Born to Die

It took my eyes a while to adjust to the cold, dark and dusty room. All I remember was the train station, that seemed to be above me. It had been older, maybe built around 1960 and the wood had been a light tan color. As my eyes started to adjust, lights turned on above me. Around in the room were people I knew, and they all looked frightened. My mind became frazzled and confused. I turned around to see my school partner Chandler standing behind me. He looked lost and I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was out of it. Through my peripheral vision, I saw someone emerge from another dark room. He stood onto a stage-like fixture, and started to speak into the microphone placed at the front of the stage.

The man had a catlike grin on his face, as if he'd won something. He looked down on us all, and let me just say that there were a lot of us. It looked like everyone at my school, because I could almost recognise every single one. Shadows colored the man's face, which really didn't help his creepy persona.

"Welcome all!" His smile stretched even further across his bearded face, and I thought that it might as well just burst in two. A mist of smoke escaped his lips, and he spoke again, "You all look insane. Let me explain your purpose of being here. First of all, we are running studies to see what body type and age takes the longest to die off. Behind me is the cafeteria, where only 20 people are allowed. There is also a computer room and the nurse station which also has the same capacity. You are allowed cell phones and whatever else you have on you. You will be assigned dorms and people to stay with. Just to clarify, since you're all under the age of 21, you are allowed to drink alcohol and smoke; only to reduce stress. However, there are several diseases associated with drinking. One of the more common diseases is when you drink too much, your mouth won't open and you can no longer eat or drink. Therefore, we just give you an injection that kills you 25 minutes after receiving it."

He swallowed deep and his voice sounded strained, "There's no reason for you to try and escape. We're all stuck here and I'm the only one that knows the way out. Now that you understand what you're doing, move along and your nurse aid will show you to your dorm rooms."

I didn't understand. Why me? Why us? I wanted to say something; cry out in protest. But I had gotten swept away in the crowd, my words only slight whispers stuck on my lips.