THE CULLING TRIAL

CHAPTER 4 — VENOM AND VISION

Lex's words hit me as poison fire crawled through my veins. Each heartbeat drove the venom deeper—needles stabbing my skin, metallic blood taste, vision bleeding colors together.

Breathing turned to panic. The toxin shut me down piece by piece, fingertips going cold. Through fading sight, I watched Kambi and Lex search for supplies.

"What is it?" Kambi's voice echoed distantly.

"Something I swore I'd never use again." Lex's hands shook, pulling out an unmarked vial of silver liquid. "Experimental military antidote. No idea if it works on these toxins."

Everything spun. Tobi's face flickered above me.

"Will it kill him?"

Lex hesitated. "It's an antidote, but not for this strain. Still in trials."

Molten lead poured through my arteries. My heart stuttered, pumping poisoned blood, black spots dancing across my vision.

"Do it," I croaked.

Lex knelt beside me, vial trembling. "This will hurt like hell."

The needle hit my chest. Silver liquid struck like lightning.

Every muscle locked. I jackknifed off the floor, an inhuman scream tearing from my throat as liquid fire exploded through my veins, warring with ice-cold serum.

"Hold him down!"

Tobi and Kambi grabbed my arms while my body convulsed. Two armies battled in my bloodstream, organs as their battlefield.

Then, everywhere became calm.

Dead quiet except for ragged breathing. Burning faded to weird tingling spreading from my heart.

"Did it work?" Tobi's voice cracked.

Lex checked my pulse, face unreadable. "We'll know in hours. Either the antiserum worked, or..."

"I'll stay with him," Tobi said, voice unsteady.

Lex handed him a device. "Anything weird, hit the red button."

"What should I watch for?"

"Seizures, breathing trouble, fever, unresponsiveness. But also the opposite—if he gets too energetic. This serum works both ways."

"Comforting," Kambi muttered.

Lex shrugged. "This mutant species is new, probably still in testing. Your guess is as good as mine."

"Need anything?" she asked.

He shook his head.

After they left, Tobi pulled a chair to my bed. The apartment went quiet except for my ragged breathing.

"Don't die on me," he said. "We've got trials to survive."

He gripped the device, eyes fixed on my face.

I managed a weak laugh. "Tell me something I don't know."

He talked about Mila by describing her room-filling laugh, her terrible cooking attempts, how she'd scold us for tracking mud through her clean house.

"I'm going to marry her," Tobi said suddenly.

I raised an eyebrow. "Planning ahead?"

"The second we escape this place. Whatever prize money they give us, I'm using it to settle down with her."

"I could be your bridesmaid and best man," I grinned. "Save money on the wedding party."

Tobi laughed. "Only if you wear the dress."

Warmth spread through my chest, fighting the remaining poison. "We'll stick together. Both make it back to her."

"Deal.”

Morning came. Lex arrived with pills.

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a truck. Still hurts, but not dying anymore."

Lex nodded, grabbing medication from his bag. "The serum has built-in painkillers, but they won't last. You'll need proper treatment at my lab eventually. Use these when pain gets unbearable."

"Safe to take however many?"

He shrugged. "Your call."

I pocketed them.

Kambi returned with fresh uniforms and breakfast. "Change first. Get rid of any trace before you eat."

"What about those creatures?"

"Back in the lab." She gave us a look that could freeze hell. "Don't tell anyone what happened. You weren't supposed to see them."

We nodded fast.

"Why are they here?"

"Research. That's all you need to know.”

We made it to the training center and found Jokob still breathing. Relief hit me like a wave.

"Five out of twelve," he whispered to us. "That's all who made it through."

The girl who'd warned us about the champions had survived too.

Today's intelligence session was this brutal combination of complex puzzles, pattern recognition, and strategic thinking while under pressure. We had to navigate virtual mazes while solving equations, decode encrypted messages while balancing on beams, and build structures from scraps with a ticking clock breathing down our necks.

