Testing Zero: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 1) (10 page)

Chapter 16

Zero reached up and grabbed hold of the handle attached to the back door of the box truck. He pulled it down, causing everything to go dark when it closed. He fumbled around in the dark, feeling his way to a comfortable spot to sit between two large crates of bananas.

“I think I have an idea,” Zero said. “I say we try to stow away. There’s no way they’ll need this many bananas for just the testing grounds, which means this truck is likely to go other places as well. We’ll stay back here until the truck gets to its next stop and we’ll jump out then. We’ll try to blend into that city like we belong there.”

“That’s a terrible plan,” Flea said.

Even in the dark Zero could picture the snide look on Flea’s face.

“Who said you were coming with us?” Lefty asked. “Just because we didn’t let that Remnant kill you doesn’t mean we want you following us around for the rest of our lives like a little pet. After this truck stops at the testing grounds, why don’t you do us all a favor and get out? Consider this our goodbye.”

Flea didn’t bother to respond. They rode in silence for the rest of the drive. When the truck slowed to a stop, they could hear a short conversation between the driver and the guards working the gate, but the words were too muffled to distinguish. They moved forward again, stopped at the inner gate, and then continued on for a short distance before coming to a complete stop somewhere on the testing grounds. The sound of the engine died, followed by the truck’s doors opening and closing.

Zero squinted in the sunlight as the back door slid open, revealing the young man in the bloody shirt a few feet away.

“I do believe this is your stop,” the young man said. “Everybody out.”

Flea sprung to his feet and climbed out. He stood just outside the truck to dust himself off before leaning in. “These two are hoping to stow away in the back of your truck, just so you know. You may want to check it before leaving the area.” He shot Lefty a grin.

Zero’s heart sank to his stomach. There went his only plan.

The young man laughed before waving for them to jump out of the truck. “Come on out of there, boys. I’m sure that sounds like a fun adventure, but they’re monitoring us pretty closely. We would all be in pretty deep trouble if we got caught letting you do that.”

Zero closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exited the back of the truck. “Thanks for saving us back there, by the way. In all that excitement, we didn’t have time to thank you.”

“Save you? You looked like you were doing pretty well on your own. If anything, picking you guys up probably saved the life of that Remnant.” He laughed again. “My name is Root, by the way.” He offered his hand to shake.

“Zero.” He shook his hand and then pointed a finger at the others. “And this is Lefty, and Flea.”

Zero looked across the grounds and saw that everyone was beginning to gather in the seats around the fighting cages. The students who were anxiously waiting for the draft to start were sitting in those chairs while others, most of whom were dressed in purple robes, walked around with clipboards in hand jotting notes and taking a moment to look them over.

“They’re already getting together for the draft.” Root said. “If I were you guys, I would go jump in the shower before heading over there. You smell like you’ve been swimming in the swamp.”

Lefty snickered. “That’s because we did go swimming in the swamp. Last night we—”

Zero elbowed him hard in the ribs.

“Well, that explains that,” Root said, looking them up and down. He plugged his nose. “Go shower.”

***

Flea kept his distance, choosing a shower stall on the opposite side of the room. Zero was glad for this. Their life was already complicated enough. The last thing he wanted right now was to have to deal with a fistfight while he was trying to come up with a new plan.

He entertained every possible option as he shampooed the swamp out of his hair, but every idea seemed just as ridiculous as the last. After shutting off the water and wrapping himself with a towel, he stepped out of the stall and saw a man dressed in a purple robe standing a few feet away, leaning back on one of the bathroom sinks.

“Yes. I thought I recognized your face from across the grounds,” Cumulus said. “How did you make it back so fast? Surely that was too far to run.”

Zero said nothing. At the sound of Cumulus’ voice, both Lefty and Flea shut off their showers and poked their heads out of their stalls.

“Well? You’ve made it this far. Hurry up. Get dried off. Get dressed. The draft has already begun.” He laughed, his booming voice echoing off bathroom walls. “I suppose this is better, anyway. This way we will be able to put you three to good use in society. You wouldn’t do us any good being swallowed up by a jaguar, would you?” He smiled all the way back to his molars.

