The Final Generation

I opened my eyes and the blue lights flowing down from the ceiling were blinding. I had to rapidly blink several times to be able to keep them open. I realized I was strapped to the bed so tightly; it would be impossible to escape. The white rooms made my heart beat faster in my chest, and the cold air was freezing. I wondered how I survived in this cold room. I recognized Henry with his old beat-up framed glasses lying to my left, and Arthur on my right. Earlier today I spotted them as I was walking towards my class, that’s the last thing I remembered. There were no monitors in the room keeping track of their heart rate, I had no idea if they were alive or not. I quietly said their names, and then raised my voice as loud as I could, having difficulty with the low amounts of air in my lungs. I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself down. I was two years older than my friends. I had to come up with a solution fast before someone came to check up on us. A window with blue curtains was an escape route I considered. I would rather break a bone or two than be stuck here. The sound of heels was echoing in the hallway, I kept my eyelids closed shut. As they were continuing, a soft hum was audibly happening at the same time.

“You can open your eyes now, I know you are awake”, she said to me with a voice as sweet as honey.

I didn’t care if she knew I was pretending, I still tried my best to act unconscious. I concentrated on not blinking, hoping that my acting would make her think she had made a mistake. She placed her hot hand on my forehead, and the heat was comforting. Within seconds, her hands, without moving from their initial position, were forcing my eyes open. I fought back, I really did, but her strength overpowered mine. I glanced at her from head to toe, checking to see if she carried weapons of any kind. Her chestnut straight hair, and her brown eyes matched perfectly with the voice I heard. She was wearing a white lab coat, white pants, and white heels. The all-white outfit was smart, it helped her blend with the walls. I noticed two other barefoot females, probably my age, wearing short white dresses. The lady was the only one who wore a name tag, with “Narrissa” written in black ink. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that name, and probably my last, if I didn’t manage to leave.

“You can see us”, she spoke, with shock in her voice.

“Yes”, I murmured quietly.

“Wonderful, you’re the fourth boy to awaken who can actually see. You’ll understand what I mean. I will show you the others. Come on, get up! We have to get started immediately”, she responded.

“I’m not leaving my friends behind. If you want me to come, they will have to come too”, I said confidently. I shouldn’t have said they were my friends! Ahhh where was my head? She seemed the type of person who would use that against me in the future.

“Very well”, she said, breathing out loudly and squinting her eyes.

She went to poor Henry first, and pulled out a red circular capsule from her pocket. There was black ink inside, moving back and forth in its small home. She gently opened his mouth and placed the capsule under his tongue. Before I could complain about her not doing it to Arthur, the job was done. It wasn’t like she was going to listen to me in the first place, plus she would use her strength to get rid of me. Her facial expression about allowing me to take my friends with me showed that she wanted followers, and not leaders. For my own safety, I had to play along, and make her believe I fell for her compulsion. Arthur woke up, gasping for air.

“Can you see me, my lovely boy?” asked Narissa while she brought her pale hand to her mouth.

“I can only see from one eye, what did you do to me?” said Arthur. This was the first time I’d seen him panic. Not a smart move, Arthur.

I glanced at him, trying to convince him to calm down, but failed to do so when I noticed that his right eye was now completely white. He had two normal dark eyes this morning. They must have done something to him. I was even more worried for Henry now. What if he woke up with two white eyes, and they took him away from us? Narissa went to Henry and moved his bed up slightly. She dropped two more of these pills under his tongue. Henry was not showing any signs of life. Narissa’s patience was dropping. She called two male doctors to come and take Henry away. I would have grabbed onto him with my life, if I wasn’t strapped onto the bed. When Henry and the male doctors were out of the room, Narissa waited for Arthur and I at the door. One girl took off the straps from me, and the other one worked on Arthur. I was ready to run out the door while pushing Narissa as hard as I could against the wall, when I noticed I barely had energy to even get myself to the door. Narissa held on to both our hands, as a way of reminding us that she wouldn’t let us escape, no matter what happened. We walked in the empty hallway, and stopped when we reached room 702.

“Inside this room, you will be with eight other children. I hope to see both of you soon. Make me proud, I picked you three out of 300 children”, she said to us loudly.

“What’s going to happen to us inside the room?” I asked her.

“The man inside will explain everything you need to know”. She came closer to both of us and told us to think outside the box.

I grabbed the door with my frozen hands and pushed it open. Arthur was refusing to come inside, and I could see Narissa from the corner of my eye, holding a taser in her hand. Arthur followed behind me, not wanting to die here. The space was at room temperature, the walls still white like the previous room. The man’s coat had a yellow gold star on the right side, and he was wearing a suit all in white underneath. He was standing in the centre of the room, with a total of ten chairs circled around him. Arthur and I went to our seats and sat down. The chairs were uncomfortable, but no one made a sound.

“Hello, I am Carl Wood. I’ve been waiting one month to start this experiment. You children took so long to wake up, I was starting to get worried. Well, I’m happy you are all here today”.

I couldn’t stop myself from looking at the black broken heart shaped locket around his neck. It held so much power inside, I could feel it calling out to me from where I was sitting. I was thinking of ways to grab it when the girl opposite me fainted. Carl didn’t even bother trying to check if the young girl was okay. He picked her up in his arms and placed her on the floor outside the door. He left her there and continued talking.

“You see children, I need you to get four black pearls for me. I would get them back myself, however, I am not allowed to. All of you will be going back in time, and looking for them. Additionally, if you find another heart shaped locket just like mine, make sure to bring it to me. In the world’s entire existence, only two have ever been made”, he said.

“How far back in time are we going?” I asked.

“Finally, one that isn’t afraid to speak. You will be travelling back forty-five years. Don’t think about escaping this place, there is nothing left of the world. You can look outside of the window if you don’t believe me.”

Four of us got on our feet and walked towards the window. He was right, the world that we knew was gone. The buildings were all destroyed, not a single soul was outside, and the air was dark and gloomy.

“How do we find the black pearls for you?” asked a boy, seated two seats from me.

“You will each be given forty-five seconds to complete the task.”

“Which is?” said the same boy.

“You didn’t let me finish. During the forty-five seconds, you will have to betray the person you love the most in the world, by stealing what is most important to them. Make sure to steal the right thing. If you refuse to complete the task, or choose the wrong person or possession, you will be stuck in the past, eternally reliving the same day. You will know you have been successful if the black pearl appears to you. The first four people to complete the task win, and will be allowed to continue on with the subsequent tasks. We will start the first task at eight am tomorrow. You have the rest of the day to think about the challenge”, he said smirking.

Carl was not a good man, it was obvious. I didn’t want to relive the same day. The room was silent, all of us thinking to ourselves. I had eighteen hours to figure out how to get out of here, and I wasn’t going to leave anyone behind.