Page 82 of The Commons

Oh my God.

The student screams as he is taken to the beach by a Water Patron. His face is mashed into the water and held there. I look away, unable to keep watching. Muscles in my face tighten and tears cloud my eyes at the sound of the boy’s muffled screams, but I cannot let the tears fall. My fists clench together, tighter, and tighter as I try to control myself from losing it and facing the same fate.

The man continues to speak, “There’s always one. Now, does any other Commoner want to interrupt me?”

We all stand still and gulp, petrified.

“That’s right. I didn’t think so! This is The Seventh Zone. And you will be put to work in one zone for the rest of your life. But since we’re nice, we’ll let you pick your area of strength. We are divided into seven buildings where we manufacture goods that run this country and the entire world. Well, we spearhead it all. Every product contains Conzamine. Conzamine in tiny doses is not harmful. But over time, with more exposure, it will create a Common Gene in every citizen in the entire world.”

A Common Gene? What on earth?

“Yes. We are robotizing society to limit their free will and individuality over Common rule. It doesn’t happen instantly, though its effect is invariably already working in the Common World.”

God Almighty!

The guards hand each one of us a paper. On it, I see:

S – Scientific and Special Substances (drugs like Conzamine and Condoxin).

E – Experiments (we experiment on you for different drugs, death is probable).

V – Vaccinations and Vehicles (make special vaccines and make cars; we test the vaccines on you and sometimes drive the cars past you to test its likelihood of being a killing machine).

E – Electronics (TV’s, phones, chips, gadgets etc…)

N – Nuclear Weapons (smart people only).

Z – Zoo (you take care of wild animals and everything nature).

N – Necklaces and all things jewelry (including medallions, crowns and such).

I know what I have to do, so I raise my hands instantly. “I pick E!” I shout.

“Enthusiastic, I like it. What E? Electronics or Experiments?”

I contemplate my answer. Experiments was the first E on the paper, but Pesh wrote that I should pick the first E as a general concept. I just have to go with him on this, so I reply his exact words from the note. “The first E!”

“The first E, hmm you want experiments because that’s what’s on paper, but that’s not the first thing I said when I asked you what E, so you’ll get electronics instead. Now who’s next?”

Oh my God. I see what he did there. Had I not listened to Pesh, I would have been tricked into the experiment group.

I exhale and look at the others, terrified for them.

“You all have to pick, but we can only have 3 of you in each since there are 21 of you left. Yes, we knew we would have to kill one of you upon arrival, so you understand what manner of a place you have been stationed to. You obey us. You serve us. And in return we will feed you, give you a decent home, and even pay you a monthly allowance to send money back to your parents so they know you’re making money moves.”

The rest of the students select what zone they would like to be put in and others are forced into the remaining spaces. We are each taken toward our building by one guard.

Just as we are about to enter the elevator, I look to the side and see a girl in a torn uniform strapped to a stretcher. A muffled scream escapes from her mouth, tears flooding down her eyes. She is carried by two men in white uniforms with syringes sticking out from their pockets. They are pushing her toward the experiment building in haste. I look around and notice some students in uniform working outside, carrying carts. With their fingers, I notice they make an L sign, followed by a C. They all do it furtively as though to mourn, and I notice one guy whisper under his breath with his shaking fists clenched tightly. I try to make out what he is whispering to himself as I see others repeating the same action. I think he is saying—For The Love of The Commoners. The L and the C must stand for that. A feeling of dread consumes me as I realize the girl on the stretcher is being taken to be killed. I can barely breathe, but I tighten every muscle in my body to stop my emotions from exploding. My fists clench. Before I can blink, the elevator closes and begins to zoom upward.

Our guard leads me, along with two boys, through the doors of the elevator into a massive factory-like room. I look around to see hundreds of students in uniform, on an assembly line, creating what looks to be cameras. They all turn our way for a split second with sunken faces, drained of every bit of independence and life. Shock stricken; I survey the entire room, wondering if I’ll find Levon, but I do not spot her. But that’s when I recognize… a face. My former classmate who ran out during the test in Oblivion. Oh my world! The Seventh Zone is not just for deviants from The Commons, like me; it’s for some of us who survive Oblivion. Oh my… My head turns away from the students when I notice the boy beside me quivering, his legs trembling uncontrollably, eyes darting around.

Instantly, I hold his hands tightly. I do not want him to be spotted by our guard. “Don’t worry. Don’t worry. It’s gonna be okay,” I whisper.

His eyes meet mine as tears cloud his eyes. He wipes them just as the guard looks our way and I instantly let go of his hands. We look at the guard with forced smiles.

The guard turns away, then begins to speak, “Electronic cameras are made here. We can check out all other floors, but we need one spot here. Who wants it?” he murmurs.

“I’ll take it!” I respond.