Testing Zero: a dystopian post-apocalyptic young adult novella series (Remnants of Zone Four Chronicles Book 1) (6 page)

Chapter 8

Zero cringed at the thought of Lefty fighting inside the cage, but since he also failed to come up with a better plan to appease the Elites and city officials, he knew he should do his best to support him. He was still worried that Flea wouldn’t accept the challenge. The entire plan hinged on whether or not Flea would step into the cage with him.

Lefty was the first to emerge from the crowd, excited to scribble his name on the fighting signup list. Zero crept toward the front of the crowd but stood off to the side in case the situation got more uncomfortable than it already was. When he turned and saw Flea following close behind, he felt relieved, but only slightly. There was something about the look on Flea’s face that worried him—something unsettling in the air about him as he and a few of his cronies stepped forward.

Whatever it was, Lefty did have a point when he said he had one thing going for him that Flea didn’t. Sure, he rarely got the best of Flea when they scuffled, but this fight had purpose. It had meaning. All the times Lefty had punched Flea in the mouth before were just because he wanted him to shut it. This time, he was fighting for his future. He was fighting against the fate of those who couldn’t get drafted. A win would pave the way to being an Elite.

His life depended on it. He hoped that fire would be enough. Losing wasn’t an option.

“I’m glad to see you’re going to join me.” Lefty gestured to the sign-up table as if he were inviting Flea to a fancy meal together.

“There’s been a change of plans,” Flea said.

Zero really didn’t like the sound of that.

“Why? You scared?” Lefty asked.

“No, I’m not scared, but I’m not stupid either. You get my foot torn apart by a crocodile and then challenge me to fight in front of thousands of people? It’s obvious you planned this whole thing out.”

Zero didn’t think Lefty would ever regret attacking Flea with a crocodile, but he was sure he did now.

“You’re walking fine, you coward. Step up and sign.” Lefty said.

“Caiman—” Flea looked at one of the goons standing nearby, snapped his fingers, and pointed toward the sign-up sheet.

Caiman stepped up to the table and scribbled his signature.

“You’ve got a choice,” Flea said. “You can fight Caiman in the cage, or you can fight me outside the cage. What will it be?”

“And by that, I’m sure you mean I’d be fighting all of you. You and all these shadows who tag along behind you.”

Flea shrugged. “You deserve whatever you get after that crocodile stunt you pulled. Besides, you’ve always got Zero. He can fight with you.” Flea and his gang laughed. They all turned to look at Zero, who ducked into the crowd at the sound of his name.

Lefty became serious. “True to form. I don’t know why I expected you to fight your own fight.” He rammed his shoulder into Flea’s as he walked past, and Flea gave him the expected shove in the back.

Lefty’s pace intensified as he stormed toward the back of the crowd. Zero followed after. He stood awkwardly at Lefty’s side not knowing what to say. His odds of winning the fight had just worsened dramatically. There was no denying that, but he needed to keep his chin up. This was his only hope. “I’m still going to win,” he said.

“You will,” Zero said. He knew there was no conviction in his tone, but he knew the words served their purpose when Lefty smiled.

They stood in awkward silence as the other students talked amongst themselves and a few more people approached the signup sheet to write down their names.

“All eyes on me please,” Cumulus said, and then waited for everyone to quiet down. He picked up the signup sheet and shook his head. “Only eleven of you signed up to fight. I suppose this means the rest of you are counting on your brains to help you rise to Elite. I’ll tell you now that very few of you will test that high.” He grinned with an arrogance rivaling Flea. “The testing is very simple. Today you will be given three tasks to demonstrate your physical abilities—lifting heavy objects to prove your strength, climbing a wall to show your agility, and running to demonstrate your endurance. None of these tests will guarantee you become Elite, but they will help the city officials understand what they are dealing with when it comes time for the draft. These tests are simply to help them make sure they don’t waste a draft pick on someone who couldn’t physically fill their need.”

Someone’s hand from the front row shot into the air. Cumulus looked straight at him for a long intense moment before turning his eyes away.

“What I have just announced to you is very simple. I can’t imagine what question anyone could possibly have, so I shall continue on with my explanation of the day.” By the look of his smile, he clearly enjoyed the opportunity to show them he considered himself above their level, both in intellect and in status. “After the initial physical trials,” he continued, “we shall take a break until sundown. Sundown is when the other Elites shall arrive to watch the cage matches, so those of you who plan to fight must prepare yourselves at that time. Everyone else is free to attend or to entertain yourselves elsewhere doing whatever else it is your type of people enjoy doing.” He smiled again. “Assignments for your temporary dorm rooms are posted on the front doors of the dorm buildings. Breakfast will start at seven, and at eight o’clock sharp you are expected to meet in the testing room, which is located on the second floor of building one.” He pointed a finger at the largest building, which was close to the city gates. “If you have been trying to figure out a way to cheat—” he paused for effect, showing his pearly-white smile all the way back to his molars, “don’t bother. There is no way of cheating. You will each be given a different test, which means there would be no way of copying someone else’s answers.”

