Kings and Queens. If you get chosen- well…” my mother sighs.
“I don’t believe you. You always lie. It’s not like you’ve ever told the truth!” I cry out.
“I remember when you were an amazing mother. These days I can’t even get close to trusting you. It was the changes we all went through that caused you to be like this. God, I can only imagine what our world would be like if there was peace. Goodbye, I’m going to sleep until the ceremony. Wake me up when it’s time and I hope I get chosen. If I do, I will be glad to be away from you,” I argue. And that’s it. She is now silent as I walk back to my lonely, miserable room. I crawl into my bed and sob until sleep takes over.
Chapter three
“Get up. It’s time for the ceremony,” mother sighs once again.
I fall out of the bed and onto the floor. I’m so tired right now.
“Come on, we have to go. Get dressed.”
“Ugh… fine,” I reply.
I pull on some old clothes and sneakers. I remember studying an old brand of shoes called Nike, and they seemed to be really nice. If only they were still made.
I walk out the door with my mother. Our Valley’s torches light up the night sky with the stars. Everybody gathers outside and we walk down the dirt paths to Valley Central. Valley Central is where every important even in our valley is held. It is bright, futuristic, and the only nice part in our area. It is made of chrome, or some weird silver stuff, and has ten stories. Each of the stories has a different room for certain events. Valley Central will always catch you eye as the bright lights shine from each window in the dark, night sky. The Chrome itself also shines from light- not just day- but from the stars. Hundreds crowd around the entrances as mother and I arrive. The Soldiers are guarding the entrances and won’t let anybody in until our current King allows it.
The Soldiers talk on some weird gadget. I assume the King is going to let us in now.
“Alright, people. Come on in,” the Soldiers open up the doors with bright smiles on their faces. Hundreds crowd through the doors, pushing and shoving.
Mother and I walk in without pushing and shoving. Some kid pushes my mother onto the ground, and her lip begins to bleed. I warn to to get away, but he doesn’t listen and sticks out his tongue. I decide it’s not time for another fight.
“Hey… Arose. I bet you’re gonna be picked. You don’t give up and believe in yourself, even though you don’t admit it,” one of my only friends, Siris, walks over to me through the crowd.
“Who said I believed in myself? Who said I never give up? This world should be ashamed of itself. It’s changed from being amazing to poor in just a few years. Over my years of being upon this planet I’ve realized something I didn’t when I was young- how horrible people are. And if you think I’m good, you better think twice,” I mumble.
“Arose, you’re always like this. But I see something in you. Just wait and see…” Siris squints.
“Cool. Now let’s find out that you’re wrong,” I whisper to Siris. Our King, whose real name is Elencius Arling, speaks onto a microphone. At least that’s what I think it is.
“Hello, ladies and Gentlemen. Today I’ll be announcing to you our next king. To find this decade’s King I looked at who was strong and smart. Someone that was determined to get things their way- someone who won’t give up,” the King explains.
Siris whispers something into my ear, but I can’t quite make out what he says because I’m worried the floors will collapse. The Wooden planks for this floor are squeaking and wobbling, but the only thing that gets my attention away from there are the bright torches that light up this room. Chrome Walls. Wood floors. Bright torches. Hundreds of people. This room is pretty large. Why am I thinking about this stuff?
“That person is Arose Archakia,” the King smiles and looks deep into my eyes. As soon as I hear my name I look into his green eyes. He squints at me with a wry smile on his face. Why does he make it seem like something bad?
“Ha, Arose! I knew it would be you. Congratulations!” Siris slaps me on the back as I get up to go on the stage. Mother gives me a thumbs-up, but doesn’t smile. Maybe she’s still angry.
“Congratulations, kid. You’re the new King of this place, and it’s time for me to retire. I’ll be sending a few Soldiers to your home, and they will explain what your job is. Also, there might be one special thing for you… but you’ll find that out later,” the King chuckles. He laughs so hard that his eyes look like they will fall out of their sockets. Everyone stares at him until he stops laughing.
“Thank you all for coming and have a great night,” he finishes.
I walk back down the stage and people ask for high-fives. I don’t give anybody one.
“Come on, let’s go home. I’m going to get some rest before I do anything,” I tell Mother. More rest. Just what I need- really. I’m not being sarcastic.
Siris congratulates me one more time. Mother and I head home while many more pat me on the back. Finally, we arrive home. The one place that’ll always be in my memories.
“I’m going to bed,” I say.
“But you can’t the Soldiers are here…” Mother begins to cry.
“Mom, what’s wrong?” I ask because I can’t let her cry.
“I didn’t want you to go… remember what I talked about? Oh my God, son! It’s true! Believe me for once! I know I’ve been a bad person, but please!” she cries out loud as the Soldiers barge in.
“Ma’am, we need to speak to this King privately. Please do not interrupt us. We order you to leave this house or else there will be a punishment,” the first Soldier firmly demands.
“I refuse,” my Mother says.
“Mom…” I tell her.
“Let her stay. She won’t be a harm,” I tell the Soldiers.
“That is against our rules, Arose. We can’t do that. You don’t even have that power- only the great ones do,” the second Soldier confirms.
“I’m tired of you people. Just explain to me the rules, or I’m not taking this job,” I offer.
The Soldiers stare at each other for a moment, then nod.
“Just don’t tell anybody,” they demand.
“Okay.”
“So, here are your rules for being a King…” the Soldiers begin. This is all jibberish. It’s nothing I want to listen to. I sit there for hours and hours as they talk. Time passes by quickly.
“Arose? Are you listening? This is the most important part,” a Soldier guarantees.
“Yes.”
“You’ll be taken to a Tournament to become our Country’s leader. This Valley, Kaylock, is only part of the real government. We only call these leaders of Kaylock ‘Kings’to hide that there’s a different government out there. Kaylock is the safest place in our country. Please, don’t tell anybody here or the Great Ones can decimate this Valley and everyone in it,” the second Soldier warns.
“Gotcha,” I tell the Soldiers. They leave without saying goodbye, so I go to bed.
“Arose! Hurry! If you don’t we’re gonna die!” a red-headed, cute girl warns. We both, along with a few other people, are running from something. Something dangerous.
“Please, we can’t fail…” one of the boys sighs as we continue running. We arrive at a destination- and that’s when I realize all of us were running in a void place. Now we’re inside of a completely white room.
“Maybe we’re safe in here…” the red-headed girl pants once we’re inside.
The Whiteness shifts around. Colors swirl. Now I’m in a new place.
