How We Survive

Chapter 1

"Aminat Everett" said a bored voice.
Mina's eyes opened a little, but her vision was very blurry.
"Ms. Everett, wake up, please." the voice said.
Mina blinked a few times. Her head was foggy too, but at least her vision cleared. She was in a room she'd never been in before. There were LED lights. They didn't have those in Sector 5B. That was when her head cleared and she put two and two together. Foggy head, LED lights, unknown voice...her heart sank. She'd been taken for the Trials. She hadn't gotten to say good-bye to her boyfriend Dom or to her friends, her parents....Not even her siblings.
"You've been taken for the Trials as you've probably realized by now." the voice said.
Mina turned to look for the source of the voice. She saw that there was a man beside her bed in an all black gear-type suit composed of a long sleeve shirt that was tight on his muscular arms and chest and long pants that were also form-fitting, showing off well-muscled legs. On the inside of his left wrist was a red mark like a tattoo. It was the mark of captaincy in the Ministry's army. The mark was a lion's head over a pair of crossed spears. On his forearm, just before the captaincy mark was the Ministry's six pointed star which was two arrowheads that overlapped partway. On either side of the star were an eagle and an anchor.
"I'm Captain Jason Sterling. You will refer to me as Captain Sterling or just Captain. Welcome to the Ministry's Contestant barracks." He put air quotes around the word barracks. She quickly understood why. The room was too nice to be considered part of a barracks that any normal person would imagine. The bed was soft and covered with linen sheets, a small, dark colored rug trailed the space between the bed and the door. LED rope lights outlined the ceiling with a bluish white glow.
She looked directly at the Captain now. He had a hard face that still managed to keep a friendly look to it along with stormy gray eyes under long dark lashes and neatly done eyebrows. His hair was cut short with the front combed back from his face.
"I'm aware it is a lot to take in, coming from Sector 5B." the Captain said softly, clasping his hands behind his back.
"Which Sector were you from?" Aminat asked nervously. She'd heard that sometimes the soldiers that take on the Trial victims will beat on them for a variety of reasons. She didn't want to be one of those victims.
The Captain's gentle lips twitched upward slightly for a brief moment. "Sector 8C."
He was from one of the farming sectors. A slightly harder life than Mina's, in the textile sector.
"You're going to train me?" Mina asked him.
Captain Sterling nodded. "I won't treat you like some of my comrades will treat their trainees. I won't hit you unless we're sparring. I'll try to be gentle with you, but I can't baby you. I don't like to be assigned to females because I hate to hit them, but if you don't take hits now, you won't do well in the Trials."

Mina sat up, keeping her eyes lowered as she swung her legs over the edge of the soft bed. A moderate wave of wooziness crashed over her head, making her sway a little from side to side. The Captain rested his gloved hands on her shoulders to steady her. "I'll give you a moment to prepare yourself mentally. I have to take you to the hygienists today for screenings and cleansing."
Mina looked up at him noting that the warmth appeared to have left the Captain's gray eyes.

The Captain remained quiet while Mina worked up the nerve to stand despite the weight in her head. Once she made it to her feet, Mina glanced briefly at the Captain who took a quick couple of strides toward her. "Do not make any aggressive maneuvers with anyone. If you do, they will taze, handcuff you and place a shock collar around your neck." he said quietly.
Mina nodded, unwilling to question the Captain's kindness thus far.
The Captain nodded once, jerking his head toward his left shoulder to suggest she come around him to be taken to the hygienists. Mina moved to stand just to the side of the Captain so he could open the door for her before she stepped in front of him.

Captain Sterling placed a form hand on her left shoulder as they walked down the dimly lit hall. Nothing decorated those walls outside of the green of the lights along the ceilings and the metal doors on either side of them. Sterling's boots thunked softly on the marble floors while Mina's bare feet barely made tapping sounds, growing colder with each step. She wondered what she should do with her hands. It was an incessant itch to her nerves as she walked with the strange weight of the Captain's hand on her shoulder all down that long, silent hallway. She brought her hands up snugly to her chest, scraping her nails under other nails - for what - she didn't know. There was no dirt. She worked with needles and thread and looms, computers and printers. Sectors 8A-C dealt with the animals and insects that produced their materials.