Testing Zero: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 1) (3 page)

Rather than step into the classroom, Zero stepped back into the hallway to let Professor Bird through.

“Everybody, in your seats. Don’t make me say it twice,” Professor Bird yelled. He turned back toward the doorway. “That means you too, Zero. You have five seconds to be in your seat or you’ll spend the rest of the day scrubbing toilets.”

But Zero remained in the hall, frozen in place.

Then it happened. A quizzical look flashed across Flea’s face when he heard a rustling sound coming from inside his desk. The smart thing to do would have been to crack the desk open to peek at what was inside, but Flea was never known for his genius. He threw open his desk, and the crocodile sprang out, snapping.

Chapter 3

Zero pulled back another step. In less than two seconds every student in the class was either cowering in the corner or pushing past him to get out the door—all except for Lefty and Flea. Flea was unable to run away because the crocodile had latched onto his foot. Lefty was standing next to him, one hand on his stomach, doubled over with laughter.

Flea squealed, flailing his arms and legs, knocking over his desk and kicking his chair down the aisle. He kicked at the crocodile, but that only seemed to make it bite down harder, causing him to cry even louder in pain. “Get it off me! Get it off me!”

“Lefty,” Professor Bird yelled, “if you don’t have that crocodile off Flea’s foot and back in the river within two minutes, I’ll see that you’re kicked out. And I don’t mean just kicked out of the school. I mean you’ll be sent to Exile City!”

It took a second for Lefty to regain his composure. “All right, Professor. All right. I’ll get rid of it. Besides, it’s just a little baby croc—nothing to be scared of.”

In one smooth motion, Lefty pulled off his shirt again. He twisted it into a tight roll, and walked over to where Flea lay whimpering on the floor.

“Don’t move.” Lefty slid the shirt sideways through the crocodile’s mouth in the open space between Flea’s foot and the back of the crocodile’s jaws. “Okay, now you’re going to have to stand up and put your weight on that foot so I can pry its jaw open.”

Flea held out a hand for Lefty to help him to his feet, but Lefty did nothing more than grin at him as he struggled to stand up. Lefty put his right knee on the back of the crocodile’s neck and pulled up on the shirt. Flea shifted his weight to his bleeding foot, and as soon as he got the nod from Lefty, he jerked his shoe out of the crocodile’s mouth. Without skipping a beat, Flea cocked back his fist and swung at Lefty. Lefty dodged to the side and the blow glanced off the side of his head. Flea cocked his other fist back, ready to throw again.

“You sure you want to do that?” Lefty asked. “If you swing at me, I might let go of this thing. Or, better yet, I might have to defend myself. Only a fool would mess with a guy who has a crocodile for a weapon.”

“Flea, Lefty, this is done. Go put that thing back in the river. And everyone, get back in your seats!” Professor Bird yelled. “When you get back, don’t bother coming to class. Meet me in Director Keys’ office.”

“Yes, sir,” Lefty said, holding the jaw shut and lifting it like he had done before.

“And you, Flea, report to the nurse’s station to get that foot checked.” Professor Bird looked around the classroom. “Where’s Zero?” He spotted him standing one step in the hallway. “Zero, you’ll be joining us in the office.”

Zero sighed. Even though Lefty had promised to take the blame, Zero learned a long time ago that the professors always assumed he was part of the planning. “Me, Professor?”

“Yes, you. Don’t pretend you had nothing to do with this. I saw you cowering in the hallway before the bell rang.”

“Yes, sir.”

The fun part was over. Now it was time to find out what the consequences were for a stunt like this. Zero assumed this was probably the first time anyone had tried this before, so the punishment could very well be just as inventive as the crime itself. He took a deep breath, worried about what exactly that might mean.

Zero followed behind Lefty as he dragged the crocodile back to the hole in the fence. He didn’t share in Lefty’s love for animals, but he found himself feeling sorry for this little crocodile now that it had spent the last forty-five minutes with its tail dragged through the bushes, wrestled on the ground, and shoved into a desk into which it didn’t fit very well.

After the crocodile was back through the opening and had slipped back into the swamp, the two boys walked again toward their dorm building. They knew Professor Bird was waiting for them in the front office building, but Lefty insisted on grabbing a new shirt—one that wasn’t torn or smelled like the inside of a crocodile’s mouth—first.

On the bottom floor of their dorm building, they walked into the shower room and over to the stacks of shirts. The shirts were neatly folded and stacked according to size. He grabbed one from the top of the pile marked by a sign that read “size E” and he slipped it on. He threw the tattered, smelly shirt into a large bin of soiled clothes. They turned and were about to leave the shower room when Lefty changed direction and walked toward a stack of blue jeans that was taller than he was.

“I should probably change my pants, too. The less I smell like the swamp, the less likely I am to get sent to Exile City.”

“You could smell like pumpkin pie and it wouldn’t save you.” Zero paused for a moment. “Or me either.”

