A Game of Deceit

Chapter 1: The Compound

I groaned as the obnoxiously loud ringing of my alarm pulled me out of my sleep. I lazily flopped my arm over, turning the alarm off, before sitting up, taking my time as I got out of bed. I proceeded to make my way to the bathroom attached to my room, splashing water from the sink onto my face to fully wake myself up. I then picked up my pace, quickly brushing my teeth and running my fingers through my short, jet black hair to remove any tangles. Once finished, I went back to my room, changing into one of my many green t-shirts and a pair of athletic shorts. I then pulled on my sneakers before exiting my room, pulling the heavy, metal door shut behind me.

The hallway was chilly, which it often was due to its underground location, with concrete walls that seemed to go on forever, only to be broken by doors to various rooms and other hallways branching off from this one. I walked down the hall, the sound of my footsteps echoing off of the walls. Soon I could hear the bustle of the cafeteria: jumbled voices, the clanking of silverware, the scraping of metal chairs on the concrete floor. As soon as I entered the cafeteria I veered for the right, grabbing a gray, metal tray before heading to the line of others waiting for food. I waited as the cafeteria workers placed food on my plate: canned fruit floating in a thick, sugary syrup, some dried meat, and a glass of water.

Without a second thought I headed straight to my usual spot where I always ate with the rest of my team. Everyone was already waiting for me, leaving an empty chair between Asher and Andy for me to sit. I smiled at them as I sat, glancing around the table. Scarlett was sitting on Andy's other side, followed by Mason, who had his arm draped around Scarlett's shoulders. Last was Grayson, sitting between Mason and Asher, who was in the middle of telling everyone a new joke, which was common with Grayson. Everyone laughed as Grayson finished the joke before turning back to their trays.

Our table was fairly silent as everyone ate their breakfast, with Scarlett and Mason conversing quietly, and Grayson entertaining Andy and I with more jokes. Asher, as always, stayed silent, focusing only on his tray. I devoured my breakfast quickly to catch up with everyone else, standing to return my tray to the kitchen along with everyone else. As soon as we all returned our trays, Mason turned and began leading the way as we followed our morning routine. Scarlett followed closely behind Mason as we all walked down one of the concrete hallways. Grayson, Andy, and I followed behind, all laughing together, and Asher trailed behind us as he always did.

Mason led us until we reached the locker room just outside of the training simulator. Our squad always started our days with a session in the training simulator with a couple of the other teams in the Compound, usually followed by a trip to the gym for further training. The training was our way of staying fit while in the Compound, the outside world deemed too dangerous for us after the last war. After training, we joined the rest of the Compound's teenagers for classes, taught by the adults in the Compound, including my parents, who all created the Compound to save our families upon the start of the war.

When we entered the large locker room, the other three squads who trained with us were already waiting, along with Nova, who ran the training simulations. Nova was around 29 years old, one of the youngest adults in the Compound, with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and curly, black hair cut into a bob like every other girl living in the Compound.

As soon as the door closed behind us, Nova stepped into the center of the room and we gathered around her, each squad leader stepping up in front of their team. The four leaders each wore black shirts, which set them apart from the rest of us whose shirt colors matched the assigned color of our team. The team I was a part of was labelled the Green Squad, leaving everyone on my team, with the exception of Mason, in forest green shirts. The other three teams gathered in the room wore yellow, blue, and violet.

"Alright everyone, let's get moving," Nova started. "Today, we have Green and Yellow taking on Violet and Blue. Suit up! The simulation begins in ten minutes."

With that, everyone immediately found their locker, removing their training suits. The suits were made with a light material that was easy to slip on over our current attire, and were colored to match our squad, just as all of our possessions were. The light weight material that our suits were made of made them easy to move around in and advantageous for hand-to-hand combat, but they were made with a special fiber that allowed the armor to lock if a button located between the shoulder blades was pressed. During simulations, the goal was to activate this armor lock on the enemy team members through hand-to-hand combat, leaving the enemy team disabled.

Once I was in my suit, I joined everyone else back in the center of the room where Nova was waiting. As soon as we had all gathered, Nova began giving us orders. The locker room had two small hallways that led down each side of the simulation room, an entrance at each end for access to both sides of the room. She immediately sent the opposing teams down the hall located at the left end of the locker room, and my team down the hall at the right.

"You all know the drill," she said before we headed our separate ways. "When the light above the door turns green, the simulation is ready and you are free to enter. Best of luck to both teams."

Mason and Jade, the leader of Yellow Squad, took their places directly in front of the door, heading up the charge. We all waited patiently for the red light above the door to turn green. Upon doing so, the door was immediately opened, and as soon as we stepped inside, the simulation began.

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I know this first chapter is kind of rough, but please bear with me. I am super excited for this story and can't wait to share it with you. Chapter two is coming very soon.

That said, any thoughts so far? I'll take any constructive criticism you guys have, just leave me a comment. I'm hoping to keep as much of this book open for your input as I can while still keeping a general plot line for my writing to follow.

Please vote and comment if you liked it. :)

Have a wonderful day,

Lone_Wolff