The Mantis Effect

Chapter Three

  We had been standing for sixteen hours and forty-three minutes. We hadn't moved and it was dark. The air was damp and cold. Some of the other recruits began to moan and complain. Some of them even began to sway. It was a test of endurance. I couldn't cross my legs any more than I had. My bladder was to the point of bursting.

"I'm going to explode," Rodriguez groaned quietly.

"Me too," I said.

More hours than I could count passed and some of the recruits had passed out from exhaustion. Of the twenty of us that came here only sixteen of us had remained standing so far. Recruits started dropping to their knees by the hour. It was everything I could do to keep my eyes from closing. Every now and again Rodriguez and I would check on one another, making sure each was still standing and awake.

My stomach growled and curdled; I could feel it ringing itself out for whatever nutrients it could. I was hungry, so hungry.

It had become light again but not bright enough to blind me awake. I was nodding off. When I heard Hap's voice.

"Hey wake up kids," he said.

Rodriguez and I blinked our eyes to come to. He stood before us with his soft smile. He looked at our fellow recruits.

"Your friends aren't long for this program," he said.

"We might not be either", Rodriguez murmured.

Our stomachs curdled loudly. A terrible pain came ripping through my insides and I nearly crumpled to my knees. The hunger couldn't be staved off anymore, it was starting to eat at me...literally. Hap took out two bread rolls from his uniform and pressed them into our hands. He was secretive about it and told us to hurry up and eat them. We scarfed them down quickly nearly choking on each bight.

I looked over and saw Ward standing away at a distance. She stared at me just watching. Her arms were crossed and once I had swallowed the roll she was done paying attention to me.

"You two stay awake. Me and Ward are bettin' on ya'," he said kindly.

He quickly made his way back to Ward and they left.

"We have to stay up, Mei," Rodriguez said.

We fought our urge to crumble onto the floor by asking each other little questions. It was a way to pass the time and before we knew it it was night again, at least it was dark. Nine more recruits had gone down to their knees. I wanted to too. I was tired. I was hungry. My bladder was still exploding and there was no holding it any more. My legs were stiff and tired and Rodriguez had stopped talking. I felt my knees trembling, the tendons behind them quivered and were ready to give.

I resented myself for being tired and feeling as though I couldn't muster the energy to fight for what I wanted. I wanted to be an Elite, an Olympian, but I couldn't stay awake. I was a few blinks away until I'd be on the floor too. I wanted to cry and just at the last second as my knees were giving out and I began to free fall forward I felt two finger tips push against my chest folding me up. I couldn't open my eyes to see who it was.

"Thirty hours, sufficient," Ward said.

"Only a hand full of them are left," Hap said.

"They smell like pee," another soldier groaned.

Was it over? I felt myself being slung over a shoulder. Was that Ward? She was strong. Her little shoulder was bony and dug into my gut but I didn't have the wherewithal to complain, I was just thankful I didn't have to stand any more.