The task
There were sixty of us, in this cold and damp room. All between the ages of six to seventeen, all shaking. All of us, female, all taken away in the dead of night, by people who we never seen the faces of as they were all in masks. I’ve only been there two weeks since they took me away, when I was in the woods with my brother, he went to collect firewood and before I knew it, they took me.
We were all trying to get warm, the older ones gave the youngsters their coats, scarves, all body heat. I was given one by the eldest girl, Fi, her name was, taken only three weeks ago, during a road trip with her friends. All the girls were taken from 3 days to one month. Trapped in a room where we were rarely given food, there was only one girl who was dead four days ago, and her decaying body was still there.
We then heard the door open, two people in masks then came out, all in red cloaks, looking at us as if we were something important to their plan. They looked around us and then one said,
“Five of you will live and do something very important for us, the rest of you, we have no use for you, when I call out your names, come with us, if you are under the age of fourteen, you’ll do the task in a few years, after some training.”
We were all shaking, wondering what the task was. But only five of us would be given that task and the other fifty-five would have our lives ended, I didn’t know which one was worse, live and the task or die, I was only young. One of the youngest there. And one of the smallest.
“Honey Delouse.”
A girl of about ten then came up to them, shivering even though she was wearing a fleece coat. Her hair was in rat tangles, haven’t been washed in about a week, making the blonde hair limp. Another person, in the same clothes, grabbed her by the hood, I could hear her screams as she was then dragged away. The other girls were taken that way too.
“Fi Gransee.”
“Anna Abitong.”
“Chi Asma.”
Fi was the only one over the age of fourteen, she looked surprised as a firm hand gripped onto her arm, twisting it and then took her out of the room. There was now one more girl, I half hoped it would be me, but I didn’t know. All the girls left were now shivering knowing that if one of them was called, everyone else would die. But how would they die, hunger, maybe, thirst, maybe. Could be anything.
“Olivia Diron.”
It was not me; it was a girl of fourteen who had only been there for six days, half tired, she was taken away before we realized what would happen to the rest of us. We looked up at the door slammed shut, my short life was over, in a few days, hours maybe in less than a minute, I’ll be dead.
I then heard gas coming from the floor, we all then stood up, older ones, holding onto younger ones. A girl named Bella held me up. The gas was as green as vomit, and I know this because I puked a few times during the summer months. The ones who couldn’t find someone to hold them up were the first to breathe the gas.
They were dead in seconds. Then the taller ones, they were dead in less than thirty seconds. I knew that we wouldn’t survive. I could see Bella falling down as she breathed in the gas. I knew that I was next. I closed my eyes and accepted death.