Lefty shook his head as he slipped his right leg, then his left, into the fresh pair of pants. “You worry too much.” He threw his old swampy pants into the laundry bin, stopped for a few seconds in front of the mirror to check his hair, and then walked out.

***

Zero took a seat between Lefty and Professor Bird as they waited quietly for Director Keys to enter the office. Once he came in they stood in unison until he reached his seat, then took their seats in turn.

This wasn’t their first time in the director’s office, but it was the first time they’d had to wait for so long. Zero forgot for a moment about the trouble he was in, absorbing the comforts arrayed around him. This was the only air-conditioned room he had ever been in. It always smelled of a fragrance he never smelled anywhere else. Director Keys was a round man, both in face and build. He had the same thick walrus mustache he’d had since the day Zero and Lefty arrived at school fifteen years earlier, but it had gradually shifted from brown to gray over those years. It wasn’t until Director Keys opened a drawer, pulled out a small brown bottle labeled
Stetson Cologne,
and splashed his neck with its contents that he finally knew the source of that smell. The pleasant odor immediately took over the room.

“Now. What’s this all about?” Director Keys asked.

Professor Bird opened his mouth to explain, but he was interrupted by someone knocking loudly on the door behind him, who then entered without waiting for permission. It was a tall man in a long purple robe—the kind only the Elite of society wore. He had a long, thin face and a pointy nose. His hair, which was long enough to touch his shoulders, was shiny and slicked back. He said nothing as he crossed the room and stood in the corner behind Director Keys. He folded his arms, tilted his head back and looked down his nose at everyone.

Director Keys didn’t turn to look at him. “Boys, this is Cumulus,” he said. “He is the man in charge of overseeing your placement tests tomorrow.” Judging by the look on his face, he clearly wasn’t thrilled to have Cumulus standing near him, or even in the room.

Professor Bird opened his mouth again to speak but then paused, apparently waiting to make sure it was okay to talk, and then spent the next few minutes explaining. The two boys sat quietly—their eyes down and their hands folded in their laps.

Director Keys looked at Lefty, then at Zero, and then back at Lefty again. He opened his mouth to speak, but didn’t say anything. He stood up and made his way to the door, which he opened. “Professor Bird, you can go now.”

“But Director, I’d really like to—”

“I said you can go. I want to talk to these boys alone.”

Director Keys waited patiently for him to leave. Professor Bird looked as if he’d been punched in the stomach, but he rose to exit. He clearly had a lot more he wanted to say, but he swallowed hard, gave the boys a stern look, and left.

The Director gently shut the door, but didn’t turn around. “Do you know why they call me Director Keys?”

“Because that’s your name?” Lefty asked.

“No.”

The boys looked at each other, but neither had an answer.

“They call me ‘Keys’ because when I was your age, I developed the ability to get past
any
locked door. At first I used to steal the professors’ keys, but that took too long and I kept getting caught. So I mastered the skill of picking locks.” The Director turned and looked down at the boys. “By the time I was your age, I could pick just about any lock. But just because you
can
open a door doesn’t mean you
should
.” He paused and stared down at them.

Zero wanted to run from the room, but was scared to move.

“Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you?”

“Yes, sir,” they said in unison.

“I’m not so sure you do.” Director Keys walked back to his desk and took a seat in his enormous leather chair. “Lefty, why do you think we have fences surrounding the entire city?”

“To keep everything out. Because ever since the New Beginning a hundred years ago, predators have taken over the world. Things like crocodiles, bears, and jungle cats are everywhere. If we didn’t put up fences around the city, they’d come in and eat us.”

“I’m glad you’ve been paying attention during your history lessons. But I’m sad to say you haven’t learned a thing.”

“What do you mean, sir?” Lefty asked.

“You’ve obviously found a way to smuggle a crocodile inside the city fences, which leads me to believe someone created a hole in the fence. It’s probably safe to assume that someone was you. I’ve seen your obsession with the crocodiles in the far corner of the schoolyard.”

Lefty began to fidget nervously. “I did it. I made a hole in the fence, but I made the hole about two feet off the ground so none of the other crocodiles could get through.”

“Lefty, you’re rationalizing. That’s exactly what I used to do when I was your age. I used to tell myself I wasn’t hurting anyone by breaking into locked rooms …” His voice trailed off as if he was lost in a memory. “I want to tell you a story about when I was your age. I lived right here at this same school. Just like you two—from the time I was three years old until I was 18, I lived in dorm building twelve. I used to think I was invincible. I thought it was a lot of fun to sneak one or two of my friends outside the gates, and we’d dare each other to swim across the river.”

Zero saw the look on Lefty’s face and knew exactly what he was thinking. He had once gone through the fence and tried that, only he couldn’t swim. He was in the water for less than a minute, splashing around and going nowhere. The result was that he hurried out of the water, sure his flailing about would only attract crocodiles hunting down their next meal. The look on Lefty’s face now, as they listened to Director Keys, was one of jealousy about his ability to swim and frolic with what Lefty often called “the greatest creatures on earth.”

“Did one of your friends get eaten by a crocodile, sir?” Lefty asked, wide eyed.

