by Karen Carr
“Oh, never mind.” Demi waves her thoughts away. “Just a tribe of ancients. Ancient history.” She gnashes her teeth together and grins. “Shah, where are you from?”
“Does it matter?” Shah asks. He obviously doesn’t want to answer the question.
Demi thinks for a moment. “No. I guess it doesn’t.” She then grabs his elbow and takes him away ahead of us. “We’ll save you a seat,” she says over her shoulder.
“She works quickly,” Vanessa says.
“She picks quickly,” Mateo says.
“She has good taste,” I say. Shah is definitely one of the more attractive boys in camp, muscular and rugged.
As I am watching Demi and Shah, Vanessa runs smack into Burke, unaware that he has stopped. She stumbles over her feet as her body heads toward the ground. Erwin and some of the other boys laugh when her knees crack on the ground. Her palms hit the pavement just as Burke catches her under the shoulder.
Burke heaves Vanessa to her feet.
“You find it funny when people get hurt?” he asks Erwin.
Erwin snickers and puffs out his chest. “She ran right into you, man.”
“I am not your man,” Burke says. He waits for Erwin to respond. When he doesn’t, Burke turns around and starts walking again, leaving Vanessa to dust herself off.
Erwin sticks out his tongue at him behind his back.
“That’s mature,” Vanessa says loud enough for Erwin to hear her.
Erwin turns to her and takes his finger across his throat. “Fat chick,” he says. “Easier to kill.” Erwin’s cronies laugh with him.
“Better fat than ugly,” Vanessa spits out. She looks self-conscious and sad.
“Don’t let him bother you,” Mateo says when Erwin is out of earshot.
“He doesn’t,” Vanessa says. She holds on to her token. “He’s pretty stupid if you ask me, making enemies left and right.”
I have to agree with her. Erwin is pretty stupid. We all have turquoise tokens. We can all kill him. All of us, except for me. I almost forgot my token is special. I’m not like anyone here. I will never reveal my secret, not even to my friends, especially not to Burke.
On approaching the dining hall, all my thoughts change to the magnificent structure. The front of the building looks like a giant glass and steel anvil resting on the bank of the lake. The heel of the anvil stretches out far over the lake. Through the glass, I can see dozens of kids dining there. I get goosebumps as we cross into the anvil through the base.
We enter the dining hall to the sounds of clattering silverware and noisy chatter. I spot a few of the other new groups. It’s obvious to tell who we are because we’re the only ones not in uniform. As we walk to a free table in the rear, the noisy chatter turns to soft whispers and pointing.
Burke sits down at the table and I find myself sitting next to him and Demi. Shah sits on Demi’s other side. Vanessa ends up on the far end of the table near Erwin and his snickering friends. Luckily, Mateo is on her other side.
“Your mom’s a great doctor,” Burke says. “I am sorry she had to take you along for that last delivery.”
“Yea, that was something,” I say. “Why were you there?”
“Slia asked me to be there,” Burke says. “I trained her and got to know her pretty well. Her father’s brutal. He beats all of his kids. She couldn’t have another life brought into this world with him. She had to make a choice and she couldn’t take the life of someone else’s child.”
“Why do they even issue reds?” I ask.
“I don’t know, Aria. The algorithm is weighted against red, but on occasion, the color still appears. Usually I get one or two recruits.”
“That’s why you know them so well,” I say.
“Sure,” Burke says. “I spend a lot of time with them.” He then gives me a curious glance. “Just like I’ll know you in a few weeks.”
“I doubt it,” I say. Just then, Erwin starts a fight with someone and Vanessa wipes something from her face.
“You may be right,” Burke says. “My time may be spent splitting up fights.” He throws down his napkin and walks to the other side of the table to address Erwin.
“This food is great,” Demi says from my other side. “You guys eat this stuff all the time?”
I regard my plate, molded chicken and mashed potatoes. This food doesn’t look real. “We eat similar substances in school, but not at home.”
“We don’t eat meat at home,” Shah says, pushing the chicken to the corner of his plate.
“Yum, can I have yours?” Demi asks.
