Independent Study Page 8

  I check my solar watch frequently. Ten minutes. Twenty. Thirty. I open the cupboard and find a box of crackers, which we pass around. Forty-five. Just past the hour mark, the skimmer gives a slight bump and the hum of the engine stops. The skimmer door slides open. We have reached our destination.

  Wind whips my hair as I step out of the skimmer onto crumbling asphalt. The sky is streaked with gray, announcing the approaching dawn. I step in several puddles, but am grateful no rain is falling from the sky. If nothing else, we will not be forced to battle a downpour as we begin this task.

  When we are all out of the vehicles, the skimmers’ engines once again begin to hum. Several first years shout their surprise when the skimmers disappear into the mist of morning.

  Once they are gone, Ian yells, “Everyone, please follow me.”

  The sky continues to lighten as we pick our way across the broken stone that must once have been a smooth surface intended for automobile travel. Before coming to Tosu City, I’d only seen automobiles pictured in books. Because Five Lakes’ resources are mainly devoted to the earth’s revitalization, little time has been spent working on roadways that would accommodate motorized cars. Walking, bicycling, and riding the occasional tractor or skimmer get us from place to place just fine. However, the main roads in Tosu are repaired enough to allow automobile travel for those important enough to have extra power allotments for a working vehicle.

  The condition of the road and the discoloration of the plants and trees growing up through the cracks speak of neglect. If this is still Tosu City, it is not a section that has been touched by the government’s construction and revitalization crews.

  Ian stops in front of two wooden bridges. “Since your Government Studies classes don’t begin until next week, my fellow guides and I think this is a wonderful time for you to blow off some steam and get to know your fellow first years better. It’s also a great time for us upper years to have some fun.” His amused expression gives his face a boyish quality.

  “You’ll be working in teams of four. Each team will get one of these.” He holds up a large green bag. “In this is food, water, and a list of locations your team needs to find. At each destination is a task you and your fellow team members must finish. Upon completion of the task, your team will receive a marker as proof of your success. Each team must have all four markers in its possession when it returns to the Government Studies residence. Any team that returns without one or more of the markers will be penalized.”

  In my head, I hear a voice whisper, “Wrong answers will be penalized.”

  Not Ian’s cheerful voice. Dr. Barnes’s. I can see him dressed in purple, wearing a stern expression. If I close my eyes, I can picture Tomas seated on one side of me, looking strong and sure. Will on the other, looking frail and sad. The memory feels real. My heart pounded then the same as it does now. I taste the anxiety I felt and swallow it down as I shake free of the image. The past is important, but if I want to succeed, I have to focus on what is happening now.

  “The first team to return with all its markers will win this Induction challenge and impress the rest of us. Those who return to the residence after their team has already arrived will automatically be asked to pack their bags and leave. So try to stay together. Okay?”

  I look around and see several of my fellow students grin. Do they think Ian is joking or view this as an opportunity to eliminate the competition?

  “To make things fair, I am going to pull four names out of this bag.” Ian takes a small brown sack out of his pocket. “These four will act as captains and select the other members of their teams. Please come forward when your name is called.” Ian reaches into the bag and pulls out a piece of paper. “Griffin Grey.”

  Griffin pushes forward with a confident smile. He receives a green bag from Ian and then steps to the left. Though Griffin has already proven to be smart enough to excel at one Induction test, I find myself hoping I do not end up on his team.

  “Olive Andreson.”

  The dark-haired girl giggles as she walks to the front of the group. Once she has her green bag, the next name is announced.

  “Malencia Vale.”

  The sound of my name makes me jolt. Straightening my shoulders, I avoid a puddle and walk up to Ian. As he hands me the bag, I feel his hand give mine a quick squeeze of encouragement. I take my place next to the still-giggling Olive, and Ian reaches into the bag and comes out with the name of the final team captain.

  “Jacoby Martin.”

