Purified Tomorrow: The Mad Awakening - Episode 5

Test

See all episodes here »

 
Do you want to Study Abroad? Get all the necessary information here »

Carl watched Diana walk away as if she was a robot. He was sure she was a robot because he couldnt understand how she could get such swift, strong, flawless body. They followed her sheepishly as they passed through so many doors that Carl had to rethink his plan. If he got the chance, he might just run away immediately, probably hide anywhere in the train till he got the chance to escape into the real world. Being the first in the queue gave him the utmost advantage of seeing things ahead before anyone else . The last door opened to the most beautiful park Carl had ever seen. He stopped in his track and the person behind him pushed into him and was going to complain, but had to stop when he noticed the reason Carl stopped. The beauty of the place was too much for him to easily comprehend and keep off his mind. The sky was dark but there were various colors of light beautifying the arena. 
There were a lot of flying cars dotting the blank sky. They were not the size of any car he had ever seen. They were smaller, slimmer, longer, and swifter. People gasped and murmured as they swirled beautifully, orderly. They dropped gently a few feet away from the place the Peacelearners stood, with a hushed hum.
A big banner was draped in the sky as if it was printed there, created with beautiful calligraphy and various colors, and it read Welcome, Peacelearners to Etyes. The sight of that alone made one of the Peacelearners walk on, with his mouth agape

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/purified-tomorrow-the-mad-awakening