Shah forks his chicken onto Demi’s plate with a grin. “Carnivore,” he says with an affectionate nudge.
“I’m not a chicken,” Demi says. She pops the chicken in her mouth and nudges him affectionately with her shoulder.
Mr. Wassillie walks into the dining hall wearing a multi colored suit jacket and tie. Several other adults follow him to where Burke is discussing manners with Erwin. Mr. Wassillie pulls Burke aside. By their tone, their conversation is intense and confrontational. Soon, a couple of other adults join them, including the teacher I met on the bridge.
“I don’t want that job,” Burke says loud enough for all of us to hear. “I’ve got other things to do right now.”
“It’s not a request.” Mr. Wassillie thumbs Burke in his chest. Burke’s eyes light on fire.
“You can’t push me around,” Burke says. He steps back from Mr. Wassillie as if he’s readying for a fistfight. I can’t imagine Mr. Wassillie taking on Burke.
“I can’t push, Burke.” Mr. Wassillie buttons his suit jacket. “But I people who can push very hard.” The camp leader storms off, leaving Burke with the rest of the teachers.
“He’s scared of losing his power,” Demi says.
“Who, Burke?” I ask.
She laughs. “Burke isn’t interested in power. Mr. Wassillie. You can see it in the way he walks, talks. Everything about him says I am scared.”
I watch Mr. Wassillie walk away. Demi is right. His saunter is too purposeful, like it’s all an act. Burke, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care about anything except getting us through this.
“You think Wassillie is going to get a Regulator?” I ask.
Demi lowers her eyes at me. “Really?” She shakes her head. “The Regulators don’t care about Mr. Wassillie. Burke has more power than he does.”
“What?” I ask, confused. How could a camp counselor have more power than the camp leader?
“Never mind,” Demi says as Burke walks back over to us. “Tell you later.”
Burke introduces us to the others with him. Vladimir Korchev, I already know. However, what I didn’t know is he’s going to bring us on the ice. Skating. I get to learn how to skate. The next teacher, a lean woman who is missing an arm below her elbow, is a hunter and the third a bespectacled man with thin lips is a biologist.
Burke sits back down with us after the teachers leave. He picks at his plate.
“Lost your appetite,” I ask.
He ignores me.
“Cat got your tongue?” I ask. I prod his shoulder with my finger.
“Quit it,” he says.
“You’re playing with fire,” Demi whispers. She makes a clawing motion with her fingers.
“Grumpy,” I say.
I don’t bother Burke anymore. Demi turns to Shah and is busy flirting with him, so I finish my chicken in silence. Once we are finished with dinner, we all trek back to our cabins. Everyone is in a lighter mood, having become more familiar with one another over dinner. Even Erwin seems to have mellowed out, goofing around with his friends in a snowball fight. The only one still in a somber mood is Burke.
We enter our cabin to find boxes of clothes on all of our bunks. Burke murmurs something about our uniforms and retreats to his bunk, closing his curtain immediately. Vanessa joins Demi and me on our top bunks while we look through the clothes.
“How am I going to wear this?” Demi asks, pulling out a turqu
oise tracksuit. “A little bit of turquoise is alright, but a whole outfit?”
“How did they get the size right?” Vanessa holds up her own tracksuit.
“Forms.” I gesture toward the table. “Remember. Height. Weight. Shoe size.”
“Speaking of shoes,” Demi pulls out running shoes. “At least these only have a colored stripe.”
“Shut up,” a boy hollers from across the table. “I’m trying to get some sleep. You girls are so obnoxious.”
“I’m glad we have some kind of barrier,” Vanessa says. “I’m going down.” She smiles and climbs down the ladder, into her bottom bunk.
“We better change and get some sleep,” Demi says, pulling out a set of fuzzy turquoise pajamas.
Demi leaves my bunk and goes to hers, closing the curtain behind her. I catch a glimpse of Shah, on his bottom bunk, watching her as she moves. If only my love life were that interesting. I’ve only had one or two boyfriends, and none was as handsome or charismatic as Shah. Or Burke. I glance over toward his bunk, shrouded in red velvet curtains.
