For a moment Alpha feared that his platform was about to fall beneath him. Red must have feared the same as his hand moved from the buzzer to the top of Alpha’s hand, gripping his fingers over his tightly.
The path of the blonde beside them lit up and led them to the only open doorway. They all took off across the path at a jog, and once bustled inside, that door closed behind them too.
“What the hell were you thinking?” the blonde yelled at Alpha, or at least he thought it was the same blonde--several others now stood gawking at him with the exact same face. Not the same stare though, their expressions lacked the sensation, they were merely inquisitive to the exchange. “Well?” she asked, looking from Alpha to Red and back.
“He reached out and I grabbed him. I wasn’t thinking, but I wish I had, we all should have, we could have saved more.”
“What if they decided to recycle you?”
“Then I guess I would be at the bottom of that arena with the others that they deemed unacceptable.”
“She is right, you should have let me drop. If I couldn’t make it through the second phase how am I going to get through the rest.” Red slumped into one of the chairs that sat around the many round tables in the room.
Alpha took the seat beside him as others around the room also sat awaiting sustenance.
“We will get through the phases together,” Alpha said placing his hand on Red’s shoulder. The blonde took a seat beside him, “You don’t know what is coming, none of us do, you can’t make a promise to help next time.”
“I can and I will. These phases are designed to test us, to determine if we are strong enough to win the coming war. Surely working together is something they want of their solders. A rogue solider is less effective than a battalion of subjects all fighting with and for each other, don’t you think?”
“Maybe,” she said as the ceiling snaked with lines and trays descend. “Try not to get yourself recycled trying to save someone else, though.”
He considered her bright blue eyes and he felt an odd sensation in his middle. The tray of food lowered down past his face, breaking his stare, but the sweet smell of the food increased the grumble in his stomach and his mouth watered at the sight before him. He had waited to taste real food. Tube fed his entire existence he had never actually eaten anything. None of them had.
Alpha looked to the other trays around the room, all of them identical. One apple, one sandwich with some sort of jam, a cup of orange juice and a chocolate chip cookie. Alpha took the juice first, wanting to wash away the remaining taste the recycling of the previous subjects had left in his mouth.
The cup beaded with moisture and Alpha watched a droplet run down the Terminus symbol on the side of it before bringing it to his lips for his first taste.
It was cold and tangy, not unpleasant, but the pulp replaced the smoke clinging to the inside of his mouth and he moved his tongue around to dislodge the particles and swallow them too. They all tentatively tasted their food when another prism of monitors descended in the center of the room and the woman reappeared.
“You have one hour to learn about your fellow subjects,” the woman stated in her monotone voice before disappearing yet again.
“Is this the next phase?” Alpha asked, but the screen had already returned to a blanket of static. Alpha shrugged and took a bite from his apple. It crunched under his teeth exactly as he had imagined it would, its sweet tartness coating his tongue and causing him to moan a little in delight. The blonde looked at him blankly as she too took a bite of hers, her eyes closed as she took in the sensation. Small sounds escaped several others, each of them clearly enjoying their first foray into food.
Alpha Nine turned towards the blonde who had pressed the buzzer beside his. At least he thought it was her, he hadn’t looked at her pocket to see her handle before now and several others looked exactly like her.
A silver name glistened on the pocket of her blue combat jacket, she had the zip done up completely to the top and the collar clasped tight. The light was hitting it distorting the words so he couldn’t read her name clearly.
“I’m Alpha Nine, what’s your handle?” he asked her. She looked up no trace of the tears that once glistened in her brilliant blue eyes.
“Bravo Two,” she said in a whisper, the grumble returned in Alpha Nine’s stomach and he took another bite of his sandwich, the soft bread almost melting in his mouth as he chewed.
“I’m Bravo Seven,” the same but much louder voice said from behind him as a second girl looking exactly like Bravo Two stepped around him to sit on his other side.
Alpha Nine stood to address the others.
