The Test

In order to determine the 300 participants for the Three Trials, a test must be given out to score the top 300 teens across the globe and choose who will be leading their country to the trials.

Chapter 2
            The Test

            Zelda left the apartment and made her way to her old school. This was the second year she took the test for the government. It was one of the hardest tests she ever took before. Studying for it was against the rules but who would want to when the top kids in the world would be picked to undergo the Republic’s medical study as lab rats. In each town a hundred teens between the ages of twelve to eighteen were picked to take the test. It was all completed based on reading, math, science, and physical education. Each portion of the test was always an hour long and closely supervised by teachers who were handpicked by the government to teach and prepare students for the test. Like the ‘lab rats’, teachers were also picked but from a drawing to determine who would follow their students to these ‘three trials’. Zelda looked down at her black gloved hands, no cheating, no lying, and no giving the wrong answer when you know which one is correct. It was just year ago when another student tried to cheat the system by giving all the wrong answers; they took him away and gave him a death serum outside near what once was an old playground. The Trials were extremely important to the medical research program. In other words: the trials would determine what to put into this year’s batch of new drugs.
            The school stood on the corner of the street, the bricks glittering after a quick wash. Sophia was waving at her from the gates, her silent boyfriend behind her.
"They said we're taking science first," Sophia told her as they hooked arms and walked past a few other teens who wore loose button shirts and dirty jeans, their faces dirty from sweeping the people's chimneys or working in the coal factories. They walked past one whose hair was pure black with soot, eyes gray with death and face dusty yet he was smiling.
"Names?" An officer in red asked, his face covered with a helmet.
"Sophia Melans, and Zelda Evans." They chimed together. He stepped aside and Sophia kissed her boyfriend goodbye before he left through the gates.
"Why doesn't he talk?"
"He's afraid of talking. Last year his entire family was shot down because they were Freedom Fighters, only he got away and showed up here. I'm not entirely sure what the story is but he's living with another family down the block from me." Sophia said smiling at her. An older teacher gave them pens and directed them into a classroom where twelve shiny white computers sat on twelve oak desks. They looked out of place in this room, the shiny sparkly computers.
            Eight other teens sat in desks, a few mingling with each other while the others sat silently looking out the windows or the floors. One boy with curly red hair sat by the window, a scar running down his face as he kept to himself and looked out the window hoping this was all just a dream. A girl with giant green eyes was talking to someone using her watch while she filed her nails, another boy that stood out to Zelda was sitting in the corner where he fiddle with his fingers under his desk making sexual remarks about the girl in front of him, sick pig. Zelda took a seat near the front desk, Sophia next to her and they stared at their screens where the only words were Do Not Type Name Until Told To Do So that flashed across the screen and a small box below it with a blinking black bar inside ready for the test. Across from her desk stood a larger desk covered in tiny like pads that changed colors in sync. On what was used to be a chalkboard, was a large white screen with the picture of the government's crest glittering while tiny stars flew behind it.
            Zelda glared at the screen, her eyes focused on the shield that surrounded the eagle with his winds expanded to show 'power' and 'bravery' while he held a sword to show 'strength' and finally the words Una est et unum omnes written on the bottom of the shield. All is one and one is all. The entire crest was in silver on the screen, the updated version. In every town, like Water Bank, a black flag with the same crest was printed on the flag but had a colored in eagle with the sword a silver color, the shield gold and the phrase was in a darker gold color. Their flag was waving death over the whole town as it fluttered on top of the town’s bank, a place she hardly visited because of the medics that stood in front handing out free drugs for various occasions.
One more girl walked in and sat in the back before the bell in the hallways rang and the teacher walked in and closed the doors.
"I'm Victoria Molundihide, a teacher at St. Andrews Academy near the heart of the city. Today we will start with science and work our way from there. Breaks are not permitted until after math and I do not tolerate talking! Please put all ear pieces inside the case that is being passed around. Now, from now on no talking until break, I will have-"A large sharp knocking cut her off and she grunted and opened the door.
"She has an excuse." The officer said before letting a girl in the wheelchair walk in, her face and hair wet from the snow. She hopped to the last open desk next to Zelda and sat down, placing her bag next to her. Zelda was handed the earpiece case and she passed it onto the girl.
“Where is your ear piece?” Molundihide asked Zelda.
“I left it at home, it was glitching on me so my father is having a look at it,” Zelda lied. Molundihide glared at her for a moment before pointing at the screen with a pointer.