  A tall, lanky boy with deep brown skin and even darker eyes takes his place beside me. While the rest look to Ian for the next set of instructions, I find myself scanning the faces of my fellow students. Ian said the captains will have to choose their teammates. That means the success or failure of my team rests squarely on my shoulders.

  “Captains will choose one team member at a time in the order in which they were announced until all students have been placed on a team. Griffin will start.”

  Griffin wastes no time making his choice. Raffe. Not a surprise. I’ve seen the two of them hanging out in between meals. Their team will not lack strength or smarts. The giggle is gone as Olive announces her first team member. A tall blond named Vance. My turn.

  I look from face to face. This is a team challenge. To work effectively in a team, trust is essential. If only Tomas were here. No matter what he might or might not have done, I know he is on my side. Now I must decide who else is.

  The obvious choices are the colony-born students, Will and Rawson. They are my natural allies. I may not trust them, but I have known them for months. Gone to class and studied with them. They are both smart and resourceful. But I don’t call either name. Not yet. Though Will and Rawson will be more inclined to help me due to our shared colony status, this is also an opportunity to follow Michal’s directive and make allies among the Tosu students. Allies will be essential long after Induction has ended. So, I opt for one my gut says is smarter, has worked harder to get here, and is less inclined to side with the others from his city than the rest.

  “Enzo.”

  A number of students give Will and Rawson smug looks as Enzo walks toward me. Though the Tosu City students have not appeared friendly toward Enzo, this choice has no doubt confirmed their suspicions about my fellow colony natives’ lack of abilities. Good.

  Three Tosu City students are chosen in succession.

  “Will,” I announce. Do I trust Will? No. His actions during The Testing make it hard to place my faith in his hands. But he is smart and willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. It’s better to have those qualities on my team than working for another. Otherwise, I would be constantly watching over my shoulder to see what danger he might inflict on me.

  “Kaleigh.”

  “Drake.”

  “Rawson.”

  Olive’s choice makes me blink. I had been so certain the other captains would shun the colony students that I hadn’t considered selecting anyone else. Rawson frowns as he takes his place at Olive’s side, and I turn my attention to the two remaining students, whom I know next to nothing about. A girl named Juliet and a boy whose name I’ve never learned. I look from one to the other, hoping something in their expressions will help me decide. Both refuse to make eye contact. Neither has brought a University bag. Nothing I see aids my decision. If I want to avoid an uneducated choice, there is only one other option.

  “Enzo will make the last choice for our team.” I ignore the gasps around me and the anxiety that takes hold because of them. Do people think I am indecisive or weak because I passed the choosing to another? I tell myself it doesn’t matter what they believe. This is the smart thing to do. Enzo might not be close friends with these two, but he has attended class with them. He is better suited to pass judgment on their collaboration skills.

  Enzo doesn’t hesitate in his selection, and we are joined by Damone, who stands at least a foot taller than me.

  “The first location on your team’s list is somewher
e behind me,” Ian says. “Waiting inside your bag is a clue to the specific spot where you’ll find your first task. When you are done, return to this location for transportation to the next site. We wish you luck and look forward to seeing all of you back at the residence. Don’t get lost. We’d really hate to have to come find you.” With a wink, he and the other final years stride across the broken ground. A moment later, a skimmer appears and they hop inside.

  Before the skimmer can clear the horizon, the other teams are racing across the weathered wood bridges toward a building partially hidden by yellow and brown trees.

  “We need to get going,” Will says, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Enzo and Damone are anxious to get moving too. My instinct is to go along with the others automatically—after all, I’m the youngest of my team. In Five Lakes Colony, I only raised my hand in class or took the lead in an assignment if I was one hundred percent certain I was correct. But as much as I want to get started, I am not going to run blindly into a situation I know nothing about. A mistake now will cost more than the time it will take to read the clue. So, I sit down on the ground, open the green bag, and search for the information contained inside.

  As I rummage through the contents, I do a quick inventory. Four bottles of water. Four bags of dried meat. Raisins. Apples. Not a lot of food or water, which means this Induction will either be quick or require us to find more sustenance along the way. My fingers dig to the bottom of the bag and close over a large gray envelope. Inside is the promised list, although what help it could be is hard to tell: Animals, Plane, Law, Learning.

