Instinct

Chapter 5 -- Crimson

I left the back entrance of the trial facility, holding onto my chest and resting against the wall as I heaved. The heat beating on my face flushed out all the temperate coolness from them and left a flustered red hue from what I could make from my reflection. The rest of the Vulrants followed suit behind me, all of them catching their breaths along with me.

The television screen within the training facility exit flickered on to life, somehow knowing we all entered the room at that exact time. And with the TV's sudden revival came with that of Zoe's face staring back at us. Her signature smile still worn on her face to provoke some kind of relaxing aura to radiate with her. Though I felt more anxiety than anything seeing her stare into my soul.

We had finished our final trials. All of us were wiped out, ripped of all our energy as the trials ripped all of what we had left in us; out. All the muscles in my body ached and burned in a deep searing pain.

Confidently I felt that I and the rest of the Vulrants were more than qualified to move on. Not as a boastful remark, but things seemingly flowed smoothly despite the pain and exhaustion all of us felt. We now stood in the waiting room to go outside to the 'Honorary Circle', a traditional area taken place outside where ceremoniously we are commemorated for our work done. Though this time around the injections were added, breaking the normality of tradition that had been held for roughly a thousand years. Not to mention the completely brain-dead idea of keeping the final part of our trials outside in the rain. The same ol' song and dance Madi and I complained about.

I took a moment while Zoe started talking to slow my breathing entirely and exit my active brain for a moment to hopefully cool my entire being down.

"Welcome Vulrants, to the last step in your journey of completion. All of you have come so far within your young lives to this point. From day one of selecting and being selected into the faction of your personal aptitudes. To the first day where you learnt the true depths of what your faction really meant. You've all rigorously pushed through it all to this final moment. Everything now unraveling into the staircase of your journey: and you've reached the final top step".

"That step fittingly named the Honorary Circle. The injections. As has always been tradition for our society for as long as we've been around, the Circle stands as a symbol of completion, a symbol of long-deserved ends and new beginnings. Counterbalanced with a little bit of newness, as the injections have firstly been implemented into today's celebration. You will, as previously mentioned, be gifted the final item of importance, of the injections. Vulrants will be the first to take the injections and the list will follow as such: Zyto, Indigo, Xultant, Forbids, Tyra and Skyrupt.

"You have all come along so far in your lives to be at this point, worked and strived for only the greatest. And for that you have my personal gratitude, admiration and future hopes that you make this wonderful city even more of a safer environment and more of a vastly rich economy. Good luck Vulrants. And good luck everyone" Zoe gave a final nod to us before having the television switch to darkness.

Zoe's words hung in the air for a while with their ghastly weight. I took a moment to fully absorb them as I finally started to relax from all of my exhaustion. Everyone else looked to be following the same method, as they too began to stand normally and controlled breathing.

One thing still remained that bothered me deep within my heart. It was obvious, and surely hauntingly hindered on everyone's mind. The one thing between us and adulthood.

And that was the injections. Those damned injections.

I didn't feel well with the injections at all, especially knowing now that the Vulrants were chosen to be the first recipients of the injection. That thought alone was enough to not sit well with me, as my nerves overworked my brain to exhaustion. There was so many questions that swarmed my brain all at once. What were in the injections? What did the injections really do? Why implement this now and not any earlier generation? Did they test this on anyone?