Lefty closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Zero looked down at him and felt terrible inside. This battle was feeling like it was over before it could even get started.

“And finally,” Cumulus continued, “the most important reason you are all here: At five o’clock tomorrow evening, after all of your tests have been evaluated we will all gather together again right here. That is when we will announce those who are being accepted to train as Elite. It will be at that time the city officials will look over your scores and call out the draft.”

Lefty sighed.

***

The physical tests didn’t go very well for Lefty. He was already smaller in stature than the rest of his classmates, and adding onto that was the fact that he struggled to grip things with his right hand.

When he was told to carry large heavy boxes from one place to another, and then to stack them, those boxes continually slipped from his right hand and fell to the ground. Climbing the stone wall wasn’t much better. On three successive tries, he was able to make it five feet off the ground before his grip gave way.

Zero knew Cumulus had said the physical tests weren’t important for becoming Elite, but it obviously wouldn’t help his case if he were to be considered the least physically capable, even if he did win his fight. He encouraged Lefty to push himself extra hard during the endurance run, which he did. Unfortunately for him, everyone else tried just as hard. The students ran six laps along the inside of the city fence, which Zero estimated was probably about two miles. Lefty finished in the middle of the pack.

Obviously frustrated, Lefty continued to run after the race was finished. He didn’t stop until he reached the far corner of the fence where they had seen a crocodile lying amongst the reeds.

Zero decided it would be best to give him a little space and a moment to cool off. He waited alone in line inside the cafeteria. He filled two plates and stuffed a can of soda pop into each pocket. He then walked back outside to where Lefty was sitting picking at the grass.

“I’d better win this fight,” Lefty said. “I have to. I don’t have a choice.”

Zero handed him a plate with some fried chicken, a roll, and some mashed potatoes. He pulled a soda pop out of his pocket and placed it on the ground next to him. “You haven’t failed the written test yet. You may pass it. Maybe it won’t be as hard as you think. Let’s spend the rest of the afternoon studying.”

“How many times do I have to tell you? Studying doesn’t do me any good.” Lefty reached his fingers through the fence in hopes of petting the crocodile, but it was too far away. “Maybe I’ll let a bunch of crocodiles into the schoolyard, and then when one of them goes after an Elite, I’ll jump in and save the day.”

“I don’t think that’s a very good idea.”

“Or maybe I’ll leave an opening big enough that a Remnant will come in and I can take him on. That would probably be easier than trying to fight Caiman.”

“That’s suicide, Lefty, and you know it.”

Lefty groaned and turned around. “Relax, Zero. I’m not going to do anything stupid. I’m just brainstorming here. There has to be a way around this.”

Zero wished he could believe him.

“You know what? Fighting Caiman might actually be better than fighting Flea.” He took a swig of soda and nodded his head repeatedly. “Yeah, of course. There’s no way I would impress the Elites if I beat up Flea. He’s little, like me. But if I beat—I mean,
when
I beat—Caiman, who probably outweighs me by a hundred pounds, that would really be something.”

“Lefty—”

“Stop worrying, Zero. It’s not like I’m going to get killed or anything. The worst that can happen is I get beat up and end up back where I started.”

Conversation soon slowed to a stop. Even though this would probably be their last day together, neither of them really wanted to discuss the elephant in the room.

Lefty knelt next to the fence and squeezed his hand through, dropping a bit of the chicken to lure the crocodile closer. It didn’t even turn to look at them.

Neither of the boys felt any reason to leave the comforts of their location until they heard yells and screams of terror coming from the direction of the city gates. They saw students and Elites running for cover in every direction, cramming through the doorways into whatever building was closest.

Lefty was on his feet and running toward the action before Zero could even yell, “Lefty, no. This can’t be good.”

Lefty didn’t say anything, but continued to hurry. Zero chased after him. In a matter of seconds, they had made it through the crowd of terrified people and into the open space between the buildings and the front gate. Lefty’s eyes dashed back and forth at what he was seeing, his mouth open in amazement, his eyes large.

There was a pickup truck idling about fifty feet inside the city gates. Behind it was a trailer that would typically be used for transporting livestock—big enough to fit two or three cows. It had been tipped over and was now lying on its side, its wheels still spinning. The rear door hinges appeared to have broken when it tipped and the door was now wide open.

