The Initiation

by Chris Babu

  “Listen. I’m not going to be exiled,” Drayden said. “I’m not. The karma gods will reward me for this.” He nodded. “Yeah. Everyone else is going to guess right, and we’re all going to move on. In a few minutes we’ll be inside the Palace. Trust me.”

  Drayden squeezed her once more before letting go. “Hey, guys! Gather around.”

  Drayden and Catrice explained how the problem worked and how to solve it. The other pledges listened. Charlie made no jokes, and Alex stopped scowling.

  “What if I forget which color is even and odd?” Charlie asked.

  Drayden scratched his head. “You gotta associate green with odd. Green would be an odd color for skin, right? Imagine me with green skin. Since we’re talking about it, you’ll probably remember now. If person one calls out green, there are an odd number of green hats. If they call out red, there’s an even number of green hats. That’s not all you have to remember though. You have to think after that. This problem doesn’t have a timer. We need to hustle, but don’t rush, think before you answer. You must remember if there are an odd or even number of green hats to start. You must keep track of how many green hats have been called out. And you must note how many of each you can see in front of you. Don’t forget: Zero is an even number.”

  Sidney’s face lit up. “I got it, Drayden! It just clicked. I understand. I’ll get mine right.” She beamed.

  Drayden fist-bumped her. “Now, if we all do this right, there’s no chance involved. Everybody will guess correctly.”

  Sidney furrowed her brow. “But…what about the first person? Won’t they be totally guessing? Like totally?”

  Drayden nodded. She did get it. “Yes. Which means the first person is the only one who has a chance of being wrong. He’s calling out green or red based on how many green hats he sees. It’s random whether that will be correct for his own hat. Hopefully he’ll get lucky.”

  “Wait,” Sidney said. “Who’s going first?”

  “Not it!” Alex yelled.

  Drayden and Catrice exchanged a glance. “Me,” Drayden said.

  “Brilliant idea,” Alex said. “First smart thing you’ve said all day.”

  Charlie looked uncomfortable. “Dray, you sure? It’s not really fair that you have to do it. We might need you after this too.”

  “I’m sure,” he said. “I feel good about it. Thanks. I wanted to do a practice run, but we don’t have time. I have to know, is everyone crystal clear on what they need to do? Is anyone confused at all?”

  Catrice gave a thumbs-up, and Sidney and Charlie both said yes. Alex didn’t react.

  Drayden stepped to him, right in his face. “Alex, this isn’t the time for hurt feelings. This is too crucial. Do you understand exactly what you need to do?”

  Alex avoided eye contact. “I got it, wetchop. I’m not stupid, you know.”

  “Let’s do it, then. I’m first, then Charlie, then Sidney, then Catrice, and Alex in circle five. Everyone stand in their designated spots. Remember not to look up when the hats come down. It would be a natural reaction. Look straight ahead. We don’t want to get exiled for something silly like a flinch.”

  Moment of truth. Drayden stepped onto circle one. Despite facing his most risky moment of the whole Initiation, a wave of serenity washed over him. He brimmed with confidence in his decision to go first, and would be rewarded for his courage. They’d solved the problem correctly. Now everybody simply needed to execute.

  Drayden reached for the button, then hesitated, his heart thumping. Old habits died hard. He pushed the button, and stared straight ahead.

  A winding noise overhead pierced the silence, followed by a repetitive clicking noise. Something dropped onto his head. At the same time, in front of him, metal chains with mechanical fingers on the ends dropped boxy baseball hats on everyone else’s heads. The chains retracted, the winding noise ensued, and the station fell silent.

  Drayden closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. He opened them. In front of him, Charlie wore a red hat, Sidney wore a red hat, Catrice wore a green hat, and Alex wore a red hat. Oh God. Which was odd, which was even? Green, an odd color for skin. Only Catrice wore a green hat. One, an odd number. An odd number of green hats meant he called out green.

  “Green!”

  Please let my hat be green.

  Charlie could see Sidney’s red hat, Catrice’s green hat, and Alex’s red hat. Charlie knew that Drayden saw an odd number of green hats, and he also saw an odd number—one. Which implied he must be wearing a red hat.

