Trials

Chapter 11- Jenna

          Jenna was exhausted. She knew that it was almost time for Transformation, or so her instructors said, but that would have to wait. Today was sparring day. Oh how she loved sparring! She always overpowered her partner. Usually some amateur who was afraid of their own shadow. 

           But then she sees him, her sparring partner, a small boy talking to Instructor Mike. Jenna walks closer so she can eavesdrop.

         "Yes but I was with Dr. Whitman, Instructor. He says I should be resting. My roommate is back resting in my room, why can't I?" He complains.

         Instructor Mike sighs. "Noah we've talked about this. You're fine. Murphy is in trouble for skipping training too much. Now, we are sparring. Go find your spar partner. I see her over there."

       "So he gets rewarded with sleep!" Noah complains.

       "It's a warning. Now go spar with Jenna."

        Noah turns his glare over to Jenna, seeming to tear through Jenna's hazel eyes. This would be easy. He looked young, but he didn't seem intimidated by Jenna's height or her competitive stare. He seemed... bored.

        "Hi..." Noah says shyly.

         "Hey," She replies.

          Noah stares around the room vacantly. The boy was young, but looked strong. Strong enough to beat her. Uh oh, he probably could beat her. Maybe that's why he wasn't scared. Maybe he started fights in his Trial or something. What if he tore her to shreds! No. No Jenna. He's smaller than you. He's just-

          "So... should we fight?" Noah says plainly.

          Jenna shakes out her head.

          "Yea,." She says putting her fists up.

         Noah takes the first swing and Jenna ducks, reaching for his arm.

        So he was an amateur. Jenna couldn't believe she thought that he could beat her. Never strike first Noah. First rule of sparring.

         As they continued to swing punches and sweeping kicks, Jenna continued to feel exhausted.

        Noah barrels into her chest with balled fists. Taken aback by the blow, Jenna lands a s***h to his side. Noah spins around to land her in a holding grip but Jenna stops him with a high kick to his chest that sends him flying backwards and onto the ground. Jenna does the honorable thing by extending a hand to help him up, but a strange device lay beside him in the floor. It must've flew out of his pocket.

         "What's that?" She asks.

        "Nothing." Noah grunts, taking her hand to pull himself up. "Just something the doctor gave me to help with my... anxiety."

         Noah stuffs the thing back into his pocket and readies himself with fists up. Jenna lazily ducks his feeble attempt to punch her shoulder and pauses for a second to yawn.

          "You okay?" Noah asks.

         Jenna stretches. "Yeah, I'm just going into Transformation soon, so I've been pretty tired." She yawns.

         Noah tenses up. "Oh, o-okay. Well uh... good luck I guess." He shivers.

       When Jenna throws another punch at him, Noah barely even realizes it till it's to late and he clutches his shoulder. He snaps up to swing at her with both arms out, but Jenna kicks him square on the forehead. Poor kid looks as if he didn't even know how to block the face.

         "You got... tense." Jenna states.

        Noah grins awkwardly. "Whatever do you mean? I'm so relaxed. M-maybe it's just the drugs Dr. Whitman gave me to help with my... anxiety."

       Jenna smirks. "You're not a good liar, you know that? But hey, it's none of my business."

        "Yes," Noah whispers under his breath. "Yes it is."

        His words sent shivers up her spine. This kid gave her the creeps. But at the same time, Jenna was... interested.

       "Maybe a few swings at me will calm you down. Get your adrenaline pumping" Jenna suggests.

        Noah nods and does his best to fight, but Jenna notices that every time he meets her eyes he's thrown off his guard again, and it's like beating up a two-year-old.

       "Alright something's up. Not even the weakest person I've ever fought has been so careless in their sparring. Was it something I said?"

      Noah's lip quivers and he's shaking all over. Jenna was taken aback. He was frightened.

     "I've seen things today," He confesses. "Unimaginable things that you wouldn't even believe."

      Jenna's brow tightened. He was serious. The kid looked at her as if he'd just been through hell and back. Tears pool at his eyes when she gives a nervous little smile.

      "I'm sorry I-" He starts, wiping his eyes furiously.

      Jenna stops him. "You've got something all bottled up. And I'm guessing it's more than just sparring."

      Noah nods. "I can't-" he gulps and wipes away tears. "I can't talk here. Not with Instructor Mike watching."

        "I... I know a place. We can talk there,"

       "We just need an excuse to get away," Noah adds.

       Jenna laughs. "Look at you!"

      Noah had a big swelling bruise under his left eye, a goose egg on the right side of his forehead He clutches his shoulder in pain and had a small limp to his walk and a defeated, hurt stance.

