Savage Run (12 page)

I had no idea there were lower class
Masters.

“
Well, Mai and my father
are waiting for me. So I need to brief you about the obstacle
courses. Each obstacle has a short cut or safe zones, and if you
uncover it, the obstacle will become much easier. Some of the
shortcuts are easy to find, others nearly impossible. But I can’t
stress this enough for you, Heidi. Find those short
cuts.”

“
What specifically am I
looking for?”

He exhales. “That’s all I’m permitted to
say. These obstacles are created to evaluate you in three areas;
intelligence, physical aptness and emotional endurance.” He sounds
like he’s reciting a memorized message. “After completing the
Savage Run, we will review your results and place you in the
appropriate class based on those results.”

“
Hold on. So even if I make
it, I won’t automatically become a Master?”

“
Unfortunately,
no.”

His answer feels like a blow to my stomach.
Maybe I’m the only one who misunderstood how this program works and
that’s why so few Laborers from Culmination didn’t sign up. That’s
why Nicholas said I should turn back and go home. Ruth’s words come
back to me again. Digging my grave with three sticks of
dynamite.

“
If you can manage the
physical aspect of the obstacles, Heidi, I don’t think you’ll have
any problem qualifying for Master status.”

If
…that’s all I have? A great big
if
? Aren’t the physical aspects of
the obstacles like ninety percent of it? All I can think is how
unfair this is—completely misrepresented. I should have scrutinized
the Savage Run rules before I set out on my journey. Before I
risked my life. And took Gemma’s.

Nicholas stops by the door before he exits.
“When you become free, what’s the first thing you want to do?”

I noticed he said ‘when.’
Right now, it doesn’t feel like ‘
when
.’ It feels like
‘
never
.’ But even
so, my mind wanders toward the possibility. The opportunities would
be endless, at least compared to the possibilities I had before as
a Laborer. And it’s kind of scary, like there’s no safety net
holding me back. I’ll be able to experience my first kiss, and have
children if I want, and even have my heart broken—not that I’d ever
allow any guy to get close enough to break it. “I’ve always wanted
to…go dancing.”

The right side of his lip twitches. “Well,
good night then.” He closes the door.

After I get back in bed, I lie awake, my
mind churning with the question Nicholas asked before he left. What
will I do? And to that, I fall asleep.

Chapter 9

It takes me a moment to register that
there’s an alarm clock going off. Opening my eyes to a dark room, I
turn my head toward the sound and see red symbols reading 6:30 a.m.
Where am I? My body feels sore and I’m lying on a hard surface.
Slowly, it starts to come back to me. I registered for the Savage
Run, Sergio took my locket, my father was
furious…Nicholas…Arthor…and…Gemma. Remembering that she was shot
makes me gasp and my eyes well up with tears. Was it real? She’s
dead? I desperately yearn for it to just all be a nightmare. But it
isn’t.

I close my eyes and sit for a long while,
finally coming to the conclusion that I have to find a way to
control my emotions. The only way I know how to do this is to
pretend I don’t care. Like I’ve done so many times with my father.
Gemma didn’t really mean anything to me. She was just another
person who I brushed shoulders with, and I can live just fine
without her. I stuff the pain down, deeper and deeper and tell
myself Gemma was a good friend, yes, but I’ll be just fine like I
was before I met her. The only person I need to care about is
myself. I can’t let one friendship lost ruin my life. I have to be
rock solid; stronger than anyone, and the only person that can make
it happen is me.

Once I feel like I have a hold of my
emotions, I sit up. My new Savage Run uniform is lying on the
floor. I pick it up and place it back on the bed. I undress, and
tightly retie the gauze around my chest, then slip into the new
Savage Run uniform. The pattern is the same as the Unifers wear,
but the suit is tight fitting and made of stretchy material. A few
minutes pass. The door opens and a plate of scrambled eggs and
toast is slid into the room, next to the other one that still
remains untouched. I pick the plate up and eat it. At least the
food is much better than back home, where we never have meat or
soft bread.

