CHAPTER 52: Group Twenty-Two

[George's POV]

True to his word, we didn't see Professor A from that day onwards. All we did from that day was to train and nothing else. I went over the tips he gave again and again in my mind until I could recall it without any effort.

No one bothers me anymore. It's only natural, they don't have time to waste on bullying me. There's a tension that's driving us when we train that makes us super focused. No one really talks these days and we all keep to ourselves.

Warden told us yesterday that it was time. At the time, my body tensed up so much that I felt like a statue. I couldn't even sleep until I counted sheep. I reached five thousand before I was able to fall asleep.

Today's the day I finally end this chapter of my life.

I looked around at the familiar faces I first met at the start of this journey.

Alex, Alistair, Josephine, Carter, Amanda and Rachel. I would have mentioned Tomain but I don't really know his character that well.

They all looked as nervous as I felt. My heart was racing, sweat was rolling down my back and a large amount of butterflies were having a party in my stomach.

We had all assembled in front of the door without Warden telling us. We all wanted to start this as soon as possible.

Warden voice came on. She sounded all business-like.

"Hello. We've come a long way since I first met you and I just want to appreciate you for surviving this long. Truth be told, Groups 39 and 40 are not supposed to survive this long. Even Group 40 has been wiped out by this point. The reason for this is that those two groups are meant to be used for entertainment and experiments only."

"I applaud you for making it this far but still, it's abnormal. I will admit that some of you are more remarkable than the people in this group are supposed to be, but I'm surprised you were able to make it this far. Since you all made it this far, you could be called abnormal but the most abnormal one here is Subject George."

All eyes turned towards me.

"He's the most surprising thing I have seen this time around. The weakest yet the one with the most survivability. It's quite puzzling, how someone who doesn't have strength can get through so many ordeals."

Feeling seven eyes boring into me, I got quite nervous.

"But enough of that. I'm sure you're quite curious as to what Freedom Night is like, so let's get down to business. The first stage of the final examination is Freedom Night, where you will be but in a wide space with other groups and tasked with collecting nametags. Each nametag counts for one points and you have to get seven points to pass."

My eyes bulged at her statement.

Seven points? That's seven people! I can't do that. I definitely can't do that! What do I do?

"How you get the nametags are up to you, but anything goes. Whether it being violence or schemes use anything at your disposal to get those nametags. I don't need to explain what happens if you don't do this, do I?"

Warden sighed.

"Nametags. How many times have I seen this same old trope? Why can't we use something else? What? That's not it?"

Warden talked to someone close to her. After a bit of quiet whispering, she laughed and turned her attention back to us.

"Sorry, I made a bit of a mistake. The nametag thing was the rejected idea. The real thing you have to do is kill people. This is what I call a real examination! It tests your actual abilities in combat!"

In the midst of her excitement, Warden seemed to have forgotten us or chose to ignore our dismayed faces.

"Ooh, that can't be too good for you guys, can it? If it's a test of actual abilities, you will not do well. I guess that's the end of you. It's been a good run, don't you think so? I'll mourn you, so you can die peacefully."

I heard the sound of a nose being blown.

"It's so sad that the younger generation has to die like this. Just what are we doing?"

I gritted my teeth and resisted my urge to shout out something I would regret. However, I couldn't stop myself from thinking it.

Why is she bothering to act like she cares? Is she trying to be funny?

I shook my head.

Why am I acting like this? I didn't care before, so why do I now?

I was very confused. There was a time where I did whatever I wanted and didn't care about what was happening to me, so why am I getting heated up about this?

I took a deep breath and calmed myself. I had realized this a while ago, but it seemed like my emotions were very volatile. I didn't understand why but it was definitely not a good sign.

Take the fight club for example. At that time I was in a very delirious state where I acted they way my emotions dictated without any inhibitors. I could have attributed it to the fact that I was facing almost certain death, but I know it was something else.

It's like my mind is broken into fragments, and each fragment can be in control from time to time. The way I am right now is what I would call the dominant fragment. But that one that was in control that time when the fight club was going on is the most dangerous.

It doesn't care about its own life and just does what it wants. I probably would have been killed by Donovan if I hadn't had a change back then. I might care about myself right now, but I can feel that side of me just at the back of my mind. I don't know if I can switch to it, but I feel like I can.

Every time I think about this, I feel like something is going to happen eventually. Something bad. It's like a bad taste in my mouth that I can 't get rid of.

Warden was still explaining.

"Each person you kill counts for one point. You have to get seven points to pass. The examination lasts for seven days. Good luck!"

As she finished explaining, I started to get drowsy. I swayed on my feet and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.

-----------------------

When I woke up, I was in a woody area with lots of trees. The birds chirping and the insects buzzing coupled with the gentle, warm sunlight and the peaceful scenery full of nature made it a very relaxing place to be in.

That's what I would have liked to say but unfortunately, life doesn't work that way. The tranquil atmosphere was broken by the splitting headache I had when I woke up.

I pushed myself to my feet while massaging my temples. I stumbled to a tree and leaned against it.

Maybe it was because of the headache, but I couldn't remember how I ended up there. I looked up to find a girl staring at me.

I stared back in astonishment. Then the memory of Warden's explanation came back to me. I started to tremble.

I don't have a weapon! I looked around frantically, but didn't see anything I could use to defend myself with.

I turned to run away but found the girl right in front of me. She walked around inspecting me, while I quaked in my shoes.

She then grinned and looked in my eyes.

"Group 39. Jackpot."

What? I stuttered as I answered her.

"W-What do you mean?"

She pointed at my chest.

"Your tag. It says thirty-nine. That means you're in Group 39, right?"

I looked down to see a tag on my chest that had the number thirty-nine on it. I looked at her again to see her grinning at me.

"Don't deny it. But you're a really strange one. I can only sense a bit of Hani from you. Have you not started training?"

Her words reminded me of something I had been told a while ago.

That's right! Hani training!

I shook even more.

She kept grinning at me, but I felt sinister intentions behind that smile.

Then all of a sudden, my mind had a change. I felt myself detaching from my situation to become calmer and more reasonable.

I knew what was happening, but I couldn't stop it. That side of me was taking over.

I looked at her chest to see a tag that had twenty-two on it.

Twenty-two, huh? This is going to be difficult.

[Leave if a review if you love the book. Encourage me by supporting me at my pat-reon account. The link is in the synopsis.]