Recruits (New Haven Book 1), page 14
Without warning, I was thrown onto the ground. The sound hadn’t stopped, and the lights hadn’t come back on. I pulled myself up as best as I could without taking my hands off my ears. I stood there, not moving. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do. There was no sense in trying to walk around in the dark.
A few minutes later, someone bumped into me. Their back pressed up against mine. They didn’t move away from me and I didn’t attempt to move either. I closed my eyes, trying to focus my mind. Even though I couldn’t see with my eyes open, for some reason it helped to have them closed. I focused on my breathing, keeping it steady and even. I relaxed my body, letting go of the tension.
Someone tapped my shoulder. There was no one pressed up against me anymore. I opened my eyes and saw Luke standing there. He didn’t have his ears covered, so I moved my hands down, only to hear silence. I looked around me, taking in my surroundings. We were in a small room, probably ten by ten feet. The walls, floor, and ceiling were concrete. Besides me and Luke, the only other people in the room were Skinny, aka Angela, Will, and a guy I didn’t know.
Luke looked at me expectantly. I raised my eyebrows. “What?”
“What should we do?” Luke asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know.” I turned to the other Recruits. “Um, I’m Emmie, if you didn’t know.”
“Will.” He stuck out his hand and I gave it a shake. “I know we went to school together, but we've never met.”
The other boy stuck out his hand to me. “David.” When I shook his hand, he had a flimsy grip. He was a short, scrawny guy.
Skinny looked at me with her eyes narrowed. “We’ve met.”
“You don’t need to remind me,” I said under my breath.
“Well, now that we’re all acquainted with each other, shouldn’t we do something?” Luke asked, anxious like always.
“Maybe we should try the door?” I suggested, walking toward it. When I turned the knob, nothing happened. “Locked.”
David snorted. “Not surprising.”
“We’re just supposed to stand around in here?” Skinny asked.
I looked at the ceiling, only to see one light and a speaker. A table sat in the corner of the room. A box sat in the center, filled with electrical wires, a black box, a screwdriver, and some other tools.
Luke picked up a piece of paper sitting near the box. “Instructions.”
“For what?” Will joined us at the table.
Luke read the top part of the paper. “'If you want to keep your sanity intact, assemble a stop button that will keep the lights from flickering and the screeching from deafening your ears.'“
Skinny looked at the paper, pushing her glasses up on her nose. “I don't like the sound of that. It seems annoying and complicated.”
I glanced over at her. “Have a better idea?”
Skinny went to the door and banged on it. “Hey! Let us out!”
David joined in with her, banging and shouting.
Will looked over at me. “How long do you think it’ll take until they stop?”
I laughed. “An hour? Maybe two?”
“They wouldn’t leave us in here that long,” Luke said, standing in the middle of me and Will. He put the paper down and stuffed his hands in his pockets, probably to keep himself from playing with them.
“Are you kidding? This is Recruitment. They do crazy things.” I looked at Luke. “Let's try to assemble this thing before …”
The lights went off as the screeching began. I covered my ears and waited for it to end. It lasted a few minutes.
“I hope that doesn’t happen again,” Luke said, tapping his foot on the ground.
I put my hand on his arm. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up.” I looked at Will. “You want to read the instructions while Luke and I try to put it together?”
Will adjusted his glasses. “Sure …”
The flickering and screeching happened again, only it went on for twice as long. When it stopped, Skinny looked like she was going to pull out her hair. She and David had continued to randomly kick the door and scream, but of course, no one came.
I furrowed my eyebrows. We needed to start. I pointed to the paper. “Read.”
Luke and I pulled everything out of the box as Will read. We worked as fast as we could, but not knowing when the havoc would start again had us all on edge, making it hard to concentrate.
The screeching was louder the next time, the lights flickering faster. I kept my eyes closed and focused on controlling my breath. It went on even longer.
I had my hands over my ears, but I could feel Luke shaking next to me. All the noise and flickering lights were getting to him. Even though the noise was the loudest it had ever been and making my head ache, I took my right hand off of my ear and scooted up next to Luke, putting my arm around him.
Using his shoulder as an earmuff, I leaned my ear against it. He was rocking back and forth, so I rocked with him, rubbing his arm with my hand. I wanted to talk to him and tell him it was going to be okay, but all the noise prevented me from doing so.
It went on for at least fifteen minutes. When it stopped, my head was ringing. It took a few seconds for my hearing to adjust. Luke had his head down, his hands on his eyes. It sounded like he was crying.
“What’s wrong with you?” Skinny screamed at the ceiling. “Stop it!” She looked at me, her eyes wild and frantic. “Finish already!”
“We're trying.” I didn’t know what more I could add to that.
Will looked at our almost finished button. He read down the instructions one more time, grabbed the screwdriver, and tightened the knobs.
I pulled Luke's forehead down, so it rested on mine. “We're almost done. Let's just get this over with and then it will all stop.”
I expected Luke to pull away from me. It never seemed like he was very fond of me. But he surprised me by leaning into me. I hugged him. “It’s going to be okay.” At least I hoped it was.