Zero took his time getting ready. He wasn’t in any hurry to get out there. Cumulus took it upon himself to comment on everything they were doing, as if constantly yelling at them would make them want to hurry.

When everyone was dressed and combed, they walked together down the hall and outside. When they reached the crowded area by the fighting cages, Cumulus saw them to three empty seats. He placed his hand on Zero’s back and shoved him in that direction, and then stood a short ways off smirking with his arms folded.

A man in a purple robe stood on a small platform just outside the cage with a clipboard in one hand and a microphone in the other. Every thirty seconds or so he called out one of the drafts.

“K-4 has been drafted by the city of Jalisco, located in Zone 7.”

Someone Zero had always known as Cub jumped to his feet and raised his hand. The announcer pointed toward a man in a purple robe standing off to the side with a clipboard under one arm. Cub hurried to his side and they began chatting.

Zero looked around at the other students. Very few of the seats were empty, which meant that they hadn’t missed much of the draft. The few who had already been summoned were standing off to the side—some of them still talking with those who had drafted them, and others standing quietly close by.

“Okay, now to begin the fifth round of drafts … L-17 has been drafted by the city of Guastatoya, located in Zone 2.”

Zero sunk his face into his hands. There was no point in watching any more of this. He wasn’t going to miss any of his peers. He didn’t have any friends except for Lefty. He only felt worse with every name that was called.

Over the course of an hour, the group of students waiting to hear their name dwindled. When only one person remained seated with Zero, Lefty, and Flea, the announcer put the microphone to his mouth and said, “And our last draft will be M-3, who will go to the city of Quirigua, located in Zone 4.”

Zero folded his arms across the chair in front of him and lay his head onto them. He had long since expected it to happen, but the sound of the announcer saying “last draft” drove the nail in deep.

“Look who drafted him.” Lefty was elbowing Zero in the ribs.

“I know. Quirigua. Zone 4. Who cares?”

“No. Look who the city representatives are for Quirigua.”

Zero raised his eyes and looked in the direction Lefty was pointing. The young man standing with a clipboard in hand didn’t look at all familiar, but the guy next to him with dried blood all over his shirt was Root. “I don’t understand. Did that guy just get drafted by the delivery truck drivers?”

Lefty shrugged his shoulders. “I have no idea.”

“No, you idiots.” Flea said. “Have you had your heads down this whole time? They’re city officials. They’ve been drafting people the whole time.”

Root looked up and made eye contact. He smiled, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and meandered over to where they were sitting. “Why are you guys still just sitting here? Go get on the bus.”

“We didn’t get drafted,” they said in unison.

Root laughed. “They didn’t tell you? We drafted you in the first, second, and third rounds.”

Zero’s eyes narrowed. Was this some sort of trick? “You used your first picks on us? Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” He looked at each of them, apparently waiting for them to understand. “You took on a small pack of Remnants and came out unscathed. For what we need in Quirigua, that’s worth a whole lot more to us than whether or not you’re good at math and science.” He stuffed his hands back into his pockets and began walking away. He stopped after a few steps, spun halfway around, and said, “Well, don’t just sit there. Go get on the bus.”

Lefty puffed out his chest. It wasn’t very often that someone made him feel as accomplished as this. “But how did you know which names were ours on your list? We only told you our nicknames.”

“Easy. I knew you three had gotten kicked out. Your names were at the bottom of the list. You were the only ones who scored big fat zeros on your written tests.” Root smiled broadly. “Now go. Get on the bus. Unless you’re trying to talk us out of drafting you.”

Zero, Lefty, and Flea sprinted toward the line of buses as quickly as they could—as if they would be left behind if they didn’t hurry.

The buses were parked end-to-front near the city gates. The drivers of those buses stood next to them with large signs indicating where they would be heading. They found the man holding the “Zone Four” sign, and Lefty immediately began pestering him with questions.

“Are there any crocodiles in Zone Four?” Lefty asked.

“Not where you’re going,” the bus driver said.

“What does that mean? Are there sections of Zone Four that have them? I want to go where the crocodiles are.”

The bus driver looked down his nose at Lefty, furrowing his brow. “Hold your questions for a few minutes. I’ll fill in all of you once you get on the bus.”

