Zed (The Zed Trilogy Book 1) Read online

  Zed

  The Zed Trilogy

  By C.S. Nelson

  Copyright © 2017 C.S. Nelson

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher at the address below.

  [email protected]

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.

  For Mom and Dad,

  thank you for all that you do.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Run

  Chapter 2: The Test

  Chapter 3: The Results

  Chapter 4: Amnesia

  Chapter 5: Beyond the Shield

  Chapter 6: The Treehouse

  Chapter 7: The President

  Chapter 8: Deceit

  Chapter 9: The Letter

  Chapter 10: Zed

  Chapter 11: For the Children

  Chapter 12: The Secret

  Chapter 13: Injections

  Chapter 14: The First Meeting

  Chapter 15: Blue

  Chapter 16: Mpho

  Chapter 17: The Second Meeting

  Chapter 18: The Agreement

  Chapter 19: The Announcement

  Chapter 20: Tawa

  Chapter 21: Traitor

  Chapter 22: To the Death

  Chapter 23: Abort

  Chapter 24: Open

  Chapter 25: Arrival

  Chapter 26: Tom

  Chapter 27: Departure

  Chapter 1: Run

  August 14th was the day their lives were either going to begin or end. It was overcast on Earth; a storm had been brewing long before the sun rose in the east. Some of the students weren’t going to live past August 14th to see the sun again. But that wasn’t what they had been taught to believe. This day was the day that their lives would change forever. A day of hope.

  Annie had been up for hours, lying quietly in her bed and watching the administrators set up the testing grounds in the field behind their residence. They worked quickly; everyone seemed to know their place. Annie felt ready for what the day would bring. She had been practicing for weeks after everyone else had gone to sleep - memory, reflex, and strength tasks. Never having been the brightest in school, she knew she was going to have to rely on her physical abilities to score above her peers. But she was ready.

  She felt a tap on her shoulder, and turned in her bed to see Anthony hanging over his bunk staring at her. “Are you ready?” he whispered.

  She sat up and patted the bed, inviting him to join her. They were the same age, both officially turning seventeen today, but Anthony had always been like a little brother to her. They even had the same dark hair and green eyes, traits becoming increasingly uncommon in their little town. Annie liked to think that maybe they had come from the same mother and father. Twins perhaps? She could wonder all she wanted but they would never know for sure. “You know what I think you’ll get?” Annie asked.

  “What?” His eyes widened.

  “Breeder.” Only a select few got breeder, and it was the career that everyone hoped for. Breeders had it good, everyone knew that. Annie had prayed that maybe that would be her fate. But without the intellect that some of her peers had been gifted with, it was unlikely. She had been studying hard to try to make up for what she lacked naturally. Maybe everything would fall into place for her.

  Anthony snorted. “I don’t want breeder. I want chef...or administrator.” More realistic goals. Especially for Anthony. He was small for his age, and it was unlikely that he would do well on the physical tasks. He was incredibly fast, though, and if they were tested on that he would probably be at the top of the class. It was impossible to know how their abilities would be measured, because as far as Annie knew they changed the tests every year.

  All she prayed for her friend was that he wasn’t last. She had heard rumors about what happened to those who came in last. She heard that there were careers that couldn’t have been dreamed of, that no person would want but still had to be done. And she was not planning on finding out what those careers were by coming in last place.

  “You’d be a good chef,” she told him. She wanted administrator as well, if the whole breeder thing didn’t work out. She knew that there weren’t many spots available for either of them, which only made the pressure that much more intense.

  The sirens went off. It was morning. But there wasn’t the usual excitement in the room. No one was jumping up and down, asking what was for breakfast, or bolting to the bathroom. Uniforms had been placed on racks of coat hangers in the middle of the room, with flimsy white nametags attached to each one. Annie eyed them as the first of the boys walked up to find their uniform, eyebrows furrowed and hands shaking.

  It felt like it wasn’t real yet. This was the day that everyone in this room had been training thirteen years for. Tomorrow, it was all going to be over. Annie was never going to be with all of her friends again. She would see them around, she knew that, but in the world they lived in people could disappear at any moment. Just last month everyone in town attended the yearly funeral, honoring all of the people that had been lost. This year, there had been too many. Annie found her uniform and slipped it on in front of her bunk. The pants and shirt fit perfectly to her body, with no material to get in the way of her trying to complete the tasks. This was the first time that she had put something on that had never been worn by someone before her. It made her feel special. She tied her dark hair into a bun. She played with her split ends when she was nervous. Nothing was going to distract her today.

  Arms wrapped around her waist and she lost focus, but only for a moment. “You look amazing in that,” a soft, deep voice whispered into her ear, leaving her skin erupting into goose bumps.

