DERT: A Dystopian Survival Thriller by Kyle K. Wolfson

Author:Kyle K. Wolfson [Wolfson, Kyle K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-08-21T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

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The next morning we were able to wake up as everyone else did, at the crack of dawn. Yesterday my body ached from sleeping on the ground, but today the pain from the ground wasn’t noticeable because of the pain from yesterday’s labors. My whole body hurt. The skin on my battered hands had tightened during the night, turning them practically into claws by morning. Sami had to help rub the flexibility back into them. We both trudged out of the tent with the rest of our group, heading to the open fields for this morning’s wellness session. The entire episode played out about the exact same as it had the day before; Rian pontificated for a while, doling out food items to the lucky few, and Karen cried aggressively as penitence for her sins. In our favor, though, this time we weren’t involved in the proceedings at all. We followed the prompts and played along, not attracting any attention today.

When he was finished tending his flock, he announced that today would be a day of introspection. The group clapped again at the news, the vigor being a bit more present than it was yesterday. We clapped a bit harder as well. Anything had to be better than busting up concrete. All of the groups began breaking up, some of them moving in the direction of the buses. Ours remained mostly in place, just some stretching of the legs or extra worshiping from Karen. Moving towards Carter, who was still just sitting in the grass, I asked, “What does that mean we’re doing today?” I couldn’t say that any of our group seemed friendly, but Carter seemed to be the least outright hostile. Disliking us appeared to be mandated, so he obeyed. The rest took the dislike to heart.

“We’ll be engaging in an introspective discussion of our failures and how to better the world,” he said mildly.

“Alright.” The answer was only marginally more informative than what Rian had said, but it was something, I thought as I crawled back to Sami.

“Is that what we did last night?” she asked.

“I dunno, maybe.”

“I don’t want to do that again.” That was for sure. Sitting in a circle and having people say terrible things about you is rather upsetting.

Once the groups that’d been tasked with other activities were gone, the remaining people spread even farther out. Karen led us to the far side of the field, where we sat in the grass, in a tight circle, about the size of the tent. “I’d like to admit something to start this session off,” she said, speaking from her knees and looking around all of us. “I failed us all last night. I failed myself, I failed Alyssa, and I failed Gaia.” She took a deep breath, letting the charges hang in the air. “I dreamed of eating a cheeseburger.” She said the last words quietly, as if admitting a great crime. The rest of the group heard the admission with a stoic response, though Jenny put her head down.

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