4 Testing Day-Part.1

"ATTENTION ALL SOLDIERS MUST IMMEDIATELY REPORT TO THE TESTING ROOM. ATTENTION ALL SOLDIERS MUST IMMEDIATELY REPORT TO THE TESTING ROOM."

I glanced across the room to where my clock was sitting. It was only 4:30 in the morning and this was only just the beginning. I rolled over to my side, not wanting to get out of the bed. At the same time I could hear herds of people scrambling to their feet and yelling things to each other across the hallways. I knew that I should do the same.

I slowly sat up in my bed then proceeded to get my uniform on. It was a lighter coloured navy blue uniform with a coat and trousers, or a skirt for the girls. I decided to go with the trousers because I didn't want to go to the troubles of exposing myself.

I then proceeded to brush my hair into a high ponytail. As I set the hairbrush down, I paused to stare at my reflection in the mirror. Could this be my time to go, I thought. No, I needed to survive this. This was the only ticket I had for freedom and I will not let go of it so easily.

"ATTENTION ALL SOLDIERS MUST BE REPORTED TO THE TESTING ROOM BY 5:00AM OR ELSE THEY WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO TAKE THE TEST."

I glanced over to my clock again to find that it was already 4:48am. I had about 12 mins get to the testing room and that might not be enough. I scrambled to get my shoes on and headed down the hallway.

As I approached the main hall it was swarmed with people. People were everywhere. At this rate I would hardly have any time left to get there.

"Psst.....Aria"

I looked around to see who had just called my name. It was hard to make out figures of people whom I knew. Wait...they called my name. Only one person here knew my name.

"Calypso? Where are you?" I shouted.

"You'll see me soon. Just walk away from the crowd to the cafeteria. We'll meet up there."

The cafeteria, I thought to myself. Then it hit me, there is another path to the testing room instead of going through the main hall. It would take more time but it would be far more effective than going through the crowd. I guess those first few days of wandering in the hallways actually became useful.

I frantically pushed people out of my way as I tried to go back. It was like a fish swimming up stream at this point.

"Hey! Watch where you're going." someone said.

I didn't have time to bicker with people. Getting to the testing room was my number one priority at this point. So I kept pushing and shoving people out of my way until finally I could make out a familiar face.

"Calypso, there you are." I said as I approached her.

"We don't have much time to talk, Let's get to the testing room as fast as possible. Time is of the essence."

I agreed. We only had about 5 mins left and we needed to hurry. We sprinted down the hallway, made two left turns and a right before finally seeing the big bold shiny plastered letters of the testing room. As soon as we approached the door it opened up to a magnificent ballroom. There were at least more than 500 people.

"Come on, let me introduce you to some of my friends." Calypso said. She then took my arm and led me through the crowds of people gathered in this room.

We then approached a small group of people gathered near the corner of the left wall. There were four of them, each astounding in their own way.

"Guys, this is Aria. She's a new friend that I made the other day. Aria, these are my old buddies, we go back till the day we were born." Calypso said.

" It's very nice to meet all of Calypso's dear friends." I said.

"Here let me introduce them to you. This is Violet, her number is 1618. Here we have Dante, his number is 1376. Lastly, this is William and his number is 2812." Calypso said, as she introduced me to her friends.

I politely shook their hands.

"You shouldn't even be here"

I looked up to see who had just said that. It was William. I could see hints of disapproval and resentment in his eyes.

"We all arrived here at 4:30 and that was fine until Calypso decided to check up on you. When she found that your name wasn't checked in yet she became worried and left to go find you. What do you think would happen if she didn't make it back in time? Are you to blame for this?"

I looked over at Calypso. I had no idea that she did this for me. I have no words.

"CONGRATULATIONS ON MAKING IT HERE ON TIME. THERE IS 1204 PARTICIPANTS HERE TODAY AND ONLY 500 OF YOU WILL PASS. THE FIRST TEST WILL START SHORTLY, AND MAY I SUGGEST A BIT OF STRETCHING BEFORE WE BEING BECAUSE AFTER ALL, IT'S A RACE TO THE FINISH LINE."