The Initiation

by Chris Babu

  “I have a right to move to the Palace,” Alex said. “How is it fair that they were born smarter than me? So they get to join the Bureau and I don’t? We should all have an equal shot at the Palace.”

  “We all start with an equal shot!” Drayden yelled. “You don’t get to make it by me and Catrice doing all the work and solving all the problems for you. How is that fair? The purpose of the Initiation is to determine who’s worthy of the Palace. If you’re not, you’re not. Sorry.”

  “That’s why I was trying to solve that last puzzle!” Alex shot back. “I thought that was the right answer.”

  Tim looked incredulous. “But you can’t do what they do!” He stepped closer to Alex. “You can’t. I can’t either. We have to accept who we are. Did you really think you had any shot at being the one invited into the Palace? Who are you kidding, Alex?”

  Charlie stepped between Tim and Alex. “You guys need to lay off Alex. He was just doing his best.” He turned to Drayden. “You think he’s stupid, Dray, but you never actually look. You don’t want to see what’s going on, the shkat he’s had to deal with. You just think you’re smarter than everyone else and you leave it at that.”

  Tim stood his ground. “He is smarter than everyone else.”

  Alex shined his flashlight in Tim’s face. “I’m making it to the Bureau.”

  “No you’re not,” Tim said. “They said one, maybe two of us. It won’t be you.”

  Alex went to speak but stopped, his expression like he held a secret. He glanced at Charlie, then at Drayden. “We’ll see about that.” Alex and Charlie hurried ahead of the pack again.

  The nerve of that guy. Both of them. Drayden just thought he was smarter than everyone else? They’d be exiled already if it weren’t for him!

  He didn’t mind doing the lion’s share of the work. Helping Tim and Sidney was obvious. It wasn’t just that he bore responsibility for them entering. They were friends, they appreciated it, and they carried him on the physical challenges.

  Catrice intrigued him so much, in part, because she didn’t need any help on the intellectual challenges. If anything, Drayden needed hers. Even helping Charlie wasn’t crazy; Charlie was invaluable on the rock wall. He taught everyone how to climb, and pulled Drayden to safety at the top.

  But Alex? Sure, he did save Catrice on the wall and he deserved credit for that. Yet this wasn’t the time for participation medals. He barely exerted any effort, while Drayden and Catrice solved all the problems, and he expected the same benefits. The Palace spot. Even worse, he complained about it! Like the kids in class who goofed off and failed without trying, and whined when they received crappy job assignments. What did they expect? At a minimum you had to exert yourself, to put in the work.

  Drayden wasn’t going to take it from Alex anymore. That was the last time. If he had to carry his weight, fine. Letting Alex bully him on another challenge, possibly getting them killed in the process? Never again.

  The pledges passed a dark, abandoned station at Twenty-Eighth Street. Per the map, Twenty-Third Street followed it, then Eighteenth Street, and Fourteenth Street. Of those, only Fourteenth Street served as a major hub on the Two-Three Line. The others were small stations on the One Line. With any luck, they would breeze by those.

  Regardless of where the next challenge was, they approached it ill equipped by their failure at Thirty-Fourth Street. So far the challenges had alternated between intellectual and bravery ones. That, plus the need for boots and blowtorches, indicated the upcoming one would be a bravery challenge. They should call them physical challenges. Hell, even the brainteasers required courage.

  The frigid air in the tunnel chilled Drayden’s skin, and his ankle throbbed with each step. He had to maintain a positive attitude about the rest of the Initiation, because a lot of it remained. It wasn’t easy. His ankle alone would be a problem on the rest of the physical tests, including the one coming up. He dug the water out of his backpack and sipped it, then wolfed down an apple. He’d planned to conserve food, but his stomach was growling.

  None of the pledges spoke. Charlie and Alex walked thirty yards ahead of the pack. Though the tracks ran in a straightaway here, they couldn’t see far, as if something ahead blocked the tracks.

  Charlie turned around and shined his flashlight at the others. “Um, guys?” he yelled. “We have a problem.”

  An uneasy rumbling settled deep into Drayden’s belly. He had a bad feeling about this.