“I’m Alpha Nine, this is Bravo Two,” he said gesturing to his right. Bravo Two rose to stand beside him. “And Bravo Seven,” he said nodding to his left. “We should start to figure this all out, if we at least know each other’s handles then it may help in what we are still yet to face. We only have an hour.”
“Who made you Captain?" came his own voice from across the room. Alpha Nine scanned the various faces, an alphabet of possible handles, then his eyes fell onto the Alpha stepping through the group.
“I am no Captain,” Alpha Nine told him. “I wanted to get the ball rolling, if you would like to take the floor, be my guest,” Alpha Nine nodded to the pool of subjects then turned and sat down taking another bite from his apple awaiting the other Alpha.
The other Alpha stepped through the crowd of subjects, some still chewing their food, others turning in their seats towards him as he pushed his way towards Alpha Nine’s table.
The other Alpha nudged Bravo Two to the side as he stepped on the chair beside Alpha Nine, and climbed up onto the table.
Alpha Nine craned his neck back to see his handle. The word four gleamed in gold on his breast pocket. “OK, you lot; all Alpha’s over here, all Bravo’s over there, the rest of you find your own kind and group together, we will go from there,” Alpha Four bellowed.
The groups formed quickly. There were ten Alpha’s all looking exactly like Alpha Nine. The most abrasive of the Alpha’s clearly Alpha Four, he counted out the subjects as they introduced themselves. Only five Bravos remained, two Foxtrots, three Tangos, six Zulu’s and four each of November, Victor, Whisky, Juliette, Romeo and India. Only one Kilo remained, Red. He stood all alone across the room from the rest of them.
“Right,” Alpha Four began, “Now you all know what to call each other, lets finish the food so the rest of us can get through to the end of the Trials and defend our world in the war,” he stepped down off the table and returned to his, a few others taking seats at his table.
Alpha Nine saw Red still standing alone and stood up to make his way towards him. Bravo Two took step beside him.
“What are you doing?” she whispered as they walked closer to Kilo.
“This place is bad enough, we don’t know what is still to come, no one should have to face the phases alone,” Alpha said as Bravo Two smiled up at him. It was a brilliant smile much like her eyes, open, bright and inviting. Her lips were soft pink and Alpha Nine’s stomach danced again.
“Hi, I’m Alpha Nine, this is Bravo Two. So, you’re Kilo?” Alpha questioned holding out his hand.
“Yes, Kilo One,” Red replied, taking Alpha’s hand for the third time, this time gently shaking it rather than gripping it for dear life. “The others like me didn’t make it. But you saved me. Now, I must make it for the rest of them” He stood a little taller as the words escaped his lips.
“Great to hear,” Alpha said giving his hand a final shake before letting it go. “Would you like to join us over here; we are going to finish our food and talk for a bit until the next trial begins.”
“Sure.” Kilo walked back to Alpha Nine’s table with them.
Several others were awaiting them, two more of the Bravo’s: Seven and Four. All Tangos, Five, Nine and Twelve. Three of the Zulu and Juliette, and two of each of the others, November, Victor, Whisky, Romeo and India. Those that did not join
Alpha Four mostly sat around the room either talking to one of their own or to no one at all.
Alpha Nine took a seat beside Bravo Two. “I don’t know about any of you but that was intense, I think we should stick together in the next phase, try to help each other through if we can.” Alpha pushed the tray in front of him away.
The group all seemed to sigh in relief at the same time. All of them happy to be a part of Alpha Nine’s team; happy to not be alone.
“They really loaded us up, huh?” Alpha continued looking around the group that had gathered at his table.
“I guess,” Bravo Two said.
“Do you think we all have the same enhancements?” Kilo interrupted. “Do you think we are all as strong, as fast?”
“Not as fast,” Alpha said raising an eyebrow at Kilo. “But we should all have the same memory base, the way the world was, the language, the codes.”
“What codes?” asked Kilo as the screen interrupted his question by buzzing loudly with static before settling on the woman’s face again.
“All subjects are to stand.”