Chapter Eleven
Sometime in the middle of the night, I wake to the sound of snoring, and not just from one person. A choir of snores. I’ve slept in the same room as a boy before. When I was young, and too scared to be alone, I would crawl into bed with my brother and listen to his breathing. This is different. These boys—everyone here in this cabin—this is the last night we will sleep as innocents. Tomorrow, and the next day, and the one after that, we will learn to be murderers. We will leave Kill School ready to claim our victims.
I blink away tears as I think of my own room with its wide window overlooking the backyard and the swing set my brother and I used to play on when we were young. Here, there is no swing set and no playground, only training camp. My childhood feels like a distant memory, one that may have never existed at all.
I can’t cry. I get to learn how to skate. I get to meet many new kids. I get to be free. I can leave the house whenever I want and stay out all night, just like Sebastian. My lips quiver when I remember what takes him out at night. Youth are riotous and merciful.
I try to let the rhythmic snoring lull me back to sleep. Muffled sobs and fragmented breathing mix with the snoring. I am not the only one awake. Rustling from the lower birth makes me peer out of my curtain. Vanessa emerges from her bunk and softly walks around the table. She kneels in front of Mateo’s bunk and whispers into the curtain. They exchange hugs and she crawls into the bunk with him.
How I wish I had someone by my side, not a lover but a friend like Vanessa and Mateo.
Without warning, the door to the cabin opens and in walks a figure cloaked in a long robe and hood covering his face. Three other hooded figures follow him into the cabin as he turns on the lights.
“Good morning recruits,” the cloaked figure says. “It’s time for your initiation.”
I grit my teeth and consider squeezing through the window, but it doesn’t open. Where’s Burke? He should be taking care of this, unless it is part of training. Either way, whatever they are going to do to us isn’t going to be nice. I can tell by the way two of the robed thugs walk down the row of beds and rip open the curtains.
A girl rips open my curtains.
“Get up,” she says.
The girl grabs me by the ankle and pulls. Instinctively, I kick her in the face with my other foot. She pulls out a small baton and whacks me in the shin.
“Recruits don’t fight back,” she says.
The girl moves on to Demi’s bunk and does the same thing to her. Demi slides to the ground with little resistance. Soon, all ten girls and all ten boys stand in front of their bunks, except for Vanessa who stands next to Mateo. Burke’s curtains are open and there is no sign of him. He’s deserted us on the first night. Demi scoots closer to me so that our shoulders are touching.
“My name is Chopstix,” the first thug says.
A few of the kids giggle. Chopstix shuts the closest one up with a crack on the elbow.
“These are my helpers, Dwindle, Micro, and Snatch.”
More kids giggle. Chopstix hits frame of the cabin with his wooden baton. As if he doesn’t know his gang’s names are stupid. I bet he chose their names just so he can get angry at us.
“Laugh now,” Chopstix says. “Get it out of your system, for you won’t be laughing much longer.”
He dumps a bag of galoshes on the narrow table. “Galoshes. We’re going for a walk and don’t want your toes to freeze. We can be nice if you are.”
No one makes a move for the footwear. We are all too puzzled, scared, and not used to strangers pushing us around.
“Why don’t you show your face,” I blurt out. I usually don’t draw attention to myself, but my shin hurts and it makes me angry.
The one called Snatch walks over to me with her baton held high. I’m not going to let her hit me again. I duck under the table and end up standing behind Shah. Snatch tilts her cloaked head and sends the baton into Demi’s stomach. I retch as Demi cries out in pain.
In two strides, Shah is over the table and has Snatch in a vise grip. “You’re messing with the wrong recruits,” Shah says. He pulls off Snatch’s hood and sticks the baton under her chin. “See who she is? A nobody just like us.”
For the first time, I am relieved that the camp leader sent the toughest and roughest boys our way. Snatch, on the other hand, looks terrified that Shah has revealed her identity.
Chopstix drops his baton and pulls out a knife. “We’re not messing with you. You must comply or die. For real.”
