I lie in my bed now, staring up at the ceiling. Kaylee was passed out in her bed next to me, breathing softly. Our dinners hadn't come yet and my stomach was growling. Now I was regretting not eating my lunch , but at least I didn't have anything to worry about for the rest of the day. No more workouts until tomorrow.
A gasp caused me to jump from my lying position on my bed. I was sitting up now, breathing heavily as I looked over at Kaylee. She sat up frantically her eyes wide and her legs kicking.
"Kaylee! Shh." I hissed, gracefully leaping over to her bed so I could comfort her.
"I'm drowning!" She shrieked.
I shook my head, cradling her head into my arms and placing it gently in my crisscrossed lap.
"Kaylee you're okay. Just breath. You're in your room. You're okay. You're going to be okay." I whispered soothingly to her.
Her breathing began to slow and her eyes got droopy. I didn't want her to fall asleep again. I didn't want to be in this room alone. I couldn't stand being in silence for much longer. It was deafening and only made my thoughts skyrocket with the worst that could happen to me. With what happened to Christie.
Once again, Kaylee was asleep in my lap. I sighed in frustration and tried to distract myself from thinking about Christie again. I didn't want to think about her tragic death. I wanted to forget about that. Forget about the pain its causing me and the twisting feeling in my gut.
I knew I wouldn't wake Kaylee because I just couldn't see myself doing so. Instead, I gently placed her head onto the bed, although she was positioned awkwardly. I managed to get up off the bed without waking her.
Soon after, the chute that had our dinner in it made a sound and I smiled, walking over to retrieve the hot food. I left Kaylee's in the opening so it wouldn't get cold and sat on my bed to eat my meal. As I ate, I thought about how many days we had to go. I thought about my family and how much they must miss me.
I cringe when my mind wandered to how much Christie's family had to miss her. How they would miss her. I wondered how they would react to finding out she was dead. How the hell did this camp even tell a parent that they killed their child. Did they even tell them? How were they allowed to run the camp if they did?
All the unanswered questions terrified me.
~~~~~~~~~
Kaylee didn't wake up for the entire rest of the night. The morning bell woke us, indicating day 6 in hell was about to begin.
"You know, I don't really know what the word Annihilation means." Kaylee randomly said to me as we were walking down the entrance hall in our shorts and tank tops.
"What do you mean?"
She shrugged, her lips pressed in a straight line. "It is definitely not a last name. It has to mean something."
I nodded, not really understanding what she was trying to get at. "I guess I don't know either. Never really thought about it."
"Well I kind of want to know." She stated.
We kept walking. This time in silence. I knew she was overthinking the whole thing. I knew we considered this place a death camp, but the name couldn't have anything to do with it. It was just a name of a camp. If it did mean anything, wouldn't our parents suspect something suspicious?
"Is there even a college called Annihilation? I do a lot of college research and I've never even heard of an Annihilation University."
I was about to open my mouth when someone answered for me.
"Destruction." The voice said, nonchalantly.
"Excuse me?" Kaylee asked.
I looked over and saw it was Jason. "Annihilation means destruction and no, there isn't a college called Annihilation University."
Kaylee's mouth turned into a frown and she looked over at me, worry covering her features. We came to a stop as the crowd all clumped into the meeting room, waiting for our instructions for today.
"That's creepy." Kaylee finally whispered to me.
I nodded, not really sure what else to say. I didn't really have to say anything, though. I was interrupted by the main instructor.
"Okay! Today we're splitting into two groups. Group on will be floors one through five! You'll be conditioning for the first four hours. Floors six through twelve will be working in the classrooms. Test, test, and more testing!" He cheered.
A few silent groans fill the air beside me. I felt the same exact way. I didn't want to do any of it, but I kept it inside. I didn't need any of the instructors seeing me feel any pain. I wouldn't give them the satisfaction.
~~~~~~~~~
The conditioning wasn't the worst part of the day. When we entered the building, it felt absolutely amazing. The ice cold air immediately caused me to shiver in my sweaty state. I actually felt good about the day's work. It had been more like a field day than anything. We played games and had a bit of fun. No lives were taken during our session. Thank the lord.
Now, we were instructed to take a seat wherever we saw a seat that was open. I followed Jason to two open seats. Kaylee had promptly ditched me as soon as she saw her friends. I would say I was mad, but really I didn't care. If I had Jason, that's all I needed. I only needed on person for moral support and he did his job just fine. He was good company too.
"Maths is first. Geometry, algebra, and calculus." The man at the front of the room said.
He passed out stacks of paper without further instruction. My stomach churned slightly. I never learned calculus. I was a junior in high school this year, just finished algebra two. I had no idea what calculus was or what it contained. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.
I flew by the geometry and algebra section easily. I only struggled with a few geometry rules that I hadn't remembered, but I eventually got them without much hassle. Now onto calculus. It didn't really help that the people in front, behind, and to the sides of me were already finishing up the rest of their sections.
I knew I wouldn't finish this portion. We only had a half an hour left. Two hours to do all the math work they gave us. English and science was next. I was really good at science. I just hoped it wasn't anything to do with chemistry. I didn't do so hot in that class. Biology was where it was at.
The instructor immediately took our papers away from us. He didn't say what would happen when we didn't finish and I was kind of afraid to find out. Instead of freaking out, I simply reduced my heart rate and prepared myself for the next two hours of critical thinking.
"This next portion is Science then you'll move onto English. You have exactly two hours. Start now."
I sighed and began writing on the paper that was passed out to me. I could tell this was going to be rough. I was worst at comprehending even though I loved to read. School sucked, why'd my parents send me to this place?
~~~~~~~~~
Finally the eight hours of labor was done. It was already dark outside and we barely had any time to eat lunch at all. My stomach was growling non-stop. As soon as we arrived in our room the dinner chute was full and smelled like heaven.
I scarfed down my food as soon as I got inside. Kaylee came in right after me. She seemed to be in a good mood, but I didn't have anything to say. I just wanted to sleep. I was mentally and physically exhausted.
"Goodnight Kaylee."
She muttered a goodnight and something else but I was already knocked out.