On the grass next to the trailer lay someone very small. He wasn’t moving, but Zero could see his chest rising and falling with each breath, so he knew he clearly wasn’t dead. His ankles were linked together by leather straps and chains. His wrists were strapped to a leather belt around his waist.

There were two similar-looking men, except they were both fully awake. One of them flopped around the grass in his shackles like a fish out of water. The other had managed to free himself from his restraints, which lay on the grass close by. He paced back and forth on the lawn, mumbling nonsense and pulling out chunks of his own hair. He looked up at Lefty and gnashed his teeth, spitting black stuff all over himself as he growled.

There was no doubt that these men were Remnants, but they had been purposefully brought here in that trailer.

“Why would they bring them here?” Zero asked. “What are they going to do now that they’ve busted out of the trailer?”

“I don’t know.” Lefty couldn’t look more excited. “But I want to be part of it.”

Chapter 9

Zero grabbed hold of Lefty’s wrist as soon as he started running toward the Remnants. Zero was serious now. And scared.

“Don’t do this,” he said. “You’ll get infected if one of them bites you. Nothing good can come out of this.”

“Are you kidding me?” Lefty said. “This will give me a chance to show my worth better than any written test ever could—maybe even better than winning a fight against Caiman. Besides, someone has to do it, and every student in our year already proved their cowardice when the Remnants attacked the bus.” Lefty jerked his wrist free, taking two backward steps toward the center of the action. “I’m doing this. You’re not going to stop me.”

“Stay away,” someone called, standing with his arms folded and his back against the pickup’s cab. He was enormous—about the same height as Zero, but broader at the shoulders. He wore a thick brown beard and a blood-red cap. He had an air about him that suggested there was nothing in this world that could intimidate him, which was what confused Zero the most. Even the scene unfolding in front of him, with three Remnants loose within city gates, appeared to only amuse him as he watched.

Zero had been so focused on the three Remnants that he hadn’t noticed this man, or the other one inside the pickup talking into a CB radio, until one of them had spoken up. He knew exactly who these two men were. They were frontline scouts. Even though he had never actually met one, Lefty had talked for years about wanting to become one. He looked up to them with reverence and awe. Up until now they had only existed in stories.

One of the Remnants—the one who had successfully removed his shackles—took off at a full sprint toward the city gates. The frontline scout inside the pickup secured the CB radio back onto the dashboard and stepped out to watch. He folded his arms and laughed as he watched the taller scout catch up to the Remnant just before the gate and tackle him from behind, causing them to crash face down in the dirt. He wrapped one arm around the Remnant’s neck so that his elbow was just below the neck, and squeezed until all of the fight was gone from him. He laughed and released his grip, which caused the Remnant to drop face down into the dirt. The scout then nudged him in the ribs with his toe to make sure he was unconscious, and then began dragging him by the heel back toward the others.

Lefty jerked his wrist free from Zero’s grasp and ran to the scout’s side. He grabbed hold of the Remnant’s other heel.

Zero didn’t dare chase after him. He slinked back around the corner of the nearest building and peeked back around just enough to watch and listen. He took note of where the nearest door was in case one of the Remnants came charging his way and he would need to make a run for it.

The scout stopped and turned toward Lefty. “What on earth are you doing?”

“Helping.”

“I didn’t ask for any help.”

“I know, but it’s always easier with extra people.” Lefty pulled on the leg, causing the Remnant to slide another few inches.

The scout shook his head and belly-laughed. “You’ve got nerve. I’ll give you that. The closest most people want to come to a Remnant is to watch through a second story window.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Lefty looked up to see faces glued to the windows along every building’s upper floors. He also noticed where Zero was hiding and gave him a thumb’s up and a smile.

“I’m Lefty, by the way.” Lefty reached out his mangled right hand, which the scout shook.

“I’m Brawn.” He didn’t release Lefty’s hand from the handshake, but turned it over to get a better look at it. He smiled. “You live on the edge, don’t you?”

“Absolutely.”

Brawn nodded. “You’ve got heart. That much is clear. If only you were bigger.”

“I’m stronger than I look.” Lefty puffed out his chest, causing Brawn to chuckle.

“We need to get this Remnant in there.” Brawn pointed a finger in the direction of the small cage next to the large one where people would later be fighting.

“You bet.” Lefty pulled as hard as he could to show off his strength.

They dragged the limp body across the grass. Just before they reached the cage, the Remnant began to awaken. Brawn pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket and a small bottle from his front pocket. He poured something from the bottle onto the cloth and pressed it over the mouth and nose of the Remnant, whose eyes went big for a quick moment before rolling back in his head. He was again fully unconscious.

