Chapter 18
The Seventh Zone
Terror creeps down my spine, my eyes shooting open, darting from the left to the right.
Alert, I am unsure of what’s about to happen.
I prayed for a miracle last night. There’s none.
But God always answers prayers. I believe this.
My dad taught me this. So, since I see nothing in this prison cell except myself, I must be the miracle.
Yeah. I must be my own answer. It must be inside of me.
Standing up suddenly, my mind awakens in an ocean of thoughts, trying to think of ways to escape this cell.
How can I escape? The ground, walls, ceilings are all made of metal.
There is nothing around me. There is no opening anywhere.
No bed. No pillow. No plates. No forks. Even my shoes were taken. And replaced with a new one.
I can’t find anything in my mind, in my heart, in my thoughts. So, I begin to search. I search myself, my clothes, all around me, to see if I have anything in my dress pockets. That’s when I find it.
A note.
And it’s from Pesh.
For a moment, I am reluctant to read it, but then I quickly open it, frantic.
It reads, I’m sorry I had to be so aggressive, but I was running out of time.
They were watching your every move, so I couldn’t tell you the truth at the time.
First, when I kissed you, I secretly evaped you from The Commons tracker with my Evaporizer, so no one can track you.
You are currently approaching the portion of Commonda Island which is known as The Seventh Zone.
When you get off, stay with group E. The first E.
I will meet you and help you and Levon escape.
Please trust me one last time. With all my heart, – P.
I don’t know what to think, but I feel the ship come to a stop, so I know I need to move quickly and join group E (whatever that means).
At this stage, what do I have to lose? I am still not sure if I trust Pesh.
But if there is anything I am sure of in this moment, it is this, I have to trust the voice inside of me.
A guard unlocks my door, leading me forward.
I begin to walk across the ship’s corridor along with the other students.
The sound of footsteps echo across the deck as we walk across the alleyway.
I notice figures and shadows on the floor beneath me as they lead us out like captives.
I walk past the golden statues in the ship, trying to calm my racing heart as the Water Patrons push us in the direction of the ship’s exit. There are about twenty or so of us.
Upon stepping out of the ship, I notice there are rock formations on different corners in the distance.
The mountains tower over the lagoon-blue sea.
There are cliffs of different shapes, like colossal caves where one can stand to see the ocean below.
Leaves scarcely surround the area with pink flowers that look so beautiful, like the beauty that comes after death, like flowers on a graveyard.
I shake off the sand stuck inside my sandals from the beach.
The sand is white-silver. It feels like snow on my skin, yet smooth like glass.
I look away from my feet and look to my right to see about seven ships on the shore of the beach.
I squint to get a better view, quite entranced by how alluring they look.
The ships look like they are made from pure gold, some pure silver.
Some are jet black. Others look like they are made from a transparent water-blue substance.
Each ship has beads of code-like inscriptions all over its exterior.
The ships look like a treasure chest. Its sails are desert-sand colored with golden fabric.
My heart is racing. The ships exude designs that speak of wealth and power, like this place is a kingdom all by itself.
Bands of regal looking Water Patrons emerge from the white and blue transparent ships, while some other students exit from the gold and silver ones. The Water Patrons are dressed in diving suits, like they just returned from the ocean floor. They look ruthless and fierce.
I look away from the seven ships to see seven high-rise buildings with about seventeen floors each. Each is built in the shape of a letter that spells out SEVEN ZN.
Oh my God.
The Seventh Zone.
I look at the S building to see workers carrying carts. I narrow my eyes to read what’s on the label and it says, “Conzamine.” Another one says, “Condoxin.” Oh my goodness, they’re making drugs.
I see a giant man with white hair walk out to welcome us. “Welcome students to The Seventh Zone,” the man says.
“We don’t want to be here!” a boy behind me screams.
“Colar, go drown that student!” He refers to a Water Patron.
I take a huge breath, terrified.
Oh my God.
The student screams as he is taken to the beach by a Water Patron.
His face is mashed into the water and held there.
I look away, unable to keep watching. Muscles in my face tighten and tears cloud my eyes at the sound of the boy’s muffled screams, but I cannot let the tears fall.
My fists clench together, tighter, and tighter as I try to control myself from losing it and facing the same fate.
The man continues to speak, “There’s always one. Now, does any other Commoner want to interrupt me?”
We all stand still and gulp, petrified.
“That’s right. I didn’t think so! This is The Seventh Zone.
And you will be put to work in one zone for the rest of your life.
But since we’re nice, we’ll let you pick your area of strength.
We are divided into seven buildings where we manufacture goods that run this country and the entire world.
Well, we spearhead it all. Every product contains Conzamine.
Conzamine in tiny doses is not harmful. But over time, with more exposure, it will create a Common Gene in every citizen in the entire world. ”
A Common Gene? What on earth?
“Yes. We are robotizing society to limit their free will and individuality over Common rule. It doesn’t happen instantly, though its effect is invariably already working in the Common World.”
God Almighty!
The guards hand each one of us a paper. On it, I see:
S – Scientific and Special Substances (drugs like Conzamine and Condoxin).
E – Experiments (we experiment on you for different drugs, death is probable).
V – Vaccinations and Vehicles (make special vaccines and make cars; we test the vaccines on you and sometimes drive the cars past you to test its likelihood of being a killing machine).
E – Electronics (TV’s, phones, chips, gadgets etc…)
N – Nuclear Weapons (smart people only).
Z – Zoo (you take care of wild animals and everything nature).
N – Necklaces and all things jewelry (including medallions, crowns and such).
I know what I have to do, so I raise my hands instantly. “I pick E!” I shout.
“Enthusiastic, I like it. What E? Electronics or Experiments?”
I contemplate my answer. Experiments was the first E on the paper, but Pesh wrote that I should pick the first E as a general concept. I just have to go with him on this, so I reply his exact words from the note. “The first E!”
“The first E, hmm you want experiments because that’s what’s on paper, but that’s not the first thing I said when I asked you what E, so you’ll get electronics instead. Now who’s next?”
Oh my God. I see what he did there. Had I not listened to Pesh, I would have been tricked into the experiment group.
I exhale and look at the others, terrified for them.
“You all have to pick, but we can only have 3 of you in each since there are 21 of you left. Yes, we knew we would have to kill one of you upon arrival, so you understand what manner of a place you have been stationed to. You obey us. You serve us. And in return we will feed you, give you a decent home, and even pay you a monthly allowance to send money back to your parents so they know you’re making money moves. ”
The rest of the students select what zone they would like to be put in and others are forced into the remaining spaces. We are each taken toward our building by one guard.
Just as we are about to enter the elevator, I look to the side and see a girl in a torn uniform strapped to a stretcher.
A muffled scream escapes from her mouth, tears flooding down her eyes.
She is carried by two men in white uniforms with syringes sticking out from their pockets.
They are pushing her toward the experiment building in haste.
I look around and notice some students in uniform working outside, carrying carts.
With their fingers, I notice they make an L sign, followed by a C.
They all do it furtively as though to mourn, and I notice one guy whisper under his breath with his shaking fists clenched tightly.
I try to make out what he is whispering to himself as I see others repeating the same action.
I think he is saying—For The Love of The Commoners.
The L and the C must stand for that. A feeling of dread consumes me as I realize the girl on the stretcher is being taken to be killed.
I can barely breathe, but I tighten every muscle in my body to stop my emotions from exploding.
My fists clench. Before I can blink, the elevator closes and begins to zoom upward.