The Testing

by Joelle Charbonneau

  But learning of Dreu’s connection to Ranetta also makes me feel more optimistic. If Dreu is with Ranetta in the rebel camp, Zeen may be able to track him down. The common tie to Five Lakes could help Zeen convince Dreu of the true nature of the rebellion. He could be enlisted to help Zeen in removing Symon. If that doesn’t happen, then it will be up to Stacia, Raffe, Tomas, and me to finish what we will soon start.

  “Has anyone noticed Kerrick is missing?” I ask Tomas.

  “No, and I doubt they will until tomorrow at the earliest. Kerrick and Marin were together most of the time they weren’t in class. The people in our residence won’t be concerned if they don’t notice him around. We just have to hope the other University members of the rebellion don’t start looking for him.”

  The sky rumbles. Several more students approach the library and look at us as they hurry past. The rain will be here soon. “We might want to move this conversation,” Raffe says. “Especially since it looks like we’re drawing notice from one of your friends inside.”

  I look toward the library and see Will’s curious face peering out.

  “I want to get back to my residence anyway,” Tomas says. “I have some things I need to take care of before this project starts.”

  The wind whips strands of my hair free from the tie I have fastened it back with as we start toward the residences. Raffe must understand that Tomas and I need a moment alone, because he walks more slowly until we are twenty feet ahead.

  Quietly, I ask, “Are you okay?”

  “Sure.” The lie is obvious, maybe just because I was there today and I’m not okay, either. Although, I’m not sure that I should be. That either of us should be. Focusing on the future has helped me build a wall between my thoughts and my feeling about what has happened. But at some point, I know that wall will break. When it does, who knows if I will ever be okay again.

  “Remember what you told me,” I say. “We’re going to get through this together.” My fingertips brush his.

  Tomas goes still. After several long moments, the tension goes out of his shoulders. When he nods it is accompanied by the dimpled smile that never fails to tug at my heart. “Together.” His fingers close over mine for a few seconds before he walks away.

  I watch him as he approaches his residence, and feel Raffe come to stand beside me as Tomas disappears through the front door.

  “Is he okay?”

  “Today was rough,” I say.

  “It’s going to get rougher.” The sky rumbles. “Do you think he’s going to be able to handle it?”

  “Tomas won’t let us down.” No matter the cost.

  Despite the threat of rain, Raffe decides we should continue on our “walk” for a while longer. In case anyone is monitoring our movements, it should look as though we got interrupted by Stacia and Tomas and now are able to spend time together as we intended. What we really are doing is looking for the best way to get off campus without being noticed.

  We spend the next hour walking along the north and east sides of the University grounds as the rain-filled clouds grow closer and the sky darkens to black. To the west and south are rips in the earth caused by the Sixth Stage of War. Too wide even at their narrowest points to cross, they provide a natural barrier.

  A Safety official stands under an illuminated solar lamp outside The Testing Center. It’s hard to tell if there are any officials in the shadows in between that building and the next ones we pass, but we spot another not far from the stadium and three between the stadium and the Tosu Administration building on the far northeast side. The officials must assume the eight-foot-high black iron fence will keep students from leaving, because we don’t see any sign of them along that side of campus until we reach the southeast corner, where four officials stand on the road under the iron archway that marks the entrance to the University.

  “We’ll have to go over the fence,” Raffe says as the first raindrops hit. “The grove of trees that we passed not far from the Tosu Administration building will provide enough cover for us to get over without being seen.”

  “Yes, but we won’t be able to take our bikes.” It will be hard enough to reach all the people on the president’s list without also having to travel on foot. I wrap my arms around myself and pick up my pace as a drop of rain lands on my forehead. “Maybe we can lure some of the officials away from their posts.”

  “A distraction might get them to leave their posts long enough for us to get by, but it won’t take them long to figure out they were duped. The minute they do, they’ll be after us. How long do you think we’ll last out in the open city streets? We’re going to need a place to hide at least for a few hours until the initial search dies down.”