They all did as the tables and chairs disappeared into the floor, the trays returning to the ceiling.
“The following subjects please enter the room to the left.”
A door opened to a blank white room, the same as the pod rooms they had awoken to. She ran off their handles, one by one, all of those from Alpha Nine’s group were told to enter. All of those from Alpha Four's then quickly joined them. The ten or so whom remained in the cafeteria looked back at them all as unsure as Alpha as to what would happen next.
Then the roof of the cafeteria came down swiftly crushing those left behind. The sound of their bones crunching under the force of the ceiling sickened Alpha Nine. Bravo Two gagged beside him.
CHAPTER THREE
“Take a deep breath,” Alpha encouraged as he took her hand. She gripped it tightly as she tried to compose herself.
The woman appeared on a wall monitor behind them. “You have progressed from phase three, phase four will begin momentarily, please stand by.”
Bravo Two released her firm grip of Alpha Nine’s hand, her breathing returning to normal and the colour of her skin reclaimed its pink glow.
A new door opened across the room and the screen lit up again.
“You will have thirty minutes to complete this phase. Enter the maze, find your token and your way out to progress.” She disappeared, the monitor returning to white.
Alpha Nine could still hear the hum of the screen though the snake lines had long gone and the wall appeared blank of any imperfections. Alpha Four pushed past to enter the maze first, his group following him close behind. Alpha Nine then stepped through. They entered a thin hall which led them to a cross section.
“Left, or right?” Bravo Two asked, Alpha Nine taking his place beside her.
“Left, and keep your eyes out for the tokens.”
Alpha Nine’s group followed him through the corridors, the walls widened and Alpha Nine stopped ahead of the group raising his hand to beside his ear, signaling to stop. They all froze in place and watched as ahead of them, one of the Zulu’s reached into the wall and removed what looked like a gold statue. A totem. Alpha Nine couldn’t see it clearly from where he stood.
The passage hummed, and they were powerless to intervene as the floor below the Zulu darkened. Spikes shot up one by one. The first pierced his foot and he leant forwards crying out, but in another breath, a spike pushed through his thigh. Another larger spike ripped his right arm off, the flailing limb fell to the floor as the fatal spike impaled his middle. The force of it straightened Zulu’s body allowing the spike to skewer him up through his chest and out the top of his head. Brain and bone fragments spouted up like a red chunky fountain then rained down over the body. It all happened in but a few breaths.
Almost immediately, the floor opened swallowing him and the spikes, leaving only the red splatter behind. But that too was taken care of. Water shot down the walls as small drains opened at the skirting.
Within fifteen seconds Zulu had found the totem, picked wrong, died and the corridor cleansed of any evidence of it happening at all.
Bravo Two’s fingers dug into Alpha Nine’s hand. Funny, he didn’t remember her taking it. He wriggled his fingers free from her grip and took a step slowly forwards to where the Zulu once stood.
“Alpha Nine, don’t,” Bravo Two called reaching for him.
“It is okay the spikes are gone, let me look first. Stay back in case.” They took a few steps with him but stopped short allowing Alpha Nine to take the last steps on his own.
A hole in the wall only visible when directly in front of it revealed a small stand where the totem once sat. The space above the stand snaked open and a new totem dropped down, a totem that was not for a Zulu. It was a statue of an animal, a fox.
“Foxtrot,” Alpha Nine said moving back from the opening careful not to touch the totem or its surroundings. “Don’t touch the totem, it’s for a Foxtrot, let’s keep moving on to find ours.” They quickly came across another hole in the wall where a totem sat.
“It is a man,” Alpha said, moving so the others could see.
“Could be for a Romeo, or even a Victor,” Bravo Two said.
“Any other ideas?” he asked, the rest of his group.
They agreed both with it being for a Romeo or Victor, but couldn’t decide between the two either.
Kilo stepped forwards. “It is a Bravo totem,” he said flatly.
“How is that a totem for Bravo, and if it is which one is it for?” Alpha questioned before Bravo Two had a chance to voice the same concerns.
