Eternal Survival

4.

The next day, I'm thrown out of my cell by the Look Overs. I pass by Cameron's, Newton's, Iskra's, Johnny's, Vera's, and finally Bronwyn's cell. I look behind me and see six of the kids from my state walking in the same direction.

We all go down five flights of stairs to this underground location labeled "LOOK OVER TRAINING Space."

We walked in. Within the training area, there was a small arena where the Look Overs practiced fighting; the room was large, with dim lighting and dark gray walls, except for one white wall with a variety of weapons hung on it. Crossbows were in the first few ranks, followed by bows and arrows in the second row, slingshots, ninja stars, swords, hatchets, axes, and so on in the third row. It was stocked with every weapon you could think of.

     The Look Overs removed all seven of our handcuffs and ordered us to form a straight line at the back of the room. We dashed to the back of the building, where we stood on a long piece of blue tape with the words "FOR DIME ONLY" written on it.

Seven more teenagers entered the room just as we were standing on the tape. One of the girls has her hair pulled back into two pigtails; she has straight black hair, her eyes are closed, and she is steering herself with a white cane. They all stood in front of us on a piece of tape that read, "FOR CALLUMEA ONLY."

Byclum is the next state to enter. When I look at this one girl, I notice that she has about eight piercings in both ears and that her hair is all light purple. Another girl who caught my attention had her whole head dyed neon blue. Hair dyeing in bright colors is common in the United States because it makes people seem successful and rich, so they think.

Ablimua is the last state to enter. I don't like Ablimua. They believe they are the greatest because they do not have to work as hard as Dimeains. You can tell they're overconfident in themselves from their stance and the way they behave.

Most of the girls have blonde hair, but one has black hair with red, orange, purple, and blue highlights, as well as nose, lip, and ear piercings. I see a girl with blonde hair who is tall, thin and looks just like a model you would see in a magazine, and who is wearing one of the dark blue tops that I have sown before.

Everyone is lined up in state order, with the highest in front and the lowest in the back, which is where we are. There are approximately seven teenagers in each of the selected states.

Suddenly, a very short man enters the room. I'm guessing he's about five feet, one inch tall. The guy has tattoos all over his body and even his face, as well as more piercings than any of the girls in this room.

     "Hello, my name is Finch, and I'm your combat and survival coach. I'm going to teach you how to hunt and fight today, kids, because who knows... maybe you'll have to live in space? And if you do, you may or may not be able to live in the world you are going to! " Finch also has two golden teeth, which can be seen as he laughs.

"Now, I don't care if you're tired; I'll tell you when it's time to rest and leave for the day. As he spoke in an Australian accent, everyone nodded. "All right, let's get to fighting with weapons."

     I've fought with weapons before; Bronwyn and I used to do it with our father, but Bronwyn has always been a bad fighter; I recall beating her up all the time when we were training.

     Everyone follows Finch to the arena; as we arrive, Finch is carrying a see-through device that seems to be made of glass. As Finch pressed a button, two holograms appeared in the holographic arena. There was a battle between a teen boy and a teen girl.