  “I’m pretty sure I found one. Remember the street I asked you about yesterday?” The drops begin to fall harder as we race up the path toward the residence. A streak of lightning illuminates the horizon as we step inside.

  “Well, that was just about perfect timing,” Raffe says, wiping the rain off his nose.

  “Perfect for what?” I ask, tucking a damp piece of hair behind my ear.

  “For having dodged the deluge.” He laughs as he shakes the water from his hair like Scotty Rollison’s dogs do back home. “I guess I’ll think of an umbrella next time.”

  “If there is a next time.” The sound of Will’s voice makes us both turn. “Enzo and I were wondering where the two of you went. He wanted to talk to you about the History assignment you got today. He just went to grab a book from his room. He’s going to meet me back in the common room.”

  “If you see him before I do, let him know I’m going to change into something dry,” I say with a deliberate look at Raffe. “I’ll be downstairs in a few minutes.” I head down the hall. Behind me I hear Raffe say that he’s going to change clothes, too. He’s right behind me as I start climbing the steps.

  A loud bang echoes in the building. My foot misses a step as the source of the sound slams home. Not thunder. An explosion. I regain my footing and run up the stairs, not caring about the pain that streaks through my leg.

  I hear shouts. Doors slam as students who were in their rooms come out to see what has happened. I hit the third-floor landing. Raffe is still right behind me. The smell of smoke and sulfur is heavy in the air. Raffe yells for everyone to go downstairs until someone checks to make sure everything is safe. That this must have been caused by the storm. A dozen girls exit their rooms and hurry down the stairs. A few cast glances at me as I disregard Raffe’s suggestion and race down the hall.

  Smoke rises from the crack at the bottom of my door. The small piece of paper I used to warn me of another’s entrance lies on the floor. The lock is engaged, and I fumble with the key until it slides home and the knob turns. Smoke pours into the hallway. I cough as I step into the room. Through the smoke, I spot the outline of someone writhing on the floor of my bedroom as his clothing is eaten by flames.

  I drop my bag onto the floor and hurry to see if I can help Griffin. Because it has to be him. He’s the one who has been following me. Who hates me. Who was enlisted by Professor Holt to find a reason to remove me from this school. I yank blankets off my bed and throw them on top of the whimpering form to smother the flames and realize the body beneath the covers is too small to belong to Griffin. And the voice that screams for help . . .

  I pull the blanket away and see dark hair that has been burned away at the front of the scalp. A hand blistered by the explosion reaches out to me as I look into eyes glazed with pain and whisper, “Enzo.”

  Chapter 12

  CONFUSION. SORROW. ANGUISH. Tears fill my eyes as I run to the bathroom and douse a towel in water. Enzo broke into my room. He went through my things and failed the test that was intended for Raffe. After our Induction experience and the way he tried to protect me after Damone’s death, I don’t understand how this could be. Placing the cool, wet fabric on his angry, red-looking arms, I want to ask why, but the pain on his face and the way his body begins to shake make that
question fade. All I want to do is stop the pain. To turn back time so I can dismantle my test before Enzo can find it.

  “Cia.” His voice is barely audible through clenched teeth. “I’m sorry. I thought . . . Stacia said . . .” He coughs, takes a shallow breath.

  Stacia. Did she think I was taking too long to make a choice? Did she decide this should be Enzo’s test, or is this her way of drawing attention to me so that my plan to help the president—our plan to end The Testing—will fail?

  “It’s going to be okay,” I say, because he needs to hear the words and I want to believe them. But it isn’t. Because here he is, burned. Maybe dying.

  I dig through my bag for the ointment I have been using on my leg. It won’t be enough to heal these kinds of wounds, but it might make them more bearable. Once I find the small tube, I have no idea where to begin. There are red blotchy patches on his face, arms, and hands. Other burns can be seen through the holes singed into his shirt and pants. There is a charred black area on his cheek that looks as if the skin has been seared beyond repair, and the tissue around his eyes has already begun to swell, making his eyes look small and incredibly vulnerable. The bomb I built did what it was designed to do. Stacia drove Enzo here, but I am to blame for this.

