Blight

Something was wrong.

I hesitated before running to him. His face was shadowed in the dim light, yet his eyes glowed with such ferocity. How he held himself was just... not like him. Instead of holding his head up, flashing his beautiful smile at me like he normally did, his shoulders were hunched. The dark, shaggy hair that normally bounced around his face fell lazily in his eyes. Micah was now in the same drab uniform we were all given, but his shirt was untucked and wrinkled. I looked at him in horror.

His eyes were so full of sadness and... anger? Was he angry?

“Micah,” I said cautiously. “What happened?”

He huffed. “Nothing.”

Liar. “Uh, that doesn’t really look like nothing.” I stood up to face him.

“I said it’s nothing.” He turned his head away hurriedly.

“Micah, look at me.” I closed the space between us and reached for his face. He winced as my fingers gripped his chin, turning his face to mine.

Bruises.

His once brown skin was now covered in purple and blue spots. A black ring formed around his left eye. Small scrapes crossed over his cheek. A little bit of dried blood rested just beneath his nose. I cringed and bit my lip. He was finally looking at me. His jaw tightened.

“What did they do to you?”

“I said it was nothing!” He spat, jerking his face from my grasp.

The fire was a small flame. Micah strode over to it and re-lit it with small blasts from his palms.

“Micah, it’s not okay. You need to tell me what happened.” Slowly, I joined him by the fire, testing his comfort zone.

“Lana, you need to shut the hell up and leave it alone.”

That was a slap in the face.

“Something is not right! You have bruises all over your face! I don’t even want to know what the rest of you might look like!” I shivered at the thought. Finally deciding to take a different route, I took a calming breath. “Where did they take you after they came to the house?”

“The Commons. They questioned me and sent me here. That’s all.”

“They didn’t-”

“Nothing else happened. Leave it.” The fire glowed brighter as his rage increased.

“Okay, okay,” I said, putting my hands up defensively. “I’m stopping. But, I wonder why Corra didn’t get on my ass about not being in bed by curfew.”

“They’re busy. Don’t ask why.”

“All right,” I sighed, defeated.

The fire subsided. Micah turned his back to me and walked down the hallway to his room.

“Good night, Lana.”

Hell, I thought. I fucked myself over. I looked down at my feet for a moment, then retreated to my dorm. A small heap of clothes sat on the top of my dresser. After a lazy inspection, it turned out to be a pair of black sweat pants and a sleep shirt. There was a strange crackling noise as I lifted the clothes up from the dresser. A bag landed on the wood with a plop.

Inside the brown bag was a thin blue stick with white bristle at one end and a squishy tube. I shrugged and took it with me as I made my way over to the girls’ restroom. The metal door creaked as I pushed it open. The bright light revealed an empty room. On the left wall, marble sinks stood with mirrors. Opposite it were toilet stalls. At the far end of the room were the showers.

I may not have known what was in the brown bag, but I sure as hell knew what a shower was.

I pulled off my shirt and pants, throwing them in a dirty clothes hamper. After removing my shoes and retrieving a towel, I shut myself in the small stall. The plastic knob turned smoothly as hot water poured from the spout, warming my shoulders. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had had a decent shower. I grabbed the bar of soap and scrubbed my body clean of the dirt and grime that clung to it. My hair detangled itself as bits of dirt flowed with the water down the drain. My feet were soon standing in murky brown water.

After rinsing myself off of vanilla soap subs, I dried myself with the soft towel and redressed in the pajamas. My shoes squeaked as I returned to the sinks. Steamy air from the shower hung above me in a swirling cloud. I pulled my sodden hair back into a braid and let it fall over my shoulder. Blood-shot eyes stared back at me in the mirror. Warm pink splotched my skin.

I took the blue stick and tube out of the bag and stared at them. I didn’t know what to do. A noise came from a stall behind me. One of the girls from the truck hurried out of the stall as the toilet flushed. She came to a sink next to me and began washing her hands. Her blonde hair was pulled back and she was in the same attire as I.

I cleared my throat. “Uh, do you know what these are?” I asked, showing the strange objects. She smiled knowingly and took them from me.

“It’s a toothbrush. A girl from Region 2 told me about it.” She twisted off the tube’s cap and squeezed its contents onto the bristle of the toothbrush. “See? You put the paste on here and clean your teeth with it by brushing.” She mimicked the motion as she explained. “Your teeth look and feel a lot better afterwards.” She flashed a slightly yellow, but clean, smile at me. “But, you have to spit it out when you’re done. And rinse your mouth.” She made a face. “You’ll get a stomach ache if you don’t.”

