The Unnamed | The Unnamed Duology Book 1

THE ELITE CH. 2 - SAMPLE

2: the Threat

The Elite Leader listens intently to Daniel as he speaks about the Unnamed. He leaves almost nothing out, guilt holding him back on some things. Like Rose, for instance.

"So they want to take the Elites down?" The Elite Leader asks.

Daniel nods.

"Okay," he says slowly, processing the information. "They hate the government. Everything about it. Mostly the Unnamed part, I think. They ordered me to kill Blaise, even. I don't understand them completely though. I can't tell you much more than that, really."

The Elite Leader nods. "You did a good thing," he says. "You stopped a potential war."

He rises and straightens his clothing just before exiting. The Runner watches as he leaves. He hadn't realized how tense he was. He was both dreading this moment and counting down the days until it. He hated the Unnamed, but he had no other choice. He stopped a war. He became an Elite.

Daniel looks around at the room, distracting himself and trying to rid of the rocks collecting in his stomach. But however much he tries to get his mind off of the past few months, his thoughts always return to it.

Mortimer the Elite Solver had been his Master since Daniel the Runner was five, before he was Named. When Daniel turned eighteen, he was old enough to enter the Competitions and compete for both a Name and a Title, and he would fight against whatever came his way to keep from becoming an Unnamed. That all changed when the Elites voted to place him in the rising rebellion as a spy: the Unnamed. A boy named Three, later to be named as Jim the Runner, made Daniel go through three tests to make sure he was Unnamed material--and to make sure he wasn't a spy.

Daniel passed and was thrown into the world he never wanted to be in, the world of the Unnamed. There he learns about rankings among the Unnamed and that they are planning to take down the government. Daniel became attached to his newly found friends, and trained with them every day, until he beat Blaise the Elite Runner in a practice run. From that point on, he was a target for every Runner, especially the Elite Runner.

Blaise threatened Daniel's life multiple times, sometimes close to taking it from him. But Daniel shone through until the night before the last race.

Before the Competitions even began, the government followed him into the secret hideout for the Unnamed, Rose the Runner, an Unnamed Rebel, shot Mortimer, and Daniel was told he must kill Blaise, not to mention beat him. The poor Runner was having his heart ripped in two and tugged every which way.

And the government was closing in, even though they didn't know much about the rebellion, they just knew something big was going to happen during the Competitions.

Daniel barely passed the First Race, and scores higher than even Blaise did on the Second. The Final Race was up next, and the top five of the last race ended up having to stay at Blaise's house. One boy was poisoned by Blaise, and Jim dies in a fire trying to save Rose the Runner and Daniel. They learned about a power-hungry chef in Blaise's kitchen, and she threatened to kill both Rose and Daniel if they don't put her in charge of the Unnamed.

They made it through the night, and the next day they were ready to run. It took some time for Daniel to catch up to Blaise, especially after he fell, but he does, and he wins, Rose coming in second place and Blaise in third. To say he was angry would be an understatement. He put Daniel in the hospital, where he was told he has become an Elite. He had the option to step down and return the spot to Blaise, which he considered only for a moment, but declined. He couldn't have Blaise back in there, when he knows how he is.

Daniel announced his first execution as an Elite. It was for Blaise. He sent him off to his death. And then Rose the Runner walked in, arrested, trying to signal to him that the Unnamed were in place and are ready to attack, he just had to say the words.