In The Shadows

Chapter Eight

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"If she has it, then get rid of her." His voice was a knife, sharp and merciless. It echoed around me, its source unknown.

"No!" My wild voice pierced the still air. Debbie stood a foot away from me, hands tied together around her back. I lunged for her, but my feet were frozen in place.

"Please," I sobbed, my nose on fire from the waterfall of tears.

"It's okay, honey," Debbie nodded, a soft smile growing on her thin lips.

"No. No, it's not. He's going to pay for this. I'm going to kill him for this. I hate him so much, Debbie, please. Please don't leave me. Please," I begged, falling to my knees. My hands were desperate to feel her cool touch again. My heart pushed and pulled, crying out in throat-rattling screams. She was right there, right there.

"If she has it, then get rid of her." His voice rang out again.

I met Debbie's eyes in a silent fear before the gunshot blasted my eardrums.

******

I shot up in a cold sweat at the blast that molded into the pounding of fists from the officers that went up and down the hall, shouting for soldiers to wake up.

"Soldier! Be ready in three minutes for Round Seven placement testing," barked the officer outside my door before quickly moving on to the next one.

I groaned and rubbed my temples, trying to not think about the dream. But it just kept coming back to me. The officer, the one I had met in town, had said, "If she has it, then get rid of her." But what was "it"? What was worth dying over? Was Debbie keeping a secret from us, for all these years? I'd think that we would have known.

I peeled back the sheets from my damp skin and draped my legs over the side of the bed, my bare toes grazing the cool floor. I sucked in another deep breath, trying to slow my panicked pulse.

A steel heart and an irritating smirk. My lips curled up but it felt more like a grimace than a smirk. How was I supposed to do this? How was I supposed to be strong when I was doubting everything I knew? When I was thrown into an entirely new place? New people, new walls, new rules? It seemed so entirely impossible.

"Two minutes!"

I jumped up and crossed over to the closet, which held the training uniform the officer showed me last night. It was black with short boots and little room to breathe.

"One minute!"

I snuck into the shoebox bathroom to splash cool water on my face and scoop my curly hair into a tamable ponytail. Less than a minute later, I was standing outside my door. Other soldiers, mostly around my age, of all shapes and colors, did the same. After a stern look from one of the passing officers, I mirrored them in their stiff postures and trained eyes.

My heart hammered, threatening to rip the fabric covering my chest. Even from my peripheral vision, I couldn't see any of The Misfits, any familiar faces. Anxiety coated my palms with sweat and dried out my throat. I could hear the gunshot from my dream echoing in my eardrums, the order that was given yesterday at home now drowning out the order from the officer right in front of me.

"-placement testing. March."

In one fluid motion, everyone turned and walked down the hallway. We marched in silent synchronization up a couple flights of stairs, down another familiar hallway, and out a pair of double doors. We were robots among emotionless hearts and empty walls. Silence was a close friend aside from the pounding of our boots against the marble floor. I assumed that our individual apartments were underground, seeing as we went up to go outside.