This weird, bamboo forest… with no sign of any living soul. I pace the grounds. The Sun shines through the tall bamboo, but nothing else grows. What is this place? And then I spot a carving in the ground- that tells me to look up. I look up. All of a sudden I’m turned upside down and fall through nothing. Everything is black!
“Wake up! You’re going to that special place… and I’ll never see you again. I want to spend time with you,” Mother shakes me.
Was I dreaming? What happened? I think about everything as I rub my eyes. For some reason, I sense that someone is dead.
“Oh, and… I’m only supposed to tell you… but the King committed suicide. I think the Soldiers said that it had something to do with his history with the Great Ones and the things he went through, but especially his dreams,” Mother explains.
He committed suicide because of his Dreams. Who knows… I could be going to the Great Ones. I could go through something similar. I had horrible, weird dreams last night- and they could only be the beginning. What if my Mother was right?
Suicide.
Chapter four
“I just wanted to tell you- I’m right. Please listen. Please. Don’t tell anybody else because you could be killed if the word gets around to the soldiers,” mother warns.
“I know you’re right,” I begin to say.
“And I’m sorry for not believing you,” I finish.
“I love you. Be careful when you go out there. I’ll make sure Siris and your other friends will be okay,” mother begins to cry once again.
“Trust me, I think I’ll be okay. I’ve been through a lot,” I guarantee.
“I know you’ll make it. If anything does go wrong and I’m not there- follow your instincts,” mother cries.
I give her a hug. I’ve been a horrible person. But this won’t even change me. Once I’m taken with the soldiers I will be the same person… horrible.
A soldier barges into our home once again. He orders for me to exit the place and come with him.
“Remember, Arose… follow your instincts…” mother whispers her final words before the Soldier takes me away. Outside, the sun is bright and it appears I’ve waken up a little late. Maybe the Soldiers told my mother what time they were coming and she woke me up just a little before that to tell me the “secret”. But then something catches my eye- there’s other people going with me.
“Arose, meet Noarah, Exley and Arik. This special place you’ll be going to wanted four of the smartest young adults of an area to come, and since you’ve been chosen as King, you were obviously chosen to come,” the Soldier tells me.
For some reason now, I am forced to believe that the King of a valley won’t be really powerful. There must be another government or something out there that controls us all, but they don’t want regular people to know.
“Arose, are you coming?” a soldier says as I am lost in thought. It appears the others have already started leaving.
Ugh. Something tells me I’m going to be in some rough times as the next years of my life come.
“Arose- you’re coming. I mean, we’re coming. Isn’t that cool? Where do you think we’re going? Well, wait, you don’t-’ Noarah tries to talk but blushes.
“Umm…” I squint at her.
“I wanted to congratulate you on becoming King. It must be an amazing honor,” Noarah smiles.
“Thanks,” I reply.
“I hope you would enjoy your time as King- and to celebrate, I brought you some flowers,” Noarah grins widely. What is going on here?
I take the flowers that Noarah hands me. Nothing seems to be wrong with them. Is she doing this to be nice- or is it something more?
Noarah, Exley, Arik and I walk along with the Soldier until we reach a weird hovering, object.
“What is this thing?” I ask, gasping.
“It is a Hovercraft, sir. The fastest machine that gets the richer ones to where they want to go,” the soldier says.
In my whole life, I haven’t seen anything so advanced in technology.
We all step into it as the light outside becomes brighter. I will be leaving my city and going to a new weirder place- somewhere that I’ve never been. What will it be like? Is my mother right? What could go wrong?
Inside the Hovercraft, the soldier sits down and speaks the word “start”. The Hovercraft fires up, then he proclaims that it takes us to Arcetimus City.
“Hey, Arose, I noticed something happen to you a little while back. I just didn’t say anything. Remember the richer kids with you on the hill?” Noarah whispers into my ear.
The ones I got into a fight with. They could’ve gotten me into lots of trouble. Yet, the King chose me- and Noarah noticed, too. This doesn’t make any sense…
“How do you know?” I ask Noarah quietly.
“I saw you when you were fighting them. I didn’t say anything, because I am not the person to distract-” Noarah stops. She looks away. Her gleaming, red hair and ocean blue eyes suddenly distract me as she looks back.
“Hey, Arose, is that your girlfriend?” Arik looks at me and laughs. I stare at him until he looks away.
Wait just a second- Exley and Arik. Why do these two now look familiar? I see blonde hair. Suddenly, I realize I wasn’t paying attention to who they are.
The rich kids I fought on the hill.
Chapter five
“Noarah, do you know who these two are?” I whisper into her ear.
“Oh Arose, how could I not?” she stares deep into my eyes. Only my mother has done that.
And now I know that Noarah trusts me.
The Soldier forces the Hovercraft to stop, and I peer out the windows. I’m amazed by the sights I see. Gigantic skyscrapers all made out of glass. They are so tall that they reach the clouds. Hovercrafts everywhere. People use futuristic devices to talk to one another. There’s so many things here that we don’t have back at home- chrome walkways. Golden sidewalks. Riches are everywhere. This is an amazing place, all protected by a large glass dome. However, it appears to be something more, but I don’t worry about it.
“Arose! I wonder if there are any roses in this place,” Exley and Arik laugh together. The Soldier turns around and tells them to shut up. I would’ve thought they learned their lesson by now…
Deep down in Exley’s brown eyes, though, I see pain. In Arik’s is the opposite. I see vain.
“Children, welcome to Arcetimus City, the home of our real government,” the Soldier announces.
We exit the Hovercraft and the Soldier says, “you can call me General Hayes if wanted.”
Outside, at least eighty people gather in front of the largest skyscraper. They all appear to be around my age. Could these people of been chosen for Kings? Are these people that were chosen, just like one of us four?
On the largest balcony, an older chinese man sits on a throne. He has a slender white beard. His wrinkles show age, but he is full of wisdom.
A jet black haired woman steps onto the balcony and shouts, “hello ladies and gentlemen! I am President Zero, the true leader of our country. You have all been selected because you have greatness, courage, and hope within yourselves. In this place you will be going through some of you greatest passions, and some of your least favorite. We will be seeing what abilities you have and how we can make you a better person- and once you become that person, you will graduate and fight against our enemies. The enemies we have will be decimated and we can once again live in peace after World War 3. Who agrees that we should start and find you all a place to stay? Your soldier will escort you to your rooms, and please be out here by this balcony tomorrow morning at seven. I hope to see you all then!”
