Authors: Eloise Dyson
‘Hey, Kayra! This is Jed,’ Nina announces proudly when she sees me.
I look at the boy she’s with: brown hair with small, round glasses. He’s several inches shorter than her and is flushed from the training, and most likely also from Nina’s overly-friendly attitude. I vaguely recognise him, as we’ve practically grown up together, and I know that he’s not her type at all... not that she has a type, really.
‘Nice to meet you, Jed,’ I say politely. ‘Nina, we have to go. Zach’s waiting for us at the cafe.’
She reluctantly leaves Jed, and hugs him enthusiastically before walking with me.
We both walk through the courtyard and into the dining hall. There are six long metal tables that stretch across the room. Almost everyone from training is here now, already eating breakfast. I find Zach on the third table from the entrance, eating toast.
‘Nina’s getting my food now,’ I say to him.
He looks towards Nina and shouts across the room at her.
‘Nina! There’s a guy behind you. He’s totally into you!’ he calls, gleefully watching the reaction.
Nina turns towards the boy stood behind her in the queue. He’s the same height as her, with a brown hat loosely on his head. Even from this distance, I can see Nina getting closer to him and I hiss at Zach to stop doing this as I’ll never get my food now.
‘You can’t argue that it’s what she does best,’ he says, laughing at the situation he’s caused.
The boy is now flirting and moving closer to her.
‘Flirting with guys?’ I ask, now also laughing at Nina’s obvious hard decision to remain in the moving queue, or stay with this boy. She leaves him, and remains in the queue, earning a little more respect for that.
‘You can talk,’ he says.
Me?! I never flirt!
‘What are you trying to suggest?’ I ask, faking an angry tone.
‘You flirt
all
the time!’ he smirks, laughing at me even more.
‘I do not! It’s a complete waste of time!’ I protest, trying not to laugh even more.
‘Oh I see how it is!’ Zach says, the smile dramatically leaving his face. ‘All us boys are to you are slightly more challenging punch bags?’
‘Got it in one!’ I laugh.
‘I have to say that I agree with you then, we’re no good for any other purpose... unless you count complete hotness. We are rather attractive if I do say so myself. With yours truly naturally being the superior one in this attractiveness hierarchy.’
I laugh harder than ever, unable to know if Zach genuinely believes his theory or not. He shakes his head once I compose myself.
‘What?’ I ask him.
‘You are just one really strange girl,’ he replies.
‘How am I? I’m no different to the rest of the girls here. I eat, sleep, fight, and learn, just like a robot!’ I say. ‘Anyway, if anyone around here is strange, it’s Nina!’
As if on cue, Nina throws a bowl of cereal and a muffin down in front of me, beaming.
‘You’ll never guess what just happened to me!’ she says.
Zach and I both look at each other, laughing, and say in perfect synchronisation: ‘He’s not your type.’
‘Anyway,’ Zach says irritably. ‘You’re different!’
‘Who’s different? What did I miss?’ asks Nina, eating her toast as quickly as possible.
‘Kayra is! I don’t know why she is, she just is,’ Zach muses. ‘And you didn’t miss too much, only five lessons, a lecture, two meals and Chief Matthews’ ballet demonstration.’
None of them knows about my mother’s plan. I don’t either, really. But if he’s noticed that I’m different, that’s never a good thing.
‘Very funny. I meant what have I missed while fetching your food?’ Nina asks, rolling her eyes.
‘Zach and I were just discussing your flirting habits,’ I explain to her.
‘Yeah! How come you never flirt with me?’ Zach asks, faking an upset mood.
‘Because I’m leaving you alone, so Kayra can have you. She’s my best friend! I’ve got to leave her one decent guy who isn’t under my love spell!’
She sounds like she’s joking, but she’s not! She really thinks she’s doing me a favour and that I should appreciate this. Almost every guy here likes her. She’s attractive and can be really funny, and she’s already got together with over half of the boys here in the past seven years, and the majority of the rest want to be with her.
‘Well you can flirt with him all you like,’ I say, disgusted. ‘You know how I feel about relationships.’
‘No arguments there!’ Zach chimes in.
‘You love your books more than you do real people!’ groans Nina.
It’s true. I have more books than I care to admit. I don’t have the time to read them all, but that doesn’t stop me searching for some more every time I get free time to explore the Compound. People once lived here, before Unity had to evacuate it. There are many shops here that we’re often allowed to visit, all of which filled with amazing things, books included. Nina always finds me boring and goes to buy newer clothes, but I spend all the allocated time and money browsing and buying books. Nina hates reading, and even watching films, and that’s the craziest thing about her!
I walk behind Nina as we gather in the very centre of the Compound. The morning sun is now visible above the wall, brightening the town centre and waking up those who are still half looking like zombies.
‘Look!’ Nina says, glancing over her shoulder at me and pointing to a group of buildings in the distance.
Just visible is a long queue of people walking; another one of the Compound sections. Various other people in our section also spot them, and a low buzz of excited conversation fills the air. The queue gradually moves forward until they’re all hidden behind what I figure is a large warehouse. The excitement dies down as quickly as it came, and the attention turns towards the middle again.
For several minutes, nothing happens, and no one official seems to be around. While this isn’t uncommon, an inspection usually has several Unity members keeping control. Suddenly, all the screens on the sides of the buildings flicker on to reveal the Unity emblem. For a few seconds, the emblem glows white on the screen, before fading to reveal Victor Thorne, Unity’s leader, stood behind a microphone and smiling at us all. His image displays power. His dark eyes surveying us, he takes a step towards the microphone to everyone’s applause.