Hope.
I held onto that word like my life depended on it.
A fter we finished the button, I let Skinny press it. There were no more interruptions after that.
We sat in that room for probably another hour. We were all getting hungry, a couple of us needed to use the bathroom—including me—and we were restless.
Luke had finally regained his composure, but I still sat close with my arm around him and he didn’t protest. David and Skinny kept eyeing us, probably surprised by all the physical contact. Being in those kinds of situations pulled people close together.
Will stood and paced the room. David and Skinny had given up shouting about an hour before. Every ten minutes, Skinny would go try the lock, but it never opened.
“If they keep us here much longer, and one of us can’t hold it anymore, what should we do?” David asked, looking at the ground.
“Hold it,” Will said.
“But I have a weak bladder,” David said, still looking at the ground, his cheeks red.
“You still have to hold it, man,” Will said. “I’m not listening to or smelling that.”
David danced anxiously around the room. I hadn’t noticed my leg was shaking until Luke put his hand on it.
“Sorry,” I said. “I’m in the same boat as David.”
“Well, stay in that boat,” Luke said with a small smile. “There will be no going overboard.”
I laughed and then squeezed his arm. “How are you holding up?”
Luke shrugged. “This whole thing is just getting to me. I want to do well in this and not let my dad down. But it gets to you mentally. Not being in control of what's happening to you, it’s just hard, you know?”
I did know. All too well. I knew what it was like having a parent who constantly looked over your shoulder and was hard to please. “Luke, believe me, you’re not going to let your dad down. You’re one of the hardest workers here. He'll be proud of you. And no matter how much I tease you, I respect you and your dedication.”
Luke looked at me. “Really?”
“Really, really.” I smiled at him. “You were amazing in the paintball challenge. You’re a natural-born leader.”
A click caught our attention, and we all turned and looked at the door. Maybe we were expecting it to just open on its own, but we all sat there for a minute, staring. Skinny inched her way to the door and turned the knob. It opened. She looked at us, her eyes wide. Luke and I glanced at each other and then went and joined her near the door. For some reason, none of us wanted to be the first one to step out. I took a deep breath and looked outside.
The hallway was empty and only a few lights were on the ceiling, making it barely lit. I turned to the others. “It’s clear.”
The room we had been in was at one end of the hallway, so we headed down to the other end. There were a few doors along the way, but all were locked.
The other end of the hallway came to a T. I glanced both ways, but they looked the same. The silence seemed eerie compared to all the screeching we had previously heard.
“Left or right?” I asked everyone.
Luke said, “Right,” just as Will said, “Left.”
I chuckled. “Well, that settles it.”
“Right,” David said from behind me.
“Right it is,” I said, turning in that direction. When we were halfway down the hall, the lights began to flicker.
“Please, not again!” Skinny whined.
Luckily, no screeching came. The lights kept flickering until they went out. With no windows, pitch black cloaked the hallway. I couldn’t even see my hand in front of me. I moved my hand around until I found a hand next to me and took it.
“Who is that?” I asked.
“Luke,” he said.
Someone grabbed my other hand. “It’s Will.”
“David, where are you?” I asked.
“Here,” David said, right behind me.
“Can you grab Will’s other hand, and then Angela grab David’s other hand?” I asked.
After a few seconds, David said, “Done.”
“Let’s just continue down the hall,” I said. “Luke, you lead the way.”
Luke walked, keeping his pace slow, with the rest of us trailing behind. When he got to the first door, he tried to turn the knob, but it was locked. We continued until the end of the hall, where one last door awaited us. You could hear Luke turn the knob, followed by the relieving sound of it creaking open.
Something brushed past my head. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Luke asked.
“Something touched my head,” I said.
A second later, it happened again.
“I felt something,” Will said.
“Me, too,” Luke said.
Suddenly a bunch of squeals filled the hallway as a whoosh of air passed over us. There was fluttering all around me, something bumping into my head and pulling on my hair. We were under attack by something that could fly. I was grateful for the dark so I couldn’t see what they were.
“What are these things?” Will screamed next to me. We had let go of each other hands to swat them away, but they kept coming. David and Skinny’s wails echoed down the hall.
A sharp prick on my ear made me flinch. “One of them bit me!” My pulse rose as fear crept in. I swatted the air, hoping to keep them away. As quickly as it had started, it ended.
“Finally,” Skinny said.
“That was creepy,” Luke said.
“Tell me about it,” Will said.
Someone touched my arm. “How’s your ear?” Luke asked.
“It stings,” I said. “But I’ll live.”
“Do you hear that?” Luke asked.
“Hear what?” I asked.
“Shhh,” Luke whispered.
A faint whoosh came from the other end of the hall. As it got closer, it became louder. The distinct sound of the flapping of wings made my hair stand on end. It sounded like there were hundreds of them.
“Run!” Luke shouted.
He took my hand and pulled me along. I reached out behind me and took hold of Will’s arm. We ran as fast as we could down the hall, but they were catching up. The lights flickered on a little and I turned to see what they were. Bats. And there were tons of them.
