I hear my name and fear fills up my body. I begin to get dragged away but I was too shocked to scream. I knew everything on the test. I passed the physical exam. Something in my blood. Floaters have to do with blood. What is in our blood makes us different. Is that why they create a bloodbath? To cleanse the world of whatever is different in us.
I feel myself tumble up the stairs and I stand next to the man who looks at me with a smile.
"Our next thirty contestants." The man says and the ring falls silent. Suddenly the rest of the children begin to hum. They hum the remorse song we all learn.
"Deep in our hearts
We regret to learn
You are chosen
for this harm." I mumble to myself. I hope Crissy and Robert keep clean on their promise.
We are then escorted into the rings gathering building. We walk in and the smell of oak is so strong I stumble a little.
"Welcome to your new living quarters." The man says.
"Sir what is your name?" One of the kids asks.
"My name is lieutenant Armchury, but you can all call me Arm." The man says. We all smile and nod politely like how we are taught in school. We were raised for this to happen. Every single child goes through a course. I don't know why, maybe it's to get on the good side of the government so that we get benefits during the game. The slaughter is more appropriate. As we walk through the corridors of the building we are then each assigned a room. After that we are told we will have visiting hours every Monday.
"How long will we be here for?" A girl pipes up.
"One month then the game begins." Mr. Arm says. I wish that wasn't his name, it adds humor to a place where humor should not exist. This is our lives after all. How funny can that be?
"Sir and what happens if we choose not to participate." A cocky boy says. I knew him. He must have been scared cause he was one of the most caring boys in the world. He always helped me with homework when I skipped classes and was the person I learned how to ride my bike from. His name was Ethan Farnoose.
"This," Mr. Arm says as he takes out his gun and shoots Ethan directly between the eyes. The blood splatters across those nearest to him as most of us scream.
29 left. 28 will end that way. That's what I thought, I thought about the game. I was sad to see him go but I knew he would be one of the first ones to go anyways. It's horrible that he went before the game, I didn't even know they did that.
"If you disrespect me or the game you will end up like that. Am I understood?" Mr. Arm says and we all nod.
"Sir?" A little girl asks.
"Yes?"
"Who will clean up this, um, him?"
"You all will. 29 people working together, consider it your first test."
"Test sir?" I ask not meaning to.
"You will all be tested as a group on occasion, if you fail that test then one of you will be selected at random and they will be eliminated." He says in a calm and casual voice. So calm and casual that it sent shivers down my spine and through my entire body. We all nod once again and are sent to get mops and buckets. The two strong guys pick up Ethan's body and take him to the trash as the rest of us clean up the bloodstain from the wood.
"They just killed him." A girl begins to weep.
"Shut up," A guy says.
"Leave her alone," Another guy says and before I know it they are fighting right in front of me. Others try to get them to stop but I just keep working on my spot. Trying to get the blood out so I can go to bed. After a few minutes of tussling the reapers come in and break them apart and stick their faces down and into the bloody water. When the two boys' faces stand up they are each half stained with blood.
"You are to clean your faces last. Am I understood?" The Reaper says. The boys nod and begin scrubbing.
They did kill him. And they'll kill anyone who is out of line in this game. That gave me an idea. If they aren't afraid to diminish the outliers of bad then they shouldn't be afraid to praise the good. My job was to get on everyone's good side in the government. No matter how hard it is. No matter what I have to do. I know I'll have to steal and lie and fight from past testimonies from other victors. I know I'll have to be always on my toes. The game doesn't start from when you are dropped off in the blood bath. It started when you were picked. The first casualty has already happened. Let the trumpet ring.
I know I have to look my best every day. Keeping clean is my number one task. If I can do that then I will at least be looking good for Mr. Arm. If I look good for Mr. Arm though and the other kids are smart they'll go after me in the training. They'll try to tear me down so I need to be strong. If I'm strong and on the good side of the government then nothing is in my way till I'm dropped. I doubt that if we fail a test the lucky winner of death is random. I bet they plan out who it is. As long as it's not me, I'll be okay. As long as it's not me, I can still win this. I just hope there aren't any tests where I can fail. If I fail a test then for all I know I'll be sent away to heaven or hell.
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