The Testing (The Testing 1)

“What’s that?”

“Something that can set the plants on fire.”

I keep one eye on the entrance in the distance as I place the paper with the black substance near the patch of plants Tomas thinks has the best chance of making this plan work. Poppy Doll Eyes. When burned, this plant gives off fumes that will overload the nervous system. Something people from Pierre Colony learned when a spark from a researcher’s campfire landed on dry grass near a large patch of the plants with the white bulbs that look like tiny eyes. The fire combined with high winds caused everyone living on the outskirts of the colony to suffer muscle spasms, blindness, or, in many cases, death.

With the amount of powder I have used, a flame should flare high and wide enough to make the white bulbs hanging nearby catch on fire. The only tricks will be to get our two attackers to come in this direction and to create a fuse long enough to allow me to get to the exit eighty feet behind this point before the smoke caused by the burning plants can reach me or Tomas.

“Here.” Tomas hands me a thin ten-inch strip of paper. Not as long or as reliable a fuse as I would like, but the shouts I hear and the figure bursting through the greenhouse door tell me I am out of time.

I lay the fuse on the paper and push a coating of powder onto the end. I fumble for the matches and pull one from the book.

“Get their attention,” I whisper as I poise the match against the strike pad.

Tomas looks at the black powder and the match, then back at me. Nodding, he stands. He takes several steps toward the greenhouse door. He pretends to stumble over an evergreen shrub and swears. That’s all it takes.

Kerrick’s head swings in our direction. “They’re over there.”

Tomas looks back over his shoulder and makes for the exit behind us. Kerrick and Marin trample plants and weave around young trees as they race for our position. Tomas yells, “Cia. Come on.”

“My foot is caught,” I yell back. “Go. I’ll catch up.”

Kerrick and the other person come closer. For the first time I get a glimpse of Marin. She’s someone I have seen around campus. I think I’ve even noticed her talking to Tomas. Her most distinctive features are her smile and contagious laughter. She isn’t laughing now as she closes the distance between us.

A gunshot rings out. I hear the bullet hit the ground far behind me. Aimed at Tomas. Another shot. Kerrick and the girl move closer. Everything inside me screams at me to flee, but I hold my position as I pretend to struggle to free myself from the phantom vine that holds me hostage. I need their attention directed at me, not on the nearby plants. They come closer. Just a few more seconds.

Five.

Another shot.

Four.

Kerrick spots me and yells.

Three.

The girl sees me and smiles.

Two.

I press the match hard against the strike pad and pull.

One.

The match flares. A gunshot makes me jump. The bullet slams into the ground to my right as I touch the flame to the paper fuse. The second I see the flame traveling up the paper, I scramble to my feet and run.

Another shot. I stumble and pitch forward as pain sears my calf. I swallow the scream that wants to erupt from inside me and tamp down my body’s protest as I climb to my feet. Marin calls out to Kerrick. Tomas yells for me to hurry. I glance behind me and realize too much time has passed. The fuse should have ignited the powder. The plan didn’t work, and Kerrick and the girl are coming.

I will myself forward.

“Come on, Cia.”

One step. Two. Faster.

“What’s that?” I hear Kerrick yell.

The smell of sulfur reaches me. I hear another gunshot and someone starts to cough. I don’t look back. I just keep moving one boot in front of the other, clenching my teeth against the pain that would otherwise bring me to my knees. Tomas already has the exit door open. His eyes are bright with fear as he holds out his hand, beckoning to me. Someone is still running behind me. I stumble through the door and Tomas slams it shut. His fingers fly over the control panel. The light above the door shifts from green to red, and now it can only be opened from this side.

A smart move, although one glance through the door’s glass pane tells me it wasn’t necessary. Kerrick is on the ground twenty feet from the exit. His body jerks as if connected to a stream of electricity. I can see the agony on his face as the toxins he breathed in take over his body. Shut down his systems. End his life.