Silver Lillies

chapter 2

Chapter 2.

I was in about the middle of the line. Two girls got taken away because they started crying as soon as the thin needle touched their skin that makes only 10 of us left. Once it was my turn I inhaled deeply and held out my arm. The cold metal pierced my skin. I watched as the syringe filled with thick red blood. The lady who was helping the blood tester handed me a small paper towel to soak up blood which trickled from the small puncher. I went to where the rest of the girls waited in a the line. One more girl got "disqualified" before we were all done. "Next you maggots will be facing each other. The rules are simple, the first one on the floor or to call a forfeit loses." I looked around at my possible competition. 8 girls excluding me. The first two to fight were a tough blued haired girl and my partner from before. The tough girl threw the first punch. My partner staggered backwards in surprise. Another punch was thrown. "No! Forfeit! I forfeit!" My partner was taken away by a scarecrow. The general pointed down at me "Maggot 4 vs maggot 1". He pointed at another girl and I saw her face go red from either anger or embarrassment. We didn't dare say anything though.

I stood on the platform facing the girl. She had a steady stance with her fist held up. I took a deep breath then took up my own position. She took a step forward throwing her fist towards my right cheek, I ducked down letting it fly over my head. I moved without thinking and swung my foot around ,kicking her hard on the ankle. She took several steps back but didn't fall. Damn. I quickly stood resuming my starting position. She threw another punch which I blocked. Twisting my hand around her arm I turned, flipping her over my shoulder. She landed with a heavy thud and didn't make and attempt to stand again. I had won.
The other girls went through some intense fights. There were now 4 girls who had won and 1 who didn't have an opponent. After the general and a scarecrow passed whispers back and forth they came to a decision. "Alright maggots, listen up! Maggot 7"- he pointed to the one who hadn't fought yet .-" will get to choose her opponent since there were an even amount of you!" We all turned our heads to look at her. She was a few inches shorter than me and had strawberry blonde hair. " maggot! Choose your opponent now!" She looked around nervously, trying her hardest to look strong."ummm, well, her I guess..." She points directly at me. I sigh and nod to her.

We step up on the "arena" and took up starting positions. Her hands shook slightly but her face remained stern. We stood about a foot away from each other and a foot away from the edge of the small platform. She takes a step forward and swings her right arm at me. I catch her wrist with the opposite hand and bring my right one around to her elbow. I keep my face blank as I apply a bit of pressure to push my hands together, intending to look like I'll break her arm. She takes another step, slamming her left elbow into my cheek. Unable to block the sudden attack I take several steps back, releasing her arm. I tasted blood as she came at me quickly, seeing an opportunity to take me down. "7" lunges at me straight on, fist aimed at my right eye. I tilt my head to the left, dodging, and punch her under the chin while grabbing her out stretched arm with my free hand. I swing her arm over my head flipping her over my shoulder. She landed on the ground with me holding her arm in a twisted position. Without thinking I placed my dirty boot on her face. "STOP! please! You win!" I took a few steps back, surprised by her tone of voice. "Stand down maggot!" The general yelled. "Maggot 7, you lose!"
"Yeah, yeah I know." She said as she stood up and a scarecrow came and escorted her out of the gym. I went and join the rest of the girls in line I caught a few sideways glances as we waited in silence as two scarecrows came and handed the general a clipboard. "Maggot 5 and maggot 1! You are to follow these men with co operation!" I looked to see another girl step forward so I followed her lead. We exited the gym and were lead down several brightly lit hallways before going down a never ending flight of stairs. I followed nervously, one scarecrow walked in front of us while the other followed behind. We came to a dark hallway with clean white walls, florescent lights glowed every 10 steps or so. Doors lined the walls left and right. Then there were the screams. They came from behind the locked doors and made my heart beat quicken, I found myself hyperventilating from fear as the other girl was taken into one of the rooms to the left by the soldier who was leading us. I felt a gentle yet firm shove from the soldier behind me, I had no choice but to keep walking. The screams seemed to echo inside my head. The hallway seemed endless.
We finally walked past an opened door which I was told to go into. Inside was a clean plain, white, room. In the center a bed sized table stood, next to it was a tray with scalpels, syringes, and many more painful looking things. The door closed and I didn't know what to do so I just stood staring wide eyed at a blood stain on the table.

"Subject 1023 lay down on the bench now please?" I turned to see an old scientific looking woman. She had grey hair and was followed by two scarecrows."No I'd like to know what's going on!"