A noisy buzzing noise shook me out of the nightmare. I sat straight in my bed, panting heavily. I was back in my room, rather than drowning in an endless body of water.
"Roll call!" Hayward's voice sounded from the intercom. "You have three minutes to change into your uniforms and report outside your room doors! General Murray will check the girls, and I will check the boys!"
I shakily got out of my bed and reached for my uniform, still dazed from the nightmare from last night. There wasn't much time to think about it as I slipped on my uniform and opened the door. I looked down the hallway to see a few more guys exiting their rooms that were very spread out from each other, all looking as confused and nervous as I was.
"Is this really it?" someone asked, giving me a terrified expression. "Is this the rest of our lives?"
I pursued my lips and matched his expression. "It won't be. I'm scared too, but it won't be."
"H-How do you know?"
The boy was no older than me and of foreign descent. His accent was rough as if this wasn't his first language. He had long black hair that almost covered his eyes. I noticed Hayward coming from the other end of the hallway. "We'll talk later. Stand still."
Hayward began inspecting every person who stood outside their rooms. He'd take around five seconds to see if anything was out of place. Walking up to the boy, he furrowed his eyebrows and pointed to his feet.
"Where are your shoes?"
Looking down at his feet, his eyes widened, stuttering over his words. He was only wearing his socks. "I-I..."
"Answer the question, Javier," Hayward spoke threateningly, looming over the shorter boy.
He started shaking so badly that I thought he'd have an accident in his uniform. Hayward gave him a few more seconds before reeling back and punching him in the stomach with full force. Javier grunted loudly from the impact and crashed against the door, slowly sliding to his rear. He heaved from the lack of oxygen and began coughing violently. Fear shot through me.
"Answer the question!" Hayward demanded.
Javier coughed a few more times before looking up at him. "I-In my room."
"Why the hell aren't they on your feet!?"
"I-I wasn't sure...I don't know..."
Hayward planted his foot on his forehead and shoved his head against the door, making a cringe sound as it connected. "Spit it out. You're wasting my time."
"I don't know how to tie my shoes."
Hayward stared at him in disbelief before breaking into laughter. It lasted for what felt like forever. "You don't know how to tie your shoes? How have you been getting around then, Eta?"
Eta? These names were getting more confusing each time he used them. Did he have a name for every person that was here?
"S-Sandals..."
He shook his head, seemingly disappointed in him and crouched down to his level. "I suggest you learn how to tie your shoes before this evening. I don't think you'll be able to survive what we're going to put you through. Go put your shoes on."
Hayward backed off, but Javier was still too scared to move. The Supreme Leader reached for his holstered gun. "Do I need to tell you again?"
"N-No, sir!" he said, scrambling to his feet and opening his door. Javier quickly returned with his untied shoes on his feet.
Hayward shook his head and turned his attention to me. He quickly scanned me for anything that could've been wrong. Nodding he stepped forward and put a firm hand on my shoulder.
"Don't disappoint me again, Alpha. My expectations for you are higher than anyone else. I hope you make the right decisions."
He released his hand, but it still felt like it was still there. It sent a shiver down my spine. Why was I held to a higher standard than everyone else? What was special about me that was different than the others?
A couple of minutes passed before the intercom buzzed again. "All students, proceed to the cafeteria! Breakfast will be served. Line up in an orderly fashion."
We made our way to the cafeteria, where the girls were also making their way down the hallway. I kept my eyes open for Emily to come out, and when she did, I wanted nothing more than to run to her. We made eye contact before she gave me a desperate expression.
General Murray and a few other soldiers were keeping a careful eye on us with weapons like assault rifles in their hands. I wanted to slow down for her, but the fear of stepping out of line prevented me from doing so. Emily subtly nodded to me before joining the line behind me.
Soldiers were inside the cafeteria handing out the food, which consisted of a very small stack of pancakes, scrambled eggs, and a choice of bacon or sausage patties served on styrofoam carry-outs. It sounded good, but looking at it made me want to lose my appetite. I grabbed a bottle of water and sat down next to Javier, who was staring at his food, unwilling to eat it.
He glanced at me. "My grandma makes food better than this."
I pursed my lips and looked at my plate. "I don't think it's difficult to top this."
Hesitantly taking a bite of the eggs, I realized that it wasn't completely terrible. They tasted like they came out of a can and were microwaved for about thirty seconds. Would this give me food poisoning?
Emily hastily sat down with her plate beside me and hugged my arm. "I'm so glad you're safe. Are you okay?"
