Silenced

Chapter 1: Wyatt

December 16, 2112, 27 years after The Endwar

“I miss them already,” I softly lament.

“Your parents?” Clay responds.

I nod, my eyes beginning to well up with tears. I turn toward the train window and try to wipe them away, but they just keep coming. Defeated, I drop my hand and gaze through the crystal-clear glass. Staring out at the beautiful landscape of my home rushing by only makes the pain worse.

“I’m sorry, man. I miss my parents too. But, hey, you’ll still get to see Lilly.”

His pale complexion turns pink at my look. He runs a self-conscious hand through his short blond hair.

“Your sister is going to make it. We all will. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I grumble. “Anything can happen in the Test. Look, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but I’d like to be alone right now.”

“All right,” he replies with concern in his tone. “I’ll go see if I can find Piper.”

His soft footfalls and the electronic whir of the automatic doors denote his departure. My stomach plunges, but talking about my parents only deepens the growing abyss. I’ll never see them again, and my twin sister and I might die in three days. Without thinking, I slam my fist into the wall. I wince at the thick, red blood oozing from my knuckles.

I know the Test was created to reduce the population, but there has to be another way all of us can live without the need for all of this. Before the Endwar, the world’s population was out of control. Homelessness was at an all-time high. At least a third of the population was living on the streets, because there was simply nowhere for people to go. The government started massacring the homeless, shooting and bombing them where they slept. The people rose up and fought back. Eventually, after seven brutal months of killing—government and citizen alike—the Administration was formed and proposed the Test. Everyone was so tired of all the constant death that they agreed. It seemed like a small price to pay.

Shaking my head, I get up from my seat and make my way to the bathroom. I want to wash my hand before anyone can see my bleeding knuckles. Especially Piper.

I’m almost to the bathroom, cradling my bloody hand, when I turn the corner and bump into Piper. My breath catches in my throat. I’ve never been able to get over her beauty—wavy blonde hair, blue eyes, and ivory skin.

“Hey, Wyatt. Oh, my gosh! What happened to your hand?”

Shit.

I tried to hide it, but of course, she noticed.

“I—tripped,” I lie, my face on fire.

“You’re as bad a liar as when I first met you, Wyatt Greene. Now, what happened?”

I sigh, defeated.

“I punched the wall,” I say, hanging my head. My heartbeat thrums rapidly from the nerves. “I know, pretty stupid. I just hate this whole thing. I don’t want to die, Piper. I don’t want you, Lilly, or Clay to die. I wanna see my parents.” I’m crying again. “Sorry. I don’t mean to put all this on you.”

Piper pulls me into a tight hug. I breathe in. She smells of vanilla and cinnamon. Her flowing blonde hair brushes my face, and I stifle a groan. I hate that I’m crying on the shoulder of the girl I love, but today has been such an emotionally draining day that I just give up. I pull her in tighter and cry harder, pouring out all of my crushing emotions.

A few minutes later, I break away. When I open my mouth to apologize, she cuts me off before I can say anything.

“Don’t you dare apologize again. You have every right to be upset. You’re my best friend. Of course, I’m going to be here for you. I am terrified, but it is going to be okay. You won’t lose any of us. I promise.”

“You sound like Clay.”

“Well, he’s right—”

“What am I right about?” Clay says as he strolls into the room.

“That we’re all going to survive,” Piper replies. “We have to.”

“Absolutely, we are. Don’t worry, Wyatt. We got your back.”

“Thanks,” I say. “Sorry about earlier.”

He waves it off. “No worries, dude. Tensions are high. Today is a rough day. But we will make it through this.” He pauses. “Hey, what happened to your hand?”

“He fell,” Piper says with a small smile.

“Trying to walk and chew gum at the same time?” Clay asks, laughing at his own joke.

“You know me.”

“Hold up,” Clay says. “We’re stopping. We must be there.”

I close my eyes and exhale. Someone grabs my hand. I open my eyes. It’s Piper. She smiles, and my heart beats faster.

“Ready?” she asks.

I grimace. She squeezes my hand in response.

There’s a static sound over the speakers, then a loud voice begins giving orders.

“Attention! We are one minute from our destination. Once we have stopped, please make your way to the front of the train. Once at the front, you will receive your tracer and then you will be led out of the train to your sleeping quarters. Please do not try to escape. We have Silencers in watchtowers all around the facility. If you run, they will kill you. Happy Test to you all!”

The speakers fall silent.

“Well, that was cheerful,” Clay comments. “Let’s go before they decide to kill us off early.” He tilts his head back and laughs.

“Yeah. Real funny,” Piper says, rolling her eyes and turning to me. “He is right, though. We need to go now.”