. He didn't notice the others had stopped walking but he kept staring at the sky. Carl was one of the very few to see what was happening to the guy. He smiled. However, what he saw next wiped his smile away. The boy took another step forward, and the ground opened. The fall was extremely noiseless and fast. The only thing that made others aware of his fall was the way Carl screamed for him to stop, which wasn't as loud as the voice of the boy.
Seeing this, many of the Peacelearners' voices rambled as they huddled together, disregarding people's complaint that they were being squeezed and stepped on. Many of them whimpered and screamed as they tried to avoid being pushed forward. People avoided the place at all cost. Their wide eyes and continuous banters were enough to send fear into the mind of anyone there. 
Diana brandished her hideous smile, and placed the P.A system in front of her mouth. 'Even when something fascinates you, never lose focus on your surroundings. You would be having more of this exciting experience. Where they have gone is a place no one has ever come out of. Well, no one the system is aware of'.
Carl stood still in the realization that their training had begun. The little seed of fear Diana planted in him had really grown into a huge tree within a few seconds of meeting him. He wouldn't wait to see it bear fruit. There was no way he wouldn't escape from that place. The problem now was how to find the right time to do so. It would be very irrational of him to follow through his plan of staying behind on the train. He would rather bid his time, make a perfect plan, and see that he followed it through. They couldn't be picked like stones, and dumped in an unknown place. They were humans for crying out loud. They ought to have a better means of punishing people, not just this gruesome method of passing instructions to them. 
'Now, you know. The ground is a trap, from here to the place you will be dropped. Meanwhile by tomorrow you will not come near this place until after your fifth year here; by the time you would be going on a field trip or killing expedition', Diana said. 
Carl loved that part: killing expedition. And the only person he had a desire to kill at the moment was Diana. She whispered into the button in her hand. Immediately, the cars moved towards them and dropped softly in front of them. Someone made a shout of admiration. Carl was also surprised, but he knew he had to keep his emotion in check, especially in a place like this.
'Your journey wouldn't take long. All you need to do is to cross this trap to the other side. But because we want you to have a good time as Peacekeepers, the cars have been made to travel very slowly. In fact, you would have the feeling you weren't moving, and the essence is for you to be acquainted with your mates. Remember, Peacekeepers are orderly'.
The car had no driver, but he had to comply, being the first. He cleared his voice and climbed into the first car, and was followed by another teenage girl. She slouched into the fairly comfortable chair, and stared at him as if he was a wonder of the world as the car rose and moved very gently. When Carl had tried to no avail to understand its movement, he had to assure himself he was hallucinating about its movement. Except the initial lifting, there was no movement of any sort. At least, when one was in a car, one would have the feeling it was moving. He swallowed hard as he tried to get his mind off the reality that looked like a virtual one. 
Sensing the opportunity to talk to the girl with the hooded eyes, and extremely skinny body, he rubbed his hands expectantly. Normally his first thought about her would have been how she coped to survive the various wind that had ever passed by her, and he might have blurted it out to her, but they were instructed to discuss, not to castigate each other. He wouldn't want to be another scapegoat, so he flaunted a big smile. 
'This will really take a long time', the girl said and glanced at him. 'Don't you think it ought to move faster?
'I think the first thing we need is an introduction. That should be the first thing. I'm Carl Cokers.
'I caught your name the other time. I'm Regina Matt, and for the record, I detest being flirt with. I hate guys who woo ladies on first meetings. I am not '
'Calm down, typewriter. For the record too, I have a girlfriend. I have ladies outside this place, wherever it might be now, that love me. So, I don't have time to dote over any lady'.
'But none of them is here. And you're a guyWon't you?'
 'Calm down, typewriter Regina. Are you not a bit inquisitive about where we are? That should be the priority at this time'.
'I guess I know'.
'Good! That's what I need at the moment'.
'I guess it's a secret world with highly sophisticated weapons, and cool control system. The train that brought us is sleek, even if it didn't move at the time we woke, and their control system is dope. Who can believe that this thing is automated and can be controlled by people with the authority, of course? But it's still cool. From the way we or should I say I was kidnapped, I guess we would be trained to do something big. I mean, you know something big that the police can't do'.
'Government corruption?'
 She stared at him with a big sneer. 'Are you for real? It's something like world-war, or a bigger war. The latest research shows that the world has begun to come to a certain scientific realization that would become more than the power of the world leader. The scientists or philosophers, who are suddenly missing now, claimed that people are beginning to come to a realization to the extent that factions would soon rise. There would be a whole lot of breakouts in the system of things'.
Carl stared at her. He followed the news regularly. Although if it were up to him, nothing like news would have ever existed. However, his overbearing mother always ensured he listened to the news.  'I've never seen that in any news'.
She observed him for a while and said, 'come nearer'.
Carl was skeptical about that, but he saw no reason he shouldn't move nearer. At least, he was stronger than she.
Moving very close to his ears, she whispered, 'I got it off the blacknet. Like the death and evaporation of people'.
Shocked, he withdrew. 'You knew about that?'
'Yes. But no one knows why? I think I was about getting to that when I met myself here'.
'Then, they should have recruited us instead of kidnapping us'.
She shrugged. 'The world doesn't need to know. It would disintegrate the system'.
Regina removed her shoe and fixed it in a hole. 'Just like they don't need to know that I brought my game box'.
'But I thought we...Didn't we all... We blacked out, right?'
'Yes, but I built my game in such a way that How do I explain this? I have a fake tooth. It's a remote control. So, the game sort of hovers over me till I call it out. I made it invisible. And both my tooth and my game have passed the cloaking tests of all time'.
Carl stared at her for some seconds and grinned. 'I love your joke. That's really good for this mood'.
He slouched back into the chair as she kept fiddling with her tooth. The information he gave her was too much. He had to make his plan very well. He needed this girl in escaping from this place, but he had to take his time. All he needed was to keep a low profile. She finally removed the front tooth, and dangled it before his eyes.
'I'm not giving you false information'.
He sat up. 'But... That's impossible. They would have made us go through a test, that's even if your claim is true. But... '.
'Not in this world. What are you? Were you born yesterday? Technology is our baby'.
'So, where is it? Where is the game?'
