Chapter 13: Chapter 13 - The River of Dreams
"Boy and girls, I hope you've enjoyed the ride. We have arrived at the river of dreams!"
Excited, I turned towards the windows and peaked outside.
To the left were trees, but at the centre was acres and acres of soft grassy lawn that looked like it had just been mowed, a lake to its right and mountains at the far back.
I had never seen so much greenery in my whole life, it looked so peaceful, I could lie there for days and have all the worries in the world disappear.
"Zac, have you ever seen such greenery before?"
"No, never. Where I come from its all sand, dirt and rock."
"Me too"
"I wonder what are we going to do here? I would die for the opportunity to run around barefoot, or even just chilling here. "
"Ha, maybe you should be careful of what you dream for?"
The bus came to a stop and a loud voice roared into the bus.
"Alright lads, and gals. It's Time to wake up! We have finally arrived at our first destination. The lake of dreams."
"For some of you, this will be the beginning of your adventure, for some of you, this may be your last stop."
"So get up! Otherwise I'll..."
"Speak for yourself. Not all of us, slept you know."
"Oh really? Do you want me to show everyone a video of how you, the biggest, tallest one slept like a pig earlier?"
" I have seen you sleep. You dribble. Dribbling Dylan the dork"
"You want to start something?"
A boy shot up, fist smacking his other hand, as if ready to fight. He was so tall. With wavy ginger hair. He was even taller than Jason. I wouldn't want to be the one fighting him.
"Oh, you want a fight aye? Are you sure?"
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
The whole shook with each step. Whoever was coming must have been a giant.
It was at this moment, that the figure appeared. First, it was her silver wavy hair. Then her war-torn face, her broad shoulders, and dark tattoos racing down her arms, she looked like someone who came from the army, wearing a green singlet, a pair of muddy cargo pants and giant black boots.
What was more terrifying was that she was twice the size of any man I had seen, she had massive muscular arms, and her clothes looked as if they would rip at any moment.
Even Zac had his mouth open, stunned.
"Who was the smarty pants that said what could possibly happen?"
As if in sync the kids at the front all pointed at the boy and she moved towards him. I had a bad feeling about this, but to my amazement, the boy actually stood up. His fist clenched into balls as if he was ready to fight.
"Put those tiny hands of yours away kid." She looked directly at him.
"What did you…" the knee of the figure shot out like a rocket, smashing into the boy's chest with a loud crack.
The boy dropped like a bag of potatoes, hands holding his chest, as he let out a shriek of pain.
"Now, if anyone else wants to be a smart ass, you'll be like our friend here. Look at him crying and screaming like a little girl." As if to scare the whole room, she even sat on top of the boy.
"Why don't I introduce myself to you all. I am Zoe, one of the trainers here. I am strict, and I don't like smart asses. Do you understand?"
Not a single kid dared to reply. I could barely even hear the sounds of breathing.
"So now that you have met me, why don't I tell you what's going to happen. We are going to one by one step out of the bus, and you'll follow me to where all the other kids are. And if I find any of you hiding or staying on the bus, I am going to make suffer pain far worse than Dribbling Dylan here."
I didn't like her, I could feel chills running down my spine, as I watched her look at us with her evil eyes.
"Now that the introductions are done, follow me and make it snappy."
She grabbed the boy and flipped it over her shoulders as if it was nothing and moved out the door, stomping. The whole bus was shivering and trembling but followed her out the bus.
"Remember kids, there are no mummies here to run to. Now shut up and get out of the bus!"
"What a monster!"
"Did you see how fast she moved?"
There was an endless buzz between the children as we followed her to the field.
"What do you think we are going to do?"
"Who knows. I'm sure she'll tell us when we are there."
It didn't take long before we made it to the other children, there were hundreds of us, all standing on a red line that stretched from the forest all the way to the river.
"So why are you all here? Some of you have started to ask"
"What could we possibly be doing?"
She paused and looked around at all of us. Daring us to ask questions but no one asked. I was still trembling from how easily she had knocked out Dylan.
"Well to answer that question it's easy!"
"This will be your first test at the academy."
"The speed test." With a wicked smile spreading across her face. "How fast you run to the other side is just a touch of what is required to pass this test. The harder thing will be how fast you'll respond."