"Now I need names and ages. Let’s start over here," She pointed at the talkative girl.
"Megan Richards, seventeen," She spat. Molundihide smirked and pointed at the glittering board that checked off her name using a pink highlighter color.
"Dustin Hyde, fourteen," The red hair boy said, his name highlighting in green.
"Fleur Zycholf, sixteen," The blonde girl with huge eyelashes said with no interest, her name in gold.
"Sam White, seventeen." His name in blue. The list continued up and down the rows, the colors of purple, brown, yellow, orange and crème showing up.
"Zelda Evans, Seventeen," Zelda said. Molundihide looked over at her, her face in distress.
"You're Michael's sister?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"He took the test under my supervision. Let's hope you have better luck then him," She pointed at the screen; Zelda's name highlighted in… red. Red… the color of fire and blood. Zelda's stomach boiled in anger at the teacher. His death was an accident during the final trial phase. The entire world witnessed him burn alive. Michael Evans was the only teen to have died during the Republic’s trials. After his death, the Republic released the morning pill early and force fed the pills to rebels.
            Sophia's name was highlighted in bright green before the small little girl next to Zelda squeaked and Zelda was pulled out of her dream state.
"Emily Spark." She whispered before she went into a coughing fit. Molundihide looked at her in disgust and her name was highlighted in bright orange.
"Alright the rules for this are simple. All the questions are on the computer screen. On the keypad is a small pad. Place your finger on there so they can scan your fingerprint." All of them placed their finger on the scanner including Molundihide who placed her finger on her tablet. Zelda's name, fingerprint and record shot on the screen, her face staring back at her with no expression.
"Alright from now on your computer knows everything about you, including your grades. Now on the side of the computer is a small compartment, push the green button. Zelda looked over and saw the green button and pushed it, the compartment opened to reveal a silver cord and green pad attached to it. "Take out the pad and stick it on your right arm. On the inside is a small needle that will inject a data code chip; this will let the computer know your blood pulse, and if by chance you think you're going to fail on purpose you won't be able to. If you are cleared from the tests and aren't in the top three hundred the data code chip will disintegrate into your blood stream without any harm. This bad boy will know and shock you if you're lying, got it?" She looked over at Megan who stared at her screen in anger.
            Zelda silently took the paper off the back of the pad and placed it on her arm, the little needle stabbing her skin. She winced in pain and slowly her arm grew warm and a small black looking square chip entered her skin and blinked green. Her heartbeat appeared on the board by Molundihide along with the eleven other test takers. Molundihide smiled and placed her tablet on the table. Zelda saw her blood result show up on the screen, A positive. She sighed a relief and smiled at Sophia; the pills really did work.
"Three hundred participants will be chosen, last year only three United States' teenagers were picked but they were in the two hundreds. I expect this year that if I ever taught you that you pass this test with flying colors. Becoming a part of the Trials isn't a punishment, it is an honor. Your participation will be greatly helpful when creating this year’s newest medications."
            Emily raised her hand, her fingers shaking. "When is the physical examination?" Molundihide smirk at her and checked her tablet. "For this bunch, it's after lunch. Now anymore questions?" The room was quiet and few shuffled in their seats as shots from outside rang out. "Good! Just click on the science box and you may begin. One hour-“
“Yeah I actually have a question.” Sam’s voice rang out. Moulndihide glared at him before she smiled in an unflattering way. “How does these test determine who will be picked?”
“The computer will receive your test scores and connect them with the database around the world. From there the computer will determine which blood types could be useful for this year’s trials and continue from there,” Moulndihide responded. Sam opened his mouth and then closed it immediately. “Now please begin.”
            The class worked silently as they answered questions by looking at graphs or reading articles from labs that the government conducted research on years ago. Zelda finished all thirty questions within thirty minutes and noticed she didn't miss a single answer based on what the board recorded. Emily finished second and didn't miss a single answer as well. A yelp came from Sam and his name on the board turned a deep blue. Molundihide glared at him as she checked something off her tablet and continued walking around the room. When the small ginger boy finished last missing fifteen questions, Molundihide instructed them to continue the reading portion. Forty minutes later, Emily and Zelda again finished first and second not missing a single question. Why are these questions so… easy? Zelda studied her record that was on her screen. Her record was clean except for the small summary of her brother perishing in the 100th games.                                                Sophia finished with six questions missed along with Megan who missed eight. Molundihide ended up cutting the connections after the hour, half the class not even close to finishing.