       "Just say you need to go get me fixed up at the doctor." He grunts.

      "Maybe you actually do need to go see the doctor." She suggests.

      "No!" He yells. "If I go back to Dr. Whitman he'll do something bad. He wants to implant something. That's what I had. That's what I stole!"

         Noah pulls the device from earlier out of his pocket and stares at it.

      Jenna started to understand the kid. He was scared. The boy had seen something horrifying. He needed her help, someone's help, bad.

                                                                                          . . .

       Jenna goes up with Noah to explain things to the instructor. All the while, Noah had been pretty good at dragging the situation a lot more dramatically. When they got the 'okay' from Instructor Mike, Jenna darts to the corridor, dragging the injured Noah behind her. Noah winces when he trips and lands on his injured shoulder, but Jenna quickly helps him up and dashes around the next corner. By the time Jenna stops Noah is practically draped over her shoulder, complaining to his heart's content.

            "Will you stop!" Jenna snaps in anger. "We're here!" She dumps him on the ground.

           It was an empty corridor. The lights were flickering so it was pretty obvious that no one had been down here in awhile. Jenna tore a white, loose panel from the wall and gestures for them to go in. When they're both inside, Jenna does her best to put back the panel, but leaves a small c***k so they won't be left in the complete dark.

            "Are you okay?" Jenna asks. "I didn't hurt you that badly, did I?"

           Noah chuckles. "I guess being dramatic when it comes to my physical condition is the only thing I can lie about, but yeah, I'll be fine."

           "So..." Jenna starts. "What's the problem?"

          Noah tenses up again. "I-I snuck out of my visit with Dr. Whitman." He admits.

          "Go on." Jenna yawns.

          "So I went to find my sister in the Blue Ward," He explains.

          Jenna grins. "Yup, I'll be there soon!"

         Noah clenches his jaw and his eyes cloud over.

         "Mmm hmm..." He nods, pursing his lips.

        "Anyways..." Noah continues. "I went there and I found..." He trails off, trying to catch his breath.

        He gulps. "They don't keep the people there for their Transformation. Jenna, they freeze you! They freeze you in place! Jenna you have to get out of here before they take you too!" He blurts.

        Jenna couldn't believe what she was hearing. This kid was delusional. Freeze kids? That sounded completely absurd. But... but Noah was a smart kid. Maybe he was right? No! He couldn't be! It would be completely impossible. 

        Jenna soon found herself gasping for air as well.

        "You're lying!" She hisses at him. "You have to be! How would you know?"

        "Jenna I swear I'm not. I saw it with my own eyes! I'm trying to save you! Why would I lie?"

        Jenna felt out of breath again. He was right. It made sense too. All those kids that hadn't returned. Jenna began to feel something she'd never felt before. Not once in her life. It was fear! It swept over her like a dark cloud. Her lungs closed and she wanted to faint.

          "Ok... let's say I happened to believe this ridiculous theory. What should we do!" Jenna whispers fearfully. "I probably start my Transformation in less than a day!"

         Jenna saw that worrisome look on Noah's face again.

         "I don't know- We have to figure something out." He finally insists.

         Jenna had to drive away the fear. It was her only option. She had to stand up to them. It was the only way. She had to do whatever she could. She had to defend the kid and herself.

         "I have to fight," Jenna declares.

        Jenna could just make out Noah's eyes widen in the dim light.

       "Are you insane? You can't defeat them!" Noah warns.

       Jenna hesitates. "But I have to. If I don't I'll be frozen tomorrow or sooner. Sometimes you have to take the impossible option when there's no option left."

        Noah frowns, and Jenna wants to comfort him, but he knows she's right. She didn't have much to lose. But Jenna refused to surrender. Time to put sparring lessons to work.

                                                                                 . . .

        Noah was a good kid. Jenna didn't want to involve him in the fight. He was already shaken up, best not waste his terrible fighting skills. Plus, one thing Noah didn't seem to realize, this fight was a suicidal one. She was still hoping it wasn't, that kids would stand up and fight together, but that was the only good outcome. They could freeze her immediately. They could kill her on sight. Or she could die fighting. Hey, at least she'd have one thing to be remembered for. A spark to rebel, like in all those texts she heard of. Spartacus, To Kill a Mockingbird, Shakespeare! Maybe her death could mean something. Jenna the martyr. Had a nice ring to it.

        "I don't want you to do this!" Noah pleads.

         She hugs him. Squeezes him so hard she feels the warmth flooding through him. She'd just met him, but she was willing to do whatever it took to protect him, because he'd just revealed the truth she'd known all along.