I bombed it completely. Failed at stuff I should've been good at, all thanks to my body still being a wreck.

We rushed to the cafeteria, some of the guys shoving past girls in their desperation for food. But when we got there, our hearts just sank.

Two hundred of us stood there staring at ten measly plates scattered across the serving table. Each plate had some rice, bread, vegetables, and meat scraps—barely enough to feed two people, let alone twenty.

"This has to be some kind of mistake," this hollow-cheeked girl whispered. "Where's the rest of the food?"

Xavier walked in with his crew and found us all standing there like lost sheep.

"What seems to be the problem?" he asked, and suddenly everyone started talking at once, voices overlapping, everyone trying to be heard.

After we finished our complaining, Xavier looked about as sympathetic as a stone wall.

"Many of you seem to have trouble following the rules around here." He picked up one of the plates, fixing us with this ice-cold stare. "I'm a practical man, so think of your punishment this way—you're in a wasteland with limited resources. How do you survive?"

The room erupted. Some people asked if this was part of the trial, what we should expect. Others protested that they had nothing to do with whatever happened last night.

Instead of answering, Xavier just gestured to his subordinates. They pushed the food forward where everyone could see it.

"Figure it out," he said, then walked out with his team.

The silence stretched tight as a wire. I could hear stomachs rumbling, that hollow, desperate sound of hunger eating itself alive.

Everyone else looked just as bad—hollow cheeks, shaking hands, the whole nine yards of slow starvation.

"We can't divide this equally," this thin kid suggested. "It's impossible with our numbers."

"One spoon won't do me any good," someone else said.

This seven-foot giant with dark hair pushed through the crowd like a bulldozer.

"Share?" He laughed, showing teeth that looked too sharp. "I'm not sharing a squat with you weaklings."

"Bitus! That's barbaric," a girl protested.

"Look around," Bitus grinned wider. "We're caged animals fighting for scraps. Might as well act like it."

Arguments erupted. Some wanted fair shares—others backed Bitus and his brutal take. His three massive friends flanked him like a muscle wall.

"There has to be another way," I said, stepping forward despite my body's protests.

Bitus eyed me like prey. "Here's your other way."

He lunged at the serving table.

Two hundred desperate people exploded toward those plates. Bodies slammed together—elbows, shoulders, screams. Bitus bulldozed through, grabbing four plates while his crew protected him.

"Get back!" He swung a plate like a club. Food scattered as people dove for scraps.

The cafeteria became a war zone. Tables flipped, chairs flew. A girl lunged for a plate only to have two boys rip it away, wrestling until it shattered, contents mixing with dirt and blood.

I spotted one intact plate and dove. My fingers wrapped the rim as shadow fell over me.

Bitus.

"Don't think so, weakling." His boot aimed for my skull.

I rolled away, losing the plate as his foot cracked concrete where my head had been. He hauled me up by my shirt.

"Should've minded your business." His fist pulled back.

The punch caught my shoulder, lightning through my damaged body. Stars exploded as something popped wrong in the joint.

"This is how the real world works. The strong take what they want."

He got cocky, loosened his stance. I drove my fist up with everything left, catching him under the ribs where muscle couldn't protect.

His eyes went wide. Grip loosened as air rushed out in a shocked wheeze. I broke free, dove for another plate under an overturned table.

The fight raged on—bodies writhing across floors slick with blood and spilled food. Weaker candidates pressed against walls, some crying, others frozen.

Bitus had recovered, fighting three candidates who'd teamed up. His friends fought desperately to keep their hoarded plates, surrounded by starving people.

The cafeteria doors burst open. Xavier walked in unsurprised, flanked by equally unbothered guards.

"Enough." His voice cut through the chaos.

Fighting gradually stopped. Candidates stayed crouched, ready to resume.

Bitus stood center stage, clutching two plates, shirt torn and lip bleeding but defiant.

"Fascinating," Xavier said, stepping over spilled food. "I hope this answers your questions."