She dipped her hand into her mouth, and croaked as she removed the false tooth. There was no way he would be accosted by another member of that man's gang. Carl rose from his seat as he backed away from her, with his hand in front of him. There was no way he would allow her to put a filthy thing in his hand or mouth like that man.
'Don't try rubbish?'
'Hey, Calm down, Carl. Why are you acting weird? You're freaking me out'.
'Not the way you're freaking me out'.
'The game box is here', she said and pointed to her chest. 'Put your hand here'.
He licked his lower lips, hoping she was joking again. 'You're out of your mind'.
'Seriously'.
Carl stretched his hand slowly and she gave him a reassuring nod. He proceeded. Suddenly, she pulled his hand and slammed it on her breast. 
'What?' He yelled as he snatched his hand and jumped back. 'Are you insane? Hope this place is not a mental facility? No wonder that guy was acting weird and Diana...'
Regina fell back, laughing hard as if she would burst from laughing. 'Sorry, I'm so sorry. I just wanted to have a feeling of your hand, that fine hand'.
She winked, sat up and pressed a bulging part of the fake tooth. A small box that had the same size as the battery of a small android phone appeared above her.
Carl hissed. 'What's all these?’
'Watch and see', she muttered as she flipped the grey phone-battery-size box in her hand. Then her eyes brightened as she saw a small button. 'Ah ah'.
Noiselessly, the box unwrapped and expanded. Three screens emerged from it as well as different pads. Carl had to curl up on the small chair in the car to avoid it ramming into him. The games began to hum.
'How did you do this?'
The car began to descend. Regina pressed the button, and the game wrapped itself immediately within the count of five. He glanced up and removed Regina's shoe, that was when he saw a small camera placed there.
'Your shoe. How did you see the camera?
She winked. 'Thanks'.
The car stopped and the door slid open. She sighed loudly as warm air gushed in. 'I love this place'.
Immediately, two of the soldiers rushed into the car to the camera. Regina threw a glance at Carl, who smiled and immediately made a straight face.
The sky was surprisingly dark at that time. He moved back as other cars began to drop with a thud near him. He moved near one of them and checked to see if his hair wasn't ruined, and luckily it was still as perfect as he had left it. He exhaled in relief.
Carl was captivated by Regina and felt like listening to her all day especially as she never ceased to talk, even when they climbed what looked like a hill. Within the few times they had spent together, she had divulged a chunk of information to him, one that he found intriguing.
'Carl'.
Perplexed, he looked sideways to see Fred running towards him. 'Freddy'.
They hugged amidst Fred's heavy pant. For some awkward reasons, Fred's glasses were gone.
'They brought you here. I'm so glad I'm not alone', Fred said as they separated.
'Yes. Me too'.
'Your glasses?'
'I don't know. I think those that brought us here did something to my eyes'.
Carl looked skyward for the first time. They were in a very large field. The road was plastered and was brightened in such glamorous way that still made Carl wish they were recruited into such exquisite arena, and not abducted. A replica of the banner that greeted them at the train landing area was draped in that area of Etyes, also. However, something else caught his attention. An enormous screen indicated: Peace Learners Gather Here. Other people looked about and wandered about in the field. Most of them seemed to be strangers to each other, and hadn't really connected with the others as he had connected with Regina. They moved about like zombies with no leader and no focus. Those whose eyes weren't focused on the unmoving train, walked towards the big screen, slowly, cautiously, while a very few others looked about, exploring. 
'If I ever died here, and you escaped, help me take care of Weaver'.
'Well, only my mom knows how to take care of fishes'.
'How I wish Sonia was here?'
Carl shut his eyes and gasped. 'Not again. By the way, Freddy, meet Regina. She's good'.
Regina stared at Fred for a while, transfixed. 'I know you'.
'I'm not sure. I've never left ourour side of the world. Okay, except the day we did that dreadful earth tour'.
'I've never left Ghana also', Regina said.
'You never said you were from Ghana', Carl interrupted her, spinning to face her.
'Yes', she said as she lowered her voice to a whisper.  'I sort of hacked into the exam board's website, and I saw the face of the person with the highest score, you?'
'Yes, you scored 499. Who scores 499 out of 520?'
Fred's face was smeared with a big smile. Carl looked at the sky as he tried to avoid laughing at Fred. Maybe later in life, but ever since he met him, Fred didn't know how to handle criticism and praises.
'I'm Fred and it's nice to meet you, despite the ridiculousridiculous way they brought us with the usage of Xfinus syrup to sedate us, which according to Professor Jones McWidell has caused the memory loss of over 2000 people and the way...'
Carl's mind wandered off again as he marveled at the way the two of them could bond on a level beyond his. He still wondered what he was doing there. Maybe there were others that were like him, but for now, he was the only one that wasn't really a nerd. There must be something else that made him one of the chosen ones. He looked around and at the screen. That was when he saw some very terrifying words on the screen.
'Erm... Geeks'.
The two of them kept discussing nonchalantly.
'Geeks, we have a situation'.
The screen read: 30 SECONDS TO BE WITHIN THE CLOSING WALL.
The seconds began to countdown. Without any logical explanation, a glass wall materialized from the sky, and gradually slid down. Carl ran and heard Fred grunting behind him like a mad pig. Although he wasn't one of the fastest runners, he had an edge over Fred. Despite looking for a way to escape, he preferred to be within the wall and its tyrannous rules than to be outside to know what would happen to those that didn't make it into the wall. Still panting, he ran into the circle, shifted back to avoid those dashing toward him as he fixed his gaze on the two geeks racing into the circle.
Immediately they were within the range of the falling glass, Regina turned to a panting Fred, and they burst into laughter. She held her knees to support herself.
'I told you we would get here withinwithin the next 12 seconds. We made it'.
'Yea', Regina said excitedly as she stood straight and raised her hand for a high-five. Fred gave her a heavy one that made her stagger and chuckle. People ran in from different directions.
'Where are those ones from?' Carl asked.
'There are other trains or the thing that looked like it. I think the train was continental', Fred said.
'Yes. I noticed we were mostly blacks in the compartment of our train. They seemed to pick people from different countries; I could hear the accent of other countries'.
'Yes. How come I never noticed that? You're good, Regina', Fred stated as if he was thinking.
'You too', she said and blushed.
They exchanged glances. Carl shook his head at them and turned to watch in horror as the wall closed off. People ran into it and hit the wall. When the wall was firmly locked, the people outside kept hitting it, while a few others tried to make sure their noses were pressed against the glass.
                        ***
Diana watched the whole sides alongside other yellow-uniform supervisors. She only smiled when she saw Carl entered the circle. He was extraordinarily attractive, maybe because she always loved calm people. She clicked some buttons and the computer printed the information.
People within the wall:148
People outside the wall:243
Competition rate:91%
Chances of those to finish the program:15