Who is this mysterious President Zero? The ‘true leader’ of our country? And who is the old man sitting behind her? Was my mother right?
General Hayes meets up with us. He begins to walk us around this city, and showing us every skyscraper. Each skyscraper is named after a president. As the other are occupied, I ask him a question.
“Am I important to this place? What is my meaning for the King of Kaylock Valley?”
“Arose. that is private information,” General Hayes responds firmly.
“I demand an answer.”
General Hayes has a grim smile on his face as he looks out into the distance. I believe there is much more going on with this man than I think.
“You only rule over Kaylock. The real government makes you King of a place to hide their existence. You have to take orders from them and follow them completely, otherwise you can be revoked. Some penalties can also be death. But they are hiding something that they don’t want anyone to know, and I can’t explain that part. They didn’t even tell me,” General Hayes whispers into my ear.
I glare into his eyes. There’s more to it, but I decide to keep quiet as we enter the building where we will live.
The building we enter is made of glass. Once we’re inside, robots flee around serving their owners.
“This is the Central Residence, where other people like you will be staying,” General Hayes explains.
Many of these materials here are made of chrome. The robots are. The doors are. The walls are. The windows, well, are glass.
“Arose and Noarah, you two will be on the very top floor. I’ve heard your rooms are not too far from each other. Exley and Arik, your rooms are on this floor, but each are on the opposite side of the hallway,” General Hayes announces.
“Yeah, they’re definitely going to marry each other,” Arik tells Exley. Exley doesn’t reply.
Noarah and I take the chrome elevators to the top floor. General Hayes says he will meet us up there after he shows Arik and Exley their rooms.
“So, is there anything you’re excited for?” Noarah starts a conversation as the elevator goes up.
“Not really,” I say.
“I’m looking forward to fighting the enemies. Those people think they can mess with us, but I love my friends. I don’t want them to die. And if anyone gets in the way of that, I’ll always get angry,” Noarah squints at the doors as they open.
And once they open, I see chrome.
“What happened? Did the elevator malfunction?” Noarah slams her fist onto the top button.
And then I think about it. They want to see our abilities.
“We have to figure out a way to get out of here. Remember- they said they wanted to see our abilities. Well, here’s our chance to show them,” I guarantee.
“Well, there is a trapdoor on the top, and I know there are ladders all over the place in here. Those ladders are most likely always where an elevator is,” Noarah thinks.
“Let’s test out the trapdoor,” I suggest.
“Wait a second- this couldn’t be that easy,” Noarah’s eyebrows merge together.
My instincts tell me this: they are trying to teach us a lesson. Don’t overthink something, otherwise it could lead you off track and give you the wrong answer. We should take the trapdoor and get out of here.
“They’re testing us. I believe they want us to know we should follow our instincts and don’t overthink something. We should use the trapdoor and get out of here,” I explain to Noarah as simply as possible.
Noarah tilts her head to the side, thinking. Then she exclaims “maybe you’re right. President Zero did tell us that they want to see our abilities.”
We open the top trapdoor together. Outside of it, ladders upon ladders await us. I grin widely.
“I haven’t seen you smile before,” Noarah says as we climb out of the elevator and onto a ladder.
“Me neither,” I say.
The light is dim in here, and the ladder is rusty. Even the walls in here are made of chrome, but I don’t really care. Chrome is a valued material back at Kaylock. We have to pay a lot to get it. That must be why this place is completely made of it. Do they want to impress us? Or could it be something more?
One of the doors is now in view. Noarah and I pry it open together, and on the other side General Hayes waits for us.
“Congratulations on making it. I see you’ve passed the first ability requirement- instincts,” he says.
“Did other people have the same challenge as us?” I ask as he begins to lead us towards our rooms.
“Nope. Everyone else had different challenges,” General Hayes assures.
We’re on the top floor. I just realized that. The owners must have programmed the elevator to stop right before it got to this floor so it would be the one we got off at. It does have our rooms on this floor, so it makes sense.
General Hayes shows us our rooms. Noarah’s room is about twenty feet away from mine.
“You guys are free to do whatever you want until tomorrow morning. You can get to know the other people that came. Just be prepared for what is to come,” General Hayes tells us.
“General, what will comes tomorrow?” I ponder.
General Hayes looks around the hallway, disturbed by the question.
“Please tell me. Please,” I beg.
“Fine. You’ll be put into a large, sturdy building with the other chosen ones. You can team up with whoever you want, but it isn’t illegal to kill someone. It depends on who you trust. Throughout the large building you’ll be faced with many tests on your abilities, and to move on to the next room, you have to pass them all. There’s also big rooms that are a resting area, but if I were you, I wouldn’t stay in them. Some of the tougher kids can get their hands on you there. There’s also hidden passageways that lead to places that host other tests. You are most likely to run into others if you take them. That’s how some people get around to killing others- they do it so they will have a better chance at making it to the end. The Government doesn’t tell you this right away- but only the first 30 people to make it to the end will become a better person. The rest are killed. I’m warning you- at first, someone may not seem like a killer but once they figure out that it’s legal and it can give them a better chance, they’ll take advantage,” General Hayes finishes.
“Oh, and one more thing. Wrong answers mean possible death,” he warns.
I’m astonished by the information he has given me. Even to me it seems like too much.
“Why did you tell me this? They might not want you to tell this to someone like me. You could be in danger now, General,” I warn.
“Because I know you are strong. You’ll figure out what I mean later. Let’s just say that our enemies right now aren’t who we think they are,” General Hayes winks with a wry smile. He unlocks my door and hands me the keys, then leaves.
The afternoon sunlight fills my room. Inside, there is a bed and a television. Is it made of chrome, obviously, and is very thin. It works faster than anything television I’ve seen. The bed is surprisingly comfortable. There are two rooms in my small apartment- a bathroom and a bedroom. In my bedroom there is a tiny kitchen. The window allowing the sunlight in is cracked.
I fall down onto my bed. A headache makes me bury my head into the pillow. I’m starting to wonder if I should go around and meet other people. I should get to know them before the real test begins tomorrow. You never know, it could be helpful to know who I can trust.
I crawl out of bed and unlock my door. I decide that I should get to know some of the others. I walk around the hallway.
I take one look at the elevator, then decide to take the stairs down.
Chapter six
Downstairs, many people laugh and talk together. I spot Noarah talking to a smiling, caramel skinned boy. He wears a very stylish bowler hat. Nafara and the boy are in the cafeteria.
“Oh, hey Noarah,” I say while walking over to her.
