Deciding to settle our conflict later, me and Adam walk out of the armory together. I'm excited to finally not be the new person, now that someone else will be the newest Network resident to arrive.
"We're going to the door where everyone always entered the Network from," Adam says. I recall the moment I first got here. Mason was the one who greeted me first. I guess mostly everyone here doesn't see him often, considering the fact that the last time I seen him was the day I arrived. He had ordered Ricky to give me a tour of the Network.
"And Mason will be there?" I ask. A new plan is beginning to develop in my mind. What if I can convince Mason to let me kill Adam? I hope I would be successful with it.
Adam nods."Mason is always the first one to greet a newcomer."
"Will we get there in time?" I ask, hoping that we will be able to join everyone else and see the new person seconds after they arrive.
"Let's run there, otherwise we will miss it," Adam tells me, then takes off running. I dash forward, following him away from the armory.
After two minutes of running and jogging, we finally arrive at the hall where the new person will emerge from the Arrival Door-which is what everyone calls the door that I came through to enter the Network. Adam informed me of its true name during our short journey here.
Outside the Arrival Door, there is a crowd of boys standing behind Mason. Mason is only a few feet away from the door, standing tall with his arms crossed. The alarm is still ringing, but the person still hasn't even arrived.
A taller boy moves into my path, blocking my view of the Arrival Door. Multiple other taller boys shove and bump into people, including me, so they could get a better look at the Arrival Door. After a few seconds, I hear the Arrival Door begin to open. The murmuring of teenagers start to grow louder as the door opens wider, and then it's chaotic.
Mostly everyone starts rushing forward, suddenly excited about whoever just entered the Network. I can hear Mason giving commands, and ordering people to keep their distance.
"Everyone, calm down!" I hear Mason yell. As the excited teenagers start backing away, Ricky's familiar voice shouts something.
"I call dibs, just to let you all know!" Ricky shouts, happily.
"Ricky, it's Danny! Why is everyone so excited all of a sudden?!" I yell over the noise of the crowd, hoping that Ricky heard me.
"Long brown hair, boobs, and beautiful!" Ricky shouts back, having either heard my question or responding to someone else's."Guys, clear a path for Danny!"
Few people even grant Ricky's request. Adam sighs and pulls out his pistol, then fires it into the air.
"Clear a path!" Adam demands. The crowd starts running away from the Arrival Door, allowing me to see why everyone was overly excited.
The new person is a girl. She's about sixteen years old with long brown hair, and is highly beautiful. Her skin is olive-toned. Like everyone else, she is dressed in brown shorts and a white shirt. Her shorts are shorter than ours, though. The girl's shorts end mid-thigh.
"My name is Lucy," the girl says to Mason, replying to something he said."Please, don't let any of those guys rape me."
"I call dibs," Ricky says to me, referring to Lucy.
Lucy notices me, then stares into my eyes. My heart beat quickens, and I suddenly feel attracted to her. I don't know what kind of attraction, though. I want to hug her, but I'm not sure why.
"Mason, can I talk to you in private?" I ask Mason once I walk up to him. He nods and we walk into an unoccupied cell.
"What's the problem?" he asks me. I take a deep breath, thinking about which question I should ask first. Before I ask him if I can kill Adam, I want to know something else that has been on my mind.
"Ricky told me the story about West," I begin."You all used a catapult to send West beyond the walls outside the Network. Yet, you claim that there isn't any known escape from the Network. Clearly, we can all use the catapult to launch ourselves away from this prison."
"Sorry I haven't told you sooner," Mason says, apologizing."But telling you wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't change the fact that whatever is beyond those walls, is vicious and got West. Escaping by use of the catapult, would mean certain death. You and Adam are Inspectors, people who are supposed to search those tunnels for a way to journey underground. I'm just hoping that it would lead to a safe place, or something!"
Mason holds his head, frustrated. Escape is possible for us, but that would result in everyone dying. Mason takes a seat on the bed, huffing.
"Should we tell the girl?" he asks me. I think about Lucy, the girl who just arrived in the Network."You know, should we tell the girl about everything that's going on? Including everything we didn't tell you when you first arrived?"
"We need a community meeting," Adam says, joining our conversation and stepping into the cell."With the first girl being brought here, we need to discuss some things. Everyone needs to be brought up to speed with our history, and we should vote on who wants to escape by using the catapult. Maybe I can even take Danny and Lucy to the tunnels with me."
I find myself agreeing with Adam. Maybe we can explore the tunnels with Lucy's help, and find a exit from the Network. If we do find a exit, then we don't have to use the catapult to send everyone beyond the walls.
"What do you think, Danny?" Mason asks me, wanting to see what my choice is."Should we have a community meeting?"
I nod, then say, "Definitely."
YOU ARE READING
The Network Inspector
Science FictionA teenage boy wakes up in a building unfamiliar to him. His memory is gone, and he finds himself trapped with ninety-eight other teenage boys. None of them know their way out of the prison-like building known as the Network, but all of that will cha...
