by Mark Wandrey
After he'd made sure there were no lingering fires hazards, the Chosen left the room awash in dripping cots and dazed teenagers. Minu and Cherise climbed from under their bed, both dripping wet, and saw that a few of their neighbors were quick enough to flip over their mattresses to fend off the assault. They were righting their beds now and realizing they'd traded dry clothes for a wet bed. Their friends fared the same as Minu and Cherise, varying in their wetness from the damp Gregg to the drenched head-to-toe Pip.
"Hit me square in the stomach with that damn hose," Pip spluttered.
"Should have seen him," laughed another kid heading for the bathroom, "he flew like a leaf being blown across the yard!"
Eventually everyone settled down again and, wet or dry, tried to get some more sleep. The sheets were synthetic and once wet they only made you feel colder.
Exactly one hour later, the room was flooded with intensely loud music. Minu knew it was an hour because she'd lain awake counting seconds through chattering teeth. While she wasn't sure the first ambush was an hour, it was reasonable to assume so. The music roared on for about five minutes then went silent. Powerful strobe lights filled the barracks an hour after the music. Minu opened her eyes for only a moment before drifting back off to sleep.
During the short evening the interruptions continued every hour on the hour. Minu was only awoken once more when the Chosen detonated a series of stink bombs. When the lights were turned on, the Chosen announced breakfast in ten minutes. Minu was one of the very few who didn't look like the walking dead. If this is the worst they could do, she was confident she would win.
"We should take everything to breakfast," Cherise suggested.
"You really think so?" Minu asked.
"Absolutely." She yawned big and stretched. "After last night you still trust in them?"
"You have a point." They quickly assembled a pair of backpacks and divided the remaining pieces along with the other goods they'd been given between them. Minu turned to suggest this to the boys as well, then saw they were already going along with the program. Backpacks built and filled, there was just enough time for a quick restroom break then jog down the hall. Several of the other candidates looked at them and noticed the new backpacks they carried. The reactions varied from indifference to confusion and even amusement. A few looked worried. A few others also wore backpacks.
"Where did you get the backpack?" one boy asked Minu.
"Remember that piece of fabric and cord the uniforms were wrapped in?"
"Sure."
"There you go." She trotted on leaving him with a stunned look. By this time they were mixing with other barracks and she took careful note of how many wore backpacks as well. The number was shockingly small.
"You’re looking at the winners," Aaron whispered in her ear, noticing the same thing.
"Don't curse us," she snarled back. Her mother was superstitious and Minu was embarrassed to admit it had rubbed off. Still, Aaron might have a point. She'd quickly find out how right he was.
There were simple tables assembled now with equally simple stools on which to sit. Each spot had a bare plate and a plastic cup with eating utensils of the same cheap design wrapped in a paper napkin.
"Not as many seats as people," Cherise said. Of course she was correct. Minu spotted a group of seats in the far corner and made for them as quickly as possible. Her friends didn't hesitate to follow her lead. When they got there, Pip beat another boy by seconds for the last seat. The boy looked like he was considering whether he could remove the much smaller Pip from the seat when he noticed the other four, all watching him with narrowed eyes. He moved on.
A minute later, Chosen began moving through the room giving out drags to all those not seated. One boy tried hiding under a table and was unceremoniously hauled out and a drag clamped on his leg. Some laughed at the spectacle and they got a drag too. It was amazing that anyone still hadn't learned to keep their mouths shut. Minu glanced around. She couldn't see any candidates without at least one drag.
While they sat and the room buzzed with subdued conversation, Minu took the opportunity to survey the surroundings. The room was unchanged except the addition of a single double door where Second Among the Chosen and Jacob stood yesterday. The podium and low stands were gone as well. The ten Chosen, their job of giving out drags complete, were lining up on the opposite wall by the doors they entered through and as she watched they were closing those doors behind the last of the candidates.
"Damn, I'm hungry," Pip said, picking up his plate to look it over. "I wonder when the food arrives?"
Minu looked at the Chosen again, then at the new double doors. Her group sat in one corner with the doors only a few meters away. The room was beginning to quiet down as more heads turned to look expectantly at the Chosen who just stood staring off into space.
"Do you smell anything?" she asked her friends.
"I know I don't smell any damn food," Pip mumbled.
"Me neither," Gregg said. Aaron and Cherise nodded their agreement.
"That's because there isn't any food," Minu said. "Notice the new door? The Chosen locked the ones we came in through, and there doesn't seem to be a way to open them from this side." She picked up all the plastic tableware at her setting and quickly slipped them into her backpack. After a moment’s confusion the others did the same. "Carefully," she said to them as a kid nearby watched them with mild curiosity, "it's quite a ways to the door through this crowd."
"You figure the food is through that door?" Cherise asked.
"I figure we're going to have to get the hell out of here in a hurry." The Chosen all moved together and now Minu saw they wore backpacks similar to hers. They also had the now ubiquitous utility belts stuffed with drags and other anonymous equipment. As one, they were taking something that looked like a leather pouch from those belts.
"Then let’s go now," Pip urged.
"No," she hissed, "patience first."