Zero laughed as he watched Lefty bounce back and forth from one foot to the other like a little child waiting to use the restroom. He felt just as relieved and excited as Lefty was that they were going to take this journey together, but he was a lot more internal with his emotions.

Lefty boarded the bus first, choosing a seat close to the front. Sitting next to him, Zero wondered if Lefty wanted to sit there so he could bombard the driver with questions during the entire drive, or if he wanted to make sure they were close to the action in case the bus was attacked by Remnants again.

Just as soon as they leaned back in their seat, Cumulus boarded the bus. He stood over them with eyes glaring and fists clenched at his sides. “I bet you boys think you’re something special, don’t you?” He looked back and forth between them as they sat silent. “Well, guess what. I’ve just had a conversation with the Elite man who is over Zone 4 and he’s going to keep an especially close eye on you three. If you place even one toe out of line, then you’re in for it.” He turned and took one step toward the door before turning around. “Oh, and I guess I should mention that the Elite who watches over Zone 4 isn’t nearly as nice as I am.” He gave them one last grin before stepping off the bus.

Zero and Lefty exchanged looks after Cumulus was gone. They probably should have felt nervous about the new Elite watching closely over them, but they couldn’t help but laugh.

Once the bus was full, the driver stood in the aisle at the front with a clipboard in hand. “My name is Needles. I’ll be your driver today. Before we get rolling, let’s make sure we’re all on the right bus. You don’t want to end up in the desert if you’re supposed to be in the jungle.” He began calling roll, checking off names as people responded.

When Flea’s name was called, Lefty stole a quick look back at him. “Oh well. I guess I shouldn’t expect all my wishes to come true.”

Zero smiled when he glanced around the rest of the bus. “Guess what, though. I don’t see a single one of his cronies on the bus. It’s hard to be the leader of a gang when that gang is made up of only one.”

Lefty laughed and clapped his hands. They looked back at Flea again, who was staring at them with a scowl on his face. His lips were pursed and he had one eyebrow raised as if to say, “Don’t worry. I’ll still get you.”

After he finished calling out all the names on his list, Needles set down the clipboard. “As I’m sure you already know, you will be going to Zone Four. More specifically, although there are quite a few cities in Zone Four, you will all be assigned to one called Quirigua.”

Zero’s heart leapt inside of him. Given all he had been dealing with, he hadn’t given much thought to what his new home would be like. He hadn’t seen it yet, but he already felt confident it would be better than anything he had ever known.

“Quirigua is roughly two hours away. You’ll know we’re getting close when you start to see rainforests so thick that you can barely see thirty feet into the trees.”

Needles smiled, turned, and took his seat behind the wheel.

“Uh, Needles,” Lefty said, tugging on the sleeve of his shirt, “why aren’t there any crocodiles? Won’t we need them to keep out the Remnants?”

“No need for crocs. Between the outer wall and inner fence of Quirigua are jungle cats.” Needles turned the ignition key and the engine came to life, vibrating the entire bus.

Lefty’s eyes became enormous. “Jungle cats?” He turned to Zero. “Did you hear that? Jungle cats. We get to pet jungle cats.”

Zero closed his eyes and shook his head. “He didn’t say anything about petting them. You’re going to lose your other hand.”

Lefty tugged on Needles’ shirt again. “Sorry. One more question and then I’ll let you drive. Are there any babies in Quirigua?”

“Babies?”

“Yeah. People babies. I want to hold a people baby.”

“No. There are no people babies in Quirigua. I don’t know where those are kept.”

Lefty leaned back in his seat and stretched out his legs. He linked his hands behind his head. “This is going to be great.”

“But there’s one thing bothering me.”

“Zero! Only you could worry at a time like this. Whatever it is, let it go.”

Zero stared at Lefty for a moment, who looked more relaxed than he had been in weeks. “Doesn’t it seem a little weird to you that most of the people out there making draft choices were Elite in their fancy purple robes while the guy who wanted us—and used his first picks to get the three guys with the lowest scores—was just some young guy with blood smeared all over his shirt? He said we were right for what they needed in Quirigua more than those who do well on the tests. I mean, what kind of city is this?”

Lefty opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Zero. They stared at each other for a long time before he finally said, “No. I don’t think it’s weird at all. Don’t ruin this moment for me.”