Sense #WeAreDystopia

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I look at her before my hands touch the syringe. She smiles the saddest of smiles and clenches her teeth together. I look back down at my hand and it is now shaking. Great. Let's add more risk in the situation.

'I'll count to three, alright?' I say, talking to myself rather than her.

'Sure,' she says.

The next moments pass without me realizing. Everything is fuzzy up to the point that I'm done with the injection. 'Done,' I say. Whenever did I finish? She stands up and suddenly we're too close for comfort. I step back clumsily, my back bumping against a chair. It makes a screeching sound and she squints in annoyance.

'You're right,' she says. 'I don't feel nothing at all,' she explains and I avoid confessing I've been lying all the time. She seems honest. And if she didn't feel a thing, while others even fainted after getting the shot, what does our reaction to the injection reveal about its significance? My head is clouded with thoughts once again and I scratch the back of my head.

Sixteen notices. 'Lice?' she asks jokingly and I nod. She speaks a little longer before announcing, 'I'm hungry.'

I can't help but empathize with her. I'm hungry too but I guess I've been suppressing my hunger, concerned with more serious matters. My stomach growls once in a while. 'You wanna look for some food?' I ask hesitantly. She agrees and we start for the dining hall.

The hall is filled with tables of the same kind, the chairs still stacked above them. However, I get the feeling that we're not the first ones to arrive. And sadly, I'm right.

One Hundred appears just around the corner with only one of his lackeys with him this time. Sixteen gasps but I try to look composed for the both of us. I take a step in front of her.

'Who do we have here?' he asks. 'My two favourite people in this room!' he declares sarcastically. Fifty-five growls like an angry dog. 'I was only joking,' One Hundred adds.

'We're not looking for trouble,' she says. 'We're only here for some food.' I wish she could have been more decisive. Yet again, if I'm scared of them, she has the right to be as well.

'Uh ... I hate to break this to you, but you might have a little problem with that. You see, we already figured out people would come looking for food sooner or later. And I'm under the impression this is a very competitive environment. To keep it short, any food source equals power. And I'll do my best to keep it away from you,' he says, pointing at me instead of her.

'There's an easy way to do this and there's a hard one,' I say. 'Give us some food and we'll be out of our way.' I wipe my sweaty forehead with the back of my right palm. My whole body reeks of it; a smell almost too strong. My mind wanders to the showers for an instant. But that's the least of my worries.

'Or?' he wonders, and as I'm preparing my answer a screen turns on and lights up in the dining hall. The same blond man as before appears. There's a smile on his face again.

'Hello, everyone,' he starts. 'I take it that you've all grown fairly accustomed to your environment.

More people enter the kitchen but I can't afford paying attention to them. Every single screen in the compartment seems to be on, parties of people dressed in black are surrounding each screen and I stop thinking to actually listen.

'I'm here to announce your expected daily routine. We recommend that you all eat, socialize and work out until you can't run any more, every day. Get vaccinated once every day, preferably after a meal and please, for the love of God, shower before going to bed,' he says and once again, I have the sudden urge to punch him.

A voice behind me rises; Sixteen's voice. She approaches the screen, lifts a hand in the air and speaks up again. 'What's your name?' she asks the man. He raises his eyebrows in surprise.

'Um, James,' he replies in shock. I watch him sit up on his chair nervously. I wonder if he was never supposed to reveal his name.

'Do you know our names? Can you help us?' Sixteen asks next. Her questions are as pointless as the guy's name's mention. What is she trying to do?

'I'm afraid I can't reveal that,' he replies, returning to his usual, obnoxious self. Sixteen sighs. Did she really expect any kind of help from him?

'Now,' James says, 'I'd like you all to try sharing the food instead of hoarding it for yourselves. There will soon be enough challenges for you to compete fair and square.' James looks at One Hundred but the latter shakes his head in disagreement. James looks somewhere to his right and starts speaking.

'The rules are here for you to conform to them,' James says, his voice steady and threatening. Hs eyes are still hooked on One Hundred.

'Or what?' he wonders.

The next moments are too strange to handle.

One Hundred's forearm lights up, emitting a red glow. And then something zaps him, an invisible force, throwing him to the ground. He shakes and steers as if having a seizure and then the light dies out, fading slowly. His body is laying still and breathless on the floor. A crod gathers like a swarm of bees, talking in whispers. Everyone stares in fear.

Sixteen looks at me, her pale face painted with terror but I have nothing to say. I look back at the body, thrown on the floor like a useless rag. Fifty-five takes a step toward him, then another. As soon as he's about to crouch, a bolt of white light runs through One Hundred's entire body, as if reviving him.

One Hundred lifts his head and sits up slowly. I turn my head to the screen.

James has an evil smile on his face.

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