  You can do this, Charlie, Drayden silently urged.

  If he answered wrong, he’d blow the whole scheme.

  Charlie fidgeted. He shifted his weight between legs, taking longer than he should. “Red!” he finally yelled.

  Drayden exhaled. Attaboy, Charlie! Sidney, same thing. Piece of cake. She could see Catrice’s green hat, and Alex’s red hat. She saw an odd number of green hats—one. Drayden had started them off with an odd number of green hats. Charlie had said red, so the number of green hats remained odd. She had to be wearing red.

  She took a long time too. She scratched her cheek.

  Drayden’s stomach was in knots. If she messed up and guessed green, Catrice would surely answer red, and that would be two wrong answers. Exile.

  “Red?” Sidney yelled, as a question.

  Yes! Drayden grinned. Question or not, she guessed right. Way to go, Sid! He couldn’t wait to give her a giant hug when this was over.

  Catrice’s turn. Thank God for Catrice’s brain. Drayden had not a shred of doubt she would answer correctly. She could only see Alex’s red hat. She knew she was wearing the green one.

  “Green!” she yelled without hesitation.

  She is amazing.

  That was a big one, because if Drayden was lucky enough to have guessed his own right, it wouldn’t matter if Alex flubbed up. It was why he had to be last. One wrong guess was fine, as long as it wasn’t the person in circle one, and nobody would be exiled. However, if Drayden had guessed wrong, this one was huge for the other pledges. A wrong answer from Alex would then mean exile for everybody.

  Alex, for once, don’t screw everything up.

  He knew there were an odd number of green hats to start, and only one person said green. He was the last one. He had to be wearing red.

  Alex remained silent. He shifted his feet, and scratched his leg. He tapped his foot.

  Drayden began to sweat profusely. What would the signal be if they were successful? Or if not? He wondered if it would be obvious. If they were safe, perhaps nothing would happen at all, and they could go on their way.

  Alex continued to squirm, taking way too much time. Something was wrong.

  He doesn’t know.

  That flunk. He gave Drayden attitude about not being stupid, and he didn’t understand how to do it.

  Please, just guess right then, Alex. Please say red. Red, Alex, come on.

  “Green!”

  Oh no.

  A massive metal gate crashed down over the tracks with a boom, blocking them.

  Wait. What is this? Oh my God.

  “No!” Drayden screamed.

  CHAPTER 21

  Drayden stood in disbelief, his mouth hung open. The reality of what had just occurred, and what it meant, sunk in like acid on his skin. His stunned eyes locked on the thick metal gate blocking the tunnel. There was the sign of the results. Couldn’t be any clearer. They’d failed. The Initiation was over.

  “What does that mean?” Sidney yelled. She spun around, both hands on her head.

  Alex pulled off his red hat and studied it. Without turning around, Catrice whimpered into her hands and squatted on the ground. Charlie yanked off his red hat, flung it onto the tracks, and stormed off.

  Drayden collapsed to his knees.

  “Oh God,” Sidney
said. She burst into tears.

  It can’t be.

  Drayden had done what he needed to do. Where were those damn karma gods? He’d chosen to be brave, to lead. Now everyone would be exiled. Any moment a battalion of Guardians would swarm them, drive them in a bus up to the Henry Hudson Bridge, and shove them outside the wall.

  He did the right thing! He could have made Alex go first! Everybody else would have answered correctly, and Alex would be facing exile alone. Why did Drayden have to be the hero? Maybe he forced it, went too far. Tempted fate. Mathematically, he always had a fifty-fifty chance of guessing wrong. The powers of the universe had no obligation to look after him, making sure things were fair. Life was unfair.

  Drayden recalled his father once more, and how he had proven to be correct about everything. He’d never see Dad again. Wesley had declared with certainty they would reunite in the Palace when Drayden passed the Initiation. He’d never see his brother again either. The guilt Wes would feel for encouraging Drayden to enter would probably push him over the edge. But he’d be alive. Drayden and the other pledges would not.