Lefty’s eyes went huge and Zero knew he was wondering where he could get his hands on something like that. He was glad they didn’t have anything like that available to the students or Lefty would constantly being trying to find ways to use it on Flea.

They dragged him the rest of the way to the cage and pulled him inside.

Lefty looked up and saw the other frontline scout standing in front of one of the Remnants who was fully conscious, but still in his shackles. The scout stood over him with an amused expression on his face, kicking him in the chest and knocking him down every time he attempted to get up. The scout waved Lefty away when he approached. “No. Stay away. This isn’t the place for little boys.”

Lefty hurried to his side anyway.

The scout shoved him away before he could touch anything. “What’s the matter with you? Are you crazy?”

“I’m not scared of anything, sir. I just want to help. I’ll drag him to the cage.”

“If you’re that bent on helping, go ahead. Drag that one over there.” He pointed at the only one who wasn’t moving. “He’s unconscious already.”

Lefty ran to the unconscious one and grabbed a leg. Even from a distance, Zero could see sweat pouring down his face as he dragged him across the grass. He paused long enough to wipe his forehead.

After pulling the Remnant into the cage, he quickly exited and looked up to see Brawn once again soaking his handkerchief with the bottle, and then he snuck up behind the last Remnant. He smothered the Remnant by covering his nose and mouth with the soaked rag until he went limp and crumpled sideways on the lawn, drooling black slime out of the side of his mouth. Lefty was busy pulling the Remnant by the ankles before the two frontline scouts could even grab hold. This one was bigger than the other two—about the same size as Lefty—so it took him much longer to get him into the cage.

He lay him next to the other two and escaped just in time. Right as he was latching the cage shut, one of them began shaking his head and then sat up, yelling gibberish and biting at the air. Lefty pulled his hand back as Brawn slapped a lock on the cage.

Lefty stepped back and admired his work.

Zero stepped out from his hiding place but didn’t dare come any closer than halfway. Lefty had done it. By the look on his face, he knew Lefty was feeling very proud. But by the looks on the faces of the two scouts, they weren’t exactly convinced he was ready to be one of them. Lefty didn’t seem to notice that detail.

One of the scouts looked down at Lefty, shaking his head. “My name’s Hawk. You’ve got a few screws loose, don’t you, kid?”

“I sure do, sir.” Lefty beamed. “My name is Lefty. I’m not scared of nothin’.”

“I can see that.” He smiled down at Lefty like an adult would look at an amusing child. Humored. Patronizing.

“I want to work the front lines with you guys.” Lefty said. “I want to be out there scouting the old world for good places to build cities. Fighting Remnants.”

Hawk laughed. “You’re kind of small for a scout, don’t ya think?”

“I’m small outside, but big inside.” He pounded his chest with his fist.

“Yeah? We’ll see about that.” Hawk stared him in the eye for a moment, sizing him up.

“So, why are you guys bringing these Remnants into the city?” Lefty asked.

Brawn grinned. “We’re always looking for a few more people who could be frontline scouts. We’re here to watch people fight inside the cages.”

Zero’s heart stopped when he realized what the scout was saying.

“Yeah, but why did you bring the—” Lefty apparently realized what this meant also and his face flushed with embarrassment that he even began to repeat his question—that it took him this long to put the pieces together. He looked up at the fighting cage, and then at the smaller cage containing the three Remnants next to it. “If I want to prove I’ve got what it takes to be a frontline scout, I have to fight one of these guys?”

Brawn shook his head and grinned. “No. You have to fight all three of them.”

It was a rare thing to see Lefty nervous and intimidated by anything. He stared at the cages, contemplating the implications of what he was getting himself into. “Makes sense. What happens if I win, but get bitten during the fight? I’ll be infected too.”

“Nah. These guys have been neutralized. They’ve been given an injection to kill the virus, which makes it so they’re not contagious. Their brains are still fried, though. They act the same as any other Remnant—fighting and biting just like them. They still may kill you in there,” Brawn smiled, “but they won’t infect you.”

“Oh. Okay,” Lefty breathed a sigh of relief.

“We’re sick of people putting up a good fight against one of their peers during the tryouts,” Hawk said, “but then they cower in fear when they see their first Remnant in the woods.”

Lefty felt a sudden rush of excitement. He looked down at the sleeping Remnant. He’d seen them now and had been up close and personal with them. Not only that, but two of the three were even smaller than him. “Count me in,” he said with a smile.

“Really? You realize you’ll have to win two fights in the same day. Win your fight against one of the other students, and then win your fight against the Remnants.”

“Absolutely.” Lefty held out his right hand to shake again.

Hawk shook it, and then looked down at it. “Are you sure you want to do this, kid? You look a little banged up already.”

“My hand is just fine. There’s no way I’ll lose.”