“No, Lefty. Something much worse happened.”

Lefty’s face fell. “What’s worse than being eaten by a crocodile, sir? Is a jungle cat worse than a croc? I’ve never actually seen one. I’ve only heard stories about how—”

Director Keys shook his head and held up a hand to stop Lefty from speaking. “I’m not proud of this, but while my friends and I were beyond the fence, everything went haywire.” Director Keys paused before continuing.

“You don’t mean infected people got in, do you, sir?” Zero asked. “Remnants of the old world?” Lefty’s eyes grew big as he contemplated the thought.

Director Keys stood up and stepped toward his window. He pulled open the thick red curtains, letting in the afternoon light. “Did you know there are more infected people out there in the world than there are those of us who haven’t got the virus? The numbers aren’t even close, actually. They’re everywhere. They’re as vicious as rabid animals, and yet they’re very clever—much more so than a crocodile or a panther. They know where we live—where we colonize. They watch us.” He turned and stared at the boys for a long time, flattening his mustache with one hand. The silence was awkward. “You two don’t know how good you have it. We look after you, and you go and do stupid stuff like putting holes in the fences.”

He said nothing more for a long time. He folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. A deep sadness seemed to fill his face and even his body. Zero wanted to know what happened to his friends; if the Remnants attacked one of his friends while they were beyond the outer wall, or maybe got all the way into the schoolyard and infected other people, but he dared not ask any questions. He knew they were in serious trouble. Director Keys had an emotional connection to their style of mischief. That could never be a good thing.

“I’m sorry, sir. It was all my fault,” Lefty said. “Zero had nothing to do with it.”

“He also didn’t stop you from making a hole—from playing a prank,” Director Keys said. “If you were smart, you’d concentrate on things that really matter. You’d spend every second of your free time preparing for your placement exams.”

“Sir, I’m not good with tests,” Lefty said. “I’ve already accepted the probability that I won’t do very good, and I’ll get assigned a boring job somewhere.”

“A boring job?” Cumulus laughed, but there was clearly no humor in his expression. He had been standing motionless for so long, Zero had almost forgotten he was there. “Boy, you don’t understand. If you don’t score higher than a 5.0 on this exam, you’ll have much bigger fish to fry than worrying about whether or not you get assigned to a boring career. None of the city leaders will want you. Nobody will choose you in the draft. You’ll have no place to go.”

“So it’s true? I would be kicked out? Someone would drive me out past the city walls and drop me off in the old world to fend for myself?”

“Oh, your fate would be a whole lot better than that. Do you really think we would send you out into the old world just to die when there are ways you could still serve the common good?” Cumulus smiled so broadly that even his molars showed. “You know that injection you get every month? It’s a booster shot to help keep you from contracting the virus—the same one that has affected the people living in the old world. That virus is the reason the Remnants’ brains are scrambled the way they are. Well, our Elite chemists and biologists are working tirelessly to create an antidote for the virus. And every time they come up with an antidote for testing, they need a live subject to try it on. Can you guess who those scientists use as guinea pigs to test their serums?”

“Sir, do they catch a Remnant and inject him?” Lefty asked.

Cumulus tilted his head to one side and smiled, but said nothing.

“They inject people … like me?” Lefty was starting to sweat now.

“The brains of the Remnants are so far past hope that injecting them would do no good at all. Our hope is to find a cure that can act quickly after the virus has taken hold—before it has overtaken the entire body and brain of a person. The chemists and biologists need healthy people for the experiments so they can inject them with the virus, and then administer their new concoction.” He tilted his head upright again and nodded. “So, you see? Even those who appear to be useless to society can serve a grand purpose.”

Lefty and Zero both looked at each other. Zero saw fear on Lefty’s face, and it wasn’t a look he saw very often.

Zero thought frantically for something to say. “You won’t have any trouble from us for the rest of our time here,” Zero said. “We promise. We’ll even stay away from Flea and his gang.”

Lefty nodded.

“You’re not going anywhere near anybody,” Director Keys said with a grin. “We’ve got a bus coming this evening with the new arrivals. There are about two hundred of them, I think. As punishment for your childish prank, you’re going to have to miss the end of the year party. You’ll spend the evening babysitting them.”

“New arrivals?” Zero’s eyes went big. “You mean, the little kids? The three year olds?”

“You look a little worried.” Director Keys’ grin grew even wider. “Don’t worry, you’ll have Professor Bird and many of the other professors there with you. The bus should arrive about five o’clock.”

Zero glanced at Lefty to see if he was as worried about babysitting duty as he was, but Lefty no longer looked like he was even paying attention. It wasn’t unusual for Lefty’s mind to wander, especially while someone was reprimanding him, but this was different. Wherever Lefty’s mind had gone was not good.

He hardly listened to the tail end of Director Keys’ lecture now that he was growing increasingly more concerned about Lefty’s state of mind. He stared at Lefty’s back as they were ushered out of the room, noticing his drooping shoulders and head now bowed.