"I think so," I answered. "Are you?"
She hesitantly nodded. "I'm fine, I guess. I'm just...I can't comprehend this. This is so overwhelming."
"Tell me about it."
We looked up to see the girl who shot us with fire yesterday sitting down in front of us. She wore her long blonde hair in a braided ponytail and her crystal blue eyes looked at me as if she'd burn me to ashes right where I sat. It was obvious that she radiated power.
"You're the girl from earlier," Emily stated. "With the fire ability."
She rolled her eyes. "If that's what I'm going to be known for, then sure, I'm the girl with fire."
"Well, what's your name?" I asked, ignoring her sarcastic tone while taking a small bite of my pancake. They were too solid for my liking, but I forced myself to eat it despite the hard taste.
"Taryn Arnet," she answered with a lighter tone. "The 'T' is silent. My dad was a Hevastwan native before he received citizenship here and met my mom."
I frowned. "That's unusual. You typically hear about people moving to Hevastwa, not moving here."
She shrugged. "We lived close to the border, so it wasn't that unusual where I was from. Anyway, what's your names?"
"Eli," I introduced. "This is Emily. We go to school together."
She turned to Javier, who'd been sitting silently since Taryn joined the table. She frowned and shook her head. "Are you going to keep sitting there pitifully or are you going to talk to us?"
Her tone caught me off guard, but Emily spoke before I could say something. "Taryn, cut him some slack. He's scared just like the rest of us."
Taryn gave her a hardened stare. "We're going to die if we continue to sit here in our own misery. It's survival of the fittest. Don't you understand that?"
I never thought about it like that. Sighing, I nodded. "You're right, but why did this have to happen? We never signed up for this."
"None of us did, dumbass," Taryn stated. "What are you going to do about it, then? Huh?"
I didn't know what to say. She continued. "Exactly. We're stuck here until either someone finds us, or Supreme Asshole decides to kill all of us. There's no in-between."
Javier suddenly chuckled. He was still looking in his lap. "Are we supposed to accept that?"
"What?" Taryn asked, leaning in and frowning.
"Are we supposed to accept that?" he asked again. Javier looked up, and I could barely see the anger in his eyes hiding behind his hair. There was a subtle glint in them. "I don't know who the fuck you think you are, but you don't have the right to act like you know what the hell is going on. Cut the shit."
Taryn rose from her seat, her hands smoking. "Excuse me? I'm only trying to help you. I don't give a shit what you decide to do. I'm going to try to survive, and if you want to continue to roll around in your self-pity, go for it. I don't care what you decide to do."
Javier suddenly lunged for her, but Taryn reacted quicker than anybody should be able to. As I grabbed Emily to move away from danger, she dodged his punch and blasted a large plume of fire at his legs from the palm of her hand. With everyone watching, Javier rolled out of the way, and a sudden flash of his eyes made Taryn freeze in place.
Her eyes widened as she tried to move her arms and legs. "W-What did you do!?"
I glanced at the soldiers, who remained still as if the situation was completely normal. Why weren't they doing anything?
Meanwhile, Taryn was unable to move other than her head. Javier stepped close to her and pushed her over. She fell flat on her back.
We stared in silence until laughter came from the hallway which led to the training grounds. Hayward stepped closer to us. "A raw display of power always finds a way to amuse me. So feral, untamed, and immature."
"This wasn't for entertainment," Javier claimed, trying to keep his emotions in check. "This was a personal dispute."
"Oh, I'm aware," Hayward nodded. "But I get so giddy when I see the powers I've created being used against one another. That's why I'm so excited for this evening! Javier, do you mind?"
He motioned to Taryn, who was still lying motionless on the ground. Javier blinked hard, and Taryn suddenly sprung to her feet and attempted to blast Javier in the face, but Hayward caught her arm and kicked her in the ribs. She doubled over in pain and contemplated fighting back, but wisely decided not to.
Clearing his throat. "As I was saying, you are all to report to the training grounds in ten minutes. Finish your breakfast in due time. Don't be late. Also..."
He turned to Javier and Taryn before walking back toward the training grounds. "Save your anger for later. I promise it will be worth the wait."
---------------------------------
Several minutes passed, and nobody dared to say anything before the buzzing noise signaled the end of the breakfast period. Emily and I stood to throw away our trays. She glanced at me and spoke in a quiet tone.
"Will you stay close to me?"