My eyes followed where she was pointing to, it didn't look too hard. I started feeling butterflies in my tummy, I loved running, and to be able to run such a long distance had always been my dream.
"What if I don't want to run?"
It was Augustus, as much as I didn't like him, I had a bad feeling about him telling the teacher that he didn't want to run.
"Well fat shit, if you don't run, then there is going to be no food for you tonight."
"This applies to all of you. The buses are going to be travelling to the other side in just a moment and if you don't make it to the other end, we'll be leaving you here to die."
"Do I make myself clear?"
"And what do you mean that you'll test how fast we'll respond."
"If I was going to tell you everything, then wouldn't this test be easy?"
"Now line up, left to right."
"And if any of you takes a head start, I am going to chase you down and throw you into the river. Do you understand?"
"Good."
This was just a race how hard could it be. I had been running all my life, especially back at the orphanage. One by one we all lined up against the line, preparing ourselves for the run.
"Now buses will start to move to the other end."
The engines ignited and came up with a roar. When a kid to my right in a very tinnie squeaky voice spoke that he didn't feel well and wanted to see if he could catch the bus to the other side.
"You want to go to the other side aye?"
"Is that so? Why don't you come with me?"
Something was not right; I could see a wicked smile forming on her face. It was like as if it was instinct, there was just no way that she was going to let this boy go back onto the bus and move back to the side.
"I want to go too!" Another kid next to me said.
And to make it worse, other kids were also screaming "me too" or asking if they could go as well. Zoe used hand gestures, and two of the buses moved, but one of the buses on the far right stayed. It's doors close to the river.
"See, she's not half that bad. She's got a soft spot and is going to let that little one go."
"I just don't have a good feeling about it. Like if she really did let the children go then wouldn't she have just let Augustus not run?"
"That's true."
The boy moved closer, he was just a metre away, when the doors opened, cold air rushed out, as Zoe's hand move down the boys back, prodding him to go in. I could still see the smile on her face.
The boy moved closer, stepping closer to the open doors, another step.
He was just a step away.
He stepped forward, the doors closed, bang, the wheels turned, the front smashed into the boy with a loud crack, and he was gone.
There was no scream, no cry, he just disappeared.
It happened so fast my eyes couldn't keep up. One minute he was there, next he was gone, washed away in the river.
I was scared, I wanted to scream but nothing came out. How could she have done that? How could she have killed that poor kid?
Zoe turned, and as if she was enjoying this, a smile spread across her face as she walked slowly back towards us.
"Well, my lovelies. Does anyone want to be like our friend Mickey?"
There was no reply. It felt eerie. As if we had just watched a scary movie.
She walked closer. It was at this moment that I couldn't help myself any more.
"Why did you do that?"
"Why not?"
"You told him you would let him go. You lied!"
I was furious, I could feel my anger rushing through my veins. I was heating up as I yelled at her.
"I did let him go. Do you want to be next?"
"No, because I am going to run to the other side. And when I get back to the academy, I am going to report you."
"Well kid, you better make it."
"I'll make sure of it."
"Great! I don't think you'll make it. Each flag is about 320 metres apart from one another, and the total amount is 1.6kms. So, girl you better run hard."
I was so angry, I was fuming, and as much as I didn't want to catch attention, I wanted to prove to her that I could make it to the other side.
"Okay, well I hope you lads and gals are ready. Your mission is simple, run to the other side and you'll be able to catch the bus home, fail and you stay here with Mickey."
"And if I catch any of you running back in this direction. Well, there may be accidents."
"I want that girl who spoke back to me in the middle. I want her to know her place. I want her to be scared when she runs. So, I want her to stand next to dribbling Dylan. The two kids who spoke back."
"Just get a move with it will you?"
"Fine."
"Now, just in case some of you decide not to run. My name is Zoe, I am one of the instructors here. You can think of me as a trainer. I am going to make you all strong and fit. If you still want dinner, the bus is on the other end. There is no easy way out. You have to make your way from here to the other side. I don't care if this means you crawl, walk or run. You just have to make it to the other side"
"Am I Clear Children?"
No one replied
"Do I have to repeat myself?"
No reply.
"Good"
"Now Straight line…"
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