“Thanks,” I murmured, retrieving the brush and paste. She waved and exited the restroom. I sighed and faced the mirror, bringing the toothbrush to my mouth. A strong mint scent filled my nostrils as I began to brush. The taste of the paste was strong yet delightful. I happily finished brushing, spitting the remains into the sink, and rinsed my mouth out.

I smiled at myself in the mirror, pleased with my work. After collecting my belongings, I ventured back to my room. Only the light of the crescent moon filled my room. It looked eerie. After tossing the brown bag onto the floor and kicking off my shoes, I collapsed onto my violet comforter. It was nice to finally sleep in a decent bed.

Again, I fell into a dreamless sleep.



A loud noise rang through the hallway. Its menacingly deep tone startled me to wake. Sighing, I sat up and made my way to my dresser. These clothes were getting monotonous: white shirt, dark pants, white socks, black shoes. After dressing, I grabbed my toothbrush and paste and rushed to the bathroom. I loved the feeling of my teeth being brushed. The bathroom was a mess; girls were everywhere: showering, doing their hair, using the restroom, washing their faces. I made a face and maneuvered my way to a cluttered but unoccupied sink. Although the bathroom was rambunctious, I found some peace as I scrubbed my teeth clean.

I let my braided hair down and shoved my way out the door. The hallway was, thankfully, empty and quiet. After leaving my brush and paste on the wardrobe, I hurried to the mess hall. The smell of eggs and cheese filled my nose as I entered the large cafeteria. I smiled hungrily at my food after I joined Kenton and Bryce.

“You seem in a cheery mood,” Kenton said, shoveling toast slathered with strawberry jam into his mouth.

I nodded. “Yeah, I slept well. And last night-” I bit my lip. I didn’t know whether or not to mention Micah. “I, uh, hung out with Mel. She helped my scars a bit. They were starting to burn.” I showed my faded scars.

Bryce held up a thumbs-up and scribbled onto a notepad.

Who’s Mel?

“Yeah, who is she?”

“A good, weird, friend.” I scarfed down the rest of my cheesy scrambled eggs. “You guys should meet her.” I glanced around the room looking for her. No sign. “She’s not here now, probably in the bathroom with the rest of the girls.”

“Ah, so that’s why all the guys are getting first dibs.” He nudged Bryce. “The ladies are getting all dolled-up.”

“Oh yeah, like they would try to impress you.”

Bryce smiled as Kenton scoffed. “I am pretty good-looking, if I do say so myself.”

“Oh dear goodness, he’s got an ego!” I fake gagged and laughed at his expression.

“Can I join ya?” Mel asked, standing to my left.

“Duh,” I responded, scooting over. “Guys, Mel. Mel, Kenton and Bryce.”

“‘ey,” she said, nodding to their recognition.

“You might want to watch out,” Kenton said smiling. “ According to Lana, I have an ego now.”

“Oh, really? That’s always a good quality in most guys.” She winked at him and munched on some bacon.

“I really hope you’re sarcastic,” I sniggered. She nodded and chugged her juice.

So, what are we doing today?

Bryce looked at me questioningly as I answered, “Well, I’m assuming we’re going to start training, right?”

“I guess,” Kenton agreed. “But, you know what they always say about assumers.”

“Wha’ do they say?” Mel asked.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

Assumers are just like how it’s spelled: it makes an ‘ass’ outta ‘u’ and ‘me.’ Bryce wrote, showing the paper to Mel.

“Well, that’s stupid.”

“It’s true,” Kenton sighed, putting his hands behind his head. “Some people make pretty stupid assumptions.”

“Yeah,” I said, toying with some melted cheese on my plate.

A high pitch tone reverberated through the room. An ensemble of groans echoed the noise. Momentarily, a voice cut off the ringing:

“Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen.” It was Indra. “I assume you all slept well last night.” The group of us looked at each other and giggled. “Today will be the start of your training. Now, mind you, it will be difficult. You will be put to your limits, but I do wish you all the best of luck. Training begins in ten minutes. All of you are expected in the east wing. You will be put into groups and will begin your training from there. Good luck, and see you all in ten.” Her voice cut off and a murmur cascaded through the tables.

“We best get going, then,” I said, standing.

“Fine,” Mel declared, joining me as we headed toward the opposite wing. Kenton and Bryce followed behind.

