Chaos 76 [COMPLETE]

Chapter 9

Jack P.O.V

I woke up in a cold room that smelled like bleach. I seemed to be laying on the bottom of a rickety bunk bed. Where was I? The only thing I could remember was when Madalyn kissed me.

I sat up in a start when my memory creeped back into my mind. My eyes shot around the room trying to gather information. Groups of teenagers, all boys as far as I could tell, huddled in groups talking earnestly. One of them, a tall guy who looked about 25 years old, jogged up to my bedside.

"Good morning Jack." He said with a smile. He had dark messy hair tousled over his forehead and a splash of freckles across his tan face. He seemed tough, like he was ready to beat someone up at a moment's notice.

I shook the dizziness out of my head. "Where's Madalyn?! And Alex? Are they okay?" I wasn't sure why I was asking. Why would he know anything? I guess I was too worried about them to put aside my questions for later. "Please tell me they're okay!"

He shrugged. "I'm guessing they are some friends of yours?"

I nodded earnestly.

"Well, given the fact that they're not here, I would have to say they're doing a lot better than you."

"Oh...well, that's good I guess..." My mind started to wake up more. "Wait, how did you know my name?"

He smirked and pointed at my wrist. "Maybe because your bracelet says it?"

I looked down at a plastic band around my wrist and noticed the words "Jack Taylor Level E" inscripted on it.

The guy held out his wrist to reveal a similar wristband. "I'm Anderson."

"Well, um, nice to meet you, Anderson. So you said that my friends are in better shape than I am. Why do you say that? What am I in for? And where exactly am I?"

He chuckled. "I can't tell you how you got here, but I can tell you where you are. Unfortunately, you are in Chaos 76's boot camp for future recruiters. Welcome to the club."

I looked around and noticed the variation of people around us. I remembered on the news when they showed average civilians being taken off the street and dragged away by recruiters. Now I knew where they ended up, and I was now one of them. The idea freaked me out. I was genuinely scared for my life. I didn't want to suffer, but I couldn't think about myself at a time like this! No, I needed to stay focused. I needed to get out of here and make sure Madalyn was safely escorted to the safehouses. It didn't matter what I had to go through...as long as she was okay. I knew that Alex would take good care of her, but I worried about them. If they didn't make it to safety because they were caught up trying to rescue me, I would never forgive myself.

"Why don't you come with me?" Anderson suggested. "Let me introduce you to the rest of us."

I followed him to the corner of the giant room to where a group of boys were standing. No, wait, there was a girl too. She broke through the huddle and raced towards us. I found it strange that they would allow a girl to stay here. I had thought that only guys were taken to be recruiters, and their female loved ones were used only for leverage. That's why I worried about me being here, because if I refused to join, they would somehow find Madalyn and threaten her life.

"Hey, uh, it's almost top of the hour." The girl looked frantic, glancing cautiously at the corners of the room. I followed her gaze and noticed small, almost invisible, security cameras perched in between the walls.

Anderson clenched his jaw. "Okay, sorry, I'll help hide you in just a second." He motioned to me. "Oh, and this is Jack, he got here last night."

"Hi, I'm Maven." She shook my hand. I looked at her wrist and noticed she wasn't wearing a bracelet like the rest of us.

Anderson put his arm around her. "She's my little sister."

His comment surprised me because they looked like complete opposites. Maven had long, dark blonde hair that fell in loose, messy waves down her back. She wasn't intimidating like her brother. She looked like she would rather make some pottery or write love songs than beat someone up. The two of them, however, did have one feature that was strikingly similar. They both had a set of cold gray eyes that looked like steel in the fluorescent lighting.

"How come you need to hide?" I asked. "And what's so important about the top of the hour?"

"Long story, but basically, she doesn't exist." Anderson shrugged. "At least that's what the government thinks...they didn't have record of her before this, so she snuck along with us. At the top of each hour the recruiters come in and take about a dozen of us to be incorporated into their army, but we hide her each time so they don't know she's here."

Maven gasped. "Uh, Anderson! It's 1:56! Should I ask Trevor for help instead?"

"No! No, don't do that." He said it sternly, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was concerned with her question concerning this 'Trevor' guy. "Sorry, Jack, for the interruption. This is kind of important." He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. I wasn't sure what to do so I followed them.

I almost had to run to keep up with them. I followed them into a short corridor that led to another room that was almost identical to the one we were just in. Even more people filled this room.

"Maven!" A voice shouted from behind me.

I turned to see a lanky boy with floppy brown hair and thick glasses. He looked like the common geeky type, the kind of boy that London would've went crazy for. I could almost hear her cooing in my ear saying "Aw! He's so cute!" It made me miss her even more. Maybe I would find her here...?

The boy pushed past me to where Anderson and Maven were standing. "I was looking all over for you guys, it's almost two." He put his hand on Maven's shoulder. She looked up at him and blushed. Oh, I get it now. He was the little sister's boyfriend that the big brother didn't approve of.

Anderson bit his lip. "Yeah, we know."

"You have to hide her quick..."

"No duh, Doctor Who." Anderson spat.

The lanky boy looked extremely offended by that comment.

"And we were just on our way, Trevor, so no need to worry!" I could almost hear the bitterness in his voice. The boy, who I now knew as Trevor, backed away as Anderson put his arm around Maven and surged forward. I watched as Anderson ripped a board off the wall revealing a cubby hole behind the studs. Maven climbed in and looked at me with scared grey eyes as Anderson sealed her inside. And not a moment too soon. He had just finished when three commanders walked in. They nonchalantly began to call off names from a list.

"Jonathan Hill, the Dockers boys," He took a moment to glare at two blond haired young men with mischief in their ice blue eyes. "Timothy Greg, Trevor Dudley, and-"

He was cut short by a muffled scream. I watched as Maven kicked through the wall and jumped out of her hiding place with a wild look in her eyes. She rushed to Trevor and threw her arms around him.

"NO! I won't let you take him!" She screamed.

The commander stared at her.

Then a thin smile crossed his pale lips.

"Well, look at that! I think we have a volunteer to become a recruiter."

Trevor stepped forward. "I thought only men could be Recruiters, Won't she die?"

"That's the idea." The commander said looking at his list. "Only there seems to be a problem, if we take her, That's Thirteen people..." He muttered a curse under his breath.

Then a young man stepped forward. He looked like a recruiter. He murmured something to the Commander. He nodded.

"I see, you have permission?" The commander asked.

The young man nodded.

"Alright then. The Docker boys and Trevor will stay here. Instead we will take Willem Doth, the girl and Jack Taylor..."