         "Go back to your room. I need to try this Noah. And I don't need you to get slaughtered if things go sideways into a massacre." She tells him.

        Noah shakes his head and tries to beg her to stay, that they'll figure some other way to get her out of Transformation, but she shoves him in the small space and he slams into the wall.

        "GO!" She yells.

        Noah's eyes flicker to the opening of the hole and then back to Jenna. He sighs and tears the small compartment open to run out.

        A tear rolls down her cheek. At least he'd be safe.

                                                                                       . . .

        Jenna returns to the wide training room with adrenaline coursing through her veins like a river, throwing her under, sinking ever so slowly, but still... surviving, breathing.

         Instructor Mike glares suspiciously after her as she approaches him. Her heart starts pounding feverishly. She took a step back as her head pounds and she felt ready to collapse. 

        Her Transformation. No. Not now. She had to do this. She took an angry step towards her instructor and he looks ready to say something, when Jenna punches him in the nose. He falls back, shocked at how hard the blow was. Many kids stop sparring to stare and gawk in surprise as Jenna readies herself for another attack. She kicks him back in the chest before he can even stand up. She herself gets knocked back at her throbbing headache.

          "Call security! The girl's gone mad!" Someone yells.

          Jenna wants to cry, "No I'm on your side!" But Instructor Mike was back up and this time he was ready for her. This time he dodges her attack and sends a rather soft blow to her head, but the extra pain causes Jenna to let out a frustrated grunt in agony.

          "Jenna- what the-" Instructor Mike is cut off when Jenna kicks him hard in the throat.

        Instructor Mike takes her by the shoulder and throws her hard to the ground.

        "Jenna this is madness! Have you lost your mind! Come to your senses already!"

        Jenna feels another wave of pain and glares back at him.

        "I have come to my senses." She whispers.

         She struggles to her feet and turns to face the small audience of kids.

         "In fact, Instructor Mike, I think it's you who should come to your senses. I mean you really didn't think that freezing kids in their Transformation was going to go well for you, did you?"

        Gasps of shock and disbelief was spread angrily throughout the crowd.

        Instructor Mike pauses. "How did you... know?"

        The crowded audience became riled, pushing against each other, eyes turning angry. "So you're agreeing that it's true!" Someone yells.

        The unease and tension turned the audience into a mob as they march furiously to Instructor Mike, throwing resentful taunts and curses at him. Jenna grins in satisfaction through her pain. Perhaps she would be able to tell Noah she'd done it after all.

         The cluster slowly dispersed when the sound of gunshots filled the room.

        "Everybody freeze!" A voice yelled as guard with guns moved in behind them. Ha. Good dark pun to get everyone turned into a mob.

        It was chaos. Kids started tearing down the place to find an exit, so the guards even shot a couple of kids down in a matter of seconds. A boy running beside Jenna fell back with a boom and when Jenna saw his eyes were glazed and unmoving and his head was bleeding out from a violent wound she had to hold her mouth from shrieking. They weren't using tranqs. They were using real guns! Jenna skids away from the boy in horror and spots Instructor Mike through the screaming mob. A sudden rage filled Jenna's lungs. She tore through the crowd at exhilarating speeds and tackles the instructor to the ground. Before he could respond, Jenna's hands closed around his throat and her thumbs shoved his Adam's apple down, eyes burning. She wanted to yell in triumph at her beautiful vengeance. He mouthed the word please and sorry, but Jenna barely saw it because of the overwhelming urge to lie down made her weary. Her Transformation was here. She felt so mad that she dug her fingers in harder and harder and... and then she heard a c***k. Instructor Mike's had fell back limply in an unnatural bend. She'd broken his neck. Soon his face grew pale and Jenna wrenches back in horror. What had she done. She'd just killed him. He'd begged for forgiveness and she'd murdered him. 

         Soon Jenna couldn't even stand. The pain soon gave way to exhaustion and she looks up to see the blurry image of a Silent guard. And the muzzle of his g*n. Jenna barely heard the boom. Barely felt the bullet as it smashes into her head. Jenna didn't know what she'd expected. She knew she was dead already when she chose to come and fight. That's why she sent Noah to live for her. She sighs one last time and closes her eyes. She hoped that the kid could finish what she had started. She didn't have any regrets though, only that she didn't recognize all of this mess sooner. Jenna sighs one last solemn breath as the bullet pierces her brain fatally. She had her closure, she had her purpose fulfilled. Now she just hoped that wherever she ended up, her memory might live on- in that- that spark of rebellion.