We climbed the staircase identical to the west wing’s and entered a grand room. Again, the ceiling, walls, and tiled floor were white with gold accents.

“This school is becoming very bland,” Kenton whispered. Bryce nodded his head.

The rest of the school joined us in the opening room. We all quieted down as Indra stood in front of us with two Guards. She had a strange green box in her hand. She began her speech:

“In my hand I have a random organizer. It is programmed with all of your names. I will press a button and it will randomly select five of you to a group, regardless of your power. Those selected to a group will be partners for the rest of the year. You all must learn to work together as a team, to use your strengths and weaknesses to get through any tests we put you all in. Finally, we will also give you bracelets with your team number. Every group will receive a number. It will begin at One and end at Fifty-Four. Respect your future teammates, and here we go!”

She dramatically pressed the button. Long silver lights flashed and encircled us. It was almost like the lights were looking at us, testing our DNA or something. Finally, when the lights returned to the box, it beeped. Indra smiled and began calling out names. After she finished placing a few people into groups up to group Twenty, they were given their bracelets, and she pressed the button again. The same silver lights escaped and twirled around us individually. They circled back to the box, she read off the names again. At Thirty-Six, she called my name.

“Lana Hawkins, Bryce Smalls, Kenton Baxtor, Melanie McConnell, and,” she smiled as she announced the final name, “Micah Henson.”

“WHAT?” I exclaimed.

“You have got to be kidding,” Kenton said, bewildered.

“Cool,” Mel rendered as she held out her right wrist to a burly Guard who put on her bracelet. The other gave me mine. I looked at the black wristlet. Large white numbers contrasted. Thirty-Six. Indra continued the routine until she finished listing off the members of group Fifty-Four.

“Training begins now,” she declared. “You all will start in the open rec room. It has weights, treadmills, yoga centers, and anything else you will need to build strength. Go.”

Large metal doors behind her opened to an equally large room. It was full of strange balls, mats, machines, and benches with bars. Kenton, Bryce, Mel, and I went to strange moving machines first.

“These are called treadmills,” Mel explained. “You run on ‘em. It’s a never-ending stretch o’ land, basically.” She hopped on one and pressed a number of buttons. “Hit ‘Start’ and then whatever speed ya want. The higher the number, the faster ya go. Try it.” The rest of us climbed onto the machines and stared at the control panels.

“Wait,” Kenton said. “What about Micah? He’s not even here.”

“True,” Mel agreed. “I’ll go talk t’one of the Guards. You guys get runnin’.” She leaped off the speeding treadmill and strolled over to the burly Guard.

I started my speed at a ‘6’ and began running at a decent pace. Next to me, Kenton was sprinting at ‘10’ and Bryce was on his other side, jogging. Bryce and I were drenched with sweat when Melanie returned a few minutes later.

“They said he is here,” she huffed as she ran on my right. “I don’t know where he is, but accordin’ to ‘em, he’s here.”

“Weird,” Kenton gasped. He was starting to turn red.

“Bro, slo’ down or you’ll kill yourself. Hit the ‘Down’ button. It’ll go down a speed. Dummy.” He did so and met me at ‘6’. We continued running for another ten minutes before Mel stopped hers and wiped her brow. “Time for some weights.” She led us to the benches with bars. Kenton helped her place weights on the bar and laid under it, like she said. “Ya lift it up and ‘press it.’ That means you push it up and down while laying down, like that guy,” she said, jabbing a finger behind her to a guy from group Fifteen ‘pressing’ like a wild man. “Do it ten times.” Kenton did so, struggling after seven.

“Your turn,” he nodded to Bryce, wiping sweat off his face with his shirt. Bryce replaced Kenton on the bench and did as he had previously done. Only, he stopped at five and couldn’t continue on.

“It’s cool, Lil’ Man,” Mel smiled reassuringly. “You’ll get better at it.” She made Kenton take off most of the weights and pointed to me. “Go.”

I laid under the bar and gripped the warm metal. Carefully, I lifted it and proceeded to attempt ten presses. My upper arms were on fire as I pushed up. After the ten reps, Melanie took my place and finished her ten. Unlike the rest of us, she was barely sweaty.

“Yoga time!” She ran over to the mats and motioned for us to claim our own.

Melanie advised us what poses to do and how to do them. After we all collapsed in a circle on our mats twenty minutes later in a relaxed state, it was time for lunch.

“You are to continue training after lunch!” Indra announced after the piercing tone.

I was going to die.