  Not now. Not when she had so many other things to worry about. She turned and gave Dustan a quick kiss on the cheek. There wasn’t even a flicker of anxiety in his eyes. He was the strongest boy in their year, and one of the smartest. He had no reason to be worried. He was almost guaranteed a breeder position.

  And where did that leave them, a relationship closing in on three years? Annie felt tears well in her eyes, just as they did every time she thought about the impending doom facing their relationship. “Are you ready?” he asked. He didn’t like to talk about it, so she had learned to keep the worry to herself.

  She nodded, regaining focus. There was no way she could have been better prepared for this than she was now. “Isn’t it weird, being seventeen?” Anthony asked quietly, to no one in particular. But the room was otherwise so silent that everyone heard it anyway.

  “I don’t like being an adult,” someone said. There were a few scattered nervous laughs.

  No more classes, no more tests, no more volunteering. After today, Annie would have a career.

  “Did you know that before The Hunt, people had their own individual dates for their birthdays? And that people would give them gifts and celebrate on that day?” Barry piped up, the only person in their year to get a perfect score on the intelligence test a few months before. Annie had no idea where he came up with these facts. They learned so little about Before in school. The only information they had was limited to a small library that had collected dust over the years. Barry, being overweight, terrible eyesight, and hopeless in any task that was physical, was almost guaranteed a record keep
ing spot.

  “That seems rather selfish,” Dustan pondered. “Having an entire day to celebrate yourself?”

  Barry shrugged, his uniform barely stretching over his belly. He must have gained weight since they took measurements, quite the achievement with the recent food shortages they had been experiencing. It had been a dry summer and the farmers had struggled to get the crops that they were used to. “Maybe the selfishness of the people of Before is the reason we’re here now?”

  More silence. Everyone was in their uniforms now. There was a group of girls crying in the back corner. As much as Annie wanted to break down with them, she knew that she had to stay in the right mental state. She had heard rumors that the first test would begin before they had even left the room.

  “Did you guys know that before the Hunt, people got to choose their own careers? They even had schools for specific careers, and you had to pay money to go there?” There were a few sighs and visible eye rolls. Yeah, he was going to be a record keeper for sure.

  The doors burst open, and everyone froze in their spot. “Hello, new adults. Welcome to your career tests,” It was a man that Annie had never seen before. Which was odd. She had been growing up with the same adults in the school since she was born. He wore a nicer suit than Annie had ever seen, with thick sunglasses covering his eyes. “There is a large red circle drawn on the grass in the field outside. Make your way down there as quickly as possible. Do not be the last one.” He gave them all a grin that made Annie’s stomach turn. “Go.”

  There was a moment of complete silence. And then Dustan bolted, pulling Annie behind him as though she weighed nothing. She could barely feel her feet touching the floor. His hand slipped from hers, and Annie crashed to the ground. Terrified students ran past her. She pushed herself up onto her knees only to feel someone shove her back down. She was at the back of the pack already, ten seconds into the first test.

  Annie pulled herself to her feet and sprinted after her peers. She was determined. She would not be last. Suddenly the pack slowed. They had reached a hallway only wide enough for a couple of people, and there was a shoving match going on at the front. “Move!” Someone screamed in complete panic.

  People started yelling, people started pushing. Annie watched from the back of the crowd as the group of individuals who had been friends and grown up together for seventeen years turned into terrified adults, trying to throw each other farther back to ensure their own safety.

  Annie looked behind her. There was a stairwell just a few hallways away. It would take a lot longer to get there but she would be away from this crowd. She backed up as quietly as she could, turning a corner and began sprinting. No one followed. She didn’t know if that was because it was such a stupid idea to deliberately take the longer way around, or if it was that the mob wasn’t thinking clearly. “Just don’t be last, just don’t be last,” she told herself as she took the stairs three at a time. She leapt down the entire last run of stairs, feeling a ringing pain in her knees.

  She shoved the doors open at the bottom of the staircase and was filled with hope seeing the outdoors. With the last of her energy she circled the building. Dustan was already in the circle, and people were making it there quickly. Annie cried out, running across the field, and collapsing inside the red line. She couldn’t breathe. No one could. One of the girls that had been crying in the sleeping quarters was now on her knees sobbing in the circle, watching for her friends and hoping they would make it on time.

  It filled up fast. Annie watched as friends turned on each other, shoving each other out of the way and trying to push people down. It was terrifying. This was only the first task and they were already willing to sabotage each other. She stood up when she had the energy to invite the last of the non-athletic people into the circle with cheers and pats on the back.

  Barry was last. Running to the best of his ability, he made his way from the building to the circle. Annie could hear his wheezing when he was still meters away. He got applause as everyone else before him had, but it was more disheartened. No one knew what was in store for him. “Good job, Barry.” Annie whispered as he knelt over, heaving. Everyone had known he wasn’t going to do well in the physical tests. But he was going to blow everyone else away in the mental tests.