  A solid steel wall blocked the tracks at the Twenty-Third Street station. The wall extended across both downtown and uptown tracks. Their Two-Three Line track ended at a steel door in the wall.

  Tim gestured at the door with his thumb. “What’s the problem? Looks like we go through that door.”

  “Do you hear that?” Charlie asked. He cupped his hand around his ear and pressed it against the door.

  They all fell silent and listened.

  What was that? Drayden strained to hear. It was activity, movement. Chattering? Or…buzzing? It sounded like the school cafeteria at lunchtime from afar.

  Sidney touched her ear to the door. “Whatever’s in there, we needed boots and blow-thingies to get through it.” She clasped her hands together in prayer. “I don’t like this.”

  Drayden took short, rapid breaths. Tim would guide them through this. Whatever it was, Drayden would lean on his friend as he had when kids picked fights back in school.

  “Oh hell, you wetchops,” Alex said. “I’ll peek inside and see what it is.”

  Everyone else stepped back. Alex cracked the door open, and immediately slammed it shut, throwing his back against it. “Holy shkat!” His eyes bulged. “Man, you guys are screwed. Especially you, Dray.”

  A chill ran down Drayden’s spine.

  Alex shined his flashlight in Tim’s face. “Who’s not making it to the Palace again, Tim?”

  “What the hell is it?” Tim asked.

  “What is it? Lemme show you.” Alex faced the door, kneeling, with his right hand on the handle. He lowered it, pulled the door open a crack, and reached his left arm inside. He yanked it out and slammed the door shut. The others trained their flashlights on him. He spun around, cradling a massive rat. “Take a closer look, wetchop!” He tossed the rat at Drayden.

  Drayden flinched back, tripped on the tracks, and fell onto his back. Pain shot through his ankle like a bolt of lightning. He slapped at his face. “Get it off me! Get it off!”

  Alex and Charlie cracked up. “You went down faster than a turd in an outhouse!” Charlie said.

  Tim shoved past Charlie to get to Drayden.

  “What?” Charlie said. “It was funny. You gotta admit.”

  “Shut up, idiot.” Tim pulled Drayden to his feet. “It’s gone, buddy, don’t worry.”

  Drayden dusted himself off. “You’re a total shkat, Alex. How many are in there?”

  “Let’s see…” Alex pressed his index finger to his chin. “Anyone else notice we haven’t seen a single rat yet in the tunnel? Nobody else thought that was weird? Apparently that’s because they’re all in there. Looks like the entire length of the station. How long is the station, smart guy?” Alex asked Drayden.

  “I don’t know. Five-hundred feet or so?”

  “Well it’s wall-to-wall rats. Must be a hundred thousand in there. They’re a foot deep on the ground, and they’re all over the walls, crawling over each other, fighting, biting, screeching. Oh, and that’s not all! I’d say every cockroach in the world is in there along with them.”

  If there was something scarier, Drayden couldn’t think of it. He dropped to his knees and rested his forehead on the ground.

  “Dude, it’s not that bad,” Tim said. “It’s gross, but we’ll just run through, right on top of them. Let’s go, stand up.” He pulled Drayden up again.

  Why the heck did it have to be rats? Drayden’s well-docum
ented fear of rats dated back to one of his earliest memories. He must have been four or five, in bed at night, when a rat squeaking around his bedroom woke him up. It scampered under his bed. He screamed and cried, afraid it would climb under the sheets. His mother had burst in and trapped the rat in a box.

  Catrice squatted, covering her face with her hands. Sidney said a quiet prayer to herself with her eyes closed.

  “Hey, Catrice,” Charlie said, approaching her, “if you’re scared you can ride on my back. I can carry you.”

  Drayden had a moment there with Catrice on the rock wall when she almost fell. It was brief, but she’d cried out for him. In her time of need, it was Drayden she sought. Charlie was being quite opportunistic. He was the only one strong enough to carry Catrice through the rats.

  Catrice stood and wiped her eyes. “No, I’m fine, thanks anyway.”

  Alex chuckled. “Maybe you should carry Drayden.”

  Drayden pulled his hat down tight. He wasn’t going to be bullied by Alex. He marched up to the door.