"Your instincts have been good so far," Aaron nodded, "we'll follow your lead." More head bobs and Minu smiled small. She hoped their trust wasn't misplaced.
One of the doors by the Chosen opened and Dram stepped in, the door lock giving an audible snap as it engaged behind him. He immediately addressed them. "Welcome to day two of the Trials. You will see that some of your brethren decided not to join us today, that is of course there, and your choice. So, let’s move on."
"Now," Minu said and got to her feet. She didn't run for the door, she just began to stroll in that direction. Those that noticed her included all the Chosen. Only Dram made any reaction and it was to smile big.
"Going somewhere?" he asked across the hall.
"You bet," she said, continuing to walk toward the door. For a split second, she thought she'd made a terrible error, then she saw what the other Chosen were doing. Their backs were turned to the room and while Dram was talking they were pulling on gas masks. The ones who'd already donned their masks were removing metallic canisters from their belts.
Around Minu many of the candidates were looking between her and Dram, some were laughing or shaking their heads, figuring she was done for. Now Minu saw all of those wearing packs, like her group was, were already up and heading for the door as well. A pair who was the farthest from the door weren't walking, they were running.
"Where's the food?" someone yelled, and a couple hundred voices shouted in agreement.
"Who ever said we were going to feed you?" Dram laughed and took a step back and pulled his own gas mask in place as the ten Chosen stepped forward and let fly with the grenades.
Minu sprinted and hit the door first, throwing her arm against the release bar and her shoulder against the door itself. She'd offered a silent prayer that the door wasn't barred. Thankfully, it burst open and they were suddenly in the bright shining light. Back inside, the shouts and complaints of the candidates turned to cries of panic and fear. The grenades were pouring out huge gouts of acrid black smoke. Only it wasn't smoke, it was gas. The other
s with the forethought to make for the door quickly came out behind Minu's team, only just managing to avoid the gas. Those that began tumbling out the door after them didn't look so good. They were all rubbing at their eyes that were turning red and raw, most with mucus pouring from their noses and all were yelling in pain as almost a thousand kids tried to cram through one set of double doors only a couple meters wide.
Dram appeared around the side of the building, having obviously escaped from the other side. He held a cylinder under one arm and a look of calm concern on his face. "You bugs will learn to suspect something is wrong, especially when there is a preponderance of evidence, or you won't be Chosen. Aliens often do unpredictable things; they have different psychology than humans. Some of them are just plain mean and deceitful. I'd dare say down right sadistic in their natures. You can't demand humanity from a five-meter-long snake.
"The gas is non-fatal, though some of you might be wishing it was just about now. All it takes is water to wash it off. You can either wait one or two hours for the effects to fade on their own, walk to the nearest source of water which is about one kilometer up that trail there, or you can get some water from me."
"We just ask you for water?" one of the gagging kids asked. The crowd grew as the assembly hall finally emptied. Minu backed farther away because gas was wafting through the open doors. Chosen helped the last few out the doors; they were too overcome with the gas to walk.
"Oh, there is one minor detail. You want water from me, you have to quit." The howls of anger and outrage were apparent and it looked like some were mad enough to rush Dram. This drill was well-practiced because they knew what the reaction would be. The Chosen dropped off their charges and moved to flank Dram, causing the growing unrest to quickly die. In only moments, dozens were walking or crawling forward to quit and get water to end the pain. Others were just lying on the ground and crying out in despair and the unfairness of it all. And some were now jogging up the trail Dram had pointed to, careening between trees and bushes as they ran.
"What about us?" Minu asked the nearest Chosen. The man turned and looked at Minu with her group of friends. Along with those that followed her out the door before the grenades went off, they numbered less than fifty.
"Pretty clueless group we have here," the man said and glanced over the crowd of afflicted, "In my class, almost half made it out the door before the first grenade went off." Minu remained silent and waited. "You've passed this test, congratulations. The next phase takes place at a concrete and metal shelter five kilometers to the east. It is on top of a small ridge and visible for several kilometers in all directions. The time limit for this trial is four hours, which places it at noon."
While he was talking, Minu glanced up at the sky; it was early enough in the day and she remembered enough of the compound layout to know what direction east was. The trail that Dram indicated was in the opposite direction.
"Any restrictions?" Gregg asked the Chosen. The man just crossed his arms and stared at them.
"Can we help the others?" one of the kids not in Minu's own group asked.
"I'll only add that resources are limited. Knowing when to cooperate is part of the Trials as you should have noticed by now. Everything goes in the Trials, almost. Any resources can be used, any means taken to complete what tasks are before you. There is no such thing as cheating, within limits. You cannot intentionally harm another bug or a Chosen except in self-defense. You cannot steal from a citizen, and you cannot enter a private residence, not that there are any nearby. That is all you will get out of any of us."
Minu turned and ran for a nearly overgrown trail that faced due east, opposite where most were heading. Her friends fell in behind her quickly
Gregg ran to catch up to her. "Why the hurry?" he huffed behind her. "We have four hours for five kilometers. We can easily walk that."
