Red-F 4510. That was her name. She stood on a brilliant green lawn, surrounded by her neighbors and family. It was Selecting Day. By order of law, once a year, everyone gathered on the front lawn of the Alussia palace to go through medical and acade...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The girl and I walked, hand in hand, towards the building. I wondered whether we would be taking our academic tests first, or our medical tests. The girls palms were slick with sweat. Or was that me? I could hear her shallow, rapid breathing. "What's your ID?" she asked. "Red-F 4510. What's yours?" "Red-F 4578. You can just call me Twig though." I glanced down at the girl next to me. She was pretty skinny. That's probably why she was called Twig. "Why don't you go by your ID?" I inquired, tilting my head slightly. Twig smiled at me. "I like Twig better. Saying my whole ID would take too long." I smiled and released her hand, wiping my sweaty palm on the side of my dress. Twig did the same and glanced at the building nervously. "What do you think they'll do to us?" she asked. I shrugged. We contemplated the cold white building for a moment, and then entered with the other Red Divisions. A woman in a tight white dress approached us all and ordered us into a line, gesturing with her clipboard. We formed a line facing her, and she began walking down the line; comparing our faces to the pictures and ID's on her clipboard to ensure that all of us were present. Twig was still gripping my hand tightly. The woman looked approached us and frowned down at our hands. I met her eyes and she gave me a tight smile.
The woman walked back around to face us all. "Now, when your name is called, you will be shown to a waiting room. You will stay there until a nurse or doctor comes to administer your test. The test will take ten minutes. After that, you go back to the waiting room and be escorted back to the truck. Are there any questions?" The room was silent. A few people shifted uncomfortably, the same question on all of our minds; when can we go home? The woman looked at her clipboard. "Red-M 4729," A boy stepped forward and was led down a hallway by a guard in padded armor. The rest of us sat down in chairs around the room and waited anxiously for our name to be called. An hour later, Twig and I were the only ones left waiting to take our test. We still clutched each other's hand, finding some small comfort in the fact that we were in this together. Twig sniffed loudly and rubbed at her nose. "What's wrong?" I asked. She shook her head. "I don't know. My nose is a bit runny. Its probably all the dust in this place. It looks like they only clean this place for the Selecting Day." I smiled. "You're probably right. I think this one is for the Red Division only, so they would only need to use it once a year." Twig nodded and we lapsed back into an anxiety-ridden silence. "Red-F 4510." I stood up and let go of Twig's hand, smoothing out my dress. Before I could walk away, Twig jumped up and clutched my arm, right underneath my armband. "Hey, um...good luck 4510." I smiled, and squeezed her hand. "You too Twig." She gave me a tense smile and sat back down. A guard walked up and gestured for me to follow him down the hallway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I walked into the waiting room and the guard gently shut the door behind me. I sat down and squeezed the arms of the chair, wishing Twig was here with me. Its strange how close you can become to someone in so little time. I don't know anything about Twig, except that she's in the Red Division, like me. I don't even remember her ID. But the moment I held her hand, we connected. It was probably because of how nervous we both were. I guess we all felt a sort of kinship today; after all, we're all in the same boat. And we're all afraid of disappearing today. The scariest part about it is that no one knows why people disappear, or what the tests are for. I sat in the waiting room for awhile, lost in thought. "Red-f 4510?" I looked up at the smiling doctor who had appeared in the doorway. "Are you ready to take your test?" I shook my head, "Not really." The doctor chuckled, "Don't worry, you'll do fine." I followed him down the hallway, looking around absentmindedly. Every door and hallway we went through looked exactly the same. I wondered how the doctor was able to remember where we were going. Finally, he stopped in front of a door that had a sheet with my ID and other information taped to the window. The doctor held open the door and I stepped inside. There was nothing in the room except a large white chair and a small side table containing a needle and some other insignificant instruments. My eyes were drawn to the needle almost immediately. I've had a severe fear of needles ever since I was little. The doctor gently took my arm and sat me down in the chair. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes; trying to control my anxiety. "Alright..." the doctor muttered. I opened my eyes and watched while he gathered some instruments and began going through normal procedures, such as taking my temperature, checking my vitals, etc. And then he picked up the needle and began drawing fluid out of the vial. My heart was pounding inside my chest, and I couldn't help but wonder if my doctor could hear it as well as I could. He started strapping the tourniquet onto my arm and paused before picking up the needle. "You have a fear of needles?" I nodded sheepishly. He smiled. "Me too, actually. Don't worry, I'll make it quick." I gave him a half smile as he injected the fluid into my veins. Two minutes later, I was back in the waiting room, ready to be escorted back into the truck and taken to the next testing facility. I sighed in relief and sunk back into the plush chair. One test down, one more to go. Suddenly a scream ripped the air. "No! No! There's nothing wrong with me! Please! Help me!" I jumped up and started sprinting down the hallways, following the sound of Twig's screams. I skid to a halt when I saw her. Two of the armored guards I had seen earlier were trying to carry her down the hallway, while she kicked and clawed them. Her hair was disheveled and her nose was streaming. I stood, panting, unsure what to do. Twig saw and started screaming louder, "Help me! Please, help me!" I ran towards her and jumped on the back of the guard carrying her, ripping off his helmet and slamming his head into the wall. The other guard pulled me off and they dragged us down opposite hallways. I only realized I was still screaming for Twig when we got outside the building and the guard released me. "What's going to happen to her?!" I screamed at him, "What's going to happen to Twig?!" the guard grabbed me and shoved me into the van, still yelling about Twig. Another Red Division grabbed my arm and gently forced me onto the seat. I was panting heavily, and tears were streaming down my cheeks. "What happened?" one of them whispered. I shook my head, "I...I don't know. She didn't pass her test." They looked around at each other, fear showing in their eyes. The reality that what happened to Twig could happen to any of us hit us all at the same time. The van fell silent as we all tried to register what happened. Only one question was on my mind now. What would happen to me?