“Hey Arose. This is Logan,” Noarah introduces me to him. I shake his hand and he smiles. Deep into his green eyes I see knowledge. Logan is in fact very, very smart. But right now he doesn’t show it. He acts like all of the other boys.
“Arose? That is your name? It is so unique. I wish I had it,” Logan chuckles.
Finally, someone appreciates my name.
Arik comes over to me. He laughs as Logan says great things about my name.
“Logan, dude, you’re such an idiot! How could anyone want that awful name? Well, anyone except you. I hope you kill yourself, nerd!” Arik laughs as many others look at him.
“Why don’t you go back to your mother and ask her to kill yourself? I mean, really, living your life must be pretty tough. I would hate being a spoiled, snotty, weak brat like you. Go die in the sewer,” Logan carefully chooses his words.
Arik pushes Logan backwards. Surprised, Logan pushes Arik back. Arik swings a punch at Logan, but he catches it in mid air. Logan shoves him backwards into a robot, and it malfunctions.
Logan sits back down at the chrome table with us. He swears under his breath, but doesn’t express his anger.
“Logan, that was brave. Thanks for defending me,” I whisper to him. He nods and sighs.
I know now that I can trust Logan.
I leave Logan and Noarah to talk to each other. I walk over to some other tables to learn about more people.
“Hello, what’s your name?” I ask a boy sitting next to his friends. He has black hair and brown eyes.
“I’m Darony,” he replies.
“These are my friends, Dexter, Kalaya and Jode,” Darony points to two boys and a girl. Kalaya, the girl, has wavy brown hair that goes to her shoulders. Dexter and his brown hair looks like the perfect match for Kalaya. Jode seems shy, but I can see potential in him.
“So your name's Arose? I don’t know why that boy was teasing you about it. It’s a beautiful name,” Kalaya looks up at me.
“Yeah, that was messed up,” Dexter looks at Kalaya.
Jode has black hair. Yes, he looks shy, but he looks smart. He’s smart enough to talk now.
“His name is Arik. He’s going to die,” Jode squints at me.
Surprised, the other three look at him.
Yes, Jode is full of secrets yet to discover. I wonder if I can trust him.
Jode is slender. He’s skinny. He’s tall. He’s smart. He’s calculating. I don’t think I can trust him, to be honest.
“I’m not looking forward to what we all have to do tomorrow. For some reason, I feel nervous. I feel like something bad is going to happen,” Darony tells us.
“Oh my god, I know how you feel! I have the exact same feelings,” Kalaya and Darony begin to talk. As they do, I decide to leave their table and find other people to get to know.
A boy and a girl sit next to each other. They look like someone interesting, so I go and sit beside them.
“Hi. I’m Arose. I just wanted to go around and meet some of the other people that were chosen,” I explain to the boy. He has slicked blond hair and looks really tough. He must work out. The other person must be his girlfriend and looks fierce. She also has long, blond hair.
“I’m Woody, and this is my friend Angelina,” the boy looks at me.
“Now go back to where you came from, please. We like to speak in private. Thank you!” Angelina demands. Woody nods at her orders.
“I’d like to get to know you guys. Is there anything you’d let me know?” I ask before leaving.
Woody stands up and says, “no. We don’t trust strangers. Now get out of here like she told you to. Besides, you’re poor. You would never become our friend because you don’t fit in,” Woody pushes me back.
I stumble a little ways until I catch my balance. This just means I can’t trust them tomorrow.
I meet a younger girl named Krylee. She seems to be just over fourteen. I can trust her.
A boy named Stanley seems trustworthy. He has green eyes and very white skin. Next to him sits a boy named Ryan. They are brothers, and I have a feeling they are going to stick together for a long time. Ryan’s girlfriend, Annalae, has long, snow white hair. It must’ve been dyed. It makes her look better. Even I feel a little shy around her as she smiles at me.
I find two more people to meet. Aurora and Joshie are both sisters that seem trustworthy. They greet me with a smile as if they understand what I’m doing.
I figure that it is time to go back to my room. It’s really late at night now, and I’m very tired. One thing that I love to do before going to bed, however, is to read a good book.
I meet up with Logan and Noarah.
“Do you guys know where the library is?” I ask.
“No, but I think General Hayes does. You should ask him,” Noarah responds.
I spot General Hayes standing in the bright chrome hallways. I shuffle over to him on the glass floors.
“Do you know where the library is?” I ask the General.
“Yes. You’ll have to take a right down that hallway, and there will be a golden room. You can’t miss it because it is the only room in this building made of gold,” General Hayes smiles.
I follow his directions, and sure enough, I find the golden room. I find a book, check it out, and head back up to my room. I set my clock to a quarter before seven, then read.
Rubbing my eyes, I wake up. It’s one in the morning according to the clock. The book about dragons and knights sits on my lap. I now realize that life is a book- for every part there is a new chapter. And in several hours a new chapter is about to begin.
Chapter seven
I hear my clock going off. It must have already been going off because it is just now seven.
Uh oh. I am going to be late.
Quickly, I shove on my clothes and shoes. I run thrust the door open and run down the chrome hallways. I spot the elevator, then think of what happened earlier. Could it happen again? I don’t think so. That was just a test. I’m wasting my time if I don’t take it.
I hop into the elevator and press a button labeled “floor one”. The elevator zooms down in an instant. The doors open, to my relief, and I race out.
Outside, the morning sky is bright. I can hear President Zero talking. I find Noarah and go over to her.
Why must I go to Noarah? I don’t even like her. I don’t like anybody in this place. This place sucks. I want to go home.
President Zero explains everything that General Hayes already told me. Noarah listens carefully. I see Logan, who is two rows in front of us, looks around nervously. I spot Arik grinning widely as President Zero finishes and doesn’t say anything about killing being illegal.
“Now, I’d appreciate if you all follow me to a special building. Remember, you will be here for exactly one week. It doesn’t matter if you finish or not- we’ll come to pick up anybody that remains. If someone is injured or hurt, we will not take them. Any dead bodies will not be taken, either,” President Zero grins widely after saying a shocking sentence. Everybody is filled with surprise. They must all be wondering about the words “dead bodies” and “injured”. But I know. These people don’t care if we die. I don’t know why they don’t care about us, though.
President Zero leads us all to a big chrome building. It is very large. At our school we studied past sports for a culture project in social studies. We talked about Football and the fields they used for it. If I can remember, I believe this chrome building is bigger than ten of those Football Fields.
