Behind the Walls. NOVEL By Claire Darcy.

7. Welcome to the Academy!

The three teenagers were thrown roughly into the back of the helicopter, where they were secured in place. As the growling machine shuddered into the air, a mourning silence fell over the group. In the front of the helicopter sat two soldiers; a pilot and co-pilot, and in the back sat the three fiery renegades, with a soldier on each of them, watching their every move with a hand at their hips where their guns lay, ready and waiting.

Ace looked at the soldiers around her, searching for weakness, searching for ways to fight them and escape. All of them were intimidating middle-aged men. All of them, that was, except one.

Ace turned her gaze to the soldier beside her, the one whose job it was to keep an eye on her. She studied his face for a moment, not yet ready to speak. She recognized him as the nervous soldier, the one who'd asked them almost nicely to exit the van. She now realised why he would be nervous; he was young- not a seasoned veteran of Council manners like the rest of them. This soldier was nothing more than a teenager himself.

A traitor.

This was a war against the adults- these three teenagers were fighting against the men and women of the world, and then there was this teenager, this boy who should have been on their side. Instead, he was taking orders like any of the other Enigma Council puppets.

"I don't like you," Ace said, matter-of-factly.
The other guards glanced at the young soldier as if to say, 'Well? Deal with her!'

The young soldier pulled out his gun, running his hand along its sleek metal body, as if for entertainment.

"That's okay," he said in response, "I don't like you, either."

Ace closed her mouth, but fury flickered in her eyes. Josh remained in a solid death-stare, his grey eyes locked onto the face of the soldier who sat across from him. Rowan's eyes were closed. Ace realised he hadn't said anything in a long time, and there was something different about him. She brushed the thought aside. It made sense that he was acting differently- they'd been captured; everyone was being strange.  

"Where are we going?" Ace asked, feigning innocence.

The young soldier shrugged. "If you really want to know, I can tell you. So long as you keep your mouth shut for the rest of the flight," he bargained.

Ace rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever- I'll shut up. So, where are we going?"

The young soldier smiled an evil sort of grin.

"The Enigma Council Academy."

...

ACE.

A deadly silence had engulfed the entire helicopter ride. Even as we soared through the air, way up above the dead forests once again, I couldn't shake the image of the young soldier's face when he said we'd be going to the Enigma Council Academy. His smile. His frightening, manic smile. He knew doom was ahead of us. And to him, that was just plain funny. It was probably a little less funny for Josh, Rowan and I.

I allowed my eyes to wander towards the window as I felt the helicopter beginning to hover downwards. I couldn't see anything out the window.

"Could I please stand up?" I asked, breaking the hour-long silence. The young guard sniffed upon my talking.