  At least he would die with dignity. His mother surely beamed with pride over his decision to absorb all the risk himself to spare Alex’s life. Even though it resulted in failure, it was an incredibly brave and virtuous act, especially for a kid who started the Initiation afraid of his own shadow.

  Now he could shed that blanket of fear, even outside the wall. Why must the strength he discovered within himself vanish because the Initiation ended? He would still protect Catrice, and keep everyone alive as long as possible outside. When the time finally came to die, perhaps he would get to see Mom and Tim again, if Heaven indeed existed. The tears came and he didn’t fight this time. He covered his face and sobbed quietly into his hands.

  “Drayden,” Catrice said, softly. Then she shouted, “Drayden!”

  He wiped his tears, trying to compose himself. Their watery eyes met.

  “Look at your hat!” she yelled.

  “What?”

  She pointed at him. “Your hat! Look at it!”

  He hadn’t even bothered to look. Once the gate dropped, the Initiation ended anyway. He pulled the hat off.

  It was green.

  Wait. What?

  “My hat’s green,” he said. “My hat’s green!”

  Catrice scrambled to her feet. “There are no Guardians here.”

  Sidney sat up and wiped her eyes. “I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

  Drayden stood. “Alex was the only one who answered wrong.” There were his karma gods. Or his mom watching over him. Of course his hat was green. He’d been wearing a green hat his mother gave him since her exile. It was only fitting. “That means we’re not exiled, because we were allowed one wrong answer, as long as it wasn’t me.” He cocked his head. “But that gate’s blocking the tracks. Is it some sort of trick? Can we lift it?”

  Charlie jumped down onto the tracks and sprinted to the gate. He squatted down, his muscular legs stretching his pants. He grunted, struggling to lift it. It didn’t budge.

  “Drayden!” Catrice yelled. She fanned her arm over the other tracks, the One Line.

  “They don’t go to Wall Street,” Drayden said.

  “We don’t have to reach Wall Street,” Catrice said. “They said we have to finish in the Palace, at either Wall Street or South Ferry, where the One Line goes. We were just shooting for Wall Street.”

  My God. She’s right.

  He’d set in his mind that they would arrive at the Wall Street station because it was the most direct. They had another option. Blocking the Two-Three Line tracks was a trick, a head fake. The clock even continued counting down: 00:42:24, 00:42:23…

  “Holy shkat,” Drayden said. He pulled his hat out of his backpack. “We gotta go! Now!”

  The pledges jumped down onto the One Line tracks and broke into a full sprint. They dug out their flashlights as they bolted into the dark tunnel.

  The constant pain in Drayden’s ankle was wearing him down. He was surely doing permanent damage to it.

  Up until this point, the tunnel housed four sets of tracks. Although separated by steel columns resembling walls, they created a wide space. Here, where the One Line branched off alone, the pledges ran in a much narrower tunnel. It was two tracks wide, separated by the same regularly-spaced columns. In some places an actual concrete wall separated the two sets of tracks, making the whole tunnel only one track wide. It was enclosed and claustrophobic.

  “What’s the next station?” Charlie yelled between heavy breaths.

  “Uh, I don’t know,” Drayden said. He’d only memorized the stations to Wall Street, and now they ran on a track he hadn’t studied. He dug out the map and shined his flashlight on it. “Cortlandt Street!” He stuffed the unfolded map back into his backpack, taking his eye off the tracks for a split second.

  His foot caught a railroad tie. He was airborne.

  Drayden crashed down, his right shoulder absorbing the brunt of the fall. His back and ankle screamed out in pain, like a railroad spike had impaled them. He cried out.

  “Drayden!” Catrice shrieked.

  He clutched his ankle, moaning, rolling around on the tracks in the darkness.

  Catrice cradled his head in her hand. “What can I do?”

  Sidney rushed over and knelt beside him.

  What a flunk I am.

  As if the Initiation weren’t tough enough already. “Can someone get me a pain pill and the water?” Drayden mumbled through gritted teeth.