We enter into the main room. It is large and filled with options for which way to go. People gather around the center, where a glowing fire stands several feet tall, and talk to each other.
“Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention?” I hear President Zero suck in her cheeks.
People look at her, waiting for her to talk.
“You will all be assigned a certain passageway to follow and teammates. Once you get into the passageway you can do anything you want. Anything. You can go to your other friends, you can choose a different passageway, or even get more creative than that,” President Zero squints. I’m guessing creative means to kill someone.
“This is Chief Tyran. He organized these tests and is considered the smartest person on Earth. If you have any questions, you may ask him. He has much more power than I do over this,” President Zero nods. In the distance I can see her pointing to the older Chinese man. He glares back at us all.
“I will now begin announcing names. Once you arrive at your passageway, you are free to begin,” President Zero says.
“Oh, I almost forgot! There will be certain items you can collect in hidden places. You may use them if wanted,” President Zero finishes.
“The first group, entering Passageway A consists of-” President Zero begins when a boy interrupts.
“Is there a bathroom in here?” he laughs. Others laugh, too.
From far away, Chief Tyran shoots an arrow into the boy’s forehead. Blood gushes out as he falls down like a dead tree. Others around him gasp.
“Don’t waste my time,” I can hear Chief Tyran speak softly.
“The first group consists of Arose Lual, Arik Bonson, Exley Bonson, and Ricardio Kendull,” President Zero says.
We head over to Passageway A. The thoughts of being with Arik and Exley makes me shiver.
I hear more names. Logan Ethylo. Noarah Airwon. Dexter Moores. Jode Ross. Many are familiar names, but I doubt I’ll see most of them again.
Passageway A is dark. Suddenly, I see something glimmer in the darkness as Arik teases me. It’s a knife.
I scramble to pick it up, but Exley beats me to it.
“Ha, you thought you could get to that knife and kill us both? You’re stupid,” Arik laughs as Ricardio backs off. Exley glares at Arik, and holds the knife in his hand carefully.
“Exley, kill him,” Arik orders.
Exley raises the knife into the air. He aims towards me. Quick! What do I do? Running is an option. But no, it won’t do any good. How about tackling him to the ground and taking the knife? Yes, that’s good.
I begin to walk towards him when the knife in his hand shifts position. I’m ready to be dead. I must’ve been too slow getting to him.
I hear the knife hit flesh. I hear a scream. I hear shock and terror fill Passageway A. Blood gushes on the ground and forms a small stream. And to my surprise, I turn around to see that Exley has murdered his own brother.
Chapter eight
“What did you just do?” I ask Exley as Ricardio stares in shock.
“I killed my brother because I like you more. You see, I learned my lesson after we got into a fight. I feel like my brother didn’t. Besides, everything he does now is against what I think is right. I didn’t trust him anymore, so I decided to stick with you. Arose, I’m sorry for what Arik did,” Exley eclaims.
Can I trust him? I don’t know. Has he just showed that he learned his lesson? Yes.
We walk down our passageway and arrive at the first test.
There are ten blocks floating in front of us. We have to hop on certain ones to make it across. If we make a wrong decision, we’ll fall into the depths below. I’ve seen this before in some of the books I read. Each block has symbol, and you can tell by the symbol if they are safe.
Ricardio’s green eyes gleam in the darkness as he makes his way to the first block. He has a large chest that makes him look tough. But he isn’t tough enough to take down this test.
“Ricardio, watch out…” I begin to say.
Before Ricardio hears me, he steps onto the first block. He immediately falls into the depths. I go over to the edge to look what is down there- snakes. They bite at his flesh and tear it apart until the bone shows. Those couldn’t be regular snakes…
“Holy…” I hear Exley whisper under his breath.
I feel bad all of a sudden. An innocent life was just taken.
I look at the symbols on the second block. It shows the Symbol of Life, which we learned about in history class. I step onto it, then grin as I don’t fall.
“How do you do this?” Exley wonders.
“Each of the blocks have a symbol on them. Certain symbols are good or bad, and the ones that are good will keep you safe,” I tell him.
He steps onto the block I’m on. In the tight space, I figure the third block is safe and hop onto it. I wait for Exley to follow, then study the fourth block. It is our country’s symbol of death. I decide to not take it. In front of it, the block looks safe. Exley and I hop onto it.
We do the same procedures for the rest of the blocks. We make it through the first test.
“That was hard,” Exley pants at the end of our first test.
“I know,” I say.
We continue walking down the passageway until we reach the end.
“There’s just a wall. What do we do?” Exley asks me.
“Hmm… I don’t think it’s possible for us to get through this wall,” I admit.
“Then how else are we supposed to get through it?” he scowls.
“We have to admit our failure. I believe they want to teach us abilities that are hard to get through these tests, and admitting failure is one of them. If you can’t admit failure you can turn out to be a bad person,” I squint at Exley.
“We have failed, and we admit it,” I say before Exley can interrupt. Somehow the wall now opens up, and Exley smiles at me. He tells me that I’m very smart.
The lighting in our Passageway begins to get brighter. I wonder what could be at the end as we approach it. To my surprise, there is a large field that has a glass dome around it making sure that nobody escapes.
“What could this place be?” Exley ponders as we enter it.
“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about this,” I peer around the field. In the distance, I can see other people.
“There’s people down there- we should go see them. If they are a threat, we can kill them. If they aren’t, we can team up with them,” Exley has a wry smile on his face.
Should I trust him? He’s willing to kill them if reasonable. Even I couldn’t do that. I can’t kill someone- but Exley can.
We journey across the field. When we’re about one-fourth of our way through it, i spot a weird flower on the ground. I pick it up.
“What kind of flower is this?” I ask Exley.
“I don’t know, but it looks kinda dangerous,” he seems confused.
The sun gleaming through the glass hits me in the eye. I have to move my face’s position in the dome, which causes me to stop something. Many of these flowers are throughout the dome. if Exley says that they could be dangerous, that might mean this dome is filled with poisonous flowers.
“Exley, I think this dome is filled with poisonous flowers,” I stop right as we walk.
“You could be right,” he looks around.
“Hey, Arose, is that you?” I can hear a boy shout in front of us.
“Yes,” I shout as loud as possible.
Logan runs towards me and asks me what I’m doing with Exley. I explain to Logan that Exley has put his trust in me and that he killed Arik. Logan looks at Exley, then back at me. It is clear that he doesn’t trust Exley quite yet.
“Well, I think we can keep him for now. He might be useful later,” Logan squints at Exley.