  A pulsing, high-pitched sound makes me jump. Someone has activated the residence’s emergency siren.

  “Cia, help is coming.” A hand digs into my shoulder and shakes me. “Cia. Do you hear me?”

  I look up through my tears to see Raffe’s face looking down. “I’ve put out the rest of the flames and have told everyone coming up the stairs to go outside, but that siren means officials are going to arrive soon. They’re going to come here to your rooms and see what’s happened. Do you understand what this means?”

  “It means they’ll help Enzo.” I feel a moment’s relief and then realize that I’m wrong. Raffe isn’t telling me that Enzo will get medical attention. His words are a warning. University officials will be here soon. They will ask questions about what happened and why I created a device that caused this kind of injury. Enzo broke into my room, but I am the one who will pay the price if I don’t leave.

  “I have to go,” I say.

  It takes two tries to rise to my feet. Raffe moves to help me but I shake off his hands. I walk to my wardrobe, grab my extra boots and another change of clothes to add to the one already in my bag. I pull my jacket on to protect me from the rain. Then I look around rooms that still contain a haze of smoke. Books. Papers. Writing utensils. Many items have been burned, but some were untouched by the flames. They are what have defined me and my goals for most of my life. There is no way to carry more than the paper and pencils I already have stored in my bag, and even if I could, I will have no use for anything else now. Today I am being forced to leave behind the books and the knowledge they contain. From now on, I must have faith that I have learned the lessons I need to take the next step.

  “What happened in here?” Ian yells from the doorway.

  I have no answer to give, but I’m thankful Raffe does. Over the shrill siren he yells back, “Enzo broke into Cia’s room. He must have been trying to set some kind of trap. It backfired. We figured it would be best if we got out of the way. Right, Cia?”

  Ian looks to where Enzo lies shaking on the floor. Then back at me. For a moment he seems conflicted. Then he slides his hand into his coat pocket. When he removes it, a gun is wrapped in his hand.

  Enzo moans on the floor. Officials must be arriving now. My time to flee is running out. I need Ian to let me go.

  “I know you’re one of the rebels,” I say. “The one Michal told me would keep me safe.”

  “Michal would understand. The rebellion has to come first.”

  “Michal can’t understand, because he’s dead,” I scream. I think about the listening device behind the wardrobe and lower my voice as much as I can while still allowing myself to be heard. With the emergency sirens blaring and officials on their way, I doubt anyone is listening to what is happening in here now, but I don’t want to reveal more to those who are spying on me than I have to. Lightning flashes in the window. “Symon killed him when Michal gave him proof the president could use to end The Testing. I know, because I was there.”

  “I was, too,” says Raffe, standing next to me. His hands are clenched at his sides. I know he is waiting for the right moment to strike. Ian doesn’t know it, but he is now in as much danger as we are in from him.

  The gun in Ian’s hand shifts downward as he looks from the open door behind him back at me. “That’s not possible. Symon—”

  “Symon is working with Dr. Barnes,” I say. “He’s not trying to stop The Testing. He’s working to make sure the people who want to stop it are controlled and then killed. I’m trying to make sure that doesn’t happen. If you want The Testing to end you have to let me go.”

  Voices can be heard over the din of the sirens. Coming up the stairs or down the hall. The time I have to escape is ticking down. If I don’t leave now, The Testing might never end. My brother could die and everything I have done will have been for nothing.

  I see Raffe put his hand into the side pocket of his bag and nod at me. I shift my feet and prepare for flight, but before Raffe can attack, Ian yells, “Cough.”

  Raffe stops and looks at me.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Start coughing. Both of you.” Ian shoves his gun back into his pocket and takes two steps toward me. “I need you to trust me or you won’t make it out of here.” He leans down and puts one hand around my back and the other behind my knees. Before I know what he intends, he sweeps me and my bag into his arms and hurries toward the door, yelling, “It’s going to be okay, Cia. Come on, Raffe. We have to get her out of here. She can’t breathe with all this smoke.”

