Ordinary by Starr Z Davies

Author:Starr Z Davies [Davies, Starr Z]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ordinary, powerless, survival, LGBTQ, thriller, saga, series, hunger games, talented, post apocalyptic, alone, last, maze runner, unstoppable, trilogy, Science Fiction, culling, Superhero, Dystopian, divergent, Gender, renegades, trials, Romance, adventure, configured, nuclear, starr z davies
ISBN: 9780578540986
Publisher: Pangea Books
Published: 2020-03-23T16:00:00+00:00

25

The door doesn’t immediately swing in like it does when testing completes. I shift, limbs stiff and aching, and roll to my knees using the wall for leverage as I stand. My muscles feel strained beyond their limits, stretched too thin. For a moment, my vision swims and darkens. I press my shoulder to the wall to keep from falling over. Rosie’s healing—along with whatever Celeste did to me—took more from my body than I realized.

It takes longer than I care to admit before I finally reach the door. There’s no handle, so I try to dig my fingers into the edge and pull. Either I’m too weak, or the door is locked because it doesn’t budge.

I’m not sure how long I attempt to get the door open. Long enough that my muscles are stronger again, and the exhaustion is waning in favor of hunger and thirst. After several more failed attempts to open the door, along with pounding on it to see if someone will come by and push it open, I just accept that it’s locked.

But why?

The simulation is over. They should let us out.

I give up and sit on the edge of my stripped bed, staring at the door. Maybe if I try hard enough, Telekinetic Power will spontaneously reveal itself, and the door will swing open? At least, that’s how hard I focus on it, willing it to open.

The hunger hurts, gnawing at my stomach, making my hands shake. They wouldn’t leave me in here to starve, would they? Paragon needs me for their research. Letting me starve to death wouldn’t be of any help at all.

A chime sounds, followed by the grinding of the lock on the doorframe. The door swings open. Finally!

I move as quickly as my body can handle toward the cafeteria.

All evidence of the chaos that ensued in this room before the test began is gone, as if it never happened. The tables and chairs are as they should be, grey tile polished, the walls displaying the sun setting over Elpis’s downtown spires. Does that mean it’s dusk? Is it the same day or not? How many could have passed without our knowledge? Enid said that time passed differently in simulations, so we can’t honestly know how long it’s been. Can’t have been more than two days, or the hunger would have had more severe effects on subjects.

I shift from one foot to the other, waiting impatiently for my food. As soon as it dispenses, I make another selection, and again, until the machine tells me I have reached my limit for the day. I then move on to the Snackables machine and repeat the process, all the while eating as I wait.

No one else enters.

No one else is here.

I’m alone, and the silence is deafening.

Once I finish the meals from the HotServe, I take my snacks and leave the cafeteria. After a couple minutes, I’m standing in front of Miller’s closed door. I knock.

No answer.

I push on the door, it doesn’t budge.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.