  Catrice and Sidney both reached for his backpack at the same time. Sidney jerked it away, opened it, and pulled out the pills and the water.

  He downed a pill. “Let’s go,” he grunted. His ankle throbbed, the pain coming in waves.

  The girls hauled Drayden up. Two flashlights flitted around thirty yards ahead.

  “Can you run?” Sidney asked, still out of breath.

  “No, but I have to. We won’t make it otherwise.”

  Each step felt like someone taking a ferocious swing at his ankle with an axe. More than once he nearly vomited from the pain.

  Charlie and Alex’s flashlights stopped moving up ahead. Drayden, Catrice, and Sidney caught up to them. Both boys were doubled over with their hands on their knees, panting.

  “Sweet mother of Jesus,” Charlie said. “How much farther is it?”

  “Cortlandt is far, according to the map,” Drayden said, struggling to catch his own breath. “We have to go.”

  Alex crossed his arms. “I don’t understand what the rush is. Clock said we had forty minutes left. Sounds like plenty of time to me.”

  “There are three stations left,” Drayden said. “Cortlandt, Rector, and South Ferry. They’re all far apart. At least twenty minutes of travel time, even running. That only leaves twenty minutes for three challenges. I think we have to assume that last one is gonna be a doozy.”

  Charlie nodded down the tracks. “Let’s go, then.”

  Drayden pushed forward through the exhaustion. Screw the Bureau. He’d beaten them every time so far, even their absurd red-and-green-hats problem. He endured their pretend exile when they blocked the Two-Three Line tracks. So close to winning, he wasn’t about to stop.

  What would the upcoming challenges be like? Bravery challenges the rest of the way, he bet. Now he knew how cruel and unmerciful the Bureau could be. The challenges might have immediately fatal consequences, not just exile, on the line.

  Charlie and Alex’s pace slowed, and the whole group bunched up, with Drayden in the back. Charlie and Alex conversed, gestured, and glanced back at Drayden.

  While Drayden no longer feared Alex, that didn’t preclude him from doing something stupid or dangerous. Alex was crazy, evil, and dumb. He probably craved revenge for the beatdown Drayden gave him. Luckily, in another forty minute
s, he would never see Alex again. No way they’d be put in the same zone.

  Charlie and Alex stopped without warning. Catrice and Sidney slammed into them. Drayden stopped just in time, but ignited a raw jolt of pain in his ankle.

  “What the hell, chotch?” Drayden asked. “Why’d you stop?”

  Charlie held his finger up to his lips. “Listen.”

  A mechanical sound up ahead, like machinery, broke the silence.

  Sidney grimaced. “Sounds like grinding metal.”

  Catrice wrapped her arms around herself as if she were cold. Charlie shined his flashlight ahead, and thirty yards down, the tracks ended. A steel wall blocked them.

  “Let’s do this,” Drayden said, as Tim would’ve.

  They jogged down to the wall and found a staircase up to the platform on the right. Charlie climbed up first, followed by the others, with Drayden in the back. The mechanical sounds blared. Grating metal. A breeze in the air created a sensation of movement.

  As Drayden climbed the stairs, his eye caught a glimpse of gleaming metal through a crack in the wall.

  Charlie reached the top and stopped. He stepped back and his jaw dropped. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Despite Drayden’s recent decision to act without fear the rest of the way, he couldn’t fight his body’s natural defense mechanisms. His face grew hot and his heart raced. When the Bureau designed this challenge, he bet they named it “The Swinging Blades.”

  At the Cortlandt Street station, the Bureau had created a tall, narrow room. They’d covered up the tracks, removed the supporting pillars, and raised the ceiling to forty feet or so.

  A lengthy steel cylinder, like the axle of a bus, only far longer, ran the length of the soaring ceiling, parallel with the direction of the tracks. Scores of thick steel rods hung down from the axle all the way from front to back. Cruel looking spikes of all sizes emblazoned the rods down their lengths. Some rods reached the floor, while others ended at waist level. It made even the shortest ones thirty feet long. An enormous blade tipped each one at its end, like an upside-down grim reaper’s sickle, if he were a giant.