  After handing the list to Enzo, I pull out a second slip of paper and read, “A silver treasure was brought here to eat, mate, and rest. Can you now find what is left of this treasure’s nest?”

  “We’re supposed to find a bird’s nest somewhere in that building?” Will asks.

  Enzo takes the paper from me and frowns. “That seems like the obvious answer.”

  This adventure is being orchestrated by University students. They are the best and brightest of our country, which means anything obvious is most likely incorrect. “Why don’t we head inside and see what’s there?” I suggest. “The clue will probably make more sense once we figure out where we are.”

  After sliding both my University bag and the team’s green one onto my shoulder, I head across one of the bridges. The bright rays of the early day make it easy to see where newer slats of wood have replaced old ones. Those repairs are the only signs of improvement. Whatever this place is, the United Commonwealth has not deemed it important enough to revitalize. At least, not yet.

  The building peeking out from between overgrown trees and bushes is a dingy grayish green. There are holes in the roof and branches sticking out in places where animals have probably set up their homes. Dozens of sickly yellow- and brown-leafed trees grow around the structure. Though this area was not hit by the bombs that destroyed so many cities, this diseased ground demonstrates that nothing in our world was left untouched.

  On the right side of the building is a tunnel strewn with leaves, branches, and broken rock. As we pass through, I notice the ceiling of the tunnel has, like the bridges, undergone recent repairs. We emerge from the tunnel into an area filled with scraggly plants, more unhealthy trees, and lots of buckled and uneven stone walkways jutting up in front of us in different directions. I can see other buildings off in the distance.

  “Which way should we go?” Damone asks.

  Since we don’t know what kind of place this is, traveling along the stone pathways, as damaged as they might be, is the safest way to start exploring. Unfortunately, none of the walkways goes in a straight line. Instead, they bend and curve around the terrain. If we are not careful, instead of saving time, we could waste it getting lost or turned around.

  With that in mind, I pull the Transit Communicator out of my bag and turn on the compass. At least we won’t get lost. Will peers at the device and says, “If no one has a better idea, I say we go left.”

  He takes the lead, and we follow the path as it curves around an area to our right. This space must have been vibrant once, with green grass and colorful flowers. The plants that grow now are a sickly brown, although here and there, I see thriving patches of red clover. When the path forks, we follow the sharp turn to the left. The trees lining the path are more plentiful. The bushes fuller. The thicker foliage makes it hard to see what is ahead. The walkway curves again. My steps grow slower, more cautious, as I peer through the trees, trying to see if danger lurks around the next bend.

  We come to a large building. The roof is collapsed in a number of places. Weather and animals have eaten away pieces of the dark gray walls. The doors look as though they haven’t been touched in at least a decade. I am trying to decide if we should attempt to open them when a blood-chilling scream rips through the air.

  Will.

  Instinctively, I run to help. The scream came from somewhere through the foliage. Will must have decided to explore while the rest of us looked at the building. My foot catches on a piece of broken stone. I take the left path, which I hope will lead me to Will. The footsteps at my back tell me my teammates are close behind. And when I burst free of the trees, I am prepared for the worst. Which is why, when I spot Will dangling upside down, looking red-faced and very much alive inside a large metal structure, I begin to laugh.

  “Don’t just stand there,” he yells. “Help me get down.”

  Will struggles to grab the rope holding his ankles. The movement makes him swing back and forth, making me laugh even harder. Next to me, Enzo and Damone are fighting their own amusement. Finally, when our laughter subsides, I move closer for a better look.

  Standing at least twenty feet high, a rusty but still sturdy-looking chain-link fence makes up three sides of a cage. The metal fence is attached to the building, which forms the fourth side. Metal bars spaced two to three feet apart make up a grid that forms the roof. More chain link covers the grid. The rope Will dangles from is attached to a roof support located in the middle of the enclosed space. On the far right side of the cage is an opened door. That must be how Will got inside. On the left of the cage is a door that leads into the attached structure.

