If I could describe what hopelessness is, this would be it.
The shadow moved, rippled in the emergency lighting. I pressed against the metal wall, breath trapped. Fifteen others did the same. No one whispered. No one moved.
An enforcer three seats ahead clutched his bleeding arm, face pale. Blood dripped onto the floor with soft plinks that thundered in the silence.
He groaned.
The shadow twisted, condensed, and the creature appeared, its massive claws punching through reinforced glass like paper. It wrapped around the enforcer's torso and yanked him through the jagged opening.
Toxic gas hissed in.
The monster scraped along the Ironwyrm's top with metallic shrieks, then dropped to peer through another window. Amber eyes fixed on the girl near the front.
Swift, brutal. Claws sheared through glass and flesh. The girl's scream died with her.
Another female candidate shrieked in terror. Those glowing eyes snapped toward us. The creature launched itself forward.
She was still screaming when the claws found her.
"Open fire!" Enforcers raised weapons, plasma bolts lighting the dim compartment. The creature moved like liquid shadow, avoiding each shot. It snatched a young boy in retreat, his wails fading.
An enforcer fumbled with his comm. "Backup required! Code Red—"
Claws tore through his throat.
Chaos was in the air until fingers grabbed my arm to get my attention. "Please!" The blonde girl from the ceremony stared up, tears streaming. "Help me! My foot—"
Her ankle twisted at an unnatural angle, swelling purple. I looked toward the exit, then back at her face. My chest tightened.
"Okay," I whispered. "Wait over here."
I helped her through a gap between twisted metal, a pocket of shadow, and crawled toward the rear compartments, glass crunching under my palms.
Outside, screams echoed as survivors met their end. The door remained jammed as I pulled the twisted metal until my fingers bled.
A low growl rumbled behind me.
The creature filled the doorway, saliva dripping from its maw, amber eyes locked on mine.
I stumbled through the wreckage as it roared behind me, claws scraping like nails on a chalkboard. The floor tilted. I bit my tongue, tasting blood.
My fingers found the emergency release. Nothing.
"Come on!"
The door hissed open as something wet splattered my neck. I dove through, rolling as claws raked where my head had been.
The creature loomed over me, claws raised, when its head snapped aside, sniffing the air.
In the distance, the blonde girl limped from the wreckage, leaving a blood trail.
The monster lunged after her, enough distraction for me to press deeper into the debris.
My arm throbbed where I'd scraped it. Without hesitation, I tore off my shirt, ignoring the toxic gas burning my exposed skin, and bound the wound.
The girl's scream echoed, then cut off.
A sick part of me was grateful her foolishness bought me minutes.
I grabbed a metal rod and crept toward the exit closest to home. The creature's roar told me it had finished. Heavy footsteps stomped in my direction.
I burst into the toxic channel when a gunshot rang out.
The bolt caught the monster's shoulder, spinning it around.
"Kae! Get in!"
Pierce gripped the armored jeep's wheel, smoke curling from his rifle. His eyes were hard behind the breathing mask.
I scrambled into the passenger seat as he gunned the engine.
"Here." Pierce tossed me an oxygen mask. "Put it on. Now."
I strapped it on as he fired at the creature giving chase.
"Why did you come back?" I shouted. "After putting me in this death trap!"
Pierce's jaw clenched. "We'll, aren't you an ungrateful chatter mouth" he murmured, "Beside genius, it's either you or your siblings." The threat struck like ice through my chest. If Cent or Vivi had been on that train…
Pierce grabbed his comm. "Control, this is Pierce! Immediate backup at Channel Seven! Category Five breach!"
He then faced me. "If you want to save your siblings," Pierce said, eyes on the mirror, "survive no matter what, cause when you're gone, they're next."
His rifle clicked empty. The monster gained ground, claws sparking on channel walls.
It leaped.
"Duck!" Pierce shoved me down as the creature crashed onto our roof. Claws punched through, swiping blindly.
Pierce's skin had a grayish tint as the mask wasn't perfect in the heaviest concentrations.