“Keep him for now? That isn’t the best choice of words,” Exley looks into Logan’s eyes.
The two stop arguing and we continue walking through the glass dome.
“Oh, and Logan, I believe there are poisonous flowers in here. We have to watch out,” I warn him. He nods.
As the dome gets brighter with sun, Logan notices something awkward on the ground.
“What is that thing?” I ask Logan as he studies it.
It’s purple and black. The cylinder he’s now holding in his hand looks dangerous.
“Logan, you should put it down,” I race to him.
Before Logan can do anything, the cylinder rolls out of his hand hand and onto the ground. It explodes with purple slime and begins to spread across the ground.
“What is going on?” Exley begins to run with Logan and I.
“Hurry, we have to get out of here. I think it has something to do with all of those poisonous flowers,” I say as we continue running. All of the grass surrounding u turns dark purple and I smell something terrible. My vision begins to get blurry. Behind me, I can see Logan falling into the grass.
“Logan!” I scream, turning around as Exley continues to sprint forward.
I know I haven’t known Logan for very long, but it seems like I have known him forever. Noarah- well, she introduced me to him. And he seems like a good person, especially after defending me against Arik. And once again, Noarah does like him, and…
I can’t let him die. I race over, through the purple grass. He lies silently on the ground. I pick him up and run towards Exley, who is now ahead of us. For some reason, the poison isn’t having an effect on me as much as it does on Logan. We reach the end of the dome where Exley waits for us.
“Why didn’t you help me?” I shove Exley into the now chrome walls after letting Logan sit down.
“I knew you could get him,” he lies.
“Maybe I shouldn’t trust you anymore,” I blurt out.
“You should. I saved you from my brother. Remember- I learned my lesson,” Exley explains.
“You left Logan and I behind to die,” I squint.
“I thought he was already going to die,” Exley thinks about his word choices.
Deep down inside, my instincts are telling me not to trust Exley. But my heart says the opposite. I can’t really blame him for not coming to help, he must’ve been scared.
“Fine. Whatever. You win. I guess I can’t really blame you, it was a scary situation,” I groan.
Some kind of memory flashes through my mind. It has something to do with my mother. She told me something. I think it was right before General Hayes took me away, but I can’t put my finger on it. It’s telling me to be careful about something, but I can’t figure out what.
Logan finally manages to walk normally again.
“Are you alright?” I whisper into his ear as Exley leads the way through the chrome hallways.
“Yes, but I have a sense that something bad is going to happen soon,” Logan worries.
The memory. The memory could be it if I could just figure out what it is.
“Well, I doubt it will. But if something weird does go wrong, just let me know,” I tell Logan. He nods, but looks ready to speak again.
“Is there something you want to say?” I ask him, patiently waiting for an answer.
“Arose, follow your instincts. I know a lot about you. I can tell by the type of person you are. I’m a straight-A student in my class, but I know more than education. I was taught by my grandmother to learn about a person by their looks. It’s a tough job. But Arose, please, follow your instincts. If they say kill me, you should kill me. You never know what could happen when we’re doing these tests. They want to kill us so we won’t rebel against them. They don’t want us to join the enemies. The enemies they consider, well, are trying to take over this country themselves. But they will run it properly,without killing any innocent lives,” Logan says seriously.
I take a deep breath. Logan understands me.
“Is there a rebellion going on?” I whisper.
“Arose, if you say so, there is. These tests have killed many in the past years. I hacked into their system one time to see what the records of pasts tests were, and more than seventy five percent of people that have taken these tests are dead,” Logan looks around the hallway.
“I hope they aren’t recording us, otherwise I’m screwed. If anything bad happens, join the enemies. They aren’t actually enemies. Chief Tyran and President Zero are,” Logan glares at me.
The memory. My mother telling me to follow my instincts. I remember it now. And the fact that Logan is explaining this to me right now makes me trust him even more.
Logan stops talking as we finish the hallway’s long walk. That’s when I see someone come out of a tunnel from the corner of my eye. She has long, red hair. It’s Noarah, Darony, Dexter and Kalaya.
Chapter nine
Exley pulls out his knife, ready for anything.
“Exley, it’s Noarah. I know the other three. Don’t hurt them,” I assure.
Exley lowers his knife and smiles at the sight of Noarah.
“You’re going to have to explain,” Exley laughs at me.
I explain to Noarah and the others how I became friends with Exley. Logan backs me up saying that Exley has turned out to be good, but I can see he from the look in his eyes that he still doesn’t trust Exley that much. Neither do I, but I need allies to help my friends survive.
“I’m happy to see that you found Logan,” Noarah lets out a large grin. Logan smiles back. They trust each other.
Since we’re now at the end of this chrome hallway, we probably have to face another test. And I’m right. In front of us stands a large, electronic version of Connect Four.
“Woah, isn’t this a Connect Four game? We learned about those in History Class. I think these kind of games were really popular in the early 2000’s,” Darony grins.
“We played it, too. I was our Class Champion,” Darony grins even larger.
“Until I beat you,” Dexter smirks. They both laugh together, but Kalaya seems to be really upset.
“Kalaya, is something wrong?” I can hear Dexter say as the others study our next test. I try to act like I’m trying to figure out what to do, but I’m really listening to Dexter and Kalaya.
“I’m worried about Jode. I haven’t seen him since this horror story started. I’ve known him for my whole life and I don’t want him to die,” Kalaya starts to cry.
“Don’t worry, they wouldn’t kill any of us. We’re just taking tests,” Dexter explains.
“No, Dexter, you don’t get it. They will kill us. I saw one of my teammates die with my own eyes. I swear to God!” Kalaya cries even louder now. Darony rushes over to see what’s wrong. Logan and Noarah come along with me, but Exley continues studying the giant Connect Four game.
The only thing lighting up this room is the Connect Four game. The Chrome Walls are dark, but can barely be seen by the electric lights set up for Connect Four. The chips are red and yellow, so this room seems very weirdly colored.
“Dexter, she’s right. I’ve seen two people die and one other person almost die before my eyes,” I warn Dexter. Logan looks at me after saying the phrase “and one other person almost die”. Logan smiles a little knowing that he survived.
“But we’re tough. I’m sure Jode is smart, otherwise he wouldn’t be here. There’s not a big chance that Jode would be dead, but we can wait and see for the results. Just hope that we all make it, and think about the present. Not the future,” I assure Kalaya and Dexter.
Kalaya hugs me tightly and catches her breath. Dexter pats me on the back for my words.