“It is a brave solider, see his uniform, his weapon. He is for a Bravo, if you look closely at his sleeve I believe he is for Bravo Four, there are four stripes on his epaulettes and four medals on his chest.”
“Bravo Four come look,” Alpha Nine requested, moving aside so she could take a closer look for herself. The others all stepped back, the death of the Zulu still fresh in their minds. They didn’t want to be collateral damage if Bravo Four decided to pick it up and she picked wrong.
“I’m not sure,” Bravo Four said, looking to Bravo Two for guidance.
“If it were me I would probably take the totem, but maybe Alpha Nine could grab you, pull you back when you take it just in case.” She smiled reassuringly at Alpha Nine.
“If you want to choose the totem, I will do what Bravo Two asks, I will grab you, pull you back as soon as you lift the totem from the stand.”
Everyone stepped back a few meters, both to give Alpha Nine clearance to pull Bravo Four away, and to keep themselves safe. Bravo Four looked back at the group then at the totem.
“I’ll take it on three, then you pull me back,” she anxiously said, not looking back at Alpha Nine.
“One…Two…Three.”
Alpha Nine grabbed her and shot her sideways towards the others. The floor didn’t darken; the walls didn’t hum. The space where the totem once sat lowered into the base, the wall filling in where it once sat. The totem was for Bravo Four.
“Good work Kilo, stay up front with me, we will need your smarts if we are to find the rest of these totems and our way to the exit.”
Kilo’s smile spread across his face, his eyes lifting at the compliment.
They continued along the maze, turning left whenever possible to keep track of where they had been. A sickening smell grew stronger as they made the twist and turns of the maze. Suddenly, Alpha Nine stopped in his tracks, the others almost knocking into him. He looked down at the charred remains of another who had chosen wrong. A moment later the floor opened taking away any trace, except the smell. Putrid, it clung to the air not wanting to retreat.
The totem returned to its place in the wall. It was small and hard to make out without getting close.
Kilo stepped around Alpha Nine.
“I will look,” he said, oddly confident after all he had been through.
“Careful,
” Alpha said moving to stand beside him.
Kilo pushed his face right into the hole in the wall to get a better look at the totem.
“What is it?” Alpha Nine asked, trying to peer over Kilo’s shoulder.
“It is a calendar, there is no month on top, but November is a month, the date circled is the tenth, so probably November Ten’s totem.”
Kilo stepped back proud of himself. November Ten stepped forwards looking to Alpha Nine.
“I will grab you,” he assured her. As the others stepped back.
“Here goes nothing. One…Two…Three,” she called and as she grabbed the totem, Alpha grabbed November Ten away as quickly as he had Bravo Four. Again, the floor didn’t change and the stand the totem sat upon descended, the hole filling in as if it never were.
“Great, so now we know what totems the Bravo’s and November’s should look out for, only twenty-four more to figure out, that,” Alpha Nine laughed as they continued through the maze.
Static sounded out from above them. “Twenty minutes remain,” the woman’s voice called before a spurt of static then silence.
“That first ten minutes went quickly, we should speed this up,” Alpha said to resounding nods.
They picked up their pace and stuck to their plan to turn left with every cross road they could and quickly found Bravo Two and Seven’s, they appeared the same as Bravo Four’s but with differing numbers of medals and stripes.
Kilo found his own totem, Alpha Nine knew it was his before Kilo had ascertained it, which made him oddly happy. Kilo had figured out most of the totems they had passed. Kilo’s was a weight, it had the numbers two point two zero four six and the letters lbs. meaning pounds. The equivalent of one kilogram.
Kilo didn’t ask Alpha to pull him back if he was wrong. His unusual self-confidence was contagious; others begun to be a little too eager to take a totem. Alpha had to physically stop Romeo Four from picking up a totem of a dancing man.
“It is me, its clothing looks like it is from the Victorian time and he is dancing. Romeo danced in the play,” Romeo Four said as Alpha Nine tightened his grip on his arms.
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