The Selected

Chapter Five

Cole is the one to wake me, gently shaking my shoulder and murmuring my name. I moan, half heartedly slapping his hand away from my shoulder until I open my eyes. He is kneeling next to me, looking utterly exhausted, his eyes holding a trace of fear deep within. He has strange looking eyes, I notice. They are brown but dotted with golden specks, and the intensity of his stare seems powerful enough to suck out my soul.

Then I remember where I am, and his eyes lose their beauty in an instant. Nothing is beautiful anymore.

“Come on, they’ll be in here soon. We need to be ready.” Cole says softly, and I sigh. He helps me to sit up and I wince from the aching in my muscles.

Tilly is staring blankly at the ceiling of our room, still in the bean bag, seeming lost in thought. I really look at her now, seeing her properly now that my head is clearer. She looks almost like a pixie, her face sharp and her body built for speed and nothing more. She has a nose that looks a little too long for her face, a chin a little too pointy, but that doesn’t make her unattractive. Her skin is lovely, a pale bronze colour, and after her shower it now looks smooth and clear. I also notice that her hair is chopped short, barely reaching her shoulders. It’s uneven, but it adds to the sharpness of her face.

DJ is pacing. His hands in his pockets and his face twisted in a state of anger, he puts me on edge. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth before the door. I can see faint drops of sweat working their way down his neck, dampening his hair. I wonder how long I have been asleep.

“How long have I been out?” I ask, standing.

“Over two hours.” Cole answers, but pauses. “You were dreaming about something bad, though.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever dream about good things again.” I say, rubbing my eyes. I had been dreaming, reliving the Line Up with different outcomes. I was shot, it was my blood spilt on the ground. Jake had laughed when I went down, and then he shot my screaming parents. I shiver.

“I know the feeling.” says Tilly from where she sits. She scowls at the ceiling. “Can’t believe we are living in here, like it’s some kind of holiday dorm. It makes me sick.”

“Just wait until training.” DJ says. “That will be far from a holiday experience.” I see that he has his hands in his pockets as he paces, and I remember my pebble. Slipping my hand in my own pocket, I clench it in my fist and silently sigh.

Then I say “Can you stop pacing? You’re making me nervous.”

“This is my way of calming down.” he snaps, but he does stop pacing.

We are all silent for a while, absorbing the reality that we are in. The carpet it white with brown fragments in it, and I am suddenly fascinated by it. It’s better than thinking about what awaits us. 

“My friend died in that Line Up.” Tilly says quietly after a few minutes. “She thought she’d get through. She thought she’d make it, and they killed her.”

“My girlfriend died in mine.” JD retorts, and I can hear the faint break in his voice. We look at him, and I finally notice that he has tears in his eyes that refuse to fall.

“I’m sorry.” I murmur. He nods. I think about what Segments they came from. There are many Segments, all scattered, but a few stay abandoned. My Segment was from the North, so of course there are the East, South and West Segments, as well as a few more. One I know of is the Rocky Segment, where the ground is never even and is surrounded by rocky cliffs. I know nothing about the others.

As if reading my mind, Cole says “What Segments are you from?”

“I’m from one of three Forest Segments.” Tilly says.