Dangerous Numbers

1

Thea walked out into the hall as usual, ready to receive dinner. She avoided the stares sent her way for she knew they weren't filled with admiration. Glancing around quickly, she found an empty seat but instantly regretted choosing it due to who was on her right. Trying hard not to punch him, she opened her mouth.

"You're 351, aren't you?" She spoke in a low tone. "Yeah." The boy next to her replied. He fit the look of a crew leader with his dark brown hair and strong hazel eyes. "You took out most of my squad last week. 13 dead targets." She scoffed at the thought of her lost members. "Ah, I'm assuming that you're 364." He said, a smug smirk on his face. She made a grunt of agreement.

"Well, you did the same to mine. 11 dead targets." He spat through gritted teeth, not moving his eyes from the ground. "Well, you know what they say. Payback's a bitch." She retorted with her arms crossed.

"351!" Called the soldier in front of the hall. He stood up and walked past her to the soldier. The man - who was taller and more built than the boy - handed him a packed meal before shooing him into the dining hall. She focused on his retreating back, shooting daggers into them, wishing he could feel it.

Not long after, her own number was called and she stepped forward, once again ignoring the looks from the other trainees. Holding her package in her hand, she walked through the same door the boy had walked into. Settling into a seat, she caught a glimpse of the boy, staring at her two tables down. Returning his stare, she raised an eyebrow in an attempt to make him turn away. Looking as if he was laughing, he averted his eyes back to his meal.

After finishing her food, she waited with a calm façade but on the inside, she was screaming because she knew that Sargent Retner was about to come in. "Alright, when your number is called," said the sargent, "you are to line up outside the rooms of which you are assigned." Thea felt her stomach churn at the thought of being exposed to more experiments.

"252, Mind . . . 276, Breathing . . . 328, Strength . . . 351, Mind . . . 356, Breathing . . . 360, Strength . . . 364, Mind . . ."

Thea never realised how one word could incite so much fear in a person until she was enlisted in this programme. She looked up at 351 and was shocked to see him with fear in his eyes which she was quite sure was present in her own.

351 got up slowly and Thea followed his lead. She felt bile crawl up her throat and she swallowed hard as she approached the door. Out of all three programmes, she hated Mind the most. At first sight, those three words sound so innocent, so easy. However, after the young, innocent Thea stepped through those doors, her first impressions were shattered.

Strength, she remembered, was where they put weights on her body, often breaking her bones, where they hung her from a pole for an hour (and shocked her if she didn't last) and where they cut her up and sewed her back together.

Breathing was where they put her underwater without breathing equipment for long periods of time, where they lowered the oxygen levels to make her feel like she was suffocating and where they filled the air with chemicals strong enough to kill her.

Mind was the worst. It was where they took control of her brain and forced her to do things for them, where they found her worst memories and used them against her, where they triggered unimaginable pain just by tricking her mind.

Thea wished she could just disappear, she couldn't take another session in the Mind, she couldn't keep feeling pain yet she stood in line outside the door, behind 351. As the line kept moving and the screams kept increasing in volume, the pounding in her ears kept getting louder. Then, as though she had willed it, the roof came crashing down, a makeshift ramp created from the debris.

Through the huge hole in the roof, soldiers appeared and started directing people to run, escape. 351 ran forward and Thea, feeling hope, was about to do the same when someone grabbed her from behind. She grabbed his hand and pulled it down towards her stomach hard. As his grip loosened, she bent her arm backwards and elbowed the man's face. He took a few steps back but regained his composure.

Thea reached for her gun, only to find that she didn't have it. Then, looking up slowly, she saw the man raise her gun against her. Quickly, she ran towards him, disarmed him and shot the man. As his body fell limp, she heard the sound of a bullet whizzing past her. She looked up to see another man with blood seeping through a hole in his arm and she whipped around fast to find 351 with a gun in his hand.

"Come on!" He yelled and she followed his orders with haste. They climbed out through the torn roof where soldiers were hurrying them into helicopters. They took their seats as the vehicle's engine came to life. Thea looked around at the others but none of them were as old as Thea was. They were all children.

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