Colour Kill

Chapter Two

Three Years Later

I stare at the boy in front of me, he's staring at his hands that lie intertwined on his lap. The boy is completely silent. A guard, whose eyes are narrowed menacingly, stands at the back of the van holding a gun in his two hands.

I'm at the back of a van with two boys and a girl, all around my age. I don't know what's going on or who any of these people are, however, from the looks of fear and confusion engraved on the other faces I get the impression that they are not too sure either.

It was early evening when I was walking down an abandoned highway on the East Coast somewhere near New York I think. Then, a black van darker than the feathers of a raven pulled up beside me, on the side of the van it had an alpha sign in blood red. Two guards flung out of the back and told me if I did not come in the van they would shoot me. They did not even have to ask me twice I just walked in.

I was not scared. Fear no longer consumes my being.

Straight after the Wendigos' first attack, I was barely living. My family was everything and they were all taken away. After months of constant crying, it became just the tiniest bit easier. It was hard living with only the demons of the unknown for company. Killing myself was always an option but I never chose it, for some reason I chose to roam this barren earth furthermore.
So with no second thought, I hopped into the back of the van to find three other kids. I was confused. I had come across humans a lot straight after the Wendigos appeared but, as months went by humans kept getting brutally slaughtered by the Wendigos gradually the whole human race started to slowly disappear. Confusion was the only thing that filled my empty body when I jumped willingly into the back of the van.

The two boys and girl are all looking down either fumbling around with their hands or silently crying. Slightly rotating my head to my left there is a girl sat next to me, her curly ginger hair falls down elegantly down her pale shoulders. She lets out a few sobs and a whimper as she wipes her eyes. Huffing, I look around the van. The road is bumpy so my hands curl onto the metal seat. Tardily, after what could have been half an hour, the van comes to a stop, the other kids all lift up their head all their eyes are drenched in sadness. The guard that's dressed in all navy stands up and adjusts the gun that slings around his neck. The guard also has the same egregious logo on his suite. "Right you all may be wondering what's going on, well there is no easy way to put this... but your all going to die, I'm sorry" But nothing in his voice is sincere. A boy with sandy blonde hair shoots up with his fists clenched "Listen we haven't done a-anything w-wrong please let us go!" Tear's tug at his voice making him stammer. The guard rolls his eyes as he pokes the gun into the boy's chest. The blond boy stiffens instantly keeping his eyes plastered on the side of the van like he feels that the man's eyes are so pernicious that if he looks at them for too long evil will seep into him "Shut up or I will shoot you!" He booms "let me explain what's going to happen" The guard clears his throat and carries on "You guys will enter the chambers. In each different chamber there will be a Wendigo, you all know how the colour system works, however you guys will not know what colour each Wendigo sees, so to round things up in each chamber one or more of you will be brutally killed by a Wendigo till your all dead" A malicious grin starts to emerge on his pale face. The ginger girl starts to sob uncontrollably and the boys start shouting at him demanding answers. "Shut the fuck up!" the guard yells. The shout leaves everyone stunned, the complaining and cries come to an immediate stop. "I need to scan your colours first, so take off any jackets or layers till your arms are bare" Looking down, I slip my grubby red leather jacket and lay it on my lap. From his waistband the guard pulls out a strange device, It looks similar to a gun but thicker it's also cylindrical and made out of metal. He pushes a button on the side of the device, it makes a quick whizzing noise. Still looking at the device he strolls over to the boy. Firmly he tugs the blonde boy's arm up. He positions the device just over his skin on his forearm. The device buzzes again whilst emitting a red flash. "Blue!" The guard shouts once he looks up. The guard makes his way to us shouting out our colours. He gets to me last, tugging my arm out. He scans me. "Red!" He shouts one last time. "Great we have a full set of colours," He says to the driver.

With long glides he walks down the middle of the van, he reaches the door and flings it open. I peer over to see the time of day, it is pitch black. Three more guards enter the van, one of them grabs my forearm and starts to push me out of the van with the other hand. As soon as I step outside the icy wind munches on my skin and plays games with my hair, breathing in the air I almost feel at peace. Almost.
My blood speeds around my veins like a train as I feel the guard press the tip of a gun on my lower back. The guards lead us through a forest. The night is cloudy with no sight of the moon or stars to guide any light. The other kids are in the same situation, with guards pushing them along with guns, all lined up in front of me. Listening to the crunch of the ground as we walk, I look around to inspect my surroundings, my eyes drop onto a building that grows in front of me. It's just a cube in a mouldy yellow colour, almost gold. The farther we walk I notice it is not a cube but a long straight rectangle.

Once we approach the building I see my reflection in the yellow of the building. It's been a remarkably long time since I have seen my self in the mirror. So long that I couldn't even remember the features of my own face. In the hazy reflection of the building I look at my self, I have on black high top converses with soles so ruined they nearly cease to exist. Black jeans covered in holes a black vest and a red leather jacket that is so dirty, it is barely red any-more. My silver lightning bolt necklace, that I came to acquire under odd circumstances, catches my eye as it glistens in the oblivion of the night.

The guards stop us just outside the building. The girl lifts up her head slowly as if it was a ton of bricks and glares at me, her eyes light up as a quick ray of moonlight pushes its way through the suffocating clouds. I peel my eyes away from her, the pain in her eyes so evident my heart feels a stab of pain. The guard that had taken a hold of the boy with blond hair places his hand on the building, a white light flickers creating an opening in the wall. The guard holding my arm presses the gun farther into my back urging me to go inside. As I walk in I'm blinded by the extreme brightness coming from the vibrant light. After the other kids are pushed in I hear the opening start to close behind me, I whip my head round to watch the last slither of the outside world fade into the abyss.

There is absolutely nothing in the room.
The guard pulls me to the edge of the room beside the wall where the others are lined up. Next to me, fear radiates from the girl, her teeth chatter and her whole body vibrates from shivers of fear. I don't blame her. If this was a few years back I would be exactly the same. If either my parents or my brother was alive I would be terrified I would probably even try to fight, but they are not here, I'm alone.
A hush of silence glides around the room as we all take in our surroundings. The calm before the storm you could say. The guard who shouted at us before walks over to the middle of the room "Welcome, to the chambers" A malevolent smirk is plastered on his face as he carries on to speak "A door will appear in the corner of this room, you guys will enter the door where a Wendigo shall be waiting for you , It will kill one of you then the ones that are still alive will go through the next door where the same thing will happen ect ect till your all dead, but before all of that, we need your names" The guard pulls out a notepad and makes his way to the boys.
You would think that someone would be trying to escape but there is something about this place, it's deathly silence, that makes you know there is no hope, it feels like we are already dead.

When the guard is asking for the names I block everything out, I don't what to hear their names If I do there is a chance I will feel, it is easier to die a painless death if you don't feel. The guard stands in front of me but I don't look up, I just stare at his boots. "Name?" He asks sternly, I lift up my head and stare at him straight in the eye
"Jones. Gaia Jones"