  Tim rubbed his chin. “Alex, how likely are we to get bitten? You’re the rat specialist.”

  “They only bite when they’re agitated. They don’t want anything to do with people. Same with cockroaches. Unfortunately, all piled up on top of each other like that, they’re probably pretty pissy. When you step on them, they’ll absolutely try and bite, and their nails will scratch you. Cockroaches can bite too, by the way.”

  “Now we know what the antiseptic wipes and bandages are for,” Drayden said. “Rats carry tons of diseases, and those bites could get infected. We could all finish the Initiation and die anyway.”

  Tim waved a hand through the air. “We have no choice. If we don’t do it, we’re exiled. You know what would have been a big help, Alex? Tall rubber boots. And blowtorches, to scatter them. You shkat flunk.”

  “Quit your whining,” Alex said. “I could move into that room. I’d rather live with them than you guys.”

  “That would work for us too,” Drayden grumbled under his breath.

  Alex bore his eyes into Drayden. “That would work for you wouldn’t it, Dray? You’ve never had a problem leaving me behind.”

  Drayden shook his head. It was hard to believe they’d once been best friends.

  Charlie pulled out his sticky gloves from the rock wall challenge. “What about these? They might help.”

  “I don’t think so,” Sidney said. “They’ll be covered with cockroaches and rats stuck to them.”

  “Hmmm. Yeah.” Charlie stuffed them back into his backpack.

  Drayden ambled over to Catrice. “Hey, you want me to follow you?”

  She stared at her feet. “No, I’m fine. I’ll just run as fast as I can.”

  “Oh, okay.” Drayden returned to the door, disappointed. She’d seemed so thankful to have him follow her on the rock wall. Her rejection reminded Drayden that this challenge, like the rock wall, didn’t require the pledges to work together. Some of them could pass it, and others not. If some didn’t survive, it would increase the others’ odds of capturing the coveted Palace spot.

  Tim tucked his pants into his socks. “You guys might want to do the same. Keep the cockroaches from running inside your pants. Less exposed skin to get bit.”

  Everyone followed his lead. “Well, don’t we look cool?” Tim said, effectively wearing knickers. “It’s time. If you fall, yell out for help. Let’s not leave anyone behind. Except Alex, of course.”

  Alex snickered. “It’s not a big door, but as soon as I open it, they’ll come pouring out. No time to sit and pee your pants. Just go.”

  “Wait,” Drayden said. “Catrice, should we have a strategy? Can you think of any clever way through this?”

  She hugged her arms around her body, as if already protecting herself from the critters. “I can’t think of one, other than getting through as fast as possible.”

  They formed a line. Alex first, then Charlie, followed by Catrice, Drayden, Sidney, and Tim.

  This was it. Drayden couldn’t conceive of any method other than brute force. He shook so violently it hurt his ankle. Tim was right—not even trying would result in exile. Yet attempting and failing would mean getting eaten alive by rats. A whimper escaped his lips. Not wanting to lose his hat, he stuffed it into his backpack. He glanced back at Tim.

  Tim gave him a thumbs-up.

  “Five seconds!” Alex shouted. “Five, four, three, two, one…” He swung the door open.

  Drayden’s jaw dropped.

  Dozens of rats and hundreds of cockroaches that had been smushed up against the door spilled into the tunnel. After that initial bunch, hundreds of the repulsive creatures rushed out the door. That was nothing compared to the view into the station, which ignited raw terror.

  The Bureau had created one humongous room. They’d removed the platforms and tracks, leaving only the supporting pillars. Rather than the usual brightness, a reddish glow illuminated the station, creating the illusion of everything covered in blood. As far as the eye could see, the ground undulated like a single beast, an ocean, made of hundreds of thousands of rats. Possibly millions. To Drayden, it was Hell on Earth.

  “Drayden, go!” Tim screamed.

  Alex and Charlie had already advanced twenty yards ahead, but struggled, repeatedly falling. Charlie slapped frantically at his legs. Catrice stood still in the doorway, crying.

