Everything felt numb. From head to toes. Dylan's eyes pried open as he regained consciousness. The memories of the past twenty four hours rushed back into his head. How he had been taken without seeing his parents. "My parents!" Dylan thought, almost saying it out loud with his own mouth, but he didn't want to stand out. He hadn't talked to his parents before he left for school. They'll probably be looking for me by now he thought. God how wrong he was.
He raised himself up and looked around. He saw, according to his own approximation, almost two hundred teenagers. Some anxiously looking around the awkward white room there were in, some still unconscious, some screaming for help. Their voices made him feel really uncomfortable and stressed out. He stood up and looked at his newly bought polo sweater, now dusty and torn. He hadn't known how it got like that but he didn't want to think about it. Before he could look around he heard a voice through a voice machine. The voice of an old woman spread through out the room commanding silence. "Welcome my children"...my children sounded very disturbing to him. " Some of you may be afraid, some of you may even be angry but I assure you what is happening is something to be proud about". "Get us out of here" a boy to my left answered, dark skinned guy. Looked around Dylan's age. "I'm afraid that can't and won't happen" the woman answered "You have been brought here to serve your country. You will be tested both physically as well as mentally. Some of you may make it out and join our ranks...however...some of you... ". Everyone knew what she wanted to say so a murmur went round the room. As soon as she was done, two gate ways owned to the left and right labelled ladies and gentlemen. No one needed to tell them what to do so the girls separated from the boys. He pushed through the crowd to reach and followed them into a tunnel.
Dylan thought why about why these people obeyed them so much. Didn't they want to get out of here? He didn't want to ask any questions till he knew what he was doing here. The woman's message sent a chill down his spine. What did she mean by testing us. The boys route was a narrow hallway with barely any lights. It smelt like sweat and blood. That wasn't a good sign. Another voice shot into the room. " Take off your clothes. A high pressure water system is going to make sure you're disinfected before you settle in". Dylan knew surely enough no one was going to take off their clothes, but as soon as the voice stopped he begun to see boys doing exactly what she said. Dylan looked around seeing things that threw him off. The voice came back, "The boy in blue sweater, take off your clothes before you're forced to do so". Dylan knew the mysterious voice wasn't bluffing, so he pulled off his sweater, then his shirt. He noticed some boys staring at him. Dylan wanted to say something but what was he going to do against a bunch of fa... He didn't want to think about the word. He remembered his mum telling him it was a cruel word. So he pushed it from his mind. That made him start missing his parents.
The water system had done it's job well actually, Arhni thought. She looked around the naked girls still trying to cover the special part of their bodies. Even though it was pointless now. She thought about her mum looking at her through that dusty window crying. Her mum had never cared about her so why did she care now? She was proud of herself when she remembered she saved Esther. At least one of them made it out. Her deep thoughts were interrupted by a parade of female officers swarming the room and commanding them to leave into an open space. Everyone reluctantly obeyed and exited the room there were in.
They arrived in a wide room. And at the end of there room there was a pile of something that looked like white clothing. "Step forward and pick a jumpsuit. You will be given thirty minuted to dress and familiarize for you would be here for a while." The girls that were ashamed ran towards the pile and immediately put on the clothes. It looked like a white jumpsuit. It fitted most of them but others were a bit too big. Arhni's own fitted her perfectly. She looked around the room, no one really wanted to say anything. She saw a girl across the room that looked familiar. Abigail. She was sure it was Abigail. Another girl on Arhni's street. She walked towards her and Abigail already recognized her. They both hugged and began talk. "They took me in my sleep" Abigail said with a touch of sadness in her voice. They weren't really familiar with themselves but when you're in this situation, you need enough friends.
Dylan found the jumpsuit a bit tacky. But he knew no one would really care. He wasn't really friends with anyone so talking wouldn't do him any good. That's why it was surprising when he felt a tap on his shoulder and he saw a small boy staring up at him. The boy looked like he was barely up to ten. "I'm scared" the boy said. Dylan thought why they would bring an under aged boy to this place. He bent down and try to console the boy but he himself was scared so the so called consolation, was for both of them.