We got to the end of the hall and turned right down another one. The lights continued to flicker on and off. The bats were screeching, making me cringe.
Luke reached for the knob to the door at the end of the hall, but it wouldn’t open. He threw his body against the door, but it wouldn’t budge. Will and I joined in, throwing ourselves at the mercy of the door.
“Open the door!” Skinny screamed.
“We can’t!” I screamed back.
I froze when I looked behind Skinny. The bats were almost on us, coming full speed. My heart pounded in my ears, my breathing so heavy that my lungs stung. We stood there hopelessly and watched the lights go out.
A couple of seconds later, Luke grabbed my body and threw me on the ground, using his body as a shield to protect me. Will fell next to us, covering any part of me that Luke couldn’t. I couldn’t see Skinny or David, but their deafening cries filled the hallway.
Both Luke and Will were twitching, trying to shake off any bat that touched them. Will let out a yelp.
After a few minutes, the flittering of wings started to fade. “I think they’re leaving,” Luke said into my ear. Soon there was complete silence. We lay there, afraid to move. Will finally pulled away from me.
“I think we’re in the clear,” Will said.
Luke backed away from me a little. “Are you okay?”
I turned to look at him, our faces only a few inches away from each other. “I think I’m okay, thanks to you. How are you?” I backed away, looking him over. His clothes were disheveled, and there were a couple of scratches on his head, but other than that he looked okay.
“I’m alive,” Luke said.
He stood, reaching his hand out to me. I took it and he helped me up. Turning to look at Will, I noticed he looked a little worse than Luke. His ear had been bitten and his glasses were skewed. I reached up and straightened them out.
“Thanks,” I said to him.
Will smoothed out his clothes. “Uh, sure, no problem.” His eyes skittered all around.
I glanced behind me at Skinny and David. Their hair was all over the place, their clothes ruffled, and their wild eyes said it all. I couldn’t help but laugh.
Skinny looked at me in horror. “How could you be laughing right now?”
My laughter was uncontrollable. “I’m sorry.” I snorted loudly. “You just look so crazy! This whole thing is crazy! It’s just completely insane.” I never expected a challenge like this in Recruitment. They were pushing us and finding our breaking points.
“I think you’re going insane,” David said to me.
I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself down. “I think I am, too.”
“Maybe we should continue down the hall?” Luke offered, looking at me.
“Yeah, we probably should.” I wiped a few tears from my eyes. Something was definitely wrong with me. I had laughed to the verge of tears. Maybe it was my lack of sleep. Or I was joining Amber on the crazy train.
We had only made it a few steps down the hall when one of the doors in the middle of the hall slid open. Luke turned to me. “You ready for this?”
“Nope, but let’s go,” I said.
W hen we got to the door, Luke, Will, and I looked in to see a small opening.
“What’s in there?” Skinny asked from behind me.
“It’s an elevator,” Luke said.
As soon as we piled in, the doors closed. There were no buttons to push, so we just went where it took us, which by the way the elevator jolted, we were going down. Once it stopped, the doors opened, revealing yet another bleak hallway. This time, there were only two doors; one at the other end, and one in the middle on the right.
We walked slowly down the hall, afraid of what might happen. We glanced around nervously as if something else might attack.
Once we neared the middle door, both doors swung open. Darkness came from the door on the right. The door at the end of the hall revealed the most beautiful thing I had seen all day: natural light. The way out.
“Thank you!” Skinny said, pushing past us and heading toward freedom.
As I passed the middle door, I thought I heard a shout come from inside the room. I looked at Luke and Will. “Did you hear something?”
They both shook their heads. Curiosity got the best of me, so I peeked inside, only to see darkness. When I stepped inside the room, a light flickered on.
Inside, there was a desk covered in buttons and knobs. On the wall to the right was a large window, but I couldn’t see what was on the other side.
“Are you going to leave with us?” Luke asked from the doorway.
Will stood behind him, looking back and forth between me and the door to freedom.
I sighed. “Yes, I was just seeing what was in here.”
I had only taken a couple of steps when someone yelled. “Did you hear that?” I asked, looking at Luke and Will.
“Yeah, what was that?” Luke asked as he stepped into the room. The yell came again.
“It sounds like someone saying help,” I said, looking around the room.
“HELP US!” The scream came from behind the window. I went to it and cupped my hands over my eyes, trying to see what was on the other side.
“HELP!”
“Maybe one of these switches does something,” Luke said, looking at the table.
Will peeked his head out the door and shouted for David and Skinny to come back. Skinny whimpered down the hall. Will came back inside, went up next to Luke and scanned all the buttons.
“This one says, ‘interrogation room light’,” Luke said. He pressed down on the button. As soon as he did, a light came on behind the window.
I gasped. “Eric! Tina!” I ran to the window and banged on it.
Eric, Tina, Thunder Thighs, and two guys who I took to be Will and David’s partners, were in the room. There were rats everywhere, climbing all over them. All five of them were bleeding from bites and scratches.
