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Gifted – YA Sci Fi – Chapter 1
Hello fellow writers! I’m about done with my one millionth pass of my manuscript. I’ve sent it out to a handful of editors and about a hundred beta readers. Just trying to see if this first chapter hooks you, makes you want to keep reading. I appreciate all feedback!
Chapter One
The government took me away shortly after my fourteenth birthday. I barely said goodbye to my parents before hopping on a school bus full of Gifted my age. Puberty was the trigger to our abilities. But not all teenagers were Gifted, only a tiny percentage. Like gravity, nobody knows how or why, it just was. I guess that’s why the government took such an interest in us.
I should have known the government would have an ulterior motive.
I was given a shot and told to sleep. When I woke, I thought I had died and gone to hell. The heat was unbearable. It took awhile, but eventually I realized I was inside a moving semi. The deep rumble of the engine, the creak and groan of metal, and the crunching sound of tires rolling through gravel gave it away.
I fought to breathe the stale, musty air. Not a single ray of light entered the cramped space. I couldn’t even see my own hand in front of my face.
I pressed my back against the hard wall, sweat pouring down my neck and drenching my t-shirt. The seesaw motion of the truck and the smell of sweaty old gym socks turned my stomach. My whirling thoughts didn’t help matters.
Questions kept popping up like a bad game of whack-a-mole. Each time I attempted to answer one, another came to take its place. Why are we trapped inside a trailer? Was everything they told my parents a lie?
Am I going to die?
A frightened whisper came from my right; then another, and another, like dominoes falling in a straight line. I pulled my legs up against my body and buried my head between my knees, hoping this nightmare would soon end.
Something tugged at my sleeve, making me jump. It took me a moment to realize it was the kid sitting next to me. I felt his warm breath on my neck.
“Y… Yeah?” I said, throat dry and raspy.
“Do you know where… where they’re taking us?” His voice cracked.
Did I know?
My parents flashed in my mind. In particular, the look my mom gave me when she caught me napping underwater in our small backyard pool, as if I’d committed a horrible crime. My dad’s reaction was much different. He didn’t seem as bothered by it at first. After the discovery, he went about his days like normal. He couldn’t fool me, though, I knew it was a facade. When the government ratified the Gifted Act, and came to the house to collect me, my parents didn’t even put up a fight. They believed the government when they said they would help me. Somewhere, hidden behind the fear and uncertainty, I saw relief in their faces as the bus drove away.
I clenched my hands into fists. It made me angry just thinking about it.
They were only partly to blame. The government had seduced them with the promise of helping their child overcome a disease by relocating me to a special state-of-the-art institute. They dubbed it the Gifted Program. I’m not sure about anyone else but being thrown into the back of a truck like animals was the complete opposite of “helping.” They must have transferred us to the truck while we were asleep. The sedative was probably more for the protection of the government agents from us than hiding their true intentions. Once they had us on the bus, there was no need for secrecy. They already owned us. If anything, I should be angry with myself for not realizing it sooner, for not resisting.
“I don’t know,” I finally answered.
“Mierda,” he cursed in Spanish. “Nobody knows. We could be going to be exterminated for all we know.”
“Exterminated?” I rubbed the back of my neck. The nasty word conjured up images of hundreds of dead rats; the shadow of a man holding a spray gun standing victorious over the tiny, lifeless corpses.
“You really think they’ll do that?”
“Yeah. Why trick our parents into handing us over?” The kid lowered his voice as he shifted his body. His breath felt closer now. “Heard a rumor a Gifted who had no control over his heating ability killed the Director’s son. Happened one night around July 4th. The Gifted and the Director’s son were both at the same tent, buying fireworks, when the kid’s ability turned on, and the whole place went up in flames, killing everyone inside. Except the Gifted. He was okay. Until the Director got his hands on him. Makes you wonder what he really has planned for us.”
Icy claws of panic tickled my spine. I turned his idea over in my mind. The Director of the Gifted Program saw us as a threat to humanity and decided to wipe us off the face of the earth in one fell swoop. Simple and to the point. It was a chilling theory. My panicked and bewildered mind had a hard time wrapping itself around that explanation. I wanted to cry, but no tears came; I could only sit here, surrounded by faceless strangers, waiting.
“I’m Carlos by the way,” the kid said.
“Max,” I said.
“Nice to meet you, Max. Let’s hope I’m wrong about everything.”
“Yeah, let’s hope.”
The truck stopped. My legs shook; teeth clattered.
The doors swung open. Bright lights blinded me for a second. I squinted, and a figure materialized from within the brilliance.
A large man wearing a fancy suit stood there, a big smile on his face, an enormous building behind him with impossibly tall fences and guard towers like you’d find in a prison.
“Hello boys and girls,” the Director said. “Welcome to the Cage.”
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2 Replies
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Interesting, Glenn. This reminds me a lot of Greg Bear’s “Darwin’s Radio” series. Have you read it? It’s different, of course, but kinda the same idea.
Pat
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Thanks for reading, Pat! I’m sorry to say that I’m not too familiar with Darwin’s Radio. I’m going to read it now, though! Sounds right up my alley. I’ll let you know how it goes!
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