The claw found its mark, punching through Pierce's shoulder. He grunted but kept driving, blood soaking his uniform.
"Almost there," he muttered. Ahead us was the Ark gate.
The monster struck again, piercing clean through his chest. Consciousness faded from his eyes, but he kept his hands on the wheel.
He looked at me and smiled, red trickling from his mouth.
"I'm glad I got to meet the son of the great Wudi," he whispered.
The creature ripped him from his seat and flung him out of the moving car before leaping after Pierce.
Our vehicle careened wildly. I scrambled toward the driver's seat, but was slammed into the tube wall before I could reach it.
Metal shrieked as glass exploded. I opened my eyes to searing pain and blurred vision, my damaged mask leaked blood from a gash on my forehead.
Through the cracked windshield, the creature stalked toward me, Pierce's blood dripping from its claws.
'This is it. My final moment.'
As it raised its claws, gunshots rang out. The monster staggered, roaring. More shots followed, driving it back.
Hands dragged me from the twisted metal.
"Target secured! Move!"
Authoritative voices surrounded me. I'm lifted onto a stretcher and loaded into another armored vehicle.
As consciousness faded, I glimpsed the creature retreating into the toxic mist.
At least I was still alive.
I woke to gentle fingers cleaning my forehead. Blinking against the sterile lights, I gazed into striking brown eyes.
"Easy now," a warm voice said. "You're safe."
The woman appeared late thirties but timeless. Dark hair swept back, rebellious white strands framing her face. Even amid the chaos, she possessed an undeniable beauty.
"I'm Kambi," she said, dabbing antiseptic with practiced precision. "You took quite a beating."
I winced. "The monster... what was that thing?"
Kambi's hands paused. "It's unusual. This kind of breach has never happened before." She quickly added, "But you're in perfect hands now."
A bulkier soldier approached. "Kambi, we've got a situation. Command's sending replacements for the lost units."
"Lost units?" I snapped, struggling to sit up. "Those were people! They had families."
Xavier, judging by his name patch, shrugged. "Kid, you're gonna meet a similar fate, anyway. Why get worked up?"
His words hit like ice. 'Similar fate? What's he talking about?'
Kambi's elbow met his rib. "Xavier!" And turned to me apologetically. "Sorry, he doesn't know what he's talking about."
She led him away, and I glimpsed Xavier pulling her into a tight hug before the door shut closed, reminding me of Tobi and Mila yesterday, clinging like it might be the last time.
'How much I miss them.'
Through the craft's windows, the Belt Ark Region came into view with gleaming towers and pristine streets that dwarfed our humble clusters. Their structures soared like monuments, unlike ours, which were weathered.
The military base sat at the edge of the region, a fortress of black stone and polished metal surrounded by energy barriers. Landing platforms dotted its surface like metallic flowers.
We touched down silently.
Kambi walked beside me as we disembarked, escorting me through sterile corridors to a private room.
"You stay here until your team arrives," Kambi said, gently squeezing my shoulder before leaving.
After an hour, the door opened, and someone guided me toward the front of a building where the nine replacements were waiting.
Then, my heart stopped.
I recognized those auburn curls and emerald dress with silver threading, probably worth more than my monthly wages. Her polished features spoke of someone who'd never missed a meal.
Nira Rellington. My teenage crush.
She was the reason I could handle grief during our brief interactions. I had recently lost my mom and was on the verge of losing myself when she walked up to me to deliver her entitlements at the governor's ark house. That was our first and only meeting.
The second time was when she talked to me about picking myself up. That was when I was queuing up for social fare food ration with little Cent and Vivi.
She sounded someone more matured than her age which gave me a rude awaking. All these happened few weeks before Sera showed up. How I picked up in that dark moment of my life remains a mystery?
I'd dreamed of marrying her someday until maturity made me realize our social classes were worlds apart. An impossible dream.
Then another shock hit me.
Tobi was among them too.
I grabbed his shoulders. "What are you doing here?"
Tobi's strained grin flickered. "I volunteered in Mila's place."
