Infinite | Chosen Series book one ❄️

12

When I wake up, the first sound I hear is the blood throbbing through my veins. It sounds like waterfalls rushing through my ears. It begins to slow, and then I can't hear it at all; only my shallow breathing. I don't want to move, I just want to stay where I am until I can fully comprehend what's happening. Wait. Where am I?

I open my eyes to see if my surroundings will help me remember. I see my knees. I look to the side. I see glass. Then the fog on my mind lifts, and everything comes back. I'm sitting on the bottom of my chamber with my knees to my chest. A while ago, I was sitting here thinking I was dying. I'm not dying, that much is clear. I stand up, using the rounded glass sides of the chamber for support.

I'm fortunate that the top of the chamber is lit up, or else finding the small section in the door that I need to press in order to get out would be nearly impossible. Once I do open the door and step outside, I immediately notice that some of the chambers are gone. A few others are walking around looking just as confused as I am. I suppose maybe this is their way of showing whether or not we were eliminated. Before I have the chance to look for my friends chambers, a guard asks us to follow one of them while the others check on the people who haven't woken up yet. My stomach twists with anxiety, but I do as they say and follow, silently telling myself that everyone is fine.

It's easy to tell that I was among the first to wake up, because there isn't more than thirty people walking with me. Either that or I was wrong about the chambers thing and a lot more people have been eliminated than I thought. We reach an auditorium and the guard stops, beckoning us inside.

We wait for a while, and then slowly more people start coming in. Everyone looks like they just woke up from a nap, which I suppose they kind of did. When Jen runs in, I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Everyone else I know soon follows after her, putting me at ease. I focus on the stage again, just in time for the beginning of the speech.

"Ninety three of you aren't here with us now. That means that ninety three of you did not improve, and therefore were not compatible." He pauses to take a breath, turning his face away from the microphone slightly. "We have released a chemical to your brain which stimulates your cells to work faster and more effectively. That is why you were put to sleep in your chambers. The people who weren't compatible, were the people whom the chemical wouldn't work on, leaving them at a huge disadvantage to the rest of you. So you see, the elimination was fair."

I shift my weight from one leg to the other. Ninety three people... Is that really fair? With enough determination maybe they could still have won. Though I suppose I'm no scientist, and really know nothing in comparison.

"Stage one will begin the day after tomorrow. We're giving you a day to relax while you let this information process." The man smiles warmly, as if one day off is the best and most generous gift he could give us. A moment later Alex joins him onstage. He is always around.

"What if we fail stage one?" Someone asks, her voice sounding like a whisper from where I stand. "Will we still have the brain stimulants or do they wear off?"

"If you fail, we can't use you anymore and you'll be deactivated," Alex says coldly.

Deactivated... right, because that doesn't make the whole thing seem terrifying at all...

* * * * * *

You know how you can never really tell the exact moment when you've woken up? It's like, you're  not sleeping anymore, just laying in your bed until you decide to open your eyes, but you never really know when you actually woke up. We say that once were fully awake and look at the time, well that's the time we woke up. It isn't, but no one can really know when they switch from asleep to that partially awake but not fully functional state. As I lay in my bed this morning, that is all I can think about.