  I go limp, close my eyes, and start to cough. Raffe coughs, too, as Ian carries me away from the smoke. From Enzo. From the damage I have helped cause.

  “What happened up here?”

  I force myself not to react at the sound of Professor Holt’s voice and wait for Ian to stop moving. But he doesn’t. He just yells, “Enzo set off some kind of explosive in Cia’s room. I need to get her away from the smoke.”

  Raffe’s coughing tells me he is still behind us when Ian starts down the stairs. More than once someone bumps into us as they go to help Enzo. I keep my eyes shut tight as the chatter of voices grows as loud as the shrieking sirens. Students yell above the screech of the alarm to find out if anyone knows what is happening. Ian screams for people to get out of the way. Before I know it, I feel moist air on my face.

  “She’s fine,” Ian yells. To whom, I’m not sure. The change in his words makes me stop coughing. “She got overwhelmed by the heat and the panic downstairs. But Professor Holt asked me to tell the rest of you to come upstairs. Someone’s burned really bad.”

  I open my eyes as two officials head into the building, leaving Raffe, Ian, and me alone outside the residence.

  “We have to leave,” I say as Ian sets me on the wet ground. “Now.”

  “I think I can buy you five minutes,” Ian says. “After that, there’s nothing I can do.”

  “You can’t stay here. There’s a listening device planted behind the wardrobe in my room. Whoever put it there will know I told you about Dr. Barnes and Symon.” Even if they didn’t hear the rest, that will be enough to put Ian in harm’s way.

  Ian looks back at the residence, then shakes his head. “If someone was listening, I’ll just have to find a way to talk myself out of trouble. I’m not leaving. If you’re right, the students who follow Symon are in danger. I can’t go without letting them know.” Ian puts his hand on the door. “I’ll stall the officials but it won’t be for long. You have to hurry.”

  He doesn’t have to tell me twice. I run as rain again starts to pour out of the sky. Raffe reaches the vehicle shed first. He grabs my bike from the rack and wheels it out to me.

  “What about yours?” I ask.

  “Tw
o of us will have a harder time leaving campus without being seen. You’ll have a better chance avoiding notice if you’re by yourself.”

  “What will you tell Professor Holt? She knows you were with me.”

  “I’ll come up with something. Don’t worry. I’ll meet up with you tomorrow. I promise.”

  I unfasten my bag and pull a hand-held pulse radio from inside. “Make sure this stays dry. You should be able to contact me with it.”

  Then I put the strap of my bag over my head and climb onto my bike as the rain pounds down.

  “Wait.” Raffe puts a hand on my arm. “You should take off your bracelet. Otherwise they’ll be able to track you. I can plant it in one of the University buildings so they’ll think you’re hiding here on campus.”

  That’s a good idea. But as I look down at the bracelet on my wrist and the symbol that was meant to signify who I am now and the future I was to have, I shake my head. “I can’t get rid of it yet. There’s something I have to do first. Remember the building we talked about. If I can get off campus, that’s where you’ll find me. It’s time to act.”

  My feet bear down on the pedals. Rain pelts my face and soaks my clothes as my bike picks up speed. Over the bridge. Onto the walkway. Away from the sirens that still cut into the night. Through the rain, I think I see running lights of skimmers approaching in the distance, so I steer my bike onto the grass, away from the street lamps and into the shadows. Although I am not sure I can truly be safe ever again.

  The wet ground slows my progress, but soon I spot the fence that marks the right side of campus. There I get off my bike and wheel it toward the arching entrance to see if Safety officials are still keeping watch there. I shield my eyes from the rain and peer into the darkness. When I see no one, I pick up a rock and throw it as hard as I can onto the roadway. It cracks against the pavement and then skitters across the ground until it comes to a stop. If anyone had been standing guard, they would have come to investigate. Enzo has inadvertently caused the diversion Raffe and I had discussed.