At a quarter to seven, my door opens. I step
into the hallway and trail after thee others all the way to the
outside.

When I come outside, I see Nicholas, Arthor,
and—ugh—Johnny standing together and conversing. I don’t go over to
them. Hundreds of participants are making their way to the
Conference Center for the Opening Ceremonies. Some guys are walking
with their heads down, avoiding eye contact with anyone. Some are
running down the street with their city’s flag, screaming at the
top of their lungs. And others are speaking loudly, the excitement
in their voices over-exaggerated.

Mai approaches me and studies my face for a
while before saying, “You know, life doesn’t always end up the way
one imagines.”

“
Good morning,” Arthor says
with a grin, patting me on the back.

“
Hi, good morning,” I say.
“Nice outfit.” His matches mine exactly, though he fills out his
suit much better than I do.

“
Sleep well?” Johnny
asks.

He must have followed Arthor over here. Is
he talking to me—actually being civil? “Uh…yes.” I wait for his
next sarcastic remark. But it doesn’t come. I remember Arthor’s
comment yesterday, how he said that ‘everyone’s afraid.’ Maybe
Johnny is afraid, too, and he becomes nice when he is fearful.
Could be very useful during the obstacles.

A guy with bleached white hair struts past
us, pumping his fists into the air, chanting, “I’m a savage! I’m a
savage!” He moves in a jittery way, like he’s downed one too many
coffees or something. Maybe nerves—might be his way of dealing with
what’s about to transpire.

Another registrar walks up to Nicholas and I
step a little closer to listen in on their conversation.

“
I have some pretty
ambitious participants, you?” the registrar says.

“
A few.”

“
What about that Joseph of
yours?”

“
He’s a good
guy.”

“
But how come you let him
register, I mean…you don’t really think he’ll make it, do you? All
you can do is feel sorry for the little guy.”

Nicholas catches me looking at him, but he
doesn’t break eye contact. “He may be little, but he’s smart. And
he knows that all the things he needs to succeed are within the
obstacles themselves.”

I should look away, but there’s something
about looking into his eyes that makes me not want to.

“
Well, smarts will only get
you so far,” the registrar refutes. “That’s Cory, an Advisor from
Asolo.” He points to the guy with the white hair. “Cory’s Master
father, fell in love with an Advisor, and they had him. He wants to
make his father proud and complete the Savage Run so he’ll be a
Master, too, and after this he’s planning on running for office and
working for President Volkov.”

“
Interesting. Excuse me,”
Nicholas says to the registrar and walks toward Mai. “Mai, will you
escort everyone to the Conference Center? I’ll be right there with
Joseph.” Mai nods, and they start walking down the road, merging
with all the other participants. We start to walk after the others,
but at a much slower pace. “Mai insisted I tell you that during the
first obstacle—the marathon—the landmines are rigged to go off at
one hundred and fifty pounds. She thought it might help you feel
better about everything.”

“
Mai said that?”

“
Yes.”

It’s strange that she’d insist on that. But
then again, she is a woman. “Taking orders from her now?” I
tease.

“
Not usually. But I thought
it would be a good thing for you to know,” he says.

I weigh one hundred and five pounds, and he
must know this from my fake ID card. It was one of the things
Sergio didn’t change. So why is he telling me…oh. If I team up with
anyone else, I could be blown to bits if the other participant
steps on a landmine. Most likely, I’m the only one here who weighs
less than a hundred and fifty pounds. If I run alone, I’m pretty
much guaranteed that I’ll make the first obstacle.

I tuck an imaginary stray hair behind my
ear. “I don’t think it’s fair that you’re telling me this.”

“
Nothing in life is fair.
You are free to use the information anyway you want. I know it may
not be completely fair, but things are complicated.” He opens his
mouth to speak, but closes it again. Then he opens his mouth again.
“I don’t like anything about Savage Run or the creators of it. My
father sells it as an opportunity for freedom, when in reality,
it’s just another way to gain control.”