            Math went by smoothly as Zelda passed with flying colors again along with Emily and this time Sophia as well. The lunch bell rang and everyone was dismissed.
 "Emily Spark and Zelda Evans, you two will be back here after the physical to take the writing portion." The board behind her changed as the top 300 hundred teens appeared on the screen. Most of them were teens from Japan, China and Russia the richest countries and most supportive by the government. It wasn't a surprise considering the last time the US won was almost thirty years ago. "Surprisingly you two are in the top one hundred for the US as of now. Hawaii and Alaska haven't started yet but you have my deepest respects."
"Thank you ma' me," Zelda whispered as she helped Emily out into the hallway, Sophia waiting there patiently. "We're in the top one hundred."
"What about worldwide?" Sophia asked. "It didn't say," Zelda replied.
"My mother told me they announce the three hundred players after Hawaii's test scores are in. My mother's brother was picked thirty years ago. He was taken out in the second trial when he almost froze to death, but he helped Laurence win the first trial. I wonder where Laurence is now…" Emily asked, her crutches making crunching noises on the stone floor. They reached the café where everyone was given lunch. They approached the counter where a large woman handed them a small muffin, corn, two pieces of bread, cheese and beef. In a small vile was two purple pills that Zelda looked at in disgust. The purple pills were relaxers but more so for entertainment.            
            They sat down at a small circular table and ate quietly, officers watching students like hawks, their guns visible on their belt and jacket. Emily picked at her meal, her fork tracing a corn circle she made herself. She picked up the vile and tossed the two pills into her mouth before swallowing them with water. She looked over at Zelda and Sophia, a small smile on her face.
“Why haven’t you taken yours?” Emily asked Zelda. Sophia pretended to take hers and Zelda saw her crush the tiny pills in her fist and place the shredded remains inside her napkin. Zelda grabbed the vile and tossed her head back the pills gliding into her mouth. She pretended to start coughing and grabbed her napkin, the pills exiting her mouth and suddenly crushed by Zelda’s hand. Emily handed Zelda a bottle of water and a few guards looked over and slowly approached Zelda.
“Are you alright ma ’me?”
“Sorry! She’s used to taking injections instead of pills. Her throat is tiny, you see,” Sophia said quickly, a simple lie that they lived by since Michael’s death.
“I’m feeling much better now,” Zelda coughed and gave the guard a small smile. He left them at once and went back to pacing the café. 
“It’s such a shame that I can’t perform in the physical exam,” Emily said after Zelda started picking at her food. She was even afraid of eating the government’s food in case they placed serums to really have a field day with the population.
"We just show off our strength and run around and show some government officials what we can do with a weapon. My specialty is knives of course," Sophia smiled "I just realized… you have a brother name Sam don't you?" Emily asked Zelda.
"Yeah but we call him Sammy. Why?"
"He's in my class. Whenever I get picked on… he stands up for me."
"Yep, that's Sammy alright." Zelda responded with a small smile. She watched Emily wipe her mouth, a purple stain embedded inside the napkin. Zelda and Sophia’s eyes went wide and Sophia pressed a finger to her lips.
“Since your brother’s death many of us stopped taking the morning pill. My father creates antidotes that act like the morning pill that we would take when the drug testers would come. My family… they looked up to your brother, Zelda. He really was a diamond in the rough,” Emily whispered. “Then again I see you two stopped taking it a long time ago. Your brother, Sammy, doesn’t act like all the other kids. He talks about dreams that he has to me.”
"Alright back to testing!" An officer said near the door. Silently everyone stood up and tossed their garbage in the bins by the door and headed out. The nine teens from their class stood in the hallway unaware of their presence.
"You'll be testing outside, grab your coats and not another word." An older looking male officer told them. Zelda handed Emily her gloves. "You need these to keep your hands from bleeding. I won't need them." Carefully she helped Emily put the gloves on her hands and walked outside to the wind biting cold, the rest of their group already in the process of showing off. Sam was laughing at Megan as she tried using a bow.
"Her fingers aren't in the right position, and she's not focused on her target," Zelda said.
"No s**t, that brat couldn't even handle a textbook even if she wanted to," Sam laughed. The governments’ officials waved Megan aside and watched the red head boy pick up a blade and cut through the dummy swiftly; the faces on them looked impressed as they wrote on their clipboards.
"Sam?" One of them asked, his mouth covered by a scarf.
