Running On The Line

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Aless

We had been watching the entire thing on a big screen above the maze. Our Royals had been cheering whenever Kimberly hit the ground and I felt bad for her. Well... almost. I knew Emy was overreacting but I couldn't stop her. She was so stubborn and it was one of the many reasons I loved her. The maze was one thing, Emy sometimes sent Royals in it because they misbehaved. She had never entered it herself though. So when I saw her at the end of the corridor, I knew it was about to go down. And if you believe that going against Emy is better than going against everyone else, you are so wrong. If you fight the others, you can get their respect and it's a lot easier to beat them. She went against Emy who has been training to fight since she was a kid. And with weapons at her fingertips... it just wasn't a good choice. The minute Kimberly was blocked off from her friends, the cameras shut down and no one could see anything. All we could hear at that moment and the few minutes that led to it was the rolling of giant spike balls (that I had once been almost crushed by) and walls occasionally closing. After a few minutes, Emy had walked out alone. I ran up to her, ignoring the cheers form the Royals. Meg and Mason followed. "Where are they?" I asked her. Emy pointed inside the maze and climbed back up to her throne. I swore. She had left them there?! Were they dead or something?!  Meg pulled Mason and me into the maze after them.

I pulled Meg by the back of her shirt before being crushed by a remaining spike ball that crashed to a stop onto a wall. Mason nodded at me in thanks before leading us in the direction of the corridor. Emy had really gone all out in this maze. I remembered Kay pulling Lana down. I didn't say anything about it and neither did Emy because she was just a kid; she wasn't even going to be a Royal. Kimberly said so. So shoving her to her most probable death was even more inhumane than sending in teenagers. People think we're cruel but we're not, this was the beginning and entrance to our ranks has to be hard. Thinking about it, if Kimberly wanted to become a general she'd have A LOT of tests to pass. If she wanted to be a Royal it would usually be the maze (or fighting) and the Loyalty Test. The ones who passed the Loyalty test the best were Meg and I.

I watched form my screen as the girl who had become like my little sister was grabbed by fake guards. She didn't scream like most people, instead she simply stated "I am not a rebel." It was making me happy. Meg might be young but she had fire. The guard shoved her onto the ground and pressed a boot to her back. That's when I realized she was on train tracks. We had taken her from her dorm (with Mason's consent) but I didn't realize she would be going onto an active train track. "WHO IS YOUR LEADER?!" The 'guard' screamed in her ear. She didn't flinch. "I don't know what you are talking about, sir." She smirked.  He pulled her up by her collar and tied her to the train track. She didn't fight back. In a real life situation, (which she thought this was) fighting back would make her seem guilty. Especially as such a young kid. A fake whistling sound of a train was heard in the distance and she started getting scared. A tear slipped down her cheek and I felt bad. "Ok enough." Mason demanded, pushing through to watch his little sister. I held him back, pushing against his chest. "Hey, stop!" But he kept pushing forward and I didn't know what to do. In a swift motion, I put him in headlock. He pulled against me but I held him back. "She's just a kid!" He screamed. Emy looked away from him and pushed the whistle again. Meg started shaking on the screen as fake train lights hit the scene. "TELL ME WHO THE LEADER IS!" Meg bit her lip. "I don't know! Please! I DON'T KNOW!" Mason fought against me some more. "SHUT UP MASON! I know she's just a kid but she has to do this! It's not real!" He pushed away from me. "I know but she'll be traumatized! Come on end it here!" Emy shook her head no. The train (which was actually just a large metal box moving quickly) came closer fast. "One last time! WHO IS YOUR LEADER?!" Meg glared at him. "I. Don't. Know. What. You. Are. Taking. About." The guard jumped off the track as the metal box 'hit' Meg. Once it passed, we all ran outside to see if she was fine. Most of the time, nothing happened and the person was just lying there in a cavity, unharmed. There were a few mishaps though over the years... When we got up to the train, Meg was lying in a cavity, unharmed and laughing. She smiled and took Emy's hand. "I thought that was real haha good job, boss." Emy grinned and pulled her out of the cavity. She hugged Mason and I grinned. This kid would be an amazing Royal.