Zero

Chapter 1: Connections

Our days always start the same. A routine that is now hardwired into our bodies. We know nothing else but this.

Forced awake by the collars strapped to our necks, we begin our day with the pain, something most of us have become numbyingly accustomed to. Standing in a line as we wait for the men in white lab coats, we the numbered, are all connected. I am not sure how, but we have always been able to feel each other and when one dies a void fills our mind.

I am number zero the only successful experiment from the original batch. Its not that they didn't make it through conception, it was the experiments that took them out. The men in white lab coats don't tell us much, all we know is that the world outside of here is desolate, there is no life. We live on a place called earth, and in order for there to be a chance of life on the outside, we must be put through trials and tests to test our rate of survival.

Standing in line for the final test, I wait for the man in the white lab coat to begin explaining what test we will be subjected to today.

"Today a lot of you will fail. Yoday we will be injecting you with different strands of DNA, the only way of survival on the outside is to adapt your bodies to the creatures of the wild. Become one with an animal and you shall pass. Should you fail... well I'm pretty sure we all know the outcome at this point."

The man in the white lab coat finishes his explanation of today's test and steps down. Number 84 was taken to the chamber first to begin the testing. We all wait in a robotic state for our turn in the testing cycle. In this place filled with death and pain we are not individuals. Number 84 was quite young only being alive for about 8 winters I had no hope for her to make it through.

I was pulled from my thoughts as a scream filled the air. It was filled with agony and fear. A strange emotion that at some point seemed to leave most of us. The screams begin to die down but so does the connection in my mind and I know that another has passed. The clock in the corner ticks as numbered after numbered is brought into the room. There is only me and number 22.

Number 22 was called up and escorted into the room. Once again I could feel the connection we have spike until it slowly ebbed away and into the void that now filled my mind.

"Zero you are next. Step forward and you shall be directed to the testing chamber."

Walking forward I enter the testing chamber and am pushed into a chair my mind is empty there is no one left. A calm settles over me, a level of acceptance that maybe this time, ill go too. That calm is sadly taken away as the white coats step out of the lab with needles in hand.

"Good morning zero, we will be injecting you with various needles with different strands of animal DNA in them. The goal is for you to survive this trial and become one with an animal of nature."

Like many tests in the past I am always the last.

Somehow, I always survive. It's as if fate has a different plan for me and it wishes for the torture to continue.

The white coats approach me and slowly one by one begin injecting me with the DNA. I was not prepared for the burning sensation that went through my body. Its was like liquid fire pumping through my veins. Slowly slithering its way through every vein in my body. There is a wailing in the distance and it takes me a while to realize that it is me. I'm the one wailing.

Wailing in pain and fear of the unknown. My vision starts to dim the room becoming dark as I hear the monitor I'm hooked up to slow down. I loose the battle with reality as I hear a white coat say...

"Another failed experiment."

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Being trapped in one's mind is a strange feeling. There is nothing here it is just a black void of nothing. Is this what death is. A feeling of fear grips me as I realize that this is worse than the fleeing of being with the white coats. With nobody in my mind and the loneliness of my mind I was meant to waste away here.

Lost in myself I see a small light and slowly get myself up and make my way towards it. It feels like forever as the little light is soon within my reach. Fear is something I have lived with for a long time. Fear of the experiments, pain, unknown. But for once ad I reach for this light everything is calm and I feel it will be alright.

As my fingers make contact with the little light the void I'm trapped in turns in a place covered in giant plants. I'm assuming this is what the white coats describe as a forest, filled as far as the eye can see with trees, and above those trees is and endless sea of stars in the night sky. I'm overcome by the scene and can not seem to tear my eyes away. It seems like time stands still as I'm lost in the beauty around me.

But like all things in my life I'm forced away from the serene moment by the sound of of a thing snapping.

I snap my eyes away from the night sky only to see 4 pairs of luminous eyes staring back at me. Its almost as if a few stars fell from the sky and took home in the animals before me. I should feel fear but all I felt was a tidal wave of peace and calm.

One by one the animals stepped out. It was almost to much the Pureness of these animals each rippled with power and stealth. I remember one of the lessons the white coats gave us. We had to learn the different creatures of the wild. Looking at them in a book compared to now, there is no comparison. Lost in my thoughts I didn't realize that they where slowly making there way towards me.

The feeling of something wet shocks me out of my thoughts. I come face to face with a wolf. Its coat a deep auburn with hints of gold throughout. Its eyes a mix of blue and purple. Next to the wolf was a lioness, she had a pure black coat and as shocking as it was her eyes matched those of the wolfs. The similarity shocking as i realized that they where exactly the same. As I look to the next I'm met with the same eyes on a different creature this one as majestic as the last its wings spread. Wing span easily over 7ft I was face to face with a gray eagle the soft ash of its feathers something any person would love to touch. With talons as sharp as blades one knew to keep there distance. The final creature was small in stature its coat a snow white with hints of grey here and there was an article fox. All four animals looked at me and it was as if some ritual was being performed. One by one I was bitten by each animal. Not an ounce of fear in me there was an understanding deeply rooted in my body I knew there weren't going to hurt me.

As each animal bit me it was absorbed into my body. One by one each animal disappeared until it was just me.

In my mind I could feel them. Time slowed and the forest disappeared as my vision went dark again. As my eyes finally close I see the 4 sets of eyes looking back at me.

With that last image in my mind...

I open my eyes.

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I would appreciate the constructive criticism!!! Let me know of any errors and thank you to those who decide to read my book.