  Drayden forced his feet to move. He sidestepped her, moving in front. He stepped up on a lumpy pile of rats, which made him a foot taller. He reached back and caught Catrice’s hand, pulling her forward, up onto the rats. His stomach turned and he bent over to dry heave, affording a close-up view of them.

  Most were a grayish brown, though a few were black. Both varieties had slithery, hairless tails.

  Drayden readjusted his feet.

  Rats crunched underneath them, screeching and squealing.

  It was like standing on a deflated basketball. One with diseased teeth trying to bite you. Holding Catrice’s hand helped maintain Drayden’s balance.

  Catrice clutched his hand tight. Her teary, terrified eyes met his.

  “Drayden!” Tim said. “Start walking, we gotta move.”

  Drayden’s heartbeat pulsed in his ears. He lurched forward, legs wobbling. Each wobble ignited a fireball of pain in his ankle. Each step produced squishing, squeaking, and crunching beneath his feet.

  He peered down to take another step.

  Cockroaches blanketed his legs, zigzagging in every direction.

  He swatted at them with his free hand, but his attempts to clear them proved futile. My God, how were they going to forge through? The critters were overwhelming them already.

  A sharp pain erupted in Drayden’s calf. The first rat bite.

  He cried out and lost his balance. He fell to his side, dragging Catrice down with him, landing on a warm, jittery pile of fur and bones.

  Catrice screamed and lost her grip on Drayden’s hand. Another rat bit into his wrist, blasting a wave of pain up his forearm.

  Drayden wailed again, hyperventilating, and slapped at his wrist. He battled to push himself back to his feet, but the pile of rats wasn’t solid. The soft mass simply absorbed the pressure from his hands.

  Get up! Now!

  He scrambled back to standing and spun around to rescue Catrice.

  Sidney wrapped her arms around Catrice’s waist to stand her up.

  Drayden offered his hand and she took it. Enough of this! Gingerly tiptoeing over the rats wasn’t working. He stepped forward with authority, and stomped down as forcefully as he could with his good foot. He did it again. In place, he thrust his right foot down, stunning or killing some of them. “You like that?”

  “Drayden, move goddammit!” Tim yelled from behind. Sidney was right on Catrice’s heels, Tim right behind her.

  Drayden sta
ggered forward, taking one unstable step after another. He dragged Catrice along with him and picked up the pace, aiming to reach the halfway mark. His intense focus on balance distracted him, so he hadn’t noticed the tickling on his stomach. With his free hand, he untucked his shirt.

  More than a dozen cockroaches fell out.

  Drayden retched again. Eventually they got into a rhythm, one step, then another, stop, repeat. He began to regard the rats not as individual little monsters, but as a singular, heaving floor. He then pretended the rats were fake robotic creatures created by the Bureau. It made them seem less scary. He succeeded until rats bit him again, making him cry out each time. He swatted at them with his hands, which bled profusely with bites. If cockroaches penetrated Drayden’s clothes or traversed his face, he frantically scraped them away. Otherwise he ignored them. He checked on Catrice.

  She maniacally pulled and shook her hair, struggling to dislodge a cockroach. Her long hair proved a major liability when a cockroach invaded it, tangling its hairy legs in her wispy strands.

  Drayden released her hand and seized the tiny creature, its grotesque wiggling body and legs making him shiver. He untangled as many strands as he could and yanked, pulling a few of her hairs out with it.

  She screeched. “Thank you!” She grabbed his hand again before he even offered.

  They trudged along. Alex and Charlie walked fifty yards ahead and were nearing the end.

  Drayden stepped with his left foot and rolled his gimpy ankle on a pile of rats, shooting daggers up his leg. He lost his balance and fell face first into the chomping, wriggling ocean of rats. As he tried to pop back up, a cockroach scampered into his mouth. He spit it out, gagging and retching. He shot back to his feet, spitting over and over. He keeled over, braced on his knees, about to vomit, but fought it off. When he reached back, Catrice caught his hand.

  As they staggered further, Drayden yanked up his shirt and brushed the cockroaches off his chest. Catrice scraped the ones off his back. Finally, the end was in sight. A steel wall with a door like the entrance marked the exit, now about thirty yards away. The door was closed.