Tested

{1}

I could here my heart pounding in my ears. I looked up, but saw nothing. Complete darkness. There must have been at least 10 of us on the truck--voyaging into a dark tunnel that could lead to a painful death or a life with a dark future.

We heard the sound of metal on metal. A door at the end of the tunnel lifted away, allowing light to flood in -- blinding us for a moment-- revealing the place that could determine our futures. Life as we knew it would change forever-- for better or for worse.

A man, dressed in black, holding a gun, stepped on to the bed of the truck, where we all sat, and motioned for us all to follow him. We did. He lead us out of the tunnel and to an empty part of a field. Four other guards approached. They all wore the same outfits and all held guns.

"Hello." Said onr of the guards.

"You have just entered IPDD (Institute of Population Decrease and Determination)," said another. "As you probably know, the Earth's radiation levels have slowly increased over time and so has the population. Here, you will be tested to see if you are fit to survive on Earth."

It was a long time until anyone said anything after that. Most of us were staring at the guards and at the other kids in the distance, but I was staring at the building about forty feet or so behind the guards. You could it had been there a while because there was it inching up the sides of the old architecture. Some parts of it seemed new though: the shutters on the windows had been newly painted, the roof wasn't faded or missing shingles, the front door looked very modern compared to the rest of the building. It was impressive for something that could ruin our lives. But most of all, it was massive. It looked as if there could be 1000 rooms. As I looked around, I saw that there were several buildings just like it. I started to count them.....1.....2.....3.....4.....5.....6.....7.....                   Seven buildings arranged in a perfect circle. That's not creepy. I thought.

Where I looked back to where the guard were standing I saw a lady. I saw that the guards were heading back to one of the buildings. The lady standing in front of us was holding a bunch of papers in her hands. I strained my neck to see what she was holding. I saw my name among several others that must have been everyone else. She cleared her throat and everyone was silent. She straightened the papers in her hand.

"Please form a line in order of last name, A coming first." She said in a tone that made her sound younger than what she looked like.

There were quiet mudders throughout the process, but soon enough we had formed a single-file line.

"I will hand you your personalised schedule and information and you will report to your assigned building." She reported in a harsh tone.

She started to hand out the papers to the kids in line. When she had reached me, there were only a few papers left. I looked down at my paper and saw that there was a number 5 next to my name. That must be my building number. I turned around, remembering that building number 5 was behind us. As soon as I started to walk towards my building, I noticed that a couple other people from different groups were heading toward the same place.

When I entered the building I noticed that it was set up like a hotel or an apartment. There was a front desk to my right and a long hallway to my left. I looked down at my paper and glanced down at the information section. It said that I needed to go to the front desk and get my room number.

When I walked up to the desk there was a girl there that looked about my age. She had red curly hair that was about shoulder length and freckles covered her face and and arms.

"You must be new." She said with a smile.

"Yeah." I said, sadness washing through my eyes.

"Name?"

"Kasey Maisson." I said, looking at all the keys hanging on the wall behind her. She handed me a key that had the numbers 23 on it.

"Room 23," she said. "Second floor."

I thanked her and headed to the second floor. The stairs squeaked beneath me and the wallpaper was peeling of the walls. I eventually reached my room. When I went inside there was no one else there, but there were two beds so I assumed that I would soon be getting a roommate. I wasn't particularly excited about that part because I've never had any siblings and never a lot of neighbors for that matter so I wasn't really sure how I'd be with sharing a room with someone.

In the corner of the room I saw that they had dropped off my bags earlier that day. I grabbed one of my books in my bag and started to read. I sat down on the bed closest to my bags and I instantly felt my eyelids getting heavier. The world faded out of existence and I was free.