Escape - Stray Kids || completed

Prologue

"Remember the results of this test are important. If you fail you can not retake the test" the teacher says plugging everyone's headsets into the main computer.

One girl a few seats next to me bursts into tears and the guards came to take her away.

"No, please! Forgive her don't take her away! Please!" Her twin brother pleaded only to be taken away as well.

They will both surely die. There is no other punishment for those who skip the test.

What is the test? To be honest we don't know until we have done it. We only know two things. If you pass you are sorted into a career category depending on the speed of electrical impulses in your brain during the test. If you fail you're killed.

Extreme overpopulation and a dying world have left us with little choice. The dome which covers our city is a boundary protecting us from the world. Nobody knows what's out there but the government tell us it's famine and disease as far as the eye can see.

A few years ago a family from the lower class tried to escape. The electric boundary showed no signs of breaking and the car which they had rammed into it exploded killing them all.

Disobeying the government is seen as a suicide mission there is no worse fate for any citizens of District 8. That's the name of our city.

In school, we are taught that there was once 50 great districts however they have all slowly been taken over by the drifters. The drifters are infected humans who take cannibalistic methods of survival along with the ability to appear healthy despite being infected.

The test not only tests our intelligence and our mental ability they also check our susceptibility to the disease and its various forms.

Looking around the room some people are nervous but most are emotionless. Most people in District 8 have become emotionless machines. There isn't any joy in living apart from the fact that we survive. There is a noticeable difference between living and surviving. Here, we just survive.

The teacher begins to talk of the outcomes of the test. We all know these rules off by heart as we fear failure. Most of us don't care about disappointing ourselves we worry about our families.

Every year there are mass suicides across the city, of parents who have lost their child. Having more than two children (expect twins if they are born after the first) is not allowed here. The only light here is family so we have to keep them close.

Most marriages here are also arranged by the government. They pair you up with someone of a similar social status and intelligence ranking. By doing this they hope that through natural selection in a few generations time only the best of the best will remain within the city.

"I wish you all the best" the teacher says walking over to the light switch.

I hastily put my interactive gloves on and wait for the teachers signal.

"Please put your headgear on as the test is beginning in 10
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The lights turned off and the headset turned on.