Meanwhile, Exley is fiddling around with the giant Connect Four game. He tries to think about what we have to do. What they’re testing us on this time.
I look at the game for a second. If you make a wrong move, you could lose. God only knows what losing could mean. I believe they are testing us right now to see if we can make the rights moves. A true leader needs to make the right desicions if they want to be great.
“Exley, they want us to learn that true leaders make the right choices. That’ how we’re going to get through this test,” I guarantee.
“I think I know what to do,” Darony bravely steps up for the main spot.
The Connect Four game is just slightly taller than Darony, so he can reach it. He puts his hand on the center piece, and a chip falls into the place.
We all watch as Darony battles the computer. So far, he is making the right choices.
Darony finishes the game and wins. We all cheer together.
“Great job, Darony,” I smile at him.
The Connect Four game turns off and slides shut. On the other side is a completely golden room.
We all stare in shock as gold glimmers in every direction. Gold bricks lay everywhere in the room and are stacked up. Exley races over to pick up a piece of gold.
An explosion rattles the air. I’m sent flying back. I can hear someone scream.
Chapter ten
“Arose, everyone’s fine. You have to get up,” I can hear Noarah begging me as I rid my eyes of dirt.
“What just happened?” I stare in confusion.
“Exley set off an explosion because the gold is fake. I believe they want us to think before we make a move,” Noarah says.
I laugh. She laughs. I feel a connection, which I haven’t had since I was Siris’s friend.
All of us get up with nod dirt-caked faces. Exley shakes his head, hoping to get all of the dirt out of his hair. It turns out every piece of gold in here was in a wrap that disguised it. Under the wrap was solid dirt.
“Hey, Noarah, can I talk to you about something?” I whisper to her as we exit the Golden Room.
“Sure, anything,” she grins.
I grab her by the shoulder and make sure nobody else is listening to our conversation. Remembering what General Hayes and Logan told me, I explain everything to her in my own words.
“So our enemies aren’t enemies at all. They’re trying to protect us, at least that’s what I’ve heard, and now I don’t know what side to choose. Our country’s side, or the opposite. I was taught to respect our leaders, but now I’m not sure if that’s possible,” I talk as low as possible.
“I know how you feel. I’m going through the same thing,” Noarah whispers.
“Wait, how did you know?” I question her thoughts.
“Because Logan told me. I’m assuming he told you, too, because that’s the same information I got. I don’t know if I can believe him, but my instincts are telling me that he’s right,” Noarah says.
Once again, I hear the word instincts. I think there’s a message I have to get. There’s something weird going on here. I sense something bad is going to happen soon.
We walk down another chrome hallway. I begin to rub my eyes and I become tired.
“Guys, I think we should get some sleep. I’m really tired,” I exclaim.
“Okay. We’ll have to take watch,” I hear Logan respond.
“Who volunteers to go first?” Dexter asks. Exley does.
I squint at Exley. I hope he is who I think he is. Right now, yes, I think I can trust him. We’ve been through a lot now.
I fall asleep very quickly, lying right next to Noarah and Logan. The two people I trust most.
“It’s your turn,” I hear Logan whisper into my ear. I must have the last shift because I feel like it’s morning.
I think about everything that has happened in the last day. More than I thought would happen occurred. It’s surprising to know that in just a few days I gained a few best friends. I thought the only person that would ever be my friend was Siris, but I was wrong. There’s many more people out there like me.
The thought of Exley killing Arik. Ricardio being consumed by the snakes. All of the purple poison. Logan almost dying. Kalaya crying because she was worried about Jode.
I can’t take this. I decide to wake up all of the others, ready for the day that now faces me.
“Guys, wake up. It’s time that we do more tests,” I tell everyone. They slowly begin to get up and I grin as I see what test comes next.
In front of us, just a little farther down the Chrome hallway, is a pick your fate game. There are four paths that we can take, and they all lead to a different place. Only one of them will be the correct way out of here.
For some reason, I believe this is the most important tst we’ll be taking. It’s proving that your instincts are important. If I use my instincts to tell me which path I should take, we’ll most likely get it right.
The path on the far right is the one my instincts are telling me to go through.
“I think they’re testing us to see if we have good instincts,” Noarah explains. Not only is she my friend, but she’s very smart.
“And I believe we should take the far right path,” Noarah finishes. It is the exact same path I think should be the one we take.
We all make our ways through the path. At first, it was the only path that didn’t seem bright. But now it becomes brighter as we near the end of it. The chrome walls shine in the bright lights and then we stop in another completely chrome room. The only way out of it is to reach the trap door on the top to get out.
“Wait, what is this? How do we get out if we can’t reach that?” Kalaya points to the trapdoor above us.
“Hold on, we have to find the clues first,” I guess. There must be something in this room that’ll help us get up there, or at least something to hint what we have to do.
We spread out across the room and look around. All I see is chrome. Chrome that I now despise. As I look closer into smaller areas, I spot a little trapdoor. I head over to open it and there’s a note inside. It says “Sometimes the best way to escape a bad moment is to turn your world upside down.”
Upside down? What do they mean by that?
“Hey, Arose, I think I found something,” I hear Dexter summon me over.
What Dexter finds is the clue that goes along with the note. Hidden in a trapdoor on the far side of this room lies a lever that can turn our world upside down.
Chapter eleven
The lever is labeled “upside down” and “regular”. I push the lever to Upside Down. Suddenly, the entrance we used to get in here closes. The room shifts upside down. We tumble across the room, laughing as we know that this test is now over. Now the room is upside down. We can open the trapdoor and get out of here.
Logan and I pry open the trapdoor. On the other side, there is a ladder that leads down into a jungle.
“Woah, a Jungle… I’ve never seen one before,” I hear Exley’s surprise.
We climb down the ladder and into the jungle. I can hear my feet crunch onto the dirt. I look around and see the sun is high above us. Once again, a glass dome surrounds this part of the building making sure that nobody gets out. The green trees are making sure that it keeps cool down here and the tiny slivers that hint it could’ve just rained in here are everywhere. I think that they programmed the glass dome to come off, and that explains how the rain could’ve came.
“Where do we have to go in this jungle?” Noarah makes a good point.
“I’m assuming straight ahead. That’s what it has been like throughout this whole thing,” I assure.
We start down a straight dirt path. According to my knowledge, it will lead us straight ahead.
“Hey, look, it’s a Spear,” Logan exclaims. He races over to pick up the golden weapon and smiles.