"You weren't listening to the rest, were you? He said we can't steal from private citizens, he didn't say anything about each other. It's everyone for themselves and we're better equipped than most. We're going to be targets once those other losers get it together in an hour or so."
"It'll take less than that with water only an hour away."
"There is no water down that trail," Minu said as she fell into a rhythm of running, "All there is that way is the landing field, then a cliff."
"Damn! Don't they tell the truth about anything?"
"No, and that's why I'm only trusting one thing that Chosen said: we have to get to that shelter in four hours. The rest doesn't matter one whit."
The run was exhilarating. Minu hadn't known just how much she missed running the last few days. She leaned forward as the ground began to flow by and the trees shot past. Her lungs expanded and emptied with powerful breaths and her muscles worked in grateful exertion.
"Minu!" a voice behind her intruded on her physical meditation. She glanced over her shoulder. Aaron, Cherise, and Gregg were managing to keep up with her, though she could see they were having to work considerably harder. Pip was a different story; he was already ten paces behind and falling farther. He ran with huge arm movements, legs pumping too high in an inefficient gate, and he was obviously gasping for breath, his eyes bugging out and veins standing up on his neck. Reluctantly, she slowed to a stop. Cherise was pacing him, offering encouragements and looking concerned.
"What's wrong with you?" she asked Pip as he staggered up next to them and nearly fell over. Gregg grabbed an arm and kept him on his feet. "I know I'm an above average runner, but we've barely started." Cherise was obviously in almost as good of shape as Minu.
"I...I'm...not...in...very...good...shape," he managed to gasp between huffs of breath.
Minu shook her head. "How did you intend to pass the Trials?"
"Brains...over...brawn." The others laughed, but Minu could tell he was serious. Pip looked crestfallen. "I really didn't think...I'd have to run a marathon."
"You read, don't you?" Gregg asked. Pip just nodded his head, being too busy trying to breathe to talk very much. "So you didn't read any of the books on the Trials?"
"That might have been a good idea," Minu agreed.
"Didn't have time," Pip complained, "there was too much other material."
"Do we leave him behind?" Aaron asked them. Gregg looked down while Pip looked worried and Cherise just watched Minu.
"He's at least partially right," Minu said, "there is more to the Trials than just muscles." Pip looked relieved, if only for a moment. "But you might end up wishing we left you before this is over. Now run with us." She turned and continued up the trail at a slower pace. "We can only do so much." she said. In a moment, the sounds of footfalls behind her confirmed they were following.
Pip didn't so much run with them, as he was carried by them. Within a kilometer, Pip was staggering along the trail, another kilometer and they were taking turns carrying him two at a time, hands under his arms. The sun was high in the sky when they topped the second rise to find a rolling river filling the valley below. On the other side, Pip's sharp eyes caught the glint of a small structure nestled in the trees.
"Are those flood waters?" Aaron asked with a catch in his voice. There was nothing like this in the near desert where he grew up.
"No, no flooding here," Pip said, as he swayed on his feet. His face was flushed and sweat poured from him like the torrent below.
"How can you be so sure?" Minu wanted to know.
"L-look at the trees. No broadleaf, no conifers. This is an ancient forest of the huge old fern trees that used to cover the planet. They're really good at holding their niche as long as nothing knocks them down. Flood, fires, landslides, anything like that and the plant life we brought from Earth moves in."
"So this is what the planet looked like hundreds of years ago?" Cherise asked.
"As far as the eye can see."
Gregg and Aaron were massaging their legs during the brief break and that was the first time in a while that she remembered they were wearing drags. Her left le
g where she wore her only drag was slightly sore and at that moment they made sense to her. Drag, they drag you down. Duh!
"So how do we get across?" Pip asked.
"We swim," Minu said matter-of-factly as she scanned the river to see how swiftly it was moving. Slowly she turned to look at Pip in growing concern. "You can swim, can't you?"
"Yes!" he barked, obviously exasperated. "Do you think I'd be stupid enough to take the Trials if I couldn't swim?"
Cherise opened her mouth and Minu's stern look brought her up short so the dark skinned girl just shrugged. They gave Pip a few more minutes to get his breath back and when Minu decided it was time, they all made their way down the hill toward the river below.
As they crossed the river, it turned out Pip wasn't the one Minu needed to worry about. They were halfway across when she heard a gurgling gasp and looked over her shoulder. The water was barely more than a meter deep and very swift. Even though Aaron was about the same height as Minu, he was being pitched badly and couldn't keep his feet.
"Just swim," she admonished him. He dropped into a ragged dog paddle, but the water was too rough and it kept washing over his head. In a moment he was hit in the face by a wave and popped up choking water.
"What have I gotten myself into?" she asked silently and turned around. By the time she managed to drag his big body from the water he was half drowned. Cherise and Gregg were doing their best not to stare, Pip wasn't feeling as charitable.
"Oh, but you worry about me swimming?!"
"Give him a break," she said, patting a grateful and exhausted Aaron on the back, "he's from a very dry place."
"And I'm not?" Cherise asked, just a hint of laughter in her voice.
"I can swim," Aaron managed between a couple fits where he coughed up water. "It's enough most of the time." No one had anything to add to that.