The Others

Chapter 9: The Monster Marathon

Droplets of rain escaped from the clouds like a leaking faucet. The suede boots I had been given on my first night did little to protect my feet as my toes sunk into the muddy ground but I guess that wasn't really their intention. The shoes were simply complementary, a necessity to protect from a nasty staph infection or ringworm, but otherwise, ineffective for braving the elements. There were thirty of us standing in a perfectly straight line, waiting to hear our next order from the Commander. The Commander stood on a wooden watchtower, positioned twenty or so feet away from us with a megaphone in hand. Two doctors stood beside him, typing furiously away on their tablets as if we had already done something worth recording.

There were fifteen girls and fifteen guys. It was the first time I was allowed near a boy since my arrival at Garrenbuck. Ana, who now stood beside me, had informed me during lunch that they liked to keep us separated for reasons no one could quite understand. It was only during large group tests, like these, did they allow us to mingle within each other's presence. Ok, so maybe mingling wasn't the right term to use as we weren't allowed to speak to one other or glance in each other's general direction. The guards stood in front of us, their stances wide as if they were waiting for us to attack.

I glanced at the weapons at the hips and fought back an eye roll. Fat chance.

"This is a simple test," The Commander's voice carried through the wind, "you will start running at the sound of the beep and will not stop until your hear the next beep."

That sounded fairly simple. I could jog for a couple of minutes and pretend like it was gym class. In gym class, Nic and I had perfected the art of walk-running. Essentially, we would move our arms like we were running but really only sped walk around the track. We would even spray our pits with perfume before walking out of the changing room, to make it look like we were sweating. It was a process that took nearly two years to perfect but our gym teacher, Mr. Arnold, could never tell the difference. I passed each fitness test then and I didn't see any reason why I wouldn't be able to pass now. My peers didn't look as thrilled. In fact, there was at least one or two girls who looked as if they were ready to puke.

The first beep sounded.

They talk off in a hurry, sprinting as if their lives depended on it. It was like we were in the Olympics or horses in the Kentucky Derby. We ran side by side, our arms swinging wildly and hearts palpitating in our chests. Speckles of mud began to paint the blank canvas that was my uniform as my peers passed me. The boys had taken lead pretty quickly, five in particular broke away from the pack as they competed in their own little race for first place. Ana grabbed my hand as soon as the beep sounded. She shouted a series expletives as she ushered me through the crowd.

My legs were burning and my lungs were crying out for oxygen but I didn't dare slow down or break my stride. G. S. soldiers followed behind us on motorbikes, their guns situated in the middle of their handlebars, aimed at our backs. After the first two minutes people were already trailing behind, their broken sobs echoed in my ears. They had done this before and they knew what was coming.

"Faster you disgusting mongrels!"

Ana tugged on my hand and I somehow managed to find the strength to pick up the pace. It was one of those out of body experiences. My mind went blank knowing full-well that if I thought about what I was doing I would stop or slow down. So, I pushed onwards.

""Faster!" They yelled once more as if we didn't hear them the first time.

Blinking the drops of rain from my eyes, I managed to catch a glimpse of the leading pack as they rounded the corner. I groaned. We were going to run around the entire perimeter of Garrenbuck. That was going to take at least an hour, maybe two, with the wind. My time in gym class did not prepare me for this moment. Forget the monster mile this was more like the monster marathon.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as a heavy-set boy stumbled behind the crowd. The guards were also watching him, their fingers toying with the triggers of their guns. The boy slowed down and then stopped as a bullet collided with his chest. The sound of the gunshot propelled us forward. All thoughts of the boy were left to be forgotten as we ran faster.

The final beep did not sound until we reached the watchtower once again. It was only then did my legs stop moving. My muscles and joints groaned in protest as I fell to the ground. Ana fell with me, her skin lost its rich color, fading to an unsettling shade of white. I thought I was going to die. With each inhale, I felt as if someone was repeatedly stabbing me in the chest. A vile concoction of vomit and blood filled the air as the kids around me emptied the contents of their stomach.

"They killed that kid," I winced, saying it out loud made it real.

"That's not the first and it won't be the last," Ana climbed back to her feet and brushed the mud off of her hands.

I must have looked like a cartoon character as my eyes tried to escape my skull. Her tone was so casual, so nonchalant as if we were discussing the rain rather than murder. I was less collected. In fact, I was floored. In two weeks, this was the second murder I had witnessed. I was innocent at that time, I thought a little death meant something to the world of the living. Clearly, I was wrong.

"People die, Phe. The sooner you accept that the sooner you'll adjust. Focus, on yourself. Focus on surviving."

The guards called us back into line. One by one they locked the cuffs onto our wrists and led us towards the complex. The dead boy was left to be forgotten. It was funny, I thought, as I watched Ana's two guardians shove her towards the barracks. Her eyes were focused on the back of a tall boy who was being carted away in the opposite direction. There was a rugged look to him, his brows strong and dark, tan skin stretched taught across his angular face. He was beautiful. It wasn't a perfect beauty like those sculptures in european museums but a quiet kind of beauty that could be found in old photographs hidden in the back stacks of antique shops. He looked back, searching for someone in the crowd. My breath caught in my throat as I stared into a pair of two very sad eyes- the shade, a brilliant emerald color, was oddly similar to the eyes of someone else I knew.

So, I thought it was funny. Funny how, Ana could tell me to focus on myself when it was obvious her mind was on someone else.

**This is not the longest or best chapter I have ever written (I will admit) and I will probably rewrite it at a later point but it does serve a purpose so I left it in. This story plays heavily with themes of dehumanization and the danger in "othering" people so a lot of the the language in this chapter was borrowed from Nazi rhetoric during WWII. It is important to remember that these are kids being subjected to this behavior. The character Ana is only 16 years old and yet when I write about her character she feels much older to me because she has been so desensitized to the most horrific actions. I think what I really love about this book compared to my other stories is that I am at an age now where I can take a fun, magical character and delve deeper in their psyche to a point where they feel real to me. Eventually yes, they will have magical powers and other abilities and that's going to be cool but these characters will still have to live with the trauma that they were subjected to at Garrenbuck.

Anyway... I will be going on vacation next week and I will be doing a lot of reading and writing. My update schedule will not be changing.
XOXO,
Ro.**