Confusion rippled through the room. His icy gaze found mine specifically. Cold dread crawled up my spine.

This trial isn't just about surviving monsters. Something much worse is happening here.

Agility training—rope climbs, balance beams, wall scaling, sprint intervals through spinning barriers designed to knock you senseless.

My number got called. Walking to the start line, searing pain shot through my wounds. The venom was back, worse than morning training.

I felt the painkiller bottle but remembered Kambi's warning: don't let anyone know about last night. Taking medication would raise questions.

I was alone.

Rope climbing first. Halfway up, agony exploded through my torso. My grip slipped—I crashed to the mat.

"Again!" the trainer barked.

I stumbled through the balance beam, coordination shot. The spinning barrier caught my shoulder, sent me face-first into dirt.

"What's wrong with you? Are you even trying?"

I failed every test. My body betrayed me until the trainer dismissed me early, disgust on his face.

I collapsed against Tobi, dry-swallowing a painkiller, grateful physical testing was over.

Evening came—they marched us to the research facility. Sterile white walls, bright lights that hurt. They separated us, led me through endless corridors to a pristine room with a one-way mirror.

"Kae Renshaw," a voice crackled.

"Yeah."

"We'll begin shortly."

Scientists filed in with sci-fi horror equipment. They directed me to a chair with restraining straps and articulated arms positioned around my head like a torture device. After strapping me in, someone jabbed a needle in my arm.

"Try to remain calm," one said as drowsiness crept through my veins.

Vision blurred. Sounds became distant echoes. Consciousness faded to black.

I opened my eyes in a golden wheat field under endless blue sky—back home in Ark-Arro.

"Kae!" Tobi and Mila waved from across the field. "Come on, or we'll miss the festival!"

I ran toward them, confused. What festival? We were celebrating our return from trials I couldn't remember.

Mila handed me orange juice. "I added something special for flavor."

"How did I get here?"

"Through the Ironwyrm train," she said like I'd lost my mind.

I searched frantically. "Cent! Vivi!"

No answer. Panic rising, I shoved through the crowd.

At a corner, I knocked over trader goods. In the window reflection—a massive bird diving at me. I dodged as it crashed into the building.

Enormous creature—obsidian feathers sharp as razors, dagger talons, predatory eyes. More descended, scattering everyone.

I found shelter where Vivi hugged Mila, both trembling.

"Where's Cent?"

"Looking for you," Tobi said. "With your mother."

Impossible—my mother had been dead for years.

We took narrow streets twisting into a maze. A bird crashed behind us, morphing into the train monster.

We ran to a dead end. I spotted a boulder blocking an escape route.

"Help me push this."

The monster gained fast. "Go ahead!" Tobi shouted. "I'll keep watch."

I climbed up, turned back to help. He stretched for my hand as the monster grabbed his ankle, dragging him away. His jaw hit the ground with a sickening bone-crushing sound before the creature swallowed him whole.

"Tobi!" I screamed, helpless.

I found Cent as another monster lunged, snatching him in its jaws.

"No!" a familiar voice cried.

My mother appeared—not broken from memories, but healthy, vibrant, hair styled for the festival, eyes bright with life.

This couldn't be real.

Cent cried as the monster swallowed him. I grabbed a log, drove it through the creature's stomach toward a cliff edge.

The tip broke. All three of us went over.

I caught Cent as we plunged into dark water, sinking deeper and deeper.

The monster slowly dissolved as Cent broke from my grip, swam toward the surface, and pulled himself out of the water while I couldn't keep up. He fled, leaving me alone in black void. 

A screen materialized, showing a man with my exact features.

"Protect them," he said urgently. "When you come of age, break all the contracts."

"What contracts?" Water filled my mouth.

"Break it all before it comes for everyone."

The screen went dark. Water crushed my chest as darkness closed in.

I gasped awake, screaming against restraints. Scientists rushed to hold me down.

What did that vision mean? Which contracts? What is coming for us?