  “I might be tall enough to reach the rope around his ankle,” Damone offers.

  “Maybe,” I say, although I doubt it. When Damone tries to reach, he proves me right. Drat. And from the looks of the knot around Will’s ankle, working the rope free is going to take time. Meanwhile, other teams are getting closer to finding the nest and moving on to the next location. We need to get Will down and get moving—now.

  I fish my pocketknife out of my bag, climb through the cage door, and eye Damone’s lanky build with a frown. “Do you think you can lift me onto your shoulders, Damone?”

  Damone is tall but slight. And while I’m not very big, my brothers used to say that carting me around was like lifting a cow. But Damone doesn’t think I look too heavy and squats down so I can climb onto his shoulders. Moments later, I am high in the air, sawing the rope. Every time Damone shifts under my weight, I hold my breath and prepare to hit the deck. But Damone is stronger than he looks and doesn’t falter as I run my blade back and forth until finally . . . snap. The last threads of rope break free, and Will tumbles to the hard gray stone ground.

  When I am safely standing on my own two feet, I shove the knife into my pants pocket. Then, shrugging both of my bags onto my shoulder, I turn for the door in time to watch it slam closed. The distinctive clank of metal against metal announces loud and clear that the cage has been locked. Will, Damone, and I are trapped inside.

  Chapter 7

  WILL RACES PAST me to the door and yanks on the handle. Enzo tries opening it from the other side. I’m not surprised when neither is successful. Whoever rigged the rope and door traps did a good job. But we’ve already beaten one of the traps by getting Will free of the rope. Now we have to defeat the second and get out of here.

  Damone and Will climb the fen
ce, hoping to escape that way. Enzo tries to unlock the cage door while I walk to the one that leads into the building. The handle is missing, but it only takes a nudge of my foot for the door to creak open. I shove the door wider and wrinkle my nose at the musky smell of animal waste. The final years have created this scenario to test us. No doubt they will have something interesting in store. Hoping that whatever animals made that smell are harmless or gone, I turn back to my team and say, “We have to go this way.”

  “I’ll go to the other door and yell into the building from there. You can use my voice as a guide.” Enzo digs through his bag and comes up with a small metal flashlight. “You can use this, too.”

  He slips the flashlight through the fence. I take it and realize that while we are trapped inside this cage, Enzo is free to solve this part of the task and leave us behind. Will he be waiting for us when we find the exit? There is only one way to find out.

  “Thanks,” I say, turning on the light. “See you on the other side.”

  Taking one last breath of fresh air, I duck through the door. The smell of urine and decay makes me gag as I pan the light around the small room. I see rotting cabinets, counters strewn with dust and mouse droppings, and an overturned metal stool. At the back of the room is another door. I push the stool out of the way and cross to the door, making sure Will and Damone are right behind.

  I hear the sound of tiny feet scurrying across the cracked tile of a long, narrow hallway. My father and his team have discovered several methods to limit the rat population in our area. I know other colonies and the city of Tosu have done the same. But the glow of dozens of pairs of eyes as they reflect my light tells me the rat population in this area has gone unchecked. Yick.

  The smell of stagnant water and animal feces grows stronger as I step into the next room and gasp. Most of the ceiling is gone. Light streams in, giving me a clear view. This room—if it can be called a room—is enormous. The ground grows uneven as I walk deeper into the cavernous space. The floor looks like rock, but when I run my fingers over it, it feels synthetic. Something man-made. The same can be said for some of the plants that appear to be growing out of the room’s floor. Ten feet in front of my position are pieces of what must have once been a safety railing. And it is clear why it was needed. Beyond the railing is a drop of at least forty feet. At the very bottom is a river at least ten feet across. Beyond that is a large expanse of rocklike surfaces and grayish trees that stretches as high as the surface on which I currently stand. A foot placed wrong near the railing could mean a broken bone or worse.