‘My people!’ he shouts, the applause getting more intense.
I join in the clapping, with a little less enthusiasm as everyone else. He is a strong leader, and he
has
saved us, but there’s something about him that I don’t trust. The reason why he’s saved us has always been kept a secret, and as big a celebrity as he is to everyone here, I can’t help but not love him the same way everyone else does.
‘My family!’ Thorne says, to everyone’s cheering.
I can tell by the sound of the crowd that it isn’t only us seeing this. All over the Compound, he is speaking live to us all. Cheers can also be faintly heard in the distance, almost hidden by our own.
‘Today marks the fifteenth anniversary of a people born from the destruction,’ he continues, the applause dying down. ‘A people united as one. Equal in every way! But this unity cannot just happen. It had to be fought for. It had to rise up and be created from the people! You are all here, saved by Unity, to be united as our people. You, the future of our people!’
The applause begins again, and Thorne raises a hand to quieten everyone.
‘We have a people who are strong! A nation! A unity between leadership and community. People who put others over themselves! A bond forged by time, a force stronger than any physical power! In a mere fifteen years, we have progressed farther than anyone could have dreamed. We have discovered the true power of our title, and become united as one!’
The applause explodes, becoming almost deafening. Thorne yet again calms the crowd, though this time it takes him longer.
‘But!’ he cries. ‘We must never forget the horrors that we escaped.’
The crowd suddenly becomes silent, and Thorne no longer shouts, but talks in almost a whisper; the years of agony and compassion pouring out in his words.
‘The people who we could not save. The people who died in the terror around us. We must never forget. I propose now, a minute long silence in memory of those we loved. Of the family we lost.’
Thorne drops his head, his eyes staring somewhere off-screen. As I close my eyes, the flashbacks begin again. I see the black car, my sister, and sense all the fear around me. Opening my eyes with a start, I see everyone else around me still in silence, and force my eyes closed again. Then a memory returns, one that I have never known. It could be a memory, or just an absurd thought in this time of memorial. But in this moment, I feel my mother’s warmth as she’s holding me to her. And very briefly, the face of a much older man who I recognise as the man who holds my sister in my nightmare. But the memory vanishes as quickly as it came, and I’m left with only the distorted memory of a memory.
‘They shall be remembered,’ Thorne says quietly, causing a brief murmur in the crowd. ‘Now we must get down to business.’
His tone quickly changes from one of gentle mourning, to that of leadership.
‘This year’s inspection is going to be very different to the ones you’re used to. As always, you will be inspected individually on each of the core skills you’ve learnt and then ranked out of the number of people in your Unit. The change this year being that the skills you excel in will, as of today, be your primary focus. No longer will you train in your general situations over a broad spectrum. You will retain the broad array of skills you have learnt, but instead, you shall receive expert, specialised training in your greatest qualities. You will train under the guidance of professionals of your skill. But we are moving into a new era of your training! A new day for Unity! I wish the best of luck to you all.’
There is no applause as the screens turn off, and the buildings return to their usual appearance. Confused muttering starts, slowly getting louder as everyone begins discussing what this new training involves.
‘What do you think?’ Nina asks me wearily. ‘I get the feeling life is going to be a little bit different now.’
‘You don’t say?!’ I laugh, also quite wearily.
Many officials step out in unison from the buildings surrounding us. One speaks loudly over everyone.
‘When your watch vibrates, proceed to the building number it instructs you.’
As he says this, large red numbers, ranging from one to twenty, are projected on the buildings the Unity soldiers stand in front of. I look down at my watch, which currently only shows the time. Straight away, people start disbanding and heading towards the buildings.
I stand for several minutes before Nina shows me her watch, glowing green with a large number six.
‘Good luck!’ I say encouragingly, smiling at her.
She returns the smile confidently, before winking and walking to building six. I watch her as the Unity soldier directs her inside and I lose sight of her.
Less than a minute passes before my watch vibrates. My heart beating faster than usual, I look to see the number nineteen glowing, covering up the time. I step out of the thinning crowd and walk up to the soldier at the door. He smiles as I approach him, and gives me an encouraging wink.
‘Room three. Your inspector is Lieutenan
t
Fawcett.’
‘Thank you,’ I say, passing him as I enter the long hallway.
All of the numbered metal doors in the corridor are familiar from the previous inspections, and I hear various noises from behind them as I walk to room three. The door is open and tall man in dark training gear stands at the opposite end of the room with his back to me.
‘Close the door,’ he instructs.
His voice is deep and unfriendly, so I brace myself for an unenjoyable experience as I press my hand to the panel. At my touch, the heavy door closes itself with a dull thud. The room is empty, besides the large, polished lift at the far end that will take us to further floors during the inspection. The inspector turns to face me. As predicted, he looks to be in his early twenties and is heavily built.
‘I am Lieutenant Fawcett,’ he declares. ‘I am your inspector this morning. I will be evaluating you closely, based on the skills you show. Every move you make will be recorded and you shall be ranked. I see you currently rank eighth in your Unit, but know that may change drastically today depending on your displayed performance. Is that clear?’
‘I know how inspections work,’ I say sarcastically.
He steps forward briskly, towering over me.
‘Everything you say is recorded also. Any other comments?’
I stay silent, and hold his stare. He glares at me briefly, before striding towards the lift. I follow him into it, and as I step inside, the door closes and we are taken up one floor. The door opens to reveal a bearded man wielding what appears to be a dark coloured, almost rusty sword. Greatly inferior to the ones we train with.