Audacious

Chapter 3: The Test

Kiera POV
"Sector 10 ladies, follow me please." I slowly stand up and take my time, trying to get to the back of the line. I have "people watched" for an hour and then slept for another hour and had only 15 minutes to think! I'm so stupid sometimes! I feel of malice. I swallow with difficulty, my mouth is completely dry and I could really use some cold water right now. The man leads us down an orangey-cream colored hallway that seems like it will never end. We take a left and turn into a hallway with a bunch of tiny little doors on each side. "There are 70 doors here and each one of you are going to walk through one of these mahogany doors to either a young man or woman who will ask you a few questions that you will politely answer. You will tell him/her your desired Sector and she/he will tell you your scored Sector. If they have matched you will be immediately escorted to the Sector transfer room matching your Sector. If your desire and score are different you will have the option of choosing any of the 10 Sectors to join and then immediately moved to the room matched to your Sector to start training. Understood? Good."
I flinch. A young man or woman will ask you a few questions that you will politely answer. What kind of questions? Personal? I feel like something is blocking the passageway to my lungs. After every girl but me is escorted to a room, the man leads me to a room that says "TRN 69". I'm guessing it stands for "Test Room Number 69". We are one girl short. Huh. I shiver, thinking of what could have possibly happened to her. When I push open the creaking door a very slender man with big blue eyes and a brown mustache sits in a leather chair with a computer by his side and a notebook and pen in his hand. I'm guessing he is Sector 9, most Sector 9 men have mustaches.
"Hello, sweetheart. Please. Have a seat." His voice is high and frightening. He does not make this any easier for me. "What is your name, darling?" I stare for a second. I forgot my name...I FORGOT MY NAME! I screech inside of my head. My eyes go wide and I finally say,
"My name is Kiera Stalwart." My hands shake. What's he going to do to me?
"Ahh Kiera. Do you know that Stalwart means 'strong'. You have a very powerful name." Strong? I am not strong. I am a small little girl with a small little name. But as I said earlier, I am good at lying.
"Yes I know. Now may we move on with the test please." I start to loose my patients for this man.
"Ahh, yes. The test. Ok. I'm going to ask you a few questions and-"
"I will answer them politely. I know. Please move on." I have no tolerance for repetition. I shouldn't say that because he didn't know the other man already told me and also, I repeat all the time.
"Ok, I see you have already had this discussion. Question 1 of 4: You are standing in the middle of a war and there is a pistol on a table in front of you. To the side of you, there is a pregnant woman, a young boy and an elderly woman begging for mercy. The remaining victims will be carried to safety by you, but first you must choose. Whom do you shoot?" My mind races. These questions will be harder than I thought. The boy hasn't lived long enough to developed any serious sins yet. The elderly woman had lived the longest and fullest life and will be in a better place. The pregnant woman would be the hardest to get to safety. I think for 2 more minutes and develop an answer.
"I whisper to them to duck when I shoot my gun so that no human being is harmed and all will be carried to safety, no one is left behind." The man looks at me with raised eyebrows and a curious, yet worried expression.
"Well...that's a...umm...different answer," he writes something in his notes and types S9, S1, S6, S5 in his computer. I answered that question 4 different ways? I answered it with peace, intelligence, selflessness and bravery? Well then. "Question 2 of 4: Your best friends very close and fond of her new boyfriend. You start to develop feelings for this person too and they tell you the same. What do you do?" This question was much easier, considering I have no best friend. I answer quickly.
"I tell her the truth about my feelings and her partner's feelings and suggest a talk with him would do some good." He turns and types S5, S6, S8. Is this normal?
"Ok, Question 3 of 4: You find out your parents have lied to you and you are actually adopted, born in a different Sector and your biological parents are dead. What do you do/tell to your adopted parents?" Oh geez. I think for about 5 minutes.
"I tell them that I am upset with their lies. Then I pack my bags and leave on my own. If I cannot trust my 'parents' then there is no one to trust but myself." He looks at me like I committed a crime. S5, S8, S1. Last question.
"Question 4 of 4: You see your sibling and or best friend sneaks out at night and take a stroll into the darkness. You follow them. You watch them get onto a bus heading to Sector 0. What do you do?" I never thought he would bring up Sector 0. Sector 0 used to be part of our Sector group until one day in the year 1586, the leader of Sector 0, a man by the name of Jeffrey Kingston bombed Sector 3, 5, 6 and 8 and then claimed it wasn't him and was accused guilty when footage was found of him commanding soldiers to attack from the sky in jets. 30,586 people died. I freeze. I cannot answer. The thought of Damon working with Sector 0 is a deafening thought. Although I remind myself Sector 0 was completely demolished in 1589 by Sector 7.
"I keep following him and when alone, pull him or her aside and tell them they're the most idiotic human being alive and drag them back on the bus home." Again. He gives me an uncomfortable look. He writes for the last time S5, S8, S3. "So?"
"So what?" I glare at him. "Ok, ok. Someone isn't a Sector 2..."
"Not funny. Tell me now." I shake, shudder, shiver and ect. I'm dying of curiosity.
"First, what was your desired Sector?" Uh oh.
"I don't have one, now tell me."
"I'm sorry ma'am but you have to give me a to put down as desired. If you desire no Sector then either become and Sector 0 resident of the homeless or pick a random one." I think. Ok first one that pops in your head.
"Sector 3."
"Thank you." He types S3 under a column that read 'Desired'. "Ok." He says, cautiously looking at me. "You qualified as Sector 5. What is the Sector you wish to become apart of? Stay with your family in Sector 10, your desired Sector, Sector 3, your qualified Sector, Sector 5. Keep in mind you may choose any other Sector and this test is just to aid you in making up your mind" Sector 5?! What the heck just happened...should I stay here with Mom, Dad and Damon? Should I go to Sector 3? How did I qualify as 5? Oh...I qualified as 5 because I was brave for getting all three of them out of there while in the middle of war, for having the courage to tell the truth, for leaving and going out on my own at the age of 15, and for pulling aside and Sector 0 citizen and dragging them on a bus. He talks and looks at me as if he is hoping more than anything that I do not choose Sector 5. Think. Think. What are you?
"I choose Sector 5."