"Watch this, ladies," Sam winked at them. He walked up to the weapon counter and chose a long stick with a sharp edge. "For my next trick, I will hit that dummy from two hundred feet," Sam said to them as he pointed at the dummy near the brick wall that was exactly two hundred yards away. He stared at his target long and hard before throwing the stick, the edge hitting his target knocking the top part of its head off. The officials clapped and gave him thumbs up while they circled his name on their boards. He tossed his shoulder length black hair at Sophia and raised his eyebrows at her before he went over to sit by Emily. His head tilting as he checked out Sophia.
"Sophia!" The same man in the scarf shouted. Sophia snorted and rose from the bench they were sitting at, Emily clapped softly.
            Sophia stared at Sam as he talked with an official next to him, the man clearly not paying a bit of attention at her. Was this some kind of joke? What Sam did was just showing off, not real training. He was a bug compared to how much training she and Zelda went through to survive in this run down s**t hole. Sophia couldn’t stand the ones who had personalities that made them have big heads. Deep in her thoughts, Sophia picked up three knives; her best talent was in fact throwing knives at long distant. She looked over at the official who was now watching her, Sam sitting beside Zelda and Emily, his eyes glittering with lust. Sophia ignored him and walked over towards the pad.
"Sam's little act was cute I admit, but have you ever seen a knife fly-" She threw the knife at the ten yard mark dummy in the gut. "At ten feet?" She threw it again at the thirty foot away dummy, the knife hitting it in the heart. "At thirty?" Finally she looked over at the dummy standing on top of a small platform, a small fire burned around it, the target at fifty feet. She gathered everything her father ever taught her about throwing knives. The speed is equal to the amount of energy you gather from your arms and legs. She closed her eyes and quickly took a step forward and whipped the blade. The knife shot off like a bullet and smacked the dummy in the head, its stand falling backwards taking the dummy with it. The official who was once impressed with Sam was now eager at Sophia's performance.
"Well done!" The man with the scarf shouted as he clapped for her. The other officials agreed and circled her name on their clipboards as well while she bowed and sat down next to Emily.
"Show off," Sam joked at her. Sophia ignored him; she watched Sam take out the two purple pills from lunch and stuff them in his mouth. His body relaxed and his eyes rolled before he sighed in relief. Sophia shook her head at Emily and looked over at Zelda.
"Zelda!"
            Zelda took a deep breath and walked forward keeping her eyes on the bow and arrow that stood on a stand. She wasn’t a huge fan of the bow as a weapon, but she was raised to use it for hunting and the government hardly allowed citizens to use anything else for hunting. The officials watched her and smirked. "Better hope you actually know how to use one!" They laughed at her before she placed an arrow on the bow and shot at the thirty feet dummy target. "Yeah I know how to use one," Zelda replied. The main official pulled down his scarf and pushed a button on his clipboard. "Since archery is a rare skill in the government we suggest you perform with the newest form of testing we can provide. You'll be performing with real holograph figures."
            The long pad beneath her transformed into a forest floor and around her stood trees, the sounds of birds singing in the distant and ahead a doe was watching her. Zelda looked around and noticed she was inside a glass box, she couldn't see anyone outside because she was surrounded by trees. A black figure surrounded by colorful squares ran towards her and she shot him in the heart. Another one was in the trees and Zelda shot him down; two came at her with spears, Zelda shot one, rolled on the floor avoiding the spear thrown at her and shot the enemy in the back. The forest was up in flames all of a sudden, the smell of burnt wood and skin came to her nose and she gagged before noticing a fireball come at her, she ducked and shot the figure holding another fireball. Her mind was racing as more figures were approaching her. Her breath quickened as she kept killing them and blocking their attacks. She was running low of arrows before the area around her changed into what looked like the ocean floor. Her vision was starting to get blurry and she slammed into the ground, a strange gray figure with a circular mouth full of fangs was screaming at her, its eyes blood red. Zelda shook him off and shot her arrow at him. She took another arrow out of her bag and noticed her bag was refilled with arrows. She looked at the arrow and saw it was different, it was lighter and a deep shade of black. What was that thing though? Another one swam towards her and she shot it in the throat. Around her the holograph vanished and she noticed from the outside of the glass, Emily and Sophia were clapping and Sam was smiling. The glass moved downwards as the ceiling opened up and moved down. Zelda breathed in cold air and tossed her bow and arrow on the pad.

Author's Note

I'm only looking for feedback on the dialogue, characters and plot line. Thank You!