Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

     The sliding doors opened at the store and a large crowd stormed into the building. As a choir sang, people rummaged with madness through clothes, toys, and electronics. The choir continued to sing of joy and the Lord has come. People were punching others and screaming at each other.

     She rushed to the register with her cart while everyone squeezed past her to join the madness. A bell was ringing outside. The sliding doors shattered after a bright light flashed. Suddenly, there were shrieks of horror. Everything was on fire.

     She opened her eyes to a soft, blue glow. A screen hovered next to her monitoring her vitals. Her heart pounded violently and warm tears rolled down her face.

     A nurse rushed to her side. The nurse checked her vitals. She began to feel safe as the glowing walls comforted her. There were no explosions in here. Nobody was pushing and yelling in here.

     “It’s going to be okay,” said the nurse. “You should sleep for a little bit longer.”

     She only looked at the nurse and nodded. She felt enraged at the nurse. She closed her eyes and pretended to fall sleep. The presence of the nurse vanished.

     After a few minutes she opened her eyes and sat up in bed. There were thousands more people lying in bed around her. She looked at her friend in the bed next to her.

     He was staring at her grinning from ear to ear. She glared at him and threw her pillow at him. He hid his face and muffled a chuckle.

     “I had another nightmare last night,” she hissed at him. “I was shopping where there was weird music.”

     “That doesn’t sound like much of a nightmare,” he told her. “In my dreams I am always flying and I am attacked by a wall of fire.”

     “Are you even listening to me?” she asked. He sat up in bed and looked at her with his eyes wide open. “You really know how to draw attention to yourself.”

     “I’m not the only one out of bed when we should be sleeping,” he stated.

     “While I am shopping there is a large explosion and everything is on fire,” she said.

     “I get that same nightmare,” someone across from them whispered.

     The blue light turned into a soft white light. The large room was brighter and everyone got out of bed. One by one each person made their bed. The screens on the walls turned on.

     “Lesson will begin in thirty minutes,” a woman’s voice said.

     Music played as they got ready for the day. Everyone put on their black and white uniforms. Pictures on the screens appeared. They were pictures of soldiers fighting in war.

     She began to feel melancholy. She felt like this was the only purpose that she was born for. She wanted out. She wanted something else.

     They all left the room in single file and marched down the corridor into the cafeteria. They ate their breakfast as large televisions continued to played war footage in the cafeteria.

     “Our enemy wants to invade our country,”” a woman’s voice stated. “We must annihilate them. The peace of our country is at stake. We must kill them all to preserve the peace and sanctity of our people.”

     She didn’t feel like there was peace. The cafeteria was full of the sound of utensils scraping the plates. Everyone ate in silence. Nobody in the room was having a conversation. The guards stood and watched over them as though they were prisoners.

     Everyone finished their meal at the same time. They stood in unison and lined up to place their trays onto the conveyor belt. Then they marched from the cafeteria to a large classroom full of desks.

     Everyone sat at their assigned seat. Each person was just a number. She was number 159. Privately, the students named each other. They referred to her as Sky.

     Her friend was called Hawk. Sky thought it was strange that the adults refer to them as numbers and never gave them a name to identify them. It was as though they didn’t care about them.

     Sky still did as she was told and did not speak back. She was unsure if there were consequences or what they would be. Their teacher entered the room.

     “Today, we are going to talk about our enemy,” he said. “They are planning on attacking us for defending ourselves from our rival the United States. We bombed the United States fifteen years ago. Our ultimate failure is that their country still remains. You will not be a failure in our retaliation against other countries.”

     The students nodded. A map of the United States appeared on a screen. The teacher used his mouse to point out various regions.

     “We annihilated the East and West coast,” he said. “The Midwest still stands, but they are suffering the consequences to this day for underestimating us. Canada and Mexico suffer from this as well. We also consider them a threat. Soon, you will be there to eliminate the remainder of the continent.”

     Sky didn’t know what scared her more the enemy taking over her country or going to war in another country. She watched the teacher as they moved on to their lesson in combat.

     At the end of the day they head back to where they sleep. As they were getting ready to go to bed they heard marching in the hall. A nurse rushed into the room.

    “Your majesty Joowon Yoon is about to enter!” she said.

     Everyone stood at attention. Joowon entered the room with two other people. As he passed Sky, she felt terrified. She was not sure why and she did not know if anyone else felt the same fear.

     The head doctor was next to their great leader. They walked to a room that was in the back. As they walked Joowon smiled at the room full of the young women and men. They entered the room in the back. He eyed some who were still lying in bed.

     “How come some of them are still in bed?” he asked the doctor.

     The doctor opened his clipboard, “Some of them have fallen ill. That is why most of them are missing from here and from class. They are in the treatment center for their ailment.”

     They entered the office in the back. The door was silently closed behind them. Joowon did not look happy.

     “I don’t understand,” said Joowon. “What are they sick with?”

     “Some were born with hereditary genetic disorders,” said the doctor. “Like the soldiers who were sent to retrieve samples, most of the clones have been diagnosed with leukemia.”

     Joowon frowned at the news, “You need to hurry and fix this. I have been expecting an army of millions, but instead I have thousands of sick children. I waited a long time for this.”

     “There is no cure for this,” the doctor stuttered.

     “You’re a scientist,” said Joowon.

     Joowon looked at his advisor. His advisor quickly looked down. The doctor lowered his eyes.

     Joowon and his advisor left the office. The doctor felt a morbid fear grip his body. He had a feeling that he was going to die.