Whoa, what does that mean? I slow down a
little. His comment almost makes me think that he’s planning
against his father. Should I believe him? “So why did you choose to
work as one of the registrars if you’re so opposed to it?”

He exhales at length. “It’s the only way I
can help.”

“
Help?”

“
My father wanted me to be
the venture manager, but I would have shown my disgust for this
program too openly so I declined and told him I’d rather work in
the trenches getting to know the participants—the lower
classes.”

Either he’s really great at lying or he’s
actually telling the truth.

We stop in front of the Conference Center, a
huge white dome that glitters, and hundreds of participants and
their representatives are making their way in through different
doors.

Nicholas’s eyes turn intense. “Listen, I…I
think you just might have a chance to make it through the first
phase. The way that it’s set up, one doesn’t have to be strong to
survive—only smart. Strength will only get you so far; intelligence
will get you all the way.”

He thinks I’m smart?

“
And stay away from Johnny
if you can help it. I don’t trust him,” he says flatly, his eyes
scanning the crowd.

Yeah, he hates my guts.

Once we enter the dome, Nicholas and I press
through the crowd of young men until we catch up with the others.
The dome ceiling looks as tall as the heavens, and hundreds of
voices echo off the walls. I decide it’s safest to walk next to
Arthor, and he smiles at me when he sees me. Passing other
participants, I’m certain a few of them look at me with disdain,
but I throw the thought from my mind. I’m just being overly
paranoid. I’m hardly important enough that they would be thinking
about me right now; they’re probably just stressed about the long
days ahead.

“
I get the feeling imps
receive extra perks,” Johnny sneers, appearing out of nowhere. He
walks uncomfortably close to me, shoving me just enough so I lose
my balance and stumble.

He does have a point. Nicholas did tell me
about how the landmines won’t detonate under my weight.

“
Why are you trying so hard
to make yourself look stronger and more superior?” Arthor asks
Johnny.

“
I’m not trying to make
myself look stronger and more superior. I
am
stronger and more superior. Thing
is, it makes me angry when another participant gets an unfair
advantage over me,” Johnny says, shoving me a little harder so I go
tumbling toward the ground. Fortunately, Arthor catches
me.

“
Come on, man,” Arthor
says, helping me find my balance. “Give him some slack.”

“
Slack? Are you serious?
Are you on the imp’s side? Don’t you see that Joseph is receiving
preferential treatment?”

“
Just drop it,” Arthor
says.

“
Hey, I’m just speaking up
for everyone,” Johnny says. “This is ridiculous. Seriously…” He
huffs, but thankfully he shuts up and walks ahead to the front of
our group.

We take our seats on the tenth row, with me
sitting between Arthor and Nicholas. There are ten chairs on the
stage and a stand where I’m sure President Volkov will be speaking
from. The hall fills up quickly as participants funnel in from
every direction, their voices so loud I can’t hear what Mai is
trying to say to me even though she sits right next to Nicholas.
When the clock on the wall reads 7:30 a.m., a trumpet march blasts
through the speakers. I almost swallow my tongue. I recognize the
upbeat melody as the one they played before each Savage Run
pre-event newscast. The apothecaries would be glued to the radio
whenever I came to pick up medicine. My father wouldn’t be caught
dead listening to it or reading about it in the paper. But I do
wonder if he’s watching now, cursing my name, or if he’s rotting
away in some prison, cursing my name. Surely he must hate me so
much more after what I did to him. I never did anything to deserve
his contempt more. And I’m to blame, of course.

The music fades and a representative with
silver hair and an athletic build walks onto the stage, taking his
place behind the stand. “Welcome to the Savage Run!” he says. “My
name is Otto Jensen, or O.J. and I am the official host of the
Savage Run. On this premier day of this event, we have put together
a small audiovisual of the ten most memorable moments in Newland
obstacle course history that inspired the obstacles in the Savage
Run. I hope it will motivate all you participants here today.
Enjoy!”