I nod grimly, and we make our way to the front of the train. My heart is beating faster again. I try to calm my anxiety by taking deep breaths, but it doesn’t help. The anxiety has settled in the pit of my stomach, and I still feel like I’m going to throw up. I sigh. Nothing would come up anyway. I couldn’t even eat breakfast this morning. I’ve known about this day all my life, but I still feel weak and unprepared. How am I supposed to make it through this? I need to pull myself together. I have to protect my sister. My friends. I can’t lose my head now.

I take one more deep breath and look over at Piper. She is staring at me with a concerned look on her face. I smile at her.

“Ready?” she asks again.

“Absolutely,” I reply with a bigger smile. “Let’s do this.”

She can tell the smile is fake, but doesn’t point it out. She’s probably just happy I’m not crying on her shoulder anymore. My face flushes red, and I turn away. If we survive this, I’m sure Clay will never let it go. I love the dude, but he can be pretty annoying if he wants to be, and I’ve known him since second school. My throat tightens. Everything from my childhood feels distant now, almost as if it were someone else’s. After today, nothing will ever be the same again. But here I am with no choice but to walk forward into the fiery abyss that is the Test.

We’ve reached the front of the train now, stopped at the back of a long line of other kids. My sister waves at us from the middle of the line, brushing her chestnut hair out of her face. I scan the length of the line, peering over heads—I’ve always been taller than most. That’s where I mainly differ from my twin—she’s pretty short—but other than that, our features are mostly the same. We share light brown hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. My mom used to joke that we could probably use each other as mirrors. A lump forms in my throat. Thankfully, we move fairly quickly, and I’m soon at the front.

“Hold still and tilt your head to the left,” the Silencer commands.

I glare into the black-tinted visor of his helmet. Silencers are the ones who enforce the law. They are ruthless and employed by our tyrannical government, the Administration. They earned their name by “silencing” anyone who tries to rebel or speak out against our Administration. Everyone hates the Silencers, but it’s best not to test them if you want to keep your head.

“I’m not going to tell you again, boy,” he says nastily.

I let out a long, exasperated sigh and tilt my head. I recoil when the cold metal hits the side of my neck.

“Hold still or I will personally make sure that you never even make it to the Test!” he yells right in my ear.

Tears form in my eyes as I close them. I stand still and wait for the pain. There’s a small click as the tracer capsule slides into my neck. It doesn’t hurt as badly as I thought it would, just burns a bit, but it still causes me to wince again. The Silencer says nothing but shoves me hard out the door.

I turn around to see Piper with the tracer injector against her neck. She doesn’t even flinch when it goes in. She’s too tough for that.

Once, someone shoved Piper out of her chair in class because they thought she had stolen their pencil. Piper held their arm behind their back until they begged her to let go. I loved her even more after that.

She walks over to me, sees my tears, and embraces me.

“Thanks, Piper,” I say when she lets go.

“Of course, Wyatt.”

“I love you,” I whisper too quietly for her to hear.

“Did you say something?” she asks.

I shake my head no.

We stare at each other for a few seconds. I could stand here forever, staring into her gorgeous blue eyes. But Clay walks up, and the moment is gone.

“That hurt like a mother,” he complains. “I’d love to give those Silencers a taste of their own medicine.” His teeth clench, and he takes a deep breath before continuing. “How can they be so cold? It’s like they have no soul at all. Sending kids off to die and not even caring. Screw them.”

“Yeah, screw them,” I agree. “So, what happens now?”

“We’ll go to our sleeping quarters, and then I guess training starts tomorrow,” Piper answers.

“There’s no way I’m getting any sleep tonight,” I say.

“Maybe if you had someone lying there with you to comfort you,” Piper says and winks.

I must turn pretty red because she throws back her head and laughs.

“Hilarious.”

“Just trying to lighten the mood,” she shrugs, grinning.

Piper takes my hand and squeezes it. This is torture, but I have to stop thinking about it. Even so, I keep holding her hand and don’t pull away like I should.

“Attention!” a voice booms through speakers hidden somewhere in the room that we’re in.

I’ve snapped back into reality from my moment with Piper; I haven’t even observed my surroundings. I was too busy thinking about the time I could have spent with her before the Test began. Where’s Lilly? As I scan the room, looking for my sister, I notice the length and sheer size of the room. From door to door, the room stretches about the length of two football fields, and the ceiling is almost as high as the room is long. The walls are painted stark white to match the floor and ceiling. On the opposite end of the space, three sets of double doors line the wall.

“There are two hundred and seven of you in total: a hundred and three boys and a hundred and four girls. The boys will have separate sleeping quarters from the girls. You will stay there for the rest of the night; tomorrow, you will train. Now, if you would please follow High General Mason, he will lead you to your sleeping quarters.”

I notice a Silencer at the back of the room with his helmet off, but still in his jet-black uniform. His face reminds me of the leather from the seats on the school bus, weathered and harsh from years of abuse. That must be General Mason.

“I won’t be as nice as the Director!” he yells at the top of his lungs. “Anyone still in this room in the next thirty seconds will be shot and killed!