“I hope I won’t have to use it, but you never know. It could come in handy for anything,” Logan thinks.
The thought of Logan having a spear fills me with relief. Now we’re a little safer. Then the thought of him betraying us comes into mind. I doubt it will happen, though. I trust him just like I do Noarah.
We continue walking down the Dirt Path. To my surprise, Jode comes out from behind the bushes after he spots Kalaya.
Chapter twelve
“Oh my God! Jode! It’s you!” Kalaya, Dexter and Darony run over to him. I smile.
“Yes, it’s me,” Jode says without any expression. His black hair seems to sparkle in the bright sunlight.
Exley doesn’t like Jode. I think he feels like Jode is getting more attention than him right now. Well, I can’t blame him again- this is a tough time.
The jungle gets brighter, and out of nowhere, gorillas start popping out from behind bushes. They stalk us.
“Those aren’t normal gorillas. They are mutated and stronger,” Jode whispers to us.
“Remain calm,” he stops directly in front of us all.
The Gorillas form a circle around us. They look interested in us, and I study them carefully. They all have creepy red eyes, but they are filled with curiosity and wonder.
A knife is thrown at the Gorillas. It doesn’t even phase the Gorilla, and they all become outraged. They attack.
Exley looks embarrassed because he threw the knife. A gorilla gets ready to pounce on me, and Noarah stands besides med. I push her out of the way as the Gorilla pounces towards me. Luckily I’m good at dodging, and I use it quickly to escape its attack.
I hear Dexter scream. I hear the sound of flesh being torn apart. Blood splatters on me as the Gorillas feast on Dexter.
“Dexter!” Kalaya screams. She races back to his aid, but Jode pulls her forward telling her that Dexter’s gone.
We reach a spot to stop and rest. Kalaya buries her hands into her face and Darony tries to cheer her up.
“Hey, Jode, she thought you were dead,” I walk over to Jode.
“Nope, not yet,” this is the first time he smiles at me.
“Jode, I kinda realized that you were different. But not different in a bad way, you’re different in a good way. I like your ways of thinking,” I tell him, referring to the mutated gorillas and how much he could hold his emotion in when Dexter died.
“I appreciate it. I noticed that you’re mentally strong. Nothing brings you down,” he squints at me. Now I realize that’s true thanks to him.
“Hey, look, it’s the exit!” I hear Noarah and Logan shout together. In the distance I can see a wall of chrome with a door that should lead out of here. Logan uses his spear to cut through the trees and plants the block our path, and we make our way towards the door. We make it to the door and open it, ready to face the next challenge.
“What is this room?” I ask.
On the opposite side, there’s a door to exit. That must be the end because on the other side I see no chrome.
“What do we do now?” Logan asks.
“Read that sign,” I point out the sign above the door.
“It says ‘do you think killing is illegal?’,” Logan reads.
“In my opinion it is, and they shouldn’t allow it here,” Noarah becomes serious.
Exley finally says something. “Oh, Noarah. But they never said it was illegal.”
After saying his sentence, he draws out a gun.
Chapter thirteen
“What are you doing, Exley?!?” I scream as he shoots a bullet into Darony’s chest. Darony falls downs quick as the student Chief Tyran killed.
“Eliminating my competition,” he grins as he shoots Noarah in the leg. All of the others are shot out of surprise, too.
I get ready to tackle Exley to the ground when he points his gun at me.
“Exley, I trusted you…” I get angry.
“Arose, I never liked you. I didn’t like anyone. The only person I like is myself. Did I care about my brother? No. He’s an idiot. He’s immature. Arose, well, I see you as a threat to my life. You’re smart and willing to win. I brought the gun secretly because I had already figured out our country’s leaders would let us kill. I am not a fool. I stuck with you so I could make it through this test,” Exley grins widely.
“Now it’s time to exterminate you!” Exley laughs hardly.
He lied to me all this time. He’s cold and calculating. He faked every painful look.
A golden spear flies into Exley’s stomach. He falls quickly and drops his gun. I turn around to see a limping Logan.
“I should’ve never trusted him. My instincts always told me not to, anyways,” I tell Logan.
“Let’s help the others,” he groans while rubbing the pain in his leg. It’s a good thing that Exley only shot him in the leg.
Noarah gets up slowly with a bullet in her arm.
“I can’t believe he did that. He had us all convinced,” Noarah cries.
It’s too late for Darony. He’s dead. Kalaya cries from pain and Darony’s death.
Jode is lying on the ground, trying to breathe. I slowly give him CPR and hope that the bullet in his stomach won’t be a bad injury.
“Ha, you trusted that Exley guy? You fools,” I can hear Woody and Angelina laughing.
“Oh well, we’ll just have to end you all now,” Woody says as they both step out of the shadows.
Bravely, Logan chucks the spear at Woody and it gets him in the heart. Angelina is in shock when Kalaya tackles her to the ground and shoves her outside of the Jungle door. Kalaya locks it, making sure Angelina doesn’t get in. Hopefully the mutated gorillas will get to her.
“Who was that?” Logan wonders as he goes to get his spear. He cleans it off with a little water spread on the ground.
“How do we get out of here now?” I ask.
“I have an idea,” Logan says as he uses the spear to break the glass in the chrome door. On the other side, there’s thousands of people applauding for us. I carry Jode outside as the doctors arrive ready to aid us all.
Huh? What’s going on?
“Arose, you’re in a lot of trouble,” I can hear General Hayes talking to me.
I peer around the room I’m in. I appear to be in my main room. The windows are closed and it’s pretty shadowy in here.
“Why?” I ponder.
“Chief Tyran and President Zero spotted your words in the Tests. They noticed that you figured out your secret. As you live in this new city and adjust to their ways, they’ll be trying to find any way to kill you. They will be sending you on missions around our country that have secret meanings. I just wanted you to be prepared,” General Hayes explains as the lights get darker in my room.
“Wait, how did I get here?” I ask him.
They decided that you needed no medical aid, so you were brought here. Luckily all of your friends survived. The bad part, though, is that Exley managed to crawl out alive and got medical aid. He’s alive, too.
“What about Ricardio? What about Dexter? What about Darony? What about Arik? What about any of the others that died, like Woody and Angelina?” I squint.
“Lots of people died,” General Hayes shows respect.
“And now that you know about the wrongs the Government is causing, I’d like to invite you as a member of a rebellion. Run by Dr. Carson, he’ll be happy to help you destroy Chief Tyran and President Zero for their bad deeds.”
To be continued in Instincts…
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