I nodded. "I'll do the best I can. I'm sure everything will be okay. I don't think Hayward will kill us without a good enough reason."
As we started down the hallway, I noticed the soldiers who were watching over us began to walk behind us, evidently making sure that nobody would try to escape back to their rooms, although I wasn't sure why anyone would do that. That's asking for a death sentence.
Alongside Emily, we pushed through the double doors and made our way toward the field, where Hayward and General Murray awaited us. As we were crossing the track, Murray blew his whistle.
"No walking! Run!"
We started running onto the field, and my mind started to race. What was going to happen? What sorts of training would these two put us through?
Gathering in front of Hayward and Murray, we waited for our first instructions. The Supreme Leader raised his hands and smiled. "Welcome to the start of your new life. This is where you will be spending most of your time training to become the soldiers I've envisioned you to be for the past two decades. I'm excited to see how much all of you will grow in strength and power as the days and weeks progress. Are we ready to start?"
None of us spoke, clearly unwilling to match Hayward's anticipation. He wordlessly turned to Murray.
He pulled out a remote and pressed the button, sending shocks of electricity through our bodies. All of us screamed in pain, dropping to our knees and holding our bodies. It lasted for about ten seconds before subsiding.
I witnessed Hayward grabbing a boy by his brown hair and snatching his head to where he was looking at him. "Perhaps we didn't get the memo. I could care less whether or not all of you want to go through the physical toll I'm about to put your bodies through. I'm going to push every one of you as close to death as I possibly can. The best way to survive is to follow instructions and not to half-ass the exercises. If Murray and I catch any of you going through the motions and not putting in effort..."
He stared us down, and I swore he was looking through my soul. "I'll make sure you never see the light of day again."
"Anyway!" Hayward spoke in a chipper tone. "Let's jump right into it! Girls, you will start on the track with Murray, while the boys head to the weight room with me. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," a few of us weakly said.
Hayward pulled a remote of his own out of his pocket and turned the dial on it before pressing the button. A greater amount of electricity surged through our bodies and it felt like my organs were going to explode. We screamed in excruciating pain as I dropped again to my hands and knees. When was it going to stop? How much more can my body take? We haven't even started training yet, and it already hurt this much.
Shortly after it stopped, Hayward's voice boomed over us. "Is that understood!?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Good! Boys, to the weight room!"
-----------------------------------
"Girls, form even groups on the track," General Murray ordered. "There's an orange cone next to the starting line."
"Yes, sir!"
Emily found the cone and jogged onto the track with the other girls. Murray quickly joined them and raised his hand to the ceiling.
"On my mark, I will command a stretching exercise and blow my whistle. You will hold it and count for ten seconds until the next whistle. Return to the starting position for the next stretching exercise. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Touch your toes!" Murray commanded. "Ready!"
Tweet!
"One! Two! Three!"
Thanks to her natural flexibility, Emily found it easy to reach down to her toes and grab them without bending her legs. However, other girls with little to no athletic experience had difficulty reaching their feet.
Tweet!
She and the girls stood back up. Murray barked loudly. "Right leg over left! Ready!"
Tweet!
Emily crossed her legs and reached down for her toes again. Despite the conditions, it felt good to stretch her body. She tried to use it as a distraction.
That ended quickly. The girls did a few more stretches before Murray commanded them to line up on the track. Emily got in the second lane in front of two other girls.
"I don't want to do this. I want to go home."
Emily looked behind to see a heavier-set girl mumbling under her breath. She stepped closer and put her hands on her arms.
"What's your name?"
The girl had beautiful green eyes that hesitantly looked at Emily. "Savannah."
"That's a gorgeous name," Emily complimented, trying to calm her nerves. "I'm Emily. All you can do right now is try your best, okay? Your very best."
She noticed Savannah's body trembling with fear. "W-What if I'm not good enough? I'm not strong. I'm not fast. I'm going to fail. I can't do this."
"Stop that," Emily said, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Your very best. You can do this. We're going to work together and get through this, okay?"
"But-"
"Your very best!"
Determination flashed in Savannah's eyes for a moment. Emily could tell that she wanted to believe her. "My very best."
"Your best!" Emily exclaimed.
"My best!"
"Alright!" Murray called to the girls, preparing to blow his whistle. "One mile around the track! On my whistle! On your mark, get set!"
Little did Savannah know, Emily was talking to herself as well as Savannah. She had to do her very best too, or she might not survive the first day. She lined up alongside Taryn and another girl, preparing for Murray's whistle to blow.
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