Relief hit me. "And my siblings?"
"Safe in her care," he said. "She leveraged Sera's debt to make her case." Relief flooded through me. "What about your group?" he asked.
"I'm the only one left." I told him what went down.
Tobi went pale. "Impossible. Those things don't exist anymore. The war ended decades ago."
Enforcers herded us toward the exit, separating boys from girls with military precision. Steel doors slammed shut.
"Strip!" Rifles swung toward us when we hesitated. Our clothes, our last connection to home, went into metal bins.
Guards positioned themselves while male technicians wheeled in equipment.
The decontamination spray hit like ice water. Chemicals burned our eyes as we coughed and tried to shield ourselves.
"What are they spraying on us?" someone choked.
"Insecticide," another replied bitterly. "Of course they'd treat us like pests."
"Pest is a good word for trash," a third voice added, drawing bitter chuckles.
The chemical burned like a thousand needles, making every nerve scream. I scratched at my arms, trying to relieve the maddening itch spreading from shoulders to fingertips.
Pain spread upward from my injuries, setting everything ablaze.
Water began falling, but it was slippery and oily.
"Soap!" someone shouted. Orderly lines dissolved into chaos.
Boys pushed and shoved, desperate for the streams. I positioned myself beneath a nozzle, rubbing the slick liquid everywhere I could reach. It stung against chemical burns but felt like salvation.
My feet remained out of reach, the itching driving me nearly mad as I balanced on one leg to scrub the other.
The soap stopped suddenly. Then actual water came, hard, icy streams beating our raw skin like punishment. Thirty seconds, nowhere near enough to wash away the burning or humiliation.
"Out! Now!" Guards forced us from the chamber while we scratched frantically, fingernails leaving red welts.
Grey surgical scrubs replaced our clothes, and they were rough against our chemically burned skin, offering no insulation against the seeping cold.
A guard pressed a metal tag into my palm. "One hundred and ninety-seven."
Tobi got one ninety-nine.
It seems odd for boys, even for girls. Another way to transform us from people into inventory.
We walked in based on our number in a pair until it was only Tobi and I left.
"Hey." Tobi nudged my shoulder. "It's going to be alright. Mila got it. Let's just focus on the trial."
I wanted to believe him, but the knot in my stomach tightened. Cent was smart, but only twelve. He had to care for Vivi, who still woke screaming from nightmares about Mom's death. The weight I'd carried would fall on his narrow shoulders.
Our numbers were called, and we parted in opposite directions.
The research facility stretched endlessly, white corridors buzzing with machinery, antiseptic smell, examination tables with leather restraints. Monitors displayed other subjects' vital signs.
They strapped me to cold metal. A doctor approached with a tablet to ask me questions.
"Age?"
"Seventeen. I'm here against my will—"
He turned away to continue as if I said nothing.
I tried protesting but the security lingering around subdued me. I felt a sharp pinch, then paralysis slowly spread through my veins.
I could see and hear everything but couldn't move or speak. They drew vials of blood, each labeled with my number. The scanner analyzed my DNA while the doctor studied readouts.
"Unusual muscle density for someone from a low ark-region," he murmured. Then, surprised: "Anomalous energy readings."
A second doctor reviewed my file. "This one might survive the Enhancement Phase."
'Enhancement Phase?' The words chilled me.
By the time sensation returned, Tobi had to support me out, my legs unsteady from the paralytic.
"What did they do?" Tobi whispered urgently as we stumbled down the corridor. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
I tried to answer, but my tongue felt thick. Only groans emerged.
The corridor stretched endlessly under flickering fluorescent lights until we arrived at our assigned dormitory.
Inside was a long room lined with metal bunks, thin mattresses, and gray blankets.
Tobi laid me down and left to get dinner.
Alone for the first time, tears came.
This was my first night away from Cent and Vivi.
Exhaustion dragged me toward sleep, my last thought a desperate prayer, to keep my siblings safe until I could find my way back.
As sleep claimed me, one terrifying question echoed: Will I be going through something like this at the trial?