  The man who had started this test exited the building and walked towards the new adults, followed by people dressed in identical suits to his. They stopped in front of the group of students, their faces void of any expression. “Barry, is it?” The man asked. Barry whimpered, nodding. “Come here, son,” the man said.

  He didn’t move from his spot, not that Annie thought she would have been able to either. The man stepped up and grabbed Barry by the arm, pulling him forward and turning to face back towards the rest of the students. He let out a cry. Everyone could sense that something wasn’t right.

  “Tell them, Barry, why you stand before them,” the man in the suit and sunglasses said over his shoulder.

  Barry swallowed hard. “Because…because I came in last?”

  The man grinned. “Very good, Barry. You seem intelligent. Do you know what happens to the student that comes in last?” The terrified boy kept his mouth shut. “They die.”

  The man pulled a lightening gun from behind his back, pressed it against Barry’s temple, and fired before anyone had a chance to react. Barry fell to the grass, lifeless, burn marks etched into his veins as the electrical current swept through his body. He twitched for a few moments before lying still, his eyes still open, but now glossed over. Annie covered her mouth with her hands to keep herself from throwing up.

  The man tucked the gun back into his belt loop, and smiled at everyone who remained. “Welcome to The Test, recruits.”

  Chapter 2: The Test

  "Why did you do that?” one of the girls at the back of the circle finally broke the silence that had plagued them as Barry’s body bled out. She sounded absolutely furious. “He was the only student in the history of our school to get a perfect score on the 10th year intelligence test.”

  “I’m glad you asked,” the man said, motioning for the women beside him to step forward. She wore her blonde hair in a bun so tight on the top of her head that it made Annie’s scalp itch.

  “Hello, recruits.” Her voice was as empty and cold as the man’s had been. “Can anyone tell me what The Test was invented for?”

  “To separate us into careers,” someone mumbled from the middle of the pack.

  The woman nodded. “Very good. Who can tell me what happened on Earth in 2128?”

  “The Hunt,” Dustan said. “The soul suckers came out from hiding, killing almost everyone.”

  “And the one invention that allowed us to carry on?”

  “The Henderson Shield,” Dustan replied, motioning to the transparent dome that was over their heads and all around the city. This questioning was pointless. She was treating them like they were children. Everybody had known the answers to these questions since they were five years old.

  “Very good. As we all know, the Henderson Shield is impenetrable to the ‘soul suckers’ genetic code. And how big is the Henderson Shield?”

  There was no response.

  “With a diameter of approximately 1.2 kilometers, and a population nearing two thousand, would it be fair to say that we are getting a little cozy in here?” She smiled at the recruits warmly. “So you can understand why we do not want to waste the last of our resources on those who cannot keep up.”

  “But the ship from the humans of Mpho is due to arrive in two years,” Annie protested. The look she received from the woman in the suit almost stopped her mid thought, but she continued. “Surely we can stretch our resources for a couple more years. Rangers are leaving the Shield nearly once a week now to get us food and supplies.”

  “Why don’t you stop the breeders from producing children if resources are such an issue?” someone else asked.

  The adults in suits exchanged glances, and then the man who had killed Barry put his
hand up, motioning the recruits to stop. “No more questions. To those that are chosen for certain careers, everything will become clear.”

  Why can’t we all know? Annie thought. The look Anthony gave her revealed that she wasn’t the only one wondering.

  “Alright, recruits.” The woman smiled. “If you would all follow me.” She turned and stepped over Barry’s lifeless body as though it were nothing more than a fallen tree.

  Annie still felt nauseated. She had prepared, more than she thought was necessary, but not for this. How had word not gotten out from the older recruits that death was the punishment for doing badly on The Test? How many components were there? Annie looked around at all of her friends as they tentatively followed the woman back inside the school, stepping so far around Barry’s body that Annie wondered if anyone was going to move him at all. How many of them weren’t going to be there after today? What if she weren’t there?

  They stopped in front of the restricted hallway, and watched as the woman held her hand in front of the identification panel. The light above the door flashed green and the metal doors released their airtight seal, swinging open. Annie realized she had been holding her breath. No student in her year had ever been beyond these doors before.

  “The Test truly begins now,” the woman said over the clacking of her heels on the stone floor. Barry had died before testing even started. Annie swallowed hard to stop herself from retching. She needed to shake it off. She couldn’t let Barry’s death distract her, even if he had been her friend. “Each of you will receive a time keeper that will automatically stop and start when you finish a test. You will all start on different tasks so you focus on no one’s testing but your own. Any attempt to cheat will result in an automatic and immediate disqualification, and trust me when I say that you do not want to be disqualified.” She smirked, and it made Annie hate her. The woman stopped in front of the room at the end of the hallway. “You may take as much time as you need on each test, however be warned that punishments have been put in place for those who come in last. There are also punishments for those who do not complete every component of the test within six hours.