Chopstix pulls the closest boy to his chest and sticks the knife under his chin. Blood pools at the place where the knife touches the boy’s skin.
“I graduate on Friday. If you make me kill this little recruit, I won’t be able to graduate and you’ll be stuck with me for weeks.”
“You kill him, you’re going to control,” Demi says.
I do not want to see another murder. If I only had my mom’s pocketknife in my hand, I’d poke the mask wearing scaredy-cat in the balls. Forget that, I’ll just use my foot and kick him. No, I won’t.
Some of the kids pick out galoshes. Others follow. Finally, Demi walks to the pile and picks out her pair. Shah relents, and releases Snatch, who quickly covers her face with her hood. I won’t forget her face. Soft and brown with high cheekbones and a dimple on her chin. I grab my own pair of galoshes and soon we all stand in a row, ready to follow them anywhere.
Out in the dark, cold air, I look for Burke around campus. Streetlights highlight the path back to campus and down to the dining hall. Not another person is anywhere in sight. I wonder why they chose our cabin to initiate and not any of the others.
“Move it,” Chopstix says.
There are twenty of us and only four of them. We could easily take them, but we don’t. We walk in twos and threes to some unknown destination. Maybe we don’t attack because we think this is part of the process. Maybe we think this walk is better than dying. Shah, Demi, and the others are watchful, ever aware of the hooded figures around us. We are not a team. We are scattered. An incohesive unit. Next week, things might be different, but for now, we are all individuals walking alone in a group.
Chopstix prods us off the path and across the snow to a low hill. The temperature has fallen to an unbearable degree. My feet are cold, although the galoshes protect them from the wet snow. My lips are numb. I hear teeth chattering.
We keep walking in the dark, huddling close together to try to keep warm. I step on the heels of the person in front of me and someone does the same to me behind me. No one apologizes. No one speaks. With every step, we become closer together.
Chopstix brings us to a wooden door on the side of the hill. “Welcome to the chamber pot.” He opens the door. “This is the first and last stop. Not so bad. All you have to do is walk through it.”
A pungent smell reaches my nose and I cover my mouth. One by one, the kids walk through the door into the side of the hill. Shah,
Demi, Vanessa, Mateo, and I stick together at the end of the group. Dwindle, Micro, and Snatch prod us along with their batons. Chopstix holds a remaining victim at knifepoint just in case we change our mind.
I cross over the threshold into the darkness with Demi at my back and Vanessa at my front. With only the moonlight shining through the door, I see a narrow passage with dirt walls and a wood frame. It reminds me of a mining exhibit my mom took me to when I was young. People used to crawl around underground looking for valuable things such as coal. Sixteen kids are ahead of me and three are behind me. The hot air is already thick with the smell of sweat.
“Move forward,” a boy yells out. “We’re getting squished back here.”
I turn, one last time to the moonlit door, to see Chopstix close it in Shah’s face. Darkness engulfs us to the shrill sound of panic. The voices get louder and softer and louder again in waves of fear and anxiety. I feel a finger grab ahold of my pants loop.
“It’s me,” Demi says. “I can’t see a thing in this creepy place.”
“Move,” shouts Shah. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible.”
He’s right. It’s already getting harder to breath.
I follow Vanessa’s warm body ahead of me slowly, touching the dirt walls for balance. I try to keep my breathing slow and steady because the air is heavy and thick. I don’t want to lose my breath and suffocate.
We pass a wooden frame holding up the walls and ceiling, and then two more. The tunnel keeps going. People moan, whimper, and gasp for air. The tunnel turns and winds endlessly. Shah coaxes us forward with reassuring words. I am grateful for the warmth, but fear I may never be the same again.
“When is this going to stop?” Mateo asks.
Suddenly, someone screams in front of the line. More screams come from those who follow. I have no idea what’s going on. Is an underground monster attacking them? The screams come from farther and farther away, as if the kids ahead of us are being propelled forward. Vanessa, ahead of me, falls to the ground. I try to help her up, but I slip, too. The ground is giving way under our feet.
“Hang on, Demi,” I say.