Diana smiled. The number of people, who made it to the circle this year was 65 more than last year's, and only 5 of the last ones got to the end. But this year there was an extra person. 
'Peacetrackers, who is the extra one and from where?'
The computer printed the information, and she smiled grandly. She had totally forgotten about Joyce Felix, the girl who had several factors that brought her down there.
'Peacetrackers, did she make it to the wall?'
The computer printed her information on the screen.

Read " Don't! Look Closer " by the same author ( Akíntayo Akinjide )

. Diana shook her head. 
'Okay. Plunge those outside the wall into the trial room, and push those within the wall into the welcome room'.
A rectangular wall cut out of the round wall, and began to close in on those within the walls. A door at the far end opened. The Peacelearners hurriedly filed into the welcome room, some other people of their age range or a bit higher were waiting for them.
Meanwhile, the ground had parted ways under those outside the wall. They were plunged into a soft ground, into a thick darkness. No one had ever returned from that place.
Diana smiled. This was the life she wanted for her protégé, but the naughty girl chose a different company-man-like path. She placed her hand over her mouth and stared at the computer screen. 'Why do I still love her?'
No one needed to tell her that her Protégé was her weakness. She knew. But it was a secret..

Wants to study in Canada? Checkout this ongoing scholarships in Canada

Do you want to Study Abroad? Get all the necessary information here »

Ebonystory.com
  • Views (2412)
  • Likes (0)
  • Comments (0)
  • Rating (0)
Be the first person to comment

Other Episodes of Purified Tomorrow: The Mad Awakening

Latest Story Episodes ↓

0 Ebonites currently online

African Story Community

EbonyStory.com is the best place to read and share fresh interesting African stories online. Starting from Romance stories, Adventure stories, Action stories, Spiritual stories, Horror stories and many more. All our stories are free and no signup required to start reading. We have wonderful writers that are ever ready to give you the latest interesting stories with moral lessons to keep you smiling all day.

The quality of our stories together with the simplicity of our platform makes us one of the best in Africa. Our stories are written inform of Story Book ( Novels ), Short Story and Poem

You can subscribe for our story update via: Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram

If you have any complain email [email protected] or call +2349021037057