I inhale sharply as I look around me. As if I didn’t have enough confusion and chaos to deal with what with the being Chosen and little notes from the TSB and the memory I hadn’t realized I’d lost. And now I am being suffocated by heavy blobs of cold wet whiteness. I think it’s water. Oh dear, I hope it’s water. Snow! That’s what it’s called. I had heard about this in school before. Unfortunately, I missed the winter survival lecture. I am pretty sure getting covered in the snow is bad though, because when you are wet and cold that’s bad, and snow is basically water.
In the time I’ve taken to analyze the weather, Ellie has coerced Lucas into giving her his jacket, Ethan has started a fight with Lucas over him giving the jacket away, Ember has marched over to the woods with Logan and Genevieve trailing behind her, and Chris and Claire have begun discussing their stay-warm strategy as they too start towards the woods. How long exactly did I spend thinking about the snow? It seems like everyone else snapped into action the moment the first flake hit their skin, and I just stood here like an idiot.
“The snow is getting heavier.” A soft voice startles me from a few feet away. I had forgotten about Kevin completely. “They must be able to control the conditions from a different room.” I nod. Kevin has barely moved since entering the room, I realize. All he has done was button up his jacket, which he might have done before we got here. He just stands quietly and stares up at what appears to be an artificial sky, shivering slightly.
“Kevin, Sabi, get over here! We’re trying to start a fire.” Logan calls to us from the trees.
We walk quickly down the hill to the others standing on the edge of the woods. Logan and Genevieve seem as dumbstruck as I am, but Logan is trying to hide it by socializing. Ethan and Lucas are arguing quietly, Lucas doing the bulk of the shivering. Ellie and Ember are doing the actual fire-building, ripping at snow-covered pine branches and rubbing sticks together. Chris and Claire walk towards the rest of us, and I wonder where they had been a few seconds ago. They both look very serious and Chris’ mischievous smile is gone.
“It’s gonna take too long that way.” Chris says. “You need a flint or a lighter or some matches or something.” We all stare at him for a moment.
“Does anyone have anything? Check your pockets! Sabi, didn’t Luis give you that jacket? Maybe he left something in it.” Claire practically shouts her commands, no longer the pretty, possessive girlfriend.
The others look at me curiously as they shove their hands in their coat pockets, but Ember doesn’t stop ripping apart pine branches. I am about to announce “Nothing” like the rest of them when I feel two small boxes in an inside pocket. One is a pack of cigarettes and another is actually a cigarette lighter. My eyes are wide, holding something so uncommon and probably illegal.
“I found a lighter!” I shout. Ellie runs up to me, but Chris gets there first. “I can take it from here.” I can tell Ellie is annoyed by that, but she just says “Fine” and walks over to give Lucas his jacket back. I furrow my brow and stare at the snow. Ellie uses her beauty to get whatever she needs to survive, but only as long as she really needs it. I can’t decide if that bothers me or not.
It takes a few minutes before they get the fire going, and then we all stand over it, shielding the flames from the snow that will surely stifle it. Kevin was right, the snow is definitely getting worse, falling in larger clumps than before and falling harder than before. Claire twitches as the snowballs pelt her, but Ellie, our other beauty queen, just stands over the fire, ready with twigs and an intense gaze.
Logan lets a few seconds of silence pass before he says “Boy, is the fire hot, or is that just me?” He winks at Genevieve, the only one who smiles at his joke. Ember shakes her head, still busy looking for dry branches a few feet away. Chris offers to take over for her, and Claire looks up at him.
I stare at the rich dark green of the pine trees that is hidden beneath its oppressive coat of white, but my thoughts are interrupted before I can ponder the recent events.
“The hill got steeper.” Kevin says, really only loud enough for Logan and I to hear, and we look over to the hill before staring at each other.
“Yeah,” I say “but why?”
Genevieve notices our conversation. “What’s going on?”
“Kevin noticed that the hill got steeper since we’ve walked into the valley.” Logan explains.
“Well, c’mon, let’s go check it out.” Genevieve grabs my cold hand in hers and pulls me up the hill with her, calling offhandedly to the others as we walk. “We’ll be back in a second, we just want to check something.”
We have just reached the bottom of the hill when the temperature starts rising, so quickly that it makes it difficult to breathe. We stop in shock and look at each other with wide eyes, but then my foot slips on the snow that has started to melt. Not sure what to do, we just scramble up the hill faster, and an actual rainstorm develops instead of the snowstorm from before. The temperature keeps climbing as we do, and I picture Society officials pressing a button that dumps out a giant bucket of water on us. Stumbling, we reach the top of the hill and look down. Kevin is halfway up the hill, with Ellie, Ember, and Logan just below them. Ethan and Chris hang back, standing firmly in the beginnings of flood-waters as they try to help Lucas and Claire climb.
Claire finally finds her footing in the now-muddy hill that seems to be even steeper than before. Suddenly every inch of snow seems to melt and fall from the hill and the trees directly into the valley while the rain keeps on pouring down in sheets. Lucas slips back down into the valley, pulled by the weight of the downhill water. Chris, Ethan, and Lucas look around for something, whether to help them climb or as a flotation device, I’m not sure.
“Go on, sweetie, I’ll be fine!” Chris calls up to Claire, who had paused her climbing and turned to look at him. I don’t know if she believed him, but she kept climbing and met us at the peak less than a minute later.
Ethan and Lucas both look at Chris, who seems to be giving them instruction. Then they all wade off in different directions. The rest of us wait on the hilltop, eager to help but lacking in supplies or advice. Claire and Ellie seem especially nervous. After a few minutes of searching, the water is up to their necks and they have only found one substantial branch. Without much discussion, they hand it to Lucas and then the three of them trudge to the side of the hill, climb up a few feet, and dig their limbs into the mud, anchoring their torsos above the flood-waters.
A minute or two goes by before the rain comes to a sudden stop and the flood drains to a small puddle. The valley empties rapidly, almost like a bathtub, and the force of its draining nearly drags the boys to the middle of the valley. I hear a few sighs around me, and the boys in the valley chuckle with relief. I still feel tense, unwilling to accept that this is really the end to our torture.
And then a voice bellows from some unknown point. It sounds like the lady from before.
“You have all passed your first test. We regret that this test had to be a surprise, but are pleased with your results. Written and practical tests and learning will continue tomorrow, but tonight you will have to stay in this room. Do not worry about any more storms, for you will be completely safe until I announce the next test. We will send supplies shortly. You are only to take the supplies marked with your name. Good luck and good night.”
My breathing quickens. I’m trying to stay calm, but I’m not succeeding. We don’t get to leave?
